Core Value #5: Called to be Worthy Instruments of Salvation

God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 RSVCE

Our apostolate exists, above all, for the salvation of souls. But God alone is Savior. Therefore each of us, individually and together in community, must dedicate our energies to making ourselves worthy instruments of salvation in God’s hands. We do this preparation through training & education, and constant attention to the Christian spiritual life. As instruments in God’s hands, we carry out works of true charity in imitation of Jesus, especially the work of evangelization and intercession for the salvation of souls.
SPSE “Called to be worthy instruments of salvation” official description

Me? A worthy instrument of salvation in God’s hands for others? How can I be worthy of so great a call? And yet, God has called us to do it. In fact, St. Teresa of Avila drives this point home, saying, “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” That can be a scary thought for an evangelist at first, knowing how holy Our Lord is, and being intimately aware of the areas in our lives that need improvement.

However, we know from scripture that the power of God working in us is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). And we also likely know the basic things we have to do to become worthy instruments of sharing the Gospel (prayer, frequenting the sacraments, penance, seeking His will, evangelization training). And let’s not forget practice. Once you’ve trained, get out there and do it. Over and over. Grace builds upon nature, so the more we hone our evangelizing skills, the easier God can work through his refined instrument.

It’s always good to remind ourselves that God is on our side and wants us to succeed. That should take at least some of the pressure off. If we grow in holiness and “worthiness,” we’ll start to resemble Our Lord more. If one resembles Jesus interiorly, they are immediately attractive (to those who are open to God). So … back to the original question – Me? A worthy instrument of salvation in God’s hands for others? With God’s help and our effort, yes, it is possible!

Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; … Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.
Ephesians 4:13,15 RSVCE

I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
1 Corinthians 9:22-23 NRSVCE

Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Matthew 4:19 RSVCE

[Christ] alone has words of eternal life! He alone is man’s salvation. … Christ wants to make you, too, instruments of peace and salvation! Listen to his voice! Bear witness to his love!
Pope St. John Paul II, Address to the Italian “Alpini”, 19 May 1979

Each individual layman must stand before the world as a witness to the resurrection and life of the Lord Jesus and a symbol of the living God. All the laity as a community and each one according to his ability must nourish the world with spiritual fruits. They must diffuse in the world that spirit which animates the poor, the meek, the peacemakers—whom the Lord in the Gospel proclaimed as blessed. In a word, “Christians must be to the world what the soul is to the body.”
Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, 38