So Peter rose and went with them. And when he arrived, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping and showing tunics and other garments that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

  - Acts 9.39

For he has died to us, the leader of nations who guarded the living, he has died to us, who was our chief of the needy, he has died to us, who was our messenger of the Lord...

   - Dallán Forgaill, “Amra Choluimb Chille,” Irish, 6th century

I have always found this account of the raising of Dorcas to be very touching. The image of those widows weeping – lonely women loved, cared for, and clothed by one whose primary claim to fame was her ability with a needle – is a testimony to the power of good works.

Whether our good works are humble and on a small-scale, or dramatic and far-flung, like those of Colum Cille, we each have the opportunity to touch others with the grace of God and to leave a legacy of love to the future.

We have been saved in Jesus Christ for the sake of others, to minister His grace to them (Eph. 2.8-10). Salvation that ends only with our feeling forgiven, relieved, and hopeful, but which never reaches out to others is no salvation at all. Jesus saves us to move us toward others, that we may leave a legacy of love for those to whom He sends us each day.

What kind of legacy are you building? Today, what will you contribute to those whose lives and souls you will brush against? We will not leave a legacy of love by mere chance; legacy-building is resolute, visionary, self-conscious work. And we are all called to it.

The grief in Dallán Forgaill’s lamentation at the passing of Colum does not differ from the grief of those poor widows for whom Peter felt such compassion, even though the works of Dorcas never reached the scale or impact as those of Columba.

We do not know what God intends to do with our works; we only know that we must do them, for love’s sake, in imitation of Jesus, toward a legacy of love for the generations.

Psalm 40.6-8 (Dix: “For the Beauty of the Earth”)
Off’rings You do not require – open now my ears, O Lord –
What from me do You desire? Firm delight to do Your Word.
Take my life in ev’ry part; write Your Law upon my heart.

Lord, give me love for You and for my neighbor, that holy actions may issue from me to touch others with Your grace. Adapted from Colmán mac Beógnai, Aipgitir Chrábaid