This video was brought to you by the Dynamic Catholic Ambassador's Club.

You're awesome.

Do you believe in miracles?

Miracles are present.

Amazing.

Transformative.

Possible.

You are a miracle.

The life of St. Martin de Porres was a quiet revolution of grace. A revolution by definition is a forceful overthrow of an existing order in favor of a new one. Martin did exactly that. But not with the force of violence, with the force of grace. From the moment he entered this world, nothing seemed to be working in his favor. There was no place in society for an illegitimate child or a person of mixed race in the 16th century. Martin was both. His father left when he was three years old, plunging Martin, his sister, and their mother into deep poverty and social disgrace. The combination of his mixed race, illegitimacy, and poverty placed Martin at the very bottom of the social hierarchy. Nothing about his circumstances recommended him to a great destiny. In fact, they seemed to disqualify him. And yet, this is precisely where God began his work. From a young age, Martin displayed an unusual tenderness toward the sick and the poor. When he was 12 years old, he was apprenticed as a barber surgeon. This was a practical medical tradesman, not a trained physician. Barber surgeons provided hands-on care for everyday injuries and illnesses, especially among the poor, work that physicians of that era often avoided. They combined grooming with basic medical treatment, such as wound care, treating infections and ulcers, setting broken bones and dislocations, pulling teeth, bloodletting, lancing boils and abscesses, and minor amputations.

At 15, Martin asked to join the Dominican Order. Racial prejudice and rigid social divisions didn't stop at the threshold of the monastery. So Martin was denied the priesthood and accepted only as a lay brother. This was the lowest rank in the order. Many would have walked away. Martin didn't. He embraced this hidden life with joy, taking his vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Looked down upon even by the priests and other brothers in his order, Martin was often given the humblest task at the monastery, cleaning floors, cooking meals, doing laundry, and tending to the sick. He didn't complain. These chores were filled with meaning for him. "Everything, even sweeping, scraping vegetables, weeding a garden, and tending to the sick, can be a prayer if it were offered to God," he explained when asked why he did them so joyfully. He was eventually appointed to the monastery's infirmary, caring not only for sick friars, but also for the sick of the city, including slaves, indigenous people, beggars, and the forgotten. With little more than herbs, cleanliness, gentleness, and prayer, he treated countless ailments. And then the miracles began. Ulcers closed, fevers vanished, infections healed, chronic illnesses resolved. Witnesses insisted that the cures were wildly disproportionate to the remedies used. These healings did not happen because of Martin's skill, but they would not have happened without his humility, his compassion, and his radical trust in God. Martin also displayed miraculous provision. Though the monastery was poor, Martin regularly fed hundreds of hungry people each day. When resources ran out, food somehow appeared. Bread multiplied, pots refilled, the hungry left satisfied. To Martin, this was not extraordinary. It was simply God caring for his people. Another striking dimension of his miraculous life was his extraordinary relationship with animals. Stories are told of Martin feeding stray dogs, cats, even mice, insisting that every creature was part of God's family. One famous account describes him ordering rats to gather peacefully in one area of the monastery, promising to feed them if they stop destroying supplies. They obeyed his request. These moments echoed the harmony of Eden, suggesting a soul so aligned with God, the creation itself responded.

Yet perhaps the greatest miracle of Martin de Porres life was his life itself. In an era marked by rigid racial and social hierarchies, Martin embodied a holiness that dismantled prejudice without protest or bitterness. He never defended himself. He never demanded recognition. When insulted, he responded with gentleness and humor. When praised, he said, "I am only a poor mulatto. God does everything." Many people, even the Dominican priests and brothers, saw Martin as no more than a poor mulatto, an undervalued person of mixed race. But Martin knew exactly who he was.

How do you see yourself? Too often we judge ourselves, even define ourselves by external measures. The world judges us based on externals, how attractive we are, what we can afford, where we live, the quality of our clothes, the school we went to, the stature, or the status of our job, the things we have accomplished. From a young age, the culture tells us we are only as good as our grades, only as lovable as other people decide we are. By the time we reach adulthood, the media has told us we aren't enough so many times that it becomes all too easy to believe. And it is tragic that so many parents extend more love to their children based on what they do than anything else. But God sees us differently. God values us for different reasons.

One of the most important lessons in life is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic value. Intrinsic value is a worth that comes from who a person is. Extrinsic value is worth assigned based on what someone achieves and how someone behaves. Intrinsic value is inherent. It's unearned and it's unchangeable. A person has value simply because they exist. Dignity, humanity, and identity are all in this category. Extrinsic value is conditional and variable. It depends on results, performance, status, appearance, wealth, and recognition. Intrinsic value is who I am. Extrinsic value is what I do. God loves us based on who we are, not what we have achieved. Our value, dignity, humanity, and identity were all bestowed on us when we were created. Let me tell you a story that illustrates Martin's spirit perfectly.

One day, a Dominican priest asked Martin to bring him sugar. Martin brought a sack of unrefined brown sugar, and the priest scolded him, making a racist remark, mocking both the color of the sugar and Martin's skin. Martin didn't take offense. He smiled, immersed a fistful of brown sugar in water, and when he removed it, the sugar had miraculously turned white and was completely dry. Imagine the look on that priest's face. The humble man who he had mocked clearly had extraordinary gifts from God.

There is one other mystical phenomenon that Martin had in common with Padre Pio, Alfonsus Lagori, Anthony of Padua, Francis of Assisi, Joseph of Cupertino, and Catherine of Siena. That gift, bilocation. This is the phenomenon of being in two places at one time. Martin de Porres lived his entire life in Lima, Peru. He only ever left the monastery to attend to the poor, but there were more than 20 distinct testimonies of him being seen simultaneously in distant places: Mexico, China, Japan, even Africa. These accounts were not casual rumors, but sworn testimonies gathered during the formal investigation of his life. He would appear in these other places, comforting the sick, assisting fellow Dominicans in need, encouraging them to persevere, calling them to charity and humility, and offering comfort and reassurance. Martin lived his birthright as a child of God and invited others to do the same. Are you living out your birthright?

To live out your birthright as a child of God means you no longer measure your worth by what you accomplish, accumulate, or impress others with. Your value is already settled. You belong to God. You are loved before you do anything. From that place of security, everything else flows. Living out this birthright looks like joy that circumstances cannot steal, confidence without arrogance, freedom from comparison, courage in the face of suffering, obedience rooted in trust, and love that mirrors the Father's love. To live out your birthright is to wake up each day knowing that you are a beloved child of God and letting it shape your choices.

Trust.

Surrender.

Believe.

Receive.

God doesn't need your strength. He wants your surrender.

Today's lesson, you are the son or daughter of a great king. He is your Father and your God. The world may praise you or criticize you. It matters not. He is with you, always by your side, guiding you and protecting you. Do not be afraid. You are his. And today's virtue, joy. The virtue of joy is a long-lasting state beyond happiness that is not dependent on external circumstances to be sustained. It is possible to be suffering and experience joy at the same time. The flames of joy can be fanned in our hearts with gratitude and service to others. Joy is the fruit of knowing you are a child of God. If you wish to stir joy in your soul, thank God for all the ways He has blessed you. The other way to flood our souls with joy is by lovingly serving others in need.

I want to invite you today to join the Ambassadors Club. These people are amazing. Here at Dynamic Catholic, we pray for them every day. Here at Dynamic Catholic, they are heroes. They are legends. They are the people who, for the last 17 years, have been allowing us to reach tens of millions of people every year. We love our Ambassadors. If you're an Ambassador, thank you. If you're not an Ambassador, become an Ambassador today. Click the button below, choose your welcome gifts, and join this incredible group of people we call the Dynamic Catholic Ambassadors. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

God of miracles, wonders, and grace.

I thank you for all the good you have done in my life.

For the miracles I recognize.

And the many graces I so often overlook.

I open my heart completely to you today.

Inviting you to completely inhabit my soul.

So that through me—

Others may encounter your love.

Your mercy.

Your compassion.

Your kindness.

And your staggering generosity. Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Don't let the world steal your wonder. See you tomorrow.

See you tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Have a great day!

You want to give us a slate? Go. Simple.

Simple.

Quiet.

Quiet.

You are a miracle.

You are a miracle.

I love the Cubs.

We've been over this. Oh, you specifically would like that. Okay.

Okay. Why don't you two come over here? You're not in this one? Oh, okay. [laughter]

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Oh, amen.

All right, now you're going to do all of that the same, except then you're all going to do receive.

Trust.

Surrender.

Believe.

Receive.

Okay. You a big smile?

Hello.

Let's take that puppy back outside.

Okay. Come on, puppy.