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Homily stories

11 Nov 2012 - Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

“This poor widow . . . . has contributed all she had.” College-student volunteers working in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake were, as you would expect, culture-shocked at the living conditions of most people they encountered in their attempts to help with cleanup. But what stuck Tom, a student from a Catholic university in the Midwest, was not the peoples’ poverty but their generosity. One day after a hard day’s work under a pitiless sun, Tom and a half-dozen men were resting in the shade sweating. One of the men pulled out a half-bag of crackers and an old man had a can of warm pop, which he opened. Not much and not very satisfying to hungry and thirsty men—yet the bag of broken crackers and the can of soda were passed around, both handed first to their awkward visitor from the United States, who was clearly better-fed and better off than any of them. They would not listen to his refusal. Embarrassed as Tom was, his embarrassment gave way to simple gratitude and then to a kind of bright joy as he finally accepted the food and drink, a part of all they had, realizing he was sharing in a sacrifice. A sacrament.

Authors Father Larry Janowski O.F.M.

Generosity volunteers Haiti sacrifice

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Volunteer spirit explodes

28 Mar 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Christ "emptied himself" to serve the needs of humanity, says this Sunday's reading from the Letter to the Philippians. An increasing number of Americans are finding a way to serve others, in what one community service spokesperson calls a "compassion boom." According to a recent report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.5 million more Americans volunteered between September 2008 and September 2009 than in the previous year. Approximately 63.4 million people, or 26.8 percent of the population, volunteered through or for an organization in 2009. "In this time of economic distress, the need for service and volunteering is more critical today than ever before, and Americans are responding," said Stephen Goldsmith, board chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service. "We're seeing a compassion boom across this country, where communities are banding together and neighbors are reaching out in service to others." Source: A press release from NationalService.gov

volunteers recession united states volunteering stephen goldsmith volunteer service

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Homily stories

27 Mar 2011 - Third Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

A young manager signed on to run a fundraiser at his parish. He asked for 10 volunteers to help pull all the plans together. Then he set them to work during the day; at night after his regular job, he'd stop by the parish to see how things were going. It never failed that certain people just couldn't follow instructions, but one volunteer proved herself invaluable to the project. Everything she did was neat, organized, and accurate. She could type, write, make phone calls, and run errands with no more direction than the request to do it. At the end of the event the young professional sat with his prized volunteer shooting the breeze. The volunteer was lamenting that she needed to get a job but that she had no skills. She got married straight out of high school and spent the past 20 years raising her kids. The young man stared at her in disbelief. "You don't think you have any skills?" he asked. "Believe me, any employer would give their eye teeth to have a worker like you. In fact, I'd hire you myself if I had an opening." Several months later a position did open up, and the man hired the former housewife. After two years, the manager moved on, and the woman who thought she had no skills was promoted to his position. Mentors are essential in our lives, and as the woman at the well discovered in today's gospel, Jesus is our most knowledgeable guide. Why not have him tell you about yourself.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

volunteers skills mentor guide jesus

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Exploring the word

17 Sep 2017 - Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

I teach 10-year-olds their catechism. It’s the hardest job in the world, or so it seems each week as I prepare to face the children. After a lifetime as an adult religious educator—a cakewalk by comparison—I feel thrown into the lion’s den as a parish volunteer. You know what a parish volunteer is? Someone who couldn’t get away fast enough from a swirling drain of need and got sucked down. Catechetical Sunday (today) might sound like the booby prize for “volunteers” like me. We may earn brief applause from the assembly this Sunday. We may receive a cheap plastic cross or prayer card from our grateful parishes. Still, I’ve never been so proud to claim any position in the church. I teach our children. I’m preparing the future church that will one day replace us all. Like most catechists, I plan careful lessons, spend far too much time creating original props I can’t find in any catalog, and watch each week as plans to teach the heck out of some religious concept get derailed by factors beyond my control. One child’s elbow intersects another’s ribs, and there goes the group’s fragile attention for the hour. I’ve finally determined the only good lesson plan boils down to One Big Idea. If I just say one thing across the hour—write it, say it, make them repeat it, sing it, dance it, pin it to a donkey—with any grace it may stick. Jesus had days like this. Three years’ worth, to be exact. How many times, in how many ways, did Jesus teach the forgiveness lesson? He told parables about seeking out wandering sheep or misplaced coins, receiving home a disgraced child, dismissing huge debts. He preached that prostitutes would go to heaven in advance of more pious folk. He taught his disciples to pray: “Forgive us our trespasses—the same way we forgive.” Jesus modeled forgiveness by eating with disreputable people, choosing the hospitality of Zacchaeus the Roman collaborator, even including Matthew (another tax collector) among the privileged 12 apostles. In the end, Jesus hands over his body and blood, then mounts a cross in the name of forgiveness. Could any lesson be more poignantly brought home? And Jesus still has to put up with primal-scream-inducing questions like Peter’s: “How often must I forgive someone for hurting me? Is seven times enough?” By the tone, Peter seems convinced that seven times is six too many. Yet every good catechist learns the drill: If a lesson is important enough, write it, say it, sing it, dance it. Bake it into bread and serve it. Pin it to a cross, do what’s necessary—until finally, your students know it by heart. Related scripture links Guilt through the generations: Exod. 20:5-6, 34:6-7; Num. 14:18; Deut. 5:9-10; Jer. 32:18 Loosing and binding: Matt. 16:19, 18:18; John 20:23 God does not recall our guilt: Ps. 25:7; Isa. 43:25; Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12 Habits of thanksgiving, not wrath: Eph. 4:26, 31-32, 5:4, 19-20; Col. 3:8, 12-17 Catechism links Forgiveness of sins: CCC 976, 977

Authors Alice Camille

catechetical sunday Catechism volunteers catechists Forgiveness seventy times seven

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