It can be tempting to look at our lives and say “I’m just a...”. I’m just a kid or I’m just a senior or I’m just somebody trying to get by. Often the follow up to that is “I don’t or I can’t…”. I’m so busy, I don’t have time. I’m barely making ends meet, I can’t give. However, the saddest response may be “I’m nothing special. I don’t have anything to offer.”
Genesis 1:27 tells us that God made humans in God’s image. All of us are unique and worthy. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 that we are all part of Christ’s body and “… in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.” All of us have something valuable to offer.
View your stewardship commitment through God’s eyes. For a parent, giving of time may be a meal prepared for your family at the end of a busy day and a bedtime story with your child. Giving of time for a teen might be listening to a friend or helping with a math assignment. Giving of time for a senior might be setting aside 20 minutes for a rosary or a phone call to a
homebound friend.
Are you unappreciative of the talents that God has given to you? Put value on your ability to shovel snow on the sidewalks in your neighborhood. Sharing a genuine smile with friends and strangers is a talent that is tricky when wearing a mask but one everyone can practice that makes a difference. Use a gift for words to write a note or a poem or draw a picture to make someone’s day brighter.
Reimagine your gift of treasure as sharing a snack, lending a tool, or baking cookies for a neighbor. Is it possible to pay for a cup of coffee for another person in the line? Add a dollar or two to the collection for St. Vincent de Paul? Most people do not have huge sums of money to donate but this doesn’t mean that there is nothing to give.
Don’t succumb to “Someday Syndrome.” Look with an open heart to the gifts that God has assigned to you. With gratitude, pledge to use this time, talent, and treasure as good and faithful stewards…today.
-Mary Beth Huba, Stewardship Council
Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church
