Help! Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

11th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Help! Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.

“The harvest is great, but the laborers are few.” Isn’t it the truth! It is difficult to get good help.

Sometimes we hear people saying I’m going to do this, and I’m going to help with that, but sometimes it is just a lot of hot air. Many people do not follow through when it comes to helping. How about you?

All that we have is given to us by God to be shared, and by sharing, we help other people. Jesus tells us in the Gospel today:

“Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.” How are you giving by volunteering? We need help, we need laborers, we need volunteers to help in various ministries.

You can share your talent in that way, by volunteering for ministry and thus helping other people in our parish.

Maybe you volunteered for a ministry in the past, and you don’t want to volunteer for that ministry again. That’s fine. Or maybe you have not volunteered in the past, but your life has changed and now you can.

Or maybe you got burned out volunteering because you struck with it for so long. We are not asking you to sign up for a ministry for life. As a matter of fact, most of the time, it’s better for you if you volunteer for a specific ministry for two to three years, and then move on and volunteer for something else. It keeps you fresh and excited for doing ministry.

As the years pass and the stages of our life follow one upon another, our assignment from God inevitably changes, sometimes quite drastically because there are times in our lives when we have more time to share our time.

Our life’s work does change again and again, but always it has two parts: the inner and the outer, our inner selves and the world around us. Those two parts always go together, and we neglect one or the other only at our peril.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is asking us to think and pray very hard about those two sides of our life work.

Have we recognized what our work is at this time in our life? Are we doing it? Are we missing one side or the other?

It’s so easy to get caught up inside of ourselves, in self-improve­ment, which can be a very good thing, but not to the point that that we forget the people outside us who need the talents that God entrusted to our care to share. And on the other hand, it’s just as easy to get so busy with the business of life, busy doing good things for others, that we starve our spirits by inattention. And that leaves us with very little to give to those who need, which is to be wise, compassionate, and competent in what we do with our God-given talents.

There we have it: the inner and the outer, both essential for a whole life. So we have to ask ourselves: Have we recognized our real work, inner and outer?

Are we giving to both, all we’ve got? “Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.”

We need help in our parish.

Most all people find that when they volunteer, they receive more out of volunteering than what they give. I too find that to be true. When we give of ourselves, we become part of a harvest of joy.

The harvest is the joy God promises by giving of ourselves. It is rich and abundant, inside us and around us. What a shame it would be to miss that harvest, to miss all that joy. God is talking to you and me this very moment about our work. Listen to him, and don’t miss the harvest!

Please share your talent by helping us. We have these yellow ministry signup sheets on the tables at every exit door. You will find ministries for your inner self, like small groups and prayer, and you will find ministries for directly helping others. Please pick one up and sign up today. The harvest is plenty. Laborers, in our parish, are few. Won’t you help us?