8 - 9 March 2025

Celebration of Volunteers

To correspond with the Jubilee celebration of Volunteers in Rome March 8th to 9th.

Volunteering has allowed the lay faithful to step forward into the universal call to holiness in service to the Church and society. The heartbeat of my parish and civic communities across the Catholic World are the dedicated and selfless volunteers who respond to great needs and contribute their stewardship of time, talent, and treasure to the benefit of others. There are also countless Catholic volunteers who engage in domestic and international mission work in service to the poor, vulnerable, and marginalized communities.

WHO IS A VOLUNTEER? WHAT IS VOLUNTEERING?

This word has many meanings in Catholic settings.

Here are a few thoughts about who can be included within the broad category of “volunteering.” This is not an exclusive list.

Parishioners who volunteer for one or more of the ministries in a parish community (i.e., liturgical ministers, church council members, children’s catechists, musicians or choir members, food pantry support, soup kitchen, Legion of Mary, St Vincent de Paul, Knights of Columbus, altar servers, non-paid ministry coordinators, etc.).
Lay Catholics who give of their time and giftedness to the civic community (i.e., docents, volunteer firefighters, community clean-up work, non-paid assisted living support, those who assist with secular poverty programs and shelters, those who coordinate community social events, etc.).
Lay Catholics who are active on the regional, national, or global level through volunteer based service and/or mission organizations (i.e., Catholic Volunteer Network, Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services, Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Greenpeace, Mercy Volunteer Corps, Franciscan Mission Service, Salesian Lay Missioners, etc.).

SPIRITUAL REFLECTION

The heart of a volunteer exudes a generous devotion to service for others and the mission of the Gospel. In upholding the dignity of every person, volunteers are stewards of the gifts God has given them to advance the work of the Church, to alleviate human suffering, or to contribute to the transformation of the world. When confronted about true righteousness and asked, “who is my neighbor?” (Lk 10:29), Jesus shared the timeless parable of the Good Samaritan, “the one who treated (the victim) with mercy,” and concluded by simply saying, “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37).

This is the cornerstone of volunteering, to extend mercy and love to others in imitation of Christ, who “did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).

The Christian volunteer is the one who fulfils the Lord’s great commandment to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 22:39) and who follows Jesus’ golden rule to “do to others as you would have them do to you” (Lk 6:31).

Volunteering allows us to respond to Christ with selflessness. Yet in the midst of the kindness of volunteering, service-oriented commitment, and the movement to make a real difference in the world, a person can forget to tend their own soul. Perhaps it is fitting that the story of Jesus spending time with Mary and Martha immediately follows the Good Samaritan parable in the Gospel of Luke. Martha, “burdened with much serving” (Lk 10:40), asks Jesus to prod her sister Mary into service work, yet the Lord, while grateful for Martha’s generosity, expresses concern for her anxiety and worry. We, too, can fall into this habit, dedicating ourselves to volunteering for others, yet not allowing ourselves to rest and sit at the Lord’s feet like Martha’s sister Mary (see Lk 10:39,42).

During this Jubilee celebration, you are invited to pause for a moment from the great work of volunteering and find rejuvenation in Christ Jesus, who longs to give his people an experience of divine grace. Take time at various points throughout the year for prayer and reflection. Seek out or renew your engagement with a spiritual director or companion.

Refresh yourself in the warmth and embrace of the Christian community, which can strengthen us for the work ahead.

KEY SAINTS & BLESSEDS

Holy Companions for Lay Volunteers

St. Martha (first century, feast day July 29), sister of Mary and Lazarus of Bethany and friend of Jesus of Nazareth; she is known from the Scriptures for her service in the home and her bold friendship with the Lord. An advocate for hospitality, we know little of her life after the Resurrection.

St. Vincent de Paul (1581-1660, feast day September 27), patron of charities, volunteers, and hospitals and co-founder of the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians) and the Confraternity of Charity. A native of France, Vincent was a humble, compassionate priest who dedicated himself to serving the poor.

St. Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850, feast day January 22), founder of the Union of the Catholic Apostolate and the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (in 1835), who believed that all (ordained, consecrated, and lay alike) are called to be apostles, co-responsible for the Church’s mission.

St. Zita (1212-1272, feast day April 27), patron of single laywomen, domestic workers, and service work; well-known for humility, meekness, and generosity, she was a domestic servant for a rich Italian household while also spending additional time serving the poor and sick in their homes in the community.

Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925, feast day July 4), lay volunteer, athlete, student, activist, member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, beloved among the poor and marginalized, and declared the “Man of the Beatitudes”; engaged in regular acts of Christian charity, service, and support, especially for the sick and dying people of Turin, Italy. Died of polio at young adult age of 25 while ministering to polio victims.

Bl. Michael McGivney (1852-1890, feast day August 13), founder of the

Knights of Columbus (in 1882) and filled with a “zeal for the proclamation of the Gospel and generous concern for his brothers and sisters” that “made him an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance.”

Dorothy Day (1897-1980), lay volunteer, journalist, activist, Catholic convert, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, and candidate for sainthood; she was “a great witness to faith, hope and charity in the 20th century," who served the poor and worked for justice and lived in New York and Chicago.

PRAYER FOR LAY VOLUNTEERS

Christifideles Laici Prayer

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ and Mother of the Church, with joy and wonder we seek to make our own your Magnificat, joining you in your hymn of thankfulness and love. With you we give thanks to God, "whose mercy is from generation to generation", for the exalted vocation and the many forms of mission entrusted to the lay faithful. God has called each of them by name to live his own communion of love and holiness and to be one in the great family of God's children. He has sent them forth to shine with the light of Christ and to communicate the fire of the Spirit in every part of society through their life inspired by the gospel. O Virgin of the Magnificat, fill their hearts with a gratitude and enthusiasm for this vocation and mission. With humility and magnanimity, you were the "handmaid of the Lord"; give us your unreserved willingness for service to God and the salvation of the world. Open our hearts to the great anticipation of the Kingdom of God and of the proclamation of the Gospel to the whole of creation. Your mother's heart is ever mindful of the many dangers and evils which threaten to overpower men and women in our time. At the same time your heart also takes notice of the many initiatives undertaken for good, the great yearning for values, and the progress achieved in bringing forth the abundant fruits of salvation. O Virgin full of courage, may your spiritual strength and trust in God inspire us, so that we might know how to overcome all the obstacles that we encounter in accomplishing our mission. Teach us to treat the affairs of the world with a real sense of Christian responsibility and a joyful hope of the coming of God's Kingdom, and of a "new heaven and a new earth". You who were gathered in prayer with the Apostles in the Cenacle, awaiting the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, implore his renewed outpouring on all the faithful, men and women alike, so that they might more fully respond to their vocation and mission, as branches engrafted to the true vine, called to bear much fruit for the life of the world. O Virgin Mother, guide and sustain us so that we might always live as true sons and daughters of the Church of your Son. Enable us to do our part in helping to establish on earth the civilization of truth and love, as God wills it, for his glory. Amen.

Glastonbury Shrine28 February 2025