2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time—C2004
1 Corinthians 12:4-11
Deacon Lee Hunt (St. Monica)

Use Your Gifts!

When a married man studies to become a deacon, his wife must also participate in the same studies so that they grow in faith together. For three years, my wife and I attended weekend classes four times per year and ten days during the summer. We also worked together on a bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry.

Both Karen and I have different gifts. In many ways, we are models for one another. Karen ministers well to the dying because of her experience as a nurse. She helps feed the poor in Edmond one day per week. She is vocal against the death penalty. Her strengths help build up my weaknesses.

Good use of our gifts is important for strengthening our families. A strong marriage is built around both partners combining their strengths as a team so as to offset their individual weaknesses. As a couple, my wife and I are a more effective team when she’s doing the cooking and I’m watching the finances. The opposite is the case for one of our daughters.

Good use of our gifts is also important to build up our parish.

In today’s second reading, St. Paul tells the Corinthians that:
o there are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same spirit
o there are different forms of service, but the same Lord
o and there are different workings, but the same God who produces all of them in everyone

If we read subsequent verses in Paul’s letter, he speaks of a body being composed of many parts and that all the parts are required for the body to function properly. Since the body represents the Church and the parts are its members, let’s examine the members more closely.

St. Paul says that God gives gifts to everyone. So, even though we might feel that we were left out when these gifts were distributed, all of us do have a gift. If we don’t know what it is, then we have to search for it. Sometimes it is as easy as using one of the strengths we have developed in the secular world and applying it to our parish.

I first applied one of my gifts to the Church in the 1980s. It didn’t directly involve my career as a chemist, but indirectly I had good organizational skills that I applied by becoming a member of the Pastoral Council in a parish in New Jersey. Each of you also has some gift that you can use here at St. Monica.

Of course, it is easy to say that using these gifts are for someone else to do, perhaps especially the pastor and deacon. Well, Fr. Tim and I do apply our gifts, but they are not enough. Let me explain through some statistics.

Here is a rough composition of our parish. There is one priest and one deacon. If we assume that there are three persons in each of 800 families, this means that there are 2 clergy for 2400 people. Therefore, you comprise 99.9% of our parish. So, it is very obvious that what we can do as a parish depends on all of you. You are the potential of what this parish can become.

If you took a class in physics, you may remember that there are two kinds of energy: potential energy and kinetic energy. Potential energy is stored in a non-moving object. This energy only becomes useful when the object moves. Our gift is potential energy. Our gift only becomes useful when it is put into motion. So, how do we get all this potential here at St. Monica to get moving?

The first step to get moving is to determine what our gifts are. Next, we begin to move by volunteering in an already existing ministry here in the parish. If we are creative, we may have ideas for a new ministry in the parish. Tell us your ideas and suggest how they might be accomplished.

What if we aren’t sure of what our spiritual gifts are? What if we have several and we need help in accessing which is our strongest gift? There is a 96-question discovery guide for spiritual gifts. I have used it twice and discovered that my stronger gifts have changed over time. Some of the 24 possible gifts identified by this guide are leadership, hospitality, service, music, healing, teaching, etc. Contact me if you want help discovering your spiritual gifts.

Our parish has great potential. Help us unleash it by using your God-given gifts. Then, we will be able to more fruitfully respond to the gospel imperative of bringing the good news to all people.