On the morning before I sat down to write this, I walked toward the front gate at Holy Apostles and was greeted by one of our Porters, who was eager to tell me about a story he heard on the news. To mark the anniversary of the September 11th attacks, this story focused on different ways that New Yorkers were remembering the day and honoring those who lost their lives. One couple profiled decided to donate one hour of community service for each of the 2,996 people who died.
Given the magnitude of need in our city and in our world, this might seem like a feeble offering. The total number of hours each of these two people wanted to give comes out to about one year of full time work. Will that amount of service be enough to spark a radical change in anything? Will it alter the trajectory of systemic injustice? Maybe, maybe—probably!—not.
And that, to me, made the story powerful. These volunteers were willing to give their time without any guarantee of “results.” They offered themselves in response to a tragedy. They gave the gift of living presence to honor those who died.
In that gift (and all such gifts) there are unpredictable blessings for the giver. Jesus knew this. The gifts he gave to people throughout his ministry bore relational fruit and had relational ripple effects. We can participate in that connective energy by giving of our presence. There are many ways to do this. So as we move into the autumn, with all the joys and challenges specific to 2024, let’s pray for an awareness of the many ways God invites us to give of ourselves.
