Once upon a time, we had calendars that included plenty of service opportunities for all of us, including our kids of varying ages. From serving at Mass to a wide-variety of parish events, school activities, group service projects, and more, there was never a loss of small needs for us to fill.
Enter COVID-related closures and restrictions and gone are, well, virtually ALL of those opportunities from Christmas caroling at homes for the aged to serving fish dinners. Nearly every opportunity has been wiped out.
And yet, there is more need than ever from people who are financially burdened, socially isolated, physically ill, and spiritually and psychologically stressed.
The need exists on this side of the service, too, by those of us feeling as though we’ve spent entirely too many months focused on ourselves looking inward (which is good, to a degree) instead of outward.
This post is as much for my benefit as for anyone else’s. I’d love to hear how you’ve been able to maintain service opportunities or create new ones to fill an existing need.
Here’s my short list of where to start, even when opportunities are severely limited.
- Pray. I can see the eye-rolling from here either because prayer is a given or we secretly think (despite what we might say) that it doesn’t make a real difference. If we believe it does, let’s act like it does. Prayer is always and everywhere an appropriate response whether it’s able to be accompanied by another action or not.
- Go it alone. Brainstorm projects or tasks you can accomplish at home. Can you create and send cards or letters, assemble kits or packs, record a video, etc.?
- Get outdoors. Can you accomplish something outside? Roadside cleanup, park maintenance, or property cleanup?
- Give it away. Donate unused or outgrown clothes, household items, nonperishable foods, cash, blood, clothes, gift cards, etc. Challenge: Give the good stuff, not just the cast-offs or bargain-priced items. Pro-tip: If the local collection bin is full, do not pile your items on the ground. Wait until the bin is emptied or go the extra distance to take it to a proper drop-off point.
- Ask God to bring the need to you. Seriously. Ask God to present you with a need to be filled and watch what happens. He literally delivered a confused, elderly woman to my front door. Granted, it took me a bit to figure out what was needed, but there was my opportunity, right on my front porch.
Need some ideas? The Corporal Works of Mercy and Spiritual Works of Mercy are good places to start. I recommend these practical suggestions made by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for practicing the works of mercy precisely during the COVID-19 pandemic.
What creative ways have you found for reaching out and helping others over the past year?
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During the pandemic my church has eliminated paper bulletins. We can only get bulletins online. An elderly friend told another friend that she wished she could read the bulletin (the elderly woman doesn’t have a computer or smartphone). The second friend asked if I had her address and could help. So each week I download, print, and mail the bulletin. It’s a small thing, but it means a lot to the recipient.
That’s wonderful! So many elderly are completely left out by everything going digital. I can’t imagine they’re all casting streaming Masses to their smart TVs either.
Wow, you are always looking at the bigger picture. As Christians–as humans, really–we definitely have a need to serve one another and so many doors have been closed. Leave it to you to point out some other doors that we can possibly open!
I don’t know that I deserve that much credit, but I’ve been noticing the lack of service when I compared last year’s wall calendar to this year’s. In the past, we didn’t have to make an effort. Opportunities came to us. This year, I’ve gone through four contacts in our diocese just trying to find out how my kids can mail cards to prisoners. (No luck yet.)
Thanks for this article Carolyn. Your advice about donating items is fabulous. Lately I have been asking the Lord to show me which items I should give away and to whom. When I donate to charity I try and think if this is something worthy of giving to others. It is amazing how God will give us opportunities to serve if we just ask him.
It is! I think it’s one of those prayers He happily and promptly answers.