Excerpt from 'Catholic Stewardship: Sharing God's Gifts' by Colleen Smith

Gratitude Is Contagious

I used to volunteer at a food line. Each Friday morning, I helped pack 250 brown-bag lunches for people who lined up humbly in the alley behind a magnificent Gothic cathedral. It didn’t take a lot of talent. We volunteers filled sacks with sandwiches, a piece of fruit, a piece of string cheese, candy or cookies, a carton of milk, and some soul food — that is, a slip of paper printed with a Scripture verse.

At 10:30 a.m., we opened the doors, prayed a blessing and passed out lunches. My first day, I was astonished by the poverty of the people, mostly men, mostly mentally ill, mostly homeless. Most greeted me politely. Many thanked me. Several said, “God bless you,” as they accepted their food. Most did not make eye contact with me, but some smiled. And in their smiles I thought I caught a glimpse of the smile of Jesus Christ, who in no uncertain terms called us to care for the poor.

After a few weeks, I began to recognize many of the faces in the food lines, and I learned some of their names, their stories. Of course, I had contributed money to my parish and to charitable organizations before, but I had never felt the dirty but warm hand of a man who slept winter nights beneath the bumper of a car. I had never looked at the holes in the toes of an elderly woman’s boots as she shuffled through snow.

At first, I was afraid I might be incapable of connecting with people who were unwashed, smelly, disheveled, sometimes drunk or drugged. But I quickly realized that these people are more like me than different. The guys like Peanut M&Ms in their sack lunches. A couple of them were accompanied by their beloved dogs. They have dreams, frustrations, and, despite their plight, a sense of humor.

One subzero February day, for example, I shivered in the alley talking with a middle-aged man who had survived on the streets for years.

“Cold,” I commented, trying to make conversation, my teeth chattering.

“Ma’am,” he said, “it’s colder than a brass toilet seat on the shady side of an iceberg.”

Together, we laughed. Then he showed me the ski mittens he had received as a Christmas gift from a parish Jesse tree. “Somebody out there cares for me,” he said.

In that instant, I wished the person who had contributed those mittens understood the hope they had given. We often don’t know how deeply our good works touch people. Volunteering one’s time permits this sort of touching insight into the plight of people in need. When we give of our time, we draw near the community and become insiders in ways we can’t achieve from a distance.

Catholic Stewardship: Sharing God's Gifts
by Colleen Smith
What is stewardship, how can we use God's gifts, and how do we get started? This little book can help. 0-9707756-4-4, Booklet, 80 pages, $4.95 plus S&H, ID #:T1. Click here to order.