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Homily stories

27 Mar 2011 - Third Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

A young manager signed on to run a fundraiser at his parish. He asked for 10 volunteers to help pull all the plans together. Then he set them to work during the day; at night after his regular job, he'd stop by the parish to see how things were going. It never failed that certain people just couldn't follow instructions, but one volunteer proved herself invaluable to the project. Everything she did was neat, organized, and accurate. She could type, write, make phone calls, and run errands with no more direction than the request to do it. At the end of the event the young professional sat with his prized volunteer shooting the breeze. The volunteer was lamenting that she needed to get a job but that she had no skills. She got married straight out of high school and spent the past 20 years raising her kids. The young man stared at her in disbelief. "You don't think you have any skills?" he asked. "Believe me, any employer would give their eye teeth to have a worker like you. In fact, I'd hire you myself if I had an opening." Several months later a position did open up, and the man hired the former housewife. After two years, the manager moved on, and the woman who thought she had no skills was promoted to his position. Mentors are essential in our lives, and as the woman at the well discovered in today's gospel, Jesus is our most knowledgeable guide. Why not have him tell you about yourself.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

volunteers skills mentor guide jesus

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The inner word

18 Jan 2009 - Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

A persistent calling awoke the young Samuel, and it was his mentor, Eli, who recognized it for what it was—a call from God. The Lord awoke Samuel and revealed his presence. Eli helped him know how to respond. As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him. Who in my life has been a mentor and helped me hear the voice of God? Who has been instrumental in helping me discern my calling to ministry? How is God speaking to me most powerfully in my life today? Can I name a time during the past year when I helped someone listen for God’s voice in their life?

call Samuel voice of God mentor

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Generativity is not an option

Short essays about observed trends in Roman Catholic life - Pastoral trends

What do you want to leave behind? Maybe it is more true for men—or not—but it is sometimes said that in the first season of a man’s life he is busy proving what he can do and leaving his mark on the world. Only after that, beginning perhaps in his 40s, can he then take stock of what he is about and, now at a different level, take on certain things and let go of others, including the illusion of things that are simply not authentically his. At this stage and beyond, he is able to be truly “generative,” to give life to others as a mentor and guide. Generativity is not so much about biological reproduction as personal relationship, a relationship that often involves some form of initiation. At least that is often said to be true of men, perhaps because their gender is not physically endowed with the capacity to bring forth the next generation. And so men, it is said, give live to others—exercise generativity—when they have reached a point of wisdom and understanding, not before. All of that may or may not be true about human beings. But what about us as church? How generative are we and our structures? Do we have room to mentor, to initiate others, whether they are interested in a particular vocation or simply the universal call to holiness? A church is no exception to other social organizations—if it cannot be generative, it will be among the declining and dying. We either grow or diminish. Generativity is not an option. To refuse it would seem to be a death wish. Or blasphemy. Or both. © 2008, Bryan Froehle.

Authors Bryan Froehle

generativity mentor Wisdom

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Homily stories

15 Mar 2020 - Third Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

A young manager signed on to run a fundraiser at his parish. He asked for 10 volunteers to help pull all the plans together. Then he set them to work during the day; at night after his regular job, he’d stop by the parish to see how things were going. It never failed that certain people just couldn’t follow instructions, but one volunteer proved herself invaluable to the project. Everything she did was neat, organized, and accurate. She could type, write, make phone calls, and run errands with no more direction than the request to do it. At the end of the event the young professional sat with his prized volunteer shooting the breeze. The volunteer was lamenting that she needed to get a job but that she had no skills. She got married straight out of high school and spent the past 20 years raising her kids. The young man stared at her in disbelief. “You don’t think you have any skills?” he asked. “Believe me, any employer would give their eye teeth to have a worker like you. In fact, I’d hire you myself if I had an opening.” Several months later a position did open up, and the man hired the former housewife. After two years, the manager moved on, and the woman who thought she had no skills was promoted to his position. Mentors are essential in our lives, as the woman at the well discovered in today’s gospel, Jesus is our most knowledgeable guide. Why not have him tell you about yourself.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

mentors

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Homily stories

12 Mar 2023 - Third Sunday of Lent, Cycle A

A young manager signed on to run a fundraiser at his parish. He asked for 10 volunteers to help pull all the plans together. Then he set them to work during the day; at night after his regular job, he'd stop by the parish to see how things were going. It never failed that certain people just couldn't follow instructions, but one volunteer proved herself invaluable to the project. Everything she did was neat, organized, and accurate. She could manage an entire office with no more direction than the request to do it. At the end of the event the young professional sat with his prized volunteer shooting the breeze. The volunteer was lamenting that she needed to get a job but that she had no skills. She had married straight out of high school and spent the past 20 years raising her kids. The young man stared at her in disbelief. "You don't think you have any skills?" he asked. "Believe me, any employer would give their eye teeth to have a worker like you. In fact, I'd hire you myself if I had an opening." Several months later a position did open up, and the man hired the former stay-at-home mom. After two years, the manager moved on, and the woman who thought she had no skills was promoted to his position. Mentors are essential in our lives, and as the woman at the well discovered in today's gospel, Jesus is our most knowledgeable guide. Why not have him tell you about yourself.

Authors Patrice J. Tuohy

mentors guides

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Homily stories

13 Oct 2024 - Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

His statue stands outside the student center at De Paul University. His journey began as a young seminarian who was not “very bright,” to use his own words. He realized that to make it to ordination in those days required that he pass all his classes, which wasn’t easy for him and even more important, to keep all the rules, many of which were archaic to the point of meaningless. That was harder. But the reward ultimately would be difficult as well, but also great. After ordination he found himself freed up to let the people in the parish teach him what it really meant to be a priest. His ministry blossomed as he reached out to the disenfranchised, to young adults, to the poor, to those whose voices were not being heard by society or the church. One cardinal tried to silence him, forcing him out of the diocese. He was able to return when a new cardinal invited him back. He gathered a group of us who were, at that time, young pastors to share his vision of justice and the priesthood as he continued to reach out to promote the gospel in his old age. A few days before he died, from his bed, he was urging the city to control predatory storefront loan offices preying on the poor. His priesthood went far beyond keeping the rules, the commandments. He truly was wise, choosing to follow what Jesus called him to do and to be. Msrg. Jack Egan, my mentor.

Authors Father Dominic Grassi

msgr. jack egan Wisdom mentor

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