She was sitting with three other ladies, also in wheelchairs, when I found her at the nursing home. She was over 100 years old. “We can’t do much anymore,” she said about herself and her friends.

“I bet you can still pray,” I said. They nodded. “How about an ‘Our Father’?” I asked. In unison we prayed, and they beamed at their contribution. That image of four ladies advanced in years praying an Our Father remains with me as a response prompted by the Holy Spirit. It speaks to the “something more” we can do for others no matter our perceived limitations—and how it can grow to help even more people. It also teaches me to personally invite people into ministry, no matter how small or how large the request. Volunteering always starts with an invitation to build a relationship and is accompanied by an openness to accept and value another person’s human dignity.

One of the best Biblical stories about volunteering is Jesus calling the apostles to join Him in His ministry. He didn’t offer them any money. He didn’t make a giant announcement in the town square. He simply asked them to follow Him. We answer that call today by volunteering at a parish in ministries that lead to life-long relationships within the community, on a board or a commission, or with national or international movements. These can connect an individual’s gifts, both apparent and yet to be developed, to a greater good and the glory of God.

I’m thinking of the gifts of the Archdiocesan Catholic Social Action Commission: a lawyer; an organist and historian; a rural community leader; a theology professor; three priests versed in ecumenism, immigration and caring for the poor; two parish leaders steeped in community justice; a spiritual director and Catholic Social Teaching instructor; a Hispanic community catechist; a former archdiocesan director and parish environmental activist; a retired human relations professional volunteering for immigrants and returning citizens; and a graduate assistant from UD.

We share our talents to deal with poverty, hunger, respect life and immigration issues, to name a few. We also help people who sit in the pews next to us with instruction on forming our consciences as an election approaches, on what it means to be made in the image of God and on how that requires us to respect and love our neighbor.

There is also the blessing of volunteering with a national movement, such as Catholic Relief Services (CRS) chapters. Through CRS, we learn how to advocate with Congress members for international aid programs that directly help our brothers and sisters survive and thrive in climates that make it difficult to grow food or collect water. We have accomplished this by building relationships with staff—many of them Catholic—in the offices of U.S. Representatives and Senators.

For anyone, a family’s dinner conversation may focus on the problems of the day. As that circle of awareness moves out from those around the table, it may be hard for a family to imagine that they can do something about world hunger.

This year CRS is celebrating a response that began in Allentown, PA, 50 years ago. That’s when the first cardboard rice bowls appeared on family dinner tables to collect coins saved by small sacrifices throughout Lent. Families volunteering to set aside a little change have helped break the cycle of hunger and build health and resilience around the globe.

PAM LONG volunteers as Director of Love in Action in the St. Stephen Family of Parishes in Hamilton. She is a second-year chair of the Archdiocesan Catholic Social Action Commission and is a co-leader of both the CRS Chapter of Dayton, Cincinnati & SW Ohio and the CRS Ohio Coalition.

This article appeared in the March 2025 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.