Search
-
Week 2: Recognize Your TalentsWhat talents has God given me and how can I use them?
1. Reflection: Romans 12: 4–13 NIV - Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
NEXT STRONG EVENT: Wednesday, May 15 at 6:45 p.m., Sports Field (Rain will cancel the event.)
Enjoy friendly conversations and exciting team building exercises with other parish families!
2. Note from Father Roberts
False modesty is an extremely effective way to avoid taking risks. It is also the surest way to ensure failure. As pimply adolescents we probably used it in order avoid setting ourselves up for disappointments, like asking the homecoming queen to the prom. Only years later, do we learn that she had a secret crush on us all throughout high school and would have gladly accepted. Apparently, she had a thing for tall red-headed, intellectual, football players who were on the speech team. Who would have thought!
When it comes to our relationship with God, much of the time we act like pimply adolescents who don't realize that our complexions aren't any worse than our peers. We try to avoid the fact that every one of us has a personal and unrepeatable Divine purpose so that we can side-step the possibility of falling short. The truth is that God, in giving us our special mission to share His love with others, also gives us unique gifts to help us in that mission. Sadly, we often use spiritual self-deprecation as a mask for fear.
God calls us to avoid the pitfall of saying, "I am nothing special" by embracing the gifts that He has given each one of us. The first step in overcoming this common spiritual ailment is taking time every day to count blessings. While this sounds easy, in the obsessively active lives that most of us live cultivating this good habit only happens when we are intentional about setting time aside for it.
I hope that this week's STRONG program helps you do exactly that.
5. Inspirational Stories3. Family Activity
A quick discussion: Take time this week to affirm those in your family of the talents they have and how they are using them!
What talents did others notice about you?
How can you use these talents have?
4. Songs for downloading
Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord - Michael Smith, Download it
Hold Us Together - Matt Maher, Download it
Selecting to download will redirect you to an iTunes preview page for the artist and album the song is from. You can select to purchase the song or entire album for your family.
This is an excerpt taken from an article by Fr. Brian Cavanaugh. Read full article
At this point, it might be a good time to consider these questions, "Have you ever given much thought concerning the gifts and talents with which God has blessed you?" Or, how to serve others faithfully? Or what is meant by God’s grace in its various forms?
Each man’s or woman’s gifts and talents are not meant to be in competition with one another, but they are to be complementary, those abilities needed to complete the whole…that is to build up the Body of Christ (c.f., 1 Cor. 12:4-31 NAB).
Listen to St. Paul exhorting his young protégé Timothy (2 Tim. 1:6-7 NIV), "For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God…For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."
Difficulties and struggles, by the way, are normal in life, especially when arduously working to develop one’s gifts and talents; bringing them to the fullness of their abilities. To be good at anything in life requires unremitting perseverance and self-discipline regardless of whatever hardships, difficulties or struggles one might encounter.
Every man and woman has a duty to grow one’s different gifts and talents, each into its fullness, and exercise them in contributing to the needs of others. How do you exercise your God-given talents to encourage others, to build them up, to magnify God’s glory in your daily living?
So in closing: God said, "Your task is to build a better world."
And I questioned, "How? This world is such a vast place and, oh, so complicated now. And I am so small and useless, there is nothing I can do."
But God in all great wisdom said, "Just build a better you."
Read full article