FERNS DIOCESAN JUBILEE CELEBRATION FOR VOLUNTEERS – SUNDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER 2025 – ROWE ST CHURCH, WEXFORD

Fr Billy Swan

This Jubilee Year has invited us to be pilgrims of hope. For Christians, hope is firmly grounded in our faith in the person of Jesus Christ whose life, death, and resurrection reveals God’s transforming love.

At the heart of Jesus’ mission was his commitment to service – to do the will of the Father and to accomplish his mission of saving love to all humankind. Jesus was crystal clear that service was at the heart of his mission. When the mother of James and John approached Jesus and asked him to give her sons first place in his kingdom, Jesus uses the moment to explain the reason he came which was “to serve and not to be served and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). In the new dispensation that was his kingdom, being great meant to be a servant; for one to be first, one had to make oneself last and be at the service of all.

In the Gospel of Luke, the same point is made again, this time in a different context where Jesus poses a rhetorical question for his disciples: “Which of these is greater, the one who sits at table, or the one who serves?” His own answer is clear; “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). Yet Jesus did not just preach about service. It was the spirit that permeated his whole ministry. His washing of the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper was deeply symbolic of what his whole life was about. It was also a deliberate act of example that he urged his disciples of every age of follow:

“When he had washed their feet and taken his garments and resumed his place, at table, he said to them: ‘Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord; and you are right for so I am. If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example that you also should do as I have done to you’” (John 13:12-15).

On the night before his died, with this menial task of washing feet that was reserved for slaves, Jesus expressed the orientation of his whole life as humble service of humanity and instructed that this spirit of service be continued after him by his followers.

It is this spirit of service that our diocese celebrates this weekend – the spirit that enables countless people from our parish and diocese to volunteer to do so much good in their communities every day.

The heartbeat of our parishes and civic communities across the diocese is the dedicated and selfless spirit of volunteers who respond to great needs and contribute their stewardship of time and talent to the benefit of others. There are also countless Catholic volunteers who engage in domestic and international mission work in service to the poor, vulnerable, and marginalised communities.

The heart of a volunteer is filled with a generous devotion to service for others and the mission of the Gospel. In upholding the dignity of every person, volunteers are stewards of the gifts God has given them to advance the work of the Church, to alleviate human suffering, or to contribute to the transformation of the world.

When confronted with the question: “Who is my neighbour?” (Lk 10:29), Jesus shared the timeless parable of the Good Samaritan, “the one who showed mercy,” and concluded by simply saying, “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:37). This is the cornerstone of volunteering, to extend mercy and love to others in imitation of Christ, who “did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).

The Christian volunteer is the one who fulfils the Lord’s great commandment to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Mt 22:39) and who follows Jesus’ golden rule to “do to others as you would have them do to you” (Lk 6:31). Volunteering allows us to respond to Christ with selflessness. 

Yet in the midst of the kindness of volunteering, service-oriented commitment, and the movement to make a real difference in the world, we can forget to tend to our own soul. Perhaps it is fitting that the story of Jesus spending time with Mary and Martha immediately follows the Good Samaritan parable in the Gospel of Luke. Martha, “burdened with much serving” (Lk 10:40), asks Jesus to prod her sister Mary into service and work. Yet the Lord, while grateful for Martha’s generosity, expresses concern for her anxiety and worry.

We, too, can fall into this habit, dedicating ourselves to volunteering for others, yet not allowing ourselves to rest and sit at the Lord’s feet like Martha’s sister Mary (Cf. Lk 10:39,42). 

During this Jubilee celebration of volunteers in parish and diocese, we are invited to pause for a moment from the great work of volunteering and find rest in Christ Jesus, who longs to be with us and share friendship with those he loves.  This invites all volunteers to take time at various points throughout the day and week for prayer and reflection. It invites us that all the good we do and try to do, is all done in Jesus’ name.

Today, we give thanks for all volunteers in our Church and wider community who give so generously of their time and selves to the service of others and for the cause of good. I conclude this short reflection with a prayer that encourages all the baptised to be salt of the earth and light of the world.

PRAYER FOR VOLUNTEERS

‘Everlasting Father, strengthen and sustain all those who volunteer in our churches and communities; that with patience and understanding they may do much good, loving and caring for your people. Grant that together they may follow Jesus Christ your Son who came to serve and not to be served, offering to you their gifts and talents for the good of all. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen’.