Hello, for those of you who do not know me my name is Neileen Dashiell and I am the Pastoral Assistant for Faith Formation. I work in all three parishes with the RCIA process, I provide Sacramental prep, and Faith Formation to you and your children I also help bring programs that will help you and your family grow in your knowledge of our Faith.
Let me start by telling you a little bit about myself. My husband Dave and I have been married for 44 years, I am mother of 5 and grandmother to 9 children. I have been extremely blessed by God in the talents he has given me. These talents have helped me to gain the knowledge and skill that I was then able to use in my professional life and share with others. My God given talents have helped me to accomplish things I would have never dreamed I could do or take part in. For example when I was a Religious Education Director in California our Religious Education program went from 4 volunteers and 20 children to 25 volunteers and 250 students! All in one year! It was an incredible journey. And I felt really blessed to be part of it. Through the years I have worn so many volunteer hats. . I tried using my God given talents in many ways. Some of the things I did were very successful, some not so much. Like when I tried to entertain college coworkers with a smoke laser show. I tried it out in a small room and it worked great but when I did it in the collosseum it did not go as planned. But I learned some valuable lessons and it brought joy and laughter to many as my idea fell smokealy apart. Someone once asked me why I volunteered so much and I thought about it. I gained so much more than I gave. I felt good about myself and got to give joy to others which brought me joy. I was humbled by the blessings I received. Working with children is a wonder and so rewarding. That is one of the talents God gave me. I felt he wanted me to share my knowledge with them.
So you may have guessed why I have been asked to be here today. I want to talk about a priceless gift. It is a gift that only you have been given, no one else just you. It is a gift from God. As I talked to some of your children on Wednesday about their thumb prints and how no one who has ever been born or ever will be born has the same thumb print. God loves us so much that he made us each one of us so very special, so very individual, so very loved. Your priceless talents have been given to you in just the same way. Two people may have been given the same talent of sewing for example. They will each approach a project differently. They will pick different colors, material and the choice they make will result in projects that are not exactly the same.
Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God. What God really wants is the gift of yourself. Everyone has a God-given talents. These talents can be used to benefit the Body of Christ, our parish, and each other. There is a spiritual benefit from giving of your talents. It deepens your faith and you experience Christian joy. Our parish grows because of your gift of yourself and your talents. When you give of yourself you are following Christ and the gospels call.
Your talents are a priceless treasure. And just as our thumb prints are different so are the talents that you have been given. And as we age we may not be able to do the things we once did but even praying for others is a wonderful talent that can be shared.
Erma Bombeck once said “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.”
Stewardship: Loving God with our Time, Talent and Treasure. In Matthew 6:21 it says “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” Open your heart think about what God has given you. We ask that you prayerfully reflect on how you can use these talents to help our parish. The ushers are going to now pass out a Priceless flyer. In this Priceless Flyer are listed are some of the many talents God has given us. We are asking you to help us, to help our parish family, to help each other. Please think, pray and act on how you can use the talents God has given you. Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. … Colossians. Thank you very much.