13 th November 2005 – 33 rd Sunday, Year A

S: Good morning

Today we’re on the topic of using the gifts God has given us.

B: Well, everyone of us is gifted in some way - but I think we only really ever touch the surface of what we’re capable of. - Our word of life for today comes from an old saying “People who think they are poor in talent are rich in imagination”.

S: I suppose Brenda, what that says to me is that we all think we are poorer in talent than we actually are. I think of the times I’ve been asked to sing a song and I go “Ah no, no - I can’t really sing” and yet I could make some sort of a blast at it.

B: We all have our own examples, maybe we’re just too shy to put ourselves forward and this is precisely what is being asked of us today - Put yourself forward - you have a wealth of experience that can be used for your community.

S: You know Brenda, I hear of so many organisations who find it so difficult to find leaders and if I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a thousand times “Everything is left up to a few”.

B: Maybe some people are terrified of making mistakes but its really the effort that matters more than results and I suppose just trying your best.

S: I’m sure God puts many opportunities for service our way and maybe what we need to do now is to have a good look around us and see how we can use the gifts we have been given. So maybe we need to be a little less critical of the people who actually give of their time and join with them in trying to make our communities more caring places to live.

B: We have a poem for you this morning which asks us to go easy on the judgements we make on others.

Pray don’t find fault with the one who limps

and stumbles along the road.

Unless you have worn the shoes they wears

or struggled beneath the same load.

There may be tacks in their shoes that hurt

though hidden away from view,

Who knows, the bundles they bear, placed on your back

would cause you to stumble too.

Don’t find fault with the one who sins

or pelt them with words or stones.

Unless you are sure, yes double sure

that you have no sins of your own.

Perhaps if the tempter’s voice

should whisper as soft to you.

As it did to them as they went astray

would cause you to stumble too.

Don’t laugh at the one who is down today

unless you have felt the blow

That caused their fall,

or felt the shame that only the fallen know.

You may be strong,

but still the blow that was theirs, if dealt to you

In the self-same way, at the self-same time,

would cause you to stumble too.

S: That poem kind of reminds me of the saying “better to have tried and failed than to never have tried at all”, or “the one who never made a mistake never made anything”.

You’ve been listening to Just a thought with Seamus Madigan

B: and Brenda Cribbin. We can be contacted through the Limerick Diocesan Offices at 66 O’ Connell Street or by e-mailing smadigan@limerickdiocese.org. If you would like your own copy of this reflection you can download it by clicking on limerickdiocese.org

S: We look forward to your company again next week, so take care…..

S& B: Byeeeeee……

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