Stand in front of adults and the results will be different. We hesitate to reply. We need a personal invitation. We need to know it won’t waste our time. We need to know someone respects our gifts as well as our responsibilities. Maybe, just maybe, we will volunteer. We are usually glad when we do!

In the year King Uzziah died, Isaiah received a call from God. Isaiah saw a vision of seraphim calling out to one another of God’s holiness in a dwelling filled with smoke. Isaiah thought himself unworthy to be there until one of the angels touched his mouth with a burning ember. Cleansed from sin, Isaiah responded like a young child ready to volunteer: “Here I am! Send me!”

Sometimes we don’t volunteer because we feel unworthy. We are painfully aware of our sin. But once we have the vision, once we perceive God’s presence, once we experience God’s mercy, we do respond to God’s call. We have to.

In the end, there is no volunteering among Christians. There is only ministry, the natural response to the life of grace.

Written by Paul Turner. Liturgy Training Publications.
Copyright 2003, Archdiocese of Chicago