Good
evening/morning. My name is Matt Aujero, and I would like to thank Fr.
Ken, the Diocese of Trenton, and you fine people here at Jesus the Lord for
letting me speak to y’all on behalf of the Office of the Catholic Volunteer
Network based out of Washington, D.C. This is my first time in Keyport,
New Jersey. I looked you guys up before I came here. Apparently
you’re “The Pearl of the Bayshore.” Wow. I’m from Durham, North Carolina
and we’re known as the “City of Medicine.” I don’t know about you but
I’ll take “The Pearl of the Bayshore” any day.
Now, to tell
you more about Catholic Volunteer Network, I feel it’s appropriate to start
with today’s Gospel. Father Kenneth just beautifully read the famous
story of Jesus multiplying the loaves and the fish for five thousand.
Anybody remember how many loaves and fish Jesus started with?
(Pause) Five loaves and two fish. For five thousand. For the
parents out there who feed a family of five, I’m sure that’s enough,
right? Try five thousand.
Nowhere in
the reading we hear Jesus saying, “Um, guys, I don’t have enough.” Maybe
in the fine print somewhere but not in the version we read today. But
let’s think about that phrase, “I don’t have enough” and how often we say that
phrase in our lives.
“I don’t have
enough time for this.”
“I don’t have
enough money for this.”
“Honestly, I
don’t have enough patience for this.”
But Jesus
never says that, does He? He takes what God has given Him, five loaves
and two fish, and He multiplies it. He makes it work.
I’d like to
share my own five loaves and two fish story with you. In Costa Rica, I
used to visit this old folk’s home, and I remember my first visit in September
I met this 75-year-old blind woman named Flori. She sat in her wheelchair
in the back from everyone else, and she just didn’t look like a happy
person. Well, optimistic me, I made it my goal that day to cheer her up,
get a smile out of her. I tell you what she was not having it.
I tried telling stories, joking with
her. I told her, “Flori, even though you can’t see me, you’re looking at
the most good-looking Filipino you’d ever known.” No response. She
probably knew I was lying to her.
She asked if
I had a girlfriend, and I’m thinking “OK, this is my chance.” I tell her,
“Nope, don’t have a girlfriend. Just you, Flori, you’re my girlfriend.”
She tilts her head and looks right at me, dead serious, and says, “Mateo (that
was my Spanish name, Mateo) I have a husband.” OK, jokes that work, still
zero.
It was
getting towards the end of my visit that day, and I happened to have brought my
guitar, and I decided I wanted to feel good about myself wanted to end on a
good note and play for everyone there. I took some songs that I had
translated to Spanish and I started to sing and play away, teaching as I
went. It was fun, I had some clapping their hands, some even singing
along, and some…straight up sleeping, but in the middle of it, I catch with the
corner of my eye, Flori, in her wheelchair in the back of the room. And
she’s smiling. My guitar (not my singing), but my guitar, my five loaves
and two fish, what God gave me, was enough to make Flori smile.
It was at
that moment when I realized that service is not about changing the world.
It’s about changing the day of one person at a time. For me, it’s about
making people like Flori smile.
And that’s
the mission of Catholic Volunteer Network. It’s about the 14,000 plus
volunteers who are currently in our member programs, who take the five loaves
and two fish that God has given them, to change the days and lives of people
like my friend Flori. Five loaves and two fish to literally feed the
stomachs of hungry children, or feed the minds of those we teach, or in reality
feed the hearts and souls of those we touch. Schools, health clinics,
construction, youth programs, the list goes on of every type of service
imaginable happening in our programs in all 50 states and more than 100
countries worldwide.
Who are these
volunteers? It’s lay men and women like you---high school, college,
single, married, older, retired. Our volunteers are people who want to
use their skills in areas of health care, education, engineering, management,
community outreach, poverty relief, the list goes on and on, all to serve the
poor and those who need it. Answering the
call to serve, taking a step of faith into the unknown for those in need.
Some take a few weeks, some a summer, others like me, take on a whole year or
two to immerse themselves among the people they serve.
And why do
people choose service?
I know quite
a few people parents who like to use their vacation time to not only see the
world, but also help those they see, too. Both my parents, for example,
are Registered Nurses and are retiring, around the same age as some of the
early retirees in this room, and they have a lot more time. The other day
my dad calls me on the phone, “Matt, do your programs need nurses?
Maybe you can find us something with your CVS job.” “Dad, it’s CVN,
Catholic Volunteer Network, and yes, our programs need nurses. I’ll find
you something.”
Lastly, for
those graduating college, it is the perfect time to take a year or two and
immerse yourself in another city or country to serve. You can defer your
loans, you get a living stipend, full room and board, insurance, the works, and
a chance to see a different world and find the person you are outside of
college. A mentor once told me that the year after college is the most
forming year of our adulthood. It’s so true. I graduated from the
Catholic University of America out of D.C. last year with a Business Management
degree and still wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. I did my year
of service in Costa Rica, and I fell in love with teaching English to my
juniors down there. Now I’m so sure of what I want to do, and it’s become
a high school English teacher. It’s not as important in what we choose to
do, but how certain we are with full confidence with what we want to do.
I came back with that. How many college graduates do you know have that
kind of confidence in what they want in their future?
All of the details
of our programs are organized and listed right here in this Response book.
These books are available for free to take home, and share this with your
children, grandchildren, grandparents, neighbors, coworkers, your mailman and
your dog. We have a toll free number to call us if you want one-on-one
assistance. And we can also be reached on our Web site at www.catholicvolunteernetwork.org I’ll be available after Mass
if you’d like to see me and talk about more about service. I’ll be the
good-looking Filipino in the back.
Before I end,
I would like to come back to the metaphor in the Gospel, and ask you, what are
your fives loaves and two fish that God has given you?
Maybe that’s
five days, you and your spouse, on a summer mission trip in Guatemala. Or
five months for your son or daughter who’s graduating college to spend in inner
city New York working an after school program.
Maybe your
five loaves and two fish is five dollars and two zeroes after it in today’s
collection. Talk about a multiplication miracle, right? But really,
for forty years Catholic Volunteer Network has remained faithful to its mission
because of the generosity of the good people in our parishes, parishes like Jesus
the Lord. Your contribution today will help us to continue recruiting
volunteers and serve the needs of all our mission programs. It will also
help pay for my gas money back to D.C. Kidding.
Lastly, and
most importantly, maybe your five loaves and two fish is five minutes and
two seconds of prayer for us. We ask that you pray for our mission, our
volunteers, and the people we serve. And the smiles we create for
75-year-old blind women.
Five loaves
and two fish. Is it enough? Jesus said it was. Now let’s make
it multiply.
Amen?
Amen.
Amen. :)
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