“To you the helpless can entrust their cause; you are the helper of orphans.” Ps 10:4.
“May he send you help from the sanctuary and give you support,” Ps 20:2.
“Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!” Ps 30:10.
“The Lord is on my side to help me,” Ps 118: 7.
“Peace, peace to you, and peace to your helpers! For your God helps you,” 1 Chron 12:18.
“They helped David and his band, since they were all men of standing.” 1 Chron 12:22.
“What help you give to the powerless, what strength to the feeble arm!” Job 26:2.
The twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty,” Acts 6:1-6.
“When he arrived there he was able by God’s grace to help the believers considerably demonstrating from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.” Acts 18:27-28.
“I was blessed with God’s help, and so I have stood firm to this day,” Acts 26:22.
“Our helper in the Lord,” Rom 16:9.
“God has appointed in the Church, helpers,” 1 Cor 12:28.
“Well, I want you in your turn to put yourselves at the service of people like this, and anyone who helps and works with them,” 1 Cor. 16: 16.
Yes, and I ask you also, my true yokemate, “to help them, for they have struggled at my side in promoting the gospel,” Phil 4:3.
Let us, then, have no fear in approaching the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace “when we are in need of help.” Heb 4:16.
“The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear,” Heb 13: 6.
“The desire to devote oneself completely to Christ, an openness to the Holy Spirit, more assiduous reading of the Scriptures, generous brotherly devotion, a willingness to serve the Church. Therefore, we must serve God first,” CCC 223.
“I would like to address a word of gratitude to those of you who devote yourselves to helping others. The Feast of Christ the King which we are celebrating today is a feast of service, for it is the feast of the one who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. In his earthly life, Jesus taught us the meaning of service, the kind of love in action that brings closer the Kingdom of God.” Pope John Paul II, Address to Sick and Elderly, 1986.
“The biblical account of creation speaks of the solitude of Adam, the first man, and God’s decision to give him a helper. Of all other creatures, not one is capable of being the helper that man needs, even though he had assigned a name to all the wild beasts and birds and thus made them fully a part of his life. So God forms woman from the rib of man. Now Adam finds the helper that he needed: “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gen 2:23).” Pope Benedict XVI, God is Love.
“The rich man begs from his place of torment that his brothers be informed about what happens to those who simply ignore the poor man in need. Jesus takes up this cry for help as a warning to help us return to the right path.” Ibid 15.
“Anyone who needs me, and whom I can help, is my neighbor.” Ibid.
Helps
Those who have the spiritual gift of helping others have a generous and sensitive heart to help others either physically, emotionally, financially or in any other way- to be a listening ear or to offer a helping hand. Just as God helps us, helping people serve Jesus with a light heart and recognize that their service gives them energy and life. Helping people have been helped in their own lives so they realize the gift of doing the same for others.
Questions to share
- Which passage touches you or burns in your heart the most? Why?
- How have you exercised this gift in the past?
- How are you now exercising this gift in ministry?
- Do you see new ways you can exercise this ministry in the future?