Blessed Collaboration (0412/2026)

If I had to list my favorite thing about being a member of my parish’s women’s group, it would be watching them collaborate. I consider myself blessed to be among them as we come together to serve a free soup supper for the community, to serve a funeral luncheon for a parish family at their most vulnerable moment, to donate food for other parish functions, or to facilitate a summer social on the sidewalks outside church during the summer months.

I learned about blessed collaboration as a child watching the adults of our small Catholic community work together on everything from rehabbing the convent for the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, New York to putting together the fundraisers for our small 9 grade, five room school. I watched as the women worked on decorating the church and sewing vestments for Fr. Murray and as the men renovated the school building to make it more accessible. Whenever there was a need, everyone came out to lend a hand. And we kids were taught not only by example but by audible lesson on being blessed collaborators in Christ.

Perhaps my all-time favorite memory of blessed collaboration is from decades ago on a hot, hot day when the children of the neighborhood realized how hot and parched the crew that was asphalting our street had to be and together decided they would work to remedy the situation. They recruited me and asked for pitchers, paper cups, and my lemonade mix. They set up a folding table as their station and assigned runners and pourers. And they collaborated to get every member of that road crew at least one glass of ice-cold lemonade. I will never forget their glee then the asphalters reached the end of our block and waving frantically hollered at the kids, “Thanks so much!”

Today is the 2^nd Sunday of Easter and the first reading for today reminds us of the blessed collaboration in the early Church. They prayed together, they worked together, they ate together, they even shared their possessions with one another. And this morning, blessed collaboration is very much on my mind. We can do so much more to bring about the Kingdom here on earth if we work together with Christ as our head and the Spirit as our guide, if we show up with the intention of laboring with one another for one another believing that together, Christ is in our midst.

Let us consider the needs around us and those around us who can join with us to address those needs. Let us consider collaborating with others who are already addressing needs around us. Let us seek to be true and blessed collaborators.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.