Every unique piece needed for God's puzzle

We are each a unique piece to God’s puzzle. It takes each one of us using our gifts and talents to fulfill God’s plan for our lives. A puzzle cannot be completed if just one piece is missing, each piece is equally important.  
If we are all blessed with various levels of gifts and talents, how can we all be called to stewardship equally? Stewardship looks different for each of us because God made each of us unique. He blessed each of us with the perfect amount of each gift and talent to fulfill His purpose in our life. The Bible tells us that we are called to share proportionate to our blessings.
“All good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.” — James 1:17
The Bible gives us numerous examples of how we are called to give proportionately. In addition to the story of the poor widow’s mite and the parable of the talents, St. Peter tells us “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:10)
If a typical Sunday Mass was a puzzle, how many different types of puzzle pieces could represent gifts being shared — priest, deacon, lectors, altar servers, greeters, ushers, gift bearers, Eucharistic ministers, musicians, choir members, cantor, sacristan, faithful participants ... Thankfully, the priest answered God’s call to priesthood. The altar server is a perfect example that there is not an age limit on stewardship. Beautiful music adds so much to the celebration of the Mass. If God gave you a beautiful singing voice or the gift to play an instrument, please join the choir. Whether we are greeting fellow parishioners as they enter the church or participating in the Mass as part of the congregation, we each have a role to play. 
In addition to the many ways to serve at Mass, take a look at the list of ministries at your parish. 
Chances are good that you have a gift or talent that is needed by one of these ministries. 
When putting together a puzzle, the first thing we look at is the picture on the top. The difficult part of being a good steward is recognizing our gifts and talents and sharing them all with everyone we encounter. We don’t get to look at the picture on the box top. God is the one with the big picture. We have to have faith, listen and trust that our Lord will lead the way. 
­­— Shannon Roh is the Executive Director of the Office of Development and Stewardship for the Archdiocese of Mobile.