Tuesday, February 16, 2021

DWELLING PEACEFULLY IN FAITH, LOVE, HOPE, LIGHT, JOY~ Part 8

                    

 The line in the Little Mandate [1] being reflected upon here is: Do little things exceedingly well for love of Me.

The key words in this line are: little, exceedingly, love.

One example of a ‘little thing’ is our ability to smile, and how we smile at someone: tight lipped, a type of reluctant smile, if it can really be called a smile, or a broader smile, obvious in its movement, radiating joy and love. A little thing when it is a real smile is done, gifted, exceedingly well for love of Jesus within the other.

We live in a time in history when doing big seems to occupy many of our brothers and sisters.

Everyone’s definition of a big thing or a big deal is personal, likewise for what is considered a little thing.

It would be audacious here to codify what constitutes either big or little for someone else.

That said, little things we might do are things most people would not notice we have done, or perhaps not even notice they need doing. To do little things is, since in a sense they are hidden, a wonderful way to love Jesus sort of in secret.

There are countless, and important ways and things to do witnessing to our love for Jesus that are by necessity not hidden, or barely hidden, such as giving what we can to a homeless person begging or volunteering in a soup kitchen or a hospice, participating in Sunday Mass and other aspects of the life of the parish, and in these days of the pandemic and lockdown isolation, particularly stressful on the elderly and people who live alone, a phone call is both a little thing and a big deal for the person comforted by the sound of a human voice that cares.

Each of us, and if we are not sure then we can ask Our Lady to show us, can discern the little things that need doing within our homes, for example.

Often, we don’t do them because we believe they are someone else’s job!

The neat thing about doing little things, in particular when perhaps they are indeed someone else’s job, is they bring us joy, when done exceedingly well for love of others, which is love for Jesus, that joy intensifies!

 

1] http://www.madonnahouse.org/mandate/

© 2021 Fr. Arthur Joseph

  

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