Do Small Things with Great Love

Dear brothers and sisters, do you believe that evil exists in our world? Yes, in a world created by a loving God, is it possible that evil exists? Some people that I know, do not believe that evil exists. To them when people do something that hurt others or when something bad happens to them, they just believe that they are unlucky or that people accidentally made a wrong decision that caused some hurtful consequences. Certainly, that could be the case for some encounters. However, for most of us, we recognize that there are people in our lives that we cannot understand, the things they do and the words they say, somehow always leads to hurtful feelings, and at the same time, working with them always ends up with terrible consequences, to an extent, it almost seems they are up to no good all the time. They almost always destroy the good, the joy, the peace, that we try so hard to bring about.

Well, Jesus tells us in the Gospel today that evil does exists, and it exists right among all of us. And it is important for us to know this, because when we recognize evil, it gives us the power to reject it, rather than for us to let it continue to affect the world when we mistake it as bad luck. However, if we are to reject evil, why doesn’t Jesus destroy all evil immediately? Why does he tell us to wait until the end of the age for his angels to deal with the children of the evil one? Well, before we answer these questions, I would like to share with you one of my mission experiences.

I used to help out at Sunday school at one of the churches while I was in Hong Kong. When I first joined the Children Catechism program, I was assigned to assist another more experienced catechist to learn how to guide the students. Unfortunately, two months into the job, the catechist had to move back to her home country because of changes to her husband’s job. So, I had to take over as the main catechist of the group of eleven-year-olds. At first, I was hesitant to accept the role because I am an adult convert, so I have not experienced Sunday school before. However, the pastor and the head catechist encouraged me to continue, reminding me that everything is done through God’s grace.

So, every week, I would do my bit to prepare the material dutifully for the classes and tried my best to guide the students. During the first weeks, I was always looking at the clock, hoping that the hour would pass quickly. However, with time, the children started to recognize that I will trying my best to create materials and activities for them. Seeing my efforts, some of them tried to share more of their experiences related to the topics. I remember once, when we were talking about prayers, one of the girls shared that not too long ago, she was struggling with the last question for her Mathematics examinations. She was worried because she totally had no idea how to approach the question. She then decided to pray for God’s help, and miraculously, almost immediately after she finished praying, she suddenly had a method of how to solve this problem in her mind. Her little sharing sparked something in the rest of the students. One by one, the rest of the children started to share experiences of when prayers helped them. Then before I knew it, the time was up for the lesson! So, I asked for the first time, for a volunteer to thank God for our time together. Again, to my surprise, one of the children accepted and led a beautiful prayer for us.

After that week, I could see more participation from the children, everyone tried to offer the little that they could. I could also tell that the children were more relaxed and enjoyed listening to one another. Some of their parents who noticed how their child returned home to tell them things they have learnt from each other, began to tell their child to bring some of their home baked pastries to share with the others. Very soon after, the class became a community, they will not just there to complete their Sunday school requirement but because they had a community at church.

My dear friends, in the experience I shared, all the people involved only offered the little that they could. No one did anything extraordinary, just simple, self-giving, just something within their means. And this is very much the point of the second and the third parable in Gospel for today. Jesus reminds us that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed or yeast, which are really small things, really tiny compared to what they can become, and this is really important in this big, messy world that we live in.

Many a times, we are told by society or the reality that we live in that we are small and insignificant – that only the people who are with authority, people who have resources and big titles are the ones that can achieve great things. But, my friends, it is not so in the Kingdom of Heaven, all these power, money and titles, they mean nothing to God if they are not used for the good of others. Instead, God desires to see the goodness in us used for the good of God’s kingdom, and they don’t have to be huge endeavors, again, just simple, honest, self-giving. Like so many of you, serving as lectors, altar-servers, or singing for God, arranging flowers for the church, preparing food to share… all these little things that you do for the church and for each other, what many outside the church would consider as insignificant things, are great in the eyes of God.

Just like the children that I met in Hong Kong, God calls us to share the little that we can, because when each of us respond with the little that we can, the little that comes from our heart, like a mustard seed, our small contributions can become a great feast for our monthly fellowship and birthday celebrations. The little time that we share to talk to one and other, can inspire many more to have a space to share their experiences and feelings… and maybe even new ways of looking at the challenges that we are facing. The confidence that we have in God, our trust that God will help us, when we share it, when we give witness to it, could be a dash of yeast in our community and cause our whole “loaf” to rise up!

My dear brothers and sisters, St. Therese, the little flower, wrote famously, “Remember that nothing is small in the eyes of God”. And that we should “never get tired of doing little things for others. Sometimes, those littles things occupy the biggest part of their hearts.” Her way of life, her secret to holiness, my friends, is to “do little things with great love”.

In fact, we get a better understanding of this through St Paul’s letter to the Romans – that at the end of the day, it is not just about us, it is about our relationship with God, that the Holy Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness, even when we are unable, or do not know how, but if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, and seek and ask for the Spirit’s help, “he intercedes for the holy ones according to God’s will”, that the Holy Spirit will send help in ways we never imagine to help us accomplish what God desires to be done through our cooperation.

Hence, my friends, let us return to the questions, “Why doesn’t God destroy evil immediately? Why does God wait?”. The simple answer comes from the responsorial psalm, because “Lord, you are good and forgiving”. Yes, God is good and forgiving because that is the natural disposition of unconditional love. God loves all of God’s creation, God loves us, whether we live as children of the kingdom or when we are misguided and become the children of the evil one. God loves us because we are his people. Yes, God may not like what we say or do, but God will always love us, like many parents among us, no matter how disobedient or naughty their children become, deep down in their heart, they will still love us.

God loves us a great deal, to the extent that he is willing to offer His only Son to us to deliver us from evil. God loves us so much that Jesus gives of Himself at every celebration of the Eucharist so that we can receive food from heaven to sanctify us, to give us nourishment to defend ourselves from the temptations from the evil one.

God loves us so much, that all God asks for us is for us to continue to let the tiny mustard seed of faith to grow in us, so that one day, through our daily nourishment, that seed of faith can grow huge enough, that we become trees that can give rest to others who may need a little encouragement. God loves us so much, that God is willing to multiply the small amount of yeast that we offer, and cause the whole reality to change. And that is all that God is asking us, to do the little that we can; to change ourselves, to do good and to love, and as we do these little things, we hope that the little we offer, our testimony that God is love, can help bring the misguided children of the evil ones back to God, back to walk together towards God. Because, even though God is a master of might, He judges with clemency, and with much lenience He governs us; for power, whenever he wills, attends you.And He taught His people, by these deeds, that those who are just must be kind; and He gave your children good ground for hope that He would permit repentance for their sins. My dear brothers and sisters, may God give us the grace to imitate Him, to do little things with great love!

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