31 August 2020
Monday of the Twenty-Second Week of Ordinary time
After Jesus stands up in the synagogue and presents a good reading and commentary on the scriptures, one of the crowd asks the question “Is this not Joseph’s son?” Now the implicit idea in this phrase and the surrounding text expresses the idea of surprise. Of course, this is a familiar theme in both testaments. We read throughout the Bible how what was presumed insignificant becomes the vehicle for greatness. In the Old Testament, God comes in the still small voice as told in1 Kings 18:20, or His selection through Samuel of David as king, the youngest son of Jesse. In the New Testament, the allegory to the magnificence of the Kingdom of God is a bit of yeast or a small mustard seed. The image magnificence in the unrecognizable runs like a clear stream through the scriptures and through the lives of the saints as well. Although many saints received their honors by great feats, many are honored for their continuous goodness in small works. Here, the great foundresses of religious congregations mark the sure path to sanctity. In their lives we see simple acts of mercy, caring for an ignorant child, a disabled worker, an aging widow. Too often, we miss the opportunity for greatness because we are blinded by the presumption that a small act is an insignificant one.