Thirteenth Ordinary

Matthew 10: 41 – 42

Jesus said, “Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cup of cold water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing”.

After Mum died it feel to me to take Dad to the supermarket. We had radically different shopping styles. I was an aisle-by-aisle person working one end of the store to the other. Dad was a recipe shopper wandering all over for items for the meals he was planning on cooking.

It drove me crazy as we kept retracing our steps – that and him telling me he only needed a few staples. We’d never leave with less than six bags. So I wasn’t in the best mood when we finally got back to my car. Just as I popped the boot a 10-year-old boy appeared offering to unload our basket for two bucks. I told him “no thanks,” but Dad motioned him to go ahead and do it. I watched with disbelief as he reached into his pocket and handed him a 10 dollar note when he finished. He ran off grinning.

Before I could tell him that I could have done it and, more important, ask him why 10 dollars, he simply told me that the boy was trying to do honest work and maybe someday if he was tempted to do something wrong he would remember being rewarded by a stranger and do the right thing instead. End of discussion. How do you argue with that? Who knows? He could be a doctor or a cop or maybe a priest today. Probably he’s a good dad teaching his son what a generous old man taught him long ago.