Somedays I have a knee-jerk reaction to things left in what we call “a common area” in community. Over the years I have tried offering it up or reasoning, maybe she was tired or maybe she didn’t see it or I’ve done this, too. Whether these little things irritate me or cause me to pause to do a mental exercise, they remind me that the little things count. It is the little things that count or drive us crazy in day-to-day life.
The First Reading today recounts the way Saint Stephen and a few others were enlisted to serve the widows of the young Church. (See Acts 6:1-7.) Isn’t this often how things work in our communities and Church circles? Isn’t it also the way things happen in the little communities of our families? There is something that needs to be done, and no one is doing it. So we have a conversation and ask someone to step up and fill in a gap. Filling in the gap is like a call that arises organically from the Body of Christ.
Each of us has big callings in life like the one to our vocation, and then we have “little calls” in life like wiping the counter because no one else is around to see it.
At first glance, one of these calls seems thrilling, glamorous, and definitely Insta-worthy. The other call seems easily unimpressive because it is little, ordinary. But isn't it true that our love and care for one another is expressed in the small things? Relationships are either growing and thriving, or they are not. There is a world of difference between a team that works together and looks out for one another and the team that is made up of individuals who cannot see beyond their noses.
The Readings today inspire us to be good stewards of the precious gift of life and love we have in our loved ones, our community, our friends, and ourselves. They invite us to step up and fill in the gaps with love.
Learn more about Saint Stephen today including what it means to die a "happy death."
Sister Maria Kim Bui is a Daughter of Saint Paul, women religious dedicated to evangelization in and through the media. She is originally from Tempe, AZ, spent most of her fourteen years in religious life in the northeast, some time in Texas, and now was recently asked to serve as the director of marketing and sales at the Sisters' publishing house in Boston. Find out more about her here. She is the author of our Blessed Conversations Mystery: Belong found here.
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