SOME friends invited me to go out with them for breakfast after a Simbang Mass. I accepted their invitation without hesitation so that I could spend time with them before Christmas. I haven’t seen them or talked to them for a long time.
They have been my friends since my early years as a priest. I remember that I frequently visited their home and shared meals with them.
At breakfast that morning, we reminisced about our younger years and talked about our hopes for the future. We shared, laughed and joked about just every topic that came to our minds: church, vacations, families, politics, the Philippines, and so forth.
We stayed at the restaurant for almost two hours enjoying our conversations and time together. And although we had disagreements on certain views, there was no doubt that we felt the warmth of our friendship and longed for more reunions and visits later.
As we were driving back to their home, I reminded them about the message of my homily that morning. “It’s the simple things in life like the time we spent together this morning that give us joy,” I told them. “It’s the ordinary, small stuff and details that bring life and meaning into our lives.”
Indeed, I felt that our reunion was another fine Christmas gift. It was not anything big or expensive, but it touched my heart. It was ordinary, yet profound and meaningful.
God acts in small things and uses ordinary events and places to show his marvelous works. In the First Reading of the Mass that day, Micah said that God would deliver a people not from a powerful class, not from an important city of Jerusalem but from Bethlehem Ephrathah, a small town of a clan of Judah.
God uses simple and ordinary circumstances, such as the birth of a child as a solution. And the child will not grow up to be a conquering warrior, but a shepherd who will gather the flock and heal their wounds. The shepherd’s small, simple and ordinary works will reach the ends of the earth!
Mary’s visit to Elizabeth was an ordinary visit, but it was filled with grace. Even the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaped for joy.
Truly, the simple things we do for others such as our visits to the sick, our help to poor relatives, our thoughtful Christmas cards, and our telephone calls to family members and friends in the faraway lands touch hearts. The simple gestures of kindness, compassion and care we show to fellow employees, the smiles on our faces, and the daily prayers we say bring peace and harmony in life. Our fidelity to our daily duties and prayers transmit wholeness in our selves and relationships.
Absolutely, it’s not just big plans and big projects that make the world go around. It’s also the small and simple things and details we do for the benefit of other people.
The world thinkers may laugh at these trivial matters. But like the mighty kings and governors during the birth of Jesus who could not believe that a little child born on a stable could redeem the world, they too would be surprised at seeing the power of small, simple and ordinary people, things, events, and circumstances of life.
And so, for this new year, let’s not just think big; let’s think small. For it’s the small details, the ordinary things and the daily acts of love and kindness that we do for our loved ones and other people that bring love and joy to the world!
Happy New Year!
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From a Filipino immigrant family, Reverend Rodel G. Balagtas was ordained to the priesthood from St. John’s Seminary in 1991. He served as Associate Pastor at St. Augustine, Culver City (1991-1993); St. Martha, Valinda (1993-1999); and St. Joseph the Worker, Canoga Park (1999-2001). In 2001, he served as Administrator Pro Tem of St. John Neumann in Santa Maria, CA, until his appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, Los Angeles, in 2002, which lasted 12 years. His term as Associate Director of Pastoral Field Education at St. John’s Seminary began in July 2014.
