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New parable: Small kindness makes huge difference
July 31, 2023
There was a woman with a watermelon. As she stood at her counter, slicing the melon, she saw the outdoor thermometer. The mercury had reached 90 degrees, and it wasn’t yet 9 a.m.
Watermelon was the woman’s favorite food, yet that day the fruit of summer saddened her. Her old dog had loved watermelon, too; and the woman missed her furry friend, recently deceased. The woman also had shared watermelon with an elderly man who had lived across the street, but he had been moved to a nursing home near his daughter, far away.
The act of carving the melon stirred the woman’s memory and made her melancholy. “I have too much of a good thing,” she said to herself. The fruit that had all her life symbolized the carefree joys of summer now seemed bittersweet. “What will I do with all this sticky, drippy, pink melon?”
Then, she heard the usual Friday morning roar as the lawn crew arrived with their mowers, blowers and weed whippers. Deeply tanned, covered in dust, grass clippings stuck to their sweaty skin, they worked quickly. The woman’s property was not an easy job, given her corner lot and steep banks. It occurred to the woman how delicious and welcome a slice of cold watermelon might be to these young men on a morning already so hot and getting hotter. She hesitated. Would they consider it some sort of bribe? Was it improper? Would they, like some children these days, grow suspect, having been taught not to accept gifts — especially food — from strangers? She censored her altruistic instinct. Fearing rejection or misunderstanding, she tossed watermelon rinds in the compost container and put the sliced melon into the refrigerator.
At her window, she watched the guys finish the mowing. One wiped sweat from his brow with his T-shirt; the other paused a moment in the shade of a maple. Maybe they don’t even like watermelon, she considered. Maybe they’re allergic. And the nonsense of her line of thinking struck her as she said aloud, “Who doesn’t like a cold slice of watermelon on a hot summer’s day?”
She grabbed two thick slices of melon and two paper towels. Based on their response, the pink fruit might have been gold.
This article comes to you from Grace In Action ( Our Sunday Visitor ) courtesy of your parish or diocese.
Traditions are important to families. Singing the family birthday song, making grandma’s banana bread, praying in a special way at holiday meals — traditions are the foundation on which strong families are built. Likewise, the Church was built upon the rituals and traditions of the apostles and the early Christian communities. This body of ritual and teaching is called Tradition (with a capital T), and it serves as a unifying force in the Church today. This Tradition is so important that the teaching office of the Church, called the magisterium, safeguards it. We believe that that sacred Word of God is found in both Scripture and Tradition. In fact, the Tradition of the Church was in place before the Gospels were even written. It’s true! We practiced our faith long before we wrote about our faith. The first Christians were already meeting together, mostly in homes, celebrating the Eucharist, sharing the teachings of the apostles and encouraging one another at the time the New Testament was written down. This was the beginning of St. Paul addressing his letters to these early Christian communities. Those who argue that Scripture alone should be the source of Christian teaching fail to recognize that in the first several centuries of the Church there was no “Bible” in the form we have today. Early Christian communities read from the Old Testament writings, the prophets and from the letters from leaders like Peter and Paul. The earliest writings in the New Testament reflect the belief and practice of the early Christians as the Holy Spirit guided the Church and her leaders. If we truly wish to understand Scripture, we must understand the context in which it was written — the Tradition of the Church. FAITH AT HOME Traditions that are handed down through the generations serve not only as the foundation for our faith historically, but are also a vital part of our faith today. Especially through the family, called the “domestic church,” we pass the teachings of our faith on to the next generation, in the words we say, as well as our family rituals and the way we live our daily lives. Today it is important that children and adults alike learn and experience the teachings of our faith in context — in the Christian community of the parish and the home. Cultivate your family’s faith at home by practicing Sabbath. Make it known that Sunday is a day devoted to family. Be intentional about planning a day of rest and renewal together. Begin with Mass. Prepare a meal together. Share prayers and conversation. Turn off the television (and the computer and MP3 player) and listen to each other. Leave room for silence. At the end of the day, thank God for your family’s blessings.
Jn 3:13-17 Jesus continues his instruction of Nicodemus with reference to Moses and the elevated serpent. Elevation-exaltation is central to John’s theology as it is to all Christianity. With that is the understanding that God’s motivation to give his only Son is love, love for all creation, especially humanity. Salvation is dependent upon that love. Lord, you emptied yourself. You humbled yourself. You were obedient to the Father, even to your death. How can we forget that? How can we ignore that? How do we measure up to that kind of love?
“Let us hear the cry of the victims and those suffering. Let us allow them to teach us a lesson in humanity.” — Pope Francis
Reflection: What do victims and those who suffer have to teach us about being human? What have you learned about the dignity of the human person through personal suffering?
This content comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.
What really matters? Most of us have had an experience that causes us to ask this question. Our lives are filled with activity, much of it necessary, some of it surely not. On most days many of us feel we have little time for anything beyond a quick prayer, a fast-food meal, and then total collapse at the end of the day (yet statistics indicate we seem to find endless hours to watch television). And then something happens: a death or diagnosis of serious illness; a natural disaster that takes with it human life and property; unemployment or underemployment affecting physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. That “something” may happen to us, to someone near us, or to someone around the world, but in that moment, as circumstances suddenly change, our perspective is changed as well, and we may ask, “What really matters, after all?”
The Good News of Jesus Christ focuses our attention beyond the mundane, toward that which is of lasting value. When our lives are directed by our relationship with the God of Love, we order our actions, words and attitudes to reflect that Love. That is the real meaning of our life in Christ, and the call of disciples and stewards. By seeing with the eyes of faith, we gain holy perspective and realize that our stewardship of life, time and resources is the means by which we show Christ’s love in the world.
This article comes to you from Grace In Action (Our Sunday Visitor) courtesy of your parish or diocese.
Traditions are important to families. Singing the family birthday song, making grandma’s banana bread, praying in a special way at holiday meals — traditions are the foundation on which strong families are built. Likewise, the Church was built upon the rituals and traditions of the apostles and the early Christian communities. This body of ritual and teaching is called Tradition (with a capital T), and it serves as a unifying force in the Church today. This Tradition is so important that the teaching office of the Church, called the magisterium, safeguards it. We believe that that sacred Word of God is found in both Scripture and Tradition. In fact, the Tradition of the Church was in place before the Gospels were even written. It’s true! We practiced our faith long before we wrote about our faith. The first Christians were already meeting together, mostly in homes, celebrating the Eucharist, sharing the teachings of the apostles and encouraging one another at the time the New Testament was written down. This was the beginning of St. Paul addressing his letters to these early Christian communities. Those who argue that Scripture alone should be the source of Christian teaching fail to recognize that in the first several centuries of the Church there was no “Bible” in the form we have today. Early Christian communities read from the Old Testament writings, the prophets and from the letters from leaders like Peter and Paul. The earliest writings in the New Testament reflect the belief and practice of the early Christians as the Holy Spirit guided the Church and her leaders. If we truly wish to understand Scripture, we must understand the context in which it was written — the Tradition of the Church. FAITH AT HOME Traditions that are handed down through the generations serve not only as the foundation for our faith historically, but are also a vital part of our faith today. Especially through the family, called the “domestic church,” we pass the teachings of our faith on to the next generation, in the words we say, as well as our family rituals and the way we live our daily lives. Today it is important that children and adults alike learn and experience the teachings of our faith in context — in the Christian community of the parish and the home. Cultivate your family’s faith at home by practicing Sabbath. Make it known that Sunday is a day devoted to family. Be intentional about planning a day of rest and renewal together. Begin with Mass. Prepare a meal together. Share prayers and conversation. Turn off the television (and the computer and MP3 player) and listen to each other. Leave room for silence. At the end of the day, thank God for your family’s blessings.
Jn 3:13-17 Jesus continues his instruction of Nicodemus with reference to Moses and the elevated serpent. Elevation-exaltation is central to John’s theology as it is to all Christianity. With that is the understanding that God’s motivation to give his only Son is love, love for all creation, especially humanity. Salvation is dependent upon that love. Lord, you emptied yourself. You humbled yourself. You were obedient to the Father, even to your death. How can we forget that? How can we ignore that? How do we measure up to that kind of love?
“Let us hear the cry of the victims and those suffering. Let us allow them to teach us a lesson in humanity.” — Pope Francis
Reflection: What do victims and those who suffer have to teach us about being human? What have you learned about the dignity of the human person through personal suffering?
This content comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.
What really matters? Most of us have had an experience that causes us to ask this question. Our lives are filled with activity, much of it necessary, some of it surely not. On most days many of us feel we have little time for anything beyond a quick prayer, a fast-food meal, and then total collapse at the end of the day (yet statistics indicate we seem to find endless hours to watch television). And then something happens: a death or diagnosis of serious illness; a natural disaster that takes with it human life and property; unemployment or underemployment affecting physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. That “something” may happen to us, to someone near us, or to someone around the world, but in that moment, as circumstances suddenly change, our perspective is changed as well, and we may ask, “What really matters, after all?”
The Good News of Jesus Christ focuses our attention beyond the mundane, toward that which is of lasting value. When our lives are directed by our relationship with the God of Love, we order our actions, words and attitudes to reflect that Love. That is the real meaning of our life in Christ, and the call of disciples and stewards. By seeing with the eyes of faith, we gain holy perspective and realize that our stewardship of life, time and resources is the means by which we show Christ’s love in the world.
This article comes to you from Grace In Action (Our Sunday Visitor) courtesy of your parish or diocese.
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361-241-3249
stpeterprinceoftheapostles@gmail.com
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