Reflection for the 26th Sunday of the Year (Sept 2024)

The seven-year-old rushed out of the house for the first day of school. All his friends greeted him when he arrived. They started sharing adventures about their summers and gossiping about their new teacher. Just as he was about to go in out of the playground, he saw someone standing alone. Must be a new kid he thought, so he went up to him and asked if anyone had shown him where things were; the new kid shook his head. Slowly, the two began to talk. The new kid said he and his family just moved here from another town. They discovered that they would be in the same class. He answered the new kid’s questions about the school, the teachers, the kids, the sports teams — and lunch. It was the beginning of a great new friendship. The disciple’s reward . . .

Her church started a community garden. She loved to get her hands in the dirt each spring, but her arthritis made it increasingly difficult for her to work for extended periods of time. So every afternoon she would show up with a cooler bag full of water and soft drinks for the garden workers. The team welcomed not only the cold drinks on those hot afternoons but her wisdom and expertise about all things green. When the first baskets of beans and tomatoes and lettuce were brought to the local soup kitchen, she shared in the group’s satisfaction of the small and promising beginning they had made. The disciple’s reward . . .

He and his grandson clicked. The boy could ask his granddad anything, no matter how stupid or embarrassing it sounded. “Pops” would always answer honestly, no punches pulled. If his grandson has messed up, Pops would gently but firmly call him out — but always helping his grandson come up with a workable solution or responsible fix. Whether the question was the best fishing lure to use on the lake or how to work up the nerve to ask the girl in his 2nd Year English class to the movies, Pops was and always there for him. The picture taken of the two of them at the young man’s wedding says it all: The disciple’s reward . . .

Every simple kindness, every ordinary offering of help and support, every act of selfless generosity results in “the disciple’s reward” spoken of in today’s Gospel: that no matter how small or seemingly insignificant our contribution, whatever good we do in the spirit of Jesus contributes to the realization of God’s Kingdom of reconciliation, justice and mercy in our own families and churches and schools and workplaces.