Why Can't You Tickle Yourself?
A Tree in Every Acorn
Photo By: Flickr/Josh
There was a favorite portage spot on Lake Michigan where traders hauled their canoes ashore to lug them to the rivers that linked with the Mississippi. That portage spot grew to become Chicago.
What may seem most insignificant to to us may be of colossal value in God's eyes, "'for my thoughts are not your thoughts'...says the Lord, 'As high as the heavens are above the earth...so high are...my thoughts above your thoughts'" (Is 55:8-9, NAB). Knowing the exact number of hairs on your head seems trivial, but God has them all numbered (see Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7). And giving a cup of water is almost nothing, but anyone doing so in the name of Jesus "will certainly not lose his reward" (Mt 10:42; Mk 9:41).
What makes small things look so big in God's "magnifying glass"? It's the presence of our Christ-focused love. Feeding the hungry or giving drink to the thirsty, or doing even the tiniest love-filled act to even "the least of these my brethren, " (Mt 25:40, RSV) is really done for Jesus. The big deal is the final payoff: "Come, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you."
This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net
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About the Author
The Rev. John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., ordained as a Catholic priest in 1952, is a member of the Claretian Missionaries, and is founder and director of the Claretian Teaching Ministry. Listed in Who’s Who in Religion in America, he has served as parish priest, seminary professor and rector, college professor, lecturer, magazine writer, newspaper columnist, editor, retreat master, hospital chaplain, prison chaplain, campus chaplain, Cursillo director and director of suicide prevention programs in Texas and California.
He earned degrees in philosophy from Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles and from Notre Dame University, with postgraduate work at the University of Southern California and the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois, in ascetical and mystical theology.
Find his many books and audio/visual recordings at www.Catholicbooks.net
