A sermon on Mark 12:41-44

By Fr. Mike Paraniuk
St. Mary Catholic Church
St. Benignus Catholic Church 
St. Mary Queen of Heaven
and Holy Trinity Catholic Church

A nurse at Children's Hospital approached me with a concerned look. "There is a teenage patient who seems very depressed. He hardly speaks or even looks at us. When he does speak, he only says, 'I don't care.' Maybe he'll open up to you." 

I anxiously entered his room not knowing what reception I would receive. Just like the nurse said, he responded "I don't care" to everything I asked him.  

"May I come in?" 

"I don't care." 

"May I pray over you?" 

"I don't care." 

"May I visit with you again?" 

"I don't care." 

His name was Robert, but he didn't even care whether I called him Bob, Rob or Robert. So, I chose Robert.

Robert rebuffed all my efforts to reach out to him. I was disheartened, but something within my heart told me not to give up on him. I suffered through "I don't cares" for many days. 

Finally, a breakthrough occurred. Robert spoke. I saw for the first time an entirely new person. 

"Thanks for seeing me. I looked forward to your visits. They made me happy. I'll be leaving today. I want to give you a gift before I go." 

He reached into a drawer near his bed. 

"Please take this to remember me." 

Robert handed me a red, white and pink beaded candy cane he made in craft class. Then he did something I never saw before. He smiled. His last words to me were, "You can call me Bobbie." 

I had no idea my visits to Bobbie meant so much to him.

Small acts of love and kindness can mean so much. They can brighten another's life in ways you may not know. And most importantly, they make God happy.

Jesus was so moved to see a poor widow put in two pennies into the temple Treasury. The money was collected by pouring coins into a golden horn. The social climbers would fill their bags with many small, less expensive coins, lift their bag high while pouring them into the horn. They wanted others to hear the loud sound of their coins hitting the horn to impress them with the size of their donations. 

The poor widow's donation made no sound at all. No one even noticed. But Jesus noticed. He saw her love for God which moved her to give all she had to live on. And God was very pleased.

Never underestimate the power of small loving deeds that others will not notice, but God sees. In 1 Kings 17:10-16, the Prophet Elijah asks a poor widow to bring him a small cup of water, a little bit of bread and a small cake. She informs him she has only enough oil and flour to make one more meal for herself and her son. Then, after that, they will starve to death. Elijah promises her that if she does this one small kindness for him, "The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry." 

As promised, God rewarded the widow and her son who were able to eat for a whole year during the famine. Food for a year from one small cake. That's a good deal.

God promises you a big reward for your small acts of love that others do not notice, and you don't even remember. 

Jesus said, "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:4.) 

Those small, good deeds will bring you an eternity of rewards in Heaven. That's a good deal, too.

When you come to your judgment, God will show you all the small, good things you did in life. I bet many of them you will not remember doing. Like Urkel, from "Family Matters," you will say to God, "Did I do that?"

And God will say quoting the beloved Stan Laurel, "You most certainly did." 

Blessings...Fr. Mike.