Today’s Sermon in a Nutshell:

Today’s Sermon in a Nutshell:

Once upon a time, a little girl was watching the news with her parents and saw the great devastation caused by a hurricane which tore through the Caribbean islands. Houses, schools, hospitals, and businesses were destroyed, and this little girl felt great sorrow at the plight of these people – especially the children. Then she came up with an idea. She took her Crayons and began to color pictures furiously, and went through her neighborhood, selling them door to door for ten cents each. 

At one house, a man asked what she was going to do with the money. The little girl answered: “I’m raising a million dollars for the Red Cross to help the victims of the hurricane.”

The man chuckled and said, “Wow! A million dollars! Do you think you can raise that much money all by yourself?”

“No,” she replied with confidence, “my brother is helping me. He’s selling on the other side of the street.”

This is a touching and moving story, and we can all appreciate the young girl’s sincerity, determination, and altruistic zeal, even if we might have misgivings as to whether she could collect so large a sum. Yet who knows? With God all things are possible. The Book of Proverbs instructs us to, “Trust in God with all your heart, and do not rely on your own reasoning.” (Proverbs 3:5)

In today’s gospel lesson, there was a need for food and a little shepherd boy came forward and unselfishly offered Jesus his five loaves and two fish, not much considering the vast number of people. Yet from that humble gift, our Lord miraculously multiplied it to feed them all. Therefore, our Lord can take any gift, no matter how small or meager, and multiply it for a greater good and a higher purpose. 

Remember, the greatest crime in life is to do nothing because we fear we can only do a little when a little is a lot!

Fr. John