It is wonderful to see aged parents being cared for at home by family members. Also adult children are giving the equivalent of the cup of cold water to elderly parents. Parents are doing it for their children every day of the week.

In all sorts of ways throughout this parish, this city, people are giving the equivalent of a cup of cold water to those who need it. In the gospel reading Jesus is trying to teach us the value of what we might be inclined to dismiss as of very little significance. ‘Love’, he says, ‘is shown by little things, by attention to small daily signs which make us feel at home’. He refers to the encouragement of simple love, ‘like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day’s work’. Pope Francis in a homily some years ago spoke of how love can find expression in simple ways. The giving of a cup of cold water can stand for any number of small acts of kindness which give life to others. Yet, like the widow in the gospel story who put two small coins into the Temple treasury and in doing so gave her all, the smallest gestures of loving kindness can reveal a very generous heart.

We don’t always have the resources or energy or health to undertake big projects, especially as we get older. We can never underestimate the potential for good of such small gestures of loving kindness. When we scatter even the smallest seed of welcome and hospitality, the Lord can work powerfully through it. In one of his parables, Jesus speaks of the mustard seed which becomes the largest shrub of all in which birds of the air find a home. It is also true that the little we give to someone can go a long way it can have an impact for good beyond what we could imagine. Because they had little, they were able to make it go a long way. People of earlier generations were very aware that a little can go a long way.

Even the simplest acts of kindness have eternal significance. He is reminding us of the significance of small gestures of hospitality. Jesus declares that the giving of as little as a cup of cold water to someone in need of it will bring an eternal reward. ‘If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones…’ Giving a cup of cold water to someone may seem very little, but on a baking hot day in the Middle East, it could a very precious gift. In today’s gospel reading, Jesus refers to the giving of a ‘cup of cold water’.

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