“WHAT DID A STRANGER DO THAT MADE YOUR DAY?”

A Reddit thread last month saw a fair number of Singaporeans answering this question. All of them gave touching examples of how total strangers reached out to help them in their moment of need. Take a look: https://www.reddit.com/r/askSingapore/comments/1t4wp5h/what_did_a_stranger_do_that_made_your_day/.

None of these were big, grand gestures. All of them involved little acts of kindness, given on the spur of the moment.

‍When we read a post about a random stranger who impulsively helped someone, made a baby laugh, stood up for someone weaker, gave a bit of warmth or moment of delight to someone, we repost it. And it gets reposted, on and on. We love seeing these moments because, as many posters say, they make us feel like the world isn’t as terrible as it looks. Moments that reaffirm our belief that (most) people are inherently good. That give us renewed faith in humanity.

‍On one hand, it seems pretty dim that we rejoice in moments like these, as if they’re rare and extraordinary. It seems wrong to exclaim in wonder over behaviour that should be second nature to us. It’s understandable, given the kind of world we live in today. Still, it’s sad to see that fear, suspicion, and distrust have become so entrenched that one person reaching out to welcome and support another, without an ulterior motive, becomes a reason to celebrate.

‍You know the only situations in which we see such acts and don’t think them incredible?

‍When little kids interact with one another.

‍It doesn't matter if the other kid is totally different from them. They instinctively reach out and welcome that other. They rush to the aid of that other, without being told.

‍Mostly because they haven’t learnt to fear or suspect or distrust anyone.  They haven’t learnt to spot the differences in others and zoom in on those.

‍Life hasn’t yet taught them that being kind and welcoming can get you into trouble.

‍It hasn’t yet taught them that focusing on self instead of others can get you ahead.

‍How sad is that?

‍On the other hand, posts like these give us hope that even as life-hardened adults, we have enough of the hospitality and kindness Jesus speaks about in today’s Gospel to bring light into our corner of the world. That means we are still welcoming Him and still welcoming the Father. And that warmth we bring to others? That can reignite hope in them, too, that at least one person sees them and cares about them.

‍Dead to Sin, Alive for God

We’re alive for God, St Paul tells the Romans, in today’s second reading. Everything we do, from the moment we said Yes to following Him, we do for Him.

‍But how do we reconcile giving hospitality to a stranger and avoiding potential harm? 

‍Jesus was fully aware of this challenge. He knew He was sending His disciples out into the world like sheep in the midst of wolves (Matt 10:16). So what did He tell them to do?  He counselled them to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

‍We need to strike a balance between being street-smart and having a kind, generous heart that obligingly helps someone in need.  That, in turn calls for living perpetually in close communion with God and listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

‍Sounds a lot like wisdom and discernment.

‍Both of which are readily available to us, Jesus promised, if we ask for it, seek it, knock on heaven’s door for it.

‍Sense of the Sacred: Serving God in Others

‍Listen to three staunch modern-day disciples who embodied serving God in strangers:

‍1)  When asked how she could minister to a man diseased and abandoned, Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, “I see Jesus in him.”

2)  Pope Francis said, “Every stranger who knocks at our door is an opportunity for an encounter with Jesus Christ.”

Jesus, Pope Francis went on to say, is not asking us to reject or neglect our loved ones. Rather, ‘He is insisting on the radical and primordial value of love for God and seeking the good of souls, which is the best way of loving others’. Not because, he added, God wants us to be heartless and ungrateful, but because ‘the condition of a disciple demands a priority relationship with the teacher’.

3)  Then we have St Gregory the Great, who said, “We can take up the Cross in two ways: either by overcoming our flesh through temperance or by making the needs of our neighbour our own through compassion.”

Granted, we’re not Mother Teresa or Pope Francis or St Gregory, but in today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about giving ‘a cup of cold water’ to any of His faithful: the ones who lead in His name, and the ones who follow Him.

‍He could have said wine.

‍No, He picked something that’s easily in the power of anyone to offer someone else. Practically free.

‍We don’t need to look for big opportunities.

‍Act of hospitality: the kind, generous, friendly welcoming and treatment of visitors, guests, strangers.

‍The Shunemite woman didn’t have to go all out to build Elisha a room of his own in her house  - can you imagine doing that in your condo or house or HDB flat? – but she turned it into a place he could basically call home. It wasn’t a quid pro quo. She didn’t do it to post on Reddit or Facebook. She never dreamt that because of her hospitality, Elisha would bring God’s blessing to her and place a son in her arms.

True act of hospitality: the same treatment without any expectation of return.

It’s easy to be kind to strangers when things are going well, but a good test of our humanity is whether we can still be hospitable when we’re under duress. Or tired. Or feeling under the weather. Especially if we’re approached by family or friends, people we tend to take for granted. When they come knocking, we might snap at them, send them away, or shut the door to them. Even if we feel a bit guilty after, we might argue, “That wasn’t a good time. I’ll see to them later.”

‍Sometimes, later never comes.

‍Hospitality’s about more than just opening the door to someone. It’s about making space in our schedules for them.

‍Finding Joy Every Day in His Name

‍We live a new life, says St Paul.

‍Jesus gives us a purpose beyond just living day to day. While the demands of following Him can be heavy and costly – maybe in terms of losing family, friends, or an old way of life to which we were really attached – He also welcomes us with a yoke that is easy and light, because He’s in it with us, walking with us all the way, every day. We just have to translate that yoke into small, daily actions – our cup of cold water, if you will, that we offer someone.

‍That cup could be:

•  Giving time: to listen, to encourage, to share, to help

•  Giving way: to a fellow driver, to someone with a greater need

•  Giving up: comfort, the last word, finger-pointing

As we reflect on what the Lord is telling us this 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, we might want to ask ourselves:

‍ •  How much do we value the people we meet?

‍ ‍•  Is our presence a blessing to them?

‍ ‍•  Is our new life in Christ making us choose love over convenience, Christ over comfort?

‍ •  Who’s the particular little one in our life today that could do with a cup of cold water?

‍And in acting on these questions, we might realise the answer to this one:

‍What did a stranger do that made your day?

‍They made me see God.

Article by Joyce Norma, HFC Blog Contributor

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