BE SIMPLE; BE GREAT.

Mark Link (SJ) shared a story in one of his reflections which I will like to share here. A man has driven a taxi around the streets for 35 years. One day he found an emerald ring in his cab. He racked his brain to try to remember to which fare it could have belonged. Having remembered the probable owner, it took him two days to find her. When he did, he returned the ring to her. She received it without giving any reward; she did not even utter a word of thanks for this effort. However, the taxi driver said “still I felt good because I had done what was right. What a great man indeed? Is this not the path Jesus placed before us in the gospel reading of today? (Luke 17:7-10) Greatness is not achieved by doing extra ordinary things but by doing ordinary things extra ordinary well. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Leo the great. We have only three saints that have the title great attached to their names and Leo is one of them. He did not become great by doing extra ordinary things, but just like that taxi driver, doing good was not just a duty but a reason for his existence. “Lord, you have revealed to me that the path to greatness is simplicity. May I work for the kingdom in simple and unassuming ways. Amen.”