Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Townspeople sometimes refused to repent, even after seeing the miracles that Jesus worked, and He reproached them. The Lord also taught that kindness to his disciples—even something as small as offering a cup of cold water—gets rewarded. Blessedly, the heavenly Father reveals things to the childlike that escape people supposedly wise. For instance, disciples of Jesus got hungry and picked heads of grain to eat while on a walk. An innocent child would see that as snacking. Pharisees saw it as breaking the Sabbath. Jesus expected to cause division, but not by placing unnecessary burdens on His followers. Knowing that people face hardships, our Lord wants to lighten the load. As God’s children, do we envision the Father’s delight when we allow Him to lend a hand?