By: Fr. Flavie Villanueva, SVD
“I am not capable of doing big things, but I want to do everything, even the smallest things, for the greater glory of God.”
– St. Dominic Savio
After the great liturgical seasons and celebrations of the Church, we are back in what is called ordinary time. It seems a bit like a letdown. We wonder, “What’s so special about the ordinary?” Ordinary actually comes from the Latin root for “rule.” What are the usuals, the default, the norms? This is the ordinary. What should be ordinary for us at the Foundation? What should be our default?
For us at the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Foundation, the call is to do the mission in a special way during ordinary times, to do ordinary things in a way that is plus or extra.
The little details that surprise us aren’t so ordinary when you realize the thought and attention put into them. This is why having premium Sinandomeng rice is ordinary for us at the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center or why a buffet set-up with unlimited rice for our dear homeless is SOP for us.
Love in unli rice
Isn’t that what gives love away? The little details that surprise us aren’t so ordinary when you realize the thought and attention put into them. This is why having premium Sinandomeng rice is ordinary for us at the Arnold Janssen Kalinga Center or why a buffet set-up with unlimited rice for our dear homeless is SOP for us.
In this issue, we share stories of our usual program activities, yet each one is unique. It may seem like routine, nothing new, but it’s the regularity and consistency of what we do that make them powerful and life-changing.
Inspired by the Sacred Heart
The Sacred Heart specially inspired us in the past month of June. It is the heart that beats life-giving blood into our souls. This reality of God’s love is truly what powers everything that we do. On a human level, the predictable and timed beating of our hearts is easy to take for granted. In the same way, it’s exactly the predictability and the regularity of Divine Providence that keep the mission alive. It’s anything but ordinary!
More than ever before, we act with urgency so that the Sacred Heart will inflame more hearts with its love among our dear street dwellers and EJK families, as well as partners in mission. “May the Heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people!”