About three years ago I met an elderly lady at the parish who always seemed to be around. Soon after I met her, I realized she liked to stir up people at the parish with her personal opinions.

Many times after Mass, she would stay and talk and often I was in a hurry to go to breakfast with my friends. She knew we usually went for breakfast and sometimes would say, "Ok, well I know you don't want to stand here all day talking to me, so have a nice breakfast."

After she said this a few times, I realized that maybe she wanted to come with us. At first I didn't know if my friends would want her to come and besides, what would we talk about? Then I remembered one word of life:

"Not what I will, but what you will." (Mark 14:36)

I decided to invite her, even if it was just me and her for breakfast. She was so happy and my friends were glad to have her as well. After that I took more opportunities to help her, holding the door, getting her a plate of food at the parish celebrations or waiting a little bit longer so she wasn't the last one in the church.

Recently, I went to the back of church to wait for someone and she was stuffing bulletins, so I picked up a few to help her. As soon as I started she said, 'You know, I was thinking about you at Mass the other day. The Gospel was about loving your neighbor, and I thought of all the nice things you do for me. You are really trying to live the Gospel." This really struck me and I realized that even in the little things, if we are living the will of God, the Gospel shines through!

J.J., Indianapolis