Have you ever felt in your heart the desire of accomplishing great things?

You must have. Have you ever felt attracted to people who were able to rise above the ordinary and accomplish important and noble deeds worthy of admiration, like heroes or important witnesses of the Gospel? Again, the answer is probably yes, for these aspirations are common to every person because, as human beings, we all have a great destiny.

Unfortunately, however, most of the time we are incapable of fulfilling our destiny because we are unable to find a way to cope with the more decisive and difficult moments in life.

If I may, I will suggest a way for you to be prepared for those moments. Jesus had this to say:

"The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones."

These words existed before Christ and they were probably a proverb. Jesus made use of them in his teaching, giving them a new meaning. We find them in the Gospel of Luke in a passage where Jesus speaks about money. However, they can likewise be applied to countless situations in life. Jesus indicates with these words that faithfulness in small matters is a sure test that a person will be just as faithful in large ones.

Moreover, since Jesus wants us to be faithful in small matters, then nothing which life demands of us is insignificant. For nothing is small if we do it in order to fulfill his will. Nothing is small if it is done out of love.

"The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones."

How many little things there are in our everyday life! There is the table to clear, that answer to give, that monotonous job which must be finished, that car to drive, that homework to complete, that meal to prepare, that activity to organize, that instrument to play, that piece of paper to pick up from the floor, that smile to offer, that article to write, that happy event to share.

How, then, should we perform these deeds?

We must never do things hurriedly, but rather, we must do everything perfectly. We have to project ourselves wholeheartedly into whatever we have to do.

To be faithful in little things means to live well the present moment of our life.

"The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones."

In "great" ones? Yes, in those crucial situations in life: a serious accident, a natural disaster which you live through, the death of someone dear to you, that success which could go to your head, an inheritance which you didn't expect, a deep and unexpected sorrow, a responsibility suddenly thrust upon you.... And in certain nations, all the unforeseen hardships of war.

Let me tell you about a twenty-one-year-old Lebanese man whose name is Fouad. He had learned how to love well even in his day-to-day life, in the little things.

On his way home from a convention in Rome to Lebanon, where the civil war was still raging, some armed men stopped him on the road to Beirut about three miles from the airport. It was a tense moment. The militants read on his I.D. card "Maronite Christian."

"Yes, I am a Maronite Christian," Fouad said, "and I'm on my way home."

"You're coming with us," they said to him.

They interrogated him and in the end said, "Do you know what's in store for you?" Fouad understood that for him this was the end. One of the soldiers took him to a bridge where several Christians had already been killed. While walking to the bridge, Fouad tried to remain calm and he thought of what God might want from him in this moment. It was clear that he had to love his neighbor. He tried to make his captor feel loved. "Your job must be a difficult one, depressing," he said to him, "carrying on this war..." As they drew near the bridge, his guard stopped, looked at him and exclaimed: "Let's go back!"

When they reached the headquarters, Fouad saw his guard speaking to the other men. One of them came over to tell him: "You're lucky. A few days ago, that soldier's brother was killed," as if to say, "He had more than enough reason to take revenge."

So Fouad, who had lived before God in the little events of his life, was able to remain faithful to God in this experience, as well.

"The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones."

And God saved him.