Brief encounter
Her husband had finally been touched by God and turned to Jesus in that
Brief Encounter
April 1984 in the market place in Malta. Monday morning cacophony. Jostling crouds. A polyglot people. It is 11am. and for two hours I have been selling tickets in the brilliant sunshine. Rarely am I refused, the Maltese being one of the most charitable of races.
"Missjoni, missjoni, missjoni , won't you help the poor" I plead in a loud voice, waving my book of tickets under the noses of the people. "Why not," is the customary response, as they begin to delve into bags and baskets.
In a sudden clearing in the croud I observe a small, old man coming my way. I know by his pale skin and from his floppy blue hat that he is a tourist. "Would you care to help the starving people of the Third World ?" I venture to ask. In silence he regards me for a moment. " I am an atheist. I do not believe in God. Nevertheless, I have never refused to help the poor." He hands me a note and tells me to forget the change. I am amazed at this expression of generosity.
"Well, God surely believes in you," I counter. "In fact, He loves you in a very special way. This will be your passport to heaven and when you get there, you will be among those to whom he will say: "I was hungry and you fed me. So long as you did it to any of my people, you did it to Me."
(Matthew 25:35).
I continued: "Don't you know that he who has righteousness in his heart will be saved: (2 Cor.6:2) "Well blow me down! Well I nevah" he intones. " How about that !".Can you beat it!"
"Are you sure about everything you have told me?" he queries..Are you positively sure?"
"Absolutely certain - one hundred per cent" I assure him and tipping his hat in a gesture of old-world courtesy, he shuffles off into the crowd.
Ten minutes later somebody squeezes my elbow. I turn to face a small, plump old lady with a round, pink, smiling face who exuded optomism. "Can I have 20 more tickets, please, for my hubby, the lad from Lancashire?" she asks.
My heart wells with happiness. As I fill in the counterfoils she continues: "I have been in the Salvation Army for 55 years, and today my prayer has been answered, Love". Her husband had finally been touched by God and had turned to Jesus in that brief encounter.
"Well God is not a man that He should lie."( Num. 23:19).
I remind her. His promise to those who believe and act on His words stands forever: "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved - you and your entire family". (Acts.16:31).
"The German poet Goethe once wrote : the dangers of life are many, and safety is one of those dangers. This is true in our personal lives and it's true in Christian orthodoxy. There is danger in bad dogma but there is equal danger in not radiating, with sufficient compassion and understanding, God's universal will for the salvation of all peoples." ( Ronrolheiser.com)
There are three kinds of people : those who make things happen; those who watch things happen; and those who have no idea what's happening.
Always look for God in others. especially in those who say they don't believe in Him.
A virtue is a power to be, to do and to grow.
(Fr.Thomas Dubay).
We are ready to preach the Gospel as soon as we are ready to take the risk of living it. To-day, people listen to witnesses more willingly than to teachers.
( Pope Paul V1 ).
Jesus Prayed "that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in Me and I am in You, may they also be one in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me."
(John l7 - 21).
Perhaps the devil's greatest success over the centuries has been to divide the disciples of Jesus and to create hostility between them. I am particularly thinking of the disunity, ignorance, prejudice, and often hostility which frequently exists in the relationship between Evangelicals and Pentecostals on the one side and Catholics on the other.
( Fr. Benedict Heron OSB )
"Let me grow lovely, growing old.
So many fine things do.
Laces and ivory and gold
And silks need not be new.
And there is healing in old trees;
Old streets a glamour hold;
Why may not I, as well as these,
Grow lovely, growing old ? "
"God condescends to use our powers if we don't spoil His plans by ours. If you can honestly humble yourself. the victory is won".
Solanus Casey.
You are in God's friendship when you are humble.
' Blessed is he who falls asleep in God's friendship'
'Isaiah'.
Your growth both as a human being and as a Christian can be measured infallibly by your service to all who cross your path. It is through you that Christ's Spirit builds up His Body, and this happens when the love of the Spirit of the Risen Jesus impels you to be love to others.
( George Maloney S.J. )
It is not enough merely to exist. It is not enough to say, 'I'm earning enough money to support my family. I do my work well and I'm a good parent and churchgoer. You must do something more. SEEK ALWAYS TO DO SOME GOOD SOMEWHERE. EVERY MAN HAS TO SEEK A WAY IN WHICH TO REALIZE HIS OWN WORTH. YOU MUST GIVE SOME TIME TO YOUR FELLOWMAN EVEN IF IT IS ONLY IN A LITTLE THING. DO SOMETHING FOR WHICH YOU WILL GET NO PAY. FOR REMEMBER YOU DO NOT LIVE IN A WORLD OF YOUR OWN. YOUR BROTHERS ARE LIVING HERE TOO.
( ALBERT SWITCHZER ).
Five types of people the devil loves.
The wounded.
The wandering.
The wondering.
The weak.
The whining.
Reasons why God does not answer prayer.
Doubt.
Ambivelance ( not being specific )
Asking for the wrong reasons
remaining in a state of sin
ignoring the cries of the poor
unforgiveness
meaness and lack of generosity
prejudice
The secret of great contentment:
Expect nothing and you will enjoy everything.
Believe nothing you read and only half you see.
( Advice of Sr.Loreto (who had a gorgeous character) on leaving St. Leo's convent school in 1948 ).
F.R. Maltby used to say, Jesus promised His followers three things :
They would be absurdly happy.
Completely fearless.
And in constant trouble !
Three degrees of God's love for us :
(a) When He helps us not to fall into sin. (He is always offering this help).
(b) When He puts us in circumstances in which we can help others.
(c) When He permits that we suffer (to take part in the mission of Christ to save souls through His passion and death on the Cross). Here we are in the highest degree of God's love for us.
St. George Preca, whose constant prayer was : Thank you and forgive me.
I must be filled with joy if my feet are on the right road
and my face set towards the gate which is called beautiful
though I may fall many times in the mire
and often in the mist go astray.
Far off, like a perfect pearl, one can see The City of God,
It is so wonderful that it seems as if a child could reach it in a summer's day.
And so a child could.
But with me and such as me it is different.
One can realize a thing in a single moment,
But loses it in the long hours that follow with leaden feet.
We think in terms of eternity,
But we move slowly through time.
Oscar Wilde.
Anita Kilbride-Jones,
St. Paul's Bay,Malta.
The market place in Malta. OISIN AND MUM (CENTRE)
