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SCRIPTURE
READINGS
|
Acts |
2:1-11 |
| Psalm |
103 |
| I
Corinthians |
12:3-7, 12-13
|
| John |
20:19-23 |
A
man can have no greater love than to lay down his
life for his friends.
One
of the happiest people I know is a woman who has
given her entire life to looking after one person
for the past 25 years. When she herself was about
25, she met a priest who had been diagnosed with
a brain tumour of which he was expected to die.
She was not working at the time, so out of the goodness
of her heart, she offered to help nurse him for
the few weeks he had left until he died. And for
those few weeks, she nursed him devotedly, not just
helping him physically feeding & cleaning
him but also praying with him and helping him
to prepare for death. Which was really wonderful
except that he didn't die.
He
had his treatment and contrary to his doctors'
expectations and indeed his own he survived, with
terrible brain damage, but he survived nonetheless
and even managed to get back to some very limited
pastoral work. The few weeks turned into months.
And now, he needed her care more than ever to keep
him well.
The
Bishop called the woman to see him. And he said
to her, We are really very grateful for your work
and for your care. It has probably been the difference
between our man dying and surviving. But now, we
have to ask you to stop for two reasons:
One
is that you are a young woman and you can't spend
the rest of your life doing this. We will have to
make some other provision for him.
The
other is that err... well... to be frank, we're
also a bit worried that people will begin to errmm...
talk about you and your relationship with
him.
And
so she said to the Bishop: you gave me two reasons
I will give you two answers:
The
first is that I made a promise not to you, but to
the Lord that I would look after this man until
he died. And that is what I am going to do.
The
second is that I am an actress and I haven't always
been good; and there isn't anything people can say
about me and my relationships that hasn't been said
before.
That
was more than 25 years ago both of them are still
working each in their own way for the glory of God.
Both
of them have lost their lives for his sake.
Both
of them are supremely happy.
So,
contrary to anything you may have heard before,
that is the true story of what the actress said
to the Bishop.
Fr
Paul O'Reilly, SJ
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