Living Monstrance

The Franciscan community I lived with for a while did not have any money or means of transportation.  So, for long distances, we used different ways of getting around.  One of them was hitchhiking.

That might sound risky at first, but when you are serving the Lord, He provides.  We saw only great goodness and generosity in all of our travels.  Being in a position of need brings out the best in people.

We would always go in pairs or more, and we would hold a sign up with our destination.  So one time a brother and I were hitching when a car pulled over to give us a ride.  It was a black 2-door car.  We peered into the car from the passenger side and saw a young guy who invited us to get in.

So we got in.

The man had a black jacket, with black shades, and black messy hair.  The music was a bit loud.  I held out my hand and said, “I’m Jerome and this is Brother Francis.”  He shook my hand and said, “I’m TJ.”

And off we went.

He asked what our story was.  I began to tell him what God had done for me.  I explained from my heart how merciful He is, how He loved me and how He came to get me and take me out of a lot of bad habits through His Love, how He had won my heart.  “Like what?” he asked.  I told him about my internet pornography addiction, and about my womanizing past.  I told him about my drinking history since my teens, how there were times that I would wake up in the morning and have no idea where I had parked my car.  I told him about my smoking, too.  All this, I told him, Jesus had taken me out of, even though I never was even trying to come out of it.  Just by His Love and Mercy.  I told him that He won my heart and now I live for Him with all I’ve got.

While I first started telling him all this, he laughed in amazement.  He couldn’t believe all this was coming out of a guy dressed in wool with a bald head and a beard, a “religious” guy.  But then a change began in him.

First, he turned off the loud music.  Then, the laughter stopped and he became more serious.  Then his dark shades came off, and I could see into his eyes.  Then, he reached out his hand and said, “My name is Thomas.”  Near the end, he said, “I am only going to 495, but, you know what, I’ll take you further.  I like you guys.”

The defenses came down.  The masks came off.  He came out of the darkness, and his goodness began to shine.

What brings down defensiveness?  What undoes mistrust?  What clears away darkness and leads to true peace?

God’s infinite Mercy and our little yes.

“You my child shall be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare His way, to give His people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.  In the tender compassion of our God, the dawn from on high shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  (Lk 1:68-79)

Happy Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.