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May I share with you a vivid event in my life that I will treasure forever. Recently I visited Ho Chi Minh City with two enormous bags of toys and children’s clothes. I had no idea who I was going to give these gifts to. Amazingly, I was directed by the Spirit, to a little, poor Orphanage I struggled down the narrow alley way with the bags to this Orphanage surrounded by the slums of Saigon. Inside were 50 little blind children, lovingly cared for by a Vietnamese Sister, a member of the Order, “The Lovers of the Holy Cross”. This Vietnamese Order was founded 100 years before the Passionists. Upon entering it was plain to see how they lived out their Charism. The blind little ones were all orphans, who now had smiles on their faces, music on their fingers and I could imagine, at playtime, bells on their toes. Love was in the air. They seemed to fear nothing. Even my hairy arms were an attraction. We sang and laughed and joked and then it was lunchtime. The little children sat at round tables of 8 and by the time I got there, they were all hoe-ing into their little bowls of vegies and rice. Then it happened. A little blind boy, all of 7 years old, came to the table late with his bowl and spoon. He could see no one, and no one could see him. He deliberately put down his bowl and spoon. Then he blessed himself. With great reverence he prayed slowly the Our Father. Picked up his spoon and dived right in. I stood there utterly amazed. I felt God’s palpable Presence. It was as if I was standing there in the darkness of the Garden of Olives, a silent witness to the prayer of the human Jesus to His Father. This little, blind, orphan boy was speaking to his father as truly as Jesus Himself. May this Jesus be with you and His Spirit within you, as you travel the days of His suffering and His Triumph in that glorious Resurrection from the dead. Your brother, Peter |
