November 10, 2008

Best. Prayer. Ever.

On Saturday the local funeral home sponsored their annual memorial Mass for all the families they had served over the past year. It's a beautiful event. There were about 150 people. The undertakers give them all lunch too.

At the conclusion of Mass we the ministers were standing in the vestibule greeting the people, and the cross bearer was standing next to me. A little girl, maybe five or six years old, came through the doors, turned, and just stood there looking at the crucifix. Eventually she just said, "Wow," and continued to stand there looking up at the Lord until she was called away.

Then one of the friars said, "That's the best prayer I've heard in a long time." Another exclaimed, "I have my Good Friday homily done for next year!"

I thought of Jesus' words to Nicodemus, "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so tha teveryone who believes in him may have eternal life." (John 3:14-15) When the Israelites gazed upon the serpent they were healed, and so it is when we turn our spiritual eyes to the crucified Lord.

2 comments:

A Bit of the Blarney said...

Indeed! WOW! Very compelling! Cathy

for narnia said...

beautiful, Fr. C!
i'm often amazed at what young children say and how they express themselves. since i have a three year old nephew, do part-time childcare and teach second grade religious education, i sometimes hear the children say very simple, but amazing things. one example is my three year old nephew, Eric. every time i visit him (i will usually go visit him for a full day because he lives up in wappingers)i play with him and just give him my undivided attention for the day. he loves it and always calls me his "best friend." and, often he also says to me that he loves me "just because." that's pretty powerful coming from a three year old. it's like God's love for us. Jesus died for us "because He loves us!"
PEACE!
tara t