By Tom Thomas –
A voice broke through the silence on an early morning pre-dawn muggy summer day. I was walking into the Church for the morning Mass with my wife. I was startled by a feminine voice, “Brother, please pray for my son,” she requested. “What happened?” I enquired. “It is my son’s birthday today, and he is back at his mission in Italy, far away from me now, as they need him there.” She replied bravely. “Surely,” I responded, unable to speak much at that moment.
I knew the family well. She and her ever-smiling husband were regulars at the morning Masses. About a decade ago, their only son was ordained a priest, which we had the privilege of attending. Her husband having been taken away suddenly from her by a heart attack a few years ago, she was a widow now and living alone. Her two children were abroad – her priest-son in the missions abroad and her daughter and family in Australia. She still made her way every day to Church to attend the Mass, the anchor of her day. Life must not have been easy for her, to face it alone now.
“Do you wish your son was near you?” asked my wife. “Most certainly, it is hard for me, but I submit to the Will of the Almighty.” She answered with stoic grace. The morning welcoming hymn started and we had to end this brief conversation. As we walked into Church, I was pondering on the sacrifices that her son has made for Christ, and the challenges that she and her late husband had to face too, in surrendering their only son to Christ, to heed the Will of the Almighty.
Leaving a promising IT career at its peak, having heard the call, her priest-son was now serving in missions abroad, bringing the youth to Christ, his true vocation. His mother longs for him, and he must miss her too terribly, but he has to follow his higher calling and vocation in obedience to the call.
What a sacrifice, not one to easily comprehend in worldly terms. The Mass starts and I think too of the young Priest celebrating the Mass for us. How many sacrifices have he and his family made for us to have the privilege of attending Mass today? Something we tend to take for granted most times.
We are indeed truly blessed for the call these priests and all the religious have heard and their lives are given over totally to Him for all of us. They will surely have their reward.
As it is mentioned in the scriptures:
“And Peter said, “Lord we have left our homes and followed you.” And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you there is no man who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the Kingdom of God, who will not receive manifold more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” Lk 18:28-30
What is our call? Have we heard that? Are we living that out? Some questions to ponder upon as we move forward in the Easter season.