because you don’t know what to say or it’s impossible to say anything for any other reason, you can always express the most important message by your smile.
St Ursula Ledóchowska told her sisters to use that simplest kind of apostolate: “I’m teaching you a new kind of apostolate, which does not demand huge work, great mortifications and hardship, but which is – especially these days – very desired, necessary and effective, that is – the apostolate of smile.”
How good it is to smile to a child and its mum, to an elderly lady you pass by while taking a walk, when you see your husband getting back from work, or your wife, who – busy doing things – may feel your sight on her. And now you can simply smile to check how great it feels on your cheeks. And it’s worth to infect the others with your smile. At home, at work, in the street and on the journey.
🙂
Fr Jay
Yesterday I managed to surprise one married couple and appear on the 10th Anniversary of their Sacrament of Marriage – sharing their joy at the time that passed and looking forward with trust to the time yet to come. As every couple, they struggle for true love. They already know where the Source of Love is and how to draw on it.
On the way home I gave a lift to Vlodek. He used to be in prison, then he met a woman who’d been beaten, and then abandoned with two children, by her husband. He married her, brought up her children, led them to their First Communion, and then became the father of the woman’s third child. The priest in the parish refused to baptize the child, saying it’s been conceived in adultery. Vlodek’s wife is ill with MS. She lost her sight. They sleep separately, because it’s difficult to become parents again in this situation. They go to the church, though the sacraments are not available to them. Every evening Vlodek prays with his family to the Mother of God – asking Her to be with them.
The next person to sit in my car was Jola, who thumbed a lift two minutes after Vlodek had got off. She was a bit tipsy. She started complainning about the people who pray ardently when they need something, but they forget to say “thank you”. Her left forearm was striped with scars after slashing, but she talked of the prayer of gratefulness like a zealous apostle.
The meetings with people always abound in presence of God, who does miracles in them – regardless of their stories. Yesterday I had the luck of meeting those people in person.
Fr Jay
I know well that you watch over those who place their every hope in You (…) That’s why I have resolved to live from now on without fear, and offer to You all my cares and all my sorrows.
The author of that “Prayer of Trust” was St Claude de la Colombierre, spiritual father and friend of St Margaret Mary Alacoque. I’m recalling those words and before the new day begins, I’m trying to see the lessons learnt from the day that ends: my telling the Lord that I trust Him may be so far away from practice of everyday life.
Because to trust – means to admit to failure and ask for help in the right moment. To trust is to be able to change plans, when situation requires, since it’s there, in the unpredictable “Emergency Plan” i will meet Him. Trust means to let the other person disturb me, when they want something from me at the “wrong time”. To lose something. To swallow up disappointment.
So being careless in the Christian sense is not all that easy. “The adult” in us still believes he/she knows better and is able to handle things on their own. It’s only “the child” who relies on the Father, because His love is endless… and He know so much more. He never hurts. And is very patient explaining life to His child.
Małgosia
