Besides
your spouse or best friend, your kitty, dog or horse, I wonder if there might
be one religious or holy person you met in this life that you would request to
come to your bedside to say some prayers and keep you company.
One
person that comes to mind is a retired bishop whose humble personality I admire
very much. Just yesterday, while driving him home from the Chrism Mass, we
decided to visit a Polish meat market to buy our smoked and fresh kielbasa for
our Easter baskets. This shepherd has been a priest for over 50 years and he served
as bishop of parishes around the world. However, here we are in a meat market simply
waiting our turn to be waited on and out of left field he says to me this
reminds him of a story.
There once
was an old lady who came to church to pray to the Blessed Mother. The janitor
of the church was inside the church standing behind the statute of Our Lady. He
started to speak to the old lady pretending to be Jesus and telling her what
she prays for. Pray for your pastor, pray for the sick, pray for your neighbor.
Finally, the old lady shouted back at the voice: “Shut-up, I talking to your
mother.”
Here
is this man of God with a sense of humor, visiting with the people in the
market, telling one lady about how good kisha is with scrambled eggs. To
another lady she shares the history of Poland colored eggs and says they cost
$4.95 each in the store but he bought his in Poland for a buck.
No
longer burdened by the responsibilities of administration, he enjoys his
priesthood and better yet enjoys being in the company of ordinary people
sharing with them how beautiful they are in the eyes of God.
Tonight
on Holy Thursday, we will pick up a pail of water—cleaner than the well water used
by Jesus and take a towel to wash the feet of one another. Remember this story
because nobody would have ever foreseen in a million years. He washed their
feet.
What I
like about this retired bishop is that he never wanted to be Godly in the way
you might imagine. He understands that only humility can love and be loved. So
when my time comes, and this bishop will already be in heaven, I humbly ask that he reach down from heaven and pull me up with him and
Jesus. That’s the best kind of friend you can have in this life.
God loves us into eternity as we pray: “In you, O
Lord, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame. Father, into your hands I command
my spirit.” (Psalm 31:2
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends at this Easter
Season that they know someone as kind and humble as the bishop to be by their
side at the hour of death to bring them Your heavenly peace.
