In my last entry, I had been thinking about a statue of St. Francis Xavier in our church. Now I have been a member of this church since 2007 -- 15 years -- and I have never up until now given a thought to St. Francis Xavier or to that statue.
Last night, I awoke around 1:30 with a new understanding. St. Francis Xavier had been trying to tell me something, but it took me a few days to make the connection.
A couple of weeks ago, one of the members of my garden club lost her husband. I attended the funeral service, but then with the advent of Thanksgiving, I put the event behind me. Other than the monthly meetings of the garden club, I have no contact with this woman, and therefore I know her only slightly. Her name is Frances Xavier _______.
Although she has been known all her life as "Frances," when she joined the garden club a few years ago, she asked us to call her "Xavier," which we have done. Because of my unexpected reflections on St. Francis Xavier a few days ago, I suddenly realized during the night that Xavier is undoubtedly experiencing loneliness and heartbreak, especially at this time of the year, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have been living my life without another thought of what she must be going through.
God is amazing! He will use anything at hand to move us to do His work. In this case, it took a sudden awareness of a statue to awaken my mind and heart to the suffering of another person. Now, if he will just show me the next step......
The mote is in our eye, or a Martha's worrying about all things. We need mercy, which overflows boundaries and extends in sympathy, not just a stab of compassion, which can be forgotten in a minute.
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