A Tiny Ambassador
My husband and I drove to Henderson, Ky., a few Friday nights ago to have dinner in a small restaurant there.
As we headed south out of town — still on the Indiana side — I began to notice the massive amount of water that was covering the countryside on both sides of the highway. When we crossed the Twin Bridges, I was surprised at how unusually wide the Ohio River was, and as we drove through Kentucky there were huge lakes of standing water everywhere.
That Sunday it rained and rained. It was dreary and wet and grey; and I thought to myself, “Where is all the water coming from, and where will it all go? We are saturated.”
I went to Mass that morning, and I sat in one of the back pews in my church. I remember thinking that the lights seemed dimmer than usual, and that it felt good to be inside listening to the soft, steady raindrops hitting the roof.
And then something happened.
When it was time for the Sign of Peace, a tiny child — perhaps three, maybe not — decided to leave her family pew in the front of church and head for the center aisle.
She went to the front of the aisle, and extended her hand to the person standing in the front row — and then she started down the aisle.
I watched as she reached up and offered her hand to each person on the end of each pew.
When she arrived at the back of church and saw the usher standing there, she shook his hand, and then she carefully turned around and headed up the other side of the aisle.
And at this moment, I realized that that side of the church was ready for her. They had been watching her, and they eagerly extended their arms out and clasped her tiny little hand in theirs. I watched the parishioners sport broad happy grins as they made contact with her, and suddenly the church was bright with light and joy.
It was an amazing moment.
We are told to let our light shine brightly. As Catholics, we know that means letting Jesus’ light shine through us.
Maybe that’s what happened that Sunday morning as a tiny ambassador reached out and knocked us out of our complacency with a simple handshake. Her gestures filled us with joy as we prepared for the Banquet.
Jesus loved the little children; and He admonished His disciples to “let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
It was Divine advice. And it was echoed recently by our pope who said at a papal audience that children are the “greatest blessing which God has bestowed on man and woman.” What wonderful words!
And on that dreary, wet and grey Sunday morning, perhaps we heeded them.
