THE STORY OF THE PRIEST WHO THOUGHT HE FAILED
Dear Friends, as I reflected on my past thirty years as a priest and a couple of days ago my birthday, I reminded myself, as I often do, how so much blessed I am and how grateful I must always be to God and to the several people that God brought into my own life over the years. That includes you! It is this sense of gratitude which always brings bright smiles on my face in case you are wondering! However, I also realized that things have not always been so rosy in my priesthood and in my life. There were times I felt like I have totally failed and got on the verge of being discouraged until the grace of God always brought me back. I was recently encouraged when I was feeling this sentiment of failure when I read about the story of another priest who thought he had failed which I would like to share a modified version of as a part of my article today. Some of you might relate with this story or might have even read it.
According to this story, the new parish priest of a small town arrived at the Church encouraged and motivated to celebrate an evening Mass, but as hours passed, no one came. After a long time, three children entered; 20 minutes after that, two young people entered. So, the priest decided to start the Mass with the five people. Over the course of Mass, a couple came in who sat on the last benches of the church.
When the priest preached and explained the Gospel, another half-dirty person came in with a rope in his hand. Disappointed and not understanding the cause of the weak involvement of the faithful, the priest nevertheless celebrated Mass with love and preached with enthusiasm and zeal.
On his way back home, he was robbed and beaten by two thieves who carried his folder where his Bible and other valued belongings were. Arriving at his rectory, and bandaging his wounds, he described that day as: “The saddest day of my life, a failure of my ministry, and the most unfruitful day of my career; but... never mind, I do everything with God and for Him”.
After five years, the priest decided to share this story with parishioners at church. When he was finished telling the story, a couple in that parish stopped him and said, ′′ Father, the couple in the story that sat at the back was us. We were on the brink of separation because of several problems and disagreements in our home. That night we finally decided to divorce, but first we decided to come to church one last time as a couple and then each one would follow their path. However, we left the thought of divorce aside after listening to your homily that same night. As a result of your homily, today we are here with our home and family restored ".
As the couple spoke, one of the most successful entrepreneurs who helped in the livelihood of that church raised up his hand, asking to speak and when given the opportunity he said said, ′′ Father, I am the person who came in half dirty with a rope in my hand. I was on the verge of bankruptcy, lost in drugs, my wife and my kids had left home on account of my behavior. That night I tried to kill myself, but the rope broke so I went out to buy another one. When I got on my way, I saw the church open, I decided to come in even though I was so dirty and had a rope in my hand. That night, your homily pierced my heart and I walked out of here a changed person. Today I'm off the drugs, my family came home, and I became the most successful businessman in the town."
At the gate of the sacristy entrance, the Deacon shouted, ′′ Father, I was one of those thieves who stole your belongings. The other one died that same night while we were doing the second robbery. In his briefcase, there was a Bible. I read it every time I woke up in the morning. After all this reading, I decided to apply it to my life and participate in this church."
The priest was shocked and started crying along with the faithful. After all, that night he regarded as a night of failure was a very productive night.
The moral of this story is that no matter how fragile and sinful we may be, if we commit all our work and vocations into the hands of the Lord, He will make it good. We should therefore always exercise our calling (work / mission) with dedication and zeal, giving it our best every day, because we can be instruments God can use for the good of someone else's life. And always keep in mind that even in the worst days of our lives we can still be a blessing to someone else because God can use the ′′ bad circumstances ′′ of a life to produce the best for others.
St. Andrew, I love you!
-Fr. Robert
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