After a recent event in Denver, I went to mass and I was really touched by one
of the priest’s stories. A month later, it still inspires me and I want to
share it with you:

Sometime ago, a young girl was in hospital and she lied to her parents and
everyone else about the reason why. In truth, she was hospitalized due to
complications from an abortion. When she was released from the hospital, she
had physically healed but her heart was still heavy; the pain of what happened,
the lies to the parents she loved dearly, and it was too much to bear so she
decided to talk to her mom about it, hoping for a relief. She called her
mother in her room, in tears she bore her soul, she told her what happened, how
she was so scared to disappoint them that made her lie. Her mother was
horrified at the news and as quick as she could get back her emotions together,
she told her daughter, “It is okay, it is okay, but it is the past now. We
don’t have to talk about this again, and we don’t have to tell anyone.”

Time passed, and they never talked about it again. One day the mother received
a letter from her daughter, “Mom, do you remember when I told you about me
having abortion? I am grateful you were not upset, but do you remember also
when you told me that we should not talk about it? Oh, mom if you only knew how
much I wanted to talk about it. I could have been better if you were angry at
me, mad and yelled, but more than anything, I just wanted to talk about it….”

The good priest said these words in tears and many in the church were crying as
well, including me. This story touched me in different ways – the compassion of
the priest who told the story inspired me to be the same. The loneliness of the
girl in her pain encouraged me to care and pray for everyone in pain. The story
told the importance of communication, to listen and to be listened to. I can’t
emphasize enough how important this is in every relationship, mother/daughter,
father/son, husband/wife etc … we must make an effort to talk and listen to
each other with love, care about their feelings and make time for others to
express themselves. It is in giving that we receive.

I remember a girl in my high school who was just so nice to everyone, without
doing much, everyone seemed to have peace around her, so one time I approached
her to ask her what was her secret of making everyone feel so good
around her. She told me, “My mom told me to always look people in the eyes of
the one who is talking to me and make every effort to listen to them with
interest, like what they were saying mattered to me as they matter to that
person. It is the best gift you can give anyone, the best way you can show love
and the best way to give peace to another’s heart. To let them know that what
they think, what they say matter.” I never forgot it, and I hope you won’t
either.

Blessings to you,
Immaculee

P.S. Looking forward to the weekend in LaFayette.