A story for every day...
“Jesus Christ loves you not ‘despite’ but ‘because of’ your misery.”
As a result of providential circumstances, Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey found himself at the bedside of a godless journalist, a blasphemer to such an extent that his bishop had been forced to excommunicate him.
“My friend, said the priest, you are very ill, and yet your soul is even more ill than your body! You have in the intimacy of your soul an abyss that even Heaven cannot fill. You are without Jesus Christ! – Do not pronounce this name in front of me, do not speak to me about Him, answers the sick man with a gesture of despair. Don’t you know who I am? – I know who you are. – Don’t you know that I am the manager of such bad newspaper? – I know that, sir. – And do you also know that when I write my articles, I have a theology book on my table to look for material to blaspheme, and a crucifix in front of me to insult to its face? – I know all this, and it is Jesus Christ who sends me to offer you peace of mind and happiness. – And Jesus Christ sends you in spite of this? – Not in spite, but because of it. I come from Him to tell you that He loves you and that He is only waiting for a word from you to forgive and forget everything.”
A terrible struggle begins in the heart of this man who is so guilty. After a quarter of an hour, he falls sobbing into Father Mateo’s arms and confesses. He suffered from cancer for six months and was in acute pain. He received communion every day. Happy in his suffering he said, “Thank you, Heart of Jesus, who delivered me from hell through cancer.”
