Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, says Jesus in his Gospel, Mt 19,14. For if we become like children (in purity, innocence, abandonment to God) we will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Well, here is a missionary anecdote in the diocese of Santa Clara in Uruguay.
In the diocese of Cerro Largo-Uruguay, there was a change of bishop. And all the parishes began to invite the Monsignor to visit their pastoral area. Santa Clara invited him for the solemnity of Pentecost, taking advantage of the occasion for the young people to receive Confirmation. A lunch was prepared, several people were invited and they were very enthusiastic and prepared everything. The new bishop is a very nice person and knows how to reach out to everyone. The Holy Mass was in the afternoon. The catechism children were present, especially the first Communion children. We made them sit in the front row. At the time of the homily, the Monsignor came down from the altar to be closer to the people. He began by talking about the patron saint of the town, St. Clare, where she was born, what she did, where she lived…. He did so in a very familiar way. Suddenly one of our children, the most restless, interrupted Monsignor, saying: “Then why do we call you Saint Clare of Olimar, if you say you are from Assisi, ah! Olimar is your surname? The Monsignor smiled, because the child was attentive, and the people wanted to laugh at Luke’s witticism. The mother next to him said quietly and embarrassedly: “Lucas, shut up! The Monsignor continued explaining, giving an answer to the child. Then he went on to talk about what was being celebrated: the coming of the Holy Spirit. As always, we made the gifts of the Holy Spirit, each one with their respective names, so that the people could learn and record their names. As expected, Monsignor began to ask for the names of the gifts that God gave us. The children began to mention them, and you can imagine how happy Monsignor’s face was when he saw the children answering. He came to the last gift, and it was the turn of the same child, Luke. He says: I don’t see it, I don’t understand it well. And with his hand he made a gesture that the Monsignor was covering him. The people began to laugh slyly again. The Monsignor smiled and said: “Ah, you did it to me again, didn’t you? He had not noticed that the names of the gifts were written on the flames, and the children were reading from their places. The mother again said: Lucas…!!!!
Lucas always comes up with a witticism, and this time he did it in the Monsignor’s homily. We blushed with embarrassment, because we already imagined that he was going to come up with something. The Monsignor wanted to get to know him better and at the end of the Mass he spoke with him. Lucas gave him a hug when he said goodbye. That day was very beautiful. The Monsignor was very grateful for the work that the Mothers do and the people were very happy with the bishop’s visit.
Madre Aloysia MJVV
