Living the Gospel: Everything belongs to us!

The fruits of the Word
“For years now, three of us have been asking the new parish priest to talk more about the Word of God. So he arranged for us to hold a meeting before Mass every Sunday. The more we strived to put the Word into practice, the more people kept asking to participate. In a few months, we formed a big group. There was a strong family relationship among the frequent participants, and in the parish the atmosphere started to change. Now we were no longer satisfied only with prayer and individual efforts to be good Christians, but were involved in a journey where each one tried to reach the goal of sanctity with the others. We strongly felt the presence of Jesus at our side and in our midst, and this started to show its effects: besides the joyful discovery of a new image of the Church, we began to feel the need to also share material things with the less fortunate, and support the disadvantaged families, disoriented youth, and people who needed to rediscover God’s love. And this was not only within the framework of the parish.” (Lucio – Italy)

The forgotten Christmas bonus
“I was at the market when I remembered that my parents didn’t have any money, so I did the shopping also for them. On my way home, I noticed a girl crying in the street: she was hungry and her family – she told me – had nothing to eat. After consulting my husband, Antonio, we decided to bring to that family half of our monthly groceries. The next day our neighbour’s daughter came to confide that her father had gone away to look for work and no longer returned. Also they, with many children, had nothing to eat. I said to myself: “Enough of all this, we have already done our part!” But when Antonio reminded me that we still had not given what was necessary, once again we divided the remainder of our supplies. By then there was no money left for the shopping, but every day we received some help from someone. At the end of the month my salary was double. It was not a mistake: I had forgotten about my Christmas bonus.” (B. P. – Brazil)

Tradition with a new heart
“As a tradition in our society, particularly in the villages, the men do not help in the housework, and the women go to work even when they are sick: they do not consider themselves as victims and neither do the men feel cruel. It was so also in my house. If my wife was doing some chore and was reading a book or watching TV, it never occurred to me to get up if our son was crying: it was her task. When with the help of my Christian friends, I realized that the others had the right to receive my love and help, I felt I had to start especially at home. One day, when my wife who was preparing breakfast had to tend to the baby, I set the table for her. When she returned, she was surprised but did not make any remarks. But when I ironed my own shirt to go to the office, it was simply too much for her…. So I told her about the beauty of being the first to love and doing to others what we want others to do to us. Now there is more harmony in the family.” (W.U. H. – Pakistan)