Lenten stories
“He now had a mission to fulfill to heal others, that was why the Lord made him sick. He healed himself by healing others.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta, more known as Mother Teresa, was walking through the streets of Calcutta with a few other nuns. She noticed flies coming out of a bag, and approached out of curiosity. She was shocked to see a man completely covered with worms. Noticing that he was still alive, she asked a fellow nun to get a blanket. She wrapped him in the blanket and they carried him to a service van.
The nuns sang and talked to him to comfort him, as they brought him to a house for the destitute and dying. There, Mother Teresa used a pair of tweezers to remove each and every worm. It took her more than an hour.
Revived and fed, the man asked, “Why are you doing this? Everyone is running away from me.”
Mother Teresa replied, “Because I see Jesus in you.”
Here are some quotes from Mother Teresa.
“We are not social workers but contemplatives in the heart of the world. For we are touching the body of Christ 24 hours a day.”
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”
“The hunger for love is much more difficult to satisfy than the hunger for bread.”
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” Story No. 2.
Joey, a man of very strong faith, went to the doctor because of a slight chest pain. He was shocked to find out he had stage 4 cancer of the lungs. He was hit by a lightning bolt. The sudden thought of death made Joey pray hard. He went to Mass every day. He pleaded to the Lord to heal him.
He started chemotherapy, and had a rigorous fruits-and-vegetable diet. But in spite of prayers, diet and chemo, his situation deteriorated very fast, the cancer spreading to his spine. He started getting depression. He lost half of his weight in 10 days. Then, he started losing his faith. He blamed the Lord for his misery. He stopped praying, but became more miserable. He withdrew from the world and stared at the ceiling the whole day.
Freddie, his best friend since they were kids, visited him every day, trying to cheer him up in vain. He did not laugh at his jokes. No one could make him smile. Freddie left disappointed, but never gave up. He was there every day.
One day, Freddie did not come. Joey got news that Freddie died of stage 4 lung cancer. He was worse off than him, but Freddie never told him.
Joey had a change of heart. He started emulating Freddie. He stopped wallowing in his grief, and sought other cancer patients when he went to his doctor. He made friends, and comforted those who were desperate, just like Freddie did to him. They liked his jokes. He never failed to make them smile.
Joey began to notice a change in himself. When he left his doctor’s clinic, he felt stronger and better. He thought how amazing it was how the body and soul were so intertwined as to heal each other. So, he went to his doctor’s clinic every day, not to see the doctor, but to see the patients. The patients would gather around him to hear his jokes. The nurse asked them to tone down the noise. The clinic waiting room was like a party. It was his therapy, better and cheaper than chemo, which he no longer underwent. He threw his sickness to the wind.
His cancer was still spreading, but he did not care. The doctor gave him three months. It has been a year, and he was alive and kicking. He now had a mission to fulfill to heal others, that was why the Lord made him sick. He healed himself by healing others. This terminal cancer patient found his heaven in a cancer clinic. He has relearned to surrender himself to Him by surrendering himself to others.
God’s ways are different from our ways. He changes our depression into joy, our despair into hope. There is no way we can get lost, because no matter where we go or wander, all paths lead to Him.
“The hunger for love is much more difficult to satisfy than the hunger for bread.