Thoughts from Nicaragua

Hola mis amigos! Aqui estan algunos pensamientos de mis ultimas semanas (Hey friends! Here are a few thoughts from the past few weeks):

 

From the book untitled The Imitation of Christ:

“If I only knew how to persevere!”

“And if you did know, what would you do? Do now what you would do, and you shall be perfectly secure.”

 

A few weeks ago, I want to Granada, Nicaragua to study Spanish. I got to stay with a friend, Adela, with whom I studied during my year in Rome!

Each day after class, I would pass by the Cathedral and talk to a homeless man. When I met him at the beginning of the week, he was on the ground with small metal crutches. By the end of the week, he had a wheelchair (which someone gave to him), and had started a little “store”, selling gum and sweets out of a little box on his lap. He was so excited to start his new little business. But someone tried to steal his box during the night, and he ended up with a big black eye. So sad. He’s such a joyful and wise person. He told me that we all need to strive to be humble, and that when he was robbed, he tried to be humble and to say, “Well, they can take everything away, but they can’t take my joy, my love, my faith.” What a witness. He also told me how much he appreciated that I came to talk to him every day, because when most people see him, a man with shriveled legs out on the street, they don’t want to come near him. All I was doing was treating him like a human being – not really anything big – but it touched him a lot. It’s because all of us, rich or poor, want to be loved and treated like we’re worth something. And we are! Thanks be to God!

Adela’s family was such an example to me. They work so hard, and still go to Mass every day, visit sick people several times a week, and are constantly having meetings and prayer groups in their home. To me they are an example of people who give everything they have for the sake of Jesus.

My last day in Nicaragua, I got to go to Mass in the Cathedral. The priest was so passionate, and talked about how it’s so easy for us to talk to other people about any topic, other than God. He challenged us to say to one person during each day: “God loves you.” That should be so easy! Why isn’t it?! Why is it hard to say that, even to a stranger? God can really use that small phrase to plant a seed of hope in someone’s heart. Are we really so prideful and worried about our own self-image that we can’t do just a little bit to help a soul who is desperately seeking truth and happiness, just as we are?

I once heard a homily from a priest. He told how his father worked in toll booth on a toll road, collecting money. To each person who passed through, he would say, “God bless you.” One day, a car pulled up, and as always he said, “God bless you.” The man inside looked at him and said, “Yesterday, I came through this toll with every intention of committing suicide when I got home. But when you said ‘God bless you’ to me, I thought, ‘well, maybe there’s hope.’” 

Yes, it’s very difficult – for me too!!! But it’s worth it, for God and for souls.

This priest also shared about suffering, and how often times when something goes wrong in life, we immediately ask “why?” (in spanish, “porque?”). But this is the wrong question. The right question is “for what” (in Spanish, “para que?”). It’s just a small change in perspective (and in language, at least in spanish), but it makes all the difference. Instead of “porque is this happening God?”, we can ask “para que is this happening God?” “Para que are You allowing this to happen? What do you want to teach me? How do you want me to grow through this struggle? This changes our attitude from one of complaining to one of mission, seeking God’s will and how we can fulfill it.

The door is there, but Jesus said when we encounter it, it will be closed, not open. We must knock. It takes effort. And not just once, but every day. CS Lewis (author of Narnia) said that we have to give our lives in to the hand’s of God each morning anew, as if we had never done so before.

So, today is a new day. Let’s give Him our trust, today, and allow Him to be the one behind the wheel.

Peace to all!

Eric