Experiences of the Word of Life: washing each other’s feet as Jesus taught us to.
The Missing Component
I work in a company that makes computers. I’d been looking for a particular electronic component for months which would hugely reduce the cost of a product but not a single supplier had found it for me. So, I decided that I would design it myself and at the next weekly meeting, being aware of the long hours of work ahead of me, I asked that the order be postponed for another week. However, during that meeting, one of my colleagues who was going through a bit of a difficult time in his family, told us that he hadn’t managed to finish a piece of work which had been entrusted to him. The boss started to shout at him so I offered to finish his work for him. Immediately afterwards, thinking about it, I knew that I wasn’t going to have time to finish my own project and that I was going to be late home for the rest of the week. But on getting back to my office, I found a supplier waiting for me, without appointment, who had come to give me the very component I had been looking for.
(M.A. Italy)
The Courtyard
Various boys and girls from the neighbourhood come to play with our children in the courtyard of our apartment block. One of these was Robert, an older boy with problems who spent his time roaming the streets, often getting into fights with others. We were aware that his parents, who owned a shop, didn’t have time for him and that he was having psychological help.
One day, we could hear him fighting again, so my wife and I, wanting to love the “little ones” that Jesus speaks of, went down to the courtyard and asked Robert to come up to our place. He stayed with us for the rest of the afternoon, playing with our two children. In the days that followed, every time the situation got a bit difficult, our kids would bring him to our place. His parents let us know that Robert told his psychologist about how he was spending the afternoons. The doctor made the point that since he had been coming to our place his behaviour had improved, so much so that he told his parents to stop giving him his medication. (D.H. USA)
(Source: Il Vangelo del Giorno, Città Nuova, Year V, no.2, March-April 2019)