The Way of God is beautiful! So in Medugorje I had the feeling come over me that I wanted to be in Loreto, Italy on September 11 (the significance of this day is it is the day of my Grandma Brown's birthday). In Loreto, i would go to the Holy House. Per tradition, the Holy House is where the Angel of the Lord came to Mary and told her that she would conceive a child through the Holy Spirit and Mary answered with a 'yes' to Gods will. The house was moved when the Holy Land was lost by the Crusaders and no longer under the protection of the Christians. For the safe keeping of the house, a family named Angelo moved the stone house. Thus a legend of Angels moving the house was born.
Anyways, I followed the holy spirit, took a bus after Mass in Medugorje and arrive in Split that evening. I purchase my ferry ticket for an overnight ferry, found a church to pray, got wifi to let my family know my whereabouts and I then began walking to board the ship. I began hearing many people shout 'Ciao Kim' and I see that it is my Italian friends. Due to the language barrier, I had thought they were leaving a different day and now we are on the same boat for the return trip to Ancona and from there they will drive to Loreto to celebrate Mass and then they return to the Naples area. They offer me a ride on their bus to Loreto the following morning which I accept. But a bus ride is not why God guided me here.
So among the group, the many Italian Mamas all have wanted to make sure I was taken care of (my mom would be happy): they fed me, told me to avoid certain groups that were bad spiritually/sects, made sure I knew what was happening at Mass/Rosary, etc. most of this was done via our chopped English/Italian/Spanish but we also one day found a cafe and used the wifi to use a translator so we could have a conversation. In addition, to the many Mamas, I also got a new little sister.
This sister was the reason, that God brought me to Split on that day to take the ferry and why he had me come to Loreto on the 11th. This is where the saying, "preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words," comes into play. It also simply comes to saying 'yes' to God, even when we do not know in the short-term where we end up (for we know in the long-term where our 'yes' to God will bring us).
For God did not want my words but simply my actions. He wants our 'yes' and He wants us then to go do what He has told us. So little sister and I could not have a conversation truly but through simple words in Italian we were able to make do but more important than any words I said, was simply loving. On the ferry, I learned little sister has a very heavy heart and because of this, she is drawn to me because she wants that joy/freedom. The freedom and joy we get when we drop the extra baggage, that God never intended for us. The joy that comes with God. My point to ponder here would simply be, what baggage do I hold on to? Am I willing to drop that baggage?
I do not know little sisters life story or what is happening currently in her life but I do know that she is at a tipping point with God in the best way possible and that soon she will find the rest, joy, and peace through Him that she needs. She just simply must keep saying 'yes', like our Mother Mary. Without words you can feel someone's pain and the fixer in me only wants to take it away, but not being able to communicate with words to find out what the problem is makes that impossible. It also makes me rely on God so much more- literally using His words instead of my own. To help her on her way, I gave her three scriptures to read- they share God's forgiveness and mercy, His love for us through Jesus' life and death, and God having a place for us. Every person needs to understand how badly God loves them and how much He wants them. If we all understood these simple, yet profound truths, I think the world would have peace and joy and not be the world that we see each time we read the newspaper or watch TV.
In Loreto after Mass, when it was time for the Italians to leave, I said my goodbyes and when it came time for little sister and her mama they cried and of course, that made me cry. Truly a beautiful part of life, how we weave in and out of each others life and in such a small amount of time, so great of a love can be formed.
Fitting bible verse from evening vespers:
"To God whose power now at work in us can do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine—to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, world without end. Amen."- Ephesians 3:20-21
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