God's love in action, Fr. Damien

When Fr. Damien arrived in Molokai to assemble a prefabricated Church for the lepers, he spent the first few weeks sleeping out under the trees, because he was unable to cope with the stench in the hovels of the lepers.  He certainly wouldn't dare preach to them about God's love for them, because as they saw it, that would be offensive.  But slowly he opened his heart to the grace of God which enabled him to see the suffering Jesus in them.  In no time, he was washing them, bandaging them, and burying them.  He came to love them, and though him, they came to believe that God loved them.  He smoked a pipe to counteract the stench, but soon he was passing the pipe around for others to have a smoke.  He ate food with them from a common bowl, out of which they scopped the food with hands that had no fingers.  He caught the disease himself, and he was happy to be able to live and to die for them.  Thus, St. Damien followed Jesus' commandment of love given to us:  This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

The wounded heart

THE WOUNDED HEART

If only the heart was right
we could give so much more
But alas, the heart is often empty.
It is often cold and unwelcoming
It is often hard and unyielding.
It is often weighted down with worry.
It is often sad and lonely.
It is often in darkness.
It is often wounded,
and it is sometimes broken.
We have to heal the wounds of the heart
in order to be able to love.
Lord, touch our hearts and heal them,
so that we may be able to bear the fruits of love.