One evening, Father O'Malley received a telephone call. A voice said, "Father, I'm calling from the local hospital and we have a terminally ill patient here who is asking to see a priest about the last rites, can you come quickly?"
The nurse met the priest at the door, and thanked him for coming. "The person who wants to see you, Father, is an alcoholic. He is still coherent but is slipping fast. He's called Tom," she said.
Father went into Tom's room and said to Tom, "I was just passing through and thought I would visit you before you sleep."
"Don't give me any of that garbage", Tom replied, "I asked that nurse to call someone to give me the last rites because I know my time is done and its my turn to go. Now get with it."
"Would you like to make a confession?" the pastor asked. "Absolutely not." Tom answered.
They talked for a long time and occasionally Father would ask Tom if he was ready for confession. Tom mentioned that he had done something in his life that was with him every day and he did not feel that God would forgive him. Finally, Tom agreed to tell the pastor his story.
"Thirty-two years ago, two months and eleven days ago, I was working for the railroad. It was two days before Christmas and the whole crew was drunk. Someone had to go out and push the switch for the train to go northbound. I guess I was more drunk than the rest because I pushed the switch in the wrong direction. The train slammed into a passenger car at the end of the next crossing and killed a young man, his wife, and their two daughters. I have had to live with that all of my life."
There was a moment of silence as Tom's confession of this tragedy hung in the air. After what seemed like an eternity, Fr. O'Malley gently put his hand on Tom's shoulder and said very quietly. "If I can forgive you, God can too because in that car were my father, my mother and two sisters."
Do we still find it difficult to forgive anyone?
:: Secret Lady ::
0 addition on my secret
Three sons left home, went out on their own and prospered. Getting together for Christmas, they discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother.
The first said, "I built a big house for our mother."
The second said, "I sent her a Mercedes."
The third smiled and said, "You can't top my gift! You remember how mum enjoyed reading the Bible? And you know she can't see very well. So I sent her a remarkable parrot that recites the entire Bible. It took elders in the church 12 years to teach him. He's one of a kind. Mum just has to name the chapter and verse, and the parrot will recite it."
Soon thereafter, Mum sent out her letters of thanks:
"Dear Milton," she wrote to the first son, "the house you built is too huge. I live in only one room, but I have to keep the whole house clean!"
"Dear Gerald," she wrote to the other, "I am too old to travel. I stay at home most of the time, so I rarely use the Mercedes."
"Dearest Donald," she wrote to her third son, "You have the good sense to know what your Mother likes. The chicken was Dee-licious!"
:: Secret Lady ::
0 addition on my secret