“I Am a Beggar Too”
“How much?” he said.
I told him. He then said, “We just can’t afford that right now.” (We are beginning construction on a new building that will provide space for, among other things, more adult formation.)
I said (betraying only a moderate amount of insanity), “That’s ok. If people like this program, it doesn’t cost anything. It’s self-sustaining and all it takes is the money to start it up and I am willing to donate that.” and (betraying utter insanity) “I’ll provide the labor to get the program going.”
SO. The entryway of my house has a lovely display case.
(That would not be my entryway in the background but just a picture of what the display case looks like.) And several plastic boxes full to the brim with CD’s. I am panicking. What was I thinking!? Nobody has volunteered to help me. Everyone I have mentioned this program to gives me one of those there-she-goes-again looks. I have this pathetic image in my head of me as some sort of Catholic Eliza Doolittle trying to get people to give me a few pence for my violets….I mean CD’s. Pray for this little venture if you think about it would you? I would dearly love more people to know and to love the Catholic faith and this seems like such a good way to do it. Even if I am feeling a little insane and panicky at the moment.
So you’re wondering what this has to do with the title of this post? Here it comes. I have been listening to the titles in the initial shipment of CD’s in order to be able to adequately convince my fellow parishioners that they just can’t live without donating a few bucks so that they can also listen to these CD’s. They’re great by the way….this really IS a good idea for your parish. I was listening to a CD by Scott Hahn titled “The Healing Power of Confession” and he related a story about John Paul II that blew my socks off. A friend of a friend of Scott Hahn’s, a priest, was visiting Rome for a conference and went to a local parish for his afternoon prayers. On the way into the church he passed by a number of beggars. Once in church, the face of one of the beggars troubled him so much that he went back outside to talk to him. It turned out that the beggar had been a classmate of his in the seminary and had been ordained with him to the priesthood. The first priest asked the beggar what had happened “Well you know….stuff” was pretty much the answer. There wasn’t time to learn the story because the first priest had to attend a meeting and later a private audience with the Holy Father, John Paul II. So they parted ways for the time being.
This private audience was of the receiving line-type variety. Basically, you got to greet the Holy Father and then move on without any conversation, but when he got to the front of the line, he blurted out something like “I love you…please pray for my friend…..” and out came the rest of the story. After the private audience, the priest went back to the church where he had found his friend and although many of the other beggars had left, his friend was still there. The priest told him that he had met with the Holy Father and that the the Holy Father was now praying for him.
The beggar said, “Well a fat lot of good that will do for me.”
The priest said, “Well there’s more. The Holy Father has invited us to dinner tonight.” The beggar tried to reject the invitation by saying that he wasn’t clean, didn’t have the proper clothes, etc. etc. The priest then pointed out that without his friend that HE wasn’t going to get to have dinner with the Pope and that he would be happy to let his friend have some of his clothes and shower in his hotel room etc. So the beggar agreed to go.
That night after dinner but before dessert, as they were talking John Paul II gestured that the priest should leave the room. So the pope’s secretary led him out of the room leaving the beggar-priest alone with the Holy Father. Over ten minutes later they were signalled to come back into the room and they finished dinner. On the way home, the priest asked his friend “What happened while you were alone with the Holy Father!?”
His friend replied, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“Try me.” said the first priest.
“After you left the room, the Holy Father grabbed both of my hands and said ‘Father would you hear my confession?”
At this I gasped and burst into tears…..but the story goes on…
The beggar priest said, “But Your Holiness, I can’t hear your confession. I am a beggar!”
Came the response, “I am a beggar, too. We are all beggars before the Lord.”
“But Holy Father, I can’t hear your confession! I am not a priest!”
“Once a priest, always a priest.”
“I am not in right standing with the Church….”
“As the Vicar of Christ, I can remedy that here and now if you give your consent….”
The beggar-priest consented and heard John Paul II’s confession. The story goes on with a touching assigment from John Paul II to the newly reconciled beggar-priest. I highly recommend getting a copy of this CD and listening to the whole thing.
What a generous spirit John Paul II has. May his example and his prayers help me to live out such generous humility in my own life.
