Lesson before dawn...

During early morning mass at the hermitage last week, Fr. Casey told an amazing story. He'd read it in a magazine when he was just a lad and it stuck with him all these years.  It was a story about a Sunday school director in a small church in a rural area.  There was one particular poor family living in the community, but they didn't attend the church.  The Sunday school director, who knew the family well, asked if it would be OK if he picked up their young son for Sunday school on Sunday morning.  The family agreed and the man arrived in his best Sunday suit to collect the boy.  The boy came out of his house in his overalls with a clean white shirt.  The gentleman told the boy he needed to stop at his home quickly as he'd forgotten something he needed for Sunday school.  When he came out of the house, he, too, was wearing overalls and a clean white shirt.  He didn't want the young boy to feel uncomfortable at Sunday school, dressed as he was.  This little story moved me greatly, teaching me such a valuable lesson.  We don't change others into what we want them to be, we change ourselves to appreciate them just how they are.  This was one of two awesome lessons I learned that morning, even before the sun came up...tomorrow, I will share the second lesson!  Let's think today how we can love and appreciate those we encounter today--just the way they are! Love, heidi