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PotOnWheel
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 9890
| Posted 4/29/2008 12:00 AM (GMT -6) |   | | | |
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PotOnWheel
Registered Member
Date Joined Jul 2001
Total Posts : 9890
| Posted 4/29/2008 6:16 AM (GMT -6) | | "Let [the priest] open that book and begin reading it without grand words or superciliousness, without condescension, but gently and kindly, being glad that he is reading to them and that they are listening with attention. Let him read loving the words himself, and only stopping from time to time to explain words that are not understood by the peasants. Don’t be anxious; they will understand everything. The faithful heart will understand all!
Let the priest read to them about Abraham and Sarah, about Isaac and Rebecca, of how Jacob went to Laban and wrestled with the Lord in his dream and said: “This place is holy”–and he will impress the devout mind of the peasant. Let him read, especially to the children, how the brothers sold Joseph, the tender boy, the dreamer and prophet, into bondage, and told their father that a wild beast had devoured him, and showed him his blood-stained clothes. Let him read to them how the brothers afterwards journeyed into Egypt for corn, and Joseph, now a greater ruler, unrecognized by them, tormented them, accused them, kept his brother Benjamin, and all through love: “I love you, and loving you I torment you.” …Let the priest read to them further how happy old Jacob was on learning that his boy was still alive, and how he went to Egypt leaving his own country. Let him read to them how Jacob died in a foreign land, bequeathing the great prophecy that had lain mysteriously hidden in his meek and timid heart, that from his offspring, from Judah, would come the great hope of the world, the Messiah and Saviour.
…Let him weep too, the priest of God, and be sure that the hearts of his listeners will throb in response. Only a tiny seed is needed–drop it into the heart of the peasant and it won’t die….And there’s no need of much teaching or explanation, he will understand it all simply. Do you believe that peasants don’t understand? Try reading to them the touching story of the fair Esther and the haughty Vashti; or the miraculous story of Jonah and the whale. Don’t forget either the parables of Our Lord, choose especially from the Gospel of St. Luke…and then from the Acts of the Apostles the conversion of St. Paul (that you mustn’t leave out on any account),…and you will penetrate their hearts with these simple tales. Give one hour a week to it in spite of your poverty, only one short hour. And you will see for yourself that our people are gracious and grateful, and will repay you a hundredfold. Mindful of the kindness of their priest and the moving words they have heard from him, they will of their own accord help him in his fields and in his house, and will treat him with more respect than before–so that it will even increase his worldly well-being. The thing is so simple that sometimes one is even afraid to put it into words, for fear of being laughed at, and yet how true it is!"
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