Tenderness is a balm to the weary heart

9 Days of Heaven: Mary’s Tenderness (Day 4)

When I was a missionary in Australia many years ago, I got a call from a woman asking if I could visit a Filipina lady who was a resident in the nursing facility she was working in. The following weekend after the call, I went to the nursing home to pay the lady a visit. I brought a prayer book and some reading materials with me as requested by the nurse. She knew the woman was catholic and she wanted me to pray with her and to spend some time reading or talking with her.

The woman was wheel chair bound. A multiple stroke had ravaged her tiny body leaving her unable to communicate and half of her body paralyzed. I was not at all prepared to see her in that pitiful situation, drooling while strapped in her wheel chair. But the tears in her eyes spoke volumes. My heart truly went out to her. The nurse was very grateful that I came. She told me that the woman has a family, but has not visited her for a long time.

We all need tenderness, compassion, kindness. Some need them more than we do, like the lady I mentioned above. Sometimes we can be too myopic, concerned only of meeting our personal needs, unable to go out of our boundaries.

How about going out of your comfort zones and allowing others to experience the love of Jesus through acts of kindness on your part?

Would you be generous enough to offer an “extra mile” to a person who is obviously in need of a listening ear and asks to talk to you even as you race to meet a deadline? What would your reaction be?

Upon learning of the situation of her cousin Elizabeth, Mary hastened to be at her side to help her in her time of need. Are you willing to do the same, given the chance?

Click this link for the novena: http://visit.pauline.org/ifollowlight/2014/08/09/9-days-of-heaven-marys-tenderness-day-4/