One of the college students that I teach shared this amazing story in our afternoon spirituality session. She told our group how she was in a quiet section of a bookstore where a person could peacefully do research and homework. In comes a lady who seemed quite disturbed. She was talking to herself but didn’t realize how loudly she was speaking to herself, which was affecting other people in the quiet section. My student began to become a little disturbed by the lady, because the noise she was making affected her concentration. At the same time, my student was deeply committed to Christ. Seeing that the lady was beside herself with worry as she apparently had nobody to talk to. So, my student felt that the poor lady just needed someone to listen to her. My student was willing to go speak with her but first tried to get Jesus to do the work of silencing the lady quickly. So, she said a quiet prayer to Jesus: “Lord, I am going to count to five. If you don’t help this poor lady to stop talking first, I promise I will get up and go over and ask her if she wants a prayer.” My student’s bargaining didn’t work as the poor lady talked louder as the five-count ended. Reluctantly, my student went over to the lady and asked her what was wrong. She answered that her dear sister was very sick and dying. She had no one else to talk to. So, she gratefully accepted the student’s concern, and when the student asked for her sister’s name, the student felt like Jesus had sent her a bolt from heaven! For the name of the sister was the exact name of an aunt of the student’s: first and last name! In today’s Gospel story, we hear how Jesus is so very generous. He was not only generous to the older lady by sending someone to pray for her, he also was generous to the young student by teaching her that she was the special one that He wanted to go over to the lonely lady. It was not a coincidence; it was simply God’s grace. God gave a gift to two people, and not only one. When we are willing to reach out to another person in need, we can be sure it is Jesus prompting us to go over and not only bless the other person but also be blessed by them as well. ~ Fr. John