As I concluded the final Mass on Pentecost Sunday, I was outside the church, and was greeting the congregation as they headed to their cars- and one of our students unexpectedly handed me an envelope, saying “It’s a gift.” I thanked them and went on my way.
I arrived back at the rectory and opened the envelope- and it was a letter. This letter shocked me, but in a good way. The handwritten letter was all about how inspired they felt at watching me and listening to me, and how it had changed their life- and they were grateful for the example and witness they saw through me. They had learned through my advice and homilies, as the letter relayed, that prayer doesn’t have to be perfect or long- it just has to come from the heart. The letter concluded “You remind me that no matter how busy life gets, God should always come first.”
The letter was beautiful, to put it simply. It was humbling in the best of ways, to see that all of the hard work and effort that I or anyone can put into ministry, and to see positive fruit in how eloquently they put how they had felt changed and inspired. That moved me in return, especially because of the amount of effort it takes to write such a letter by hand, and with such thought and reflection.
What stunned me even more, though, was that this student had no idea what kind of weekend I was having. To be honest, I had been more weary than usual with things weighing on me when that “gift” was exchanged. I could have enumerated all of the things I saw going wrong for far too long. And yet- here in an unexpected moment- someone spoke a word of gratitude that became a word of encouragement.
It reminded me of a line from The Lord of the Rings, “There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” Somewhere out there, people are listening and changing the world, and they truly do want to make it better through their faith and their relationship with God. Sometimes they are even right in front of us.
To be clear, we priests are no different than anyone else in having our own weight to bear. We do have our crosses to carry and burdens to shoulder, just like anyone else. Sometimes, however, it hits differently. When you encounter apathy or a lack of faith, and feel like you’re doing everything you can to spread the word. When that person you’re trying so hard to minister to is dishonest with you, and you just can’t figure out why. When you try to get people engaged or wait for responses, and it feels like there isn’t a response or very few show. When you look out at attendance, it does not always seem like what you do matters or changes things that much. It seems that sometimes, when it does rain- it does pour. That is not said for sympathy’s sake because we all have moments in our life where things get heavy.
That is why this was such a brilliant moment, and one that left me stunned. No one told this student to do it. No one asked. But they listened to a voice- and it’s a voice I know well. The Holy Spirit inspired them to send me a message (something I had happened to encourage in the homily that morning, though they wouldn’t have heard yet), and it reached exactly where I needed it to. They did something I was encouraging others to do this weekend, and I was not fully aware of the potential impact it could have on someone’s heart when someone did that very thing.
I think moments like these are important reminders for all of us. We often underestimate the impact that a few sincere words can have on another person. A simple encouragement. A thoughtful note. A moment of gratitude. We may think those things are small or insignificant, but sometimes they arrive exactly when someone else is carrying more than we realize.
Most people are fighting battles we cannot see. They may be tired, discouraged, grieving, frustrated, or simply trying to keep moving forward quietly. And yet one act of kindness, one acknowledgment, or one sincere word can suddenly become a reminder that what they are doing matters or that there is goodness they aren’t seeing at that moment.
Perhaps that is one of the quiet ways the Holy Spirit continues to work in the world. Not always through dramatic signs or grand gestures, but through ordinary people who choose to encourage, to notice, even to admonish, and to speak life into another person when they least expect it.
Never underestimate the value of the message the Holy Spirit may be prompting you to give to another person. You may never fully know what burden someone else is carrying- or how deeply the words you speak might help set them free.
