I am constantly reminded of how small the world truly is, and in particular, how the Catholic world is even smaller.
A few days ago I was reading a monthly Catholic magazine which covers issues and concerns of eastern Christians. I always enjoy its articles, in particular when they cover the difficult situation faced by Iraqi Christians.
This month as I read through the magazine I saw the picture below. I couldn’t believe it. Dressed in brown was one of my nine English students from the month I spent in Ukraine teaching English at the Ukrainian Catholic University. I proudly read that he is now a subdeacon and recently founded a spiritual outreach program for orphans with a seminary friend. Their program provides spiritual guidance and catechism at ten orphanages in Lviv, Ukraine and surrounding villages.
Some “coincidences” of life are too perfect for them not to be considered part of God’s providence. I could have never imagined I would run into people I knew while walking across Saint Peter Square during my four years in Rome. It did not only happen once, but three times. Once it was a friend’s sister, another time a college friend, the third time my college RA. These three people had no idea I lived in Rome and I had no idea they were visiting Rome. During my last visit to Rome, I bumped into an Argentinian friend who no longer lives in Rome, but happened to be in Rome for one day for a meeting. We had coffee, caught up, and then continued on with our lives. Two years ago once again while visiting Rome, I bumped into a Colombian friend who had stopped in Rome for three days on his way to teach at the seminary in Equatorial Guinea, Africa.
God always acts with purpose so whenever these things happen to me, I ask God, “why?” There is always a reason, even if it is as simple as to give us a moment of joy and reflection. Finding my student’s picture brought back an avalanche of memories from my time in Ukraine in 2006. I would like to share some pictures.
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