Faithful Women

Faithful Women October 18, 2013

During my second year of seminary I met a religious sister at the liturgical office of Rome.  She was the secretary of Monsignor Marco Frisina, director of the office.  I had gone there with a letter from Bishop Boland to request a relic of Saint Francis de Sales for Mount de Sales High School in Macon.  Chatting with the sister, I realized she lived in the neighborhood by the seminary, an area with many elderly people and troubled youths (picture of the neighborhood above).

She asked me for help visiting these families.  The seminary had already assigned me to work at a Latin American parish, and since free time in seminary is almost non-existent, it was very difficult for me to help her.  Sister Pina would call me once a month to invite me to a holy hour and reflection her community organized in the neighborhood.  I would occasionally go, but I never committed to more.

Every time she called me she sounded enthusiastic and happy, as if it were the first time she was inviting me.  I figured she would stop calling after hearing “no” so many times, yet she continued to call and ask.  This lasted for two and a half years… and it drove me crazy.

One month before leaving seminary a friend mentioned to me that he wanted a pastoral assignment where he could practice Italian and be more involved with the Roman people.  That same day I ran into Sister Pina in the city while riding my bicycle through Trastevere.  God did his work – during my last month in Rome the seminary approved the assignment and my friend began visiting families.  When I returned to visit Rome one year later, I had dinner with Sister Pina and the four American seminarians assigned to visit families in the neighborhood.

Saint Luke writes of a woman as faithful and persistent as Sister Pina.  The woman begged a judge to render a just decision until he delivered it due to her persistence rather than his goodwill.  Like her, Sister Pina remained faithful in prayer knowing she had to continue knocking in order for God to answer her prayer.

This is how God works.  What seemed impossible to me, unfolded with the least amount of effort in less than one month.  Though her prayers and persistence went unheard by me, God surely heard her and Sister Pina’s great desire became a reality.

“He who throws seeds in the wind will make the sky flower”
Profound graffiti over the Tiber
Pictures are mine, all rights reserved

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