I went to Wendy’s with a friend to pick up some food and while we were waiting for the food I was drawn to talk with an elderly man who was having lunch there. I asked him if his fries were good, and this started us talking. 

10 minutes later we found out that he was dying of cancer and that after years of pushing God away for what had happened to him as a child, he could now say that he was passionate about God. My friend shared how he was discerning becoming a monk and this moved the older man. 

The three of us ended up being deeply touched. I personally was moved beyond words by the inner strength and joy of this man after all he had been through. As a 6-year-old child, he witnessed his mother being tortured and killed in Africa. After 8 years of being mute from the trauma, his grandmother’s love and perseverance reached him and he finally spoke. He went on to join the Canadian military and dedicated his life to combatting evil, especially violence against women. 

Now that he has cancer he said that he could be strong and even joyful because everything he has gone through has made him stronger. The last thing he told us with tears in his eyes was that to him, women are the greatest gift to mankind: and to be cherished and loved. I don’t know if I’ll ever see this man again, but I left that conversation with love and hope in my heart, and a deep sense of inspiration and gratitude for this man’s life and witness.

When I started chatting, I didn’t have an agenda. I was just following a prompting. It was actually the elderly man who brought God into the conversation. 

At an event at the Madona House that I went to recently, Marie Therese spoke of the importance of encountering people: and how every person is worthy of being seen and encountered. She shared stories of how keeping an available heart to the Spirit and to people around her has brought about some of the greatest grace-filled encounters.

 She spoke of how we are living tabernacles and can bring Our Lord to people even as we talk about the weather or smile at passerby’s. She encouraged and challenged us to choose to trust: how trust generates trust in others. We discussed also how spending time with the Blessed Sacrament in heart-to-heart conversation gives us the disposition of heart to be truly present. 

Bishop Guy Desrochers of Pembroke, speaking of this chit-chat apostolate that Madonna House strives to live, wrote,

“Love is transmitted by the fire in our hearts. It is transmitted by a glance, by shaking a hand or holding a hand, so that the power of your love passes to the other. It is found in intense listening that makes the listener feel that you are completely interested in him or her, and nobody else. That kind of love comes directly from God.”