The vision

“The steadfast love of the Lord

never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end ,

they are new every morning ;

great is thy faithfulness ”

Lamentations 3:23&24

Extended lockdown ensures extended time travels !

As I retrace my steps on the immense sands of time , some amazing experiences during our sojourn at the new location , pop up !

The first of such incidents was during our initial days when Jeff & I were alone all the weekdays . My husband was still working at the metropolitan city around 150 kms away . Every Friday night, Jeff would sit up waiting excitedly for his Dad . We would spend the weekend exploring this historic town .

The school was hardly a 10 minute walk away ; Jeff had to be ready only by half past eight ; The school bus would stop right in front of our apartment ; this was their last stop in the morning and the first in the evening. Gone were the days he had to spend hours in the maddening traffic ,on his way to school !

However we missed our parish community and the Sunday mass at our church..Here in the outskirts of the town , the mass was celebrated in the local language; so was the faith formation classes . Our knowledge of the regional language was very basic ; not sufficient to follow the readings or the homily . We could find no catholics in our vicinity and so , needless to say on sundays we longed for our metro city !

As days rolled by , I felt really restless and started doubting if this move was God’s plan.. wouldn’t He want us to be fed on HIs word ? Wouldn’t God want us to participate in the mass fruitfully?

Our apartment overlooked a vacant plot abounding in wild vegetation bordered by a distant green hill . At sunset Jeff and I would spent hours watching the birds fluttering away home .. It was fascinating to watch the myriad of colours splashed across the sky .

However, nights presented a different picture altogether.. With the howling of stray dogs (or were they were foxes ? ) and the hooting of owls with the background provided by the screeching crickets , it was like a scene from a horror movie! During monsoon , the casuarina trees added to the drama ,howling and dancing like banshees.

One such rainy night, Jeff and I were sitting on the bed saying our prayers – telling Jesus about our day .. thanking him for our tiny achievements.. telling him about our dreams and our little worries ..

All of a sudden he interrupted the flow and said loudly, “Mom ! When I close my eyes , there’s church in the eye ! ” Given his difficulties in communication, I realised that he was having a vision ! I urged him to go on praying with his eyes closed .

After sometime I asked him “what do you see now ? ”

He said , ” Sacred Heart Church”

“Who is inside the church , Jeff ? I asked excitedly .

Then he said there were only two of them inside – Jesus and Jeff !

My heart was beating at a phenomenal speed by then ! I managed to ask him ; ” Is Jesus telling you something? ”

At this , he giggled and said ; ” Yes ! He says ” stop watching Bollywood songs ! ”

I couldn’t help laughing out loud at this moment! He was only too happy to join in! And truly he was addicted to watching Bollywood songs on TV ! And this was interfering with his learning.

I knew Jeff couldn’t lie even if he wanted to . I didn’t know what to make out of this either !

That weekend, as usual, my husband came home and on Saturday, like every other Saturday, we went around exploring the town . After a while we found ourselves in a beautiful residential area with pretty little cottages of the colonial era sitting comfortably amidst modern residences .. all of them with well kept gardens.

As we turned the corner , happy with our discovery , there it was at our right , silhouetted against the setting sun , Sacred Heart Church ! With a sign board that gleamed – English Mass: 7:30 Am!

I almost fell of my seat ! We were speechless with wonder !

Our God is a God of small things too ! His concern stretches to every tiny area of our lives . He took notice of my silent heart ache and chose to answer me through Jeff !

“Blessed are the pure in heart , for they will see God ”

Matthew 5:8

I rejoiced like never before , counting myself fortunate to be a witness to that incident!

It also made me ponder – Jeff was 11 years or so .If the difficulties of Autism had ensured that he retained his innocence , was it really something I should cry about ?

From that Sunday onwards , all the years we spent in this town , we attended mass at that Sacred Heart Church .