Good Friday

After work today I rushed over to Interfaith for Good Friday's service. I hadn't been that emotional in a while. The homily today was about forgiveness and not speaking about things that are evil. There was a lady who was sold into slavery when she was just 9 years old. She faced torture from multiple masters until she was sold off to an Italian man. This man took her to a convent and asked the nuns there to teach her how to behave like a lady because ever since she was 9, she was treated like an animal. She had heard about the greatest master of all times and wanted to see him. When she asked the nuns, they told her that it was Jesus. When she died, they discovered that her body was filled with scars from past masters who had branded her. She never spoke of these scars.

Another story was about Bishop Nguyen Van Thuan. When he was put in prison, the guards would give him really salty food to each, but wouldn't give him water to drink. When he had to use the bathroom, there was no place to go, so he had no choice. When the woman who was in charge of cleaning up the cells came to clean, she ridiculed him for being so messy even though he is a bishop. He thought about yelling at the woman and telling her that he had no choice, but instead, the next time he saw her, he apologized for causing her so much trouble.

These are such great stories about people who were able to humble themselves enough to face so much humiliation. I believe that we are all capable of having this quality. What I'm praying for is to be able to have dignity and be humble in this way at the same time.