Recently, as I strolled through the waiting room of our St. Joseph Center, my eyes met with those of a young girl, perhaps 3 years old, with a cute animal hat on her head; it was during the recent cold snap with subzero windchills.
I said, “Hello! I really like your hat!” Then like a neuromuscular reflex, with similar rapidity, her mother said, “What do you say?” “Thank you!” The little girl replied with a smile.
When these things happen, I often think of my mother who used to do the same with my sisters and me. The little girl was there with her siblings, also quite small, and another young woman. 
For some reason (I am sure it was God the Holy Spirit) I said to them all, “Hey, would you all like to see something beautiful?” After saying yes, I explained that I wanted to show them the baby Jesus, as it was still the Christmas season and we had our beautiful nativity set in place in front of the altar in which we were having exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. It was the Friday before Epiphany.
On entering our St. Joseph Chapel, they were all awed by the beauty. As we drew close to the altar, I pointed to the baby Jesus and explained that the Son of God came into the world to die on the cross. After pointing to the cross, and then to the host in the monstrance, I said, “There is Jesus Who loves you so much!” After a brief moment, we exited.
One of the young ladies said, “Thanks for explaining everything from the birth of Jesus to His resurrection! That was wonderful. ”
Then they explained they were waiting in our warm lobby until our sack lunch program was open for business across the parking lot in another of our buildings. We always need to remember how important it is to feed our souls in addition to our bodies.
I would like to thank all of our benefactors who support our lunch programs across the diocese. Let us all not forget to feed our souls in addition to our bodies, perhaps when we too are waiting for lunch!
