Rediscovering Catholicism ~ Matthew Kelly ~ (condensed) Imagine this....... Youre driving home, radio on... You hear a blurb about a little village in India where some villagers have died, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. Three or four people are dead, its kind of interesting, they are sending doctors over to investigate it. You dont think much about it, but coming home from church on Sunday you hear another radio spot. Only ...its not three villagers , its 30,000 villagers, and on TV that night. One major news media runs a little blurb: people are heading there from the disease center in Atlanta. By Monday, its the lead story. Its not just India; its Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and suddenly this story is everywhere, coined the mystery flu. The President has made some comment, some people are praying and hoping that all will go well over there. But everyone is wondering,How are we going to contain it? Thats when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe. He is closing their borders. No flights from countries where this thing has been seen. You see weeping woman, translated into English from French news program. Theres a man lying in a hospital in Paris, dying of the mystery flu. It has come to Europe. Panic strikes. As best they can tell, after contacting the disease, you have it for a week before you even know it. Then you have 4 days of unbelievable symptoms. And then you die. Britain closes its borders, but its too late. Tuesday morning the President of the United States makes the following announcement: Due to a national-security risk, all flights to and from Europe and Asia have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, Im sorry. They cannot come back until we find a cure. Within four days, our country is plunged into fear. Its Wednesday night, you are at a church prayer meeting when someone yells, Turn on a radio! The announcement is made. Two women are lying in a Long Island hospital, dying from the mystery flu. Within hours , the disease envelops the country. People are working around the clock, trying to find an antidote. nothing is working. California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts. Its as though its sweeping the borders. And then all of of a sudden the news comes out. The code has been broken. A cure can be found. A vaccine can be made. Its going to take the blood of somebody who hasnt been infected, and so, sure enough, all through the Midwest, everyone is asked to do one simple thing: Go to your hospital and have your blood analyzed. Thats all we ask of you. Sure enough, when you and your family get down there on that Friday night, there is a long line, theyve got nurses and doctors coming out and pricking fingers and taking blood and putting labels on it. Your spouse and your kids are out there, and they take your blood and say,Wait here in the parking lot, and if we call your name, you can be dismissed and go home. Suddenly, a young man comes running out of the hospital screaming. Hes yelling a name and waving a clipboard. What ? He yells it again! And your son tugs on your jacket and says, Daddy, thats me. Before you know it, they grabbed your boy. Wait a minute. Hold on! And they say,Its okay, his blood is clean. His blood is pure. We think he has the right blood type. Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses crying and hugging one another - some are even laughing. An old doctor walks up to you and says, Thank you, sir. Your sons blood is perfect. Its clean, it is pure, and we can make the vaccine. As word spreads, people are screaming, playing, praying, laughing and crying. But then the gray-haired doctor pulls you aside and says, May we see you for a moment? We didnt realize that the donor would be a minor and we....... we need you to sign a consent form. You begin to sign, and then you see that the box for the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty. H-h-h-how many pints? And that is when the old doctors smile fades, and he says, We had no idea it would be a little child. We werent prepared. We need it all! But.......but...... I dont understand. Hes my only son! We are talking about the whole world here. Please sign. We.... we... need to hurry! But cant you give him a transfusion? If we had clean blood we would. Please, will you please sign? In numb silence you do. Then they say, Would you like to have a moment with him before we begin? Could you walk back? Could you walk back to that room where he sits on a table saying, Daddy? Mommy? Whats going on? Could you take his hand and say, Son, your mommy and I love you, and we would never, ever let anything happen to you that didnt have to be! Do you understand that? And when that old doctor comes back in and says, Im sorry, weve got to get started. People all over the world are dying, could you leave? Could you walk out while he is saying, Dad? Mom? Dad? Why..... Why have you abandoned me? And the next week, when they have a ceremony to honor your son, and some folks sleep through it, and some folks dont even bother to come because they have better things to do, and some folks come with a pretentious smile and just pretend to care, would you want to jump up and say, EXCUSE ME! MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DONT YOU EVEN CARE? DOES IT MEAN NOTHING TO YOU? I wonder, is that what God wants to say? MY SON DIED FOR YOU! DOES IT MEAN NOTHING? DONT YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I CARE? ~condensed from the first pages of Matthew Kelly , Rediscovering Catholicism
Posted on: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 17:42:45 +0000
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