Mary Letters - Day 21

Jesus said, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." Matthew 25:31-46 

Dear Aunt Elizabeth,

We are moving down from the mountains and the trip is a little easier. The road service is less rocky and the earth on the road is more packed down. My feet have gotten so swollen from walking that Joseph is insisting I ride for a while. The crowds are getting bigger on the road and we go so slow we have to get out of the way of many who are in a huge hurry. We ran into a small boy who was watching a herd of sheep. He invited us to sit and have a meal with him. We were weary and followed him to a small grove of trees where he had a log for us to sit on. He then took out his food, and when I began to get our food, he said no, that he had way more than he needed and that God had told him to share his food with strangers. Then he bent his head and said a prayer over the food. A remarkable child, who reminded us of God's love very real and present with us on the road.

Auntie, every time I get near the edge of deep despair, our Lord finds a way to remind us of the Holy Presence. I am so shallow and self-focused some times that I almost missed that presence.  The angel promised so much and yet  I  can forget all of that when a pain or a challenge faces me. Please pray for a deepening of my faith, since I have been honored so by God. I want so much to be a good mother, a good wife and a faithful servant of the Lord. I seem to fall short so very often. 

Sending love from the road to Bethlehem,

Mary