Monday 23 April 2012

Flowers

“The florist who has regularly decorated our church for so many years has asked to be relieved of her responsibility,” announced the priest, “and we thank her for all her services, as I ask for volunteers who can take over in this voluntary work.”

What happened after that announcement was extraordinary. When the mass ended at Mount Mary’s Church in Titirangi, two women approached one of the parish coordinators. They offered to attend to the task at hand, though they had no experience in floral arrangement, committing to defray the cost of the flowers.

Knowing that there was a shop just a few meters away from the church, the three individuals proceeded to the shop and conferred with the florist. By the time they left the shop, they obtained from the florist an assurance that she would make the flower arrangements and deliver these weekly in the parish, all for free.

The three proceeded back to the church to tell those who had remained about the good news. One parishioner who had been in the church for years, then told them that the florist, a non-Catholic, had undergone personal and business difficulties sometime ago. During that time, a churchgoer went to her shop to order flowers, and other than paying, gifted the florist with an image of the Virgin Mary. From then on, the florist’s business flourished, and she seemed to have been released from the burdens she carried.

God at times sends the most unexpected people to do the tasks for Him. Such was the case of David when he became a fugitive. “So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.” (1 Samuel 22:1-2) These four hundred men were mostly rejects of society; yet they formed an army that defeated the tormentors of Israel.

We must therefore be wary of giving judgment on people. We must never have that “holier than thou” attitude. “No man may boast before God.” (1 Corinthians 1:29). For those whom you least expect to render help, may just be the instrument of God’s love.

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