Guy is a 17-year-old young man. This covid 19 affected his studies like it did to everybody else. He has been investing the best of his time studying for his tests, which are going to have a decisive impact on his access to university and probably to his career.
Yesterday (July 21, 2020) Guy took his last test. Before leaving for school he was not able to hide his anxiety, his fears, and how nervous he was. Of course mothers are experts in detecting those kinds of feelings especially when they sense discomfort and pain. Because his mother wanted to support him, she volunteered to give him a lift to school. But Guy preferred to walk. He thought that the physical exercise would function like a therapy in that moment of anxiety. When he said he wanted to walk to school, his mother decided to walk with him. I am not sure if they talked or if the walk was done in silence. What I know was that the presence of his mother filled him with self-confidence. She was not a «normal» lady. She was his mother. The hardest moment was when they had to say good-bye and separate. Cecilia confided to me that she had never heard about the «Sacrament of the Presence». John Paul II created this expression about the need we have of the presence of one another. She had never heard about this expression but she felt the reality of this expression. Being present is being a sacrament to one another.
In that moment, Cecilia created her own Sacrament that became a presence to her son. She took her watch from her wrist, offered it to her son and said: «Take it, my son. This is a piece of me. Put it in your pocket. When you feel more anxious or maybe a little lost, just insert your hand in your pocket, touch it and remember that you are touching me and I am touching you. I am there with all my energy and my prayers to help you. »
After Guy had finished his test, he was the one who sent me a text message saying that everything had been all right.
The best things that I have learned about God have been learned through my spiritual journey: the Bible, retreats, prayer, Holy Mass, working with the poor and seeing Jesus in each one of them… but my biggest catechists about God have been mothers. And very often when the Bible wants to emphasize the care and tenderness of God towards us, it compares with the care and tenderness of a mother.
«As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you» (Is. 66:13)
«For it was You who formed my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made» (Ps. 139:13-14)
I highly recommend that as Guy carried his mother’s watch in his pocket, that we always carry a material symbol in our pockets or around our necks as a symbol, like a cross, a medal, a rosary, which will be a reminder of the presence of God in our lives. But there is no doubt that the best reminder of the presence of God in our lives is to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) and receiving Holy Communion, which will be transformed into service to others.
Very often during the day God tells us: «Take my hand. Do not be afraid. I am walking with you». (Is. 43).
Fr. Bernardino Andrade, 26-07-2020