Every single night on the FRAA, it’s on my heart to pray for peace and unity in our families.
When I lived in Pittsburgh, I had two friends who were married and couldn’t have children of their own. They wanted children, and they came to me and asked for my thoughts on adoption. I said it was a wonderful thing to do and a very serious decision. A month or two went by and they said, “Father, we’ve decided to go down to Mexico City because we want to adopt a child.” I assured them that my prayers went with them.
Six weeks went by and they came back with FOUR children from Mexico – two boys and two girls. They called me up to tell me they had adopted these brothers and sisters and asked what I thought.
Well, I thought they were nuts, but I couldn’t say that! So I said, “I think that’s wonderful! How old are they?”
“They’re all under age six.”
Wow! “And do they speak English?”
They said, “No…”
“Well, do you speak any Spanish?”
“No…”
My prayers were with them! A number of years went by and while I was attending a leadership camp in Indiana, I ran into my friend who had adopted four children in Mexico! His hair was white now, and I asked him how things had been with his family. He said, “I’m great.”
I said, “No, really.”
He admitted it had actually been very tough. “Two or three years ago, when our oldest was in eighth grade in public school, she got in with all the wrong friends and self-destructive behaviors.” (Parents, you know what those can be!) “There was no peace in the house. No peace. But then an amazing thing happened: my wife’s friend who lives down the block told us what to do.”
She instructed them to go to the Adoration chapel at their local church every day, the whole family, and sit there in the quiet for fifteen minutes. Right in the front pew. As I’m listening, I’m thinking, “That’s the Holy Spirit speaking!”
My friend said, “We still go there every day. My kids actually remind my wife when it’s time to go. They sit in the front pew for fifteen minutes in the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist in the Adoration chapel. My oldest daughter, who’s a junior now, she has a part-time job, is on the volleyball team, is getting good grades – and my youngest son came home the other day and said, Dad, I think I want to be a priest! And best of all, there’s PEACE in our house!”
Folks, that’s the answer: if you’ve got a problem, take it to Jesus. Take it to Jesus in the Eucharist, in the tabernacle. In Adoration. If you need something, bring it to Jesus, because He said, “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened unto you.”
And I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the people who showed up for Jesus in Indianapolis last summer: 65,000. Thank you, and be sure to watch for another Eucharistic Encounter next week, and may God bless you!
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