A Compassionate Heart and an Extra Plate in Heaven this Christmas.

I think we all like to listen to stories, so I will share with you my story during this pandemic. In the month of March, I received a phone call, the kind of call that you do not want to receive, but you know that day would have to come. Yes, it was about my mother who had been hospitalized, not because of COVID-19, but for other health issues and being a person in her eighties, her expectations of recovery were very low. This is what my sister told me on the phone, so I asked her if I could talk to my mother and while I told my mother that everything was going to be fine,  my mother's last words to me were: "I love you very much , I love you so much, I love you so much".

And I took a plane to go see my mother. When I got to the hospital at midnight, I still found her alive. I took out of my bag the Rosary that I always carry with me and began to pray, taking my mother by the hand. My son took her right hand, while I laid the rosary on her left, with my daughter at the foot of her bed. While we prayed, I saw my mother take her last breath while I thought: “The Blessed Virgin came for her”. 

She died at 5:30 am. It seemed as she were waiting for us, her daughter and grandchildren who lived so far away and rushed to be at her bedside just to say goodbye. I saw nurses and doctors coming in and out of the room checking the devices. We kept praying. When I saw two doctors standing in front of me, I realized that they were waiting for me to finish my prayer just to tell me that my mother had already left this world.

I stopped praying, and turned my gaze to the doctors, and it was I who asked, “She has already left us, hasn’t she?” “Yes,” they answered me.  And of course, the tears could not stop running.

I traveled 15 hours to see my mother, and I witnessed her last glance and her last breath while I told her: "Thank you Mom, thank you, thank you Mom”. Thank you is the word that came from my heart. Thank you for everything you taught me, for what you helped me with, for educating me, for giving me life, for giving me a family, for teaching me how to pray, for praying for me, for the faith that you instilled in me.

Thank you for the values you taught me by example and for making me a woman of faith, of strength, and someone capable of living through struggle. Thank you for teaching me to love and for having felt loved and protected.

So due to the pandemic, as establishments began to close it seemed that my mother was the last ones to have a funeral service. 

Using modern means of communication, I let my friends know of my mother's death. Those who had already gone through this suffering of seeing their parents leave shared with me that the pain leaves us speechless, without reason, and that there are no words to comfort us. For me, the thought of continuing to live as my mother lived has helped me to heal little by little the pain of her departure.

Here is where I want to tell the reason for my anecdote. Within my group of friends, there are three incredibly special people that I want to tell you about. They did not care about anything other than sharing their friendship and affection. They showed up at mom’s funeral to hug me when I needed it the most, and even brought flowers for my mother.

The exercise of one of the works of mercy is to console the sad. While the Gospels are full of stories of how Jesus pitied the pain of others, there is no doubt that exercising this work of consolation unites us more as brothers and sisters; it gives us the opportunity to show one another the divine life that resides in ourselves, or otherwise described as empathy. 

As Pope Francis told us, prayer and action must go hand in hand. Do not stay just with prayer. You must go out and do works of mercy.

In the Gospel of Saint Mark 12; 28-34 a teacher of the law said to Jesus: “You have spoken very well, Teacher; You are right when you say that the Lord is unique and that there is no other besides him, and that loving him with all your heart, with all your intelligence and with all your strength and loving your neighbor as yourself is worth more than all the victims and sacrifices. Jesus saw that this was a wise answer and said: You are not far from the Kingdom of God. "

 Those friendships that consoled me are not far from the Kingdom of God because of their love and understanding shown to others. Thank you, friends.

And this Christmas will be different, without a doubt, for it will be the first without my mother. However, it will be the first holiday season with a great lesson in love that has inspired me to raise my standards for loving others. Rather than mourning my loss, the pain has moved me to love my neighbor, which during the pandemic is without a doubt a time when we need each other the most.

 This Christmas, rather than an empty plate on the earthly table, there will be an extra plate in heaven for my mother. A seat that is well deserved, honouring her honesty, generosity, and exemplary way of life. There, in the highest, she will sing along with the angels and saints kissing those who have already departed before her with joy, just as on this earth she kissed her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

 My intention is to love my neighbor more this Christmas, for I am convinced that this is the best preparation to receive Jesus in our hearts.

“Works of mercy bring glory to God more than anything else. In the end we will be judged on the works of mercy” (Pope Francis homily at the Mass of the Solemnity of Christ the King 2020).
"One should think more about doing good than being well" - Manzoni

Whether the past may hold, let us live in the present with joy and the future with hope. In the words of Father Pio: “My God, I place my past in your hands, entrusting myself to your mercy; I entrust my present to your love; and my future to your providence”.

Merry Christmas!