September 26. 2017

BEFORE  YOU  DENY  CHRIST

Before you deny Christ,

turn your other cheek, shut up,

don’t retaliate, and forgive your

brother or sister for hurting you.

Before you deny Christ,

this day, go the extra mile for another -

especially when you don’t want to.

Before you deny Christ,
before you don't want to have him
as part of your life, give someone
a bottle of cold water on a hot day
or your gloves to someone without
gloves on the street on a cold day.

Before you deny Christ,

take a rosary and say on all 59 beads,

the words of the  father with an epileptic son,

“Lord, I have faith;

help me with the little faith that I have.” [Mark 9:24]

Before you deny Christ,

sit off to the side at any Sunday Mass

and watch people’s faces as they come

up the aisles to receive holy communion.

Before you deny Christ,

go to the graveyard of the Sisters of Mercy

in Portland, Maine, the IHM nuns 
of Scranton, PA, the Sisters of St. Joseph 
of Brentwood, Long Island,

and study the stones and the numbers on the stones and ask at each grave, 
"What was it like with Christ in your life?"

Before you deny Christ,

volunteer to help with the 
St. Vincent de Paul Society

in any parish that helps the poor and the hungry.

Before you deny Christ,

save up your money, and make the 30 to 35 day

walking pilgrimage from St. Jean-Pied-du-Port

in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Before you deny Christ,

get to Galilee, take off your shoes,

sit on a rock or the beach,

and let the lake waters wash your feet as Jesus

washed his disciples feet at the Last Supper.

Before you deny Christ,
stand there with Peter
after denying Jesus three times,
and hear Jesus say three times,
"Feed my sheep."

Before you deny Christ,

close your eyes

and let his eyes look into your eyes,

hold each other and

listen to each other for one hour.

© Andy Costello, Reflections  2017

Painting on top:
Seeing Through the Darkness:
Georges Roualt's Vision of Christ

Too many people have dropped away
from Christ with very little thought -
like rain hitting one's shoulders
and we simply move on.