Jesus is near

Friday April 16, 2021

Jesus is near

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him sincerely. Psalm 145: 18

A lady asked a priest to come to her house, her father being seriously ill. Arrived in the old man's room, the priest saw a chair next to the bed, from which he concluded that he was expected.

- I guess you were expecting me, he said.

- No, I don't know who you are, replied the patient.

- I'm the priest. Your daughter has asked me to visit you. Seeing this chair, I assumed it was placed there for me.

- Ah yes ! the chair... Would you like to close the door ?

The surprised priest closed the door. The man then said to him :

I never told anyone, but my life has passed without knowing how to pray. In church, I always heard about prayer, about praying, about the benefits of it... but it came in one ear and came out the other. Anyway, I had no idea how to pray. However, about four years ago my best friend told me : “Come on, José, prayer is just talking with Jesus. This is how I advise you to do it... You sit in front of an empty chair and you speak as if Jesus were sitting there ; just as we are talking now. This is no nonsense, for you know very well that He promised : "I am with you every day" (Matthew 28:20)."

So one day I tried it and I got it so well that I have been praying for up to two hours a day ever since. However, I take my precautions, because if my daughter heard me, she would put me in hospital immediately.

The priest, sincerely touched by this story, left, after praying with José. A few days later, José daughter informed him of her father's death.

- Did he die in peace, he asked ?

- Yes, she replied. When I left for my groceries I warned him I was going out and when I returned he was dead. But there is something strange; apparently before he died he got close enough to the chair by his bed that he could rest his head on it. It was in this weird position that I found him. Do you think that means something ?

The priest, deeply moved, realizing that this position corresponded to a last prayer, murmured : "If only everyone could go this same way !" Translated from Spanish

Source (Pleasing the Lord)