Corporal works of mercy are alive and well in the children of St. Anne's

I thought I would post, as my blog today, a letter I have sent to St. Anne's school for brightening Mom's (and my) day last week.
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Dear brethren in Christ,

On Holy Thursday last week there was a knock on my mother’s door. She is 90 years old. She had taken a tumble earlier in the week and was very sore and bruised not only physically, but mentally, too. Because even at her age, she is still very mobile and active and when she was restricted from leaving the house due to soreness and pain, it took a toll on her usual zest for life. She was quite “blue”.

She answered the door, and there stood Joey Long and another young man (his brother?) with a bag of cookies that he presented to her saying that he heard she was under the weather (how he found out is still a mystery to me) and thought that some cookies at Easter would cheer her up. He handed her the bag that said, “Happy Easter from Joey Long, 3rd Grade”. My mother waved to Joey’s mother who was waiting in the car for Joey to complete his mission of mercy and love.

I arrived at my mom’s home at about 5 o’clock as I had promised to take her and a neighbor to Mass and she related the story to me. Although she was in no shape to attend Mass that evening, she encouraged me to go anyway, so I met with her neighbor and the two of us went as planned.

During the Gospel reading at the Mass, I was moved to tears at the following passage:

"I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35-35)

I remember thinking to myself, “Joey Long and everyone who is responsible for teaching him the love he showed my mother tonight —from his parents, to his teachers and his family—must be true disciples of Christ.”

From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of my mom, I thank each and every one of you who have sown the seeds of love and mercy in Joey’s heart and especially Joey. I will remember each of you in my daily rosaries for the rest of this month as a small repayment for the joy you gave Mom that day.

With warmest regards and the love that is Christ,

Steve Farnsworth