The Hopeless Hopeful

     Imre Bonyhady will be a widower nine years tomorrow. Mr. Imre was the janitor at my grade school growing up, and I clearly remember his face as his wife neared death. I had just turned twelve years old, and my heart ached for this man. Coming back to school after Christmas break, I would often talk to Mr. Imre, small talk, asking how he was holding up. A smile, I thought, could help his hurting heart.

     After I left junior high I did not run into him for years, though he crossed my mind often. My senior year of high school I was working as a hostess at a restaurant, when he walked in. After all that time, he still remembered me. That night as he left, he hugged me warmly and thanked me for all those years ago. Mr. Imre tipped me $50. I went home and cried over his generosity, and over the overwhelming feeling that God worked through my little heart so long ago.

     I see Mr. Imre every year or two, usually at Mass. He is old now, bones aching and hair thinning. Mr. Imre sat in front of my family at Mass this morning, the same look of loss on his face I saw so many years ago. Instead of sitting with my family, I decided to sit with him after communion. His face grew peaceful, yet sorrowful, when he saw me take a place next to him. He knew that I remembered.

     Tomorrow. Christmas Eve. This man lost his wife the day before Jesus came into the world. And now here he is, alone, growing very old. My heart was hurting for him this morning as we sat and caught up after Mass. I asked how he was holding up. He replied, "I would not have been able to make it the past nine years without a devotion to our Lord. And especially to Saint Terese."

     This man who I touched so long ago is returning the favor nine years later. How much we can all learn from him! Although he misses his wife, he takes comfort in the Church and in God. He unknowingly wore grief on his face today, but his heart is filled with hope. And when I talk to him, it makes me hopeful, too. 

    

 I am so lucky to have crossed his path again today. He is one of those silent angels that I know God placed on my journey with His own fingertips.

"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope." Jeremiah 29:11