Powerful Pieta

I have been actively trying to pray more during my breaks at work. The break room is in the basement where no WiFi service can be found. The majority of my break was normally spent playing around with my phone, waiting for it to pick up some form of service so I could at least check emails. Realistically I could just take my phone upstairs where there is better reception, but my job is very physically demanding; once I get down to the break room, I just don’t have the energy to make my way back upstairs. Not to mention that I am on my feet all day and all I have on my mind is sitting down. After one too many frustrating breaks waiting to get access to my email, I decided to be more productive and pray. Luckily, prayer is the best kind of WiFi you can get, direct connection to Jesus Christ every time.

There is a very popular prayer booklet known in the Catholic community called the Pieta Prayer Book. The main purpose stated in the booklet is to “serve as a spiritual tool for those who wish to increase their daily prayer life.” I like it because it is small and easy to use, it fits into my backpack so I can carry it wherever I go. It is also unassuming, I can read it in the break room without drawing too much attention to myself. The power of Mary is strong though and the evidence of her using this booklet to call her children back to her son was quite obvious a few days ago. I was all alone in the break room reading from the Pieta and this somewhat new employee came in to get ready to start his shift. I don’t know him all that well and I have to admit I had allowed my perception of him to be tainted by other coworkers and rumors that have been floating around about him. These rumors basically hinted that this guy had a questionable past. One coworker went as far as to get upset with management because they should have done a more thorough background check on the guy. I never got specifics on what he had done and I am sure it was by divine design that I didn’t. I was not supposed to know, if I had I would have never been able to have this encounter with him that Mary was orchestrating all along.

When he came in he said a quick “hi” of acknowledgement, I reciprocated and went back to my reading. I was reading with the Pieta booklet in my lap, in order for someone to notice it he would have had to be looking really hard or have been directed by some external force. I have no doubt this coworker was being guided because the strong motivation and eagerness that came from him was undeniable. “What are you reading?” He asked completely out of the blue. I was slightly terrified to answer the question taking into consideration what I had heard about him and being all alone in the break room made me a little nervous. I was prompted to be honest with him and trust in God (and Mary) that they were guiding the conversation. I told him that it was a prayer book. “Can I see it?” He quickly said. He was clearly being drawn to this booklet. When I showed him it and he started to read it he really read it, he didn’t just glance over it like some people might do in similar situations. “What do you think?” I asked when he finally handed it back to me. There was a long pause, I could tell that he was having a dialogue in his head and I was beginning to wonder if the question might have been too heavy for him at that time. He did answer saying it was really deep and it was evidence of the power of forgiveness. I didn’t know how to respond to that mostly because the prayer booklet wasn’t necessarily dedicated completely towards forgiveness, which gave greater confirmation that he was being guided. I just went with it, nodding along. He added that he wished it was Sunday again so that he could go to back to church, he then confessed that he just recently had returned to the faith. I could see he really wanted the booklet. I would have given him mine but mine was extremely worn, it had been through many New York rain storms and was actually still a bit soggy from them. I knew of certain Catholic stores in the area that probably would carry them though. I offered to get one for him and he brushed it aside claiming that he didn’t want me to go out of my way. I assured him that it wouldn’t be. He gave me a truly beautiful smile, one of possible hope which came after a little sigh of relief. I think he truly needs this booklet and I believe Mary used it to call him back to her son, Jesus.

Mary is never to be outdone. I witnessed a true encounter between Mary and one of her children that day in the break room. The Pieta Booklet is dedicated to the Dear Lady of Ephesus to honor her Assumption. I have no doubt that Mary is at work in this young man’s life and maybe he does have a questionable past but that just makes this encounter all the more powerful. I thank Mary and Jesus for allowing me to play a small part in this young man’s journey back to the faith.

Originally posted at Kitty in the City.