“Selfishness makes people deaf and dumb; love opens eyes and hearts, enabling people to make that original and irreplaceable contribution which, together with the thousands of deeds of so many brothers and sisters, often distant and unknown, converges to form the mosaic of charity which can change the tide of history” — St. John Paul II
Many years ago, while riding the subway in Rome, a polish lady pointed out her grandfather in the seat in front of her and told me that he was with St. John Paul II at his first parish assignment. On his first day at the new parish, “Fr. Karol” arrived late in the evening and noticed that many of the parishioners were praying in the chapel. One of the men from the parish had left that morning in a terrible snowstorm and he had still not returned, so they were all very worried. A search party had been sent out but they had no luck. Fr. Karol inquired the direction in which he had gone and immediately set off on horseback with a few of the parishioners to find this man. He returned well after midnight with a half-frozen but very grateful parishioner on the back of his horse!
