Topic: Juan's prayer
izzynavi's photo
Sat 03/10/07 12:49 PM
Once a priest was doing rounds around the church and decided to watch
from the altar to see who came to pray. At that moment the church doors
opened and he frowned to see who was entering. The man looked like he
had not shaven in a few days, wear a torn shirt and an old worn out
coat.

The man kneeled, inclined his head and later got up and left.

During the next few days, the same man would come in carrying a
briefcase, always kneeling briefly, getting up and leaving.

The priest began to suspect that the man might be a thief. So, one day
he stood by the church doors and waited for the man to exit. When the
man was about to exit the church the priest asked him: “Sir, what are
you doing here?”

The man said that he worked in a factory near by and that he only had
half an hour for lunch, so he would come to pray. “I stay a short time,
since the walk is a bit long and so, I only kneel and say: “LORD, I only
came, again, to tell you how happy you make me for freeing me of my
sins… I don’t know how to pray, but I think about you every day…. So,
Jesus this is Juan reporting to you.”

The priest felt bad about his thoughts and told Juan that he was
welcomed to the church anytime he want to come. He then knelt before the
altar, felt his heart melt from this great love and found Jesus.

While tears ran down his cheeks, he wholeheartedly kept saying Juan’s
prayer: “I’ve only come, my LORD, to tell you how happy I am since I
found you and you freed me from my sins….
I don’t know how to pray, but I think about you every day. So Jesus,
it’s me reporting to you.”

Then one day the priest noticed that Juan had not gone. Days passed and
Juan still did not show for his daily prayer. Worried that something had
happened to Juan, the priest went to the factory to ask about Juan.
There they told him that Juan had been taken ill and had been
hospitalized. The medics were worried about his condition, but believed
that he had a good chance of survival.

The week that Juan had been hospitalized brought about many changes in
him. He would always smile and his happiness was contagious. The Head
Nurse could not understand why Juan was so happy, since the whole time
he had been there, he had not received flowers, no cards and no
visitors. The priest followed the nurse to Juan’s bedside and Juan
heard her say: “No friend has visited him, he has nowhere to go.”

Surprised Juan retorted with a smile: “the nurse, she is mistaken….. But
she can’t know that every day, since I’ve been here, at noon, a very
dear friend comes to see me. He sit here on my bed, takes my hand, bends
over me and says: “ I only came to say, Juan, the great pleasure your
friendship has brought me, for which I freed you of your sins. It always
pleased me to listen to your prayers and think about you every day. So,
Juan, this is Jesus, reporting.”

This has been translated from spanish, hope that the message remains the
same. Read and bless you.

no photo
Tue 03/13/07 02:48 PM
Beautiful!!