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A young priest went to visit and elderly woman who had been a Christian for more than 75 years.  In those seven decades, she had seen some good times and some bad times.  Her husband had been dead for over 20 years.  She had outlived two of her four children and had gone through the sorrow of putting them in the grave.  She was not a wealthy woman.  There were times when the bare necessities of life were a daily struggle.  In short, her life had not been a bed of roses.

After they had talked for a while, the young priest said, “Tell me, in all honesty, what you think of Christ after you have walked with Him for these 75 years.”

The old woman was quiet and thoughtful for a moment.  Then she said, “When I was a little girl, I learned a song that went like this:

‘Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.

Every day with Jesus, I love Him more and more.

Jesus saves and keeps me, and He’s the one I’m living for.

Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.’”

Again, she was quiet for a moment, and now there were tears in her eyes.  Then she said, “it’s true, Father, every word of it is true.”

What a wonderful outlook on life!  What then should you and I learn from this woman?  Perhaps that we should always pray and not lose heart because God meets our every need.  We need to learn this lesson of faith and life and then we need to teach our young the important truth that this 75-year-old Christian woman knew.

We ought to make this year a time of spiritual awakening for all the people living in this parish, both young and old, both Churched and unchurched.

Please pray that the Holy Spirit will teach us that “every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.”  St. Patrick and St. Joseph knew this so well that they were able to do ordinary things in the most extraordinary ways.

If we all learn this lesson, what a wonderful world this would be!  This is our aim for this Lenten season.  Let us work together to make our parish truly the place where Jesus dwells with His people and that “every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.”