One of my students brought her goldfish to school on Thursday, August 29th and gave it to another
one of my students. The student who received the fish then brought it to me saying, "Sister, look what I got today!" Holding up a Ziploc bag with a fish swimming around inside she asked, "Do you want it?" I couldn't refuse the little creature (the fish, that is), so I accepted. I had a vase sitting behind my desk from a bouquet of flowers the Sisters had brought me during my first week of school, so I gave it to her to fill up with water and we plopped the fish inside. Sister Feliz and I went immediately after school to pick up some fish flakes and when I got home I smiled at my luck upon receiving this little surprise. "God must've wanted me to have a pet," I thought to myself.
On Friday I transferred the little guy to a large juice container since his water was already pretty dirty. I watched him swim around and dart about, but as I watched him throughout the day his behavior seemed to be a bit odd. That evening I browsed through Google to better understand my
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Attempting to go to Mass now before running errands, I reverted back to trusty Google so I could find a late morning Mass in the area. I found a site that said there was a 12:15p.m. Mass nearby so I got ready and was in the car by 11:40 a.m. I got out my phone to pull up the site again so I could get directions. I found the same link, but for some reason it wasn't opening. I sat in the car attempting to find another Mass, but to no avail. "Fine," I resolved, "I'll just run errands now and go to Mass in the evening." By this time my own personal rain cloud had already formed.
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Not wanting to further upset myself, I made my way to a thrift store. While there I found a nice water bottle for a Sister who had lost hers as well as a small flower pot and a fancy watering vase. Everything totaled $3 and I left feeling satisfied with my shopping items despite the fact that I hadn't actually found what I needed.
I returned home and relaxed with the Sisters a bit before going back out to attend a 7 p.m. Mass down the road. I was excited not only about the time of the Mass, but also about the fact that it was in Arabic! I understood nothing of what was spoken during the Mass, but it was absolutely divine to listen to and be a part of.
As Mass ended I just stood in my pew watching everyone reverently file out of the church. Eventually, people started coming over to me, excited to see me as if we had been friends forever and hadn't seen each other in a long time. I received warm greetings, handshakes and kisses on the cheek
from people I'd never met before in my life; it was beautiful! One young girl, about 9 years old, ran over and held something out to me. "Please accept this from me," she said, and waited until I stopped being confused so I could open my hands and receive what she was holding. As she placed the item in my hands I noticed it was a bill of some sort. I figured it was about $5 and smiled at this happy child who was giddy with excitement because she had just given me something. "Thank you so much," I said, and I gave her a big hug which I could tell she was thrilled to receive. She darted off as others continued to greet me.
As I turned to finally exit the church myself, I decided to take a peek at the bill since I hadn't recognized the face on it when I glanced at it earlier. I thought maybe it was a $10 bill, but I soon found out that it was actually a $100 bill! My heart leapt in thanksgiving to God as I quickly folded the bill back up and put it in my pocket. As I did so, my fingers touched the rosary which was also in my pocket and I knew exactly what that meant. Walking to the main entrance, I spotted the girl with her father. I went up to her with my hand out this time and said, "Please accept this from me." I placed the rosary in her hands and she immediately clutched it to her chest as she gasped through an instant open-mouthed smile. "It's very special; it came all the way from Rome," I told her. She thanked me, still smiling, and I thanked her father for the gift. "It's just a small gift," he replied. "Oh no it's not," I said, "I just looked at it." He only smiled and asked that I pray for them. I promised to do so and returned home singing praises to God.
I had sulked all day because of my dead fish and because I couldn't find what I needed at the store, but I felt like this $100 was God's way of saying, "Look, your efforts alone are enough. Don't be so hard on yourself."
An excerpt from the Book of Lamentations 3:20-24
"Remembering [my afflictions] over and over
my soul is downcast.
But this I will call to mind;
therefore I will hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is thy faithfulness.
'The Lord is my portion,' says my soul,
'therefore I will hope in him.'"