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Ruth's
visitor
Ruth looked at her mailbox and there saw only one
letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening. But soon she
stopped and observed more attentively. There was no stamp on it or any
post mark, but only her name and address.
She decided to read the letter:
"Dear Ruth. I will be close to your house on Saturday, in the
afternoon, and I will visit you.
With love, Jesus"
The woman's hands were shaking when she placed the letter on the table.
“Why would the Master wish to visit me? I am no one special, I don't
have anything to offer Him," she thought. Concerned, Ruth recalled
how empty her shelves in the kitchen were." Oh, no! I don't have
anything to offer Him. I will have to go to the market to buy something
for the dinner."
Ruth opened her wallet and placed the money over the table: U$5.40.
“Good, I will buy bread and at least some other
thing," said Ruth.
She put on a sweater and hurried off.
She purchased a French bread, some turkey and a box
of milk...
Ruth was left with only 12 cents that had to last
until Monday. Still, she felt well and departed back to the house, with
her humble purchase under the arm.
“Hello, madam, can you help us?”
Ruth was so distracted thinking about the dinner that
she didn't see the two people that were standing in the corridor; a man
and a woman, the two dressed with merely rags.
“Listen, madam, I don't have a job. My wife and I
have been living in the streets. It is so cold and we are hungry. If you
could help us, we would be very grateful.”
Ruth looked at them with more attention. They were
dirty and they smelled very bad, and, frankly, she was sure that they
could get a job if they really wanted to.
“Mister, I would like to help, but I myself am a
very poor woman. The only
thing that I have is some slices of bread, but I will receive an important
guest tonight and I was planning to serve Him the bread.”
“Yes, yes, all right lady, I understand. Anyway,
thank you,” answered the man.
The poor man placed his arm over the woman's
shoulders, and the two went away. Upon seeing them leaving, Ruth felt a
strong impulse in her heart.
“Mister,
wait!”
The couple stopped and turned around as Ruth ran
toward them in order to reach them on the road. Look, please accept this
snack.
“I will manage to get something to serve to my
guest.” Ruth said, as she extended her hand with the bag of food.
“Thank you, madam, thank you very much.”
“Thank you, said the woman.” It was then that
Ruth noticed that the woman was shaking with cold.
“You know, I have another coat in my house, take
this one,” offered Ruth. She unbuttoned her own coat and placed it on
the woman's shoulders.
Smiling, she returned home, without a coat and
without anything to serve her guest.
“Thank you, dear lady, thank you very much, and
good-bye,” said the grateful couple replied.
Ruth was shivering with cold when she arrived at the
door of her house. Now she didn't have anything to offer the Master. She
quickly looked for the key in her bag, as she noticed another letter in
the mailbox."
“This is unusual, the mail carrier never comes
twice in one day,” she thought. She then picked up the letter opened it
and read it:
"Dear Ruth, It was good to see you again. Thank
you for the delicious food and for the splendid coat.
With
love, Jesus. "
(Translated by: Jussara Korngold & Maria Levinson
– USA 2002)
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Message
of the Month
The
Alliance between Science and Religion
Science
and religion are the two levers of human intelligence, one revealing the
laws of the material world, the other revealing those of the moral world.
But seeing that these laws have the same principle, which is God, they
cannot contradict themselves.
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here to read full text
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