
Are you Jesus?
Monday, April 23, 2018
*Msgr. Jos� Luis Hernando
A group of business men arrived at the airport. They were coming from a convention of retail merchants. They all had promised their spouses they would be home in time for dinner by Friday night. But the convention lasted longer than expected and they got to the airport just minutes before their flight. They were rushing with their bags and briefcases as fast as they could along the concourse.
Suddenly, one of them, totally by accident, crashed against a stall laden with a basket of apples. The apples flew in all directions. Without stopping or even looking back, the businessmen continued running, arriving at the gate just in time for their plane. All got on board, except one. He stopped and took a deep breath, overcome with pity for the poor apple seller. He told his friends to continue without him, and asked one of them to call his wife when they arrived, explain the situation, and tell her he would catch the next flight.
He then returned to the concourse and found the apples all over the floor. His surprise was enormous when he realized that the seller was a blind girl. He found her crying forlornly, tears flowing copiously down her cheeks. The poor girl was feeling around the floor, trying in vain to collect her apples, while crowds were passing by, busily chatting and indifferent, without stopping or even caring about the misfortune of a blind person.
The man knelt down with the young girl, gathered up all the apples, and put them in the basket. He helped her to set her stand upright. He noticed that many of the apples were squashed and ruined. When he finished, he took out his wallet and said to the girl, “Please take this $100 for the damage we have done. Are you OK?”
Still crying, she shook her head yes.
The man continued. “I hope we haven’t ruined your day?”
As our hero walked away, the girl shouted after him, “Sir!”
He paused, looked into those blind eyes, and heard her ask, “Are you Jesus?”
He stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around several times before heading on to catch another flight. The blind girl’s question left his heart burning, and shook him to the core:
“Are you Jesus?”
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