Many years ago I was preaching on an Easter Sunday morning. There was a large crowd in attendance as you might expect. My homily was based on a story by Walter Wangerin entitled, The Rag Man. It is essentially about a Christ figure, the rag man, who goes about selling rags. But as he comes across the various characters in the story all of whom are suffering or wounded in some way, the Christ figure brings healing and wholeness to them. One of the figures he encounters is a man who has only one arm. He is a sad soul and has no work. After all, he thinks, who wants to hire someone with such a disability. The rag man asks him to give him his coat and in exchange he gives the one-armed man a brand new coat. In the process something amazing happens. Putting on the new coat the one-armed man discovers he now has two perfectly good arms! And the rag man? Well, now he has only one arm.
The point of the story is clear. The Christ figure, Jesus, comes among us to take upon himself ourwounds, our sufferings, our incompleteness and then restore us to wholeness. Jesus does this freely and willingly. As the scriptures tell us, “By his wounds we are healed.”
But there is more to this Easter Sunday story. While I was giving out communion towards the end of that Easter Mass, a man came up to me to receive communion who had only one arm. His empty sleeve was tucked neatly into his coat pocket. He was not a parishioner, and I had never seen the man before. What was the likelihood that he would be in my parish at my Mass that Easter Sunday and be on my communion line? Needless to say, I was quite shaken by the incident and have never forgotten what took place. I later found out that he was visiting his daughter in the parish for Easter. The loss of his arm was due to a work – related accident.
Perhaps you can recall in your life a similar situation- perhaps not as dramatic or perhaps even more so. But the question remains from a faith perspective: is this simply a coincidence or is it a connection that suggests something of the divine at work. We know God acts in mysterious ways. There is a dimension of reality that we call the supernatural. Sometimes we get a glimpse into that world and sometimes it smacks us in the face.
The real test is whether we can believe that in a mysterious way God touches us, that he reveals himself and his will to us. We need only to be attentive and open to such revelations. In our ministry to the poor and those in need, no doubt there are moments when we sense God’s presence and his grace. It comes to us subtly at times and then again not so subtly- confer the story above. Such moments often come by way of the very ones we are there to help. During the coming summer months when we are gradually returning to some kind of normal activity, as people of faith we need only be open to those moments when we discover that what seems to be a coincidence is actually a connection. God winks at us and we smile.
Fr. Jerry Ringenback
Diocesan Spiritual Advisor
