From the Library of Deacon Mike:
"The contemplative life has nothing to tell you except to reassure you and say that if you dare to penetrate your own silence and dare to advance without fear into the solitude of your own heart ... you will truly recover the light and capacity to understand what is beyond words and beyond explanations..."
I hope that some of you had the opportunity to read "The Relentless Hunger" by Fr. James E Sullivan. It is a book that I return to again and again. Before we move on to another selection that has meant much to me in my spiritual journey, may I leave you one final touching story from "The Relentless Hunger". Fr. Sullivan writes., "I'll never forget an incident that took place years ago in a large Brooklyn hospital A man in his mid-fifties was dying and kept calling for his son who was a marine at Camp Lejeune. The nurse contacted the Red Cross and the young marine was granted leave to go to the hospital. By the time he arrived there, the dying man was in a semi-comatose condition. However, as soon as the young marine arrived at the bedside, the man reached up instinctively and grabbed his hand and held it close to his chest. The young man sat down and stayed there for three hours until the man died. Then he asked the nurse, "Can I have a cup of coffee?" "Of course, " she replied. "Come with me and I'll get you one. " When they got there, he said to her. "Who was he?" "Who was he!" she exclaimed in complete surprise. "Wasn't that your father?" "No, " he replied. "I never saw him before. " The wrong name had been given to the Red Cross, so the wrong marine had been sent. The nurse looked at him absolutely perplexed. "Why did you sit there all this time if he was a complete stranger?" she asked. I'll never forget the answer he gave her. He said.- "Gee, he needed a son!"
Select here to read Deacon Mike's thoughts on "He Leadeth Me"