A friend of mine had fresh tears in her eyes at the park this evening. A story from the news about an abused child had gotten under her skin. She said she couldn't sleep last night. Couldn't stop praying. Couldn't stop checking in for updates on the web.
I could relate. I'm sure many parents can. Every once in a while you see something in the media. Something horrific. And it just eats at you on a personal level.
As I drove home, I pondered this mother's words and her genuine heartache over the child she's never met.
She questioned, "Where's the girl's mother? How could she have allowed this to happen?"
Pondering how Our Lord constantly uses lowly humans in our works, prayers and sufferings to heal the world, I was hit with the thought that this friend's sleepless night and prayerful day were not in vain. It's a mystery too great for me but I know this much is true: Prayer and suffering are the conditions God places on many of his actions.
If the abused child's mother is not sleepless and heartbroken over her, this mother she's never met is. And in the rosary she said for the girl, in the 10,000 angels she set to flight by her petitions, perhaps my friend will be her salvation. It's a "communion of saints" thing too great for me to understand. My friend is the girl's mother.
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