THE CRUCIFIX and THE MASS

Many years ago, a young man named Gerard was leading a life of sin, by drinking, gambling and swearing. He didn’t go to church, he didn’t go to confession and he didn’t pray!

God thought He would try to give the poor fellow a chance to make up for his past life of sin. One night, after Gerard had been drinking and gambling, he set out on his horse. God caused a cloud to pass in front of the moon, so that the road became difficult to see. Suddenly Gerard’s horse stumbled on a rut in the road, and both horse and driver fell to the ground. The horse got up and was fine, but Gerard soon came to his senses when he found that he had broken his arm and his foot. With great difficulty, he got back onto his horse and headed for home.

In the morning, he had a doctor come to see him. The doctor set the broken bones and told Gerard that it would be two months before he would be well enough to get around. And worse yet, when Gerard reached for his money pouch, he found that it was gone—he must have lost it at night, when he fell to the ground.

Luckily, his brother Patrick, a good Catholic farmer, lived near by and came to his rescue. Patrick paid the doctor’s bill and looked in on his brother from time to time. Patrick looked for Gerard’s money, but it was never found. Gerard was depressed about this and depressed because he couldn’t do anything but lie in bed.

A few weeks passed, and after a visit, Gerard found that Patrick had left a Crucifix on his bed. Gerard picked up the Crucifix and then put it down. He picked it up again and this time he looked at it for a minute, then he put it down again.

Gerard soon fell asleep and in the morning he looked at the Crucifix again. This time he thought, “Did I really do this to you Lord? Did I really cause you all this suffering?”

That night, Patrick came to visit his sick brother again. With him he brought some fresh strawberries and oranges. Gerard ate some of the fruit and then spoke, “Thank-you for the Crucifix! It was good of you to leave it on my bed.”

Patrick simply said, “You’re welcome. I’m glad you like it. It’s yours to keep… and I also had Fr. O’Brian say some Masses for you!”

Some weeks later, when Patrick came to visit, Gerard was in tears. When asked what the problem was, Gerard replied, “I want to see Fr. O’Brian… I want to go to confession to him… I want to be at peace with God.”

Gerard made a general confession and God saw that he was truly sorry for his sins. That night Gerard died. At his funeral, Fr. O’Brian said, “Gerard made an excellent confession before he died; I believe he is now with the angels.” Then as the priest said the funeral Mass, Jesus whispered from the Crucifix, “Fr. O’Brian, Gerard is with Me in heaven because he died of love for me. He died of love, thinking about My great mercy.” The old priest was overwhelmed. As he continued saying his Mass, tears rolled down his cheeks—“Truly our God is a great and wonderful God.” he thought.

So dear children, you see the power of the Mass and the Crucifix? Don’t ever forget that God is very merciful, no matter what sin you have committed. And don’t ever forget that God loves you even if you should commit a terrible sin!

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