The Healing Journey

May 4, 2025

While Tom was lying awake at 3 a.m. in the morning, he began to think about all the people who influenced him in his life. None of them had obituaries in the New York Times, none of them received public acclaim or worldly honors for what they’ve done, but all of them, he was sure, were at the head of the table at the heavenly banquet.

There was the priest who came to the hospital to visit his father when they were convinced he wouldn’t make it. He had a terminal illness called chronic alcoholism, and he had it for a long time. The odds of his recovering were small, but he beat the odds because of that priest who, himself, was a recovering alcoholic and took him to AA meetings.

One day at a time, his father got better and lived the last years of his life sober. He was a different man. He still sat in his Barcalounger at the end of the day, but instead of a 16-ounce Budweiser in one hand and a glass of Canadian Club in the other, he had his prayer books and a cup of coffee. That priest didn’t just save his father. He saved their entire family.

There was the Sister of Mercy he worked with early in his career, at a time when he had no faith. One day, Tom said to her, “Sister, I wish I had your faith.” And her answer startled him. She didn’t preach or recommend a study group. Instead, she said, “Faith is a gift … and all you have to do is ask for it.” That sounded too simple to be true, but the ball was in his court, so he asked. She was right.

There was the woman who retired from the FBI and spent her time volunteering at Birthright, helping unwed mothers. She taught him more about God’s love than any book or homily or lecture. Coming from an abusive home, he never felt particularly lovable, so when he heard people say, “God loves you!” it went in one ear and out the other. She taught him a prayer that he said every day: “Lord, help me to recognize your personal love for me today in my life.” It worked.

And one of the signs that God loved him, he realized that night, was the people He put in his path when he needed them the most.
©J Pisani

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