Trinity Sunday

by Paul O'Reilly, SJ

'God loved the world so much that he gave his only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be
lost but may have eternal life.’

When I was in South America, I met an American woman
doctor ­ a gynaecologist, who had also worked in
Guyana for many years. And gradually she told me her
story. She had first come to Guyana ten years
previously just for a few weeks and fallen in love
with the country ­ the land and the people. And also
she had realised how much her skills as a
gynaecologist were needed and appreciated. So, after a
long discussion with her husband, they both decided to
come and give two years to working in Guyana. They
decided that this was the most time they could afford
to take away from earning good money in America. And
so they came with their two children ­ an 8 year-old
girl and a 4-year old boy who had a minor problem with
his spleen. They both found valuable work to do and
they were very happy to feel that they were really
working to make people better rather than just to make
money. Then, near the end of their 2 years, their
4-year old son suddenly became ill. They brought him
to the hospital. The doctors found he had a chest
infection, but it didn’t seem too bad, so they gave
him some antibiotics to make it better. But it got
worse. The doctors realised that his minor problem in
the spleen was preventing his immune system from
fighting the infection properly. Suddenly, he needed
urgent specialist treatment that was not available in
Guyana. So they specially chartered a plane and
evacuated him to Trinidad. He died in the plane on the
way.

She says that after that she cried every day for two
years. And she deeply regretted her decision to come
to Guyana, believing that if she had stayed in the
USA, her son would have had a better chance. But then,
she says, after 2 years, there started coming to her
mind the images of some of the people she had helped
in Guyana ­ people whose lives she had saved, or whose
sufferings she had relieved. And she began to remember
how many, many of those there had been. It did not
make it all right ­ she knows that nothing will ever
do that - but it gave her some comfort. And she began
to realise that God was asking her to come back. And
the moment of decision was when she and her husband
prayed over this passage: “God loved the World so much
that He gave His only Son.” Having also lost her only
Son, she now knew what those few words really mean.
That’s why she went back.

Let us stand and profess our Faith in the Love of God,
who loved the World ­ this much (spread hands wide). 

Mount Street Jesuit Centre,

114 Mount Street,

London SW1K 3AH.

ENGLAND.

fatbaldnproud@yahoo.co.uk