March 16th, Monday, Third Week of Lent

2 Kings 5: 1-15b, Psalm 42: 2, 3; 43: 3, 4, Luke 4: 24-30

Today’s readings are a great reminder that God does not discriminate and neither should we. God wants everyone, even “the outsiders” (the lepers and widows) to be “included” in society and receive His loving care. I feel that I was personally taught God’s message of inclusion through the life of my loving Czechoslovakian grandmother, Baba*. You see, I viewed Baba as an “outsider.” At the age of 14, Baba was pulled out of 8th grade and forced to move from her small farm in Pennsylvania to a steel town in West Virginia. There, Baba took a job as a waitress so that she could send money home to her family. Baba never had new clothes, a fancy home or elaborate meals but she always felt blessed. Although she married and had three children, Baba was widowed at a very young age. Because of her lack of education, Baba’s only option was to take a job cleaning offices at night in order to provide for her three young daughters. Although the tough life took its tolls on my grandmother’s physical well-being, her spirit never faltered. Baba started her day by attending mass at the Byzantine Catholic church across the street from her house, and she ended her long night by saying the rosary.

As a child, I must admit that I was often embarrassed by my grandmother. She was so different from the doting grandmothers of my girlfriends. She looked old, didn’t always say and do the “right things” and definitely would never spoil me with material gifts. In my late teens, as I started to awaken from my self-centered world, I realized that my grandmother actually was wiser than most people and offered me the gifts that no money in the world could ever buy. Amongst the many spiritual gifts that Baba taught me through her humble life was the message that it is okay to be “different.” Whether you are the wealthy, well-educated president of a company or a poor uneducated cleaning lady, we are all children of God. Everyone was put on this earth for a reason and we all have wonderful gifts to offer this world. By using the gifts that God grants us, we can have a very purposeful and rewarding earthly life. Although I took a different path from my grandmother, by going to college and working at a large firm, I always took as much interest in the cleaning ladies, mail clerks and security guards as I did the firm president. Today, as the Gospel suggests, open your heart to someone different from you---an “outsider”----you just might be surprised at the wonderful lessons you will learn!

Kathy Ritchie, wife to Scott, mother of Kate, Meg and Michael and part-time Human Resource consultant

Footnote: My grandmother, “Baba” (Mary Sholtis), would have celebrated her 99th birthday today, March 16th.