Jesus on the 46A

Jesus was on the bus today.  He got on the 46A at the stop at UCD. He scanned his bus pass and despite his advanced years, nimbly navigated the stairs to go to the upper deck, bag in hand.  As he passed, people began to swear at him, move away, open windows, put their own bags on the seat near them so he wouldn’t sit near them. He stank strongly of urine and his clothes looked like they hadn’t been washed in months.

“He shouldn’t have been let on the bus”, I hear a voice say behind me.  “He doesn’t look homeless”, another said.  “I’m going to be sick”, another said, as she rose, pressed the bell for the next stop and went down the stairs. 

Jesus was on the bus.

He was sat two seats away from me and all others had moved away from around him. Part of me wanted to turn around and say, ‘it’s okay’, the other part afraid to encounter the pain that might be in his eyes because of the reactions, the rejection and the judgement.  Another part of me thought the real ‘Christian’ thing to do would be to sit beside but what if I can’t stomach it and I react.  I compromised, I sat on the seat across from him and quietly said hello.

What greeted me was the most serene gaze and gentle smile. We didn’t exchange any more conversation after that. A brief encounter as he got off two stops later. I thought that I was doing a ‘good deed’, offering silent solidarity to someone ostracised because of his situation but in fact, I was the one who was infinitely blessed for the encounter. I felt the peace of his presence. 

Jesus was on the bus.

A friend of mine has an expression: “I need to go see Jesus”, that is, “to go and pray”.  A few weeks ago I started using this phrase instead of saying  ‘I was going to pray’.  Whilst we might think we’re making all the effort to find the time and pray, Jesus is just waiting for us to go to Him and bask in his presence and love and be in his company.  Our Founder, Father James Alberione, explained the time of Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament as ‘La Visita’,  ‘the Visit.’

This is what he had to say:
“The Visit* is a meeting of our soul  and of our whole being with Jesus. 
It is the creature meeting the Creator; 
the disciple before the Divine Master; 
the patient with the Doctor of souls; 
the poor one appealing to the Rich One; 
the thirsty one drinking at the Font; 
the weak before the Almighty;
 the tempted seeking a sure Refuge; 
the blind person searching for the Light; 
the friend who goes to the True Friend; 
the lost sheep sought by the Divine Shepherd; 
the wayward heart who finds the Way; 
the unenlightened one who finds Wisdom; 
the bride who finds the Spouse of the soul; 
the “nothing” who finds the All; 
the afflicted who finds the Consoler;
 the seeker who finds life’s meaning.
 It is the shepherds at the crib,
Mary Magdalene at Simon’s house,
Nicodemus who come to Jesus by night. 
It is the holy discussions of the Samaritan woman, of Zacchaeus, of Philip, and of the Apostles with Jesus;  especially in the last week of His earthly life and after the resurrection.”

Today as we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation of Blessed Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, we are reminded that extraordinary things happen in ordinary visits, bring forth life and can teach us a lesson in grace and compassion, even on the 46A!