By Pino Neglia
It was December 23, 1994, in Rome’s Termini Railway Station, one of the largest railway stations in Europe. I had bought a ticket for the last train that would take me from Rome to Lecce in 6 hours.
The fervor of the Christmas celebration could be felt in the mass of people, loaded down with packages and gifts, who were overflowing the subway and the train stations that met in Termini. It was the rush to buy the last gifts so as to be ready at midnight the next day for this consumerist ritual of exchanging gifts that are sometimes useless and unwelcome, but serve as a reciprocation of a gift given by another.
I was very tired.
All week I had worked in the Bioethics Committee of the Senate of the Italian Republic as a representative of AIDO (Italian Association of Organ Donors) to draft a law on organ procurement and transplants (a law which was then approved in 1999 after years of clashes and discussions in the two houses of Parliament). It was a voluntary commitment, and the only privilege was to be a guest at the Senate’s expense in the most luxurious hotel in Rome, the Hilton Dei Cavalieri, where I ate my lunches and dinners with movie stars, footballers, top-level politicians, etc.
As I arrived at the large departures board in Termini, I saw the listing for my train: Rome to Lecce, Platform 15. I headed toward platforms 14 and 15 and found a sea of people crowding the platform. I thought, “Obviously we are one day away from Christmas Ever, so people are returning home or going on vacation.”
While I slowly trudged through this river of people, I notice an elderly lady who must have been over 80 years old. She was dragging a large suitcase, but every 2 or 3 meters she had to stop to catch her breath. I watched her for a few seconds, but then my Boy Scout spirit prevailed and I said, “Madam, can I help you?” With a smile that reminded me of my grandmother, she replied: “Thank you, my son!”
I asked her, “Which train are you taking?” Her answer was incredible: “I have to go to Lecce!” Beaming, I told her that I was taking the same train. With my suitcase in one hand and the elderly lady’s big suitcase in the other, I headed for platform 15. When I got to the train, a muscular Swiss boy helped me get the big suitcase into the storage area above the lady’s seat.
The lady told me that she was going to spend Christmas with her daughter, who was married to a man from Lecce, and above all to see her grandchildren again. Her large suitcase was filled with presents. I was moved. I thought back to the many grandmothers who were willing to take long and tiring trips just to hug their grandchildren. Too many grandmothers and mothers would be left alone for the holidays as they recall the stages of their lives with their beloved children, who are now too busy to visit them and repay them with a little warmth and love.
I sat down by the window looking outside and the train in front of me started to move. As the train rolled by, to my tired and sleepy gaze, a luminous sign on a carriage woke me up: “Rome–Lecce.” In a panic, I asked a few passengers, “Is this the Rome to Lecce train?” A man in very halting Italian with a German accent answered me, “Rome to Zurich train.” Instead of getting on the train to the right (platform 15), I got on the train to the left, which was platform 14 and was headed to a different destination!
I rushed to the elderly lady, whose shed a few tears as I explained the situation. I felt like a worm; a complete idiot for making this very sweet old lady suffer as a result of my distraction. I consoled her as I took her suitcase from the overhead area and we exited the train. After converting our tickets for the following day, I accompanied her to the taxi stop.
Now I had another problem, where to sleep? I had the number of the very expensive hotel where I had stayed at the expense of the Senate, but for a miserable missionary it was an impossible amount to pay. I headed toward the hotel reservations office (internet booking sites did not exist; everything was done with travel agencies). I arrived and a crowd of tourists were near the entrance. I took a number and with disappointment to learn that 71 people were waiting ahead of me. The security guard allowed me to wait in the station near the hotel reservations office, so I went and sat down.
As I waited, I noticed that in addition to the many passengers there were several homeless people with their belongings. While I was absorbed in my sad thoughts about an absurd evening caused by my distraction and a deep sense of guilt for having made that sweet old lady suffer, 7 or 8 Santa Clauses burst into the waiting room! They were singing and shouting, “Merry Christmas!”
They went toward the homeless; it was clear that they knew them because some called them by name. They offered hot tea or coffee and gave each of them a panettone (a very good Italian Christmas cake) and a package with a meal.
I had emerged from the depths of my despair and sense of guilt at the sight of this cheerful group helping the unfortunate. With my usual boldness, I said to one of them, “Congratulations guys, beautiful initiative! Which parish are you part of?” (I was sure they were a group of Catholics). The boy smiled, with a fake white beard, and said: “No, we are not from any parish, we are members of the Angels of the Night and many of us, like me, are not believers at all. We are volunteers who help the weakest!”
How wonderful! It was a horrible evening, but one that gave me—and continues to give me—so many ideas for spiritual reflection.
1. Even if the sidewalk is the same, not all tracks lead to the same destination. And even if the WAY seems the same, not all theological paths lead to salvation. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21, New International Version).
2. Let us not entrust our spiritual destiny (like the old lady) to an individual, even if animated by a generous desire to help us in good faith (like me). Let us carefully and personally examine the spiritual and theological path that is proposed to us in the light of the Word of God. “If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matt. 15:14b, Amplified Bible). “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe” (1 Thes. 2:13, NIV).
3. Don’t always be presumptuous about knowing how to get to the right train by relying on your own intellect. Learn to be a constant academy of doubt that always questions one’s own assumptions by filtering and comparing them with the Word of God. “Every Word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him” (Prov. 30:5). “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
4. Sadly, it is often non-believers who understand the urgency and philanthropic need to help our fellow men, like the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Obviously in my missionary work it is a priority to bring the spiritual bread of Christ Jesus and his word as the goal of salvation, but I try not to forget the material needs of my fellow men. Benevolence and mission are different, but not antithetical, and benevolence can be complementary to our witness.
The next day, I arrived home a few minutes before midnight. My wife, my son, my family, my relatives, and my friends welcomed me for the traditional midnight dinner. But the most wonderful gift I received was from my mother, who whispered to me, “The most beautiful gift of this Christmas you gave me! That of giving me the joy of hugging you again and telling you: Merry Christmas my son!”
Pino Neglia serves with Lecce Christian Mission in Lecce, Italy and Albania.
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