British Cardinal recalls amazing yet true story of brotherly love
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Emeritus Archbishop of Westminster
spoke of an amazing and inspirational example of brotherly love that he heard about
when he was living in Rome at the end of the Second World War. His recollection of
this true story came when he appeared on a BBC Radio programme this week. Here
is the text of the Cardinal's reflection: "Whilst living in Rome, I was marked
by a true story of brotherly love. It was the end of the War and most unusual for
Italy, heavy snow had fallen. Two boys, aged twelve and six had been abandoned by
their parents and the eldest brother , knew of a place where orphan boys could find
shelter and help, but that place was fifteen miles away and the snow was very deep.
Too little to be able to walk through the snow, the eldest brother put the youngest
on his back and piggy-backed him through the snow until at last, exhausted, he reached
the shelter. He was welcomed by a priest who said to him, “You came all that way with
that burden on your back!” And the boy said, “That’s not a burden – that’s my brother”.
Most people have some kind of burden in their lives. It might be a sickness or
some sorrow one finds painful to bear. Christians believe that the feast we celebrate
at Christmas helps us remember that God came into our world to bring reconciliation,
light and hope. He came to turn blows into kisses and burdens into blessings. There
is a very nice custom in Slavonic countries that at the end of Christmas Mass each
person kisses their neighbour on both cheeks and says, “Christ is born”, and the reply
is, “Truly He is born”. And then around the whole church each one exchanges kisses
with everybody else. The coming of Christ brings new hope to our world and to each
one of us. He turns burdens into blessings. You know, you can kill people in crowds
but you can only kiss them one by one. My wish for you this Christmastide is that
you will find the opportunity to reach out to a neighbour or friend who is worried,
concerned or in pain, and in doing so find inner peace and reconciliation. May this
Christmas be a happy time for you and your burdens be turned to blessings."