5/5/2024
The noise of crashing glass was deafening. From seven aisles away, I could hear a sob and people running. By the time I reached the scene of the accident, I found a woman in her late eighties on the floor surrounded by a shelf of drinking glasses that had fallen as she went to reach for one. Fortunately, she was unhurt – just embarrassed – and now had a hard time moving around amidst all the shards of glass that surrounded her.
Beautifully, though, so many normal, everyday folks were right there beside her, long before any official store managers came. Some shoppers pushed away the glass with their feet; others were crouching beside her, trying to comfort her. One woman asked if anything hurt or if she was bleeding. These customers took care of this woman as if she were their own mother, and I remember thinking to myself: “No matter what we may be told to believe, there are still so many good people in this world willing to jump-in and help a stranger.”
Our Lord tells us in today’s Gospel: “I give you a new commandment: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you should also love one another.” It need not always be in the big moments that we love as God does. Rather, it can be as simple as running to assist a stranger in distress in Aisle 4.