The urgency to love

Seventy years, it is celebrated! In the fall of 2022, I blocked a date for the end of the following summer. Then I establish a list of a hundred guests, notably Italian (my family and friends), reserves a pan to offer pancakes and pancakes at will and a group of Breton dance music! I imagine the decoration, the implementation.

However, feeling tired, I make an appointment with my doctor, who is worried about significant weight loss. Blood examination, go to a hospital oncologist. The announcement falls: “In the current state of knowledge, your disease is incurable. You have five years left, maybe less. I have to consent to the real. Inform loved ones, start chemotherapy and simplify the festivities.

I invite around thirty people and good friends take care of the whole organization. In the morning, we celebrate a mass with the parish rector. The liturgy of the day offers the parable of the grain strewn in the ground (MC, 4). I confide in the welcome word: “The disease made me sensitive to the urgency of loving. I want to tell you “thank you” and “I love you”. You are “good land” that nourishes me, supports me and makes me grow, because each of you revealed to me a facet of God. Some people say they are non -believers or not practicing, but all of us believe in love.

So, we are going to give thanks to this love and its source, which I call God. »»

At the restaurant, my loved ones get to know each other. They arrive from Italy, Holland, Germany, Ireland and all of France. The dialogues are easily committed, in depth. Around 3 p.m., I slipd out to lie down. Back for dessert, I find the table singing with joy.

Have I experienced my birthday leaded by the disease? No ! Love and friendship radiated both in hearts, in exchanges and on faces, that I was filled beyond my expectations. For me, the presence of God and his love was palpable, according to this word of Jesus: “To this, all will recognize that you are my disciples: if you have love for each other. (Jn 13, 35). Friendship bonds made in truth during this meal have persisted. This blessed day continues to wear me. Happy to live to this day, I welcome treatments in peace.