Some empty hands

An empty head is useless; but empty hands are a powerful symbol.

We are all familiar with the mother’s hands that hold and cuddle the baby. We are familiar with the hands that heal wounds and take care of sick people; the hands of a farmer that plant the tilled land; the hands of the bricklayer that build a house stone by stone; the hands that write on paper the intuitions that vibrate within them.

The hands that bless and forgive; the extended hands of a beggar awaiting a piece of bread; the hands, that with tears, wave good bye; a handshake that is a sign of encounter or gratitude.

The house I live in, the furniture that surrounds me, the clothes that cover me, the books I read, the route where I walk, the food I eat, the tomb that will receive me…is all the work of someone’s hands. They are like an immense sacrament of service and love. Through them a torrent of riches and goods have come into my life.

Just by looking at them I should be filled with emotion and be encouraged, to also, through these hands, fill the world with gestures of mercy, signs of forgiveness and receptivity, and of long fraternal embraces.

“In the evening of our lives we will be examined in love” (Saint John of the Cross). This is our vocation: giving of ourselves and giving of ourselves without tiring with both hands open wide.

Extracted from CL No. 17 by f. Ignacio Larrañaga