Decision

     Standing with both hands in his pockets, Costanzo Merlo looked out of the window. A mental battle was raging. The priest, Father Alberione was the topic of the young seminarian's debate. "I want to help him," he mumbled. "I want to support his wonderful work, yet I feel that my call is here as a diocesan priest. Why, then, am I so mixed up?

     A hand clasped his shoulder. The young man turned around and met the gaze of Father Alberione.

     "Costanzo," the priest said, "I would like you to do me a favor."

     "Sure," he said, not knowing what to expect.

     "I have heard nothing but good about your sister, Teresa. She has a fine character, leadership qualities, and a thorough home formation. Would you ask your mother to let her come to Alba to teach sewing to the young girls who will be future religious?"

     "Well, I'll ask, Father," the boy answered, but there was a slight hesitation in his voice. He was thinking of Mama. Would she ever consent? Costanzo tried to be enthusiastic and yet realistic at the same time.

     "Father, it might take a little while to convince Mama, but I'll do my best, Teresa will come; I know she will. Anyway..." the boy added as an afterthough, "it's not that she will go forever; probably just a few weeks until the girls learn their skills."

     The priest smiled, "Now, Costanzo, you do your part and leave the time limit up to God."

********************

     "No, no, ... Costanzo. I don't want Teresa to go." Mama's eyes were troubled. "Father Alberione does not need her. There are plenty of seamstresses in Alba."

     Costanzo had expected that answer, and he was ready:

     "But they don't have the good qualities and Teresa is only twenty-one. She has a lifetime of energies to give to God."

     "A lifetime, Costanzo? But, you said only two weeks!"

     "Oh, Mama," the boy said quietly. "O.K. for now."

     Two weeks passed by. Costanzo tossed the problem back and forth in his mind. He couldn't let Father Alberione down, not a priest like that. He deserved support and help.

     Teresa watched the dilemma from the sidelines. She had been doing a lot of thinking. Was this what God wanted of her - to join in the work of Father Alberione? From what Costanzo had said, the priest was really a man of God. If there was something, anything at all, that she could contribute, then she would do it.

     "Once you told me when I was very small, ..." the young woman squeezed her mother's hand, "that 'it doesn't matter what you do in life; it matters that you do God's will.'"

     Her mother's eyes filled with tears.

     "Mama," Teresa added gently, "I feel that this is God's will. Let us go to Alba and see what Father Alberione wants me to do."

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    Yes is Forever, by the Daughters of St. Paul, Copyright © 1981, Daughters of St. Paul.
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