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The Meeting
Mama Vincenza kept her worries to herself. "After all," she thought, "children do grow up. If this is all in the pln of God, what can I say? Besides, Teresa hasn't even talked to the priest yet. She might decide against the whole idea. O dea," Mama sighed, "there is something so final about it all."
"Don't leave me too," the woman whispered.
"I will never leave you, Mama," Teresa said with a smile. "In spirit we will always be together."
They walked through the front door of St. Damien's.
"You wait in the pew here, Teresa say some prayers," Mama said, "I will go to find the priest."
The girl knelt. She tried to pray, but her imagination kept running away with her. "Why is Mama taking so long?" she asked nervously, as the beads of her rosary slipped through her fingers. Then, there were footsteps coming up the side aisle, closer and closer. The girl turned. Mama was straight-faced but serene.
"Father wants to talk to you. He is in the sacristy."
Teresa genuflected, walked quickly to the front of the church and entered the small room next to the main altar. There she found a priest - short, thin, humble. They talked; the meeting was brief. A few minutes later the girl was back in the pew with her mother.
Mama Vincenza kept glancing sideways at her daughter. Finally she could wit no longer. They left the church and she asked, "What did Father say to you?" They were walking again the familiar road back home.
"He asked me to help with his work," Teresa replied.
"What work?" asked Mama.
"Father says that women can do much good with the press, the printed word."
"But," asked the woman, "what does that have to do with you? What are you to do?"
"Nothing," the girl said simply, "just obey him."
There was silence. Then Mama Vincenza asked, "What answer did you give?"
Teresa was radiant as she replied, "I said 'yes'."
Neighbors questioned the Merlo family. "How can you let your daughter get involved in a venture that is so uncertain?"
"There are many fine orders of sisters in the Church," said others. "She will have much better opportunities if..."
The girl packed her clothes, the necessary things, and was on her way. To do what? Right now it could best be called the will of God.
"In a few short weeks the girls will know how to sew and you will be home," said Mama, almost as though she believed it. Teresa tried to smile.
"I'll be counting on your prayers, Mama and Papa. Like you've always said, 'everything depends on prayer.'"
Mr. Merlo pulled out his big cotton handkerchief and blew his nose.
"I never cried in my life," he growled, trying to be stern, "and I'm not going to start now."
Teresa kissed them both; the parting was hard. As the horse and buggy jostled along, the future Mother Thecla Merlo looked out the window. Whatever her eyes pictured, her mind turned into meditation. She scanned the crops that soaked in the hot June sun. "Next year new crops, and the next year, and the next." She was lost in thought. "This life is a perpetual beginning anew. Always a new challenge, another victory to win. How senseless would everything be without heaven, without eternal life. Life with God is life without change, without end."
Yes is Forever, by the Daughters of St. Paul, Copyright © 1981, Daughters of St. Paul. |
Mother and daughter walked the two-hour journey to Alba. Teresa matached her steps with her mother's as they said the rosary aloud. Then they talked and Mama lamented about John, her oldest son, who had gone to fight in the war. He had been in the front lines for months.
Hector Merlo was mild by nature, industrious and quiet. Everyone knew that it took a powerful wind to get him upset. But one thing that angered him when little else would was people who minded other people's business. "It's her life," he said. "As long as she does good, whatever she does, Mama and I will back her up." Teresa overheard the episode, smiled to herself, and then slipped out of sight so Papa would never know.