Recently, I had a unique experience walking across the parking lot of a Shoprite. I was in the Poconos and was purchasing food for the week for my annual retreat. As I got out of the car, a woman was intrigued to see a Sister in habit in her “neck of the woods.” As we walked to the entrance of the store, she remarked, “Sister, I haven’t seen a Sister in these parts in a very long time. Where do you come from?” I answered her by saying that I was going on retreat at a house in Lake Ariel. As I entered the store, I realized that I left my Shoprite gift cards in the car. I told her, “It was great meeting you, but I have to go back to the car since I left my gift cards there. Know that during my retreat, I will carry you and your family in prayer.” We parted as she entered the store.
After retrieving the cards, I began the chore of shopping for food. As I entered the store, I met a woman from Vermont that stopped me and asked me about my community and how I was serving the Church. I told her a little bit about Assumption College for Sisters. She was awed about the mission of the college. She also asked me to pray for her. A little later, as I was going up and down the aisles, another woman approached me and said, “I heard that you were going to use gift cards to purchase your items. The Holy Spirit put it on my heart that I should get a card for you.” With that, she handed me a gift card for $50. She also added, “Please pray for me and my family as well!” Filling up with tears, I asked her name and promised to pray for her and her family! These three chance “conversations” showed me the importance of encountering others with sincerity and love.
I am reminded of this event as I continue my series on hope. Pope Francis quoted Romano Guardini in his autobiography, “Man is created in such a way as to be first given to himself in initial form; in an openness and predisposition toward what he will encounter. If he becomes fixed, and becomes rigid, if he remains closed in on himself, if he never runs the risk of adopting an attitude of devotion to life, then he will become increasingly poor and meager. He has ‘kept his soul for himself’ and therefore loses it more and more. 1 … The culture of encounter requires us to be ready not only to give but also to receive from others, and it encourages us to step out from ourselves, to be pilgrims. But if we give priority to personal encounter, walking together, as well as confronting each other, even with severity, but with respect, then it will be easier to overcome difference later and to leave them behind.”2
Those three women taught me how important it was to create an environment that welcomes encounters. All three of them were hungry for what they know I do … pray! They epitomized hope with an encounter of a mere human that points to Someone greater. I have reflected on this event and have come to believe that such encounters deepen only when conversation is rooted in love. These women are my “spiritual daughters” that I had never met before.
I know, I know, I can hear all of you state, “Well Sister, I am not a Sister!” Yeah, I AM wearing a visible sign of a higher reality, my habit. But I truly believe any encounter that is rooted in love births hope between those who meet each other!
What a tremendously awesome gift!
1Francis, et al. Hope: The Autobiography. Random House, 2025. Pg 86.
2Ibid. Pg 88.
By Sister Geralyn Schmidt, SCC, Special to The Witness
