"No Christian at All"
Several years ago in a large city in the far West, rumors spread that a certain Catholic woman was having visions of Jesus. The reports reached the archbishop. He decided to check her out. There is always a fine line between the authentic mystic and the lunatic fringe.
"Is it true, ma'am, that you have visions of Jesus?" asked the cleric.
"Yes," the woman replied simply.
"Well, the next time you have a vision, I want you to ask Jesus to tell you the sins that I confessed in my last confession."
The woman was stunned. "Did I hear you right, bishop? You actually want me to ask Jesus to tell me the sins of your past?"
"Exactly. Please call me if anything happens."
Ten days later the woman notified her spiritual leader of a recent apparition. "Please come," she said.
Within the hour the archbishop arrived. He trusted eye-to-eye contact. "You just told me on the telephone that you actually had a vision of Jesus. Did you do what I asked?"
"Yes, bishop, I asked Jesus to tell me the sins you confessed in your last confession."
The bishop leaned forward with anticipation. His eyes narrowed.
"What did Jesus say?"
She took his hand and gazed deep into his eyes. "Bishop," she said, "these are his exact words: 'I can't remember.'"
Christianity happens when men and women accept with unwavering trust that their sins have not only been forgiven but forgotten. . . . Thus, my friend archbishop Joe Reia says, "A sad Christian is a phony Christian, and a guilty Christian is no Christian at all."
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