For years, when I was visiting my Mom, every day,
I administered the Holy Eucharist whenever I could.

In December 2013, I administered it three consecutive days:
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
I said to her: it must be the first time in your life
to receive the Communion this often, isn’t it?

“Well done, Teruko!”
Was her whispered reply.

With amazement and undreamt delight,
I shed happy tears to her reply.
Those were the first and the last words she uttered
in her nearly seven years of silence.

In the following three years,
as ever, I visited my Mom every day
with her Miraculous Words cherished in my heart.

For this most precious Christmas Gift in my life,
my gratefulness and the sense of awe are forever.
(Feb. 22, 2021)

Teruko Yamakawa (translator)