A man walked into a busy metro station on a cold morning in January, laid his collection hat down and began to play his instrument. Three minutes after he began to play a violin, a middle aged man slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, then hurried to meet his schedule.
Four minutes later, a woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk as he continued to play the violin. Six minutes later, a young man paused, leaned against the wall, listened to him a few moments, then glanced at his watch and started to walk again.
Ten minutes later, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. The song being played was Schubert's Ave Maria.
In 45 minutes only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk. His hat contained a total of $32.
Two days before, this man had sold-out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music. The violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.
The above experiment was done by the Washington Post who said: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made, how many other things are we missing as we rush through life?
For those who believe, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not believe, no explanation is possible: Every day on our earth the best of Creation Our Lady, the Mother of Christ, has been appearing at Medjugorje bringing us a message of love. She has been asking us to pray, pray, pray. She has been blessing us and asking us to be the voice and the instruments that spread the message of life.
As Baptised Christians, our first call is conversion - to repent and believe the good news. Once we are filled with this thrilling news, we become stewards called to share in Christ's mission to go out and tell the world about it.
The primary mission of Christ and his followers is to reconcile the world to the Father; to draw all to the Father's love: "that in the whole world may come the Kingdom of Love. How mankind would be happy if love reigned!" (Mary's Message: March 25, 1986)
The sound of Mary's voice is more beautiful than a $3.3 million dollar violin. 1100 persons missed the significance of the world famous violinist Joshua Bell. How many of us are missing the significance of Mary's daily apparitions on this same earth where one day love will reign and God's Kingdom Will Come?
