A Gift from God

I was on my first train from Springfield to New Haven where I would transfer in order to get on the train to Philadelphia. I read for a little while and my exhaustion convinced me to just rest my eyes for a half hour, setting a timer so as not to sleep too long and miss my stop. I was unable to sleep, but simply sat resting my body and soul listening to the hustle and bustle around me. We paused to pick up passengers at one of the stations... Hartford I believe it was and a man say behind me. He was quite loud coming in and my seat got knocked a few times as he tried to settle himself. I fought the temptation to be quite upset at this "rudeness".

He began speaking on the phone and as I just lay there I overheard... "Mass...I can say Mass at the place I live or I can say it at St. Peter's because where I live is very close to the Vatican..." I thought, oh wow! A priest! Praise God! So, as a typical American who "respects the individuality of each person" I did not want to disturb him and told the Lord... well my Lord if you want us to speak, then let us transfer at the same station. New Haven arrived and he followed me off the train. Still unsure I said, ok Lord, I am going to stop in this area where there is room for him also to pause and await the next train but if he should go in any other direction (of which there were a few other viable options) I will not "bother" him. So, he stopped and put his bags down next to mine and placed his phone into his pocket.

He was not wearing his collar and was just in simple street clothes, so I tapped him n the shoulder and asked,
"Excuse me. Are you a priest? I would like to pray for you".
Shocked, he turned and said, "How did you know I was a priest?"
"I overheard your conversation on the train that you could say Mass where you live or at the basilica and I thought, 'Oh! he must be a priest! SAY Mass???'"
"My name is Fr. Kingsley"
"I am Joanna, I just came from visiting some nuns"
"May I call you Sr. Joanna?"

And so we began talking and ended up talking for the next 4 hours to Philadelphia!