On 9 February 2022 I had a beautiful experience with Pietro Lozzia who had lost his pet cat named Perla. This made him very sad that for five days he had not slept well. As usual on that day after lunch my companion and I went for a walk and on entering we found a notice on the gate written “A cat is lost. The one who finds it kindly contact the following number”. When we entered inside the gate, lo and behold, we found a cat sleeping under a bush. Immediately I took a photo of the cat and sent it to that number. Surprisingly within two minutes Pietro, almost restless, reached Auxilium with a basket.  He was so mad for the cat that he did not even wait to open the gate but just jumped over the wall and snatched it away.

On the next day, i.e. Friday, he sent me a message saying that the cat brought back his life, joy and happiness. So, he asked me to meet him personally to thank me and he gave his house number (his house is very close to Auxilium). Instead I requested him to come to the convent on Sunday for Mass and after that I could meet him. On that Sunday we began a dialogue and I came to know that for so many years he had not gone to the church and now he feels unworthy to enter the church. He even felt that if he goes to the Church the Lord may drive him away. At this point, I being a student of Catechesis and Youth Pastoral, took advantage to teach him some Catechism. He was truly open and the Lord entered into his life.  My message to him was: “Human beings are more valuable than animals; the Lord loves you unconditionally” and I assured him of my prayers. He was moved by our encounter. To my surprise, it worked and the Lord touched his heart and he agreed to come again on the following Sunday. So, on the following Saturday after Mass, I spoke to Fr. Francesco Motto SDB, who was supposed to come for Mass on Sunday for the parishioners. I told him about this young man and Father agreed to meet him.  Since Pietro is working on Sundays he could not reach on time but as soon as he finished his duty he came along but he reached after Holy Communion. After mass I invited him to pray and then directed him to the priest.

After their long conversation, both of them came out happy and Father wanted to know my name and from where I was. He said, “sorella, brava! tu hai fatto un grande lavoro”. To this I affirmed,  “Il Signore è più grande”. Pietro then spoke up, “It was the Lord who wanted me to return to the church, the cat was only a means for me to return to Him”. He went back home happily with a desire to show himself again on the following Sunday.

Sr. Shradha Kispotta

Auxilium Rome