In the spring, a friend gave me a small book called “Holy Moments” by Matthew Kelly.  He describes a “holy moment” as:

“A Holy Moment is a single moment in which you open yourself to God.  You make yourself available to Him.  You set aside personal preference and self-interest, and for one moment you do what you prayerfully believe God is calling you to do.”

Later in the book he describes a famous Holy Moment from Victor Hugo’s epic story Les Miserables.  The story involves Jean Valjean, and a local bishop. Here are Matthew Kelly’s exact words to describe what happened in the story because he has written it so beautifully.

There is an amazing moment in Victor Hugo’s epic story Les Miserables.  The main character is a man named Jean Valjean.  Released from prison after nineteen years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread, he is bitter, angry, and resentful of everyone.  One evening he knocks on a door looking for food.  The owner welcomes him into his home to share a meal and to stay the night.

Valjean repays this generous hospitality by stealing his host’s silverware.  The police capture him the next day and bring him back to return the silverware.  But Valjean’s host protects his thieving guest, telling the police that the silverware was a gift.  This act of kindness, this Holy Moment, sets Valjean free in every way imaginable.

Jean Valjean’s host was an elderly bishop, a true man of God.  He knew Holy Moments had the power to ransom people from fear and hatred and return them to God.

This encounter with the bishop was the first time in decades Valjean had been treated with love, respect, and compassion.  It forever changes him.

It was a moment of tender care.  The bishop did not see Valjean as a thief and he did not see himself as a bishop.  He saw only two brothers.  In that moment nothing else mattered to him except what was best for Jean Valjean.  It was indeed a Holy Moment.

This one moment of brotherly love set off a domino effect of goodness.  As a result of the bishop’s goodness, the effect of that one Holy Moment, Valjean unleashes an astonishing wave of Holy Moments everywhere he goes for the rest of his life.  These Holy Moments touch thousands of lives and transform a whole town.

Valjean was hopeless.  Devastated by hatred and injustice, having suffered so much throughout his life, he had lost faith in himself, in others, in God, and in society.  One man restored his hope in one moment, and Jean Valjean was able to change and go on to become a universal symbol of redemption and hope.

Matthew Kelly goes on to describe the hopelessness of our world today.  He asks a question: What gives you hope?  We see hopelessness all around us on a daily basis.  It’s on the news and possibly in our own lives, but definitely in the lives of many around us, either at work, in the news, or in our families.  He says that Holy Moments can bring people hope.

We have the chance to brighten the lives of people that we meet every day.  Even just a smile, or a kind word can change someone’s day and have a ripple effect on each person that person meets for the rest of his or her day.  Kindness begets kindness.  Love begets love and gives a person hope.

The good bishop in Les Miserables also committed another act of astounding generosity.  He was promoted to the rank of bishop late in life and after becoming a bishop, he was given a beautiful mansion to live in.  When he arrived at his new home, he noticed how many rooms it had.  Then he went next door to the hospital to have a look at the hospital.  It was very small and narrow.  In the hospital, he met the director and they both strolled over to the larger house.  Bishop Myriel asked the director how many patients were in the hospital, and was told that there were twenty-six.   Then he asked the director how many beds he thought could be put into the dining room of the large house.  The director said that the big house could hold twenty beds just in the dining room.  Bishop Myriel immediately said, I’m sorry sir, but I believe there has been a mistake.  You have twenty-six people in five or six little rooms.  In this house, we just have three people in a space that could hold sixty.  It’s obvious that there has been a mistake.  Clearly you have my house and I have yours.  And just like that, he gives his sumptuous home to the hospital, all the while making it seem like it was merely a mistake.  Such on the spot generosity is completely uncommon in our days.  It clearly an example of a holy moment.

At the beginning of the book, Holy Moments, The author tells another story.  The story is about a group of monks that lost their purpose and began to bicker amongst themselves.  So they decide to send a messenger to a holy man who could tell them what to do.  The messenger goes and does find the holy man who tells the messenger to go back and tell the group of monks, “The Messiah is among you.”  The messenger does just that.  Can you imagine what happens?  Do you think the bickering can continue when they don’t know who “He” might be?

The Messiah is among you!

Since we are all children of God and Messiah is God’s beloved Son, can’t we also say, “Messiah lives among you?!  What will happen when we live with that thought central in our mind and life?  From the play, “Les Miserables”:

To love another person
Is to see the face of God

If you have seven minutes to enjoy the epilogue from Les Miserables: