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Father Jim played an integral role when I grew in my faith at university.

I first met him at a CCO event and he heard my confession. From that moment we began a good friendship and he was a spiritual mentor to me. We met once a month for several years. He was a kind man and was very patient. He also had a wicked sense of humour. I could always get a good laugh from Father Jim.

One year I decided to write a letter to someone every day for 40 days during Lent. It was a practice of almsgiving. I took the time to write to someone special in my life. These letters contained affirmations of who they were to me and they described qualities I admired in them.

I’ll be honest. I didn’t write every day. But one day, I had this strong sense to write and send a letter to Father Jim. So I wrote to him how much his priesthood meant in my life. He introduced me to the Book of Psalms and he taught me how to pray. He inspired me to grow my relationship with God and helped me grow as a man. I wrote that he was a spiritual father to me and that I was forever grateful.

Rather than send it in the mail, I dropped it off at his rectory. I wanted to say hi but he wasn’t home.

A month went by and I still didn’t hear from him. Then shocking news came to me that he passed away from a battle with cancer. I was so saddened. I knew he was struggling with cancer but I didn’t realize how bad it was. He might’ve not gotten my letter, but I knew God would tell him how much I appreciated his priesthood. I paid my respects at the funeral Mass and I thanked God in my sorrow for the gift that he was to me and so many others.

Later that summer I attended a Catholic conference. I was talking with a friend and a priest overheard my name. “Are you Trevor, Trevor Anzai?” I replied, “Yeah, that’s me! What’s up?”

“I wanted to let you know something. I got your letter in the mailbox for Father Jim. He was really sick at the time and was in his last days. I had the chance to read your letter on his deathbed. He felt really touched.”

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As we undergo our practices of almsgiving this Lent, I am reminded of three things:

1. Follow the promptings. Is the Holy Spirit encouraging you to reach out to someone? Call a friend? Do something for someone in need? Follow it and the other person will be blessed. We never know what might happen.
2. Let God work. When we’re obedient to God’s call, we never know what might happen. The biggest thing is to let Him do the job. We say yes and do our thing, then we let it go and let it God.
3. Leave results to Him. A big thing I’ve tried to practice is not letting my right hand know what my left hand is doing. It’s not about us. It’s about the other person and God. We might not see results from our sacrificial help. That’s okay.

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