Joseph Cardinal Bernadin, former Archbishop...
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Joseph Cardinal Bernadin, former Archbishop of Chicago, tells of an experience that taught him how to love selflessly, like Jesus loved us and gave himself up for us. He was just a child, perhaps four or five years old. His father just had cancer surgery on his shoulder and was still wearing a bandage over the incision. Little Joseph was sitting on a porch railing, when he suddenly lost his balance and fell backwards. He cried out as soon as he hit the ground. His father leaped over the railing and picked him up, holding him tight in his arms, which were suddenly blood-soaked from his fresh surgical wound. What impressed little Joseph seeing this was that his father paid no attention to himself. His sole concern was the welfare of his son. Later on in his life, Archbishop Bernadin was to apply this love learning, as he forgave a young man who maliciously and wrongly accused him of sexual abuse, nearly ruining his reputation as a Christian leader. But, little Joseph had learned his lesson well. Setting aside his own ego and reputation, and for the sake of Jesus, he offered forgiveness to this troubled young man, that loving act brought him to repentance.
