Taking the Express Train to Inspiration by Doug Pulick  When I was recently asked to contribute something to the weekly “Inspiration From Your Parish” column published every Wednesday on the parish website, I wasn’t sure what to write, because I really had to challenge myself about where I find inspiration. The best answer I could come up with was that I find it by keeping my eyes and ears open and being cognizant of my surroundings. And yet, I sometimes find myself an indifferent passerby, remotely observing, not grasping the opportunity God presents to me to live out my faith. Maybe more importantly, it is on those days that I realize I’ve been challenged by God and that, if I’m honest with myself, I wasn’t the “Good Samaritan” that our faith calls us to be. In fact, I was on a recent Zoom call with several other parishioners discussing Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti” (“Brethren All”), which was a common salutation St. Francis used to use when addressing his followers. Pope Francis devotes an entire chapter to dissecting the wider implication of Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan, touching upon the recurring theme of demonstrating our love for our neighbor through welcoming the stranger, providing support to the poor in spirit or helping the injured, whether they be injured by others or even by us. The discussion made me recall an experience I had at a Manhattan subway station several years ago. As some of you may know, prior to the pandemic, I was a daily commuter into midtown Manhattan. New York City, where I was born and raised, and is a fabulous microcosm that attests to both the best and the worst in people. I’ve always found that the key to navigating the streets of New York City is to remain alert and keep a watchful eye on your immediate surroundings. Some used to advise visitors to avoid making eye contact, don’t look anyone directly in the eyes lest they thinking you’re challenging them! Not me, I always recommended, especially to tourists, to keep your eyes open and look others in the eye when you encounter them. It’s also a great tip for celebrity spotting (some of the luminaries I’ve spied on the streets of the Big Apple include SNL’s Bill Murray, the Who’s guitarist Pete Townsend, actor Paul Newman, actress Susan Sarandon, boxing legend Muhammed Ali, pop music icon Paul McCartney and the list goes on). But it was one of New York City’s non-luminaries that God used as a catalyst to really open my eyes. I was riding the subway, the best mode of transportation for getting around anyway fast in NYC. I was hurtling downtown on the Lexington Avenue line for a meeting with an ad agency. I looked at my watch and saw that I was going to be cutting it close. But given that I was able to grab a #4 Express out of Grand Central I had a good shot at arriving on time...barring nothing unforeseen to delay my trip. I sprinted off the train as soon as the doors opened attempting to beat the crowd up the staircase leading to the street. But I immediately saw that my efforts were being thwarted by what appeared to be a homeless person struggling to commandeer his/her shopping cart of belongings up the subway stairs. By clogging this lane of foot traffic up the staircase everyone else behind him or her was forced to squeeze to one side of the staircase in order to navigate around this person. “My luck!” I fumed to myself, “And I was making such good time!” And then the woman heading up the stairs directly in front of me leaned over to the person struggling with the cart and asked, “May I help you with that?” “Oh yes, thank you.”, the homeless person replied. Even as I recall this incident now, I am still filled with the shame that engulfed me that morning. Where were my “better angels”? Why did I look, but not see? How did it come to be that I was physically there, but not present to that individual? To quote from Pope Francis’ encyclical, “We cannot be indifferent to suffering; we cannot allow anyone to go through life as an outcast. Instead, we should feel indignant, challenged to emerge from our comfortable isolation and to be changed by our contact with human suffering. That is the meaning of dignity.” That I viewed someone else as an impediment to me, rather than a fellow human being robbed that person of their aforementioned dignity and made me feel like a hypocrite to my faith. God was grabbing me by the lapels and telling me to slow down, open my heart, as well as my eyes, and see the people around me…don’t just look at them. When I arrived at my appointment, ironically, I was made to wait as the person I was supposed to see was running late. Maybe that was God’s way of giving me some extra time to think about what had just happened. As I replayed the scenario over and over in my mind, I remembered a piece of advice I once received from a priest at St. Catherine’s who told me, “If you ever wonder where God wants you to be…just look down at your feet.” I didn’t follow that advice that day. I wasn’t present for that person on those subway stairs. I squandered an opportunity to express my Christian love, to be a “Good Samaritan.” Instead of looking for the celebrities, I needed to be more mindful of everyone I see on the streets of New York. And while I take no pride in recounting this story, I did take away something from this experience that is fundamental in our Christian faith. We need to forgive, always. And I needed to begin with myself, not so I could minimize what had occurred and sweep it under the rug, but rather, to get past the paralysis of feeling guilty. God doesn’t want us to obsess about our failings and become paralyzed with guilt. He would much rather we move forward in forgiveness, both for ourselves and especially for others. God doesn’t keep a tally sheet of our shortcomings because He already knows them. His forgiveness provides us the loving impetus we need to bring His kingdom on earth through our ability and willingness to help the people we meet in our everyday lives. And while that’s a hard thing to do, it’s made even harder if we don’t go out with a forgiven and forgiving heart. So where do I find inspiration? I don’t find it in any “one” place, I usually find it in the people I encounter…provided I’m willing to keep my eyes open, my heart receptive and look down at my feet. Because sometimes, you can even find inspiration in the loud, over-crowded subway stairs of New York City.