Day 17: A Unexpected Gift

All of us have been given gifts from God.  Some of us unfortunately hide them while others recognized that God gave us these gifts to share with others.  Imagine if Andrea Bocelli never opened his mouth to share his sublime voice with the world.  Yesterday, several people sent me a link to Italy's version of the singing show "The Voice."  In case you don't watch the show here, like me, the premise is that the judges have their backs turned to the contestants as they begin singing so that they are judged solely on their voice and if the judges like what they hear, they swing their chairs around to choose that contestant to advance in the competition (or something like that).  Well on Wednesday night in Italy, a religious sister was the voice the judges had their back to, and well, look at the results (it's in Italian, but the reactions don't need translation):

Suor Cristina told the judges that she simply wanted to share her gift and to evangelize.  Evangelize she has because as of this morning, this video has been viewed by more than 3 million people.  Suor Crisitna is an Ursuline Sister of the Holy Family and her appearance will no doubt shed a positive light on the religious life (it really is fun, people!), and she reminds us that we are called to share the gifts that God has given us with others regardless if we're wearing a habit, a collar, or just regular clothes. 

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture in the Vatican and is an avid Twitter user and admirer of the finer things of popular culture (he's an Adele fan!) lauded this sister on his Italian twitter account with the hashtag #suorcristina and added the biblical verse, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others (1 Peter 4:10)”.