「喔，貝絲母牛！貝絲母牛！已經走丟了，你再不回來我就會遲到，沒得晚飯吃。」

晚上，牛平安地回來。約翰進了廚房想找東西吃，農夫的太太正在那兒縫補衣服。

「馬上離開廚房，」農夫的太太很粗暴的說。

「我不會留飯給懶惰的窮光蛋。」

  約翰又餓又渴，就決定到農場去取一些他剛放在那兒的牛奶喝。他輕輕的推開門，正伸手去取牛奶的時候，農夫走過窗戶，一分鐘後他出現了，手裡拿著馬鞭。

這孩子識時務地說：「我沒吃晚餐，貝絲母牛不在牧場。」

農夫非常生氣地地反擊：「我將教你如何去取牛奶，懶惰無用的乞丐。」

   約翰痛苦又飢餓的爬上頂樓去睡覺，他的心充滿了痛苦，因為這樣對待他實在太不公平了，他下定決心要逃跑。掀起地板上一塊鬆弛的板子，他取出一個錫盒，從中拿出一個用繩子綁好的小皮袋，掛在頸項上，然後躺在他的小屋裡不敢睡覺，天一亮就靜靜地溜下樓，儘快地跑離家，他一直跑到太陽出來農田充滿了生氣，然後走進森林，雖然很疲倦，還是整天馬不停蹄地走。

   黃昏時分，他來到一個城鎮，感覺可以找到一個歇腳之處。他走到一個教堂，門是開的，他就走進去，環視四周，看見一尊耶穌聖心像，他從來沒有看過這麼漂亮的聖像。因疲勞過度，馬上就睡覺了。

   一隻手觸摸他的頭，約翰就醒過來了，以為是瓊恩農夫，就怕的尖叫，但是一個仁慈的聲音說：「別怕！小人兒，該回家了，因為我要關門了。」

這孩子請求說：「不要把我送回瓊恩農夫那兒，他會殺了我。」

「跟我來，看我能為你做什麼。」

約翰起身，但因整天沒吃東西，就頭暈蹣跚不穩，若巴瑞神父沒有扶他，他就倒下去了。

   幾分以後神父走進起居室對一位婦女說：

「母親，這孩子昏倒了，交給您了。」神父將孩子放在休息室，巴瑞太太照顧他。

約翰睜開眼睛喃喃自語：「我很餓。」

神父就去拿了一杯牛奶給他喝，巴瑞太太就忙著準備較豐富的食物。

  約翰告訴神父他四歲時雙親就過世了，他被安置在一個非教友的家，一直到八歲，然後瓊恩農夫領養了他，因為他是這家庭中最大的男孩。

瓊恩農夫是很粗魯也很殘忍的，對待約翰像奴隸而不像兒子，上面所敘述的就是個例子了。

「母親去世前給了我這個小小的聖牌，要永遠帶著它」這孩子邊打開皮袋邊說。

巴瑞太太看著耶穌聖心聖牌就說：「那你是天主教徒了。」

「我不知道是什麼意思，但我要像母親那樣好。」

「好了，該上床睡覺啦，神父會處理一切的。」這婦人就帶他上樓去休息。

    巴瑞神父立刻和上司處理這件事，他就做了約翰的保護人，負責教育他，神父發現他很聰明，很有智慧。約翰常幫神父的母親做一些事來回報他的恩人。

   一天晚上，巴瑞太太告訴他的兒子：

「我感到奇怪，每天晚飯後約翰上那兒去？」

剛說完電話鈴響，神父就到聖堂請聖體，準備給一位病人傅油，他發現約翰跪在那兒祈禱，事情就揭曉了。

幾年以後，正逢耶穌聖心節，教堂佈置得很漂亮，因為約翰要舉行首祭。本堂神父充滿了喜樂，上了講壇開始講道：

「一位年青的母親，留給他兒子的遺產，不是金也不是銀，而是一個耶穌聖心聖牌，並求耶穌聖心照顧她的兒子。她的信心沒有白費，耶穌聖心領導這隻羔羊經過許多困難一直到達祭台。」

彌撒已結束，教友也都走了，兩位神父跪在耶穌聖心態像前，重覆地唸：

「仁慈的耶穌聖心，我永遠讚美祢。」

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16.The Story of Reverend Father John

        “Bess! Bess! Oh dear, that cow has wandered off and I shall get no supper if I am late!”  When the cattle had been safely settled for the night, John entered the kitchen where the farmer’s wife was sewing.   “Leave this kitchen at once,”  was the harsh greeting.   “I am not going to keep meals waiting for lazy paupers.”

        The boy was hungry and miserable, so he decided to get some of the milk he had just placed in the dairy.   He opened the door softly and was in the act of taking the milk when the farmer passed the window.   A moment later he appeared, holding a horsewhip in his hand.   The boy knew what that meant and said,  “I had no supper.   Bess was not in the pasture.”   “I’ll teach you to touch the milk, you idle beggar!” was the angry retort.

        Later, sore and hungry, the boy climbed the stairs leading to the attic where he slept.   His heart was filled with bitterness because of the unjust treatment he had received.   He made up his mind that he would run away.   Lifting a loose board in the floor, he took out a tin box from which he removed a small leather bag tied with a string.   This he placed around his neck and then lay down on his cot, not daring to sleep lest he should miss the first ray of dawn.   At last it came, and, slipping quietly downstairs, he left the house and ran as fast as he could.   He kept to the road until the sun appeared and there began to be signs of life about the farms he passed, then he turned into the woods.   All day long he walked on, notwithstanding his weariness.

        It was evening when he reached a town where he felt that he might get some shelter.   He wandered on till he came to a church.   The door was open and the boy entered; on examining his new surroundings, his eyes rested on the statue of the Sacred Heart and he thought he had never seen anything so beautiful before.   Utterly exhausted, he soon fell asleep.

        John was aroused by the touch of a hand on his head.   He awoke with a start.   Fearing that it was farmer Jones, he screamed, but a kind voice whispered,   “Don’t be afraid little man! It is time to go home, for I am about to lock the doors!”   “Please do not send me back to farmer Jones, for he will kill me!”  the boy pleaded.  “Come with me, my boy, and we shall see what we can do.”  John arose, but the long fast was beginning to have its effect, for he tottered and would have fallen if Father Barrett had not caught him.

        A few minutes later the priest entered the living room of the rectory and said to a woman who was sitting there.   “Mother, here is a case for you!   This boy has fainted.”   He placed the child on a lounge and soon, under Mrs. Barrett’s kind ministrations, John opened his eyes, murmuring,  “I am hungry.”   In a moment the priest had returned with a glass of milk, while his mother was busily engaged in preparing something more substantial.

        The boy told Father that his parents had died when he was but four years of age and he had been placed in a non-Catholic home, where he remained until he was eight.   Then farmer Jones had come to adopt a child, and as he was the largest boy there, he went to live with the farmer who was harsh and cruel.   He had been treated more like a slave than a son, as the incidents he related soon proved.   “When my mother was dying, she gave me this little badge and made me promise never to part with it,”  said the boy, as he pulled open the leather bag.  “Then you are a Catholic,” Mrs. Barrett remarked, looking at the Sacred Heart badge.  “I don’t know what that means, but I want to be what my mother was, for she was good.”   “Well, you must come to bed now and Father will see to the rest,”  the woman kindly answered, as she lead the way upstairs.

        Father Barrett soon arranged matters with the authorities and John was placed under his guardianship.   The pastor undertook his education and found him bright and intelligent.   The boy could not do enough for his benefactors and was ever on the watch for little ways of helping the priest’s mother.

      One night Mrs. Barrett said to her son,   “I wonder where John goes each evening after supper?”  She had just finished speaking when the telephone rang.   A sick call sent the priest to the church for the Blessed Sacrament, where he found John kneeling in prayer.   The mystery was solved.

        Years have passed.   It is the Feast of the Sacred Heart and the church is decorated with unusual splendor, for John is about to celebrate his first Mass.   The pastor is filled with happiness.   He ascends the pulpit and, in the course of his sermon, says:  “A young mother left her child a legacy, not gold or silver, but a badge of the Sacred Heart, with a prayer that the Heart of Jesus would care for her boy.   Her confidence was not in vain.   Through many difficulties the Heart of Christ guided this lamb of His until He led him to the altar.”

        The Mass was ended and the congregation dispersed.   Two priests knelt before the statue of the Sacred Heart, repeating,  “The mercies of the Heart of Christ I will sing forever!”