The Master went on before with His Apostles, and the old woman followed after, a little way behind. And behold, as they walked along, all the houses of that inhospitable village fell down one after the other, and all the inhabitants were buried under them. Only the cottage of the old woman was left standing. When the judgment was complete, Jesus Christ said to her, ‘Now, return home.’[4]
As she turned to go, St. Peter said to her, ‘Ask for the salvation of your soul.’ And she went and asked it of Jesus Christ, and He replied, ‘Let it be granted you!’
3
One day as He was going into the Temple, He saw two men quarrelling before the door: a young man and an old man. The young man wanted to go in first, and the old man was vindicating the honour of his grey hairs.
‘What is the matter?’ asked Jesus Christ; and they showed Him wherefore they strove.
Jesus Christ said to the young man, ‘If you are desirous to go in first, you must accept the state to which honour belongs,’ and He touched him, and he became an old man, bowed in gait, feeble, and grey-haired, while to the old man He gave the compensation for the insult he had received, by investing him with the youth of the other.
4
In the days when Jesus Christ roamed the earth, He found Himself one day with His disciples in the Campagna, far from anything like home. The only shelter in sight was a cottage of wretched aspect. Jesus Christ knocked at the door.