Today I was in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) Notre Dame Cathedral. Unlike many Communist countries, religious expression is tolerated here. I was sitting there in this Catholic edifice watching people go past the statue of Jesus coming down from the cross that the staff had laid in the middle of the cross. The calmness and serenity of the place was comfort to the 36 c temparature.
The next thing I am aware of is this woman who is sobbing and sobbing and making a bit of a loud noise. She went up to the cross and did the whole ritualistic thing of going up to the statue and kissing the feet. I thought "If only I could speak Vietnamese I could tell her that her sorrows were not needed as He has in fact risen" being my usual pious self. All she kept saying was "Cám ơn" - I thought it might have meant sorry or mercy or something similar.
It meant "Thank you".
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