This young fellow, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a  stagehand came along, worked at the local shipyards, which bordered on  the  worse section of town.

Walking home from work one evening this young man was attacked by five  thugs who wanted to rob him. Instead of just giving up his money, the  young  fellow resisted. However, they bested him easily and proceeded to beat  his body  brutally with clubs, leaving him for dead.   When the police happened to  find him lying in the road, they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon.

On the way to the morgue, a police officer heard him gasp for air, and they immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital.   When he was placed on a gurney, a nurse remarked, to her horror, that this young man no longer had a face.   Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all his teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull.   Although his life was spared, he spent over a year in the hospital.   When he finally left, his body may have healed but his face was disgusting to look at.   He was no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired.

When the young man started to look for work, everyone, just because of   the way he looked, turned him down. One potential employer suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as "The Man Who Had No Face."   He did this for a while.   He was still rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company.    He had thoughts of suicide.   This went on for five years.

One day he passed a church and sought some solace there. Entering the church, he encountered a priest who had seen him sobbing while kneeling in a pew.  The priest took pity on him and took him to the rectory where they talked at length. The priest was impressed with him to such a degree that he said that he would do everything possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life if the young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be and trust in God's mercy to free him from his torturous life.

The young man went to Mass and communion everyday and after thanking God for saving his life, asked only that God give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could ever be in His eyes.

The priest, through his personal contacts, was able to secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia.   There would be no cost to the young man because the doctor was the priest's best friend.   The doctor too was so impressed by the young man, whose outlook now on life, even though he had experienced the worst, was filled with good humour and love. The surgery was a miraculous success.   All the best dental work was also done for him.   And the young man became everything he promised God he would be.

He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, many children, and success in an industry, which would have been the farthest thing from his mind as a career-- if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people who cared for him.    This he acknowledges publicly.

The young man was Mel Gibson. His life was the inspiration for his production of the movie "The Man Without A Face." He is to be admired by all of us as a God-fearing man, a political conservative and an example to all of a true man of courage.

Mel Gibson has produced the movie "The Passion of the Christ."   This is his way of thanking God for his many blessings.   And it's also his way of showing us how Christ truly suffered.   He's gotten a lot of slack from Hollywood for doing this movie.     

E-friends

God does things in His own way and timing. He can change the world whenever He chooses - He's simply looking for someone through whom He will work.

 

When will you decide to make yourself fully available to Him ?