"It can even enter homes 

where the priest cannot.

The dubious will 

take it as a gift

or remembrance.

There is no blush in the offering of it.

Neglected, it does not feel troubled.

Read, it calmly teaches truth.  

Scorned, it does not lament the fact,

but leaves a lingering regret,

sparks desire to know the truth

which it is disposed, always, to teach.

 

At times it gathers dust

on a table,

in a bookcase,

given thought by no one.

Come a time, however,

of loneliness,

of sadness,

of boredom,

of need for escape,

of anxiety about the future

and this faithful friend

casts off its dust, unfolds, multiplies

the conversions of Blessed Columbinus,

Saint Augustine and Saint Ignatius.

 

Ever polite with those afraid through human respect,

it speaks to them without hint of suspicion.

With good people it is a familiar thing,

ready to talk things over;

it accompanies them

everywhere,

any time...

 

In a family,

if the intended one does not read it,

then a son or daughter,

a friend or neighbour

does.

 

In a village,

it falls into the hands

of a hundred or more.

 

In a city,

God alone knows

the good

a book

produces -

in a bookmobile,

amongst a group of workers,

in a hospital,

as a pledge of friendship given...