INVITED BY THE PRIEST, Father Rego, the principal of the Catholic Saint Joseph High School in Wadala, and by the secretary of the N. S. D. Industrial Home for the Blind in Worli, Baba paid a visit to both institutions on March 13th.(1958) Dr. Alu Khambatta was a homeopathic consultant in the Saint Joseph High School and the priest had come to know about Baba through her. On seeing Baba, Father Rego seemed dazed and failed to introduce Baba to the gathering of fourteen hundred school students. So Alu nervously took over the introduction and asked Eruch to say a few words about Baba to serve as an introduction. Eruch said:
The name Meher Baba literally means Compassionate Father – but he is even more, being on all levels with all. So you can take him as your friend or your brother, your mother or your father, or even as your God – or all of these, for he is any and all that you take him to be.
I remember how exciting it always was for me as a schoolboy to know some distinguished visitor was coming to visit our school, and inevitably wondering what he or she would talk about. Now here is a visitor who does not talk! He has come to give you not words, but love. He has come not to lecture you but to bless you, not to teach you but to awaken you. He does not shake hands with you, but embraces you as the Compassionate Father he is. You will some day come to realize the significance of what you have truly received this day.
Baba then observed: “The human form of Beloved God cannot be more humanized than this, by meeting you fourteen hundred students and giving you each His embrace. You are now quite young and have innocence and receptivity to receive the purity of His divine touch.”
Each boy and girl then filed past Baba, who embraced them and distributed sweets. Baba asked only one boy his name. The child had an unusual name and replied, “My name is Christ.”
Expressing his satisfaction to the priest for arranging the program, Baba stated: “He who is God-Realized can, with the touch of his hand, sow the seed of divine love in the human heart. The seed then germinates, takes deep root, blossoms and later flowers, whereby the whole life of the individual is made fragrant, inspiring him to serve mankind selflessly.”
(Father Rego was later accused of embezzlement, but was cleared of all charges. He attributed his acquittal to Meher Baba’s blessing when he visited the school.)
Lord Meher, Original Publication, Bhau Kalchuri, Vol. 16, pp 5543 – 5544.