Purely gracious

Yesterday I chanced upon a former professor. It was quite dark and I wouldn't have recognized him had he not greeted "buona sera". I am sure he did not even recognize me, but he has always been a very cordial person. In fact he was one of the most approachable professors in the university.
Then I suddenly remembered that today, January 17, memorial of Saint Anthony of the Desert, is his name day. Name day or feast day or "festa di onomastico" is something big here in Italy and in religious congregations. So I just greeted him "buona festa". The greeting just came out of my mouth. I didn't even think about it. It just came out spontaneously.
Somebody once told me that people's actions are always motivated by personal interest. And I agreed with her because when we really look deeper and closely at our words and actions, there is always something for ourselves: self-defense, self-promotion, or just simply feeling good about oneself.
Last night I realized that this is not so true after all. There are moments in our life when we just say or do something good just like that, without thinking, without any calculation.
There are moments when we are face-to-face with pure gratuity.
I don't even know whether my professor remembered me, or if I will see him again. They didn't matter.
I greeted him and I know that at that time it was an experience that was purely gracious. It was an experience of God.