Tale of the rich man and the poor man on a pilgrimage to jerusalem

There was once a very rich man who decided to go to Jerusalem to venerate the tomb of Christ, in order to gain the esteem of his fellow-citizens. In the same town lived a good, devout man who, in spite of his poverty, was always helping others. He, too, longed to go to Jerusalem. For years, he had been saving up his pennies to pay for the journey, but when the day of departure arrived and all the pilgrims were preparing to leave, the poor man’s neighbour gave birth to a baby, and as her husband had just died and she had nobody else to call on, he postponed his departure and stayed to take care of her. Not long after this there was an epidemic among the livestock, and the poor man offered to help those who were in difficulty. He still longed with all his heart to go to Jerusalem, but he could not abandon those who needed him, and so he stayed behind.
In the meantime, the rich man had arrived in Jerusalem, and, one day, while on his way to the tomb of Christ, he caught sight of the radiant face of the poor man in the crowd ahead of him. Surprised to see him there, he tried to catch up with him, but when he reached the spot where he had seen him, he was even more astonished to find no trace of him. The next day he saw him again, surrounded in that same aura of light. Again he tried to catch up with him, and again he failed. The same thing occurred every day until the end of the pilgrimage, and the rich man was deeply troubled.
When he was back in his home town he learned that the poor man had never left for Jerusalem, for he had never stopped helping his neighbours in need. The rich man then understood: he had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem only in his physical body, whereas the poor man, who had never stopped sacrificing himself for others, had been there in his soul and spirit.