Hope

The other day I was sitting in the chapel at St. Joe's and one of our deacons walked in. He told me of a little 3 year old girl (I'll call her "Hope") who was in the hospital on a ventilator with pneumonia and the H1N1 virus. He asked me to pray and so I passed the request onto the next person signed up for adoration and told her to do the same until the end of the day. That night I could not get little Hope off my mind and continued to pray.

I was so burdened by the news that I also told several friends to pray for Hope as well. Before going to the chapel the next day I stopped in the church office to see if there was any news about Hope. Father M. told me that she was progressing but please continue to pray. When I arrived at the chapel there was a young man who I had never seen before. I thought "I wonder if that is Hope's dad." Then I saw that same young man at Mass this morning and thought "Wow, he must be having some kind of conversion experience to be in prayer for so long and at Mass." That made me happy to think that God was touching the heart of young man who was so obviously reaching out to Him.

After Mass my friend came up to me and asked "Did you hear about little Hope?" So I told her how I had been praying etc. Then she said, "Well that young man in front of you at Mass is her dad. He also has a 2 year old and recently lost his job." That news was just too sad. I knew it was not a coincidence that I had kept seeing him and had such a burden to pray. I went home with thoughts of St. Padre Pio.

I remembered my friends who sought the intercession of St. Pio and were overjoyed when their prayers were answered. The story goes like this. The wife's mother had a massive stroke. She was in a coma and touch and go. The doctors said she probably will not make it and if she does, will never be able to walk and probably won't be able to communicate normally. They were advised to take a piece of her clothing and rub it on the glove of St. Pio then lay it by her bedside. Within a couple months, the woman had a complete recovery. She has no evidence of ever having a stroke.

Now these friends have a tremendous devotion to St. Pio so I thought I should give them a call. When I called this morning, and mentioned little Hope's distressing illness, my friend said "Wait a minute. I already heard about her." "Thanks be to God" I thought. It sure would have been awkward telling the young man about the whole St. Pio story next time I saw him at adoration. So she said she would call the friend who told her about little Hope and give her something that was touched to St. Pio's glove.

I printed out some information about the Padre Pio Center and will keep it on me in case I get a chance to tell the man myself. I hesitate to do that though because of his vulnerable state and I don't want him to feel anymore burdened than he already is. I've seen a lot of crazy stuff over the years of well meaning people "following the Holy Spirit" and really damaging the faith of those who are vulnerable and needy.

Dear Lord, please help me to know what my place is in this whole situation. I thank you for including me in your loving plan for little Hope and her family. Please bring healing and hope to the situation. St. Pio...pray for us.

A Visit

When I read St. Therese, especially her autobiography and stories about her childhood,I can see the influence of her saintly parents and how their love for her and their witness made such a huge impact on her spiritual life and decisions.

I do so relate to my little friend Therese. She is the friend I always wanted to be like, the one about whom my mom said "Why don't you be friends with her? She's such a nice girl." She is the wise friend who teaches me manners I somehow missed at home, the confidant for all my troubles. I do not consider myself even close to the stature of the lovely Therese, especially in terms of her acceptance and embracing of suffering, nor to her spiritual and theological wisdom which caused her to be named a "Doctor of the Church."

To her, I am the friend that her parents "warned" her about. I'm the one who tries so hard and yet keeps falling back into the same old destructive patterns of anxiety and selfish ambition. But Therese has seen what I've been through so she loves me for who I am. She doesn't mind my faults, she is patient with me and gives me ideas on how to overcome them.

She knows that I don't have a dad who is available with love and affection whenever I need him. She held my hand when I cried as a little girl about my parents' divorce. She's been with me through the years of questioning the meaning of marriage after living through several "step-parent" comings and goings. She kneeled with me as I surrendered my life to Christ so many years ago, promising Him that I would follow His will no matter where it took me.

And I trust that she will be with me this weekend as my dad comes over for a visit with his wife. It's been 37 years since the first divorce and the prayers of the Little Flower have faithfully seen me through.

"I ask for your prayers again dear Sister Therese. You had such good and saintly parents, yet I am certain that your desire was to love them to heaven as much as was in your own ability. Help me to do the same by your powerful intersession. I pray that in at least this one area, I might be like you and rise above my own insecurities. May I be the daughter that God has created me to be in order that His Spirit working through me might bring my dad one step closer to his eternal home."

A Little Room To Breathe

Aaaah...I finally have a little time to think after days of focusing on our Haiti fund-raising concert. The concert was a big success and we are grateful for all those who came out to support our efforts.

Several dear friends came up to encourage me during the concert and it warmed my heart greatly. One used to go to our Evangelical church and returned to the Catholic church a few years before we did. She mentioned that she enjoys our blogs and appreciated the different male and female approaches to faith. Those kind words have caused me to begin pondering the concept of Catholic spirituality again.

In our evangelical experience, my dear husband and I were always at odds when it came to the spiritual life. We were either disagreeing about interpretations of scripture, fighting about the way to express or not express faith, or seething from some comment made by the pastor or other "well-meaning" friend from church.

Now as Catholics, it seems that our spiritual journeys compliment each other. Previously, there was a constant push and pull, a never ending angst. Now, there is a give and take, a sharing of perspectives. Before there was a judgmental spirit, feelings of guilt and inadequacy. Now there is mutual respect even admiration for the insights gained through prayer and study. Our Catholic journeys have taken us separately and together on an adventure neither of us ever dreamed possible. Our marriage has blossomed and produced new life one hundred fold beyond our greatest expectations.

We have only one divine person to thank for this, Jesus. He gives himself to us through the Sacraments and we become who we are meant to be.

Angelus

Angelus - Traced as far back as the year 1239 is a prayer of the Catholic Church, said usually three times daily, as announced by a bell, traditionally at six in the morning, at noon, and at six in the evening. It is said in honor of the Incarnation... takes its name from the opening word of the Latin version: Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae [the angel of the Lord declared unto Mary].

Some days I have the privelege of being home at noon. I may be out working in the garden or hanging laundry, or writing up a new blog post. Yesterday I was walking the dogs when I heard the bells ring. The children at St. Joe's school were outside for recess. The autumn clouds were hanging low in the sky with the warm sun peaking through.

The seasons will come and go on our street, but the Church will ever remain constant. The noon bells of the Angelus will faithfully ring throughout each season of the year and thousands of people all over the world will respond again and again with a prayer of thanksgiving for the coming of our Lord.

After I walked the puppies, I quickly found my book of Catholic devotions and recited this simple yet beautiful little prayer. I blessed myself with holy water and re-dedicated the rest of my busy day to our Lord trusting that He who humbled himself to come among us as a little child, will surely watch over and guide me on my little journey.

This is the Work of God

Sometimes there are very specific moments in the this life where everything falls perfectly into place as if I am part of some pre-ordained plan. At those times, I just know "this is the work of God." Last night was one of those moments.

To provide a little background, last year we put together a team of people (mostly from a parish that is one hour away from us) to go down to Haiti for a medical clinic. It was an amazing experience. Check out this video for a little glimpse. This trip was not our first one to Haiti. In fact my husband has been going down one week a year for the last 12 years. Last year's trip however was our first one associated with the Catholic church and it has already grown exponentially. The little parish in Port Au Prince that we are affiliated with now has at least two and possibly three different medical teams scheduled to head down each year. They have also been given money and manpower to construct a clinic to accommodate our efforts. It's truly amazing what has happened in a short period of time.

I want to get back to last night's God moment but before I do, let me tell you a little background of another life change we've experienced in the last year. In May of 2009 we purchased a new home located within walking distance of a wonderful Catholic parish, St. Joseph the Worker. We have so appreciated attending Mass and Adoration at St. Joe's but have not felt compelled to get involved in other activities. Some people have reached out to us and mentioned that they might be interested in Haiti but no significant involvement has occurred. We've been reading the bulletin each week and watching all the ministries supported by St. Joe's and have been sad and discouraged at times that we couldn't seem to make a connection between what we feel called to do with Haiti and with what St. Joe's is doing.

A few months ago we noticed that there was a bulletin announcement that a group was forming to plan a mission trip to Honduras. Although we were happy about our parish's desire to serve the poor, our hearts sank at the thought that if they get involved in Honduras, it would be very unlikely that St. Joe's would want to add our Haiti mission to their plate. So we continued to plan for our upcoming trip in November (and associated ourselves with this parish one hour away from us) feeling somewhat alone and isolated. We advertised in our parish bulletin and diocesan newspaper. In the mean time (unbeknownst to us), the Honduras mission started to implode from within. A scandal broke out in the orphanage and the Honduras government had major upheaval. St. Joe's now had a mission committee in need of a mission.

On Monday of this week, we were leaving from Mass and a woman came up to us and said, "We're having our Honduras meeting on Thursday night, can you come and tell us about Haiti?" Our hearts leapt for joy and we enthusiastically responded "Sure!" So last night we went to the meeting explained to them what we do in Haiti and how we do it. They responded with unanimous enthusiasm and I think we all came to the realization: "This is the work of God."

I am so thankful for the privilege of serving Christ in the poor in Haiti. They are a beautiful people and my desire is that many others will have this experience as well. It is truly life changing and such a gift. Now our own parish has come on board and it's not because we went in and tried to push our way. God did it and that is the most amazing thing to be a part of because ultimately, if we know He is in it, we can have peace and joy watching and waiting for what He might do next.