Thank you all for your prayers for my father in law who passed away this morning - so your prayers will be meritorious before the throne of God. My wife has now lost her Mum and Dad inside 15 months both in their early 70s so she is lonesome & I would appreciate if you would pray for her family. I had a feeling my father in law would go this week as his wife came to speak to him in a dream on Wednesday night. I am conscious of a lot of suffering in the world and indeed in all of our families. In my school several of my colleagues are really suffering: At my work my Head of Year is off looking after her sick husband who has cancer: The teacher next door to me who is 31years old has just developed shingles and Bell's Palsy. Another colleague is burying her sister today [cancer again] whilst she herself awaits the result of a scan for cancer. One of my best friends in my school is off today because her husband was sectioned last night under the mental health act. It took 7 policemen to get him out & their house & you can imagine the distress for their 5 kids. A beautiful family devastated in every way. He has been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder. So, so sad. So many are suffering - please God come soon and intervene through the Illumination/Miracle/Healings in our broken world!
A heavy cross, Bobby , I admire your Faith and Christian Resignation. I'll pray for your fathers soul tomorrow at Mass. I have notcied very, very heavy Corosses coming to folks at work too, but was not sure if this was normal or not... I would say it isn't... :shock:
Hi bobby, I'll say a prayer for your father in law, your wife and family. You've certainly had a very hard couple of years. Siobhan
It gives me comfort that Masses can be offered for the living and dead alike - for whatever needs, spiritual or physical. For those alive, conversion of heart is the ultimate hope and aim of prayer and reparation on their behalf. I wonder whether some or even many of the overt enemies of our faith will repent and come to the Church - or in some cases, return to the Church - if Masses were faithfully offered for them! I know it's typical to offer Masses for the sick, dying or deceased, but why not more Masses for those who have the worst terminal illness imaginable - separation from God's grace? One thing that strikes me is that Catholics should always be filled with joy and peace over the simple fact that they can physically encounter the Lord Jesus Christ on a daily basis! It's so easy to take it for granted - I notice that it's not the first thing I tend to talk about when the opportunity arises to share my faith, but it probably should be right up there at the tip of my tongue! And Jesus Christ is always present in our churches. I still remember the first time I entered the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception here in Washington DC - which I've just learned was specifically promised to be a "place of wonders" by Our Lady of America in her apparitions to Sr. Mildred (Mary Ephrem) Neuzil in 1956 - and the sense of otherworldly peace I experienced with virtually none of my own effort. I didn't know it at the time, but the Real Presence in the tabernacles of every Catholic church provides a nonstop ministry to souls seeking God that such souls won't be able to find in any Protestant church! May the Sacred Heart and Precious Blood of Jesus, truly present in the tabernacles of our churches, and adored incessantly in perpetual adoration chapels worldwide, draw many wandering or lost souls into the orbit of our holy Catholic Church!
I'm thinking of your FIL, your wife, you and whole family. Sending up prayers now and whenever I think of it. And, Padraig, I've been thinking the same thing about the unusual number of people carrying multiple crosses. One of my sisters and I were just discussing this. Part of me thinks it just feels that way because I'm getting older, so are my friends and family, and so there's bound to be more illnesses and family trouble. Then again, part of me thinks it's a sign or warning of some sort. Peace.
Garabandahl, My condolences and prayers to you and for your family, and especially your wife. Interesting the turn this thread just took, as I too have been troubled with a heavier cross. Trying to figure out what to do with it. Also many around me finding themselves with crosses - cancer and marital issues...children with difficulties even. One child I know who wishes to be baptized but her father doesn't believe in it...oh we soooo need God to guide us and to show us what is actually important and what isn't. Holy Spirit, help us, keep us on the right path through these troubling times.
Deanna, I noticed around the middle of the Winter, just after Christmas, , my parents used to talk of folks having a 'Decline'... but you're right... I think something heavy is going on......... :shock:
The excerpt below was taken from the interview with Maria Simma that was posted a few days ago. It was a lot to read, but I am glad I did, it was great! This is a piece from the last page of the article: Food for thought, remembering that there is a good side in all of this if we do the right things, and keep the right attitudes, and remember our faith: http://www.holysoulscrusade.org/maria-simma1.html "...remember the words of St. John of the Cross: he says that the Providence of God always provides, in every life, the purification that is needed to allow us to go straight to Heaven at the hour of death. Providence puts enough difficulties in our lives, trials, suffering, sickness, hardships -- so that all these purifications, if we accept them, may be enough to bring us straight to Heaven. Why doesn't this happen? Because we rebel, we do not welcome with love, with gratitude, these gifts of trials in our lives, and we sin by rebelling, by non-submission if you prefer. So, let us ask the Lord for the grace to seize every opportunity so that on the day of our death He sees us shining with purity and beauty. Of course, if we decide on this, I do not say that the way will be easy, since -- let's remember this -- the Lord never promised that the way would be easy but our way will be in peace, and it will be a path of happiness: the Lord will be with us. Above all -- and this is what I would like to stress here -- let us make the most of the time which remains to us on earth, this time which is so precious, during which we are still given the chance to grow in love. This means to grow towards the Glory to come and the beauty which is destined for us. Each minute, we can still grow in love, but the souls in Purgatory can no longer grow."
Garabandal, Your wife and her family are in my prayers. No matter what age, the death of one's parents leaves a hole in the heart! Come Holy Comforter, pour your soothing love out in abundance. Safe in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary!
Thankyou for all of your prayers. I have nipped into a library in Fermanagh to post this to thankyou all for your kind words and thoughts at this time. The funeral was yesterday so we are all spending a bit of time together reminiscing about our loved ones. We do not mourn as others for we have Christian hope but the pain of loss is still real. I look forward to returning home over the next day or two and reading all of the new posts - looks like the forum ahs been busy!
