Last night I related this event to a close friend, a fellow devout Catholic, very much like an adopted son to me. (He is the friend I built the van life conversion for, from a former Amazon Prime delivery van.) We’ve known each other for seven years now. I met him while we were both volunteering for a year with Fr. Mike Gaitley’s Marian Missionaries of Divine Mercy in western Massachusetts. He was surprised I had never told him about it previously but I haven’t talked about it much. When I was 42 I had a heart attack and triple bypass surgery. Several years later I had what I assumed was a gall bladder attack, as it runs in my family. It was pretty bad with pain under my right rib cage, so I went to the ER. The ER doc sent me for an ultrasound of the gall bladder area. I had done a radiology rotation so I knew how long they usually took. The ultrasound tech took a very long time to complete it, and had a very serious and concerned look while she did it. I went back to the ER and the doctor came in. “I’m sorry but the ultrasound showed a softball size cancerous tumor on your liver. We are going to admit you tonight and do an MRI first thing in the morning.” Needless to say I was a total wreck that night. I never slept, I just prayed all night. “Lord, if this is cancer, and you want me to come home, that’s fine. Your Will be done. But I REALLY would like to remain here below to raise my three children.” That morning, I waited and waited. Finally at 11:45am they took me down to the MRI, then back to my room. And I waited and waited. At 3:30pm a nurse came in and said, “Ok, you can go home now.” I was a bit flummoxed. “Wait, what about the MRI report, about that softball sized tumor they saw on my liver last night on the ultrasound?!” “Well, the MRI was normal. They didn’t see anything, so you can go home.” ***** I’ve related this before, but it’s worth adding to this. When I was in the hospital following my strokes 9 years ago, with a paralyzed left arm and leg, right side of my face, total loss of balance and muscle coordination, a tremor in my right (surgical) hand, inability to swallow or speak, and deafness in the right ear, a priest from the Diocese of Pittsburgh gave me the last rites in the traditional form. I’ve obviously had a miraculous recovery. Unless I mention it, no one can tell I’ve had strokes today. Several years later, my mom, who was almost 82 at the time, went into severe congestive heart failure as she was being wheeled into the OR for heart bypass. She ended up requiring a quintuple bypass and an aortic valve replacement and was on total life support for two weeks. Because her heart failure was so severe her kidneys were not getting any blood supply and shut down completely at the time of surgery. She was on bedside dialysis and the kidney doctor said she would be on dialysis for the rest of her life - IF she ever got out of the hospital. None of her doctors expected her to recover. This same priest came and gave her traditional last rites seven days after her surgery. And that evening her kidneys started functioning again, to the point she no longer needed dialysis. She came off total life support a week later. She’ll be 90 in June. Miracles do still happen. In an age of unbelief it’s worth revisiting the ones we’ve personally experienced or witnessed.
If I compare the wording of prayers in the Traditional form to those now used in missals and prayer books of the Novus Ordo, there is what I believe to be a more explicit expression of authority and expectation in the former. The authority is not lacking in and of itself per se, but confidence in and expectation of results is now lacking. Matthew 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”
Thank you for sharing this , dear Brian. Your prayers are very powerful, as evidenced! I am sure it is because of your trust in God.
Or, as the unofficial highly paraphrased and quite possibly apocryphal scripture says, “The Lord is kind and merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion for idiots like me…”
I most definitely believe in personal miracles. Some seem to be God's way of getting our attention when thing aren't right. The first personal miracle was a heart attack and bypass about 16 years ago and all that lead up to it. About 2 weeks ago I had another life changing event. I made a bad personal decision which almost ended my marriage and had I fallen down my basement steps, could have ended my life. A wake up call. I'm praying and drawing nearer to God now more than ever before.
This is very uplifting. The power of the sacrament of healing is awesome. I have dear friend who was in the hospital with pneumonia and had a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotic and was literally at death's door. A priest came to her bedside and anointed her. She felt the presence of a lady " in blue" standing by her bed to help her. She had incredible peace she said. And she was healed. Here is the other amazing part. She had long since left practicing her faith and her husband wasn't Catholic. No one could figure out who had asked for a priest. As a child she had had a deep devotion to Our Lady!! ( the lady in blue)
Cant agree more. Physical miracles are incredible gifts. But again, i can only speak about my experience. The accident was a gift and besides the physical miracle (my kids were told to prepare for my death) it woke me up spiritually. The miracle is God allowed me to see where my heart was. I did not love him with all my heart, mind and soul. He has given me new life. I pray i can continue to convert.
