Today's readings: March 29, 2009
Reading One: Ez 37:12-14 ;
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 ;
Second Reading: Rom 8:8-11 ;
Gospel: Jn 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45 ; go to this page (for all three sections listed above on one page) And here's an audio file; & reflections (video)
I used the RCIA readings today (the alternate) so the audio file is from the other readings. Probably the same thing for the reflections. Anyway - you get a chance to check out both variations if you like.
Since the RCIA readings are about Lazarus, I will share with you a wonderful thing God did for me, not so you think anything about me is especially terrific, just read this blog... it is not at all about me. I am a silly man, and often times, an absolute fool. But all the same, God in His kindness, heard my prayer and answered it - and this is what this story is about. How great God is.
A dear friend named Frank got in a car accident, and broke his hip. No awful tragedy - but a huge pain. But then, things got very tragic, as my friend Frank had a wicked bacteria called C-Diff - eat his internal organs. Day after day, turned into week after week, and month after month. Dozens of operations, and for months Frank was in a coma. It reached a point where my prayers turned from hoping he get well, to asking God to take him home. It was all that bad and worse.
I asked a priest who is a dear friend if he would anoint my friend Frank with the rite of anointing the sick. He was willing, but obedient and told me he could not, as the rules did not allow the anointing if the person was not a Catholic. I was not angry, and understood full well the beauty of being obedient, and how in the past, God has rewarded my obedience with miracles and wonder. I was a little sad though, as my friend Frank was ... as Billy Crystal says in Princess Bride... mostly dead.
I visited Frank in the hospital day after day, and prayed for him. One day, I knew it was the last I might see him, and a prayer emerged from me from a place I did not even know existed. As a tear rolled down my cheek, I took my thumb, and soaked up the tear, and anointed Frank with my tear, making a cross on his forehead. And I said, You know my Lord, Frank has not always said the most charitable things about you, but for what it is worth, he was a friend to me. Please bless him, and keep him safe, and take him home if that is Your will. I left the room, thinking I had seen my friend for the last time.
The next day, Frank woke up from his coma, and over a long period of rehab, he is much much better. His life is not at all easy, as he lost many vital organs, and still has a ton of health issues to deal with. But I cannot thank You enough my dear Lord, for hearing my prayer and being so gracious. I share this story, hoping that it brings just one person closer to God, who is all good, and deserving of our Love.
