Posted on 12/28/2010 4:26:09 PM PST by Salvation
I was deeply moved both by the sheer number of responses, and by their content. So many, so many…
The guy down at the gas station continues to sell me defective lottery tickets, but I can note the following:
1. My back is better than it has been for quite a while. I have stopped taking both kinds of muscle relaxers and the oxycodone.
2. A chronic cough I’d had for months went away for no reason I can identify.
3. I have enough energy and motivation to get up and do things.
4. Although I am not a natural early riser, I have been waking up at 6:30 with no alarm set. On the 23rd I was the first one logged on to the job-hunting computers down at the unemployment office.
5. The apartment complex manager gave me yet more time to come up with some rent.
6. My oldest son was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle, but was hardly injured at all. The driver of the car is the daughter of some company president, so he will be compensated for all expenses. I thank God he was not killed or severely injured.
7. The daughter about whom I worry most went to Christmas Mass with us.
8. I found out that my blood sugar was out of control. While this means I am sicker, (a) it was discovered, which is a good thing; and (b) the VA gives me medicines to treat it.
9. In the weeks leading up to my request for prayers I could, as the Irish folk song “Barbara Allen” has it, hear the death-wind howling. I don’t hear it now. (For those who think that is superstition or psychopathology, well, okay, I can see why you think that.)
10. I was able to find a priest and receive the Sacrament of Absolution (an unusual event around here), then to attend Mass and receive the Eucharist, then to receive the Eucharist again at Christmas Mass.
11. My wife’s health issue seems to have stopped getting worse, and may even be getting a little better.
12. My car continues to run.
I’m sure there are more blessings that I was too self-centered and shallow even to notice. Since most of my family’s problems have their sources in my failure to provide, everything that helps me do that helps them also.
To paraphrase St. Alphonsus: Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, I see the graces which thou hast bestowed upon me; and I see the ingratitude of which I have been guilty towards thee. An ungrateful soul is no longer worthy of favors; but I will not on this account distrust thy mercy, which is greater than my ingratitude. Amen.
I am very grateful to everyone for your prayers. May your kindness earn you greater rewards in Heaven. Especially those of you with whom I may have, umm, locked horns in the past. I have prayed for you all.
dsc
Thank you Dear Lord for your mercy, and thanks dsc for the update, I’ll keep you in my prayers. :)
Lovely news! The Great Physician healeth.
continued prayers for you dcs and for you as well Suz in AZ - I know how hard back pain can be - hope you have a speedy recovery!
Prayers still going up...
Wishing you peace and all good thing in 2011.
Great news! Praise the Lord, and prayers up for employment.
Wow! Terrific advice and terrific testimonial! Thanks.
Wonderful news - am so happy I checked my ping list otherwise I would have missed the update.
So very happy for you DSC!
Happy to hear the good news; may your blessings continue.
Prayers continue for you and your family, especially the daily rosary and intercession of St. Jude. May the new year be filled with God’s blessings!
Praise God.
And thank you, Blessed Mother!
Praise the Lord! Your humility in sharing all of this will be rewarded. The sacrament of confession & Christmas mass give great grace.
With God, all things are possible! Will continue praying for you.
MMJ
These FR pray-ers are a strong bunch. My mom had a heart attack that left her with 80% of her heart without blood supply. I asked the FR community for prayers, and days later, the doctors reported that "adventitious" blood vessels had grown all over heart; she now has about 50% heart capacity. Still gets tired and emotional easily -- she is well into her 70s -- but she still has not only a good longevity prognosis, but high "quality of life." So I feel obliged to witness to this miracle, and pray for others'.
One of the tough things about talking about religion is the balance between offering my own experiences and insights while not sounding as if you expect the other person doesn't have deeper insights. So don't take this as a sermon, but just as a reminder, with no expectation that you don't already know it, or have a better understanding of what I'm grasping for, so you wouldn't make the same misstatements I'll inevitably make:
I believe that the true way God works through miracles -- and we can and should ask for miracles -- isn't through works in the flesh, but the works that happen within our spirit when we ask for miracles. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't ask for works in the flesh, too! While we need to rely in God's action through any outcome, we should also expect that visible miracles do happen!
You and your family remain in my prayers. May 2011 be a much, much better year for you!
Glad things are looking and feeling better!
Let us all hold good hopes and prayers for 2011, I know I could use that myself.
Wishing you all the best year ever in 2011!
May all your troubles be small ones!
May the wind be ever at your back!
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand!
Deo gratias! And thank you, Blessed Mother and Ven. Solanus Casey, for your intercession.
Praise God!
Happy to hear your circumstances have improved!
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