Fr. Robert's Ordination

 

Your Excellency Bishop John, Father Robert, Father Marcus, Father Val, Father Steve, Mikenzie (Spouse), JJ, Jibril (Gabriel in Arabic son), Isabel (mother), Greg (father) Martin (brother from Assumption Seminary), Daniel (brother from Mount Angel Seminary), St. Jude parishioners and friends all.

I discovered something special about your Fr. Robert. At our recent clergy conference in Lancaster, New York we went out to lunch and Fr. Robert was checking out the menu at the restaurant. He asked me if they had roast beef on kimmelweck. Every culture and many cities have a special food that you can only find in their restaurants. In Buffalo, New York it’s chicken wings with Frank’s original hot sauce and roast beef on kimmelweck (a hard roll topped with caraway seeds and hard salt). I smiled and was glad to know that your Fr. Robert has a craving for this special Buffalo food. In San Antonia, a bolillos “bowl lee o” would be like kimmelweck without the caraway seed and salt. I did learn that one of his favorite foods is a patty melt from Whataburger. Just as we crave certain ethic foods, Fr. Robert has always had a craving to serve as a priest and shepherd of God’s people.

It’s a remarkable thing. That an ordinary man would be chosen by God to make his presence known among us. Yesterday, as Bishop John laid hands and invoked the Holy Spirit Robert would be changed forever.  But changed not for himself.  Father Robert didn’t lay down on that floor because it was comfortable, or because he was tired!  He didn’t make those promises because he would gain anything in return.  He did all that, first and foremost because God asked him to.  It is God’s will, God’s choice, God’s gift that we are here today.  And how we rejoice in that gift.  After so many years of study – at the University of the Incarnate Word, the Oblate School of Theology, the Mexican American Catholic College, Assumption Seminary all in San Antonia, and finally Mount Angel Seminary in St. Benedict, Oregon after so many courses and degrees!  After so many years of preparation, and experiences in ministry serving at Baptist Medical Center and Westover Hills Baptist Hospital we rejoice in this gift of Father Robert’s priesthood to us, because we need it!

This world desperately needs the priesthood. The world needs this witness, it needs to be taught how to love. To be Christ’s witness is not easy – to love is not easy either.  St. Paul reminds us that Christ died for all, so that all who live might no longer live for themselves but for Christ.   Christ teaches us how to love, his cross is the greatest example of love this world has ever known.

Robert, yesterday at exactly  11:43 am (yes, I looked at my watch!) your whole identity was configured to Christ.  You now speak in his voice, at Holy Mass, his “I” is yours.  You, Fr. Robert are called to love Christ totally, and in a particular way to totally love as He did – incluso hasta el final (incluso hasta feenab) “even to the end.”

Today's gospel, and that of the next two Sundays, has to do with the end times. Jesus warns us to be ready. His descriptions are not very reassuring.... In fact, they're downright scary. And when we think of natural disasters like the wildfires in California or floods here in San Antonio and scary things in our country we wonder if maybe the end times are not nearer than we think. Cult leaders like to terrify their followers by saying the end times are near.

"There is a wonderful Texas story about two little boys whose mother asked them to chase a chicken snake out of the henhouse. They looked everywhere for that snake, but couldn't find it. The more they looked, the more afraid they got. Finally, they stood up on their tiptoes to look on the top nesting shelf and came nose to nose with the snake. They fell all over themselves and one another running out of the chicken house. 'Don't you know a chicken snake won't hurt you?' their mama asked. 'Yes, maam,' one of the boys answered, 'but there are some things that will scare you so bad you'll hurt yourself.'"

Well, that's true about the end times. If we nose around enough, wondering when the endtimes are coming and seeing them at every turn of events, we can hurt ourselves. Jesus says no one, not even himself, but only the Father in heaven knows when the end is coming. Jesus tells us simply to so live each day that we will be prepared to die, either as a result of nature taking its course, or because the end times have come.

Jesus makes four points clear:

1.   Beware that you are not led astray. Many, he says, will come announcing that the end is at hand. They are false prophets, and disciples are not to be misled by them.

2.   Do not be terrified. Bad times will come. But they are not the end of the story.

3.   Your persecution will give you an opportunity to testify. Our word "martyr" comes from the word for "testify." Disciples need not worry about saying the wrong thing. Christ will give each the "mouth" (stoma) and the wisdom needed to be effective.

4.   And, the climax of this reading, By your endurance you will gain your souls. [The Greek word for "endurance] can be translated "patient waiting for" or "steadfastness." It did not turn out to be literally true that "not a hair of your head will perish.” But in that coming of the Son of Man to which the rest of the chapter points there will be glorious redemption/

Dr. George Lara-Braud, a seminary professor in Mexico and the USA,  pointed out the seeming incongruity of Jesus' statement about the coming persecutions and his promise, "But not a hair on your head will perish” (Lk 21: 18).

He asked how Jesus could say that when in almost the same breath he said that, "and some of you they will put death" (Lk 21:16). He also pointed out that this was written fifty years after the crucifixion and also after the fall of Jerusalem, in which many Christians were persecuted and killed because they pledged their loyalty to Jesus rather than Caesar. He answered his question by proclaiming that Jesus was saying that even if a Christian were mutilated and carbonized, no part of that Christian will die forever. If, on the other hand, Christians betray the sacred in the individual and in the world, then those same Christians will have died even if they look alive. His conclusion was that in our time when there are massive numbers of broken lives around us, we need to ask ourselves if we are willing to be our Lord's midwives for God's new creation.

In all of these sermons there is the note of living our lives with a passion, responding to God in each situation, and seeing all of our experiences as opportunities for witness. The type of writing that deals with the end times is called apocalyptic and is peculiar. The authors who write in an apocalyptic sense do not see themselves to be predicting, in an abstract, uninvolved way, the "last things" that are to happen centuries hence; rather, they are interpreting the present crisis in which they are involved as the last crisis of human history, to be followed very soon by the end. The theologian, Walter Burghardt, says:

“No, my friends. Whether the Lord is coming this Thanksgiving or a thousand years from now, our task is to live as if he were arriving tomorrow. Better still, as if he were already here. Because he is. Some day he will come in power and glory to place all creation at the feet of his Father. But today he comes quietly, subtly, invisibly wherever you are. Look for him not on a pink cloud or with a jeweled crown or like a king. Look for him in your gathering together. Look for him in the preached word, in the Host on your tongue. Look for him inside you. Look for him at home, on the faces of your dear ones. But look for him especially where he told you to look: in the hungry and thirsty, the stranger and the naked, the sick and the imprisoned (cf. Mt. 25: 35-36).

Yesterday at your ordination I took over 500 shots. I edited to the best 50 taking out closed eyes, opened mouths or expressions you would be embarrassed to have posted on Facebook. When I am looking through my camera  lens I am praying. There are over a million photos posted daily on  the internet, but the most stunning are the ones that tell a story. There were three sacred moments that I captured that occurred in a blink of an eye. One, as you were blessing your mom, your son JJ reached up with his hand as if he were giving his grandma a blessing. 

 

 

The second when you offered your obedience to the bishop. He took your hand and the image shows his hands embracing yours as a sign of strength and support. 

 

The third was when you were blessing your beloved Mikinzie she huged you and there were tears coming down from both of you. Tears of joys. These were three God moments that He was well pleased with your decision to say yes. 

 

Fr. Robert you understand from serving as chaplain at Baptist Medical Center there were be plenty of tears. The apostles turned to Jesus, desperate for help, fearful for their lives as we just read in the gospel about end times. Our Blessed Lord came to calm stood to calm their fears  So much of our lives becomes confusing and difficult.  Life becomes painful and difficult, we are faced with tremendous challenges – sickness, poverty, death, loneliness, confusion, deportation. Even in priesthood.  Especially in the priesthood.

Fr. Robert, the priesthood is a total gift, but there will be many tears and many crosses.  There will be many who don’t understand what happened yesterday.  There will be those that hate you because of the collar around your neck or are jealous of your gifts to serve. Turn to the Lord in those moments of darkness and need.  Do like the Apostles did in the gospel we just heard and ask Christ to help.  

That is why you give your life, that is why you do everything you can to bring people to God forever. Remember, when you are 50 years ordained, like myself in two years, you will get up and you will go to the sick in the middle of the night and you may be tired and you may be exhausted but you will go, every time you are called because you believe that you are the bearer of the salvation of Jesus Christ.  To many you will open the gates of heaven, when there seemingly was no chance you will give them the words of comfort and forgiveness and peace and heaven will open for them because of what you did, never forget that.  In the midst of all the illusions, all the distractions, all the nonsense all the worries that you have, keep before you the heaven that awaits you and the Lord Jesus and His Mother Our Lady of Gaudeloupe who will be waiting to thank you for what you did for his brothers and sisters forever.

Always remember the glory of this weekend.  The glory to which you’ve been called and now, finally, been given.

Robert, for the rest of your life you will be called Father.  It is among the greatest joys of the priesthood.  As a father looks forward to coming home at the end of each work day to see your child JJ, so too do we priests look forward to each Sunday, to see our families, the parish, our spiritual children.  We laugh with our families and we cry with them, we enjoy their successes and we mourn their losses.  You have been blessed with a family and the support of your beloved Mikenzie (spouse) thank her for giving you the time to serve God’s children as well as your own.

It is weird that your close friends or even some distant relatives insist on calling you father.  Who am I, who are we to be worthy of that gift.  But priesthood is never something we can be worthy of.  Truly, it is pure gift.  Fr. Robert, it was the love you have for the Church and for Jesus Christ that has brought you to today. May that same love of Christ keep your priesthood holy and filled with many blessings.  And may we all never forget the blessing of today, we give thanks to God for another padre En el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. Amén.

Our God is God of the Living

 

At any given time, most of the world believes that death isn’t final, that some form of immortality exists.

Most people believe that those who have died still exist in some state, in some place, in some heaven or hell--however that might be conceived. As Christians, here is our belief: we believe that the dead are still alive, still themselves and, very importantly, still in a living, conscious, and loving relationship with us and with each other. That’s our common concept of heaven and, however simplistic its popular expression at times, it is wonderfully correct. After death we live on, conscious, self-conscious, in communication with others who have died before us, in communion with those we left behind on earth, and in communion with the divine itself.

In this Gospel story, Jesus comes faces-to-face with the Sadducees, who are the most powerful group of national political and religious leaders in Israel.

They were the group Rome turned to when they were looking to appoint a new high priest. They were the group that provided the members of the Sanhedrin, the national ruling body. By becoming embroiled with the Sadducees instead of the Pharisees, it was as if Jesus had gone from fighting with members of city hall to fighting with the most powerful — and ruthless — leaders of Congress and the White House.

The Sadducees gained their power by working hand-in-glove with the occupying Roman government. They had a hard-earned reputation for saying or doing pretty much anything to avoid rocking the boat and losing their privileged positions.

Of course, the Sadducees had religious functions, but their primary role was political. As our own leaders demonstrate, sometimes religious beliefs make it very difficult to perform certain political maneuvers. Therefore, for what I believe to have been pragmatic political reasons, the Sadducees refused to believe in any of what we think of as the Old Testament, except the first five books.

Who needs to hear that sort of thing when you have the very real and extremely dangerous power of Rome on your doorstep? Limiting the Bible to the first five books also, in their view, precluded belief in such silly ideas as life after death. So that’s where they focused their attack on Jesus.

To truly understand the question they posed to Jesus, you need to know about “levirate marriage.” That was an ancient law which came straight out Deuteronomy 25. It required that if a man were to die before he had a son, it was the responsibility of the man’s brother to marry the widow so that she could have a son to take care of her.

Our modern reaction to this law tends to focus on the way it potentially tramples over the wishes of both the widow and her brother-in-law. But that’s not how the ancients viewed it. We may have a hard time relating to this idea, but in Jesus’ day, women were always kept under the care of a man. First it was her father, then presumably her husband and eventually her son.

That was the ancient social security system — family looking out for family. The problem was that if an adult woman had no husband and no son, she would probably be on her own and be forced into begging or prostitution, since there really weren’t any other significant occupations open to women.

Levirate marriage was intended to provide widows with a son who would be considered the offspring and heir of her late husband and who would ultimately care for the widow in her old age.

But there was another aspect to levirate marriage that most people overlook. That was the belief that the only way a person could achieve a life beyond this life was through the memories of his or her children. \

Belief in a personal life after death entered the Jewish religion, but none of that appears in the first five books of the Bible, so the Sadducees were convinced that they had Jesus backed into a corner. And they played up the situation for all the comedic value it was worth, with their ludicrous question about the tangled domestic trail created in heaven by levirate marriage. The only minor problem was that they had radically underestimated Jesus. They thought they’d placed him in a theological box until he kicked the sides out.

Henri Nouwen said “We can live as if this life were all we had, as if death were absurd and we better not talk about it, or we can choose . . . to trust that death is the painful but blessed passage that will bring us face to face with our God.”

Jesus became the resurrection. He returned in a body that people identified as his by its scars.  They recognized him in his mannerisms, that particular way he had of breaking bread and of carrying on heart-stirring conversations.   “He ate fish, broke bread, cooked breakfast. He also walked through locked doors and vanished while people were looking right at him. He was the same, but he was different, and because he was both, our futures may turn out to be as astounding as his.”

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends to strengthen our belief that the Resurrection is not about our worthiness, but the power of God’s faithfulness and unspeakable love.  God is God of the living, for all are alive to God. 

 

 

All Saints Day Reflection

 

In our All Saints gospel story, we see Jesus facing a crowd of his followers. All saints and sinners. Some of them were true disciples, some had come to be healed of diseases and infirmities, some I would bet just came for the novelty of seeing this new rabbi/faith healer in action. They were a mixed bag of people from different locations and income levels. They wanted Jesus to touch them so they could feel the healing power which came out of him. I can almost imagine Jesus laying hands on the sick, praying for each one, and then calling, “Next!” Finally, no one else came forward. So, Jesus looked at this whole, rag-tag, assorted group—this whole gang of peasants and working stiffs—and he told them they were blessed. I’ll bet they never heard anyone tell them that before.

This week I have been visiting long time good friends in Nashua, New Hampshire. Tim is a retired geriatric doctor who trained me at Monroe Community Hospital in 1980. We become good friends and he was my best man at my wedding. He is now battling bladder cancer and for awhile in remission. However, recent tests confirm cancer cells are present and he needs to resume treatment. I blessed him with the Mother Cabrini sacred  healing waters from her shrine in Golden, Colorado. He hugged and thanked me knowing that the next six weeks of treatments would be difficult but hopeful that the healing prayers would remove all the cancer.

Jeus gave us all a little crash course in discipleship: Love your enemies. Forgive them, pray for them, and be compassionate. Avoid violence.  Be generous and do to others as you’d want them to do to you.

Simple, right?

When we light the candles on this holy festival in memory of the saints, we remember with gratitude the way they tried to live out Jesus’ instructions. Maybe some were more successful in that endeavor than others, but all of them have been forgiven by God and welcomed into the eternal home. We see their best side, not their worst, and pray others may remember the things of Christ they saw in us when our time has run out.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends for You are the strength of those who labor; you are the rest of the blessed dead. We rejoice in the company of your saints. We remember all who have lived in faith, and all who have died, and especially those most dear to us who rest in you.

 

The Power of Prayer

 

A Sonshine friend shared the following story about the power of prayer.

 

As you know I like you have witnessed the power of prayers.  One instance I carry in my heart to this day.  I was shopping in the outlet mall in a men’s store before Christmas about 5 or 6 years ago and while looking at the merchandise the elderly salesman was straightening the merchandise in the other isle, when an elderly gentleman came in that he knew.  

 

After greeting each other the salesman asked him how is your dear wife doing?   He replied it’s a miracle her cancer is gone!  What happened that’s wonderful.  He replied three months ago the doctors told us the cancer is no longer in remission and she has about six months to live.  We were shocked and in a few days she asked me if we could try one thing more.  I said of course, she said let’s go to Lourdes with the Grotto where the Blessed Mother appeared to Saint Bernadette.  

 

So I told her to make the arrangements. I took money out of our savings and we went to the Grotto at Lourdes on a religious tour.  I thought it’s the least I could do, because I didn’t know what else to do for her.  We visited the grotto and we prayed, on our flight home she said, I think I will go and see the doctor because I believe something has changed.  

 

So we went to see her doctor and she asked him if he could rerun the tests he did a month ago, which he did.  We got a call a few days later and he wanted to see her again.  We went to see him and he examined her and asked a few more questions.  He said I cannot see any signs of cancer. The tests came back negative and I don’t know how to explain it. She is cancer free, of course the doctor wants to check her out in six months.  His friend was speechless. I managed to leave the store unnoticed.

I swear by the grace of God that I witnessed this story and it has stuck with me forever in this detailed description. Your Sonshine stories brought this miracle back to life.  I know you must have witnessed many such miracles as well, to know and believe.

Thanks for this memory dear friend.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends and everyone on our prayer list.

In April, I visited the Mother Cabrini shrine in Golden, Colorado. Her grotto has a spring that people believe has miraculous powers. People are allowed to take this sacred water home.  Father Alphonsus, pastor in Denver delivered a vial of this sacred water to me to share and bless anyone in need. Kindly forward your email if you would like a blessing with the Mother Cabrini sacred waters. Located at the Mother Cabrini Shrine, it honors St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. The site features a beautiful chapel and serene natural surroundings. Sacred waters are believed to have healing properties, attracting many visitors. The shrine includes a statue of Mother Cabrini and scenic hiking trails. It serves as a place for reflection, prayer, and spiritual renewal.

 

 

Wear Em Down

 

We’re going to protest on Saturday. Here I am a 75 year old retired priest encouraged by his spouse to get out on the streets with my neighbors and “wear em down.” Perfect timing when we look at the lesson of this Sunday’s Gospel story.

Jesus suggests that there may have been some judges in his day who weren’t exactly on the up and up. In fact, the judge in his story admits to having no fear of God or respect for anyone.  Sound familiar? I guess some things never change.

Naturally, we’d love to believe that every jurist who has donned the black robe will be a paragon of wisdom, logic, fairness, and impartiality. I am not naïve to think, that since our judges are elected and reliant on the goodwill of certain unions or other monied interests, it’s entirely possible their judgements might be a trifle skewed in favor of one party over another.

It’s pretty easy to believe the game is rigged against us, and simply let ourselves sink into the lake of hopelessness and drown without even trying to swim. But the little widow lady in Jesus’ story isn’t going to go under quite so easily. She’s not going to let him get away with injustice. No sir. She’s going to raise holy hell until this guy caves and does the right thing. In the end, it turns out she has more power than he does. Jesus praises her for her persistence.

And this is how our Lord tells us to pray—with persistence. I can understand why people would ask what the point of prayer is. After all, if God is going to do what God does anyway, why bother? But there’s power always in our prayers.

We can pray prayers of praise, prayers of intercession for our neighbors, and prayers of petition for our own needs, fears, wants, and whatever. Our prayers may not change God, but they will always change us. Prayer is the necessary medicine for the sickness of cynicism and disillusionment. To be in constant prayer is to affect your whole view of the world and your outlook on life. It changes you.

Prayers of praise keep us focused on how good God has already been to us. The discipline of praise reminds us that we’re not as totally screwed as we may think we are. In fact, the crappiest day we’ll ever spend on this earth will be full of more blessings than we can count. If you’re not living on the street, you’re doing pretty okay. If you turned on your tap this morning and drinkable water came out, you’re ahead of the game. Despite the high cost of groceries, if you have food in your house, you’re doing better than most families.

Our prayers for others that you forward to our Sonshine are equally essential. When our friend gets a cancer diagnosis, our prayers for their healing keep their circumstances before us. We continually practice empathy and compassion, and such empathy and compassion will lead us to action. Whether our prayers for a loved one encourage us to visit them or undertake some task they can’t do for themselves, or if our prayers for peace on earth lead us to social action, volunteerism, or protest, the prayers we pray have an effect.

Our personal prayers before God, aren’t just a matter of bathing in our own depression and disappointment. Prayer is our hope. If hope is dead, faith will follow it to the grave. Like the widow in the parable, we are called to “pray without ceasing.” Even if one avenue appears to be closed, our constant prayer of hope will lead us down another path. Despair is not an option.

We pray our earthly judges will all be fair and impartial and seek that which is best for all concerned. We can be thankful that our Heavenly Judge is merciful and always partial to the needs of his children.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends who are out on the streets protesting. The sign I am carrying has this slogan: “Despair is Not an Option. Pray for our Judges.” God bless you for reading this week. Please leave me a comment if you are so inclined—and keep praying even if you’re not inclined!

 

 

 

Prayer Walk Thru the Woods

 

If we take seriously that prayer is “lifting mind and heart to God” then every feeling and every thought we have is a valid entry into prayer. This morning I took a walk through the woods during morning fog and share this this mediation walk for you.

What’s important is that we pray what’s inside of us and not what we think God would like to find inside of us. 

Fr Marcus son Mauricio recovering from car accident, my brother priests attending clergy conference in Lancaster, NY,  

Shanna cancer treatment in Roswell, Carol recovering from cancer surgery in North Java, Tim cancer treatment in Nashua Jerry cancer treatment in Lancaster, Kathy cancer treatment in Rochester, Ted cancer free in Farmington, Aunt Shelia cancer free in Webster, Tina cancer free in Strykersville,  

Sandy in North Java, Sherry in Lancaster. Pati’s mom Madeline in Buffalo hospital, Mary S in Buffalo, Theresa in Bennington, VT., Kerry in Fairport, Devon 8 years old & his parents Alicia and Nick, Bob G.in Lancaster, Mary Z in San Antonia, TX,  Jerry in Fairport, Matt in Batavia,  

Patty’s parents Madeline & George W in Buffalo, Beau in Spain, Sister Ann Marie and Sister Miriam in IL. Monastery, Cheryl in Florida, Mary Hills in Toronto, Jane in NC, Ricki & Marina in Brockport, Fr. Donald F in Florida, Melanie in Attica,  Alivia and her dad Art, Bob & Kathy in Macedon, Beth in Massachusetts, Stan In Greece NY, Steve in North Java,  

Will in Canandaigua, Ruth in Rochester, ospital, Fr. Don & Yvonne in Batavia, Brad in Akron, Tony in Greece, Diane in Virginia, little Henry in Ohio, Paul in Lancaster, O B in North Carolina, Jane in Lockport, Maggie in East Bethany, Kathy in Farmington, Nelson in Buffalo, Joe & Carol in Rochester, Tracy in Fairport.

 

 

Kindly add intentions of your own....

 

Blessings & take good care of yourself,

fr. matt 

Prayering When We Don't Feel Like It

 

Most of us find it difficult to pray. We want to pray, make resolutions to pray, but never quite get around to actually praying. Why?

It’s not so much that we are insincere, ill-motivated, or lazy, it’s just that invariably we are too tired, too distracted, too restless, too emotionally preoccupied, too angry, too busy, or feel ourselves too distant from God to feel that we can actually pray. We have too many headaches and too many heartaches. And so we come home after a long day and simply can’t work up the energy to pray and instead call a friend, watch television, rest, putter round the house, or do anything to soothe our tiredness and wind down from the pressures of life, except pray.

So how can we pray when both our bodies and our hearts are chronically stressed and on over-load? By understanding what prayer really is. Prayer, as one of its oldest definitions puts it, is “lifting mind and heart to God.”

That sounds simple but it is hard to do. Why?

Because we have the wrong notion of what it means. We unconsciously nurse the idea that we can only pray when we are not distracted, not bored, not angry, not emotionally preoccupied, and not caught up in our many heartaches and headaches so that we can give proper attention to God in a reverent and loving way. God then is like a parent who only wants to see us on our best behavior and we only go into his presence when we have nothing to hide, are joy-filled, and can give God praise and honor.

If we take seriously that prayer is “lifting mind and heart to God” then every feeling and every thought we have is a valid entry into prayer, no matter how irreverent, unholy, selfish, or angry that thought or feeling might seem. Simply put, if you go to pray and you are feeling bored, pray boredom; if you are feeling angry, pray anger; if you are feeling grumpy, pray grumpy, and if you are feeling full of fervor and want to praise and thank God, pray fervor. Every thought or feeling is a valid entry into prayer. What’s important is that we pray what’s inside of us and not what we think God would like to find inside of us.

Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends that we try to pray precisely when we most need it, that is, when we are feeling bad, irreverent, sinful, emotionally preoccupied and unworthy of praying. All of these feelings can be our entry into prayer. No matter the headache or the heartache, we only need to lift it up to God.

Feedback from a Sonshine Friend

 

Dear Fr. Matt 

By the blessing of God you have you have touched my heart ❤️ as you described being greeted by a furry friend.  As I feel the unconditional love 💕 of my kitty each day.  Her loud purring every morning as we greet a new day that God has given us!  

I truly believe that unknown to us God gave this beautiful creature to us at the animal shelter for a special reason.  God knew that my Rosemary would be getting sick and when the ambulance took her away on the night before New Year’s Eve she would never return to our home.  For the next 10 months of 2023 our faith would be tested with hospitalization’s and rehabilitation and finally death.  Our kitty became my companion that greeted me each day.  I believe that the 10 months before her passing was God’s way of preparing me for her passing.  The purring kitty was God’s way of telling me that I’m not alone.  As I fed this creature of God it reminded me that she depended on me for her care.  Her companionship was God’s gift to me because for some reason God chose to spare me.

When cancer took over my body this year and my daughter became involved in my journey along with my other dear family members.  God was good to me.  I keep searching for an answer as to why He provided me with the comfort of you, my Priest friend, who is so versed in the ministry of death and dying.  What does God have in mind for me?  By the grace of God I believe that I should pray for others that they should be healed.  Pray for others for the love of Jesus !  

Thank you dear friend for inspiring me on my journey.
God bless you,

Ted