On September 5th a dear friend that buried my parents passed away, Fr. Louis Soucey .. he was 92. On September 10th, Frank Shriever, a man that dispatches for the local cabs here passed away very suddenly shortly after Carl spoke to him for what would be the last time, he was only 63. Today, I hear my sister in law's father Peter Lyon is in a coma waiting to die with blood pressure 30/45. Our friend in Kansas's wife, Sandra Chimick who has battled cancer for so many years now has given up the fight and is in hospice after learning she has yet another brain tumor with 3 large new tumors in her abdomen and something else in her blood. I don't think she's yet even 50.
It's something how bad news generally seems to come in 3's. Perhaps a superstition, but it gives one pause none the less.
I have been even more so inclined to pray for the souls in purgatory lately. Many of you might know (and for those that don't, please feel free to join me in this) that daily, during the hour of Mercy 3pm, one of my major petitions is that I beg for purgatory to be emptied into heaven at that time. I also say a purgatory souls chaplet at bedtime as well asking for even more to be released then too.
I think it's very important to unite all our every day actions to the Perfect Passion of Jesus and His Precious Body and Blood truly Present in every Tabernacle and on every altar in the world. This makes me remember that Jesus asked us to pray without ceasing. I think uniting every breath, heartbeat, joy, sorrow, tear, action, reaction, step and utterance to Him daily brings us closer to His request and it also makes me feel more united to the communion of saints.
The world is hard. It often hurts. It's unjust much of the time. It seems it's getting worse rather than better. No wonder Jesus wondered if He'd find any FAITH on earth when He returned. Yes, we must live in this world now but as St. Paul tells us, we do not have to be OF the world, just IN it till God calls us home. How often do we really think of our HOME? Our FINAL DESTINATION? Do we really believe we are merely sojourners here or do we feel like this IS IT and that's all there is? How do we live? Our thoughts, words and deeds reflect our beliefs. Actions speak louder than words. Do we keep our eyes fixed on temporal goals or heavenly treasures?
We must not forget that no matter how hard things are here, we ARE NOT ALONE! We are ONE BODY IN CHRIST! We, the Church militant struggling here must support the Church suffering in purgatory with alms, Masses, prayers and penance. They cannot pray for themselves and they desperately need our help, especially those that have been forgotten and I feel so STRONGLY that there are MANY MANY :-(
We also must not forget to call upon the Church Triumphant in heaven. Those saints that have gone before us (proclaimed and yet unproclaimed) that have a special place in heaven for their faithfulness and can intercede on our behalf tirelessly. Today in fact, I received word and confirmation of just this. A lady placed an order for some chaplets and I felt compelled to enclose a little St. Therese prayer with a golden rose. I nearly didn't because I only had 2 left, but I really did feel compelled! Come to find out today, she tells me that she was in the middle of a novena to St. Therese which concluded on the day she received her order. She knew St. Therese heard her prayer being the rose was there. (Interesting about St. Therese and prayers and roses, google it. :))
It just makes me tearfully smile and fills my heart with joy when I see God's people strengthening each other, whether militant, suffering or triumphant. We are all one in Him!
So I guess I'm writing this thing that most of you already know, but I want to remind everyone not to take this for granted ... our daily lives can be so cluttered with LIVING! LOL
Let's never forget the riches that our dear Lord has left for us. Particularly HIMSELF in the Holy Eucharist ... TRULY Present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
Please pray for the soul of Fr. Soucey and for Peter and Sandra above and all of us struggling here in this valley of tears for however long the Good Lord deems us do His Will here on earth. Pray hard for each other and never forget the souls in purgatory, especially those that are abandoned and have no one to pray for them.
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