Dearest St. Joseph, Beloved and Irreplaceable Gift to Jesus and Mary

Dear Blessed Joseph,

What a wondrous gift you were (are) to Mary…

to Jesus…

to us!

God knew how much Mary and Jesus needed you … 

Your love

Your protection

Your kindness, your faith, your strength and your courage.

How humble you are

How filled with love

How hidden and selfless was your role. 

How much you must have loved Mary and how much Mary must have loved and depended on you

God knows what we need. 

The Father couldn’t have asked Mary to carry the Messiah if you had not been there. 
You were Mary's and the Messiah’s protection, their guidance, their constant source of love.

Just as God had been preparing – making preparations for --Mary from all eternity,
so God must have been preparing and making preparations for you.

Because God is beyond all space and time and knows all things...
He knew who you would be before you came into being…

So, He knew that you, alone, had a heart capable of truly loving
the Immaculate Conception and Jesus worthily
as Mary's true spouse and Jesus' true earthly father…

The Father knew you and created you to be one who could forsake his life,
in order to live a life that was no longer his own,
but one that was lived only for the Child and His Mother. 

The Father needed someone who would live only for his family.
Living only to serve, love, nurture and protect them...

To shield the glorious secret of the Virgin birth from the world.

What a blessing you must have been to Mary!

She, who held the Creator of all things in her womb,
whom the angel revealed to her that her Child would be the Savior, the Son of the Most High…
she was so alone on this earth. 
She needed a provider, a man who would love and understand her and her Child.  

God tells us it is not good for us to be alone, so in His providence,
He made the two of you for each other,
knowing the depth of your souls before they existed.

How you must have loved each other in a most pure and perfect way

--with both of your eyes and hearts fixed on the Father,
Who is the source of all goodness and Who is LOVE Himself.

With both of your eyes and hearts fixed on the Son,
Whom Mary carried and whom you provided for,
Who came to redeem us and set us free.

With both of your eyes, hearts and minds filled with the Holy Spirit,
the Source of all Wisdom and Understanding, the Advocate,
Who filled you both with unfathomable Strength and Courage.

Though filled with the Spirit,
you both had to walk in the darkness …

not understanding all…

not fathoming God’s complete plan. 

For God comes slowly and with infinite tenderness like the dawn –
shining His light ever so slowly –
to the extent we can understand…
little by little guiding us in faith and trust.

What faith and trust you must have had
and how God must have expanded your mind and heart to grow each moment of the days
spent both in blessed preparation for and
in communion with the Savior.
Your Savior and your Child.

How God must have rejoiced in you and Mary,
and your mutual love for one another…

How pleased He must have been that you sought her to be your bride.

So often in the past, people have assumed you must have been an old man, a widower,
with other children…
to have been entrusted with this beautiful virgin.

Yet, I have always seen and recognized you as a young and vibrant man –
Fully alive,

Strong and faithful….

Fully righteous and humble…

A man of faith, a man filled with God’s wisdom and His love…

For you must have loved God with all your being – to all your capacity—which expanded increasingly through your life.

You must have loved Mary for who she was –
a woman completely consumed with the love of her God.

You must have shared that same all consuming, heart-enflamed love of God and
thus, sought only His will for your life and your love together…

As you loved Mary for her beauty and wisdom and grace and goodness…
so she must have loved you for these same virtues.

God had formed each of you to be perfectly matched…

As you both desired only to love your God with all your heart, mind, power and strength. 

Both only seeking to fulfill God’s will for your lives

How so perfectly in tune with each other you must have been!

How you must have spoken with Mary of her call to perpetual virginity and total consecration of herself with the Father before your betrothal.  

If you hadn’t have spoken and agreed and had been in one heart and mind and soul regarding this… it wouldn’t have been a true betrothal. 

It would have been untrue for Mary to not have shared her call with you,
which we recognize in her question posed to the Angel Gabriel: 
“How can this be as I know not man?” 
She never considered this Child would be a fruit of your marital union,
for you had both given of yourselves completely to God –
offering up the sexual expression of marriage for a completely selfless and all consuming love of your God that He had called both of you to embrace.

How you must have readily agreed and embraced this call of God in Mary’s life and how it must have echoed a similar call of full consecration and complete gift of yourself to God in your own soul.

So how confused you must have been when you recognized Mary was with Child. 

I don’t accept that you ever questioned Mary’s purity and faithfulness.  
Instead, I’m sure that as a faithful Jew, you knew and held fast to the prophecies of a virgin conceiving the Messiah…

… so you must have seen Mary’s pregnancy as a fulfillment of this great promise.  
But, you struggled because God had not shared this plan with you…

Mary had not shared this understanding with you…

So, in your heart you must have reasoned that God must not have wanted you to be Mary’s husband, believing yourself to be unworthy of such an honor…
and supposing that God must have wanted Mary to be His Bride alone,
because all this had taken place without your knowledge, without your consent. 

Mary’s conception of the Messiah must mean you were not to be her husband.

And so, in infinite humility and grace, you decided to give up your great love of Mary and bow out of the betrothal quietly, so God could have his way.

How selfless you are, dear St. Joseph!

God was testing your selflessness…

He was expanding your love, your mind, your will… just as He was in Mary.

You were both fully human. 

Neither understanding the fullness of God’s plan. 

You and Mary had to work out and discern God’s will each moment of the day as we all do.

God knew your capacity. 

He knew your soul was filled so greatly with love,
because your will was humble and so united with His own,
that it was empty enough to be filled beyond our understanding. 

It wasn’t filled with countless things that fill our minds:
like ego, jealousy, your rights or a pursuit of worldly honors or possessions…

Your soul was filled only with loving your Creator, your God.

So, as He does with all of us,

He must have led you one step at a time in loving darkness…

sometimes withholding His sensible presence and plan so you could grow in virtue… so you could grow in faith…

so you could grow more and more in union with Him…

dependent upon Him,

trusting in Him regardless of your feelings and circumstances.

How this circumstance must have tried your faith in your own discernment of God’s will. 
You must have prayed and sought Him so diligently to understand and pursue Mary as your bride…

But, after learning of Mary’s virginal conception, you must have reasoned your ways and your discernment must not be what God truly wanted…

For He was keeping this from you. 

In your love and humility, you gave your plans and your betrothed back to God,
knowing He does all things well and wanting only His will and not your own.

So, how wondrously you must have felt, when the angel appeared in a dream,
saying “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife.”

How in awe and what holy fear you must have felt to realize God had chosen you to be part of His plan to save the world! 

How incredible it was that God did entrust His beloved daughter in your hands…
how He counted you worthy of raising and protecting His Child!!!

How true was your discernment, your hope and dreams and all your prayers were coming true! 
All your longing was being realized!!!

The long awaited Messiah whom you had prayed and longed for all your life was on His way

and He wanted you to be a father to HIM!!!!!

It makes me weep just trying to fathom what this revelation must have meant to you.

O dear St. Joseph, how good it is to ponder your place in God’s plan…

To ponder with what love you must have built a cradle for your Child…

And how you must have built a home to keep your family warm and safe…

And how you had to leave it all behind

For God’s ways are not our ways.

How hard was your way to Bethlehem, and how diligently and selflessness you must have tried to care for Mary and your Child…
but so much was beyond your control…
the rough travel, the cold, and the ultimate deprivation of not even being able to secure a safe place in which the Savior was to be born…

How that must have hurt you…

How you must have wondered if you were enough…

How you all must have suffered in your journey to Egypt.
No matter your striving,
how much deprivation you must have experienced in your long journey through the desert and in a foreign land.
Ancient Egyptian histories speak of you and Mary and the infant Jesus wandering for four years,
during this exile ...
never staying in any one place longer than six months at a time...
always needing to escape again from Herod or needing to avoid bandits
or searching for food or water or shelter ...
How often the Father asked you to walk by faith into the darkness of His Will and His poverty.

And yet, how immeasurably rich you were and are...
for you held the Lord of all your longing, and He looked to you as his earthly father...
and the chosen one, the greatest masterpiece of the human race was your beloved spouse and the Mother of God!

How misunderstood you have been for centuries…

how little known and thought of…

Yet, I suppose that it matters little how we see you…

you just want to be a humble servant in whatever capacity God has in store for you..

Completely hidden and unknown is fine with you. 

Human respect means nothing. 

All your heart and soul and mind is set on serving God alone how ever He calls you. 

In whatever capacity… it makes no difference, just as long as you love
God the Father,
His Son, your Child,
the Holy Spirit, the Espoused of your bride,
and the beautiful woman, Mary, whom He entrusted to your love, your care and protection!

O dear St. Joseph, pray for us and for our families!

See here for more incredible insights about St. Joseph:  10 of the Most Beautiful and Profound Revelations Ever Given of St. Joseph - Our Lady of America Messages Part V

Janet Moore © 2015. Updated in 2019. All Rights Reserved.

Isadore of Isolanis, a pious Dominican of the 16th century, prophesied:

“the sound of victory when the faithful recognize the sanctity of St. Joseph...The Lord will let His light shine, He will lift the veil, and great men will search out the interior gifts of God that are hidden in St. Joseph; they will find in him a priceless treasure, the like of which they had never found in other saints of the Old Testament. We are inclined to believe that toward the end of time, God will overwhelm St. Joseph with glorious honor. If in the past ages during the storms of persecution, these honors could not be shown to St. Joseph, we must conclude that they have been reserved for later times. At some future time, the feast of St. Joseph will be celebrated as one of the greatest feasts. The Vicar of Christ, inspired by the Holy Spirit, will order this feast to be celebrated in the Universal Church.”

Enslaved but Rejoicing! Be Inspired by St. Patrick's Life His Words and His Prayers

I wrote this last year in the midst of celebrations. 

Now, in this time of social distancing and quarantines (as we are living with a pandemic virus of sickness, panic and fear...) the celebrations aren't present this year, and perhaps that is a good thing. We have so much more time for quiet and prayer to get in touch with the real St. Patrick, who can teach us so much. 

Please take the time to read about this truly amazing saint and to pray his incredible prayers of protection and strength that he wrote in the midst of severe devastation, deprivation and sickness. 
If you do, I know they will warm your soul and strengthen you in faith and hope:

Each year on this feast of St. Patrick, I can't help but think that while it's wonderful to see joyful parades and celebrations, where millions of people like myself rejoice in being Irish, and millions more honor the feast by the "wearing of the green", it saddens me to see how his feast day has turned into such a pagan holiday that extols sin and excess, without any clear connection or understanding of this amazing man of faith.

To combat this, I'd like to share some of his own prayers and writings that speak about what he endured, as well as the great Love of God that transformed him. 

St. Patrick's birth name was Maewyn Succat. As a young man he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland where he was enslaved for six years. 
He was forced to live without shelter as a shepherd, and was often alone and starving and perhaps beaten and tortured. 

What is so inspiring about St. Patrick is that it was right in the midst of such great deprivation, he became aware of God and His Mercy and the continual blessings that flowed from Him.
He writes in his “Confessio” of his captivity:

"There the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and then turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my low estate, and took pity on my youth and ignorance, and watched over me before I knew Him, and before I was able to distinguish between good and evil, and guarded me, and comforted me as would a father his son.

Hence I cannot be silent – and indeed, I ought not to be – about the many blessings and the great grace which the Lord has deigned to bestow upon me in the land of my captivity;…the love of God and His fear increased in me more and more, and the faith grew in me, and the spirit was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same, so that whilst in the woods and on the mountain, even before the dawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurt from it, whether there was snow or ice or rain; nor was there any slothfulness in me, such as I see now, because the spirit was then fervent within me.”

http://www.21st-century-christianity.com/E-Water-Irish-Blessing.html

Among the hundreds of prayers Patrick prayed when he was a slave in Ireland are two prayers that never fail to stir my heart. 

I can't be sure he prayed these prayers during his captivity
perhaps he prayed them during his escape
or throughout his study of the priesthood 
or when he was raised up as a Bishop of the Church
or when he chose to go back to Ireland 
to the same people who captured and enslaved him for 6 years
as he tirelessly worked for their conversion
or perhaps he prayed them throughout all of these seasons of his life...

Every time I pray or sing this prayer, I imagine Patrick singing and praying these words of praise to His Creator, Who was His Constant Companion while alone and enslaved...
cold and hungry ...

These prayers are prayers of union with God and remind me to see all things in and through God and through the eyes of faith:

The Lorica of St. Patrick  also know as The Deer's Cry or  The Bulwark or Breastplate of St. Patrick
This day God gives me strength of high heaven Sun and moon shining, flame in my hearth. Flashing of lightning, wind in its swiftness, Deeps of the Ocean, firmness of earth.
This day God sends me, strength as my guardian, Might to uphold me, Wisdom as guide. Your eyes are watchful,  your ears are listening, Your lips are speaking, Friend at my side.
God's way is my way, God's shield is round me, God's host defends me, Saving from ill. Angels of heaven,  drive from me always, All that would harm me, Stand by me still.
Rising I thank You, mighty and Strong One, King of creation, Giver of rest, Firmly confessing Oneness of Godhead  Threeness of Persons, Trinity blest.   

The second prayer is really a section of the same prayer listed above:

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ within me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I pray that we take time to truly ponder St. Patrick on his feast day today
as well as the profound and deeply moving words of his prayers...
imagining how his awareness of Christ's closeness changed everything for the young St. Patrick - 
as snow and ice and rain fell upon him
as he struggled with great hunger
as he must have struggled, 
and at first, raged against his enslavement
yet,
he was able to see that all he endured was  
as nothing compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord! Phil. 3:8


May it be the same for us! 
Imagine how this same awareness can change our souls!!!

Aware of the imperfect circumstances many of us are experiencing, 
I write this praying that each of us become so aware of God's great love and care for us that we can't help but be filled with joy and gratitude for all He has done,
even while:

Some are enduring great sickness and loss

Some have lost jobs and homes 
and their means of livelihood
Some are living with great rejection and turmoil
Or even abuse 
While some struggle with faith 
And are constantly filled with fear and anxiety

Some are alone, with family members who were missing through death or other circumstances -- and their hearts are broken at their absence. 

Many families are 'broken', divorced and separated - 
some in outward ways, and some in very hidden ways. 

Many are living in strife.

Some have been abandoned or abused.

Some are caught in the web of sin and addictions.

Some are hungry and living in poverty,

In sickness or close to death.

When our circumstances don't match up to the perfect, beautiful images of life we imagine or once experienced, deep sadness, or even depression can come upon us.  

If we look for happiness in earthly terms, we will have unrealistic expectations that were never promised to us by God.  

God never promised us a life free from trouble,
rather He said, 

In this world you will have trouble and suffering, but take courage and cheer up! 

I have conquered the world!  John 16:33

God never promised us perfection.  

Nor did He promise that our lives would be free from pain or hurt, rejection or betrayal. 

What he did promise was that He would be with us always!

And if we are living in union with Him, 
we will know that that is enough, 
more than enough in fact...
and we can see that regardless of our current situations, 

we still are blessed beyond measure in ways that go far beyond the outward circumstances in which we are living.

This is the secret to happiness -- to be mindful of the gifts God has given us and to offer Him thanks and praise for these amazing things that we often take for granted! To keep our eyes on Jesus instead of ourselves and our own pain.

Through St. Patrick's intercession and by his life and prayers, may we be helped to truly see God's nearness and the abundance of His gifts, and thus obtain the joy and peace that surpasses understanding that God gives to all who draw near to Him. 
We pray this in Jesus' Name. Amen!
   
P.S. I shared the shortened versions of St. Patrick's full Lorica prayer above: the song that it inspired and the beautiful part of the prayer that I pray when I'm feeling most alone and need to remind myself of God's presence. 

But, the full Lorica prayer is worth reading and praying with. When you have time, after you've pondered what has been written above:

Please pray the full prayer, as well as more reflections on how the prayer and Scripture can be used as a shield of faith during these dark times. You can find them here. 

© Janet Moore. 2020.  All Rights Reserved.

Our Lady Calls Us to Fast! Choosing to Fast Amid Struggles

Help for fasting on this Friday following Ash Wednesday:

Monstrance given to the parish of Medjugorje on the 30th Anniversary of the reported Apparitions.

When I first heard about Medjugorje and listened to the reported messages almost 30 years ago, my heart was inflamed with great love and fervor!
Along with this fervor, God gave me the grace to fast without difficulty as I eagerly heeded the reported messages of Our Blessed Mother, in which she repeatedly asked us to fast. For, it is an integral part of her call to lead us ever closer to her Son, Jesus.

It was such a joy to me!

But, that ease has been gone for over 20 years now.  
Therefore, this particular call of Mary to fast twice each week on Wednesdays and Fridays has been the call in which I have failed the most.

I have often thought of this as a shame, but maybe it's not in the eyes of God? 
Let me explain: 
When I first began to make holy hours in front of Jesus in adoration, I remember repeating a phrase often to myself that helped me as I got used to staying in prayer for an hour at a time. 
The phrase went something like this: 

Consolation is God's gift to you. To continue to pray, even if you feel nothing, is your gift to God. 

It seems that this must also be true with fasting. If we fast with great ease it is definitely a grace and a gift from God to us. But, if we struggle to fast, yet determinedly begin again and again regardless of how often we fail or how painful it is, that is our gift to God. 
So, by allowing us to struggle, isn't this an opportunity for us to grow in truly loving God - by purifying us of our self-centerness and our tendency to live only to please ourselves?

Thus, even while God allows us to struggle for our good in order to purify us - I also know that God looks with compassion on us and sees how many of us fight to live the call He has given to us through his Mother. He, therefore, longs to help us choose to fast even in the midst of temptations and trials. Because of this, I have felt called to share insights, thoughts and meditations about fasting each Wednesday and Friday - especially this Lent. 
These posts are meant to inspire us and be a grace to help each of us choose to live our fast days from the heart and as a gift to God. 

May this video that highlights Father Slavko's insights regarding fasting be just such a grace:

His thoughts give us much to ponder. I've taken a few short notes of the video to aid us as we pray: 

"If we do not fast, we are standing only on one leg...There are two legs of the spiritual life. Along with prayer we must fast.
Fasting helps you to have freedom...
If you want to have peace, begin to fast...
To heal our deepest wounds, begin to fast..."

I pray that these insights, as well as Our Mother's powerful words below inspire us to choose to fast today, so that our hearts become ever more purified in order to greater recognize and receive Jesus, Who is here with us to give us true peace, love and lead us to eternal life:

“…Your Savior is here with you. What prevents your hearts from receiving Him? What all is false within them? Purify them by fasting and prayer. Recognize and receive my Son. He alone gives you true peace and true love. The way to eternal life is He, my Son! Thank you.” (1/2/06)

With prayers for you today and always! Please, also, pray for me! In Jesus and Mary, I offer all our fasting for love of You, O God. Amen.

© Janet Moore. 2019. All Rights Reserved. 


 

Father Slavko's Prayer for Fasting

An integral part of Our Lady’s reported messages in Medjugorje call us to fast. From the first reported appearances, she said:

“I would like the world to pray with me these days. As much as possible, to fast strictly on Wednesdays and Fridays…”
 
“Dear children, today I invite you to start fasting with the heart... I ask [you] to fast out of gratitude that God allowed me to stay [here] so long. Dear children, fast and pray with the heart. Thank you for having responded to my call.” (9/20/84) 

 In answer to Our Lady call to fast, Father Slavko Barbaric, the beloved pastor of Medjugorje until his death in 2000 offered this beautiful and profound prayer to help us choose fasting. 

I pray that this prayer, when prayed carefully and with the heart, will help each of us to fast on Wednesday and Friday as Our Mother calls us. 
I pray that it will help us, 
first of all: to decide to fast 
and then, secondly: to fast with the heart 
- allowing the graces of fasting to purify and strengthen our wills - and thus, draw us ever closer to God. Mary, our Mother, help us to fast!

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear Father,
Today I decide to fast. I decide for fasting because your prophets used to fast,
because Jesus Christ fasted and so did His apostles and disciples.
I especially decide for fasting today because your servant, Mother Mary, fasted too.

She called me to fast when she said: 
"Dear children, today I call on you to begin fasting with the heart. There are many people who are fasting, but only because everyone is fasting. It has become a custom which no one wants to stop. I ask the parish to fast out of gratitude because God has allowed me to stay this long in this parish. Dear children, fast and pray with the heart. Thank you for having responded to my call." {9/20/84}

So Father, I present this day of fasting to you.
Through fasting I want to listen to and live Your Word more.
I want to learn to be turned more toward you in spite of all the things that surround me.
I want to fast for all who are hungry.
I want to fast for peace in the world.
I want to fast for the conversion of sinners.
To fast to be able to see Jesus in all around me.
I want to fast to be able to understand the value of Heavenly Bread.

Grant me the grace that through fasting, my desire for You will grow and that my heart may long for you.
Grant me the grace that through fasting I will become humble and willing to do Your Will

Cleanse me Dear Father of my selfishness.
Cleanse me of my bad habits and let Your virtues increase in me.
Let the depths of my soul open to Your Grace through this fast today so that you will totally affect me and cleanse me.

Help me to be like Your Son in resisting every trial and temptation.

Dear Mary,
Obtain by prayer the grace of a joyful fast for us today.
Obtain by prayer the grace for me that my decision to fast may be firm and long lasting.
I {we} offer, for all the people, the difficulties and the hunger that I {we} are going to feel today.
Mary, pray for us! Let every evil and temptation keep away from us today through the power of your intercession and protection.

Teach us Mary, to fast and to pray that day after day, we may become more and more like you and your Son, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit!
Amen!"

© Janet Moore. 2019. All Rights Reserved.

Drawing Near to Christ While Witnessing Your Loved One's Agony

A few days ago, I witnessed my daughter’s skin being torn from her body … 

the excruciating pain she endured is hard to shake …

For me, the saints’ martyrdoms that were most disturbing were those whose agonies consisted of their skin being ripped, torn, or cut from their bodies or those who were burnt alive…

Hearing about the sufferings of these saints left me cringing and grimacing in sympathy at just the thought of the unimaginable violence they endured.

This is why I wrote about the Apostle St. Bartholomew. When I found out he was flayed alive, I knew that his horrific pain and sacrifice needed to remembered and honored.

Likewise I had to share about the young boy saint, Jose Sanchez del Rio when I was blessed to hold onto and praying with the relics while listening to his story: The skin of the soles of his feet were shaved off before he was forced to walk on salt and through dirt and jagged rocks as he was forced through the town and cemetery on the way to his death. His skeletal remains show that this 13-year-old boy was hit and punched so mercilessly that his jaw had been shattered and most of his teeth had been knocked out. He endured all this rather than deny Jesus, shouting “Viva Christo Rey” – “Long live Christ the King!” before he was killed by a firing squad. (It is so worth reading more about him and watching the movie, For Greater Glory, which shares his life!)

Additionally, it was incredibly moving for me to visit the ancient Church of St. Lawrence in Rome, and venerating the man who died so generously that he could quip, “Turn me over, I’m done on this side” as they roasted him alive over a fire.

Lastly, I wrote St. Polycarp, who assured his executioners that they didn’t need to tie him to the stake as they placed him on a pyre to be set on fire. Perhaps God spared him the pain of being burned alive as a beautiful smell of baking bread emanated from him and the flames fanned out as a sail around him – forcing his executioners to kill him through the sword as the fire could not touch him.

I've contemplated again the sufferings of these saints in light of my daughter's own suffering.

My daughter’s agony was a result of sunburn.

Not your typical sunburn, or even the worst sunburn you’ve ever experienced if you’re fair skinned like me,

rather it was the flesh-killing kind…

I watched her writhe in agony as more and more blisters formed on her body… blisters the size of tide pods, which eventually conglomerated and joined together into a large mass of what looked like boiled skin…

A sunburn so bad that this 95 lb young woman’s feet and ankles swelled like tree trunks.

The pain of blood rushing down into these swollen burnt areas of flesh has made getting up to stand or walk unbearable.

So when the burn unit nurses tore off her top layer of skin it was for her healing …

It was a miraculous intervention that we were desperately sought as her skin became ever more leathery looking and her pain and symptoms increased each day and the doctors we had seen had no idea of how to help her…

I reached out in desperation for prayers from those whom I knew to be great prayer warriors… I prayed for help and guidance as I didn’t know where to turn, because I knew that she desperately needed medical attention.

Within a few hours after these pleas went out – a series of miracles took place – as I was given the advice to call the burn unit at a local hospital and ask to speak to a nurse.

 

The nurse who picked up the phone was surprisingly easy to reach – after waiting for hours and still hearing nothing back from doctors – this nurse picked up the phone, listened and offered to see my daughter and help. (I will forever be grateful for this nurse's kindness and generous help and for those who prayed for her.)

Within the hour, this nurse had her scanned and skinned and bandaged up with specialized anti bacterial burn dressings that would stay on for a week.

It was a true miracle. She has a long road to recovery and her pain is ongoing, but she will be well. 

Yet, the trauma of seeing her in pain, as the flesh underneath the skin was exposed, still leaves me mentally cringing and raw. 

My emotions are in tatters …

At both witnessing the agony of your loved one, and the desperation of striving to find help when no help can be found - perhaps this is all exasperated by the recent months-long, years-long searching for medical help for my husband….

who, likewise, endured incredible pain and suffering that no one we had seen could help; 

but, who, eventually, through miraculous interventions, is now on a long, ongoing path toward healing …

There are few things more painful than having to watch helplessly as your loved one suffers…

Particularly moving for me was going to the Stations of the Cross last night, and meditating on the tenth station, when Jesus’ skin was ripped from him as they stripped him of his garments right before they crucified him.

As I stated at the beginning, this has always been particularly moving for me, but the depth of what he endured for love of us has never been more real…

Nor more emotionally jarring…

Again, there are few things more painful than having to watch helplessly as your loved ones suffer… especially if it is your child who is suffering.

Never before has the physical sorrow of Our Lady been so real for me.

Her mental and emotional sorrow – the sorrow of her soul –

has been an indescribable gift to me for many years …

her motherly intercession and love have helped me endure tremendous sorrow…

How much greater is my understanding of how watching Jesus’ agony must have physically traumatized Mary –

How deeply the judgment of bystanders added to her pain –

how indescribably deep was the trauma and sorrow she endured!

O Mama, for although you were perfectly conformed to the Will of God, still you were human!

How much more deeply do I know the physical trauma and suffering of watching your child be in torture … 

I know what we experienced was nothing in comparison - 

and that the agony of her skin being ripped from her body was all for my daughter’s good…

Yet, it is a life lesson.

It has been a soul lesson that has drawn me deeper into knowing a fraction more of the pain both Jesus and Mary endured out of love for us.

Oh, the depth of God’s love!

Oh, how wondrous and unfathomable it is!

It is my prayer, that just as my daughter has experienced a portion of Jesus’ agony, it, likewise, gives her a greater awareness and appreciation of the cost of her salvation and the depth of suffering Jesus freely choose in order for her to be in union with Him both now in prayer and forever in eternity.

She already has such a strong faith, but I pray that Jesus’ Sacrifice penetrates ever more deeply in her soul and inspires her to love him with ever greater love in return so much so that she longs to live a life ever closer to Him.

I pray that she may know to the core of her being that He, alone, is the only One who can fulfill her and make her whole - being there for her with perfect love and compassion that helps her carry her crosses, as well as live a life of such great LOVE of God that she begins to experience ever more her heaven on earth.

I pray that she,

and all of our children,

fall desperately in love with Jesus –

with a love so deep that it carries them through all they have to endure,

while it brings them love and joy and peace unimaginable besides

through offering themselves to God and to others –

for that alone is the secret to happiness. 

 © Janet Moore. 2019. All Rights Reserved.