PRAYER LINK

"Please pray for me. I am meeting him at 4:30."

When I feel the need for extraordinary strength, I have a handful of friends to call on. We send each other text messages requesting prayers for a particular problem we have, or for someone else, or just because one of us is feeling the big bad cloud of depression hanging over. We go to mass or say a prayer for each other.

The above is an SMS I received just a short while ago. We have our own lives, traveling our individual roads but we know someone's got our backs.

This prayer link is such a powerful tool, giving courage, hope and light. I am so lucky!

Prayer

Three-year old Sunshine's prayer: Thank you Papadios for not letting... Mom, what's his name again?... Not letting King Herod kill the Baby Jesus.

ASK, AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE

This has always been one of my favorite Bible passages:
Matthew 7:7-11
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Yesterday I was caught between a rock and a hard place, or between two bills that had to be paid immediately. They were not large amounts, but my funds have been extra tight recently. So I prayed and asked God to send me money. I told him I didn't know how, but these had to be paid, and to please help me.
After praying, I called Bill #1 to find out the exact amount that had to be paid. They asked me to call back because the bill was being prepared. I called back and twice they asked me to call again. The third or fourth time I called, the woman finally told me that she had prepared the bill but couldn't find it, and would I mind just settling the bill at some future date.
God answered, and in the most unexpected way.

THE WALKWAY

From left: The whip; crown of thorns; S carries the cross.
This is the second time we walk through this amazing, interactive, Lenten experience set up by Church Simplified. The Walkway installations had the Stations of the Cross brought to relevance in our 20th century lives.

GROCERIES

Here is our grocery list. As we put each item into the cart, I point to the corresponding words and Sunshine ticks off the box.
There was a time when groceries were a luxury. We were scrimping and pinching pesos, finding ways to fill the tummy with enough nutrition without emptying the wallet. Sunshine, then about 2 years old, offered daily prayers asking Papá Dios for rice.
This is only a partial list, but whether partial or complete, rice is NEVER on the list. Because S's office gives us 50 kilos of rice a month. Way more than we can handle. Enough to share with another family.
How's that for answered prayers?

BEQUEST

Baba had over a hundred Rosaries, and this was after she had given away several. Baba knew how she got each one, and there's a list floating around somewhere...
I picked out a few to keep after she had gone. Aren't these a sublime remembrance of one's grandmother or great grandmother?
From the left: A one decade Rosary chaplet; one with the St. Benedict medal, likely from the Benedictine fathers who called her Mommy; for Sunshine, a handsome one with square wood beads; for Sunbeam, a heavy silver antique looking piece. They should probably be restrung and the silver one needs polishing, but they are all beautiful pieces.
I will turn them over to the kids when they are old enough to appreciate and care for these special gifts.
The priest said during her funeral Mass that Baba had two passions in life: her children and her faith.
Thank you, Baba, for your lasting examples. We miss you.

ON HOLY GROUND

S and I were at an extraordinary site today. We took a 2-hour car ride to the mountains, squeezed into a trike and bumped over some dirt roads, then walked a few hundred meters of steps carved into the mountain side to an outdoor chapel sheltered by trees.
We heard Mass, listened to an impassioned homily, and received Holy Communion. After the service, we were each given a scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. They were placed on our necks by someone very special to us who laid his hands on us and blessed us.
A beautiful promise is written on one of the panels: Whosoever dies wearing this scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.
We filled two small containers with holy water from weeping rocks... our friend has witnessed several people instantly healed with this water.
We took an inclined path on the way back up and were treated to a splendid view of a lake, a volcano, rice fields and forests.
How blessed we have been today.

BABA

"Death is not extinguishing the light from the Christian; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come." - Author Unknown/Rabindranath Tagore
My 97-year old Baba died February 15th. She went so peacefully, so quietly, we barely knew she had gone. Despite my wish that she live long enough for my kids to remember her, it is a blessing that she lived long enough for me to know her in my adult years.
I designed this prayer card to go with the thank you card the family is giving out.


And this written by my dad for our family living abroad:

Mommy died at about 3:15a.m. of Monday, February 15, shortly after her 97th birthday.

Mommy died as peacefully as anyone can hope for.

When she got sick about a week ago, we all sensed that this would be her final episode and we all agreed with Francis that she would be happier dying at her home.

She had round-the-clock nurses and a doctor who was God-sent who attended to her as needed. We told the doctor that mommy had earned her peace and rest and the paramount consideration was her comfort. At the end, we just wanted to be sure that her pain was minimal. Almost up to the time she died, mommy was responsive, to the extent that she could, given her age and physical condition.

Mommy died at the home she cherished surrounded by her children and grandchildren in an atmosphere of intense love. She did not go through the throes of death - she just faded away and we did not really know when she had gone.

CBC and IdB cleaned and dressed her; and FdB, PdB and me (sic) lifted her into her coffin. Her body was not touched by anyone other than her family and nurses.

From her home, the hearse brought her to Benedictine church at 6:30 a.m. for the funeral mass. FdB rode with the hearse and she was never left alone. She lay in wake until the 3 p.m. mass. By that time the church, which is fairly large, had filled up (The wonders of text messaging). Ten Benedictine priests - her friends, who all referred to her as Mama Letty - offered the mass for her. We did not ask them, they just came - even the ones who were quite sick. The main celebrant gave a short homily. There was no hyperbole. Just simple anecdotes of how she was as a person. PdB, on his own volition, gave a short talk where he mainly thanked the siblings who attended to mommy's needs. FdB and I were fidgety about this and I kept signaling PdB to keep his composure and not get carried away.

Mommy's passion and career was classical music and CBC had arranged for the Madrigal singers to sing in church and at the burial. They gave a powerful performance and their "Our Father" was moving, perhaps as good as the one I heard about that you sang for mommy.

The services ended at 4:00 p.m. FdB rode the hearse again and we were at Manila Memorial Park by 4:30 p.m. Mommy was laid to rest at 5:00 p.m. (In typical dB fashion, no tears were shed except perhaps by my Ana whose eyes welled-up with tears.) She was placed in the same grave as daddy at the primary area of the family plot. Their burial place is a grassy private enclave that is gated and surrounded by a tall hedge on all 4 sides. Mommy and daddy are buried at the center of the far end of this green open space.

Mommy had a beautiful death. She must be ecstatic about how her body was treated for the burial preparation. And her final rites were solemn and sanctifying.

The death of a last parent is so profound that it is really the passing of an era for the children.