Coincidence? I think not...

We had a vistor today at the hospital whose son, age 21, was in a car-accident a few years ago. He was in a comma for a year, but awoke and is now fully functional except speech (which was not a result of the accident itself). His mother prayed fervently, despite the doctors' insistence that her son would never awake and would be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. She ignored their diagnosis, and today he lives and functions normally. Today this man's mother came in to speak with our mother and father about her experience. She brought with her a medal blessed by our late Holy Father JPII. She also mentioned that the daily prayer which she would pray at her sons' bedside was Psalm 91. Paul has a prayer card next to his bed signed by the students at Ave Maria University which (coincidentally?) has Psalm 91 on the inside.

As you all know, we are praying to our late Holy Father Pope John Paul II and his intercession for a miracle healing of Paul. As a side note, I would like to mention that our fathers' name is Jon Paul, and he named his first two sons Jon and Paul, respectively. Fr. Kevin Peek came to the hospital this evening to hear our confessions and to say Mass. We were blessed to celebrate the Mass in Paul's room. Father placed the altar (Paul's bedtable) at the foot of Paul's bed and we all stood on either side of Paul's bed. The first reading was from 2 Macabees (http://www.easterbrooks.com/cgi-bin/Bible.cgi?reading=2Maccabees+7:1%2C20-31&mode=paragraph). The reading was very consoling for our mother, and was very relevant for Paul and all of us brothers as well. The Gospel reading was from Luke 19: 11-28. At communion Fr. Peek Blessed Paul's forehead and and lips with our Lord in the Eucharist. To top it all off, Paul celebrated the Mass wearing John Paul II's Zucchetto (white skull cap) which our late Holy Father wore at a private audience in Rome in 1996, where Fr. Peek was in attendance. A Second-class relic! In light of all of our prayers for John Paul's intercession for Paul's healing.....a coincidence? (I think not).

(I know there are many visitors to this website who are not Catholic, and I imagine that the content of these posts, particularly the two most recent, may be confusing to some you. So, I would just like to say that as Catholics, we believe that baptized Christians are members of the Body of Christ, and this Body includes both those alive on earth and those that have died before us marked with the sign of faith. As Hebrews tells us, our God is a God of the living, not the dead. Those that have died are alive in Christ Jesus. Thus, just as we ask all of you to pray for Paul, we also call upon the saints in heaven to pray as well, for we are one body in Christ. When we ask for the intercession of John Paul II, Blessed Catherine McAuley, or any other saint for that matter, this grace and healing by means of their intercession, which we pray is an effect of their prayers, finds its power most properly in our Lord Jesus Christ. We Catholics are not bypassing Christ when we pray to saints, just as we are not bypassing Christ when we ask you all to pray for Paul. There is ample Scriptural evidence for this communion of saints as well, and if you are interested in discussing it further or have any questions, please email me at johnnyfid@hotmail.com. I would please ask that Paul's blog NOT become a battlefield for theological (or philosophical) scruples one might have with the Catholic Church. We just ask that you continue to pray fervently no matter what your faith background might be.)