Our Blog - Serving a Purpose

Jose (far left) with our sons
Mike and Jon, along with
friends from Ave Maria U
(1/2007)









2005/06 Graduates of Ave Maria U
who have remained close friends
(Jose is sitting on couch - picture
taken Fall 2007)









Jose and his family at

his graduation from
Ave Maria University, 2005






I received a message from Marie about a young man named Jose Urquilla. He went to school with Jon and Marie and is in grad school. He is a truly wonderful young man and he needs the help of anyone who is able, both monetarily and prayerfully. I am going to just copy and paste the string of emails so that you will know his whole story.

I had recently been talking to Jon about maybe bringing the blog to an end, since it has been 2 years and maybe it had run its course. I believe that this blog got started because God had a message of love to share. Ours became a miraculous story and there are many people who were meant to see His signs of love and to see the power of prayer. As to how many, that was for God to decide. Throughout these past 2 years, I also have prayed that God would give me a sign when it was time to move on to other things He needed accomplished. Then I got this story of a very sad situation and I knew that this blog might still serve a purpose. I have to send out a plea for help for another brother in Christ who I know lifted up our family in prayer in our time of need. I don't know how many people are still reading this blog, but I hope God kept enough on board so that another one of His missions will be accomplished. We can let His love come through us in action and prayer.

May God's will be done. Love, Rebecca
rafidero@bellsouth.net
johnnyfid@hotmail.com



___________________________
Dear Rebecca,


Did you ever meet our friend Jose? We have known him for about 6 years. Jose is from El Salvadore. His brother, Victor, 19 yrs old, was murdered last year, and as a result of the stress, his mom spent a while in the hospital with heart problems. Over the last two months, Jose's dad has been in the hospital pretty much non-stop, with heart problems, and just passed away last week. This leaves Jose, his mom and sister, Claudia, who just graduated from High School, in a complete state of grief. Jose graduated with Jon, and works for Brownbecks office here in DC. He is also a full time grad student at CUA. He was sick for a while this year as well, and has had to struggle so much! I wonder if you would post the email from his roommates on the blog? It does ask for money, but mostly it asks for prayers and love. We are trying to set up a paypal account for him, so that he might be able to access the money while he is home. Jose is now financially responsible for his family, and that is a burden that he is in no way prepared to handle. I am going to copy the email from Jose, from his last visit home, and also the one his roommates sent out. If you feel that it is ok to post these, or even just snippets of them, then you can just copy them from my email.
Marie

_______________________________
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I am back from my trip and yes, I am still legal :-). Again, I want to thank you and everyone else I have forgotten in this email for making my trip possible. My family and I are extremely thankful. My dad was doing a little better but unfortunately learned from the doctor that he needs to have a 3rd surgery in a couple of weeks because the test results were not good. This was a different doctor from the one that operated him the first two times and it seems as if the other doctor did not do the best job. Unlike the US, we cannot do anything about it but cover again those costs. Of course, what we want is my dad to be healthy. Also, it was a little bit sad to be at home these days because it was a year yesterday that my brother was shot and my mom has just been under a lot of stress remembering a lot of things. It was difficult to leave home but school and work responsibilities called me back here.

I will have to go back home in a few weeks, however because my mom needs help with a lot of things she has neglected for the past few weeks and also because with all of this another issue came up. We had to get a loan from the bank to pay for my dad's hospital bills. The bank were giving us a hard time about it but then said they'd give it with one caveat: they don't want to give me the loans for school for next semester (in El Salvador, there is no such a thing as a student loan because the government doesn't want their citizens to get educated, you need to get a private loan, in my case with an 18% interest rate. I can't get a loan in the US because I am not a US citizen.) This is insane because if I don't get the loan, I don't go to school and if I don't go to school, I can't remain in the US which would make it extremely hard for me to pay the loans because I would have not graduated and salaries at home are like $200/month! Therefore, I will have to go back home and meet with some sort of board at the bank and pretty much explain them my situation that this is my last semester in school, that my grandma's property is the collateral, etc. The best I can hope for is they will say they will release the funds at higher interest rate. As you can imagine, time at home was crazy and short and now I have finals and papers due so it will be a little insane. Even though God calls us to not worry about the material things sometimes we succumb to temptation and the stress of having to get another ticket and everything at home will make focusing in my school work very difficult. This next couple of weeks will be crazy so I REALLY ask for your prayers.

I hope everyone had a nice thanksgiving. Again, I can't tell you how grateful I am to have such a great family here in the US.

In Him,

Jose
____________________________________________________

This next email is one that was sent to his household brothers, and then on to us: (December, 2007)





Brothers and Sisters,We have a brother in a lot of distress right now. Jose's father passed away on Monday night. He died of a heart attack after spending a month and a half in the hospital. Jose flew home to El Salvador Tuesday morning. Please pray for Jose and his family.Jose has always had financial needs, but now they are very pressing. He is responsible for providing the money for his father's hospital bills. When he applied for a loan to cover them, the private lender he has been borrowing from to go to grad school said that he would not be able to also get a loan to cover his grad school expenses next semester. Which is how he stays in the United States, on a student visa. He must also pay the funeral expenses. And the cost of flying home. His family's needs that have gone unmet while his Dad was in the hospital. And now he is left as the only one to support his mother and younger sister.We are all members of one body. Now we have an opportunity to help bear some of Jose's burdens, in love. Daniel Son and I are coordinating the efforst to ease Jose's financial burden. We cannot bring his father back, but we can help bear this burden on this shoulders.As Jose's roommate, I think it is very important that we do this anonymously. I've gotten the impression, based on times that I have given him money in the past, that he feels like he is imposing on his friends when he has to ask for money. I believe we can most bless Jose by giving him the money anonymously, letting him know that his brothers and sisters are caring for and support him without knowing who it came from or how much he owes to any individual person. Danielson got Jose's bank account information from him before he left, and we can deposit checks made out to him in it without him ever knowing who it came from. Anyone who wants to give Jose and his family money can write a check to him and get it to either of us, or mail it to one of us as the Jonathan House (320 East Capitol St NE, Washington, DC 20003).Rather than just having money appear in his bank account, we should also write him cards and letters expressing our love and support. It would bless him if he came back to D.C. to know and feel the love of his brothers and sisters. Like any financial contributions, just get letters and cards to Danielson or myself, or mail them to the JHouse, and I'll put them on his dresser for when he returns. If anyone has the contact information for any of Jose's friends from grad school, Ave Maria, Brownback's office, Witherspoon, or anyone else who would like to help, please forward this message to them.Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.





James Sherk and Daniel Son

It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

We spent 8 blessed days with our family at Jon and Marie’s house, along with the most beautiful gift of all…………….baby Jon. He was born a week before Christmas and we had to wait 4 days before we could hold him. What joy it was, holding our first grandson. What joy it was watching Jon and Marie become such loving parents. I felt so blessed being in their home, watching their tender ways with each other and their son. Christmas morning will be one that I know I will remember for the rest of my life. We attended midnight Mass and as I sat with my family, dwelling on the most beautiful gift of the Infant Jesus, I could not hold onto all that joy. I could not stop thanking God for His Son and my many blessings! Yes, my joy came upon a midnight clear.

In the morning, we waited until Marie and baby Jon were all settled in the living room. It was a sunny, crisp morning and the room was bright with the sunlight. Jon read the morning prayers from the Liturgy of the Hours. I was filled with complete peace as I listened to my son read the prayers, while I gazed upon each person in that room and thanked God for this blessed morning. In the future, I plan on reflecting back on that moment of serenity when I need a ‘Calgon moment’ in my day. I will just close my eyes and will relive the sound of my son’s voice as he brought the Good News of the birth of Christ into that room and into our hearts. Thank God for memories.

Our sons spent their time quite leisurely and it was a lot of fun for me to be cooking and listening to their voices and laughter throughout the house. I have always loved being a mother and wife – lots of satisfaction has been derived from that. I hope it was as much fun for them as it was for me taking care of everyone in that home!

One thing I noticed during that time was how Paul seemed to be more withdrawn than usual. He participated with his brothers when they played cards or games, but we noticed he really didn’t sit in on conversations. He seemed to want to sit off by himself or stay in his room while using his laptop. I was worried about it and I asked him if he was okay. He said he was not feeling well and just didn’t feel like doing much. On the day that the guys planned to go to Washington, D.C. Paul said his stomach hurt. I really didn’t want him to miss out on the opportunity for him to be with his brothers and dad, so I asked him to eat a little bit of yogurt to calm his stomach and to please try to go. Jon said that Paul did ask to be taken back home 10 minutes into the trip, but they encouraged him to keep trying to make it. As it turned out, he had a good day and didn’t mention his stomach ache again. We kept a closer watch on him to make sure that something wasn’t going wrong with the shunt. The day we left, he was feeling fine and was happy to be going home. Jon and I talked about it after we got home and we came to the conclusion that Paul has a definite comfort zone and while he can handle any activity planned for the day, he does better emotionally being in his own home and in familiar routines. He does not seem ready to handle long absences from home. I also noticed was that Abby seemed as out of sorts as Paul. She would not leave his side. When they were gone on their day trip, Abby stayed right by my side. I could tell she was not a happy camper. It is not the first time that her behavior is a barometer for how Paul is feeling!

During the second evening we were home, I could not sleep because I was worried about how poorly Paul had done on this trip. I was more sad than worried. Of course, everything seems so exaggerated late at night and I had worked up quite a bit of concern and sadness about Paul. I stressed about how he seemed to regress in the past month and how weird it was that he could not handle being away from home, even though he was with his own family. I felt kind of panicked about what else we could do for him to help move him forward. He seemed so forgetful in the weeks before Christmas and was so lethargic while we were at Jon and Marie’s. He was excited about the baby, but seemed so withdrawn most days. So there I was, late at night, dwelling on all that Paul is missing and how inadequate a job I felt I was doing in helping him regain more of his life. As I was getting more restless by the moment, I finally got up and went downstairs to sit in front of the Blessed Mother. I let the tears flow and prayed for help. I started to realize that some of this exaggerated feeling was a product of complete fatigue after all the activity of the vacation, mixed in with feeling sad about having to leave our children and grandson. So I sat for awhile in the darkness and talked to Mary, mother to mother. I have worries about each one of my children and spoke to her about them individually. It was about midnight and the thought came to me, “Live in the NOW, it is all you have. Pray for God to protect them and then let go of your worries.” I smiled and remembered that I had had that message before and there is real comfort in that. Jesus is in the NOW. Not the future or past. If I stayed with Him in each moment, I would have peace. He knows every one of our needs before we even ask. I thanked Mary and Jesus for helping me one more time! I felt just how tired I was and was actually reluctant to go back to bed. I didn’t want this moment to end. I went on to think about how glorious it will be, if I am graced with a place in heaven, to spend eternity with Jesus, Mary and the saints and angels. I already know how much joy I feel when I receive Jesus in Communion – I can’t even believe how much more amazing it will be to be in His presence in heaven! I laughed at how God must have wanted my attention and how He got me downstairs for this quiet time. He is listening to us always, but we need to take time to hear His words. I was gently reminded of this though Mary in the quiet of the night – yes, it came upon a midnight clear. How I love this faith that has been handed down through the centuries, which leads me along God’s pathway. Speak Lord, your servant listens.

I talked to Jon the next morning about all the things I had running through my mind about Paul. It came to us in our discussion that we needed to listen to what Paul was thinking about his life. We decided to sit down with him, in a quiet setting and let him tell us his thoughts. We needed to take time to help him voice all that is going on in HIS mind. And he did just that. He told us about how he felt when he saw little Jon Augustine and that it reminded him how much he hoped he would be able to have a family some day. He does think about all that is missing in his life, but is actually not hugely sad. He is more frustrated at the inability to decide what he wants to do in school. What degree program should he choose? What course should he follow? He said it is just a blank for him. After we talked for awhile, I mentioned how much the young kids he has been in contact with, all seem to love to be around him. He is so at ease with them. He loves teaching guitar. I mentioned that maybe he should look at an education degree. He could teach guitar on his own, but could be a teacher at a school. Maybe a private school , so that he could share his faith. He actually perked up and we discussed it for awhile. We will help him research what he will need to take and we decided that we will choose one class and will go through the text book with him and prepare him to take the class in the next semester. He liked that idea. We told him that we had been remiss in helping him more in the weeks leading into our Christmas vacation and that we were back on track with him. He also asked that we get the plastic surgery done on his eye lid so that it will look more even with the other side. It really bothers him. He also really wants to be able to drive again. He was really sad about no progress with that. It would mean a lot to him and would help him feel like he was getting some of his life back. With the new year, it looks like we have some goals to attain. We have our point and purpose. I reminded Paul that a strong prayer life should remain a daily thing and he said “I know that one. I say prayers all throughout the day. When I look at my watch, I see my rosary (it’s a wrist rosary that Fr. Paddy had made) and it reminds me to say some Hail Mary’s.” We plan on having a weekly meeting like the one we had with Paul. Speak Paul, your parents listen!

I was reading my prayer book this morning and felt very happy when I read that midway through 2008, the Church will begin her celebration of the Year of St. Paul. My heart is full of the joy and anticipation of what we might be able to accomplish this year with our Paul. We will ask St. Paul to keep a prayer vigil going with us.

“As night falls, let us confidently entrust to God the burdens of the day – our hopes and fears, our achievements and failures, our good deeds and our sins – and rest in the stronghold of His unfailing love.”

God bless you all in this year of 2008. Just as Jesus needed to retire to quiet places and pray, may you be blessed with many ‘pockets of peace’ where you can deepen your relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, through the loving intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary.

Love,
Jon and Rebecca