A Quick Life Update and Request for Prayers

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A Quick Life Update and Request for Prayers.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the podcast and thanks for joining
me.
You may have noticed the missednew episode on Friday and the
short run time on this one Todayis going to be an announcement
of sorts instead of a properepisode.
On the morning of September 7th, my mom, rita, had a massive
stroke.

(00:20):
She survived and is recoveringmassive stroke she survived and
is recovering.
The type of stroke she had isactually pretty rare, and that
is partly because it turns outthat the blood vessels in her
brain are laid out in a rare way.
The two carotid arteries thatgo into the brain are supposed
to fan out, but in my mom's casehers merged down into a single

(00:44):
one.
This rare formation apparentlyonly happens in 0.3 to 2% of
people.
Because of this, her strokeaffected both sides of her brain
instead of just one side, andthat, plus the region where the
stroke occurred.
That takes place in anywherebetween 0.3% and 4.4% of strokes

(01:12):
is what we've learned.
She's doing remarkably well sofar, all things considered.
I just want to say kind of ablanket thank you to the doctor
who performed the procedure onher brain which saved her life,
and to the healthcare people allthe healthcare people who have

(01:32):
contributed to her care so farand who will do so in the future
, and to all the otherhealthcare workers out there,
thank you.
Your job is definitely not aneasy one.
Mom is able to eat as of now,move her head, her hands and
toes.
So far.

(01:53):
She's just very recently ableto remain sitting up under her
own strength, if only for just afew seconds.
She's able to speak with greateffort and she's completely
aware of the situation andeverything going on in her
hospital room around her.
So she's definitely a toughlady.

(02:14):
If you've been listening to myfriend the friar for a while,
you know that my mom is probablyour biggest fan, which makes
sense because you know, becauseshe's my mom and everything.
So, father Stephen and I, wehope to get back to releasing
episodes soon.
I realized just the other daythat all of our recent episodes

(02:37):
have been setting the stage forus to be able to talk about our
mother Mary in Lumen Gentium,and I don't think there are any
coincidences when it comes toGod.
So thank you for being patientwith us.
While I focus on family, wewant to get back to releasing
episodes as soon as it's rightfor us to do so New episodes

(03:00):
they may also give my momsomething to look forward to as
she continues in her recoveryand, who knows, you know, god
willing maybe she'll evenrecover enough to be a guest one
day.
Uh, so, before I wrap this up,I do want to share some thoughts
and ask for your prayers.
I've spent who knows how manyhours sitting in a chair next to

(03:20):
her bed in her hospital roomover the last two weeks.
I was lucky enough for a relicof St Jude to come to our parish
a short while back and Itouched my rosary to it.
So Mom and I have been spendinga lot of time holding it and
asking St Jude to pray for herhealing, along with Mary and

(03:43):
many other saints.
Now, as I've sat holding herhand or looking into her eyes
when she's awake, or watchingher while she's slept, I've had
a lot of thoughts and kind ofrealizations that I want to
share.
First of all is just how goodGod is.
He's such a kind and gentle andloving father, and as I sit

(04:10):
back and I watch her while shesleeps, or look into her eyes
when she's awake and lookingback at me unable to speak much
of the time, I imagine howlovingly and how gently the Lord
must look at us and just how mymom is still able to say so
much without having to say aword.
How much does our Father say tous constantly?

(04:36):
Simply by how he looks at us.
I pray for all of us to learnto become aware of His constant
and loving gaze.
The second thing that I've beenspending time contemplating and
praying about is how god is thedivine healer.
He isn't just healing my momright now, but every member of

(04:57):
our family and the health careworkers who've been and will be
working with my mom and, Iimagine, each of you now as you
listen to this.
Many of the daily mass readingssince my mom had her stroke have
been about healing, and theSunday Mass reading on September
the 8th, or readings fromIsaiah 35, verses 4-7, and Mark

(05:17):
7, verses 31-37, they were notlost on me.
Jesus could literally walk intomy mom's hospital room and take
her by the hand and say, rita,get up.
And that would be it.
She would get up and she'd becompletely healed.

(05:39):
And these aren't just storiesthat the Bible gives us to hope
or to give us hope or somethingright.
They actually happened.
Can you imagine what it musthave been like for the people
who took their loved ones to theLord for healing, and do each
of us?
Do we have the faith to ask ourloving God for that kind of

(06:02):
healing in our lives, in thelives of our loved ones?
The last thing that I've beenthinking about is how poorly we
prioritize our lives.
I really want to encourageeveryone to spend some time
thinking about it.
If you know, think about.
Do you only pray when you needsomething from God?
You know we should spend justas much time rejoicing in Him

(06:26):
and loving Him as we do askingfor stuff time rejoicing in him
and loving him as we do askingfor stuff.
And your kids, your spouse,your parents, your siblings do
you hold your loved one's handor look into their eyes often,
or not often enough?
Do you make the time to spendtime with the people you love or
do you let how busy you arekeep you from doing it?

(06:50):
Do you make a point to tellthem that you love them or do
you fill your life with noiseand busyness that gets in the
way of you having those moments?
You know we let the TV, theinternet, social media work.
I can tell you the quiet momentsearly in the morning or at

(07:14):
night watching my mom sleep orholding her hand or looking into
her eyes.
They're worth more than any ofthose things which I've filled
my life with those pointlessdistractions or noise, with
those pointless distractions ornoise.
It's worth more than all that.

(07:35):
So whenever you hear this,please pray for my mom and our
family and pray for yours and go, hug and kiss your loved ones.
Don't miss those moments thatyou can't get back.
If you want, you can sharestories or prayers or well
wishes on YouTube's in thecomment section, or you can use
the send us a text button inyour podcast player and please

(07:55):
share the podcast with otherpeople.
Prayer is the most powerfulthing that we can do, and I know
it would mean a lot to my momto know people around the world
are praying for her recovery.
God bless.