My friends had one last request: Would I help them get to Heaven? (from Aleteia website)

 

How a "nudge" to take a walk at an odd time allowed the Holy Spirit to bring about something wonderful

The following is a true story. Ever since it happened it has been a part of me. It is a love story written by the hand of God Himself.

It was the spring of 2014. Ed and Cathy had been my neighbors for less than a year. They had met when Ed was 60 and Cathy was 40, and neither had ever been married. They fell in love, tied the knot and had just celebrating 25 years of wedded bliss.

However, there was a problem. Ed’s prostate cancer had returned and was destroying him quickly. Meanwhile, Cathy had been diagnosed with Stage IV melanoma. She told me about it when she had “maybe” six months to live. Being a prostate cancer survivor, myself, and as my first wife had died of melanoma, I was able to discuss their cancers openly with them. They knew I understood.

My daily routine usually starts around 5:00 a.m. with a one-hour walk. For some reason one Thursday, I felt nudged to take another walk in the heat of the later afternoon. Reluctantly, I obeyed it.

I headed down the street and there was Cathy, standing on her front lawn, supported by her walker. Realizing that she was fighting to hold herself up I hurried over, asking if everything was all right.

“I was waiting for you, Larry. I need to talk to you.”

I was dumbfounded. “I never walk at this time of day and you say you were waiting for me?”

“I just knew you were coming by. I can’t explain it.”

I had a chill run down my back. I leaned against her SUV as she leaned heavily on her walker. “You know Ed is dying, right?”

“Yes, Cathy, I know, he talked with me about it. And your prognosis? Any change?”

She smiled and looked me right in the eye. “They told me I only have a few weeks left.”

I tightened my lips, took a breath, and asked, “What can I do for you?”

They knew I was Catholic and an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. Cathy asked me if I could bring a priest. She told me that they were non-practicing Catholics and had not been to church in years. It was time for them to “make things right with God.”

I promised to put in a call to Father as soon as I got home. Cathy thanked me saying “That’s why I was out here, waiting for you.”

As I slowly walked her back to the house, she spoke on of her husband — how she wished she could ease his suffering and how wonderful it might be if they could go for a bicycle ride just one more time. “I thank God for every moment we had together,” she said.

I checked in on Ed, and, as Cathy excused herself, we chatted for about ten minutes. Ed’s conversation was all about Cathy: how he wished he could ease her suffering and how God had been so good to him allowing him to find such a great woman to share his life with.

When God is present sometimes it is hard to breathe. I took a deep breath.

Once home, I called our newly ordained priest, Father Scott. He came over the next day and spent about an hour with Ed and Cathy. Ed and the young priest both had roots in Roanoke, Virginia, and talked and laughed and had a raucous good time together. Even though more than 50 years separated them, it didn’t matter. It was like they’d grown up together. It was beautiful.

Father heard their confessions, anointed both Ed and Cathy, and gave them Holy Communion. He told them he would come back the first chance he could, but with Holy Week coming up, he would be busy. They all hugged and said good-bye. That Palm Sunday I had the honor of bringing them Holy Communion.

Easter Sunday I was again privileged to bring Ed and Cathy Holy Communion. They were lying next to each other in bed, holding hands. Ed smiled and said, “Larry, we are so happy. This is the greatest Easter we ever had.”

He turned and looked at his wife, who was smiling lovingly at him. She reached over and wiped his wet, happy eyes. They stared into each other’s eyes and I thought they were seeing into each others very souls. It was a moment filled with a shared spirituality I had never seen before, or experienced, but I could actually feel it. I have no doubt that at that moment Jesus was there with them holding their hands in His.

Ed died the week after Easter. A week later Cathy moved into hospice. She lived another two weeks.

As for me, I thank God for their friendship and for being a part of their final journey. Sometimes I like to think that I took two people in love to the airport and watched them get on a plane for a a true flight to paradise.

Souha’s most beautiful confession.

A group came from the Middle East to spend a few days in Medjugorje, wanting to make a holy pilgrimage. Among them was Souha, a married woman whose husband is a doctor. She came without him because he was working.

Souha had a secret that left her without peace. Soon after her arrival, she went to see a priest from her group and confided to him that she had an abortion. The child that she was expecting was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome, and she and her husband did not want him. They decided together to have him removed from the womb and had an abortion performed. Her heart was still restless however and Souha asked the priest, “It’s not a sin, is it?” The priest answered, “But yes, my daughter, it is a sin! A grave sin! You must go to confession!”

Souha was not convinced and she shut herself within her denial. Yet she asked the Blessed Mother for a sign to know whether she should confess this act.

In the evening, at the apparition of the Gospa on the hill with Ivan, Souha was with her group. As soon as the Blessed Mother arrived, Souha unexpectedly bent over with her nose on the ground. She remained like this for a while and when she came back up after the apparition, her friends saw her crying. She told them, “Please call a priest, I must go to confession right away!”

I do not know what happened to her during the apparition, her friends respected her secret, but Our Mother acted.In tears, Souha made the most beautiful confession of her life. Yes, she touched the horror of sin and it made her cry. She accepted God’s mercy towards her. Her inner peace was at last restored. Now she is free! What a contrast on her face! What light! She witnesses to her friends that she feels a deep joy, as never before in her life.

In Medjugorje, some pilgrims groups have a fine tradition. The guide suggests that each pilgrim receives the responsibility of praying for a particular person of the group during the whole pilgrimage. Thus the first or second night, each one must draw from a little basket the name of another pilgrim. That evening, out of the 150 people in the group, who received the name of Souha and the call to pray for her? A young woman with Down’s syndrome!

That same night, Souha’s husband called, and after hearing his wife’s story, tells her, “You know, I am calling you because I find it strange that you are over there praying to God, while I am here performing abortions. It is not right!  Today, I have decided not to that anymore.” He also was crying over the phone. The whole day, he had the feeling that something was happening to his wife and he was ready to take this giant step professionally. Souha could not believe her ears.

This happened last August. Now Souha, her husband and their children are living differently, they put God in the first place. They practice the sacraments and go to Mass almost everyday. They give testimonies. After this memorable pilgrimage, they were wondering how to make reparation for such a past when they suddenly received a call from an orphanage needing help. Sisters were asking them to care for an orphaned child. They saw this as the answer from God, they were grateful to Him and decided to do everything in their power for the child.

And what has become of the aborted baby? In Medjugorje, Mary says of these unborn children, “They are with me”. This child is certainly praying for his parents and for all his little companions who, today, are programmed never to see the sun.

I am asking myself the question: did the baby really have Down’s syndrome? For I see more and more examples of wrong diagnostics: many mothers decide to keep their child whatever the handicap, and often, the child is born perfectly normal. Bizarre! To be meditated!

 But God is wonderful! For this family, He changed evil into good. Now hundreds of children (perhaps even thousands) will never be aborted by this doctor who now fights for life.

 “Dear children, tonight I invite you to pray in a special way for the unborn children. Pray especially for the mothers who kill their children. Dear children, I am sad because so many children are killed. Pray that there are no more such mothers in the world.” (To the Medj. Prayer group, 3 03 90)