[caption id="attachment_1424" align="alignright" width="200"] Intro by Sr. Amy McFrederick, OP[/caption]
The Feast of the Annunciation (transferred this year to today) celebrates Mary's willing acceptance of the Son of God birthed within her, followed by a growing realization of dangerous social/religious implications for her and Joseph once she is found to be "with child" before their marriage. Both Mary and followers of Jesus, having witnessed his horrific crucifixion and death, discover with mounting joy the reality and meaning of Christ's Resurrection - a joy unending! The Gospel of Jesus that we follow, believe, and celebrate throughout the liturgical year takes us through countless ups and downs, gradually teaching us a spirituality of trust and joy unending.
Whether it is good news followed by bad news, or bad news followed by good news, love can take us on a harrowing, sometimes thrilling roller coaster ride as Associate Dave Marcil, OPA shares in this reflection:
[caption id="attachment_3171" align="alignleft" width="200"] Blog by Dave Marcil, OPA[/caption]
"We will probably never win the lottery- keep buying tickets anyway when the pot gets big. Unfortunately, we did beat the odds once, when our four-year-old's strep infection was the 1 in 100,000 that turned into chronic kidney disease. It's called membranous glomerulonephritis type III, a nasty disease for type A folks like me to deal with. There is nothing you can do. They don't know what causes it and there is no cure. Some kids get better and some... There are powerful drugs, each with their own problems. They won't cure it, but if things are going to go south, they will slow it down.
I remember it vividly; it was my turn to stay with her in the hospital. She was this little girl with tubes and monitors everywhere. And it was time for one more blood draw. As I held her still she begged, "Please no daddy, please. Please." It would tear your heart out.
When my wife came to relieve me so I could get some sleep before work, I went home and sat on the couch and prayed. "Dear God, I know you never send us a burden we cannot carry, but I can't carry this one. If You will only make our baby well, I will give You all the credit."
It was about a week later that my wife met me at the door when I got home from work. The doctor wants to see us. He says he has good news. He says the last tests showed it to be in remission. As we sat in his office he said that the last blood test showed no sign of the disease. He went on to talk about continuing the drugs and monitoring but I really wasn't paying close attention after that news.
He did get my attention when he said, "It's a strange disease. When a child gets better we never really know why." It's been over thirty years in remission and I know why. And I give God all the credit."
Intro by Sr. Amy McFrederick, OP[/caption]
The Feast of the Annunciation (transferred this year to today) celebrates Mary's willing acceptance of the Son of God birthed within her, followed by a growing realization of dangerous social/religious implications for her and Joseph once she is found to be "with child" before their marriage. Both Mary and followers of Jesus, having witnessed his horrific crucifixion and death, discover with mounting joy the reality and meaning of Christ's Resurrection - a joy unending! The Gospel of Jesus that we follow, believe, and celebrate throughout the liturgical year takes us through countless ups and downs, gradually teaching us a spirituality of trust and joy unending.
Whether it is good news followed by bad news, or bad news followed by good news, love can take us on a harrowing, sometimes thrilling roller coaster ride as Associate Dave Marcil, OPA shares in this reflection:
[caption id="attachment_3171" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Blog by Dave Marcil, OPA[/caption]
"We will probably never win the lottery- keep buying tickets anyway when the pot gets big. Unfortunately, we did beat the odds once, when our four-year-old's strep infection was the 1 in 100,000 that turned into chronic kidney disease. It's called membranous glomerulonephritis type III, a nasty disease for type A folks like me to deal with. There is nothing you can do. They don't know what causes it and there is no cure. Some kids get better and some... There are powerful drugs, each with their own problems. They won't cure it, but if things are going to go south, they will slow it down.
I remember it vividly; it was my turn to stay with her in the hospital. She was this little girl with tubes and monitors everywhere. And it was time for one more blood draw. As I held her still she begged, "Please no daddy, please. Please." It would tear your heart out.
When my wife came to relieve me so I could get some sleep before work, I went home and sat on the couch and prayed. "Dear God, I know you never send us a burden we cannot carry, but I can't carry this one. If You will only make our baby well, I will give You all the credit."
It was about a week later that my wife met me at the door when I got home from work. The doctor wants to see us. He says he has good news. He says the last tests showed it to be in remission. As we sat in his office he said that the last blood test showed no sign of the disease. He went on to talk about continuing the drugs and monitoring but I really wasn't paying close attention after that news.
He did get my attention when he said, "It's a strange disease. When a child gets better we never really know why." It's been over thirty years in remission and I know why. And I give God all the credit."