Happy 87th Birthday Mom!

 

September 14,2023

9:19am CT

 

Come Holy Spirit, please fill the hearts and minds and bodies of your faithful the FIRE OF YOUR DIVINE LOVE. Send us your Spirit Oh Lord and it shall be created, and You Oh Lord Jesus, shall renew the face of the earth starting with my mind, my heart, my soul and body.

 

Jesus, King of Divine Mercy, please help us as we put OUR TRUST, HOPE and LOVE in you and your Holy Cross.

Mama Mary, the Mother of God, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle.

St. Padre Pio, please pray for our complete and total healing of mind and body.

 

** **

 

Today is my mom’s birthday.

 

She would have been been 87.

 

She passed on at 64 years in January 2001.

 

I had to pause for a bit to check what year exactly. Was it 2000 or 2001.

 

Also, had to check the year 911 occurred.

 

Oh well, some momentary distraction.

 

The Kerygma Daily Bible Reflection  https://kerygmafamily.com/modules/dailyreadings/read.php?date=2023-09-14  has the following guide questions for us to reflect upon:

 

When you look at the cross, what do you see? Who do you see? What does the cross mean to you?

Moses played a crucial role in the healing of the people. He prayed to God and interceded for them. We, too, are called to be intercessors, praying for the salvation, as well as the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual healing of others. Is there someone whose healing you need to pray for today?

What two ideas about birth are Jesus and Nicodemus thinking of?

What are your crosses in life? How are you living with those crosses? Do they inspire you to be more faithful to Jesus crucified?

 

I will perhaps just focus on some of the questions here.

 

What struck me is the phrase in Fr. Benny Tuazon’s reflection. He says that  the cross is a symbol of “ the inhumanity of man and the humanity of God.”

 

Making it sink in a bit.

 

God in the form of the Son, Jesus Christ, endured a very painful death for us…showing us His mercy and love.

 

Oh wow.

 

Similarly, my mom offered her battle with stage 4 Naso Pharynx cancer for me.

 

As I was going into surgery for a cyst in my left breast, she, while praying her rosary, tells me, that she asked God to spare my life and that take hers instead.

 

Up to now, I still have mixed reactions to that.

 

I wanted her to take it back…but, in that split second, I knew that this is something between she and her Creator.

 

She was already suffering too much.

 

She knew how scared I was going through this medical scare.

 

As a Mom to me, she willed that I have a chance at LIVING while she bravely surrendered hers.

 

Thank you mom for showing me courage.

 

Thank you for showing me how much you love me.

 

Truly, your birthday on this Feast Day of The Exaltation of the Cross, tells me and  I now believe, was  giving meaning to your suffering in that short prayer of surrender.

 

My prayer: Lord Jesus, please give me that extra grace to be a self sacrificing mother to my daughters and a loving support to my husband. Mama Mary, pray for us.