Well, Gail, incredibly enough he is still alive and kicking. I think he must have a very strong heart. The cancer has gone to his brain , but I was up last night with Communion and he was talking away! The nurses have started to call him Lazarus!! By rights he should have been gone three or four weeks ago the doctors certainly thought so. My sister puts it down to a veary beautiful statue of Our Lady of Lourdes a friend brought a few weeks ago which stands in his room. I guess none of us go a second before or a second after God is ready for us. We're all shaking our heads in surprise.
Padraig, I'm glad for the time the Lord has given your Dad. It must be tiring, but it is also an opportunity for the family to draw closer. I can still remember Christmas Eve, 2007. For months, we had been gently prodding Geralyn's Mom to forgive a relative who had been cruel to her. It is the only grudge I had ever seen my mother-in-law hold on to. Just a few hours before she died, Doris was able to forgive this man. So too, there is much grace being poured out as your Dad approaches death. I pray that Jesus wait until he accomplishes everything in his designs for your family! Jesus, you are so good. May your Mother, Mary, be your chosen channel for healing among the members of the Caughey family. Work your wonders, O Holy Spirit! Safe in the Father's Arms!
Thanks for your kind thoughts, Gail and Terry. My father used to ask me, what are you looking forward to now?' Which used to make me think me think...and if I didn't have anything in particular to look forward to I used to plan a little something, it added salt to life. I also used to know a hermit, Brother Vader who when he was in community used to stop and ask me for a , 'Word'. A word refers to the practise of the Desert Fathers of passing on a word from the Lord, a wise thought or saying. It used to be like a little ambush and forced me to rack my brains but it made me pray!1 With my father dying like he is I am trying to look for all the positive things in all this. One of the many,many is a realisation we both face this with faith. How terrible to face such events with faith, all is not doom and gloom there is Good Friday but there is also Easter glowing away in there. It might sound crazy but I am looking forward when he dies that he might pay me a visit from heaven, my mother and brothers did.... Your story about your Mother-in-law reminds me of a story a very holy, old Passionist Priest told me one time with a less happy ending than your mother-in-law. He was a young priest in the country down in County Cork and a couple of farmers had a really hateful row going on dating back a life time over a question of land, a fence between their properties. Anyway one of the farmers was on his death bed and Father Christopher visited asking him to forgive his neighbour. He begged and begged and in the end warned the dying man if he did not repent he would go to hell. In response the dying farmer strongly said that he would gladly go to hell ,rather than forgive. A shocki9ng sad story and a warning. The old priest had deep misgivings about the mans salvation...... :shock:
