Praying Mantis Picture by Jerry Torres
The Holy Spirit inspired our blog.
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Hear me, O coastlands,
listen, O distant peoples.
The LORD called me from birth,
from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.
He made of me a sharp-edged sword
and concealed me in the shadow of his arm.
He made me a polished arrow,
in his quiver he hid me.
You are my servant, he said to me,
Israel, through whom I show my glory.
Though I thought I had toiled in vain,
and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength,
yet my reward is with the LORD,
my recompense is with my God.
For now the LORD has spoken
who formed me as his servant from the womb,
that Jacob may be brought back to him
and Israel gathered to him;
and I am made glorious in the sight of the LORD,
and my God is now my strength!
It is too little, he says, for you to be my servant,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the survivors of Israel;
I will make you a light to the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Emphasis mine Isaiah 49:1-6
Obviously, the above reading points directly to John the Baptist, comment by Dr. Tim Gray.
But,
When we read it, it also pointed to me and the events that unfolded on Thursday of last week when Gail had her heart valve operation.
Tuesday, this week as we were on our walk, yes the four of us walk, we met Sheila and stopped and she asked about Gail. I told her all went well, Thank you Father, and then she asked about me, and she explained that it is hard on the spouse also. I stopped at her house Wednesday, and asked her if she had had a similar experience as I had had, and she said, ”Yes.” Her husband had two serious and possibly life threatening events.
In case you’re wondering, I met Sheila years ago walking and she told me her daughter-in-law was very ill, and we offered to put her on the prayer line. Her daughter-in-law was healed.
Below is our story about the hills I had to climb during Gail’s operation..
I found the time I spent waiting for the results of the operation to be very intense, and we decided to write about it because I am tired of people telling me I don’t know what it’s like because we constantly talk about being “Fantastic.”
I was with Gail up until the time they took her into the operating room. All of the Doctors and nurses were the best, and tried to make the period of time before the operation as positive as possible. I, no we, joined in, asking, “since the valve was made in part of beef, should we eat beef, since beef could now be part of the family?”
We were also told there would be six doctors, and six nurses and technicians in the operating room. I, we, next asked if the cost would be over $10,000?
Why did we put we above? I just realized that those two questions helped bring a lighter atmosphere into the room, and take out any tension (satan) Gail and I might have had.
When Gail was taken to the operating room we, Holy Spirit and I, decided to go into the waiting room to continue praying the Rosary.
Why?
To keep God in and satan out!
The part of the waiting room I went in was about one hundred feet long with floor to ceiling windows looking out onto Congress Street and parts of the City of Portland.
As I started to pray the Rosary, I noticed my emotions change from positive to hitting a low. When I hit a low I told satan to get behind me and asked the Holy Spirit to fill me with Love, Joy, Peace, and Peace again came over me.
This happened three or four times and each time the low became lower.
I also knew that my Father was allowing this to happen to bring me even closer to them, so I wasn’t asking God why this was happening or why me?
I knew the fight and knew God would take care of me.
And,
I also thanked God my Father for the DIFFICULTY I was experiencing.
About a half hour into her operation a person sat next to me, and since I can’t move my neck (arthritis) I had no idea who it was, and to be honest, I wondered why that person didn’t pick one of the many empty seats that faced the window.
I finished the Rosary, (I don’t use Rosary beads, only my fingers, which is great because I can pray the Rosary any time, any place), and then hit the lowest of the lows.
At that very moment the man who sat next to me placed his hand on top of mine, and it was the hand of Steve Rosacha, who we meet with every Wednesday to talk about growing in our relationship with God. As a footnote: (One Wednesday after Covid, we had a visiting Priest, and I wanted to give him a copy of A Journey with The Holy Spirit. He wasn’t there, and the Holy Spirit suggested I give a man I didn’t know, Steve Rosacha, the book. Steve read it and asked me if I would be his mentor. I explained I didn’t know how to be a mentor, but said yes. We have met almost every Wednesday since that date.) We’re telling this story and Sheila’s story, because look how all of this evolved.
God is bringing people in our lives who will have an impact in the future.
Steve arrived just as I was going into the lowest low, and I mean I was in a deep pit. satan was hitting hard.
The second I saw Steve everything changed. satan was out and I relaxed, and we just sat there saying nothing for a few minutes.
When we finally spoke, I thanked Steve profusely for coming, and later apologized for being a little rough on Steve earlier in the week, and Steve later told me that he saw the stress (satan) I had gone under before the operation.
We talked for about a half hour, and I became concerned again, because the operation was supposed to last one hour and now it was fifteen minutes late – what’s going on I wondered?
Three doctors came out, and this made me nervous because you only need one for good news.
They told me Gail had come through with flying colors, it couldn’t have been better. I gave high fives to all of the doctors and they left.
This was when Steve said goodbye and told me he was going to New Jersey to visit his daughter.
Wednesday, 4:00 pm, 6/17/26 a week after Gail’s operation,. The Holy Spirit just reminded me Steve had lost his wife, I believe about ten years ago, which explains how he knew I needed quiet at first, and then just easy conversation thereafter.
I left the waiting room saying multiple “Thank you Fathers”, one right after another, again and again continuing on the way home. It had to be over a hundred times.
I was back, and I was UP!
Please notice EVERY PRAYER we have written about over the past four years, and have asked you to learn and pray, we (notice the we – the Holy Spirit NEVER left) prayed and the fight was fought by a conscious competent (me) because I absolutely knew satan was in my life, and we worked hard to get satan out.
The really fascinating fact for me was Steve.
Thursday started four years ago when we first met, and today he just happened to have this Thursday off to go and visit his daughter in New Jersey, and Steve showed up at the exact time I needed him the most.
AND,
I just realized (Holy Spirit) the operation was the first in the morning. If it had been an afternoon operation, Steve would have been in New Jersey. Wow!!
Talk about God active in my life,
And,
Yes I am closer to God My Father because of what happened that Thursday morning.
When we drove home Thursday afternoon, I knew this would be what we would write about, but wondered if the reading “and my God is now my strength!” would fit in, and it definitely does.
Our prayer is that by writing about what happened on 6/11/26 that maybe you will take a closer look at your life and decide that you also will want God as your Strength and start praying the prayers we have suggested, and watch your life become a life filled with Love, Joy, Peace and grow in the of Love of your neighbor.
Prayer:
If you want to grow in Love, Joy, Peace this is a result of growth in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
A very short Sidebar. Dorothy Papsadora sent me an email and said:
J – Jesus
O – Others
Y – You
And that ties into today’s blog. Wow!!! Thanks Dorothy.
Comment: A Catholic Moment readers have the chance to write a comment, which we reply to every week. It’s 4 pm Thursday, and we are answering comments, and for some reason, The Holy Spirit I kept scrolling, and found comments in the past I don’t think we thanked you for. I am sorry, from now on we will scroll beyond where it indicates we are done , and change to looking for your comments daily..
Picture:
This praying mantis appeared as I was praying a rosary while sitting on our porch.
Pray without ceasing. 1 Thess 5:17
Picture by Jerry Torres
I couldn’t believe how this picture tied into what we discussed.
Please keep Snapping!
And if you want the ten calling cards shown above, email me and I will send you my address, send me a STAMPED self-addressed envelope and I will send you ten cards.
The offer for the cards is sadly for American readers only. The Post office won’t accept foreign stamps.
If you want a copy of the prayers we discussed.
Send an email to: fprince101@gmail.com
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, please do not include people. We have to get permission from that person to use their photograph.
