2 Corinthians, Chapter 7, Verse 15
And his heart goes out to you all the more, as he remembers the
obedience of all of you, when you received him with fear and trembling.
We know that if our fear gives way to a deep sense of peace
and joy when we seek to be reconciled to God; then it is the holy fear of God and we are on the right
path.
Let those turn to me who fear
you and acknowledge your decrees. (Ps. 119:79)
Today
is my deceased father’s birthday. My father was not always a blameless and upright man but he had
a great devotion to St. Jude. He always swore it was St. Jude’s prayers and
intercession that brought him home from the war in the pacific and maybe it
was. He got my grandmother to sign the papers and he was in combat before his
18th birthday. He was a ghost diver during WWII; his job was to scuba dive in
before invasions set up radio beacons for the invasion and avoid detection or
capture. He went on 26 missions with 11 others in frogman teams. The normal
mortality rate for these teams was 50%.
After the war; my father drank a lot to forget. As
his disease of alcoholism ramped up he stopped going to church refusing to go
to church drunk. I don’t know if my father was aware St. Jude admonishes false
teachers who used the church as a sort of country club and caroused fearlessly
looking after themselves. My father did not see the church as a social
institution but as a place where one encounters our Holy God, our Holy mighty
one; our Holy immortal one.
My father knew he was a sinner. He always said that
St. Jude was his patron saint because; St. Jude is the patron saint of lost
causes and my father swore that’s what he was. As his disease progressed he
stopped going to church but built a shrine to our Mother Mary. Every day he
would cut fresh roses for the shrine and sit at twilight, with beer and
cigarette in hand; silently staring at the shrine.
In the end my father did receive his last rights and
was ushered into our Lord by our Lady and St. Jude.
Prayer Of St.
Alphonsus De Liguori To The Sacred Heart.
O adorable heart of my Jesus, heart
created expressly for the love of men, until now I have shown towards Thee only
ingratitude. Pardon me, O my Jesus. Heart of my Jesus, abyss of love and of mercy,
how is it possible that I do not die of sorrow when I reflect on Thy goodness to
me and my ingratitude to Thee? Thou, my Creator, after having created me, hast given
Thy blood and Thy life for me and, not content with this, Thou hast invented a means
of offering Thyself up every day for me in the Holy Eucharist, exposing Thyself
to a thousand insults and outrages. Ah, Jesus, do Thou wound my heart with a
great contrition for my sins, and a lively love for Thee. Through Thy tears and
Thy blood give me the grace of perseverance in Thy fervent love until I breathe
my last sigh. Amen.
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