Which is More Rational? God or Atheism?

Updates, and a Dickens of a Vision

I wanted to start this post with deep gratitude for everyone who offered up prayers for my poor cousin.  I am very happy to share that within days, she has gone from the point of death to recovering at home.  God has been very good to us, and has showered my family with His divine compassion and love.

The main meat of this post, however, is relating to an article that I had found on one of my favorite sites: ChurchPop.  I don't know very much about Charles Dickens, but every year I tell myself I'm finally going to read A Christmas Carol.  Needless to say, I still have not read it.  However, after reading this article, I think I might have to.

While we generally associate Ebeneezer Scrooge as the one having visions of apparitions with messages for a better life, according to Dickens' biographer, the famous author himself had a divine messenger come to him in the night.  You can read all about this encounter here.

I ask that everyone please continue to pray for both my cousin and my family.  While we are happy with her healing, there is still a lot of healing that my family still needs.  I won't go into details here--perhaps in another post--but for now, I pray that you continue to pray for us, that we might work through our own issues and draw closer to God and to each other.

Please Pray for My Cousin

The Lord works in mysterious ways.  I don't understand, nor do I try to understand.  And some days, it can be harder than others.  Tonight is one of the harder days.

I just received the news about an hour ago: my cousin had an accident playing on a four-wheeler and suffered a bad head injury.  She was life-flighted to the nearest trauma center and is in intensive care.  I don't know anything else about her condition except for that.  But, it doesn't sound good right now.

I know that God is going to take care of her, but that hasn't stopped me from worrying right now.  Right now I'm scared and unsure and crying like a baby.  The thing is, my cousin and I were never that close.  I mean, we girls have to stick together in a family that is mostly boys, but there's about 10 years difference between us, and our personalities are so different that it can be hard for us to find common ground.  I'm embarrassed to say that when I first heard the news, my reaction was one of mild concern, like you might feel when you learn that a total stranger had a major issue, not your own cousin.  Perhaps that's because I only see her maybe twice a year, and even then we hardly talk.  But, the more I thought about what I hard heard, the more scared I got.  I've been crying over this and I'm praying and praying that she is going to be okay.

The thing that frightens me the most is the knowledge that everything happens for a reason and that God's ways are not our ways.  If my cousin dies, or has permanent brain damage from this event, I know that there was a reason for it, and that this is all part of a greater plan.  But, I don't want to see that happen.  This is the most difficult part of faith.  I know that God will answer our prayers, but I also know that I might not like that answer.  But, it is part of the divine plan, and I have to trust.

I experienced a lot of emotional trauma as a child, actually when I was about the same age as my cousin is now, and it made me an atheist.  For years, I was teetering on that line of atheist/agnostic, and through God's grace I returned to my faith, strengthened and restored.  I know this isn't going to push me away from God, but it feels too real, too sharp right now.  And I'm starting to go numb and I'm so scared.  I'm really scared.

Please, if anyone is reading this, please pray for my cousin.  Pray to Blessed John Licci, as he is the patron of head injuries.  Pray for healing.  Pray for a miracle.

Saintly Intercession

November is a great month to focus on the saints.  Catholics believe that saints are holy men and women who followed God's commandments and went above and beyond what most people do in their daily life.  In other words, these are the people who most fully embraced God's plan for them, and as a reward, are now honored in the Church.

Now, to quash a common misconception real quick-- Catholics DO NOT worship the saints.  I've heard this a couple of times, most notably from a Protestant friend of mine, but it is not true.  Yes, we pray to the saints, and yes, we ask for their intercession, but we don't worship them as though they were gods or like God.  There is a big difference.

This is an analogy my Dad gave me, and I think it really helps to illustrate the point: when you want someone to do something for you, and you don't want to ask them directly (for whatever reason-- you're scared, you think they will say "no", etc.), who do you ask?  Well, you ask someone close to them, someone they care about.  For me, I might not do what you ask, but if you ask my brother to convince me, and HE asks me, then I will be much more likely to step in.  Of course, this doesn't mean you get to cheat the system.  God doesn't say "Oh, well you found the one loophole there, so I'll do whatever you want!" but it does help.  Our faith is founded on a community of prayer, so it would stand to reason that asking a saint to pray for you--because that's what asking their intercession means--that God will hear those prayers as well as yours and answer them.  Sometimes, however, the answer is still no, but that a topic for a different post.

To take my dad's analogy a bit further, think of it this way.  If I'm having computer trouble, who do I go to for help?  Well, I'd go to someone who is good with computers!  And that's what we do when we pray to the saints.  Each saint has their own special focus.  And there are saints for EVERYTHING.  Snowdays (St. Scholastica), the Internet (St. Isodore), lost causes (St. Jude), parking spaces (St. Mother Cabrini), lost items (St. Anthony), belt makers (St. Alexius of Rome), the list goes on and on.  You can read about some more of these holy men and women here.

Now, there is one more saint I wanted to mention, and I'll be honest, he's the reason why I'm writing up this post.  I'll explain in a second, but the saint I'd like to introduce all of you to is not one of the more common ones we always hear about (eg. St. Patrick,  St. Bernadette, St. Anthony, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Joseph, St. Joan of Ark, etc.).  This saint only came to my attention recently because of a rather embarrassing need that arose, and I sought out a saint to intercede for my particular ailment.  It is with honest and heartfelt thanksgiving that I introduce Saint Fiacre, the patron saint of gardeners, cab drivers, and...hemorrhoids.

Yes, dear readers, the other day I was horrified to discover my first hemorrhoid.  I did a bit of research on it, looked some stuff up online, and in the end, decided it was best to pray about it.  I've been a bit weak in my prayers lately, so I came before God with my tail between my legs, as it were, and asked that he please heal me.  I also prayed to St. Fiacre for his intercession, promising that if he would help me, I would tell people about him.  So, this is the first step in that evangelization.  Yesterday, I went to bed with a painful hemorrhoid, and this morning I woke up with no pain, and the hemorrhoid itself greatly diminished in size.  Between lunch and dinner, it had all but disappeared.  It has been just over 24 hours since I discovered the problem, and just under 24 hours since I prayed for healing.  If that's not a testament to the power of God's healing power and the intercession of saints, then I don't know what is!

Before this post becomes too long, I'll wrap things up.  I want to extend yet another grateful "thank you" to St. Fiacre, which, if he doesn't see on his own, I hope St. Isadore, the patron saint of the Internet will convey my sentiments.  Hopefully, all of you will not have to pray for hemorrhoid healing, but if you do, pray to St. Fiacre and he will help you.  Additionally, if you are a gardener or a cab driver (or have a friend or loved one who is) then this is also a wonderful saint to pray to.  And I strongly encourage you to do so!

God bless!