Why go back 11 years today? Because this is the day that John's stem cells were transplanted in his wiped out bone marrow 11 years ago and this is his rebirth hence many say that today is his 11th birthday. Actually in a week he will be 32 years young on February 3rd, but without the many steps taken John might not be here today to be the father and husband and son and brother that he is today! The new John!
John story continues to this day! 
In Saint Pierre! Susan sees John for the first time, and look at the smiles all around. We had done it! And it was a very powerful time to allow these two children of mine to share one with the other as they each had these huge life altering experiences going on at the same time! So interwoven as we shared and blended the experiences as they threaded in and out of each other. Living a life of poverty - yet, we had most wonderful places to stay right there with beds and showers and we made our own breakfast each morning. I went down the hall and made Krusties pancakes each morning! This is another cute story. Susan had written us one of her rare letters and described the pancakes she had made from scratch one day in France - "but they sure weren't Krusties."she wrote. So for Easter I had a crazy idea of sending her a huge package of Krusties pancake mix - all you need to do is add water to it! Well, it ended up like costing like $50 to send it along with all the cards, letters, and Easter candy! Then we get there months later and they pull out the exact bag for me to make us our breakfast! They say that it is a second one, but... So now whenever we want to remember our time in France - the day needs to have Krusties in it somewhere!
What JOY!!! We were shocked when we heard a name that puzzled us - "Your name will be Little Sister Hallel." What? If is looks familiar - it is the first part of Halleluia, and means just that - the highest praise of God. "When people say my name they are giving all the praise to God!" Hallel shared. It is very appropriate for her and is a ministry just in her name. She loves our Lord without reservations, so this just spoke to her - the Spirit directed her to Hallel! We discovered that the last 5 psalms are called the Hallel Psalms - 145-150. And the ones around 100 are called the grand Hallel Psalms - the word for Grand also means tall in French, and they laugh to realize that Susan is a head taller than the small European sisters - so fitting! So wonderful to share in this important day for our new Little Sister Hallel!
Walking through St Pierre the next day with Little Sister Sarah - she shared with me for the first time the motto that they live by in the Community of the Lamb - "Wounded, I will not cease to LOVE." Just looking at the spotless Lamb/God - Jesus hanging on the Cross - these words come to LIFE and LOVE! I told her that this must be very hard to do. "Yes, but we find true LOVE in striving to do this at all costs." I shared in my marriage/family page - "The world needs LIGHTS." about the letter from Susan/Hallel to her sister on the occassion of her engagement... describing her future husband as her Most Cherished Cross. Now we were given the way we are called to embrace that Cross - although we are hurt we should not return it with anger, or hurt for hurt, but with LOVE. So often in conversations with those in the Community - you hear them speak of someone as "such a lamb." They mean that they are embracing the Cross in their lives, and finding eternal LIFE and LOVE through the Cross! This is what Christ asks us to do as we take up our Cross and follow after HIM.
On one of our final days in France - we took a trip to Lourdes which is also located in Southern France! This was a huge intention for John's healing. This is the location where St Bernadette met Our Lady and when she was asked to dig in the mud a miraculous spring came forth in which there have been many healings! John was helped through the baths by Fr Craig, as he entered into the area set aside for the men that are sick. John asked them to pour water over his head - "That is where I need the healing." Fr Craig also had mass for us up in the church surrounded by plaques of many who had been healed over the last 150 years. The entire inside of the church is filled with the witness of the work of Our Lady interceding for the sick! John said of the day that it was "GOOD!" And when we returned to France 2 years later for Hallel to take her first vows - he returned there healed and thankful to her. He was in love with our humble loving Mother of God!
The journey 10 years ago was one of asking the Lord to reveal his plan for John, and so it continues to this day! John has gone through many jobs and currently is doing daycare for their 2 babies and a small job at the Catholic School. He is looking at disability and asking once again for the Lord to show him the path He has for the new John!
John took the rest of the school year off to recover and get stronger. He was to have been a junior at the U of M this year of battle, and did return after taking the year to "beat cancer's butt." in the words of John. He did return to college and his Farmhouse Fraternity Brothers then, and graduated college with a degree of Agricultural Communications. His Fraternity Mother told me that John was a changed person in his attitude towards others and living out his newfound Faith! He was a prayer warrior, and gathered with his fraternity brothers to say a rosary when Nancy had a scare with her pregnancy... just as an example. He certainly had discovered the power of PRAYER in his own life and rebirth, so it was always what he would come to prayer for others in their needs. This last spring he graduated college, and came home to a full time job selling LIFE insurance - a huge selling point - "Look at what happened to me. You never know what is around the corner." As we walked this path- of young people with brain cancer -we did meet other young people facing brain cancer also. Most notibly was Lisa, who is from our area and just a year older than John. Pat met her mother in the elevator at Mayo, and they discovered the shared path. John and I heard that Lisa was in a hospice room in a nearby town about a year ago, and decided to go and meet her and show our support for her. It was very powerful to see her mother look at John with eyes of Hope and Joy. "Here is someone, who had beat the enemy!" She took a chair and placed it beside the very sleepy Lisa and told her that this was John - a fellow warrior in the battle against brain cancer! John and I sat beside her, and John took her hand and told her that he knew of her fight and all the wonderful things she had done for others. He told her how much it meant to him to have known her! On the way home - John just wept and asked the Lord - "Why have I been spared? I feel so unworhty, Lord!" A week later Lisa died and John and Pat went to her wake - there they met the mother of Michael, who had died in his early 20s the year before of brain cancer. She looked at John, once again, not with resentment, but with great JOY that here was a young man, who had beat cancer! There were other young people, who lost the battle - William, Gage, and others. This led to John's surprise announcement to me this past summer in Michigan. We were in the car driving along the Lake to our cabin on the big Lake, and John said to me - "Mom, I am going to do something that is going to make you happy." "What?" "I am going into the seminary to discern a call to the priesthood." It seems that the burning tearful question - "Why was I spared, Lord?" just led to this path!
Just as 11 years ago the reading was from Mark 4 - Jesus preaching the parable - the sower and the seed! John might feel that his seed has not produced much more than 30 fold, but his ministry of living the life given him as he loves Jesus, Mary and The Church along with his wonderful wife and children and family... He allows us to see that Jesus is walking among us still to this day and continues to heal and forgive us our sins so that we may love and serve without counting the cost!
“Hear this! A sower went out to sow.
And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path,
and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocky ground where it had little soil.
It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep.
And when the sun rose, it was scorched and it withered for lack of roots.
Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it
and it produced no grain.
And some seed fell on rich soil and produced fruit.
It came up and grew and yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
He added, “Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”
And when he was alone,
those present along with the Twelve
questioned him about the parables.
He answered them,
“The mystery of the Kingdom of God has been granted to you.
But to those outside everything comes in parables, so that
they may look and see but not perceive,
and hear and listen but not understand,
in order that they may not be converted and be forgiven.”
Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable?
Then how will you understand any of the parables?
The sower sows the word.
These are the ones on the path where the word is sown.
As soon as they hear, Satan comes at once
and takes away the word sown in them.
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground who,
when they hear the word, receive it at once with joy.
But they have no roots; they last only for a time.
Then when tribulation or persecution comes because of the word,
they quickly fall away.
Those sown among thorns are another sort.
They are the people who hear the word,
but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches,
and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word,
and it bears no fruit.
But those sown on rich soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it
and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” Mark 4
Jesus, we are longing to die to self so that you may live in us! May we serve without counting the cost and Trust in you always and unreservedly. Jesus, we do trust in you. Amen and Hallelujah
Prayer is REAL and powerful! We have learned this Truth through our years of TEC retreats and John's cancer. He taught us to pray and know that God hears and answers. Bless-bless, Barbara
Hey, Bill's sister's Amy is declining. The tumors are growing and spreading and her doctors in Pittsburgh are basically out of options, so we are rallying behind her with prayer. She has an appointment with Mayo on Tuesday the 2nd, so we are committing to a week of continuous prayer for her leading up to that. It would mean a lot if you would consider signing up for an hour or so to pray for her. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v91Ogt5N2_iweGKNkvn15gNHMVJXWmBcTTzSEtCbGu0/edit
Thank you! St Peregrine, pray for us! Blessed Solanus Casey, pray for us!
From Nancy a few days ago... if you would like to join in prayer - add your name - more than one in a slot is fine and shows her how much we are behind her and trusting in her healing!
Bach Cello Suites
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