The Heart of the Matter

Downtime for a bit

Dear Reader, thank you for checking in every now and then, so just know that i will be on retreat and will resume posting in mid June. 

At 1:00 AM

At 1:00 AM Saturday morning, 12/13/08, our beloved Joan Fiore,our parish business manager, will be removed from life support systems and be allowed to die. 

When her heart stops, her healthy organs will become a gift of life for others who would die without such transplants. 

May the angels lead you into Paradise, Joan.

Viaticum

Viaticum is a Latin term meaning, literally, "go with you."  It is part of the Last Rites and refers to the Body of Christ, the host, given to a dying person, so that the Eucharistic Lord may "go with" the dying person through the experience of death.  After the dying person goes to confession (if possible and if desired) and is anointed with the Oil of the Sick (in the Sacrament of the Sick), Holy Communion is given. 

Giving Holy Communion to a dying person is a profound experience always, but today it was especially moving.  Steve was very near death, with shallow breathing only intermittently.  He did not seem conscious as his wife and I prayed the Lord's Prayer.  When I said to Steve that I was giving him Holy Communion, he did not seem able to respond.  So, I took a little piece of the host and inserted it into his mouth.  Suddenly he responded by tasting and relishing the Lord in such a way that his wife and I both knew that he realized he was receiving Holy Communion.  He returned immediately to his unconscious appearance and shallow breathing.  I was stunned and said to him, "Well, you sure know Who it is that is with you now, so go in peace."  Then the rest of his extended family gathered around and we had the "Commendation of the Dying," which is a set of very beautiful prayers the Church gives us for this moment, including this one:

Go forth, Christian soul, from this world
in the name of God the almighty Father,
who created you,
in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,
who suffered for you,
in the name of the Holy Spirit,
who was poured out upon you.

Go forth, faithful Christian!

May you live in peace this day,
may your home be with God in Zion,
with Mary, the virgin Mother of God,
with Joseph, and all the angels and saints. . . .

May you return to [your Creator]
who formed you from the dust of the earth.
May holy Mary, the angels, and all the saints
come to meet you as you go forth from this life. . . .
May you see your Redeemer face to face.

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One

Just before the Second World War a Polish nun (St. Faustina) experienced personal revelations from the Lord about this being the time of mercy from the Lord before the time of judgment would come.  With the increase of evildoing in the 20th century here was a message about the need to ask for, and imitate, the Divine Mercy that God offers us in Jesus Christ.

One prayer of the Divine Mercy Chaplet is a favorite of mine: "Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world."  It helps us grow into praying for the world, not just our own network of needs and relationships.

At Masses this weekend I mentioned that I would put in the space directions on how to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.  Click here for those instructions. 

Here are some promises that St. Faustina heard the Lord give in her mystical moments with the Lord:

687 Say unceasingly the Divine Mercy Chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy.

1541 My daughter, encourage souls to say the Divine Mercy Chaplet which I have given to you. It pleases Me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the chaplet. When hardened sinners say it, I will fill their souls with peace, and the hour of their death will be a happy one.

1541 Write that when they say this Divine Mercy Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as a merciful Saviour.

1731 Through the chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My Will.