This morning, I managed to grab hold of the church bulletin and found that our parish priests have asked us to dedicate a day each from December 14th 2008 till Christmas to pray for children.
Spare time to pray for these seven categories of children this week as mentioned in Daily Prayer Intentions for Children.
14/12 Premature babies in critical
condition – cradle them in the palms
of your hands and let them grow from
strength to strength each day.15/12 Children who are ill – that they
receive God’s special blessing to
relieve them and see them through to
recovery.16/12 Children with learning disabilities
– that they be cared for and taught
with patience and love.17/12 Children who are kidnapped – that
no harm come to them and that they
be restored to their families.18/12 Children with psychological
problems – that they receive all the
necessary help to restore them to
health.19/12 Children in our schools – infuse in
them a teachable spirit that they
may see others as being sent by you
to teach them to learn better
patience, greater love and more
compassion.20/12 Safety of children everywhere –
that they be protected from every
danger, disease and trauma.
In there, they listed each date and the type of children to pray for. The first one is the prayer for premature babies. Oh God, I know all about that. I know how parents and the babies, plus the doctors and nurses desperately need that extra miracle to get these babies to thrive and live or even breath. I have my own premature baby and has a site for premature babies. However, I have stopped updating that site as I have sort of move on.
Soon mass starts and I was the first reader today. I don’t like being the first reader because first reader has to carry the Bible and go with the priest, place the Bible, get down and within few minutes, I have to go up again. It is freaky being first reader, you know? Moreover, being Advent, there is no gloria and therefore, I have to make sure that my voice is not sounding weird as I do not have much chance to use it before my reading.
With my heart thumping and my mouth getting dry, I suddenly asked myself what am I nervous about? The times I was in the ICU flashed through my mind because the mention of premature babies in the bulletin I read a few minutes ago. I could almost hear the beeping of all those monitors, the cold aircond and the greenish lights. As usual, I normally focus my view on Jesus on the cross, hanging high on the ceiling of our cathedral to get composed before my turn to read. And I can almost sense Jesus laughing at me, “You silly woman, what are you afraid of? If you were so brave in the ICU, fighting with stubborn doctors, mean matrons and grumpy nurses, using all your might to get the best treatment for your son, what’s 3-4 minutes of being up there with a bunch of critical Catholics? What exactly are you afraid of, woman?” That’s when I get my “Ya hor, why am I so nervous?” And when I proclaim the reading from the prophet Isaiah, “…the Lord has annointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken; ” it was like I am talking about myself.
The mass for the third Sunday of Advent or Gaudete Sunday is celebrated by Father Edwin Paul, the rector of College General. He used a video presentation (not the above but using the same O come Emmanuel) and the video has visuals of the meaning of Advent and the meaning of waiting for the birth of the Lord. From it, I get a glimpse of the bigger picture of God’s grace.
I know I would not even bother to have a second look at Christianity if not for the birth and death of my fourth son. I am not saying that God purposely let me have a premature baby to open my eyes but in the bigger picture, I see how this world is always filled with some pain, suffering, trial, tribulation, hardship, agony and etc but as Christians, we can always call to mind that there is rejoicing too. So, it is our duty, the rejoicing ones to bring comfort to the sufferings one. Now I am the rejoicing one, with my youngest boy’s birth and my conversion to Catholicism.
Christmas always filled me with a lot of emotional moments. Seven years ago, my son was home for a few weeks at Christmas. In fact, I spent the Christmas eve in 2001 at the hospital. I can remember very well because his regular doctor was on leave and he was very ill. I went to another doctor and told him how desperate I am because I cannot find my own doctor. That feeling of panic and lost were overwhelming as my son was on oxygen and people kept staring and chasing me to ask stupid busybody questions because we need to pull a tank of oxygen with us everywhere. This kind doctor, Doc C, sent me to another hospital for a quick test with a paed cardiologist, waited for us to return to his hospital, kept my son for observation and prescribe all the treatment for us. It was rather late and he grinned and told me that doctors like them have no time for themselves. He said, “It is Christmas eve and I am still here at the hospital.” That doctor has been instrumental in my journey to be a Catholic and one can say he has prepared the way for my sons and I to convert eventhough he doesn’t know that. These are things how things seem to fall in place in the bigger picture.
I am thankful that I have these insights of ‘how things work’ which helps a lot in coping with tragedies, problems in life and other tough situations. Out of every bad thing, some good will come eventually. We just have to have faith that one day, when we look at the bigger picture, we will see it.
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