Eyedoctor's Site: The Tribulation Times

The Smell of Rain

A cold March wind danced around the dead of night in Dallas as the doctor walked into the small hospital room of Diana Blessing. She was still groggy from surgery. Her husband, David, held her hand as they braced themselves for the latest news. That afternoon of March 10, 1991, complications had forced Diana, only 24-weeks pregnant, to undergo an emergency Cesarean to deliver the couple's new daughter, Dana Lu Blessing.

At 12 inches long and weighing only one pound nine ounces, they already knew she was perilously premature. Still, the doctor's soft words dropped like bombs.

"I don't think she's going to make it," he said, as kindly as he could. "There's only a 10-percent chance she will live through the night, and even then, if by some slim chance she does make it, her future could be very cruel one"

Numb with disbelief, David and Diana listened as the doctor described the devastating problems Dana would likely face if she survived. She would never walk, she would never talk, she would probably be blind, and she would certainly be prone to other catastrophic conditons from cerebral palsy to complete mental retardation, and on and on.

"No! No!" was all Diana could say. She and David, with their 5-year-old son Dustin, had long dreamed of the day they would have a daughter to become a family of four. Now, within a matter of hours, that dream was slipping away

But as those first days passed, a new agony set in for David and Diana. Because Dana's underdeveloped nervous system was essentially 'raw', the lightest kiss or caress only intensified her discomfort, so they couldn't even cradle their tiny baby girl against their chests to offer the strength of their love.

All they could do, as Dana struggled alone beneath the ultraviolet light in the tangle of tubes and wires, was to pray that God would stay close to their precious little girl. There was never a moment when Dana suddenly grew stronger.

But as the weeks went by, she did slowly gain an ounce of weight here and an ounce of strength there. At last, when Dana turned two months old. her parents were able to hold her in their arms for the very first time.

And two months later, though doctors continued to gently but grimly warn that her chances of surviving, much less living any kind of normal life, were next to zero, Dana went home from the hospital, just as her mother had predicted.

Five years later, when Dana was a petite but feisty young girl with glittering gray eyes and an unquenchable zest for life. She showed no signs whatsoever of any mental or physical impairment. Simply, she was everything a little girl can be and more. But that happy ending is far from the end of her story.

One blistering afternoon in the summer of 1996 near her home in Irving, Texas, Dana was sitting in her mother's lap in the bleachers of a local ball park where her brother Dustin's baseball team was practicing. As always, Dana was chattering nonstop with her mother and several other adults sitting nearby when she suddenly fell silent. Hugging her arms across her chest, little Dana asked, "Do you smell that?" Smelling the air and detecting the approach of a thunderstorm, Diana replied, "Yes, it smells like rain."

Dana closed her eyes and again asked, "Do you smell that?"

Once again, her mother replied, "Yes, I think we're about to get wet. It smells like rain."

Still caught in the moment, Dana shook her head, patted her thin shoulders with her small hands and loudly announced, "No, it smells like Him. It smells like God when you lay your head on His chest."

Tears blurred Diana's eyes as Dana happily hopped down to play with the other children. Before the rains came, her daughter's words confirmed what Diana and all the members of the extended Blessing family had known, at least in their hearts, all along.

During those long days and nights of her first two months of her life, when her nerves were too sensitive for them to touch her, God was holding Dana on His chest and it is His loving scent that she remembers so well.

(Isa 5:20-21) Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own conceits.

(BLESSED) MOTHER TERESA: "America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts -- a child -- as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters. And, in granting this unconscionable power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign."

McCain is Pro-life. He opposes abortion on demand. He knows that a human being's life begins at conception. He will appoint judges who will respect the right to life as stated in the Declaration of Independence. He will appoint judges who will respect the rights of the people.

Obama is pro-abortion. He supports abortion on demand through the entire nine months of pregnancy. He opposes any laws that would restrict abortion in any way. He supports a federal law to wipe out all of the state restrictions and parental consent laws passed throughout the U.S. He will appoint judges who will enshrine abortion into the constitution. He wants universal heath care including abortion paid for by taxpayer dollars.

MARRIAGE

McCain supports the traditional definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. He voted for the Defense of Marriage Act and supports states enacting protection for marriage. He opposes redefining marriage to include homosexual unions.

Obama voted against the Defense of Marriage Act. He wants to repeal it. He supports same sex marriage and opposes the right of the people to define marriage as being between a man and a woman.

PARENTS' RIGHTS TO DIRECT THEIR CHILDREN'S EDUCATION

McCain believes in parental rights to control and direct the education of one's children without the interference of the state. McCain believes in school choice, in vouchers, in charter schools, and in those innovative ways to allow parents the freedom and opportunity to obtain for their children the best education possible. He wants to change the status quo and allow especially poor and working class families grater accessibility to good school.

Obama opposes school choice. He wants government schools to have the control. He opposes any efforts by parents to direct and control their children's education. The teacher's union and the government arte in charge. He was a part of a radical effort to indoctrinate children in the public schools with his buddy Bill Ayers. He opposes tax credits, tuition vouchers or anything that would expand opportunities.

So on the values issues, there is only one candidate who truly cares about the family, marriage, children. His name is John McCain.

"Now is not the time to be faint of heart. We must encourage others to get out the vote for the one man who will stand up and defend life". – John McCain.

Ninety one years ago today, dearest Lord Jesus, You came with Your Mother to the three children of Fatima.

Ninety one years ago today, You provided to those present in the fields of Cova da Iria, the sign that they needed to accept the truth of the coming of Your Mother to the three children of Fatima since May of 1917.

For You wanted Your children of the world at that time to experience Your peace.

Through Your Mother You indicated to these children the way to peace in the world.

Today, we need that peace. We do not have it.

Why? Because we have not followed the directions that You provided through Mary to the children.

If only we would do what You have asked of us – if only we would do what the Fatima children did, we would experience that peace. And our world today would begin to experience that peace.

When Your Mother first appeared to the children, she exhorted them to pray the Rosary daily.

They did.

The year before Your Mother appeared to them, You had sent Your Archangel Michael to them to prepare them for their mission.

He taught them certain prayers. He taught them the importance of fasting and making sacrifices. He taught them the value and importance of the Holy Eucharist.

They practiced what he taught them.

Your Mother emphasized the value and importance of praying the Rosary. And Your Mother emphasized the value of moderation in their sacrifices.

They listened to Your Mother.

Because of their obedience, the First World War did end.

We have not listened to You nor to Your Mother in her more recent apparitions.

Because we have not – we are experiencing the problems of this time.

The solution to our problems is to do what You and She have requested.

Jesus, may we begin to do what You want.

May we take seriously our obligation to worship the Father each Sunday at Mass – and even more often. May we take seriously our need to adore You in the Most Blessed Sacrament. May we take seriously our need individually and as families to pray daily the Rosary. May we take seriously our need to read daily Your Word in the Holy Bible. May we take seriously our need to respect the life of the unborn and the elderly. May we take seriously our need to recognize the sacredness of marriage as the covenant bond between a man and a woman.

Lord Jesus, like the children of Fatima, may we do Your Will on earth as it is done in heaven.

THE REQUESTS OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY OF FATIMA: The Fatima Message

Fatima is a call from the Mother of God for a renewed fidelity to penance and prayer, which basically is the message of the Gospel. Too, it brings out the desire of Our Lord that His Mother be better known, loved and venerated through devotion to her Immaculate Heart.

IN THE NEWS: Christians take part in national prayer rally

More than 1,000 Christians participated in a prayer rally at the Capitol Saturday. The rally was one of 3,000 other public square rosary rallies taking place throughout the nation.

It focuses on bringing the message of Our Lady of Fatima – peace and hope – in a world of conflict and to openly honor God.

"Without deep prayer and devotion to our maker, I believe we will accelerate our demise as a great power and leader of this world," prayer participant David Coch said.

It is the 91st anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima's appearance to three shepherd children in Portugal.

By October the news of Fatima spread more, and the people learned that a miracle was to happen. The children began to speak of the miracle which was to happen.

Seventy to one hundred thousand pilgrims came to the Cova da Iria.

It was pouring down rain and everything was very muddy. My family was very uncertain and feared that if the miracle did not take place; the people would want to kill the three children.

Once there, moved by an interior impulse, I asked the people to shut their umbrellas and pray a Rosary. Soon after that there was a flash of light, and Our Lady appeared above the oak tree. Lucia asked: "What do you want of me?"

I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honor. I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes."

"I have many things to ask you: the cure of some sick persons, the conversion of sinners, and other things . . . "

"Some yes, but not others. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins." Looking very sad, Our Lady said: "Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already so much offended."

Then, opening her hands, she made them reflect onto the sun, and as she ascended, the reflection of her own light continued to be projected on the sun itself.

Here, Your Excellency, is the reason why I cried out to the people to look at the sun. My aim was not to call their attention to the sun, because I was not even aware of their presence. I was moved to do so under the guidance of an interior impulse.

After Our Lady had disappeared into the immense distance of the firmament, we beheld St. Joseph with the Child Jesus and Our Lady robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. St. Joseph and the Child Jesus appeared to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When, a little later, this apparition disappeared, I saw Our Lord and Our Lady; it seemed to me that it was Our Lady of Dolor's. Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as St. Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and I saw Our Lady once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, holding the child Jesus in one hand and the brown scapular in the other hand. (Questions & Answers about the Brown Scapular, Story about the Scapular Medal)

At the predetermined hour, the rain stopped, and the thick mass of clouds broke. The sun looked like a disc of dull silver, and began dancing wildly. The people shouted out: "MIRACLE!" It seems that the majority of the people saw the sun trembling and dancing, whirling around like a catherine wheel; it descended almost low enough to burn the earth with its rays. Many thought the end of the world had come, as the sun seemed to fall upon them. People reported color changes in objects on earth, caused by the rays of the sun. Some expressed sorrow for their sins aloud. Some who had come to ridicule now believed.

After the great miracle of the Sun which Our Lady had performed "so that all may believe," the events of Fatima became the subject of national attention in Portugal.

It took the Church over thirteen years to make an official declaration, and many clarifications were still necessary.

The first publication of the subject of Fatima came from Fr. Formigao in 1921. He too was a nonbeliever of the Fatima events and was converted by Our Lady of Fatima at the September 13, 1917, apparition.

(Mat 18:1-4) At that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying: Who, thinkest thou, is the greater in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus, calling unto him a little child, set him in the midst of them. And said: amen I say to you, unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, he is the greater in the kingdom of heaven.

FROM THE MAILBAG
VIA Philip: A "Catholic," Irish prayer for you...‏

(Luke 12:19-20) And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thy rest: eat, drink, make good cheer. But God said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee. And whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?

POPE BENEDICT XVI: ''He who builds only on visible and tangible things like success, career and money builds the house of his life on sand''. He added: ''We are now seeing, in the collapse of major banks, that money vanishes, it is nothing. All these things that appear to be real are in fact secondary. Only God's words are a solid reality''.

12. Nothing is so inappropriate to those repenting as a spirit agitated by anger, because conversion requires great humility, and anger is a sign of every kind of presumption.

REVIEW: Election Year Respect Life and Rosary Feasts

HEADLINE: Scranton Diocese priests read abortion position letter to parishioners

A letter from Bishop Joseph F. Martino to be read aloud by priests at all Roman Catholic Masses in the Diocese of Scranton this weekend calls on the faithful to understand and remember the church's position on abortion come Election Day.

"Jesus Christ ... does not ask us to take up his Cross only to have us leave it at the voting booth door," Bishop Martino says in the two-page pastoral letter, which will also be circulated with all parish bulletins on Saturday and Sunday. In it, he criticizes the laws that protect abortion rights and takes particular aim at political candidates who express support for those rights.

In the letter, Bishop Martino refers to abortion as "homicide" and writes, "It is a tragic irony that 'pro-choice' candidates have come to support homicide — the gravest injustice a society can tolerate — in the name of 'social justice.'"

William Genello, the diocesan spokesman, said he would not characterize the letter as directly political.

Bishop Martino issued the letter to be read on "Respect Life Sunday," an occasion initiated by American Catholic bishops in 1972 and for which he issues a pastoral letter every year.

In a statement, Mr. Genello wrote that Bishop Martino is directing pastors to read the letter aloud and circulate it in bulletins this year "because of the confusion and public misrepresentations about Catholic teaching on the life issues, particularly abortion, that have surfaced in the last few months" — an apparent reference to comments made by Catholic Democrats about the history of the church's position on abortion.

The letter comes after Bishop Martino made a prominent intervention earlier in the election season by announcing his determination not to allow public officials who support abortion rights to receive communion.

He assures Catholics of his "vigilance" on that issue again in his pastoral letter. "Public officials who are Catholic and who persist in public support for abortion and other intrinsic evils should not partake in or be admitted to the sacrament of Holy Communion," he writes.

Bishop Martino's letter also confronts the argument that abortion is not the only "life" issue that should concern Catholic voters. The bishop notes such reasoning is sound "only if other issues carry the same moral weight as abortion does," for example, euthanasia and "destruction of embryos for research purposes." Other issues, including health care, education, economic security, immigration and taxes do not carry the same weight, he writes.

He also argues that abortion is a "deeper" and "more corrupting" moral failure than "mistakenly believ(ing) that an unjust war is just."

In an appeal to Catholics' civic beliefs, as well as their religious ones, Bishop Martino asserts that the church's teaching that life begins at conception is "also a profoundly American principle."

"Whenever a society asks its citizens to violate its own foundational principles — as well as their moral consciences — citizens have a right, indeed an obligation, to refuse," he writes.

COMMENTARY: A Prayer For Parents On Respect Life Sunday

CARDINAL JUSTIN RIGALI: "Let us rededicate ourselves to defending the basic rights of those who are weakest and most marginalized: the poor, the homeless, the innocent unborn, and the frail and elderly who need our respect and our assistance."

(2Th 2:15) Therefore, brethren, stand fast: and hold the traditions, which you have learned, whether by word or by our epistle.

FOR PRAYERFUL CONSIDERATION: Rediscovering Traditionalism

(Mat 6:31-33) Be not solicitous therefore, saying: What shall we eat: or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the heathens seek. For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things. Seek ye therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.

VATICAN: Financial crisis shows need for religion in politics

The financial crisis sweeping the world economy proves the need for religion in politics, Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Berto ne said on Tuesday.

"Politics needs religion," Cardinal Bertone said in a speech published by the Vatican mouthpiece L'Osservatore Romano. "When instead God is ignored, the ability to respect rights and recognise the common good begins to disappear."

Bertone, the Vatican's top diplomat and Pope Benedict XVI's right-hand man, told a conference sponsored by the US-based Aspen Institute: "Where people look solely for short-term profit, identifying it with good, they end up erasing the benefit itself."

The prelate said the "current financial crisis" and the "tragic outcomes of all political ideologies" were symptomatic of this lack.

He added: "To manage globalisation, politics not only needs an ethic inspired by religion, but also it needs for this religion to be rational. For that too, politics needs Christianity."

During a trip to France earlier this month, the pope spoke about his view of Christianity as a religion founded on the marriage between faith and reason.

Everyone today "solemnly proclaim the unalienable rights of the person, (but) these noble proclamations are often negated by the facts," Bertone said, pointing to "growing poverty, the persistent dominance of certain cultural and economic models (and) intolerance."

BISHOP WILLIAM F. MURPHY: Don't forget human aspect of Wall Street bailout

QUOTE: St. Vincent de Paul: Strive to live content in the midst of those things that cause your discontent. Free your mind from all that troubles you, God will take care of things. You will be unable to make haste in this without, so to speak, grieving the heart of God, because he sees that you do not honor him sufficiently with holy trust.

Trust in him, I beg you, and you will have the fulfillment of what your heart desires.

MORE COMMENTARIES ON THE BAILOUT

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The Smell of Rain