Setting of the Sun

Cleo has not been eating as much

and had two sneezing fits;

uh oh, hope she is not getting sick too...

I am really looking forward to feeling better

and walking these Ottawa streets again...

Hard to believe that Lent is near now.

Lent to me is always a little scary

because many of my hardest times

and heartaches and things of

emotional devastation levels

have happened

during Great Lent.

*

Must trust God to see me through.

May God help us

be our protection

strength

and refuge.

Prayers, Thoughts and Hope

Trusting the Mother of God's protection.

*

Missed Sunday liturgy today due to continuing head cold.

*

Continuing to think of my dear friends in BC.

Let's remember Maureen's father,

Noah

and all those on our hearts,

the ill, the troubled, the lonely.

*

Let's remember that God is our hope

and that all the heartbreak, pain

and illness that

we are constantly confronted with

is answered only in Christ and in

His Cross and Resurrection.

God is our Hope, our Surety,

our Provider of every good thing.

When the waves overwhelm us, hear our cry O God

Wow.

Well.

So my Mom talked with my Aunt whose house burnt down;

lots of shock and exhaustion still;

the piano is still intact

as in standing

but with 5 fire trucks the possibility of it actually working again

(i.e. water damage)

is really questionable.

Their friends are bringing them coffee and lots of Tim Horton's food;

I told my Mom how I remembered

a woman, who has also since died,

bringing coffee to a house where there was an unexpected death;

this is what we do,

we bring coffee, food, timbits

we call the prayer chains,

we listen...

*

My Mom talked with someone today who

we know whose wife has

stage 4 brain cancer,

listening to him for a good while

as he described how he has done research to find the

best surgeons for his wife,

just to have her around a little longer;

she has been on my prayer list for some time now...

*

Heard about the tragedy in BC about a young teen's death -

will be bringing these names to church...

I felt overcome by this one

and I have not even lived in BC for some time...

Lord have mercy.

*

Two people I know this week have been

unexpectedly laid-off from their jobs.

*

And on and on it goes;

so much tragedy

so much suffering.

*

Yesterday was

(old calendar)

the feast of the Elevation of the Cross;

I was at liturgy and heard a beautiful homily

that referenced the Romanian Priest

Dumitru Staniloae

who was imprisoned in Romania under communism,

going through horrific tortures

and that he wrote that all

is explained in the Cross;

all the suffering, sadness, loss, senseless tragedies,

all are taken into

are given meaning by

the moment of the Crucifixion of our Lord Christ.

That Fr. Dumitru was imprisoned for so long,

my spiritual father assured us,

means that he too was intimately acquainted with the Cross.

*

May the Holy Cross be our hope and strength

when the waters seem to high,

when the waves overwhelm,

when we are stunned, shocked and in grief,

may the Cross be that which supports,

that which saves us.