Request for a Miracle

Dear Friends and Readers,

Please forgive this temporary change in theme.  This blog provides me with space to reflect and there is something that has been weighing heavy on my heart.  If you can, please take a moment to say this prayer on Deana’s behalf.  Thank

 

As some of you may know my life has been touched in many ways by the legacy of John Henry Cardinal Newman through the work of several Newman Catholic Ministries.  My mom’s faith was strengthened by the Newman Center at UCSF, my parents met and fell in love while serving as co-advisors of the Newman Club at College of Marin, I was involved in the Newman Community of UC Santa Cruz for many years.  The Marianist priests who served as Newman advisors married Ken and I and baptized Justin.

 

John Henry Newman was a real person who lived a very holy life.  He is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.  Part of that process is to document miracles that may have occured due to the potential saints intervention.

 

I have a friend who is the mother of two preschoolers.  She has faced much adversity and joy in her life.  She suffered infertility, adopted two young boys, and nursed her husband through a serious illness.  This September she was diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph system.  Deana has battled bravely with her disease, but to no avail.  Her family has been advised to call Hospice and she is currently at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas receiving one last round of chemotherapy which may not work.

 

Deana Reynolds is a wonderful caring person who has touched many lives.  I’m sure she will do just fine with God in heaven, but I can’t help but think that she still has work to do here on earth.  She needs a miracle, and I would love to honor John Henry Newman by obtaining a miracle on her behalf.

 

I know this sounds crazy, but please take a moment to pray the prayer below and asking Cardinal Newman to intercede for Deana Reynolds. 

 

Thanks,

Bridget

 

 

John Henry Cardinal Newman

 

God our Father,

your servant John Henry Newman

upheld the faith by his teaching and example.

 

May his loyalty to Christ and the Church,

his love of the Immaculate Mother of God,

and his compassion for the perplexed

give guidance to the Christian people today.

 

 

We beg you to grant the favors we ask

through his intercession

so that his holiness may be recognized by all

and the Church may proclaim him a saint.

 

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

 

 

Please report any favors received to:

The Vice-Postulator 

The Oratory, Birmingham 

B16 8UE 

England 

Into the Woods…Part 1

In college I took a course on the history of musical theater.  My professor was convinced that Stephen Sondheim was the most important composer ever, so we spent plenty of time studying his work.  Today, the score of his musical “Into the Woods” has been buzzing through my head.    As I comb the score for words that speak to my mood, these pop out:

Though it’s fearful,
  Though it’s deep, though it’s dark
  And though you may lose the path,
  Though you may encounter wolves,
  You can’t just act,
  You have to listen.
  you can’t just act,
  You have to think.
  Though it’s dark,
  There are always wolves,
  There are always spells,
  There are always beans,
  Or a giant dwells there.

As you can see I’m in the midst of a dark point in my entrepreneurial journey.  We have sent out 2,000 postcards for my training business none of which have resulted in an order thus far.  I have made a total of $14.95 on my book.  It is exhausting and frustrating that hours of effort seem to be in vain.  I know I should be hopeful, even optimistic.   I should believe in my future entrepreneurial success.  I should trust this cross pollination of ideas that is constantly revealing new roads of possibility.

Then there are the opportunities that are presenting themselves.  Turns out I’m not the only struggling entrepreneur in the world.  There are people further down the road than I offering me a hand up.  My dilemma, should I devote time and energy to this enterprise that yields, even in the best case scenario, so little profit.  Is it fair to my family, fair to my husband, fair to my training business?  Do these potential angels have my best interest in mind, or am I just another way to promote their brand with fairly low overhead?  I feel a bit lost in the woods, it’s hard to tell the wolves from the woodsman, or perhaps they are one in the same.

I love to write.  I love to share my ideas.  I believe that my words can improve people’s lives.  Still, it is difficult to know if this enterprise is productive or selfish.  Could my energy be better spent?  Is this just a way to escape  the realities of California Mission reports and preschoolers who are so engrossed in their play, that they are disassembling my house piece by piece?

My dream is to create financial security for my family by doing something that I love and am passionate about.  So far, achieving that dream seems a bit impossible.  I’m still lost in the woods.  So I’ll take Sondheim’s advice…do some thinking and some listening.  Try to make my way through the wolves or potential colleagues, the spells cast by my own insecurity, and this evil economic giant  towards my dream of entrepreneurial success.

I’m ready for the journey.

-Bridget