Prayer Requests ....

...... Unfortunately, more of the same.

I mentioned earlier about Barbara, my mom's best friend since high school (if not before that), and how she was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My mom sent out an email saying that "Barbara is asking her friends to pray the following prayer that, through the intercession of John Paul II, she may be healed and provide the second miracle needed for his canonization." Now, I know there are folks of all different religious stripes out there, and that the whole praying-to-saints thing is a sometimes–misunderstood idea, so if it's not your thing .... no problem. But, if it is your thing .... wanna help storm heaven?

Prayer through the Intercession of Pope John Paul II

O Blessed Trinity, we thank you for having graced the church with Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of your fatherly care, the glory of the cross of Christ, and the splendor of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him.
Trusting fully in your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his intercession, and according to your will, the graces we implore, hoping that he will soon be numbered among your saints. Amen.

And, also on the mom front .... You may or may not recall that she had eye surgery right before Christmas for a macular hole in her left eye. Well, while the surgery was theoretically a success (they closed the hole), apparently the hole ended up being closed with scar tissue .... so now she can't even see the big E at the top of the eye chart. Not super-good, of course, but managable. Except that Friday, they did an "Oh, by the way, you have the same thing in your right eye." Good news is that insurance has already told her they'll pay for her to see a specialist at Johns Hopkins, but she's not sure when she'll be able to get an appointment yet. Hopefully, though, Hopkins will be able to do a little more for her. But she could use some prayers for herself, too.