Please pray for my mom. She left Texas today to return to New Orleans, where she has visited only occasionally since Hurricane Katrina, more or less permanently. So far, she has no real job prospects, only a potential alteration service to the law firm where my aunt works as an account clerk, and occasionally assisting a friend of hers with wedding photography. Her house is in questionable condition, worse than immediately after the hurricane because she is unable to access the insurance money, since the checks were issued in two names and the other party refuses to sign them--even though one is for her exclusive personal property. She has only a minimal amount of child support, and is in danger of foreclosure on her house, which is all she has. The parish (or county, for those outside of LA) wants to seize the house because it has been uninhabited. Her van was reported as abandoned by a neighbor and was towed from her driveway and reduced to tinfoil, so she is depending on a car I lent her indefinitely in 2006. She has had the electricity turned on, but is without water and is disputing charges that were added after the water was disconnected--in the amount of $260. She has no refrigerator and her stove has been broken for many years. My brother, who is 13, is also with her, and needs prayers as well, since he will be very lonely, likely alone much of the time (if my mother is able to find work), as he will not be in school, having been homeschooled to this point. Please pray that she is able to find work, and that they will be able to find hope in this situation and help from friends.
You know, I think I finally understand intercessory prayers more concretely. I feel that all of you (and you know who you are) can add so much to my own requests, especially since my prayers can be rather feeble. And of course, this is magnified when the one praying is closer to God than any of us are at this point. The difference is that I feel more confident asking for your prayers--even though you are separated from me by distance and virtual space--because I know you (on some level, though it seems strange to write this!). I don't feel the kind of closeness to any particular saint(s) the way some people do. Perhaps that will be the next step! (Or perhaps I need to search for saints' personal home pages or blogs--ha ha, ha)
3 comments:
Where is your mom? You know we are in New Orleans, and would love to reach out with what hospitality we have to offer. You can email me at ceitagh *at* hotmail *dot* com.
Also - I don't know how internet savvy your mom is (she probably doesn't have access) but you could browse the free and cheap listings on craigslist, and the yahoo new orleans freecycle list, for appliances for her.
And certainly, she will be in our prayers.
Kate
Will definitely pray for them.
"Or perhaps I need to search for saints' personal home pages or blogs--ha ha, ha"
I never really understood devotions to particular saints until some years ago when I started reading about Edith Stein, who actually would be a good saint for you to read up on as she was an academic and a teacher, and went to her canonization mass in Rome with my dad. The more I read about her, the more I identified with her and the closer I felt to her. Now I feel like she's a friend I can turn to.
I know your suggestion was made tongue-in-cheek; but I think you actually hit on something. Most people who have devotions to particular saints do so because something in either the saint's story or their writings has touched a chord, or a nerve. We turn to saints when they start to feel like real people to us because we've had an encounter with them.
For example, I pray to St. Monica for people who have lost their faith because I am inspired by her example. She kept praying for her son, Augustine, even when he was leading a wild, dissolute life. Because of her persistence in prayer, he eventually converted and became one of the Church's greatest saints. She's my hero because her example inspires me.
So I think that we turn to people when they become real to us, as you say your readers feel real to you, and saints only become real when we get to know their stories. If you weren't raised Catholic, it's a good bet you haven't spent much time getting to know many saints. You don't know their stories and didn't grow up with them so they don't feel real.
I don't think one has to turn to saints to be a good Catholic. It's one of those things I used to feel pretty remote from too, feeling more comfortable just talking to God directly. Somehow I've gradually grown into turning to the saints for help in the last few years as other aspects of my prayer life have also grown and deepened.
Your family will be in my prayers.
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