Mass Intentions; Letters to Our Blessed Mother.

I had one busy day today. I went to two different hospitals (one to renew my health insurance, the other to visit my dad), I had to take care of dad's car insurance, and then we went to the parish I've grown up attending. I haven't been there since a little before dad got sick, choosing to go to the nearby parish instead. It was because it was easier and closer to home. I've missed going to my parish so we decided to make the trip out there, even if it's on the bus. While we were there we decided to add a few Mass intentions to their list. This Saturday, July 4th (at 7 a.m.; no, I don't mind that I have to get up super early for it), there will be one for Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Though we have not see the miracle we'd like, to see dad completely healed, I feel in my heart that he's already interceded for us in another way. Since I started praying and asking for his intercession, my parents and I have been a lot more at peace with everything. Not to say we're more apathetic to everything that's going on... but it seems like we've all accepted that whatever happens is God's will and we're all okay with that. I've always said that but now my parents and family members have also begun to say it. The fact that we're all united, that everyone is praying more, that we're closer to God, and that we've all somehow found strength within ourselves might just be the miracle we were looking for. Either way, I wanted a Mass dedicated in honor of the memory of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and I chose it on July 4th because that's his day.

The next day we have two back-to-back Masses to attend. The first is in English (at 9 a.m.) and the Mass intention is in the memory of my older brother, Moises, who passed away before I was born. He was only 11 months old when he died and I'm sorry I never got to know him. The second Mass, in Spanish (at 10:30 a.m.), will be for my dad's health -- he started going downhill, fast, again today :( -- and for Our Lady of Guadalupe. I do not mind that I have 3 Masses to attend in 2 days. In fact, if I could attend Mass every day, I totally would. :) Oh, and I've been asked to keep some of y'all updated on the Masses so if anyone's in the San Fernando Valley or are in the L.A. area and are willing to make the trek out here for any of the Masses, please let me know and I'll tell you at which parish they are taking place at. :)

I'm about to go start a new notebook full of letters to Our Blessed Mother, but before I do I should explain what exactly that is. A year ago I started writing letters to Our Blessed Mother. It began, prior to my starting the novel, as a way to get everything off my chest. Though I'm open with my close friends, I don't disclose everything because I'm somewhat of a private person when it comes to certain things. Because of this, I've kept a lot bottled up. When I was going through a particularly bad experience last year, I decided to write out what I was feeling -- good and/or bad. I haven't written in a couple of weeks but I'm in the triple digits. Since I feel like that chapter of my life is close (I've interesting to see how much you've gone through in a year), I decided to start a new one. With everything that's going on with dad, as well as my personal life, it's time to start writing again. I know it may be weird but it's the best way I can deal with everything. I've been encouraged to turn the letters into a book but I couldn't do it. It's far too personal. On it are things that no living person knows about and I'd like to keep it like that for an extremely long time, thankyouverymuch. lol.

Okay, so, as I said, I am going to do that now that I'm in a very contemplative mood. Listening to Gregorian Chant music will do that to you. :D Oh, and, again, if you're interested in coming to one of the Masses, email me and let me know... or, if you're a person I know in RL, then just text or call me and I'll give you the details. :D

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :)

XT3 (Something about Mary) Podcast Link

I keep getting reminded that I haven't posted the link of the mini podcast I did about the Blessed Virgin Mary on XT3. I've always felt very connected to the Blessed Virgin Mary. I was born in Los Angeles (a city named after her), in the month of May (her month). I was baptized and did first communion in churches named after her. I also got into the habit of keeping a sort of diary which contains letter I've written to her when I've gone through something major in my life. Is that weird? Probably. lol. You can hear what I had to say about her here. I think I sound like a major dork, but I was nervous when I did it so... yeah. Please forgive me. lol.

Okay, now I am off to confessions. :D Thanks for reading and God Bless. :).

P.S. Next entry I'll write about the dream I had last night -- which featured Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati making me laugh. lol.

Quick, and Pretty Happy, Dad Update.

*Note: Started this on June 24, finished on June 26*

I have to write this pretty quick because I am making rice pilaf and it's currently simmering on the stove...

So, good news and a little bit of not so good news. As always, first the bad. Dad's digestive system is starting to fail so they've stopped the feeding. He's now receiving his nutrients through IV. Despite that, he's in better spirits. Also, Medicare and MediCal (who I am often fighting with over the phone) have informed us that they will no longer pay his hospital bills. Better news: Yesterday he was alert and well. No longer semi-conscious. It has been the best I've seen him look in a really long time.

Continued: June 26.
Why is that I always write when I'm cooking? lol. Random. Anyway... Well, dad keeps looking better and better though the doctors are giving us really a really grim prognosis. At first they said 2 weeks to 2 months, now they are saying a month to two left to live... but, as both his doctors have said, it's really up to God. I'm still holding out for that miracle. He is doing better, though. Everyone who has seen him over the past week or so can notice a huge improvement. Mom's expecting for us to see him well and then have his health take a sharp decline. I'm not. I'm expecting him to get better.

He's been very alert, slowing regaining his strength. He's walked a little and has been able to sit up, granted in a wheelchair, by himself for a couple of hours. How to know dad's feeling like himself again: He'll tell you you're doing something wrong and then try to correct it himself. lol. Dad's funny that way. :) He's been slowly working himself up to light (semi-solid) food again, too.

I'm not currently at the hospital because they might take him elsewhere and we're waiting until we're sure. As I said a couple of days ago, Medicare and MediCal are refusing to keep paying for his hospital stay so we had to decide to take him either to a hospice or a convalescent hospital (a.k.a. nursing home). We decided on the convalescent hospital for two reasons: 1) if we took him of the hospice, they'd slowly start taking his meds away and we'd only have him for 48-72 hours before he passed, and 2) my mom works at a convalescent hospital so if we take him there (which we will), she'll be able to keep an eye on him. Mom won't be his nurse but she knows who will be. Mom's worked there since before I was born (they've watched me grow up) so they'll take good care of dad there. :) We're hoping he'll just continue to get better and better there.

With Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's day coming up on July 4th, we're all stepping up in the prayer department. Dad won't let anyone take the prayer card I gave him of Blessed Pier Giorgio away from him. :) I'm going to see if I can have a priest go visit dad this weekend. Don't know if he'd be able to receive the Eucharist (doctors don't want him to eat anything) but it'd still be nice for dad to get Fr. Juan to chat with him again. :)

AH! That reminds me... I'm that much closer to getting my mom back to the Church -- to confess and receive the Eucharist. :D A few days ago when dad was in bad shape, I was started saying a prayer and something popped up in my mind while I was praying... "Ask mom if she'd promise to marry dad through the Church if Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati does this miracle for us." (They only have a civil ceremony and are currently only legally married.) So I talked to her and for the first time since I can remember, she agreed! Again, it's taken me years to try to convince her of this. It made me think that, if dad survives this, maybe what we're going through was something that needed to happen for us to get closer to God. If not, well, we're already closer than we were, which is fantastic. Either way, I'm praying even harder for that miracle because that would be another dream come true for me -- to have both of my parents back at Church and married through it, the way it's supposed to be. That would make my entire year. We'll see. :)

Okay, I need to get back to cooking, cleaning, and then working on the novel... all while I wait to hear whether I can go see dad today or if I have to wait a bit longer for them to decide whether they'll take him today or tomorrow. :)

Thank you all for your continued prayers and for occasionally checking on me through twitter. I greatly appreciate it. :) As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D

P.S. I'll hopefully write something else, besides updates on my dad, next time. :)

Dad Updates, From My Point of View.

Two pictures of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one of St. Jude, and the one I added of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati are on the erase board in front of my father's hospital bed so that he can look at them when he's conscious and alert. I also have a picture of dad with a picture of Blessed Pier Giorgio on his side but, due to respect for my family, I will keep that one private... until, and in case, we get that miracle we're praying for and we need some sort of photographic evidence.

I've been asked by many people to give an update, so here I am. I will actually go to the hospital right after I finish this... and will attempt to sneak into my dad's room.

Dad is on a roller coaster right now. No, not literally. A few days ago, he got so sick that we were told to start making funeral arrangements because he wouldn't make it past the weekend. It's been decided that I am having the final say on where dad will be buried (when the time comes) and what we're going to do because I took care of him and because I've lived the longest with him (not counting my mom, of course). I've decided to keep him in L.A. with us instead of having him taken back to Mexico for personal reason. I assure y'all it wasn't for purely selfish reasons. I took everything into consideration before I decided. We've talked about keeping the three of us (dad, mom, and I) together and that's what we're going to do. He's made it past the weekend... but now they're only giving him 2 more months to live. I won't listen to the estimates though, because only God truly knows when each of us will go. No living human being can tell us how much longer we have. We just have to trust that we will go when God wants us.

Everyone has began falling apart... including myself, though I think, and hope, that I've stayed stronger than they give me credit for. My mom started questioning God for "doing this", but I've talked to her about it so she's no longer doing it. If there's one (or two) thing I haven't done, is give up on dad and keeping my faith close to me. While everyone is pessimistic and thinking the worse, I'm staying optimistic and thanking God for keeping us all intact thus far.

All of my brothers and my sister are here (dad has 6 children; I'm the youngest) and it made my father VERY happy when he saw all 6 of us together, in his hospital room. (We went two-three days without the security kicking us out for having 8+ people in his room). Though he's only half conscious most of the time, he'll ask where one of us is while keeping his eyes closed. Since two really mean nurses (nasty women) reported us for "creating problems" in my dad's room, we've had to take turns seeing dad. (I heard one of them laughing when security was called. If I wasn't trying to continue acting like a lady, I would've given her a piece of my mind.) Yesterday was really hard for me because I was the last one to see him. Reason for that is because on Saturday I ended up at another hospital, in the E.R., for burning, stabbing chest pains. It ended up being a case of bad heartburn with a little anxiety/stress. Since then, they're limiting my time at the hospital. My brothers are leaving today (only my sister is staying with us for another week), so I'll have better luck in seeing him longer tomorrow. Still, I know I have to get out more (both doctor's and family's orders) because the visits are actually making me feel worse. I feel very weak and fatigued the mornings following the visits. The longer I am at the hospital, the worse I feel the next morning. I've already let my friends know I will need them to come watch a movie, or to help me get out of the house once in a while so I don't get worse. It makes me feel guilty... like I'm selfish and uncaring... for doing this but deep down I know it's the right thing to do. I won't be of much use if I get sick too.

I've prayed the Rosary and Chaplet of the Divine Mercy at his bedside a couple of times... but the last few times I've tried, I've gotten chest pains so I haven't anymore. We still pray, though. At any given moment, you will see at least one person praying in dad's room. Yesterday, mom, my sister Ana, and I were all praying different things... along with dad. Dad began singing hymns and praying at the top of his lungs yesterday morning. No one knows why, but he did... and it's actually beautiful. The fact that he does is half consciously is just another way of showing us that God is with us. In fact, the nurse told me that when they asked him why he did that (when he was more alert) he said that he did it because he felt that God was with him, and that that made him very happy. I keep asking Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati for his intercession.

Did I mention that on Friday (the feast day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) we found the prayer card of Blessed Pier Giorgio on the table next to my dad's bed? It was literally a foot away. No one knows how it got there, either, because we were the first ones to go in in the morning. I'm not jumping to conclusions, though. Whoever put it there... THANK YOU. Every since I asked Blessed Pier Giorgio for a sign -- that either dad will be okay or that we'll be okay -- I've felt nothing but peacefulness and happiness. I don't know if it's just wishful thinking or what, but I have a feeling we'll see a miracle -- again, either in dad or in the family. I think that my faith in God, the Church, and in miracles is so strong that it's what keeps me going without becoming a complete mess. If anything happens, I at least have the consolation that dad will go without any sins on his conscience. I am sincerely thankful that he was able to confess and receive the Eucharist shortly before his health began to decline. That's all I wanted and all I worked for those years I tried to convince him, and prayed for him, to come back to the Church.

SKIP THIS NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ THE DETAILED MEDICAL EXPLANATIONS:
Oh, like, some of you want the specifics on what's wrong. Doctor's told us this morning that his liver is 30-40% badly damaged, which is why they've been doing dialysis on him - to clean his blood. Since my dad has been stable and responding well, there's a chance it will get better. His lungs aren't affected as they originally thought. Also, the yellow in his skin and eyes (which we thought was jaundice) has begun disappearing because what was causing it, the bile, was getting blocked. They did an operation and have fixed that. His kidneys are practically shot, too... though we can always hope and pray that we'll see a miracle occur.

That's it for now. It's getting late and I'd like to see dad before visiting hours are over. Thank you all who have been asking Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati for his intercession (I believe he needs one more miracle to be officially declared a saint; I'm hoping we personally see this miracle happen), and for your continued prayers for dad and for my family. They are greatly appreciated from the bottom of my heart. And a special, THANK YOU to my friends who have been there for me and have checked up on me and dad on a daily basis. I love you all! :)

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless.

All We Can Do is Pray...

At this moment, my dad is in the hospital. Last night, after my new best friends (please, note the sarcasm), the Evangelicals, stopped by and prayed for my dad (again), dad asked us to please take him to the Emergency Room because he didn't think he would make it past the night if he stayed at home. I ended up having to stay home, though I wanted to go, because I'm the only one that can remain calm in these situations... and I had the task of notifying family members. We have a BIG family. Mom went to visit him again this morning and I had to stay home, yet again, but this time because I'm sick. I feel a little weak and fatigued so it was decided that I would stay at home, rest, and eat lentil soup (iron is good, so much lentil soup not so good after a while). I've also been fielding calls from my sister, cousins, family friends, etc.

So, I have good news and bad news. First, the bad news... Dad is so dehydrated and he's been sick for so long that his kidneys and stomach have now been affected. *deep breath* He's been losing a lot of blood as well (though I'll spare y'all the details) and mom had to sign a waiver saying that it was okay to allow them to give/add (I don't know the exact terminology) blood into his system. To be quite honest, it's not looking good.

The good news is that dad is now in good hands. His doctor is on top of things. They're controlling everything that's coming up. Dad's a fighter, too. I am sure I will cry as I write this but... my dad has said that he's going to fight this because of me. He said that he considers me his only child because I've been the only one that's been on top of everything and have been helping take care of him. It means a lot that he said that, and it makes me want to be that much stronger for him. Of course, I can't do that when I'm a puddle of tears, but I try. :) I'm grateful that my sister and brothers have FINALLY started reaching out to dad. My brothers are coming up on Saturday to see dad. I don't know if my sister's coming, seeing as she lives on the East coast, but I hope she does. Cousins have come down to L.A. today and we're expecting more tomorrow and for the next couple of days. I'm happy that the family is coming together.

It's a time like this that we're figuring out who our true friends are, too. I've had wonderful friends who call, text message, email, etc. just making sure we're okay and that we know that they're here for us. Then I have friends who are distancing themselves from me -- one of them is doing it out of jealousy. It's completely inappropriate at a time like this, but what can I do? Negativity will NOT affect me at this point. I'm completely shut off from the negative. I don't have time for it. I'm just praying for them.

I hate asking for prayers for my dad, but it's the only thing I can think of doing for him. I feel completely useless except when I'm praying for him. Anyways, he had tests done today so we'll know the extent of his illness probably tomorrow or the day after. I'm going to stay with him tomorrow morning through afternoon while mom works. At this point, I'm just asking for prayers that if, he's meant to get better, that the Lord gives him strength to endure this. If the Lord has other plans for him, then I'm praying that He gives us the strength to get through this. I won't give up hope for a miracle, though. I'm still asking Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati for his intercession -- mom's still asking Pope John Paul II for his intercession. All we can do right now is pray... just hold onto our faith, and pray.

That's all for now. Sorry it's such a downer. I just blog about this because it's easier to let everyone know this way and it's therapeutic. Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for us; it really means a lot to us.

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :)
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It's (Spiritual) War!

If you are following me on twitter, then you probably saw my angry tweets about disrespected in my own home, a couple of hours ago. Many of you had no idea what I was writing about, so I'll tell you. I engaged in somewhat of a spiritual war.

So what exactly happened? Well, it all started when a friend of my mother's mentioned that there were these people, who were not Catholic, who would want to pray for my father in hopes that he gets better. I had no problem with it because, though they aren't of the same religion, who am I to say "No, you can't pray for my father because you're not Catholic."? That would be dumb. If you want to pray, pray. I have friends who are Jewish, Baptists, Protestants, agnostic, etc. and I pray for them, especially when they ask me to. I have no issues with other religions... as long as the people don't trash mine. So, I cleaned up the house and was determined to be a good host. I was in a great mood... until the house guests arrived.

From the minute they set foot in the house, I had a really bad feeling. I tried to shake it off and was cordial when I greeted them. It all started off good, I didn't even say anything when they brought out their Bibles and started "preaching" to us. I am secure enough in my faith that I can listen to others without betraying my own beliefs. Then one of the men started talking about how much he loved his Catholic "brethren" but how we were all misguided and how our religion was a bunch of trash because we "don't really know what the Bible says" and because we "don't know what God's true purpose is for us or for Himself." Evangelist say WHAT?! He had the audacity to come into a Catholic household (and he knew it was Catholic coming in) and then trash our religion. The guy did it to our faces, especially mine, too. Are you flippin' kidding me? If I didn't have self-control and if I wasn't trying, really hard, to continue acting like a lady, I would've given the guy a piece of my mind. So I just stayed quiet, though tweeting at this time, out of respect for my parents. Then he asked my father if he accepted Jesus Christ into his life. My dad, trying to be polite, just nodded. I could understand his apprehension, being Catholic. Then the other guy, his son, started talking about how we were going to hell if we did not accept Jesus in our lives -- according to their beliefs. He used me as an example of someone not accepting God in my life, and therefore, if I'm in a car accident, I won't be saved and I'll be spending eternity in hell. "Oh HECK no!!!!" I thought to myself. That's when the really heavy feeling I had in my chest felt unbearable.

They made my father cry... which made my mother cry. I did not cry. I was too angry to feel anything else. I went off to my room where I thought I was going to have a full blown panic attack. I didn't, thank goodness, but it certainly felt that way. As I said when I started re-telling the ordeal, I had a bad feeling as soon as they got there and that bad feeling felt more and more like a giant elephant was sitting on my chest... and had started to gain weight. I began to pray. That's what I do when I feel angry. I'm usually very mellow and I take things very well but these people pushed all the wrong buttons. It was like the whole situation where my classmate called God a *bleep* in English Lit last Fall semester -- times ten. These guys are lucky that I hate drama, and that I don't want to disrespect my parents by being rude to their guests, 'cause "feisty Emmy" would've come out and I'm very blunt when I'm that upset. I would've used my words carefully but I would've verbally kicked their butts out of my house.

So, as I said, I went into my room, closed the door and began to pray. Mom came into the room twice but I purposely kept myself in prayer because I didn't want to snap at anyone, especially my own mother. The second time she came in, I was kneeling down, under a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe (the same one that's been with me since I was a little girl) and I was saying "Please, help me calm down. If these people mean no harm, please make me understand that." I guess my mom mentioned that I was praying, and was in the middle of an "Our Father", when the guy apparently took my parents and started praying over them. And it wasn't quiet... it was yelling. He was screaming, probably at my mother, to hold on to him and to not let go of him or God... blah, blah, blah. Look, I appreciate you wanting to pray for my daddy but you will NOT disrespect me in my own home, and then yell at the top of your lungs about how my father's illness should get out of his body (and something about burning)... etc, while I'm trying to pray. Grrr. I started getting dressed up, while still saying "Our Fathers" and "Hail Marys" out loud, trying to drown out the man's yelling, and got ready to leave as soon as they were done. I had the strongest desire to get out of the house asap. I felt like I was trapped. It was horrible. I began asking St. Benedict of Nursia and St. Michael Archangel to get these people out of my house if what they were doing was not good. Soon after that, I heard them starting to leave. After I got upset at my mother for coming into my room and taking money TO PAY THEM, I grabbed my things and I left, telling my parents that I was going out and that I would be coming back "in a little while."

I walked (according to google maps) 0.9 miles, in a rush, to the nearest Catholic Church. I love walking (seriously, just call me Elizabeth Bennett) and I figured that it would help me clear my mind and lower down the unhappy camper feeling I had. I don't like being angry. I loathe it as as I hate lying. Just, ugh. When I got to the parish, I was feeling a bit better. I went to confession and talked to Fr. Peter for a little bit. That alone made me feel a million times better. I prayed a bit before coming back home, and walked that 0.9 miles back home. Though the people are gone, my parents are not happy with me AND there's a weird tension in the house which stinks. These people offended me, made my parents cry, did things short of trying to convert us to their religion, AND left a mess in the house. My feelings are being hurt but, eh, I'm used to that so I can deal with it. Not being able to have the same dynamics with my parents... that I have an issue with. I pray that all the weirdness disappears soon.

After all the effort I've done for my dad... helping him come back to the Church, asking Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati for his intercession, countless prayers and Rosaries said for my dad during his most difficult moments, etc... having him feel angry at me for not being happy about what happened with those people, and not accepting what they did to him, feels like a giant slap in my face. I'm sure that's not correct but that's what I feel. Regardless, I will continue to pray for my dad and do everything I can for him... because he's my dad and, no matter how crummy he treats me, I love him and I want him to feel better. And, considering that he is NOT going to get chemotherapy, he's going to stick it out and let the Lord take him when He wants, I'm going to have to put all differences aside.

If this all seemed like one big rant, I'm sorry. I was just trying to explain things fully to those of you who asked me what was going on. I hope now you understand why I felt the way I did.

I promise that the next blog will be much chipper and less "arghdghjg". :D I'm blessed with the ability to forgive and forget quite easily... and it's rare when I'm upset for longer than a little while. :) Thanks to all those who prayed for my during this "spiritual war" I had going on.

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :)

Ask and You Shall Receive...

I just finished hour 6 of the Power Novena of Childlike Confidence (a.k.a. the 9 Hour Novena to the Infant Jesus of Prague) and the words "ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find..." have really struck a chord with me... especially after my week-long mini-vacation from Twitter and Facebook.

I did exactly as I said I would during my break; I prayed. I prayed that I would receive the answers I was looking for, or at least a sign so that I knew that I was doing the right thing. What I did not expect was getting answers to questions I didn't even think of asking. I had a lot of serendipitous moments that made me re-think some of the decisions I'd previously made. Most of it, ironically, happened at a time when I was doing something important -- registering for my Fall semester classes.

I was all set to attend Mount St. Mary's College (in Brentwood/L.A.) this Fall. I love that school (the professors, the people, the campus, etc.) and I was prepared to take on the loans... as long as I wouldn't be there for more than 2 years. Even with my scholarships and grants, I'm looking at a $23,000+ loan PER YEAR. Anyway, I went to enroll in my courses but we hit a snag. It turns out that they were only offering ONE course that I needed for the Fall semester... and the rest of the classes I did not need and would be, basically, a waste of time and money for me. Since I haven't finished my lower division requirements for my major (just the G.E. requirements) I'd have to wait to enroll in upper division courses for another year or so. That would mean I'd be at that school at least another year and a half. I would be at least $75,000 in debt by the time I would graduate. Uh... yeah, no. lol. So now, I will finish as many lower division Religious Studies and Creative Writing major requirements I can find at community colleges. I am already enrolled at courses at three different schools in order to achieve this. I will wait, yet another year, to transfer elsewhere. And, also, the money I've been saving is going to my parents for Dad's medical expenses which makes me VERY happy!

As you could see in the picture (and you can click on it to make it bigger), it was POURING that day I went. Since we got there early, I decided to sit in a bench, away from the rain, facing the chapel and Mary statue. As I sat there, thinking of how much I love watching it rain and how I hoped St. Medard (patron saint of good weather/against bad weather) would help us not get drenched on our way back home, everything just came to me. I knew what I had to do about some friendship problems I encountered last week. I knew what I needed to do about other things I was worried about/needed answers to. It was a definite "Ah, Eureka!" moment. I also had a dream, which I told a friend about, featuring the late Pope John Paul II (wearing all white) giving me his blessing, and also hope, so that pretty much made my break worth my lack of social interaction. I am at peace. I feel like myself again. Life is wonderful. :)

Oh... if there are some of you who are doing me the favor of asking either Pope John Paul II or Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati for their intercessions for my dad, THANK YOU. Dad's looking better... and he's excited because some of the yellow in his fingernails is somehow going away and returning to it's pink color. Also, I've noticed that his skin isn't as yellow as it was earlier. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I think our prayers are slowly being answered. I asked Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati to intercede for my dad, some he could retain his food, this morning and dad has been able to, all day, for the first time in weeks.

Hour 7 of the Novena is coming up soon so I'll wrap it up. I'm also asking St. Timothy (patron saint of stomach and intestinal problems) to intercede for me because I've had some sort of bug for almost two weeks and I've already lost a bit of weight. One more pound and I'll be considered underweight. (I'm 5'7" and currently 123 lbs... and I prefer to be 125-130 to be within a healthy range; I'm usually about 128 thanks to fast metabolism. I <3 food. lol.) Doctor says it's a combination of not being able to keep food in my stomach because of stress and the virus. Fingers crossed that the Infant Jesus of Prague and St. Timothy will answer my prayers. No, I KNOW they will; my prayers to them have never gone unanswered. :)

Alright, that's enough rambling out of me for now. I have the 9 Hour Novena to say in a minute AND I'm also continuing the Sacred Heart of Jesus novena I'm praying for a friend. I will try to update more frequently, and will probably be able to now that school it out... *singing* for summer! lol. As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :)
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Final Exams; Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's Intercession; And... Break!

First post as a 24 year-old. I actually do feel different (and I have to mention this because I've been asked) but I'm not entirely sure it's in a good way. I've been going through a sort of funk lately. I feel disjointed... not at all like myself. I haven't been acting very like myself, either. It's hard with everything that's going on. I've tried staying very optimistic but there are people who just LOVE to rain on my parade. One minute I'm okay, joking and acting normal (well, normal for me), and the next I'm completely bummed out because someone has to dampen my spirits. The whole thing has me on a roller coaster of emotions, which I hate. It's completely unhealthy, which is why I'm going to take a mini-vacation starting tonight. More on that later.

For everyone who is beginning their finals or about to take them, I say GOOD LUCK to y'all. I just did my English final this morning. We were supposed to do it next Monday and the professor acknowledged that she messed up the dates but she still made us get up early and do the final nearly a week early. A lot of my fellow classmates were on the verge of ganging up on her. I'm pretty sure she heard me say that we should protest. lol. Well, that's one less final I have to worry about. I have my final Speech assignment due tonight. My Philosophy of World Religions course (which, as I wrote for my final assignment, made me extremely proud to be Roman Catholic -- I'm in the right religion. lol) is having the final on Friday. My final exam will be for my Philosophy of Ethics course and that's next Monday. I will then hand in my pro-life/anti-abortion research paper. I combined the speech I wrote earlier in the semester against abortion and I added more things to it -- including snippets from mini interviews I did with various people. I'm very proud of it. :D It's too long to post it on here but I might add snippets of it at a later date. And for those of you who need an extra something... you can always pray for the intercession of St. Joseph of Cupertino (patron saint of exam takers; students) and St. Thomas Aquinas. Go again and click the link, it has the prayers you need. :D

Now onto something I'm going to ask y'all to help me out with. As I've written before, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati has had a great, positive impact on me. Today (actually, at 5 P.M. PST), his niece, Wanda Gawronska, and the founder of FrassatiUSA, Christine Wohar, will be speaking on him on EWTN Live. Uh, I'm so watching it. lol. I still have the book reviews on the books his sister has written which I hope to post as soon as I finish my finals. So what exactly do I need help with? Well, I've decided to ask for Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati's intercession for my father. If we get the miracle, I am willing to report it and further the cause for his canonization. I've been thinking about it for some time now and something finally clicked to do it. So, if y'all can please help me out by praying for his intercession, I'd greatly appreciate it. The doctors are giving dad 8-9 months to live... and that's without the chemotherapy which they are delaying way too much. (I'm currently in a fight with them over the chemo which they are refusing to give him.) I just want my dad to be around long enough to walk me down the aisle when I get married (someday in the future...). If you're in, please let me know.

Alright, I think that's enough for now. Going back to my mini-vacation thing... except for online exams and assignments I have to do, I will be M.I.A. from the 'net. Sometimes I say that but then come back 2-3 days later. Not this time. I am serious about praying for dad so I am going to remove me from the online world (as well as giving up a few things I love for a couple of months) and just dedicating myself to prayer and reflection for the next week. I also need re-evaluate a couple of things (and friendships) in my life. I'm going to make the most of this time... and I'll be able to since I'm ready for my exams and therefore unstressed. I'll be back next Wednesday.

So, that's it. I'm going to go watch the Daily Mass and then Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati special on EWTN. :D As always, thanks for reading and God Bless. :D
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