Sensational Haiku Wednesday: Comfort

He wrote the order

for comfort measures only.

Death was imminent.

Compassionate care;

Alleviating the pain.

we wait and we pray.

Divine Mercy prayed

with complete and utter faith
for a peaceful death.


"Eternal father,

In Whom mercy is endless,

look kindly on us!"

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Next weeks theme: FREESTYLE

Weekend Rerun/Sacred Sunday All in One!

I am busy this weekend with all sorts of bustling activities from Daughter's Confirmation, entertaining out of town guests and gearing up for a Carolina Panther game. Please enjoy this post, originally submitted on January 3, 2009

My work gives me the opportunity to be there, for my patients, from their moment of birth, to their dying breath and all points in between. When there is a particular struggle, this is my go to prayer (optional prayer from the Divine Mercy Chaplet):

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible,

look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us,

that in difficult moments we might not despair

nor become despondent,

but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will,

which is Love and Mercy itself.

What a powerful prayer. Jesus said to St. Faustina, a young Polish nun whose visions led to the Divine Mercy devotion: "....When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person not as the just judge but as the Merciful Savior".

Favorite Prayer

My work gives me the opportunity to be there, for my patients, from their moment of birth, to their dying breath and all points in between. When there is a particular struggle, this is my go to prayer (optional prayer from the Divine Mercy Chaplet):

Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion — inexhaustible,

look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us,

that in difficult moments we might not despair

nor become despondent,

but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will,

which is Love and Mercy itself.

What a powerful prayer. Jesus said to St. Faustina, a young Polish nun whose visions led to the Divine Mercy devotion: "....When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person not as the just judge but as the Merciful Savior".

Running for the Glory of God!

I came across a wonderful article this morning at http://catholicexchange.com/ by Jimmie A. Davis, Jr. titled Running is About More than Winning. This gentleman began running about the same time I did...8 years ago. (Although I have not been consistant with my training until recently). He writes about how, when he began running, it was for personal glory: to get in shape, to look and feel better, to compete in races and to relieve stress. After a conversion experience several years ago he now runs, still to keep in shape, compete in races and as a stress relief but instead of for personal glory, he runs for the glory of God. (His complete article can be accessed here: http://catholicexchange.com/2009/01/02/115056/ )


This is exactly what I began doing about 6 months ago. I put away my MP3 player and used my runs as time for prayer and meditation. Each run started with the Rosary, asking for Our Blessed Mother's intercession on a myriad of issues. I worked hard to fully meditate upon each and every mystery of the most Holy Rosary. If I was through with the Rosary and found that I still had distance to go, I would do the same with the Divine Mercy prayers. I found that my distance and my time improved significantly. Once I was able to get out of the mindset of personal satisfaction and pride to pleasing and honoring the Lord instead, I found a peaceful joy in my heart.


When I ran the Turkey Trot, this past November, I continued with this practice of meditating upon the Rosary. I was truly surprised when the finish line approached for it had seemed the race had only begun! How truly glorious this experience was!


I thank Jimmie A. Davis, Jr. for putting into words (much better than I) how one is changed for the better when one switches his/her mindset from personal pride to pleasing and honoring our sweet and precious Lord.


For more information on the Rosary, please visit: http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/rosary/


For more information on the Divine Mercy Chaplet, please visit: http://thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/praythechaplet.php