The Unprofitable Servant: Tuesday Hit and Hurry

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Tuesday Hit and Hurry

Mariano Rivera has an other-worldly arm. He just got his 602nd save for the New York Yankees ( how it pains me to mention that team on my blog). He has 42 of those saves in the post-season. Know who's second? The shaky former closer for the Phils, Brad Lidge with 18 (and in all fairness to Lidge, he's battled injuries Rivera was fortunate to avoid). When I went to Panama on a mission a few years ago, all the Panamanian nurses could talk about was Mariano Rivera. I hear he is completely without ego.

I had to go to a mandatory meeting this afternoon with our VP of nursing and my fellow nurse managers. Suddenly, our VP asked if she could have a minute and then went on to tell us that a close family member was undergoing emergency surgery. Everyone offered her words of comfort but my boss, probably the only non-Catholic in the group, said: "Can we please stop and say a prayer for him?" I was very proud of her, especially since the Holy Name of Jesus was mentioned. I have to have a prayer to open my staff meeting tomorrow, so I thought I'd borrow one from the Book of Common Prayer (because it's easy for me to remember) and doctor it up a bit to tailor it to the workplace.

"Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid, through the inspiration of Your Holy Spirit, may all we do today in service of our patients and one another worthily magnify Your Holy Name. You live and reign forever with Christ Our Lord. Amen"

Hopefully, it will be enough to stave off a revolt when I inform the staff of some changes that are coming and which are long overdue.

The little critters are settling in nicely. I still can't get over the tails. In case I didn't mention it before, they're really long so it's like having a snake and a rodent in one. But they are so sweet. The little white one likes to pull Rebecca's finger into the cage, where she proceeds to groom it. I didn't know it was possible to be licked by a rat, but apparently, it is. It would figure that both our dogs are part rat-terrier. The dachshund is behaving like a vampire around someone with a gaping neck wound. He won't be able to help himself, which is why he is closely monitored and prevented from getting anywhere near the cage. Gigi is more curious than anything but is still not to be trusted. Since she has had at least one litter (before we adopted her) I think she thinks they're puppies.

We have a new priest at the hospital. He really seems to be the salt of the earth. I like that at the prayers of intercession, he places our petitions in the hands of the Virgin Mother and has us pray the Hail Mary. He must be a kind and patient confessor because I notice people coming to him at all hours asking to have their confession heard. He also uses parts of the Roman Canon and while he says them in English, they are clearly the same prayers we pray at the Latin Mass. There's hope after all. Here is one of them, said right before he makes his own Communion.

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Who, by the will of the Father, with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, have by Your death given life to the world, deliver me by this Your Most Sacred Body and Blood from all sins and from every evil. Make me always cling to Your commandments, and never permit me to be separated from You. Who with the same God the Father and the Holy Spirit, live and reign, God, world without end. Amen.

5 comments:

MannySeptember 20, 2011 at 9:04 PM
How it pains me to acknowledge anyone from the Yankees. Living in New York I've seen lots of Mariano. He is incredcible, the absolute best reliver ever hands down. All these championships the Yankees have won in these past fifteen years the major reason is Mariano. He is the player that is the backbone. Frankly he's a good guy too, but I can't wait until he retires...lol.

Sounds like the rats are growing on you...lol.
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Kathy Felsted UsherSeptember 20, 2011 at 9:13 PM
I am so glad you like your rats! I knew they would be sweet.
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DanielSeptember 20, 2011 at 9:38 PM
Joyce, if you don't like the Yankees then you'll be horrified to know that I'm something of a fan of that team. It's something that I have to keep rather hidden from the rest of the Archdiocese of Boston...
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JulieSeptember 21, 2011 at 10:33 AM
For several years I kept two cages of little zebra finches in the family room. The dogs disregarded them, but my springer spaniel would always come and sit quietly beside the cages whenever I fed the birds or cleaned their cages and regard the birds with rapt attention.
One day five years into this peaceful co-existence, I opened the little door of one of the cages a couple of inches and reached in
for the seed hopper. With the lightning speed of a cobra, the springer shot up and inhaled one of the finches. Vacuumed it up. Whoosh! No squawk, no feathers, no crunching of little bones. Just down the hatch in 2 seconds flat.
I was dumbfounded.
Tell Rebecca to never let down her guard.The dachshund is hardwired for varmits.
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TLWSeptember 21, 2011 at 6:02 PM
Manny, I hear ya! At least he's a Yankee and not a NY Met.

Kathy, yes, the tails are not growing on me but they are really sweet.

Daniel, you can be forgiven for that. Believe it or not, I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan, which is a dangerous thing to admit living in Philadelphia.

Julie, I shared your story with my daughter. Your are exactly right about their hard-wiring.
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Mary, Queen of Peace

Ever glorious and blessed Mary, Queen of Virgins, Mother of Mercy, hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls, through that sword of sorrow which pierced thy tender heart whilst thine only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffered death and ignominy on the cross; through that filial tenderness and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief, whilst from His cross He recommended thee to the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John, take pity, I beseech thee, on my poverty and necessities; have compassion on my anxieties and cares; assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries, of every kind whatsoever. Thou art the Mother of Mercies, the sweet comforter and only refuge of the needy and the orphan, of the desolate and afflicted. Cast, therefore, an eye of pity on a miserable, forlorn child of Eve, and hear my prayer; for since, in just punishment of my sins, I find myself encompassed by a multitude of evils, and oppressed with much anguish of spirit, wither can I fly for more secure shelter, O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, than under the wings of thy maternal protection? Attend, therefore, I beseech thee, with an ear of pity and compassion, to my humble and earnest request. I ask it, through the bowels of mercy of thy dear Son; Through that love and condescension wherewith He embraced our nature, when, in compliance with the divine Will, thou gavest thy consent, and whom, after the expiration of nine months thou didst bring forth from the chaste enclosure of thy womb, to visit the world, and bless it with His presence. I ask it, through that anguish of mind wherewith thy beloved Son, our dear Saviour, was overwhelmed on the Mount of Olives, when He besought His eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter chalice of His future passion. I ask it, through the threefold repetition of His prayers in the garden, whence afterwards, with dolorous steps and mournful tears, thou didst accompany Him to the doleful theatre of His death and sufferings. I ask it, through the welts and bruises of His virginal flesh, occasioned by the cords and whips wherewith He was bound and scourged, when stripped of His seamless garment, for which His executioners afterwards cast lots. I ask it, through the scoffs and ignominies by which He was insulted; the false accusations and unjust sentence by which He was condemned to death, and which He bore with heavenly patience. I ask it, through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and resignation; His sadness and grief of heart. I ask it, through the blood which trickled from His royal and Sacred Head, when struck with the sceptre of a reed and pierced with His crown of thorns. I ask it, through the excruciating torments He suffered, when His hands and feet were fastened with gross nails to the tree of the cross. I ask it, through His vehement thirst, and bitter potion of vinegar and gall. I ask it, through His dereliction on the cross when He exclaimed, "My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?" I ask it, through His mercy extended to the good thief, and through His recommending His precious soul and spirit into the hands of His eternal Father before He expired, saying, "It is consummated." I ask it, through the blood mixed with water, which issued from His Sacred Side when pierced with a lance, and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us. I ask it, through His immaculate life, bitter passion and ignominious death on the cross, at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions, by the bursting of rocks, rending of the veil of the Temple, the earthquake, and the darkness of the sun and moon. I ask it, through His descent into hell, where He confronted the Saints of the old law with His presence, and led the captivity captive. I ask it, through His glorious victory over death, when He arose again to life on the third day, and through the joy which His appearance for forty days after gave thee, His blessed Mother, His Apostles, and the rest of His Disciples; when in thine and their presence He miraculously ascended into heaven. I ask it, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, infused into the hearts of His Disciples, when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues, and by which they were inspired with zeal in the conversion of the world, when they went to preach the gospel. I ask it, through the awful appearance of thy Son, at the last dreadful day, when He shall come to judge the living and the dead, and the world, by fire. I ask it, through the compassion He bore thee in His life, and the unspeakable joy thou didst feel at thine assumption into heaven, where thou art eternally absorbed in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O glorious and ever blessed Virgin! comfort the heart of thy supplicant, by obtaining for me, (Mention your prayer intention here...) And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour doth honour thee as His beloved Mother, to whom He refuses nothing, because thou asketh nothing contrary to His honour, so let me speedily experience the efficacy of thy powerful intercession, according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection, and His filial loving heart, who mercifully granteth the requests and complieth with the desires of those that love and fear Him. Wherefore, O most blessed Virgin, beside the object of my present petition, and whatever else I may stand in need of, obtain for me also of thy dear Son, our Lord and our God, a lively faith, firm hope, perfect charity, true contrition of heart, unfeigned tears of compunction, sincere confession, condign satisfaction, abstinence from sin, love of God and my neighbour, contempt of the world, patience to suffer affronts and ignominies, nay, even, if necessary, an opprobrious death itself, for love of thy Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Obtain likewise for me, O sacred Mother of God, perseverance in good works, performance of good resolutions, mortification of self-will, a pious conversation through life, and, at my last moments, strong and sincere repentance, accompanied by such a lively and attentive presence of mind, as may enable me to receive the last Sacrament of the Church worthily, and die in thy friendship and favour. Lastly, obtain through thy Son, I beseech thee, for the souls of my parents, brethren, relatives and benefactors, both living and dead, life everlasting, from the only Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Lord God Almighty, to Whom be all power now and forever. Amen.

Prayer of St. Bonaventure

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee.
Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste.
May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God;
may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of Thy name, with humility and discretion, with love and delight, with ease and affection, with perseverance to the end; and be Thou alone ever my hope, my entire confidence, my riches, my delight, my pleasure, my joy, my rest and tranquility, my peace, my sweetness, my food, my refreshment, my refuge, my help, my wisdom, my portion, my possession, my treasure; in Whom may my mind and my heart be ever fixed and firm and rooted immovably. Amen.

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The Unprofitable Servant

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Tuesday Hit and Hurry

5 comments:

Mary, Queen of Peace

St Michael the Archangel

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

St. Teresa Benedicta of The Cross