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:

  1. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so glad you like your rats! I knew they would be sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 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...

    ReplyDelete
  4. 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.

    ReplyDelete
  5. 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.

    ReplyDelete

Comments which reflect true Christian charity are always welcome. Comments which attack the Pope, the Church, priests or other bloggers will go in the dustbin, especially if they are anonymous. Thank you and God Bless you!