Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Martin Bautista- prayer request

Well, just when I thought I might wait to post again until I could put some thoughts together, someone else's needs are found to be greater than my own. Please read the email I sent to friends this evening.

Friends,

As some of you may know Martin Bautista (son of Mary Ann Bautista) is currently at Phoenix Children’s Hospital with complications from rejection of his kidney transplant that he received when he was 2 yrs old (he is now 15). Right now, no one is certain as to what will happen. Mary Ann is Eli’s aid in her 4th grade CCD class at St. Thomas the Apostle, and of course the family is part of the family here at St. Thomas. Martin attends Veritas Preparatory Academy in Phoenix. Below is the email that Mary Ann sent to Eli this evening:

The "official" pathology report is in, and it doesn't look as good as the initial report. It show acute vascular damage, which we knew, but also moderate cellular damage, which we didn't. The kidney scars in patches, so we don't know if the majority of his kidney is that bad. Only time will tell. As of today all his T cells are gone, so the ATG is doing its job & has stopped the attack. Now we just wait to see what, if any, healing will occur. There still is the potential to heal back to where we were before this began. Either way, we have to revisit the transplant/dialysis concept sooner rather than later. We always knew it was coming, but now it is more of a reality. Please God we will be able to hold a few more years. Either way, we will make it. God is great & takes perfect care of us.
I know that often I come to you with various needs, and tonight is no different. Would you please pray for Martin, and his family, as they endure this trial. I don’t know which prayer is “appropriate” as it were, but we all know that if we offer our prayers to Christ in confidence, that He will present them to His Father, and according to His will, grant them according to His plan.


Please storm Heaven with your prayers, ask Our Lady to intercede on behalf of the entire Bautista Family, and for Martin in particular. Let us ask her to perfect our imperfect prayer, that she will can smooth our rough edges, and present our petitions to her Son, Our Lord, that they be granted.

Your prayers are truly appreciated.

Pax Christi,

Charles

Monday, October 18, 2010

Knocking the dust off

Well, I was inspired to knock the dust off the ol' blog, and see where it might take me.

A lot of things are going on in my life now, way more than I can properly speak of in one posting, so I will likely parse it a few ways. Probably the biggest thing I can think of for now is my ongoing discernment to become a Deacon. I think that if I had told someone 5 years ago that not only would I come back to the Catholic Church, but that I thought I should pursue becoming a member of the ordained clergy of the Church, they would have laughed incessantly. And rightly so. I was hardly living what one could call a holy life; God was someone I thought about in terms of "what has He done for me lately", and precious little did I consider that there might be any alternative but going to Heaven when I die.

All that has changed. I strive each day to be a good father, a good husband, and seek to align my will with God's. I say that I am discerning the diaconate, for it is not certain that I will become a Deacon, least of all in my own mind. And when I see the examples of some very good men that already are members of the diaconate, I wonder what would possess me to even consider such a thing.

This I know: Each time I try to dismiss the idea, a host of reasons are shown to me that I must go down this path, explore it, and trust in God that He will lead me through that which He has lead me to. I know in my heart that I want to serve the Church, and lead others to Christ. In that respect, little else matters. I seek to love my wife and children more each day, to be the man they need me to be, and to provide them with the loving support they need. If I can then align my will with God's then perhaps I might have done some good while here.

Well, I invite you to follow along, make comments if you will, and see where this journey takes me.

May Christ's Peace be with you always,