Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => General Discussion => Topic started by: theresao1965 on January 18, 2017, 02:48:25 PM
-
Pardon my rambling. A lot has been on my mind since Christmas. I know it is supposed to be a time of joy and celebrations...but, I can not help ask simple and hard questions. :confused1: Like--What is life after death? Will I be ready to face that day? How ready am I at any time to face my personal judgment? Can I actually talk to those family members who have 'gone' before me? Will they hear me? There are other more difficult questions...yet, I keep coming back to meditations from Thomas aKempis--book 1, chapters 22-25 for reading. Not your typical Christmas meditations, to be sure. Allow me to explain.
My Christmas was not your typical Christmas. My brother, Steven, had been admitted to the hospital on December 23, 2016 early in the day. He had gone through a round of Chemotherapy for his colon cancer earlier in the week, and his system was not handling it well this time around. They kept him there for observation, and was told he would be "Home" for Christmas day. That was our plan for that morning, so, I left for 8AM Mass, as planned. Afterwards, I had received a message on my cell phone to come home quick--it was Steve, we needed to get to the hospital. I was optimistic, he would be coming home. We (my family and I) arrived around 10AM, but my mom was less than optimistic, from the get go. We went to his room to find him not responsive to anything. Things were dire, the doc told us.His cancer, that he had been diagnosed with earlier that spring 2016, had advanced to stage 4 (we assumed it was stage 2 until Christmas day, if he knew it was that bad, he never said it!)...if he made it through the day, well...it was just a matter of luck and time; he did not have long and not to expect much. By 3:45PM Christmas day, everything went quiet...he had indeed gone "Home", having received the Roman rite Extreme Unction earlier that day, surrounded by prayers and family/friends reminiscing of times gone by. He got to meet the Christ Child, and His lovely Mother, Mary, and his foster Father, St. Joseph, as we celebrated the feast of the Christ Child's Birth. So please keep him in your prayers.
My wish and prayer for all of us: May the good times and treasures of the present become the golden memories of tomorrow. Wishing you lots of love, joy and happiness.
-
:pray:
Sympathies for the loss of your loved one.
You're right, life is a gift and a responsibility. We must use it well.
Approach each day as if it is our last.
Eternal Rest Grant unto him Oh Lord.
-
May Steve, RIP. I'm so sorry for loss. We will pray for you.
Yes. It wakes you up to stop and think why we are really here in Earth....
-
:pray:
Deo Gratias for him receiving the last sacrament!
This sacrament prepares man for glory immediately, since it is given to those who are departing from this life. - St. Thomas Aquinas
-
God be with you and your family during this difficult time.
I often question the effectiveness of Chemo. Seems to kill more people than it saves.
-
I often wonder if a person would live longer without th chemo.
-
My wish and prayer for all of us: May the good times and treasures of the present become the golden memories of tomorrow. Wishing you lots of love, joy and happiness.
i dont know how old your brother was--i think u said he was your brother.. but i always thought it is a blessing to d ie young. The older we get, the more cynical we get, etc
first of all, i pray for him. I have heard Purgatory is where most Christians (real ones) go b4 Heaven, and that it is not fun and it lasts a rather long time.. But of course, better that than..
anyway, yeh, it is sad when anyone dies, but esp when young people die b/c we think what might have been. But on the other hand, they are kept from committing more sins... People do not like to talk about it, but we get weary of being Christian... as the years go on... (not in every way of course.. but--)
-
I, too, question chemo. Quality of life vs. length of life...My grandmom, back in the late 1970s had cancer, and refused chemo because many of the treatments were 'experiemental' and no guarantees--there never is a guaranteed normal existance with chemo, even now--it was worse in the late 1970s. She passed away in 1980 after being diagnosed 2.5 year earlier with breast cancer. My mom, 10 years ago went through chemo, for colon cancer, and is a survivor. I see many cases where chemo saved lives, others where it is toxic and survival is from one treatment to the next. When my brother died at 48 (he is my kid brother!) I seriously and yet kiddingly said, I thought I would go first, being older, albeit a few years. Our mom, who is 75, had to bury her oldest son--that was hard to see. We are comforted by his reception of the sacraments and lots of prayers prior to his passing, but one does stop and think--we are here to render an accounting of all of our talents, in the end. Lots of great meditation peices.
All in all--any suffering he did on earth, he did quietly. Hopefully he is watching out for us in heaven or purgatory. I will commend you all to him, with hopes he watches out for us all! :pray:
-
I, too, question chemo. Quality of life vs. length of life...My grandmom, back in the late 1970s had cancer, and refused chemo because many of the treatments were 'experiemental' and no guarantees--there never is a guaranteed normal existance with chemo, even now--it was worse in the late 1970s. She passed away in 1980 after being diagnosed 2.5 year earlier with breast cancer. My mom, 10 years ago went through chemo, for colon cancer, and is a survivor. I see many cases where chemo saved lives, others where it is toxic and survival is from one treatment to the next. When my brother died at 48 (he is my kid brother!) I seriously and yet kiddingly said, I thought I would go first, being older, albeit a few years. Our mom, who is 75, had to bury her oldest son--that was hard to see. We are comforted by his reception of the sacraments and lots of prayers prior to his passing, but one does stop and think--we are here to render an accounting of all of our talents, in the end. Lots of great meditation peices.
All in all--any suffering he did on earth, he did quietly. Hopefully he is watching out for us in heaven or purgatory. I will commend you all to him, with hopes he watches out for us all! :pray:
My condolences for your loss...
I will pray for you and your family...
:pray: :pray: :pray: