I decided to visit my nephew Mario this past Friday.

Norco Rehabilitation Center is a little less than a half-hour from my home so I decided to make an unplanned visit.  I arrived at 10:15 a.m. for a 12:00 noon visit. You do not have to make an appointment, just show up voila’ you’re in. I was greatly mistaken! There were already about 20 people ahead of me and, for the most part, they had appointments.

Since I consider myself  an expert small-talker, I struck up a conversation with two women ahead of me. One tall black lady with the most beautiful smile was sharing how she learned the hard way about the strict dress code for visitors. “No way, I wasn’t taking any chances this time.” She wore a long, gray dress with the words “Black and Smart” written over her chest area. Another lady arrived; she had flown in from Idaho to visit with her son. She was nervous because she forgot to wear her sports bra. Not me, I made a special effort to invest in a wireless bra.

The Bra

“As long as the bra is wireless, you should be fine,” I counseled her. She replied that she was wearing a wireless bra but with metal hooks. Again, I assured her that she was fine.  After all, this was not my first rodeo.

When the officers started to check in the visitors, two women with heavy Indian accents did not pass the magic wand test (metal detectors). They were  instructed to go to the infamous shed to purchase sports bras. Believe it or not, the prison provides sports bra dispensers! I kept a watchful eye on them and felt their pain for being delayed in their visit. Thank God I was in a better prepared state of mind.

The two women came back to announce that the dispenser was not taking their money. Turns out that these sports bras are bartered with one-dollar bills. They turned to the officers and said, “Now what! We came all the way from Poway, what are we to do?” The officer smugly looked at them and  told them to go to Target. I was quickly checked in, but because I had forgotten Mario’s booking number, I had to wait for all the other people who had appointments to go ahead of me.

Then I did the most stupid thing ever! I went to the officer and asked her if my wireless bra was permitted. “Not if it has metal hooks,” she answered. By this time 25 more people  needed to be cleared for their visits, so I decided to take a run to Target to avoid the red tape of the bra bureaucracy. The two Indian women offered me a ride to Target, but I was not about to get in a car with two strangers with whom I had only one thing in common: stupid bras!

Target

I have been boycotting Target for over a year, but in this case I made an exception. I ran in and picked out a sky blue sports bra, used the self-checkout, then ran back to the dressing room to change. When I put it on, it had some type of coffee stain spatters! In the meantime Mario called me because I was so delayed. I reassured him that I was on my way. By the time I arrived back at the prison, I was the only one left to be processed.

Two Young Men

Maybe it’s not my business, but I noticed two young men who arrived in a Tesla. I, too, was driving my husband’s Tesla, so perhaps that was why I was all up in their business. More on them later.

The Visit

Mario was already sitting at bench 34 when I arrived. An inmate wearing an orange mess vest came up to me and said, “I’m Mario’s friend Turkey, let me help you.” I was flustered because there was only one fried chicken left and the machine was not taking my one-dollar bills; the chicken cost $20. This is one of the reasons I came back – for the chicken! It’s delicious!

Mario introduced his friend “Turkey”; he is from Istanbul. I have visited Turkey four times, so we had a wonderful chat about his homeland. Turkey had already reserved a Catholic Bible for us, so we immediately got into the Word of God. Mario shared that he attends three weekly Christian services. Of course that made my heart glad.

The Wisdom of Ben Sira  (New American Bible)

We read from the Wisdom of Ben Sira. This is one of the “wisdom” books that Martin Luther decided to removed from the Protestant Bible! This is one of my favorite books, also referred to as Sirach (in other Catholic bibles).  I was pleasantly surprised when I read this verse:

I love being surrounded by historic Catholic saints. They are a powerful resource helping us to become better Christians.

Saints are our heavenly example of how we should live our lives. To put it simply, we Catholics ask for their intercession. The great divide is this: Protestants believe we pray to them. We do not! We know who our Lord and Savior is, and we pray to Him directly.

Saint Jude Thaddeus

So who is St. Jude? And why is he one of the most popular saints in Catholic history? He is the apostle of the impossible. This is the saint you invoke when there is no hope.

He was a first cousin of Jesus and brother to James the Less. How did this  saint, who wrote one of the shortest books in the Bible, become so popular? St. Jude, as an apostle of Christ, lived a life of holiness. Our Lord Jesus washed his feet on Holy Thursday.  He was at the Last Supper and he was in the Upper Room when the power of the Holy Spirit came down from heaven.  St. Jude witnessed the countless miracles of Christ and received the “Great Commission” to continue the work of our Lord.

Recently Christ Cathedral hosted the tour of the Relics of St. Jude. My neighbor Susan and I attended the Mass, followed by the veneration of St. Jude. We waited for nearly two hours to venerate the relic. Since this was part of St. Jude’s  arm, it is considered a first- class relic. “First-class relic are the body or fragments of the body of the saint, such as a pieces of the bone or flesh. Second-class relics are something a saint personally owned, such as a shirt or book. Third-class relics are those items a saint touched or have been touched by a first,  second, or another third-class relic of the saint.” The Apostle of the Impossible Saint Jude Thaddues,  Fr. Carlos Martins

St. Jude, Pray For Us

There are only a handful of people that I can trust with my personal prayer intentions. Asking my friends to pray for me gives me great relief because I know that they will continue to intercede for me until they feel released by God.

Sometimes our problems weigh heavy on our hearts, and illnesses like cancer can send us to deep prayer or deep depression. These are grave concerns and, though we are praying, we need an army to come alongside us. St. Jude is the saint to invoke in these desperate situations.

Christ Cathedral  

I experience  great excitement when a saint comes into town, so when I heard that the relics of St. Jude were being venerated at Christ Cathedral I wanted to attend. I called my neighbor Susan and she gladly agreed to go with me. When we arrived the cathedral was packed out, so we had to go to the balcony. We attended the Mass, which was followed by the veneration of the relics.

It was a chilly evening and I had no idea that we would be in line outside of the church for over two hours. Because of the large crowd, we were instructed to venerate the relic for 10 seconds, but in reality it was more like three seconds. Of course I totally forgot what to pray for while I was being ushered away. In great dismay, I looked over at Susan and said, “I forgot to ask him to be my friend and what my gifts were!” Standing a few feet away I prayed. I did, however, place my wedding rings, holy cards and medals on the case for a special blessing.

I brought with me over 50 holy medals and hundreds of holy cards for the blessing, which would make them third-class relics. It’s a complicated scenario to explain the excitement we all shared that evening. It was indeed holy. One thing for certain is that my gift of dreams has been richly increased since I paid homage to the relics of St. Jude.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray for all those who are stuck in impossible situations: cancer patients, the homeless, drug addicts and all manner  of hopelessness. We ask for the intercession of St. Jude to come to their aid. Amen.

I cannot imagine my life without God.

Chasing The Almighty Dollar

Without God in your life to navigate your future, you will never attain a sense of joy. All your accomplishments will be the result of self-reliance. And as you reach for the top, you will most likely be alone. Without God you can live a productive life and purchase material things that make you happy; but soon the emptiness creeps back into your heart.  You want more, so your search continues. I have seen this spirit of loss in souls unfold in many who do not fully understand who God is. YOU WILL NEVER HAVE PEACE WITHOUT THE ONE TRUE GOD IN YOUR HEART.

Leaving God Behind

I can only speak from my personal experiences. I have always believed in God, but there was a time in my life that I drifted into a world of chaos. You see, I am a Baby Boomer who  participated in protests against the war in Viet Nam. Though I did not know much about why we were at war, I had reason because my brother Mike was fighting on the frontlines. It was a popular trend to take part in this radical movement even in our small town in San Bernardino County. We wanted to be heard. I had stepped away from God’s light and had become this strange, lost creature. Anger was a key element and these protests were a litmus test for me to move into greater, more organized radical groups like MECHA. MECHA (Movimento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan) was the Latino version of the Black Panther movement. Beside from this, I was all caught up in the new feminist movement.

The protests that are going on today are fueled by Social Media and many misguided news organizations. These people operate in hate and anger; you can see it on their faces and hear it in their voices. We had no phones, no Social Media, so our protests were, for the most part, peaceful.

Slowly things started to change when I fell in love and married my husband Mike. Mike tolerated my free-spirited behavior, but that soon came to an end when our son Mikos was born.

No Direction

Both Mike and I were poorly catechized cradle Catholics. My only remembrance of attending Mass was the great feeling of joy after receiving communion. We rarely attended Mass because we were too busy with life, too busy to make God a priority. I cannot recall the big turning point or if there was one at all, but I needed something to fill the void in my soul. It was that dreadful feeling of wanting God but not really knowing how to call on Him. I suffered from a deep depression that came in waves during my menstrual cycle. Back in the day this disorder was referred to as PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome).

The Demons

I could not control my anger, and it was usually towards people that I loved. During this time of my sad little life, I was happy one week out of the month.  The other three weeks I spent apologizing for my bad behavior. This emotional/physical imbalance was taking a toll on my life, but there was also a spirit of uncontrolled rage that would take over my being. I needed help. A hysterectomy was out of the question because I was too young, so I researched and found a homeopathic clinic that specialized in this disorder. Though I never felt God during these outbursts, He was there. With the proper medication I was able to control my emotions. This cleared the way for me to continue my search for God.

Years ago there was a clever slogan on billboards all up and down  freeways that read, “I found Him!” They found Jesus, and  I found Him too! I was transformed into a Bible-bearing Christian who was going to convert the world. Jesus pulled me out of depression and changed the trajectory of my life. I finally found my purpose. I cannot express the joy I have in my heart and the knowledge of truly operating in a peace that surpasses all understanding. (Phil 4:7)  I praise Him every day for this.

The Lone Journey

I wanted Mike to join me in my newly found love of Jesus, but he was not having it. Even though we are one in the spirit as a married couple, my calling was too strong to contain or to wait for Mike.  The passion and desire to devour the Word of God became my main goal in life. I cannot tell you how many Christian churches I attended to feed this deep craving, but none of these churches were Catholic. A seed of deception was planted into my heart about the Catholic Church. You can read about it in my Blog titled: Why “My Catholic Roots.”                                                        .

Sometimes I would cry all the way to the services because Mike did not want to attend with me. I continued to grow, but it was a lonely road without Mike. I’d ask, “Why won’t you come with me?” He would answer, “Because I don’t want to attend a service that’s four hours long!” Sometimes the services lasted longer than four hours, which meant I was spending a lot of time away from home. It took years for Mike to attend church with me, but now he is at my side every Sunday.

Coming Home

Once we found our way back home to the Catholic church there was no turning back. Mike loves to attend the early service, and I love that he is at my side. I knew that I was going to leave the ministry that I had been a part of for so many years, but I wanted to continue to teach the Word of God; so I signed up for classes at our local diocese to teach adult catechism. I will never stop spreading the Word of God!

My Prayer

Dear Lord, where would I be without You in my life? I cherish everything around me because of Your abundant love. I pray for all who are living a life without You to come to Your Supper. Jesus, in this world of lost souls and misguided youth, bring them into Your sheepfold, where they will find rest. Remove anger and reveal truth to this lost generation of ours. Amen.