And I Prayed

And I prayed:

“Lord, be with me now, and stay with me throughout this day. Give me your presence, so that I may bring you to all I meet.”

“Lord, show me how I should bring you to my mother. I know she needs you, yet in her dementia she no longer remembers, no longer understands. Bringing you to her in communion would almost seem a desecration. Lord, I leave her into your care.”

And then it seemed I understood:

Don’t you know that you bring me to her each day? With every kind word, with every loving gesture, she knows you care. She sees it is you, but her heart knows it is me. She no longer needs to pray rosaries or go to mass to receive my body. Through you, she receives my spirit. In her innocence, all she knows and understands is love. I am love. You bring me to her.

Until she comes to be with me forever, she is content, as am I. Be not anxious, my son, be not anxious.

I then prayed Padre Pio’s “Prayer after Holy Communion”, as I love to do. The words again seemed to speak to me, as I spoke them to Him:

“Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light and without You I am in darkness.
Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice and follow You.
Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.
With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth, and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity.”