DIVINE MERCY TRIGGERED

At the time of this update it is (was) Divine Mercy Sunday.  A good day to share this post about a doctor at a hospital in Toronto who has the courage to go on TV and admit he is burned out from fighting Covid-19.  He does this to raise the red flag about overwhelmed hospital staff.

As I watch this doctor being interviewed on TVO, I sense barely controlled anger as he speaks about rising Covid cases, overwhelmed hospitals, and governments not listening to him and his colleagues.

He talks about how medical staff might soon have to make unbearable life and death decisions about who to help, and who not to help.  

Breathe.

Continuing. Long ago I had an abortion in a hospital.  I had to make unbearable life and death decisions: And like the overwhelmed North York General Hospital doctor on TVO, I felt like no one had been listening to me either back then.

Unbearable life and death decisions. I close my eyes against a memory trying to surface?  It surfaces anyway.

This interview on TVO is a trigger for me.  A memory surfaces: I'm at a hospital in Windsor. I remember a nurse quickly and mechanically asking me (as she was walking me into the "procedure room")-- "Do you want to talk to anyone about this?  I knew the answer that was expected by everyone in my world at the time.  So I said no, I said I was fine. I wasn't.

After this experience, doctors and nurses and hospitals have triggered me since that time.  A doctor performed the abortion that ended the life of my child.  A nurse pretended she "cared." I acted as though I had no choice.   

It strikes me now that I never faced my anger towards the medical profession about my abortion.  O my God, writing and prayer are a trial and a joy: Come Holy Spirit and help me to pray with a forgiving and forgiven (and joyful!) heart for all the medical staff in hospitals all over the world overwhelmed with surging Covid-19 cases, today, and in the coming days, so they can continue to help patients and save lives. 

LORD, send Your Holy Spirit to help any hopeless feeling woman sitting in a hospital waiting room, today, and in coming days, scheduled for an abortion.  Let her feel an overwhelming surge of love and hope for herself and her unborn child and get up and leave.  And if that doesn't happen, I pray you lead her (like you did me) to the Sisters of Life and to your compassionate merciful love and healing in your time.

"For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us, and on the whole world."  

Cb

Amen


 
   I love this image 
 

Popular posts from this blog

STOPPED IN MY TRACKS

Image
SANTA SUBITO. Deep breath. Yesterday I learned in the best and gentlest way possible that my friend Gabbie passed away on January 12, 2025. It was Gabbie who encouraged me to start blogging during Covid-19 lockdowns in Toronto. I want to say more about my friend Gabbie and our connection through the Sisters of Life, but not right now. My heart is too full of love and joy and grief, and honestly just awe. I'm stopped in my tracks for now... I heard a song today during  Canada Day  celebrations that made me think of Gabbie. It's  I Believe in You , by Amanda Marshall:  Bing Videos . Gabbie believed in me and she loved Jesus so much-- both of which I benefitted from so much. Thanks Gabs💕 I don't know whether Gabbie will be put forward as a potential Catholic saint, I hope so. Gabbie and I actually never met in person but we shared the same taste in boots and hats. Our friendship began through an extraordinary snail mail adventure in the middle of covid lockdowns, it de...
Read more

MAKINGS OF A GOOD PRODIGAL DAUGHTER STORY

As I continue to sit with the question of whether or not to wrap up my blog at the end of the summer, I sit also with the story of the Prodigal Son . And like in the Prodigal Son , my blog  Stranded on the Mainland has it's roots in the loss of and longing for, home. Below are some mid-August thoughts on this: WHAT IF the daughter didn't want to leave home like the prodigal son did, what if she was sent to the city? What if she doesn't squander her "inheritance" at all, but is (unbeknownst to most, including herself) is amassing a treasure, a fortune, and spiritual inheritance, "one that protects her from nothing and sustains her in everything."--Jim Finley. WHAT IF it's the daughter who through therapy and grace brings back a new robe for her traumatized self to put on, a ring for her finger, and sandals for her feet? WHAT IF it's the daughter who's preparing the roast beef dinner? And the daughter rushing down the road to meet her true sel...
Read more

OPPOSING VALUES AND ADVENT HOPE

Image
Today I'm realizing something I never considered before: "How I as a straight, white, Christian woman-- being treated with fairness can feel like oppression." Wow. And flipping this over-- how oppression and mistreatment can feel like fairness and love. Wow. With that said, the prophetic talk below is not one I would typically think of as an Advent talk, but it is-- especially in 2025 in this world full of people who oppose each other's values. American democracy is bleeding out; now Canadian environmental guardrails are sadly beginning to fail. For those of us with e yes to see and ears to hear , this is a time of clashing and crashing values-- if our values were being traded on the stock market it would be 1920. We don't know where all this worldly chaos is heading, it's true. But we have the Prophet's Candle (old and new). And we have Hope. And we have this prophetic Advent challenge in a podcast episode from The Center for Action and Contemplation, Le...
Read more