[The following post is among 175 reflections on the Eucharist published by the Lay Dominicans of St. Joseph Province in a book entitled Godhead Here In Hiding Whom I Do Adore - Lay Dominicans Reflect on Eucharistic Adoration. If you want to draw closer to our Eucharistic Lord, I highly recommend you get a copy.]
My twin sister and I were born
in Brooklyn, New York, welcomed by loving parents and four siblings at the
time. By the way, we lived around the corner from Queensboro Dairy storage
plant. So what? You will see later. I was raised Catholic and went to Catholic
Schools. I abandoned a priestly vocation and later my Catholic Faith. I dropped
out of school, joined the Air Force and after being discharged got a college
education. After completing law school, my family and I moved to Canastota, New
York. We had never stepped foot into that little Village but were “prompted” to
make it our home. Guess what? I later learned the main milk processing plant
for Queensboro Dairy was located in Canastota. A coincidence?
Thanks be to God’s grace, the
birth of our first daughter, and a priest who cared about the salvation of
souls, my family and I returned to the Church and the Sacraments—St. Agatha’s
parish to be specific. Father challenged me a few years later to begin
celebrating my Baptism date as my birthdate. I had completely forgotten where
and when I had been baptized. I did research and found it was at St. Agatha’s
in the Bay Ridge area of Brooklyn. Oh? Another coincidence?
Several years later, I asked the
pastor if we could open a Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration chapel? We could not
cover the monthly 24 hours First Friday devotion, but he humored me: “If you
can establish support for it, then go for it.” That Chapel still exists nearly
twenty-two years later. I would joyfully get up in the early morning hours to
be with Jesus. Some of that time was spent on my knees gazing into His
Eucharistic face. All of my time there I beseeched God for the salvation of my
soul and those of my family and loved ones.
One of the original adorers was
a young man who taught at a local Catholic high school. He lived about 10 miles
from our Chapel. He was not a member of our parish. I had never met him
personally, but he called and asked for an early morning hour of Adoration. We
gladly accommodated his request. Jonah was faithful to his weekly commitment.
At one point he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. God miraculously
cured him and put a Dominican vocation in his heart. He stopped doing Adoration
and entered the Dominican Order. Our chapel adopted Jonah and prayed for him
throughout his priestly formation. To show his appreciation for years of
prayerful support, Father Jonah Pollock, OP returned to Canastota after his
ordination and offered a Mass of Thanksgiving which almost all of the adorers
attended.
I knew nothing about the
Dominican Order at the time Father Jonah entered the Order. I was unaware that
there was a Dominican monastery of cloistered nuns close by in Syracuse. An
acquaintance asked me to drive him to Syracuse so he could attend a meeting of
Lay Dominicans. I had no idea what Lay Dominicans did. I accompanied my friend
to the meeting. He never returned, but I discovered my vocation as a Lay
Dominican.
Father Jonah was assigned to New
York City to work with the terminally ill at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center. Over the years, he has trained countless other priests in this most
vital ministry. Years later, my twin sister would be a patient there. I tracked
Father down and asked if he would go visit Jane. He did. She was pleasant and
appreciative but not ready to make her peace with God.
Five years later, I received a
call from Jane’s caretakers that her long battle with cancer was coming to an
end. She had been transported to a local hospital in Manhattan. I was
recovering from surgery and unable to travel. Of course, my first thought was
of Jane and her soul. I picked up the phone and dialed Father Jonah’s cell
phone. It had been years since I had spoken to him. I didn’t even know if this
was still his number. To my utter relief, he picked up his phone after the
first ring and said, “Hi Mike! How are you?”
I tearfully explained Jane’s
situation and her nearness to death. There was a soul to be saved! Father
immediately left, saw Jane, told her that Jesus loved her, asked if she wanted
to receive last rites and administered them to her. She died peacefully a few
hours later. Father blessed our family again by celebrating her funeral Mass,
reminding all present that “Jesus loved Jane”.
Coincidences or God-incidences?
If I had never moved to Canastota, if I had not returned to the Church, if we
had never opened an Adoration Chapel in our parish, if Father Jonah had never
spent time there as an Adorer, if he had not become a Dominican priest who
cared for the spiritual needs of cancer patients, if he had not been assigned
to New York City where Jane lived, if he had not answered his phone, if I had
not become a Lay Dominican, Jane might have lost her soul.
Don’t ever question the
necessity and value of spending time in God’s Presence. His reward for such
sacrifice, adoration and faithfulness is to save souls! What a wonderful web He
weaved!
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