With so many laity, nuns, and priests throughout the world praying with such fervor and ardent devotion for her healing, how is it possible that God didn’t listen to us? Didn’t He promise that through our prayer He would always give more than asked?
Of course He listened, but, in His infinite wisdom, He knew that it was immensely more valuable to answer these prayers by healing her soul for an eternity than by temporarily healing an ultimately decomposable body, which may have lasted for a mere 20 or 30 more years.
But He didn’t stop with the already ineffable gift of a blissful eternity for her soul… after all, He promised to always give so much more. Thus, knowing her inner strength better than anyone, including her own self, He reached out and chose her to join Him in His passion. She would gain souls for Him, and, in the process, she would share even more profoundly of her Lord.
And so, with a five-year battle against an incurable cancer of monstrous proportions, my sister shrouded herself in the mysteries of the passion of our Lord:
Agony in the Garden:
As during Christ’s sleepless night at Gethsemani, where, as one of us mortals, He suffered mentally and physically for what He was about to endure for the rest of us, my sister spent manifold sleepless nights suffering emotionally -- anxious about her future and the future of her loved ones without her. Such was His anguish during that night that blood sweated from His pores. My sister’s blood-drawings were her torment as she awaited the results.
The Scourging:
Unable to cope with the magnitude of our own sins juxtaposed against the clarity and brightness of His light, we scourged Him mercilessly until His body was an interminable maze of open wounds. Four additional wounds embraced my sister for Him with four long surgeries, one lasting more than twelve hours during which thirty pounds of tumor were removed.
The Crown of Thorns:
Rebelling against the voice of our soul, we sought support from the rest by mocking His kingdom with a painful crown of thorns. Innumerable thorns also pierced my sister’s body -- punctures to her abdomen to remove excess fluid and bi-weekly chemotherapies weaved another crown of thorns.
The Carrying of The Cross:
With a heavy womb filled with tumor, she helped carry our Lord’s cross - falling many times with so many setbacks to her health. Her friends, like Veronica to Jesus, would encourage her and clean her. A multitude of family tried to help her with this cross, but she is the one who carried it for Him with noble resignation.
The Crucifixion:
As it happened to our Lord while on the cross, during the last days of her agony she had much difficulty breathing. She would raise and stretch out her arms to increase her pulmonary capacity, but lacked the strength to sustain her crucifixion. While supporting her stretched out arms I would ask her, “what do you want sister?” and my Christ would tell me, “to breath.” At last, with her mother at the foot of her agony and surrounded by her disciples, she gave a final gasp... her soul becoming eternally united to Jesus and Mary.
Oh dear mother, unite yourself with Mary in Heaven as she knows your pain well. And on Earth, as Christ left James to Mary, your daughter has left her siblings to you. Don’t despair; Christ rejoices from His chosen one and His chosen one rejoices from an unfathomable union with her Lord.
Fortunate are the souls she got closer to our Lord and so are we all as she now intercedes on our behalf.
On her behalf I leave you this message: How many Christs are amongst us on this Earth and what are we doing to succor their passion?
Jose
Malena’s Brother
November 18, 2006
