An angel with the Archangels
Or perhaps that should read an angel for the Archangels, for Naomi will in all likelihood charm and melt even the august trio of "big guns:" Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
Tomorrow is the Feast of these awesome Archangels. At noon PST we will begin the ventilator disconnection and the removal of the sundry wires, tubes and heart medications that bar the way between hospital and heaven.
I'm quite numb to what this all means practically or even emotionally; yet. All I can say is, I can't wait to see her cherubic face without all that facial tape. Naomi will then be anointed with the Sacrament of the Sick -- not for the forgiveness of sins, which in her case don't exist, but for one last strengthening and healing as the Lord Jesus takes her from our arms to his.
We recall that our Good Shepherd began his death at noon on a Friday, and we pray he comes quickly for his little lamb.
How many 14-day-olds get to receive three sacraments? Naomi's life is full and complete. And your prayers have sustained her, and us. I never tire of thanking you, strangers and friend alike. Our family thanks God for you every day.
posted by Patrick at 12:02 PM
34 Comments:
May God bless you and your wife and strengthen your faith, hope and love.
1:01 PM
I am so sorry for the pain and the loss and pray with you as she makes the journey to the arms of the Lord.
Standing at the foot of the cross on a Friday afternoon is one of the most painful places in the world to be. I pray that keeping faith in the Resurrection sustains you all.
2:40 PM
Dear Patrick,
I just can't help thinking that your decision (to remove the extraodinary measures that are enabling Naomi's body to function) is not a decision to allow her death to come. It's a decision to put the matter entirely into God's hands. You are merely stopping the extraordinary measures. God will do His will. His are trustworthy hands - they made her.
With prayers and heartfelt compassion,
Susannah
4:56 PM
Dear Patrick and family:
I am a stranger who lives on another coast, but have been following your journey and Naomi's. I will be with you all in prayer tomorrow as the life support is removed.
I cannot imagine your grief and pray that somehow God tempers it in the days and years to come.
What strikes me in reading your story is what good parents you have been to Naomi, during both her time in the womb and with us in this world. Good parents see their children as unique gifts from God and lives in their own right. You saw this in Naomi, where others might only see disability. Good parents comfort their children in sickness and sadness, as you have these fourteen days. And good parents sometimes are faced with walking with their children in the last hours and minutes of their lives, as you will be tomorrow.
Please know that so many, both here and in the world to come, will stand with you in prayer tomorrow and in the days to come.
5:08 PM
My prayers will be with you and your beautiful daughter.
10:30 PM
Susannah:
Very good point, and accurate. Intellectually I know the cause of her death will be the damage wrought by her condition, not some act on our part. But I needed to hear your words. A beautiful perspective.
Thanks for everything.
1:20 AM
To the rest: I love you for thinking and praying for us. The fact that most are strangers means very little to me. "The foot can't say to the hand, I don't need you." This one Body of Christ and the unity thereof is one of the richest, loveliest of all Christian teachings. Mariella and I are experiencing it firsthand.
1:23 AM
There's an overnight Adoration Vigil at my church this evening. By my reckoning, noon PST will be 9pm here. We'll pray for you all. May God and His angels bring your sweet daughter into Heaven, and grant you all strength and consolation during the wait for your reunion. More I cannot say.
2:41 AM
Sorry for your upcoming loss and ongoing heartache. You and your wife are in my prayers.
Thanks be to God Who gave this little one to parents who would truly love her. There are plenty of parents who would have acted differently in such a situation.
FrMichael
3:50 AM
Thank you for continuing to post during this hard time for you & your family. No one would've blamed you for shutting down your blog during this time. Because you haven't, we've all been enriched by Naomi's life.
"Oh the depths of the riches & the wisdon & the power of God. How inscrutable are his judgements, how unsearchable his ways!"
6:04 AM
Please know that you are in my thoughts and prayers as your little daughter makes her way home. May God bless, strengthen and comfort you and your family during this day and the days to come.
Laura
6:11 AM
What loving parents you are, to put yourselves through such pain and doubt for her sake; first to give her the best chance you could, then to entrust her entirely to God
6:50 AM
God bless you.
6:57 AM
Praying for you all.
7:06 AM
Please be assured of prayers over here in Korea. Yours is a beautiful family and Naomi is blessed to have been born into it.
May the LORD sustain you...
7:37 AM
Please know that all of the FOCUS Staff are praying for you and your family. I recently became a father myself and wish I had words to express my sorrow. I am deeply sorry. I pray that God in His Angels and Saints may give us the strength and trust we need in times like these.
Joshua Gideon
FOCUS Director @ Benedictine College
9:08 AM
I am on the other coast, and I will be praying for you and your wife as Naomi returns to the Father who created her. She will always be with you in the Communion of Saints. Imagine the joy when you all meet again in the in the Lord. Your faith is a beautiful witness. and I thank you.
9:16 AM
Hi Patrick
I know it has been an awfully long time since we have spoken or written to each other, but I just heard from Zoe the unspeakable trial you are going through and I wanted you to know that if we have had our differences in the past and lost touch because of miscommunication of one sort or another, we are united today in prayer for your precious little daughter. I am grief stricken at the thought of what you and Mariella must be going through. Please know that you are all in my prayers during this time of trial.May God's grace fill your hearts with peace.
Sending you much love and affection,
Coragio my friend, coragio!
Annexoxox
9:45 AM
My prayers are with you all.
Jenbrown
11:21 AM
We all love you and have not ceased praying for you, your wife and little Naomi.
May God continue to bless you and give you peace, Patrick.
11:35 AM
Patrick, thinking of you and Mariella and your family right now, and praying for you. You are an incredibly courageous couple.
His will be done.
12:12 PM
Praying for all of you and thankful for your family's witness to the power and sanctity of these difficult and trying days with your daughter.
12:49 PM
Prayers being said for your family.
12:50 PM
God bless you and keep you.
I'm praying for you.
1:36 PM
My prayers are with you all.
2:07 PM
May God receive her in his loving arms, and may He give you and your wife and family courage and strength to bear this cross.
2:28 PM
It wasn't meant to be.
The long life we hoped for for her. The walks in the sunshine. The laughter.
The will of God is such a mystery. Why why why should such a beautiful little girl be denied all this, why should her family suffer so much?
All we can do now is trust.
By no hand of man does she go, but by the Father's hand. The cause of her death is the manifold disabilities of her making. We let her go now, as He intended.
Perhaps she was sent for this brief time to meet the rest of her family, so that she can guard all of them until they all meet again, in the Kingdom. Then we will all laugh indeed.
3:05 PM
It's not your fault. It's no one's fault.
We've been over and over this ground in our family. We have a mentally ill child, now 24. It's not my fault, it's not his father's fault, it's not his fault.
If there is anyone to "blame" for this, it's God. And we believe by faith that it's not His "fault" either, nor is it that Naomi was born the way she is.
You should know that I'm a surfer.
A few years ago I went into the water at San Clemente, and finally after two hours I had to get out because my hands were losing sensation, and I saw it clear. Think. Think of all the millions of possibilities. What if your mother had not met your father? Or grandparents, and on and on? What if a different sperm had met the egg?
Of all the millions, unthinkable numbers, of possibilities, YOU are the one God loved into existence. I am the one. My mentally ill son is the one. Naomi is the one. We can second guess the Father and say, hey, make one of those "normal" possibilites The One, not Naomi, not my son.
But He knows what He does. Naomi is The One. You, Patrick, are The One. I am The One, my son is The One. God does nothing without reason, and at the end He says, It is Good, it is Very Good.
3:29 PM
May her memory be eternal!
3:58 PM
God be with you, Patrick, and the rest of your family. My prayers are with you. Little Naomi, innocent as she is, may the one least in need of of prayers among all of us but whatever may happen I (and many others) will be thinking of her in the next few days.
4:36 PM
Thank you for giving your parents -- and so many others -- a reminder to thank God.
Pray for us, Naomi.
7:03 PM
"...every tear will be wiped away. Then we shall see You as You are. We shall become like You, and remain with You forever."
5:18 PM
Please know that thousands of us out here are praying for you and your family.
I can't begin to add to the beautiful sentiments already expressed here, but only to add a heartfelt "AMEN!" to them.
May you go with God during this trial. And may Naomi know the love and peace of the faithful in Heaven.
7:44 AM
My deepest sympathies on the loss of your little angel. You have my prayers for you and your family.
11:04 AM
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