Flying with Mary and Spiritual Warfare in healing

I learned a little known fact the hard way this past weekend, and quite honestly, it could have cost me my life. Please read and share with any of your family or friends who may have breathing issues and might be flying soon.

Did you know the air on a plane contains less oxygen than the air we normally breathe in? This means there is lower levels of oxygen in you when flying! I have been fighting post Covid-19 complications since July of 2022. This past weekend I was traveling to receive some new therapy to help me long term with my breathing. I brought my portable oxygen concentrator but had not needed to use it for several months. I have gotten to know my new body state with the current condition (called organizing pneumonia-a complication of Covid-19) and when I needed to rest due to low oxygen or high heart rate – or both – I would. So I wasn’t too concerned about needing to use the concentrator. I also brought along my oximeter – the little device you put on your finger to determine oxygen saturation levels.

Upon arriving at the airport, I met an older lady who was brought to departures by her granddaughter and we found we were going to the same place. I told the granddaughter I would look after grandma and get her to our destination safely.

We were flying about an hour into a two and a half hour flight when I closed my computer and sat back. I was cold. Really cold, but no one else seemed to be bothered. I asked for a blanket but there were none. The attendant said she’d look at the temperature. I also had a headache. I don’t get them often but this was definitely there. My stomach was churning too and I felt lethargic – but not short of breath. I don’t know why – well I do and will explain further below – but I decided to check my oximeter to see where my saturations were.

I put it on and was shocked – it read oxygen at 66 percent. It must be wrong or not working I immediately thought. I texted my sister at home and asked her to google whether these units work on airplanes. In the meantime I lowered my chair back and started to deep breathe. Surely it must be wrong I thought. But within minutes she came back to me; yes it works on planes. I shakily replied, okay then I’m in trouble. I called upon Jesus and asked for help, to his Mother Mary and began to say over and over, Jesus I trust in you, Jesus I trust in you.

Grandma – Nadia is her name – was sitting across the aisle from me. She tapped me and asked if I was okay. I don’t know how she knew, but I said I just needed to rest. I hadn’t expected to use my portable oxygen concentrator unit on the plane so had it stowed beneath the seat in front of me. It was FAA approved but airlines sometimes get hung up on makes and models so I asked my sister to look on the airline to see if they approved my unit. I didn’t want to turn it on and have it mess with the pilots and their navigation – they do tell us to turn off all electrical devices. She couldn’t find anything. At this point I’m up in the 70’s, but understand, Doctors get concerned with anyone reading below 95! I flagged down the attendant and asked if she had an approved list of concentrators. She asked another attendant and they came back with a questioning look and a no. I told her I was low on oxygen and needed to use my unit. She checked again and came back with a yes, you may use it. Praise God!

It took all 5 liters and several minutes to get my levels back up. I pray I did not harm my organs during this time of deprivation- probably was twenty minutes in all. It was a very scary situation. I kept it on the rest of the flight at a lower level. Nadia reached over and said she knew something was wrong, was very afraid for me and was praying.

While we were waiting for our luggage, Nadia turned and said, “I know you were in trouble, but I saw Mother Mary with you so I knew you would be okay.” I started crying, realizing how I was not alone – that it was Mary who nudged me to look at my saturations and take action. I was stunned with her revelation. Not sure why I didn’t know I was not left alone in this struggle. She always has my back. We hugged and said goodbye. It was a crucial time – I could have fallen off into unconsciousness and those around me would think I drifted off to sleep.

Once in the hotel I realized I brought the cord to the charger, but not my spare battery. I also didn’t have the cord that can be used to charge and use the unit at the same time. I had all sorts of issues with my room with things not working. They moved me. Then my concentrator quit working for awhile. I kept offering prayers for those in need, for sick, the dead, those who don’t know our Lord like I do. I had to pray to curb my fears as during these two day my numbers were going up and down and I had very limited mobility. But I kept surrendering every attack against me with a “Jesus I trust in you, and I am not in control. Help me, heal me, protect me.” I also said a million prayers to Mary asking for her intercession and protection. I had friends and family call and kept me covered with prayer and love.

Today on day four it seems the storm has passed. My numbers are staying in the 90’ or high 80’s. For my condition, that is acceptable. I will still be watching for pitfalls and traps. I will be calling ever so much for the Saints and Angels to keep guard over my steps. And I ordered a second battery which arrived already. I am now prepared for battle and am fully armed for the return flight home. I learned how quickly things can go the wrong way by just a few assumptions.

If you know someone who has a lung condition please have them be tested before the flight by their doctor on if they can withstand the altitudes without oxygen. Or buy a concentrator to take with it on the trip. Breathing is not something to mess with!

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My Emmaus Road

My life is a journey towards

the most beautiful of all destinations.

For now, I languish in the days of laughter and love. 

I dream and I think, and I believe.

It hasn’t always been this way.

The pull of the darkness had kept me from knowing

the joys of our Father.

The risk had always been

larger then the dream of reward.

For who could be rewarded

with the likes of me?

But no longer will I stay in the darkness,

for He calls to me. 

My step is determined,

it is guided from above.

I will only move forward,

although the words may bring me back.

I shall not falter, 

for it is through telling them

God’s grace allows me to go on.

Photo credit: By Jan Wildens – Hermitage, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5925558

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The Great “I AM”

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I was there, where you are,

thinking strong but being weak.

Believing what I wanted,

when I wanted, where I wanted.

But it isn’t ABOUT me;

it is through and with and in “I AM.”

This is how I came to know,

what I’ve come to be.

Jesus Said, I AM THE TRUTH!

But I often found stretching the truth was easy.

He Said, I AM THE WAY!

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But I thought I had a better way.

He Said, I AM THE LIGHT!

But with all my sins, the darkness was my comfort.

Yet he didn’t give up on me.

He again sent the Holy Spirit,

who moved within my Soul.

Keeping the good and tossing out the bad,

a change was surely taking place.

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The Angels took the darkness away.

They gave me the path of LIGHT,

and the TRUTH exposed HIS plan.

It was suddenly clear there was a better WAY!

It was time to recognize “I AM.”

I now know that in giving myself over to Him,

“I AM” is here with me and I am strong;

in my thoughts and in my deeds.

I am grateful, I am thankful,

I am forever His holy servant,

Yes, I believe in the Word, and the great “I AM”

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To believe

For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. John 3:16

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It was a gift given but was refused,

It sat unopened; it felt abused.

God’s love is free, to one and all,

But what good is free, when you know it all?

How can I come, back round again?

What will it take, to make amends?

A clean heart, a new goal,

a humbling part, a willing soul.

Yet when we push our Angels away

God sends them back you see.

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For He is sure, that perhaps in a day,

We will be the best we can be.

I offer up these precious things,

I pray the Angels lift their wings.

To go and tell our Lord this day,

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That she, His child, is back to stay.

Never again to lose sight,

For Him, she will step into the fight.

For truth and freedom to love all,

Our Father says this is the call.

A quiet calm is inside of me,

But what is it, I am to see?

I wait and listen; I pray to go right,

As I ask our Father, never let me lose sight.

It is His freedom that is my choice.

So now I listen to His Voice. 

I know he holds the unopened gift.

My heart is heavy, but it will lift.

Yes, He tells me, everything will be alright,

He has me in His great Light.    

This is where I want to be,

safe and protected, on my knees.  

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Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday – established in year 2000 by St. Pope John Paul II

From the Diary of St. Maria Faustina

Tell all people, my daughter, that I am love and mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls. (Diary 1074)

The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. (Diary 299)

I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this Image with the signature: ‘Jesus, I trust in You’ (Diary 327).

By means of this Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it. (Diary 570). I promise that the soul that will venerate this Image will not perish. I also promise victory over [it’s] enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory (Diary 48).

I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy (Diary 1109). Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (Diary 300).

Go, receive, be filled with the grace of our Lord’s Divine Mercy. He is waiting for you.

Photo credit: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/images/Original_painting_of_the_Divine_Mercy_by_Eugeniusz_Kazimirowski_in_1934_Wikimedia_Commons_40_Cna.jpg?w=670&h=447

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Trusting in the Lord

Jesus I trust in you. Easy to say, hard to do.

I am not the Savior: I do not want to be the Savior, yet at times I think I am. Urgh.

I just want to trust in you Jesus.

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Can I be the bird? I want to be the bird, fluttering overhead, dropping seeds all around the troubled. Showing others the path to see your ways, grace and goodness.

I watched a bird drop down in the water today and bring up a fish. How did he become so precious to dive from the sky into the water and not have the fish be gone? One focus. One effort. That is what I want too.

Oh Lord, I pray for the right words, actions, steps, thoughts. I pray your Holy Spirit will speak out in my voice and deliver the message of hope from the core of your most Sacred Heart – pierced for our sakes, now pouring forth water and blood to wash over our sins and bring us to the Father.

Help us as we work together to be strengthened with courage, humility, and charity. Let us leave depression, desolation and despair on the roadside. Peter and John spoke with authority and the power of your name. May we not only continue to seek you but also to be strengthened and receive your gifts as they did in this time of waiting until Pentecost. Come Holy Spirit!

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Prayer of the Potted Plant

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As I look at a vase of cut flowers, I see the beauty of life you gave to us in your death. These flowers are beginning to fade, dropping petals and showing a droop, maybe even a slight discoloration – and funny, I think it is relative to my life without you. Cut from their life source – root and foundation – they are living weakly, struggling to stay pretty – inside and out.

I choose you dear Lord – I choose to be not your cut flower, but your potted plant – going through cycles of bloom and fruit but ever growing. Prune me if it is your will – remove the dead in my soul and that which surrounds my heart; that which places a distance or wall between us. Keep me in order with you and your desires for my life. Water me often with your life-giving water, feed with the banquet of your body. Let my leaves lift up to you and shine like the noon-day sun.

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O most gracious and loving Father, I seek the face of your beloved Son, who grants mercy on me for the sins I have committed. I choose nothing more than to love you, adore you, and do whatever you ask of me. I know and have received your mercy which endures forever and your justice shall reign. Your love is unconditional; your grace is made perfect in my weakness.

I pray forgiveness for my ignorance; for the power of the devil and his work confuses me. May my fallen state be granted absolution so that I can come to accept your body and blood with a pure and clean heart.

I lift up myself to you now in a riot of springtime color …. alive because of your death … and whether my blooms be big or small, I only pray they bring me ever closer to your most Sacred Heart.

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Which anonymous group are you in?

Whether it’s alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, technology, sex or food, many in the world struggle with an addiction – a disordered desire that puts one at risk for letting the “heightened act” lead our lives. I remember years ago a conversation I had with my Spiritual Director who helped me to understand better the pull of “self-satisfaction” and “will-weakness” versus desired godliness.

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We all know we should feed our body with goodness but we often choose the opposite. The results don’t give the strength or peace we seek and the benefit is short lived. Yes, it may taste, look, and feel good, and it is what you had desired, but it leaves you weaker and yearning for more because it really isn’t satisfying.

Now instead of the addiction and it’s control, let’s consider an opposite – a true and good desire that satisfies and sustains – something as simple as attending and participating in holy mass. Eating from the banquet table of the Eucharist is life sustaining, filled with growth and offers more positive, long lasting attributes. Temptation to go through the motions is present – being distracted or daydreaming can and often does happen. But when you choose from the banquet table alone – or the greater good – you will is stronger. This meal will fortify you, fill your bodily desire and sustain you. How is this so, you might ask. You may think I go up, receive, and nothing else happens. But I challenge you – do you really know who is entering into your body? With alcohol, drugs, food, technology and sex, you know precisely what is entering your body. You receive a physical change.

If that isn’t happening with the Eucharist – the real body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, then what are you receiving is not the fullness it offers to you. All the other addictions – they flow in and out of your body and disappear. You are left with an empty cavern. But when Jesus fills you, you are consumed by him as much as you are consuming him. He is the ultimately desired meal, life sustaining and satisfying. He will fill up that weak spot – the addiction – with himself and make you whole. But you have to give it over to him – leave it with him and choose him over the addiction. He begs you to give it away – it wasn’t yours to begin with – and his gifts are much better than anything found in this world.

A word of caution: don’t get too caught up in the measurement of degree of meeting Jesus in the Eucharist. Put your mind on him, believe what you are consuming and he will take care of the rest. Many graces are achieved while we’re working on that surrender. Obedience through attending daily masses, going to adoration, doing acts of charity and making extended times of prayer all work together to bring you to recognize our Lord in the Eucharist – to know who is coming into our bodies and how good it is and draw you away from the disorder addiction. Take that moment upon consumption to fully acknowledge him – saying yes Jesus – come into me, make me whole – healthy – and satisfied with your living water. I don’t need anything but you. Take my addiction and leave me only with you.

Lastly, consider writing out a statement of belief – and be prepared to what you really want – and review it often. We are a work in progress – there’s no one and done. Be assured you will be challenged too. But he already knows this and still loves and wants to draw you close. Will you let him in?

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