JUST CALL ME THE COMPLAINT DEPARTMENT

Some days, I feel like I am the complaint department for the parish, the diocese, and the entire Catholic Church!

In the last month, I have had complaints about catechists teaching that abortion is murder; complaints that we expect the children AND their families to actually attend mass; complaints that we are rigid (WHAT does that even mean?); complaints that there are too many meetings; complaints that there are not enough meetings; complaints that each class must do an end of the year review; complaints that all I do is defend (again, WHAT does that mean?); and complaints that expecting Confirmation Candidates to fulfill a few requirements (a saint report, 4 service projects, 2 service reports, 10 mass reflection papers, and completion of information and sponsor forms over the course of an entire school year) on the journey, is asking too much...and...that it is not asking enough!

My all-time favorite complaint by far is this: "Exactly WHY does the sponsor have to be CATHOLIC? My sister-in-law is 'born again,' and she's a better Christian than you will ever be!"

(Well, that may be true; but if you want your child to be a baseball player you don't bring him to a basketball coach!! Is that really so difficult to understand?!?)

At times, I think that those complaining really believe that I personally make the rules, and sit up nights trying to come up with new and more tortuous ways to make their life difficult.

When the complaints begin, I usually take a breath and then begin the explanations that unfortunately at times simply fall on deaf ears.

Then I am told, "I don't know why I bother, all you do is defend!"

At times, I ask myself, "Why do I bother?"

And then I remember...

I bother because I care...because I believe that Jesus Christ took on human flesh to walk this earth to show ME the path to salvation.

I bother because I want to help others share in that salvation.

I bother because I believe that even with all the mistakes that have been made throughout the centuries, it is the Catholic Church that has immediate succession from Christ.

I bother because I worry about the immortal souls and the eternal life of us all.

I bother because Christ bothered to die for ME...AND...YOU!!

So then the question becomes: "If YOU say YOU believe, are YOU bothering, too?"

TWELVE VIRTUES OF A GOOD TEACHER

Today, our catechists will join with me to "kick off" our Catechetical Year. We will come together for prayer and plans.

There are the weekly classes to discuss, as well as, Sacrament Preparation, First Reconciliation, First Eucharist, Confirmation, retreats, Christmas Pageant, Stations of the Cross, Seders, Hunger Banquets, Chinese Auction, walk-a-thon, service projects, parachute making, gatherings, potluck dinners, Catholic Jeopardy, VBS, soccer camp...and, on...and, on...and on.

Our year will be chockful of opportunities to talk...and...learn...and...grow...as well as...opportunities to walk the talk.

There is much promise in the air!

One of the handouts I will distribute...this morning and evening...at the meetings...lists the Twelve Virtues Of A Good Teacher as described by Saint John Baptist de La Salle...Patron Saint of teachers:


GRAVITY

SILENCE

HUMILITY

PRUDENCE

WISDOM

PATIENCE

RESERVE

GENTLENESS

ZEAL

VIGILANCE

PIETY

GENEROSITY


As I distribute this handout, my prayer for our catechists, myself, and all catechists worldwide is this:

Lord Jesus, send us your Spirit...fill us with the gifts You know we need...to help us open the hearts...and...minds...and...souls...of those entrusted to our care...to the beauty and wonder...that is only found in relationship...through You and the Holy Spirit...with our Father in Heaven.

Saint John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.

Live Jesus in our hearts, forever.

Amen.

EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS

We should glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is our salvation, our life and our resurrection: through Him we are saved and made free. ~ Entrance Antiphon for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross ~

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES

Yesterday, our Catechetical Year began with Parent/Child Meetings for our Level 1 children. I love working with the little ones. After a brief talk and prayer with the parents and children, we bring the children upstairs where I gather with them around the Baptismal Font in the vestibule. After we discuss why we bless ourselves with Holy Water upon entering church, we line the children up in pairs at the inner doors of the church and I ask them what they see.

Of course, the first thing they see is "the big table." As I explain that we call that table the altar, I tell the children that when we come to mass it is just like when we have a fancy dinner at home. At home, the food we eat strengthens our body. At mass, the food we receive strengthens our soul. And, like that fancy party, when mom's best table cloth comes out, candles may be lit, and flowers may be put on the table...at church, too we have a fancy tablecloth, special candles, and flowers. Mass, is the fancy party where we celebrate Jesus...and...our friendship with Him.

Still, as we stand by the entrance, I point out the gold box on the wall behind the altar. I tell the children that in the Catholic faith we use many BIG words to describe things. I explain that I think we use such big words to try to show the "big-ness" of God. I tell them that the gold box is called a Tabernacle...a big word that means..."little house." And, in that "little house" is Jesus. And, we know He is always there because the little red candle by the Tabernacle is always lit. I explain that Jesus is present there in the form of the host...the small hosts that have been blessed at mass...and a larger one that is always there, too.

I tell them that when we enter a church we must do so in a special...quiet...way to show that we know that God...Jesus...is there. One of my young helpers leads the way into the church and demonstrates for the children how they must genuflect when they reach their row...their pew. I then send the children in...two by two...to quietly, and reverently take their seats.

Once we are all inside, I ask the children if they have any questions about the things they see. The Level 1 boys and girls yesterday were exceptional. They asked about the "trophies" in the case. I have to admit, the bottles of holy oils in the cabinet...do...look like "trophies" from a distance. And, they are in a way "trophies" of our faith. When "-trophy" is used as a suffix it means " a condition of nutrition or growth." How smart was the child who called the holy oils used in Baptism, Confirmation, and the Anointing of the Sick..."trophies!"

One little girl asked why Jesus was nailed to that cross. I explained that Jesus came to teach us a new way. He was a king but not one with a palace...gold...or...jewels. As people began to follow him, the kings with the palaces, gold, and jewels got worried because they thought Jesus was going to take their place. They didn't understand. I pointed out the tapestry of the Stations of the Cross on the far wall, and explained how Jesus was arrested, carried His cross, fell, nailed to the cross and died.

But, that the story did not end there, that God raised Jesus from the dead and that proved that everything He had said was true...that love is the true treasure...and...that Jesus rising from the dead, and God's great love for us is what we celebrate at the party...the mass...each and every Sunday!

Before the parents came upstairs, the children asked about the stained glass windows and what they depicted, and, we ended with a prayer for the new year followed by an Our Father. At that point, the children got up to go with my young helper to get a better look at the window of the Good Shepherd and receive their gift...a children's mass book.

As she walked over to the window with the other boys and girls...the little six year old girl in pink, who had asked about Jesus on the cross...looked over her shoulder at me and said, "I still don't understand why they had to kill Him! Couldn't they have just asked Him to sit down and explain it all a little better?"

Out of the mouths of babes!

So, my dear friend, co-worker, brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle, cousin...neighbor...my challenge to YOU today is this:

Rather than crucify that person YOU are having issues with...

Why don't YOU take the advice of my little friend in pink?

Ask them to sit down with YOU...and...explain it all a little better!

Are YOU up to that challenge?

DAY OF PRAYER FOR CANCER

Today...and each first Wednesday of every month...is a Day of Prayer for Cancer...at The National Shrine of Saint Jude.

When you visit the shrine's site, you may send prayer petitions...light a vigil candle...request a mass...post a prayer...or, sign-up for weekly devotionals.

In the meantime, please join me in praying...the following prayer from the shrine...for all those dealing with the affects of cancer...at this very moment.

God of healing mercy, in Jesus your Son you stretch out your hand in compassion, restoring the sinner, healing the sick, and lifting up those bowed down. Embrace us now in your loving care, particularly those afflicted with cancer, for whom this intention is offered. May the Spirit of Jesus bring us all health in soul and body, that with joy and thanksgiving we may praise you for your goodness, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.



Have A Blessed Day!!

HE WILL MAKE A WAY

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARTHA

Today is the Feast of Saint Martha.

We don't know much about Martha except that she...and her sister, Mary, and brother Lazarus...were dear friends of Jesus...probably wealthy...and...that she was so busy cooking, cleaning, and complaining about it all, that she usually lost sight of more important matters.

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her. ~Luke 10:38-42~

Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ~John 11:21~

Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” ~John 11:39~

I confess right now, that I have never been able to relate to Martha. I have always found her to be short-sighted...too busy...do-ing...to just be. Too busy complaining about her sister to just love.

And yet, it is in just be-ing that we find peace.

It is in taking our place at the feet of our Lord that we learn how to love.

How about YOU?

Are YOU a "do"-er?

Always...

Everywhere?

Are YOU always complaining about all YOU do?

Are YOU always complaining that no one helps YOU?

Then, it's probably time for YOU to just be!

Take the time so necessary for YOUR soul and YOUR psyche to just "be"...

AND, more importantly...

to let Christ just "be" in YOU!

Once Jesus...gently...instructed Martha on the proper place of faith in service...her complaints ceased...and her service became filled with love.

The same can be true for YOU.

If YOU just take some time to be infused..as Martha was...with the love of our Lord!

Take some time today...and...just be!

"I THIRST FOR YOU!"

"I THIRST"

I was watching a show called God is Good on Telecare the other morning. There was a sister on the show from Nebraska talking about her conversion, and subsequent founding of a religious order.

She was telling about how after she had been a Catholic for three whole months, she realized that she didn't even know the Blessed Mother. So, she decided to go to Adoration on Holy Thursday evening to spend a holy hour with Christ. She went on to say that she brought many books with her because she wasn't sure how she would spend a full hour in prayer.

As she sat praying, she began to meditate on Jesus' words: "I thirst."

The sister too, began to pray: "I thirst."

She envisioned herself with Jesus in the garden and she told him that she thirsted to know Mary. Soon a woman entered the garden in her meditation, and Jesus introduced that woman as his mother.

The story this sister was telling was faith-filled and beautiful. And, it got me to thinking...

For what do I thirst?

I thirst for:

peace,

justice,

righteousness,

guidance,

health,

love,

reconciliation!

And, just like the good sister, I find all of these in Christ!


How about YOU?


For what do YOU thirst?


How can Christ quench that thirst for YOU?

TELECARE TELEVISION

CRY OUT TO JESUS

PART ONE IN A SERIES

As we begin the Year For Priests, I have been reflecting on the many good men I have known and/or worked with over the years. While there are a very small handful of negative experiences I have had, the many, many good priests I have known far outnumber the few questionable experiences I have had.

Therefore, from time to time I will be telling of my experiences with the true "Alter Christi" I have encountered:

When my older son, now 23 years old, was an infant, my husband and I took him to mass one Sunday morning. He began to fuss, so I took out a bottle to quiet him. An elderly lady sitting in the pew in front of us saw me feeding my son as she turned to sit back down, and with a horrible face, snapped at me that it was not the time or place to be feeding my infant.

It WAS a bottle...it WAS NOT dripping...I WAS NOT nursing..It WAS NOT noisy...IT WAS A BOTTLE OF FORMULA!

Yet, I had so offended this woman by what she considered to be sacrilege, that she let me know it, and her companion as well. I was beside myself.

The next Sunday, I stayed home with my baby. The week after that, we went to a later mass, sat way in the back, and, did not bring any bottles, so as not to insult any elderly ladies.

BAD IDEA!!

As the visiting priest stepped into the center aisle and began his homily, my son began to fuss. I could not quiet him, so I got up. As I stepped into the aisle...

HORRORS!! THE VISITING PRIEST STOPPED ME IN MY TRACKS!

He asked me if I was leaving because the baby was crying. I just nodded my head sheepishly, as I began to turn to leave.

He told me to STOP! And, to return to my seat, as he walked down the aisle toward us.

As Roseanne Roseannadanna would say: "I thought I was gonna DIE!!"

But, I did what I was told.

This priest then did a complete about face in his homily, and instead began to preach on Jesus telling the little children to come to him, and how we are not to get in their way!

Had he been sitting near us, two weeks previously?!?

When he reached my child and I, he blessed my son, and made it pefectly clear that we were welcome at mass anytime, no matter what my son's demeanor might be. And, that the rest of the congregation were to echo his sentiments with ALL children...always!

Twenty-three years later, I still remember that sermon, that priest, and, how I prayed the floor would open up and swallow me as he just kept talking, and talking, and talking about how we must always allow the children to come to Jesus, etc. even, as EVERY eye was upon us!

I have only seen that particular priest on one other occasion over the years, when he was doing another mission in another parish. Yet, clearly, he has left an indelible impression upon me.

When young families tell me how difficult it is to bring the children and keep them completely quiet during mass, and how they do not want to disturb those around them, I tell them the story of this wonderful priest who welcomed a crying infant, AND an embarrassed new mother, because he knew it was what Christ wanted!

And, I pass on the most memorable homily I have ever heard, even as I welcome the little children...just as this child AND her child were welcomed, fussing and all, so many years ago!

WE THANK YOU, LORD, FOR YOUR WELCOMING AND UNDERSTANDING PRIESTS!

LOVE LETTERS

Dear Heavenly Father,

There is such peace in knowing that You see what is truly in our hearts and souls.

Thank you for always loving us, even as some have abandoned us based merely on appearance.

Happily, You always stand with us; sending Your Son, Jesus Christ to shower us in the truth, even while others sometimes buffet us with misplaced anger and lies.

Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to give us courage as we speak the truth ~ boldly and passionately ~ always and everywhere.

Lovingly, You send good friends to replace bad family relationships.

We are grateful, Lord, for the joy and the sorrow, one to learn how to rejoice, the other to learn compassion.

Thank you for everything, Father, the good, the bad, and the horrible, all of it makes us who we are; and always, with Your Grace, helps us to grow closer to You.

Heavenly Father, I place in Your loving hands everything I am, have, and may become, use me however, wherever, and whenever You may need me to do Your Will...today, tomorrow, and forever.

Love,
Your Child


AND SO...

What Would Be In YOUR Love Letter To Our Father???

MY MORNING PRAYER

Heavenly Father,

Your humble servant comes before you imperfect in spirit, mind, and body.
Yet, I am ready, willing, and, with the power of your grace, able to do your will.

Fill me up, Lord, pressed down and overflowing.
Use me, Lord, to glorify your name and lead your people home to you,
today, tomorrow and as long as I shall live.

This I ask through your Son our Lord, Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you forever and ever.

Amen.

"COME HOLY SPIRIT, FILL THE HEARTS OF YOUR FAITHFUL AND KINDLE IN THEM THE FIRE OF YOUR LOVE..."

This Thursday, we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension. On the fortieth day after Easter, we remember Jesus being taken up to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father (Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, and Acts 1:2,9).

Before He went, Jesus told the disciples that He would send The Holy Spirit to guide them on their appointed mission. Jesus instructed the disciples to devote themselves to prayer.

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples went, from what Tradition tells us is Mount Olivet, back to Jerusalem and the Upper Room. It is there that they waited and prayed for nine days, until The Holy Spirit descended upon them with the gifts they needed to carry out the work for which Jesus had chosen them. It is from these nine days in the Upper Room that the popular devotion of novena arose.

A novena is nine days of public or private prayer requesting special graces. This Friday, many of us will follow in the prayer-steps of the first disciples and begin the Novena to The Holy Spirit in anticipation of the Feast of Pentecost.

Won't YOU join us?
NOVENA TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

As a little girl in Catholic School (Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Bayside, Queens...YEA OLBS!) I won a raffle. The raffle tickets were 10 cents each (oops is my age showing?). The prize was an 18 inch cream colored plastic statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary donated by one of the other children's dad.

It became my prized possession!

Every year, after I won that statue, I would set up a May Altar in my bedroom with fresh lilacs from the bush in the backyard of the garden apartment we lived in at the time. I prayed to Mary every single day...still do.

The Blessed Mother is perfect! She is the shining example of what women and especially mothers should be. Her "yes" to God saved us all!

The Blessed Virgin Mary is Mother of us all!

For those of us, whose mothers can't or won't be present to us at times or always, due to death, mental illness, drug abuse, family drama, or other circumstances beyond their or our control, I assure you The Blessed Mother is present for you ALWAYS!

And, what better mother could you ask for?

Several years ago, the Knights of Columbus in our parish erected a beautiful grotto for the Blessed Mother. I love this statue even more than my 18 inch prize.

This Blessed Mother is life size. I can stand before her and pray and imagine myself talking face to face with my holy mother. It is incredible.

As I drive by the statue each morning, I say this quick prayer: "Blessed Mother, please intercede for me this day, with your beloved Son."

If you cannot be with your biological mother today, for whatever reason, and this day is difficult for you because of that...Pray To The Blessed Mother.

Tell Mary, your cares, your woes, your concerns, your goals, whatever it is that is on your heart.

She will listen.

You will find peace.

And, best of all she has an "IN" with our beloved Lord, Jesus Christ!

What more could you ask for in a mother??

Do it, I guarantee you'll feel better about yourself and your world!

God Bless You!

Jesus And The Urban Abbey

Now, I know some will tuck this story under: "Oh, she was distressed and not fully comprehending what was going on." BALONEY! She was fully comprehending the conversation but seeking spiritual support from someone who is obviously pastorally challenged in these situations.

And so, here is the transcript of my telephone call with the Religious Brother who is the chaplain of the hospital where my aunt lay dying.

Telephone rings....caller id says it is the hospital.

Me: Hello.

Brother Robert (name has been changed to protect the pastorally challenged): Hello, is this Dora Grottano?

Me: No, this is her niece, Rosemarie. Is this Brother Bob?

Brother Robert: This is Brother Robert. (Should have known this was not going to end well. Operator said he was Brother Bob.) I have the wrong name here, thought I was calling Dora Grottano.

Me: No Brother Robert, Dora is my aunt and she is in the hospital. I am on my way to sign the forms to stop all treatment and place her in comfort care and hospice. I was wondering if you would be able to meet me and be there when the treatment was removed.

Brother Robert: You want me there? Why?

Me: For spiritual support.

Brother Robert: Well, the patient chooses a healthcare proxy and that is the person that you should be speaking to.

Me: I AM the healthcare proxy.

Brother Robert: Then what do you need me for? The Church teaches that you do not have to use extraordinary means of care when a patient is near death. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH...

(Sorry...I tuned out when the lecture began...I too have a Master's Degree in Theology and I know what the Church teaches. In fact, I had been on the phone earlier in the morning with our Deacon who reinforced for me that I had Church teaching down correctly.)

Me: Yes, Brother Robert, I am the Director of Religious Education at So and So Parish and I am aware what the Church teaches. I also spoke with our Deacon this morning who reinforced for me that I am in accord with Church Teaching. I would just be more comfortable that, along with medical support when the wires are removed, there be spiritual support as well.

Brother Robert: Uuuuuummmmmmmmm, I really don't understand what you are looking for.

Me: An annointing for my aunt and spiritual support.

Brother Robert: Your aunt already had an annointing.

Me: Oh, she did. I had asked for one several days ago...I wasn't sure if she had received it. Okay.

Brother Robert: So what you really want is a member of the clergy there when the treatment is stopped.

Me: Yes.

Brother Robert: Uuuuuummmmmm, well I guess I can do that...if I'm not too busy at the time. I tell you what, when you get here have me paged, and if I am available I will come up.

Me: Thank you, Brother Robert.


Now, fast forward to the hospital:


DO YOU THINK I HAD HIM PAGED???


I enter my aunt's room...she is in a private room now...coincidentally(?) the same one I was in when my younger son was born. I begin to pray for my aunt and ask Jesus to be present to us (figuring He must be less busy on Good Friday than the good Brother Robert). Within seconds, I receive a text message from TheUrbanAbbey on Twitter. The message said: "So sorry to hear about what you're going through w/your aunt today. Must be hard...will be praying for both of you."


Apparently, Jesus was not as busy today as the good brother. And, He knew exactly what it was I was requesting: one of his emissaries to stand in support of my aunt and I.


It was really...very...simple!

MY TIME AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS

Death and I are no strangers. I was six when my then 18-year-old brother died three days after he had been in a car accident. I was thirteen when my uncle fell ill at work and died the following day. Six months later, I was fourteen when my aunt, his wife, didn't wake up one morning and the doctor said she had literally died of a broken heart. I was leading my son's cub scout den one wintry Saturday afternoon when the call came that my father had suddenly stopped breathing in his home; and, in the intervening years, I had lost two babies to miscarriage. No, death and I are not strangers.

The thing is, the death that I am used to is a sudden, shocking, gut wrenching kind that throws you off balance, into shock, and into a state of auto pilot as you navigate the twists and turns of choosing caskets, planning the wake and funeral, ordering flowers, and finally burial of our beloved. The kind of death that doesn't really hit you until the last casserole is finished, and the task of moving forward has begun.

The death I am meeting this week is so very, very different, and so very, very, very unkind.

This week, I am meeting firsthand, for the very first time in my life, the death of unrelenting pain and suffering. The kind of death that is seemingly as difficult to watch as it is to endure. The kind of death that leaves the patient writhing in pain and the loved ones drenched in a pain all their own: a pain borne of compassion, empathy, and a powerlessness that just tears your heart in two. The kind of death that Christ suffered on the cross, and the Blessed Mother, the disciple he loved, and those followers that hung around, witnessed at the foot of that cross.

As I stood at my aunt's bedside today, watching powerlessly as she writhed and moaned in a pain only she can know, I saw Christ. As her little body clenched, and her throat moaned with each new wave of pain, I recognized the same suffering that our Lord endured to free us from our sins, even, as my aunt has ceased to recognize me. As my aunt pulled at the light little blanket and hospital gown, whose even barely recordable weight was too much on her pain-riddled body, and her arms jerked outward trying to find release, she lay on that bed as Christ lay on the cross, naked and outstretched, as they nailed his arms and legs in place. As she rubbed her frail little fingers over her parched lips, I saw Jesus on the cross saying, "I thirst."

Yes, today, I witnessed Christ's suffering in the person of my aunt. It is very nearly too much for me to bear.

As I stood at the foot of my aunt's cross, her hospital bed, I prayed so many things at once. First, that the nurse (this one a true angel of mercy) would hurry with the pain medication the doctor has prescribed at three hour intervals. Second, that God in His infinite mercy would put an end once and forever to my aunt's unrelenting pain and suffering. Third,that my aunt will find peace in our Heavenly Father's Presence when her journey is finally done.

It dawned on me that these same kind of prayers must have been prayed by Jesus' loved ones, too. How shocked Mary must have been at the soldier mockingly giving Jesus a sponge soaked with vinegar. Because her kidneys have shut down, and there is a fear of aspiration, I too was shocked to learn that that mainstay of hospital comfort, the ice chip, is out of the question for my aunt. I thought maybe a wet cloth, but was cautioned that the infection coursing through her body is highly contagious, and that I should refrain from touching her, and even then, sanitize my hands promptly upon leaving her room or risk bringing the infection home with me. In some small way, I knew how Mary must have felt when she was not allowed the simple courtesy of comforting her beloved son.

This death that I meet this week, just as Jesus' death was so long ago, is one of unbearable indignity. A death so horrific that Our Lord Himself cried out: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"

Yet, it is through Christ's passion and suffering, and ultimate indignity that I find strength in the fact that God has not forsaken my aunt or I in this, our last earthbound journey together. It is in the promises of Christ that I find the peace in my heart to know deeply and completely that when my aunt breathes her last she will be in the arms of Our Savior and at peace at long last.

So, as the morphine began to do its job, I told my aunt, I loved her, and that we would do everything we could to ease her suffering and pain. And so tomorrow, comfort care and in hospital hospice will begin.

It is in the hands of the Risen Christ whom I know, and love, and have my being, that I faithfully place my aunt's eternal soul, knowing that when her unrelenting pain and suffering are over she will be joined for all eternity with Him in paradise.

Until then, May God's Will Be Done.