My Father was raised a Catholic and died a Catholic.
My Father was raised old school,a stubborn man ,but
yet very loving and caring towards the stranger,he
didnt know how to read or write but he sure lived out
the royal law acording to James 2:8.
The last four months of my fathers life,we spent many
a times,hours discussing eternal life.
My father was a very active person even though he
was missing both legs and almost completely blind he
managed to arise each morning to feed his horses and
goats,pigs,chickens.
Three weeks before my fathers departure,he called me
to ask me if I could help him build a shrine for Mary.
I said yes,
we built a 20x12sqft shrine with windows all around
that turned out looking like a san Fransisco toll booth.
When we finished building,I asked my father,what this
meant to him.
And in his words,he said,This was in dedication to Mary
and that she was very special because she was chosen
to carry baby Jesus.
In my brain and heart I decided not to get theological.
I left it at that...
Me and my father lived in different states so times were
difficult going back and forth,but we comunicated with
eachother on the phone as much as we could.
On july 28th 2008,I receaved a call from my sister;
my father was near death,I talked with my father
expectant,I guess I always wanted some theologicaly
profound statement to come out of my father's mouth,
but God showed me to quit looking for the profound
and listen to my father.My father's simple utterance
was,I love you, tell your brother to change his ways, and
take care of your children.
I took the next bus to Arizona with the expectation
of speaking to him in person.
On july 31st 2008
I got to the hospice,but my father was already sedated
and unconscious,I spent all morning and all the way into
the night whispering the four gospels and the book of
Romans.
Upon taking his very last and deep breath I clenched his
hand as tight as I could and with a gentleness I got right
next to his ear and whispered,put all your confidence
in the Lord Jesus....................................................
