Mary Undoer of Knots

Christ came to bring JOY;

Joy to children, joy to parents,

Joy to families and friends,

Joy to the sick and elderly,

Joy to all humanity.

In a true sense, JOY is the keynote message of Christianity,

And the recurring motif of the Gospels.

Go, therefore, and become Messengers of Joy!

~ Pope John Paul II

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Angels Among Us

           I have a great love for my guardian angel. Too many people forget they even have a guardian angel after they leave their childhood behind. But from the day of our conception, God has given us this great gift. This is the story of my most recent and wonderful encounter with my dear angel.

      On the day after Christmas, we had a huge snowstorm here in NE Pennsylvania. I could not avoid driving, as my father slipped on ice when the storm began, and broke his leg, needing some help and a ride home from the hospital.
 
      The ride to his home, 5 miles away from the hospital, was treacherous. I was driving his car, with him in the passenger seat, and the roads literally had not been plowed. It was dark, and all I could do was follow the tracks ahead of me. It was a long, slow, white-knuckle ride, with 6+ inches of snow on the road. All I could do was follow the tracks of the last vehicle to travel this way.
 
      By the time we arrived and got him settled into his house so I could go back home, there were another 2 inches on the car. I again cleaned the snow off, and as I backed out of the driveway, I said a prayer and asked my guardian angel to keep the car on the road. I had not gone far, when from out of nowhere, I noticed a vehicle in front of me, just far enough away that I could not identify it. This was odd, because I saw no vehicles pass me when I backed out on to the road. It had seemed completely deserted.

      The snow was perfectly even on my side of the road, but it did not seem like snow, as it was seemingly pristine and smooth to the ground, with the 8+ inches on the other side of the road still very visible with deep tire tracks. It was snowing like crazy, so this did not make sense. At first, I thought this vehicle must have been a plow, since I was the first one on this perfectly white road, but the path was much wider than a plow. And the vehicle did not look like a plow, with yellow flashing lights on the top and brake lights on the back. All it had was two spotlights on the back, (no brake lights or flashers), one higher and the other lower, guiding me home.
 
      Finally, it dawned on me---How is it that I was driving on this white road with a vehicle in front of me that left no tracks? A plow usually leaves a mess behind it, better than the snow in front of it, yes, but a mess, nonetheless. It was if I was the only one on the road! And what kind of a vehicle has no brake lights? I have never seen a plow with no yellow flashing lights.....So when I got close to my house, I tried to get a better look, thinking I would see better in town with the street lights illuminating the path. When we rounded a bend in the road, coming close to the part of town with lights, I lost sight of the vehicle for about 2 seconds. When I got back on the straightaway, the vehicle was gone--It had completely vanished! I looked right and left and checked all of the parking lots it could have pulled into. But I only lost sight of it for 2 seconds! It could not have travelled fast enough to lose me in that storm.....it simply disappeared when I no longer needed it.
 
      Thanks be to God and my Guardian Angel!