When I Die
When I am about to leave this world, I hope to lift people up the way Rick and Marilyn did. They were at peace with the Lord. Having been with them you knew the meaning of a happy death, and a new life on the other side. Clarence
MARILYN (Apr. 3, 1937 – May 23, 2011)
I was visiting family back home in Wisconsin and decided to stop and see Marilyn, a friend whom I’d known for years. I knew she had cancer, but little did I know that her life was near the end. The cancer had metastasized and had settled in her back where it was untreatable.
When I arrived, Tom, her husband, met me at the door. Several of her 7 children and 13 grandchildren were just leaving. I had some time alone with her as she told me about her ordeal.
Marilyn was a beautiful person both inside and out. We talked about the past and present and laughed a lot. If there was any consoling though, I was the one consoled. I felt God’s presence in her room while I was there and was uplifted by her always positive attitude. There was a feeling of total peace.
Proverbs 8:35 - For those who find me find life and receive favor from the Lord.
Watching Bishop Richard Barron’s sermon entitled, "The Reality of Life After Death" on YouTube, based on the second book of Maccabees, provides hope for all of us for the resurrection of the body. Clarence
RICK (1952 – July 26, 2022)
Unlike Marilyn, who I knew all my life, Rick and I had just come to know one another during the last year. It had only been recently that we started going out for fish on Fridays. Rick felt he should eat fish on Fridays during Lent. It came from his Catholic upbringing, even though Rick did not particularly enjoy fish.
Rick was plagued with a heart condition and diabetes which he downplayed most of the time. I had diabetes and could control it with an insulin pump when I had sweets. Rick loved sweets more than I did. I never questioned how he controlled his sugar, but he ate a lot of sweets. In the end, however, it was a lung condition, which took his life. He had been told that if the condition worsened it would cut off his oxygen and it would happen quickly. Rick had been a firefighter for many years and his lung congestion came from inhaling so much smoke.
I had seen Rick at the neighborhood bocce event. He stated he had shortness of breath. Then two weeks later I met him at a neighbor’s funeral, and he was in a wheelchair with oxygen. Then just two weeks later, he was in the hospital for a pulmonary respiratory condition, from which there is no cure.
Rick had not joined a church since moving to Indiana. He stated several times that he did not want to lose his faith and wanted to see a Catholic Priest. I called Rick to discuss having a priest come see him. When I called, Rick was exuberant because they had found two blood clots in his lungs, and they thought a blood thinner would alleviate the clots and his breathing problem. He felt he had a new lease on life and said, “When I get out, I will drive over to the church and see Father.”
The next day his oxygen level decreased substantially. He had a tough day and wanted to once again see a Catholic priest. He was in a good mood, but only 15% of the oxygen was coming from his lungs, the balance was coming from external sources. At this point Rick was fully functional, but he knew he would never be going home. They planned on putting him in hospice the next day.
That same afternoon I went to see Father. He said he would visit Rick that evening. The next morning, I called Rick, and he told me Father came that night and stayed well over an hour. Rick said, “Father may have thought he would be here only a few minutes to put the Holy oil on me, but when I told Father of three miracles I experienced as a fire-fighter, he seemed interested. At one point Father said, “I should have brought a bottle of Scotch.”
We laughed about Father’s comment. Father was probably not prepared for Rick’s enthusiasm.
The following day I called Rick, and his wife Lois answered his phone. She told me the entire family was there, and it was near the end. Lois said that after Father gave Rick the last rites, Rick was happy and visibly at peace. She was so appreciative, as Rick had no fear of dying and all were enjoying his humor, enthusiasm, and stories. Lois said she was surprised that Father would take time to visit a non-parishioner.
I met Father later in the week. He had been praying for Rick. I thanked Father for how much time he spent with Rick. Father said, “It was all good because he had spent time with a truly humble man.” I told him that the entire family enjoyed Rick’s humor, enthusiasm and sense of peace after his visit. Father said, “It’s the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, which comes with the Holy oil that is bestowed in the sacrament.
I read somewhere that, in receiving the Holy Oils in the Sacrament of healing of the sick, the recipient oftentimes receives a glimpse of heaven.
I think the recipient feels the profound Love of God and the joy and peace that comes with it. If it is the end of life as we know it, those around the dying person feel that same love, peace, and joy, emanating through the dying person, as they go through the process of passing from this life to the next. There is a sense of peace and a subdued joyfulness. Clarence
I would like to share one of Rick’s more profound miracles as a firefighter in Chicago.
Rick having a good heart put himself in danger many times trying to save others. On one occasion he was on the roof of a burning building dragging a hose when the roof gave way. When he looked down the three floors below him were gone. As he fell through the roof, the buckle that held his oxygen tanks caught on a piece of metal. As he dangled in the air, a firefighter grabbed hold of him and pulled him up with one hand to safety. Rick said that with all his gear he weighed over 200 pounds. The firefighter who pulled him up had the number 13 on his helmet, which was the next precinct over from his precinct.
The following day he went to that precinct to thank the firefighter who saved his life. No one there remembered the incident, and none met the description of the person who saved him from certain death.
Rick always felt the Lord sent an angel to save him.
John 11: 25-26 - Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
John 14: 2-4 - My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Clarence