Prayer Requests and Works of Mercy

Actually prayer for others is *always* a work of mercy, but  I assume you grok me.

A reader writes:

I’ve been struggling to write this email for a few days to solicit help on behalf of a friend. The problem is really complicated, and I don’t know if I’ve succeeded at making it clear.

I recently came across a friend of mine posting in absolute outrage on Facebook. His roommate, a young woman named Tatiana, has ongoing medical issues. She’s a Chernobyl baby, exposed to large amounts of radiation in utero, which cause problems that continue to plague her. But due to her residency status in the United States — she is still in the citizenship process through VAWA — has found herself unable to acquire health insurance. The end result is that St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chicago has denied her treatment due to her inability to pay.

I don’t entirely understand why they won’t treat her, but during a seizure over the weekend, they had to convince the ambulance to take her to a different hospital.

So, she’s been going through a rough patch in her health particularly for the last month or so, she has been unable to work, which means she’s on the verge of losing her apartment.

She was diagnosed with three pulmonary embolisms in 2011, and suffers from MDS (refractory anemia), which requires specialist treatment from oncologists, hematologists, etc, far beyond her financial means.

So she’s soliciting charitable donations at http://www.gofundme.com/368u9c.

Her immediate goal is around $2000, covering her rent and some immediate medical tests she needs to have done which she cannot afford.

Her email address is lebedevastyx@gmail.com, and she is willing make her medical history available on request to potential donors.

I hope some of your readers are able to offer her any help, especially anyone in the Chicago area with the resources to help cover some of her medical bills directly.

I pray for this young woman every night, and prayers for her are appreciated, too.

Father, hear our prayer for this woman to bear her cross well for the salvation of her soul and the souls of many other, and grant her the grace of healing and comfort in body, soul, and spirit.  Provide for all the financial and logistical needs of her family and stir up the hearts of your faithful to help.  Give grace, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, skill and compassion to her caregivers and give grace, peace, strength, consolation, faith, hope, and love to all who love her.  Mother Mary, St. Luke and St. Peregrine, pray for all concerned. We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Another reader, who has written to ask for prayer for depression in the past, writes:

I decided to start taking my medication. It has been a month now since I began taking it and I can’t really tell a huge difference in my symptoms. I know that meds aren’t a magic bullet, but they should take enough of the edge off that it is easier to deal with the underlying issues in therapy. I am still having a lot of thoughts of suicide and have even thought of ways I might do it. I have also still been struggling with my old demon of self injury, specifically the urge to cut myself. I’m also still struggling with no desire to eat and an inability to get to sleep when I ought to be able to drop off easily.

I am still seeing my therapist and working with him, but I’m still very apathetic at times and have recently begun to wonder if I’ll ever pull out of this. I am trying to do the work to get better because my family deserve that, but I don’t have a lot of hope for the long term. Some days are better than others and some days I even feel a bit happier, but then there are days like yesterday when things are so dark that I think I will go mad for want of light and air.

Anyway, all this is to say that there is a tiny bit of improvement but that I could still use a prayer or twenty as you and your readers see fit. Thank you for all the prayers thus far. God bless you and yours.

Father, hear our prayer for this reader that she be empowered to turn her thoughts toward your Son Jesus when faced with temptation to harm herself and that each day she see some sign of hope and improvement and of your presence in her life.  Remind her of the love that is around her, even from strangers, as well as from her family.  Break whatever biochemical bondages are at work in this so that she can know the life and joy that you will for her. Give grace, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, skill and compassion to her caregivers and give grace, peace, strength, consolation, faith, hope, and love to all who love her.  Mother Mary, St. Luke, and St. Dymphna, pray for her and all who love her and are treating her.  We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen!

Another reader writes:

My brother is seeking emergency custody of his two youngest children today, in order to protect them from a pedophile in their mother’s family.  Prayers for the success of his petition would be greatly appreciated.

Father, hear our prayer that justice be done and your two children protected from evil.  We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen.  Mother Mary and St. John Bosco, pray for all concerned.

Another reader writes:

Two young people I know were killed in a car crash on Saturday. Their names are Stephen Donnelly and Mandy Gold. They were only 26 and 21 years old respectively. They knew the Lord but were not Catholics; they attended a Protestant community, so they’re not going to have too many people praying for the repose of their souls.

Please could you pray for them, their families and friends. And please pray for another man involved in the accident (who was uninjured), and also William Wilson, who has been charged with causing death by dangerous driving and drunk driving.

Father, hear our prayer for the repose of Stephen and Mandy’s souls, for the man whose life was spared, for all who love them and mourn this loss, and for William, that he would seek and find forgiveness for this terrible sin.   Mother Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for them all.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

And finally, a reader writes:

Please pray for a co-worker, whom I’ve known going on 17 years, who is facing a cancer diagnosis and major, possibly life-altering surgery today.  He hasn’t had any time to get his head around it. He’s 51 years old and has a wife and teenage daughter.  He told me yesterday, before he left for the hospital, that the doctor said it doesn’t look good.

Father, hear our prayer that your servant be healed of this cancer, that his caregiver provide him with excellent care, and that those who love him find your grace, peace, consolation, faith, hope, and love.  We also ask that they receive the financial provision they need for this trial.  We ask this through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary, St. Luke, and St. Peregrine, pray for them.  And if it is not your will that he be healed, grant him the grace of a happy death through Christ crucified. Amen.