sylvia's Requests...

From: Sylvia Pituch

Date: December 31, 2009 3:15:53 PM CST

Subject: PR

I hope that you all have a very blessed and safe Happy New Year!

Syl,this is a request for a friend who just lost her dad and her mom needs lots of help.This is very stressful for her(MY FRIEND).Her dad died quickly of liver cancer. Also pray for a friend who's very sad right now and needs our prayers.He's talking to Francy and I about doing something scary.Thanks,Maureen

My daughter-in-law, Anita Metzker, will be going in for surgery on Monday, Jan. 4th to University of Penna. Hospital, in Phila. As you know she had been diagnosed with 2 blot clots and an aneurysm. The aneurysm has now grown and something has to be done. On the 4th they will do some relocating of the veins that are affected by the blood clots and on the following Friday she will have major by-pass surgery. They will be totally replacing her aorta. The operation will take 10 to 12 hours and is really a critical situation. She can use all the prayers she can get. Thanks so much! I really appreciate it....... Mary

Kim' Daughter needs your prayers

I received this from one of our faithful prayer partners...

In a message dated 12/29/2009 8:02:57 A.M. Central Standard Time, obuche@stanion.com writes:

All joking aside…..would you add my daughter Kim to your prayer list. She is having tests done, first for a growth on her stomach, and then when they did a CT found a “spot” on her kidney. I am trying not to worry until I have something to worry about, but it’s not working !

Thank you

OB

Sylvia's Requests...

I ask you all to please keep in your prayers my cousins David & Kelee Mayernik - on Friday night aunt Emma passed away - she was admitted to Lehigh Valley Hosp Center on Wed. as she was found to have a bleeding ulcer - the loss of blood took a toll on her heart.

Kelee asked me to pass along to family and friends who will be attending the celebration of my aunt Emma's life - the viewing will be at 10AM in the Weir Funeral Home, across from the Cathedral of St. Catherine's - David will share the love he has for his mom through his words AT THE FUNERAL HOME - the Mass will follow at the Cathedral. Many heavy hearts - my aunt Emma was an amazingly strong woman with a heart of gold.

sylvia's Requests...

Dear all, we have a prayer request from Suzie and Jim Lee for a co-worker of their daughter Maria. Laura is their daughter's co-worker
and is the aunt of 2 year old Kendra who is getting ready for a liver transplant next week. Aunt Laura is donating part of her liver for her
niece. There is a website that you can access to see Kendra, and she will just steal your heart, she is the sweetest little thing!!! Please
storm heaven with prayers that all goes well with this transplant for both Kendra and her Aunt Laura. Thank you so much.

In His Name,
Mary Ann
_________________________________
Mary Ann,
A little 2yr old, Kendra, is getting a live liver transplant on Dec. 15 or 16. The donor is her Aunt Laura. Laura is a co-worker of my daughter Maria.
Please ask the prayer warriors for prayers for Laura and Kendra. I have attached the website if people want to see how adorable this
precious child is and to understand her condition. www.love4kendra.com

sylvia's Requests...

Hi Sylvia.

I have a few prayer requests and updates:

>Update on Sheldon - he's home and doing well. Latest post (Wednesday) from his wife below:
Sheldon was discharged yesterday and I got him home to our house about 5:00 yesterday afternoon. He is much better than he was on Sunday when I saw him last, and he was moving around the house without much difficult. He even joined the group for bible study in the living room without becoming too overtired.
He is scheduled for bloodwork on Monday and a followup clinic appointment on Wednesday (a week from today) at which time I think they will be trying to determine how significant the antibody mediated rejection (AMR) is and what the next steps for that should be (more Valcade, kidney biopsy, no action?). In the meantime, the kidney on Tuesday remained good (creatin of 1.4), so we are encouraged by that.
In the meantime, we will try to resume what passes for normal at our house.
Thanks as always,
Kathy
>Please pray for my friend, Richard (contrabassoonist in the Harrisburg Symphony). His car was hit broadside earlier in the week. It took several days for the doctors to finally diagnose all of his injuries.
I just got back from 24 hours at St. Agnes (Agony) Hosp. They did CAT scans of my head/chest, X-rays of my shoulder, and MRI of head/neck. They know I have 2 broken ribs (in the back), a broken shoulder blade, some lung bruising, and possible some shoulder injury. My left arm is in an immobilization sling. I guess I have a reason for not overdoing Christmas this year.
>Please pray for my friend Paula's brother-in-law. He had a knee replacement last December and has been battling an infection for several months. This all sounds eerily familiar. He had surgery yesterday.

My brother-in-law had the old, diseased knee joint removed yesterday and the temp put in. He's got a pic line for continuous antibiotics over the
next few weeks; he had gotten quite ill prior to surgery with a fever and
jaundice from the infection (and they think from one of the meds). Surgery went well and my sister is now much relieved. So they will keep watching him and see if he is truly ready in 6 weeks for another permanent replacement. Keep Tom and Jane in your prayers ... thanks.

Paula

Thanks so much!
Love, Connie

How Great Thou Art...Ultimate Freedom

Click the Link...turn speakers on...enjoy.

sylvia's Requests...

Syl,
We just received some shocking news that our dear friend, Mike LoDolce has followed and joined his wife with our Lord. Mike just lost his wife 1 1/2 months ago to a long battle with cancer. His 20+ yrs. old daughter found him dead in bed this morning. He's leaving a daughter in her 20's and a son around 19. Please prayer for the family to be able to deal and accept the lost of their father, son and brother (best friend). His brother could use some extra prayers. He and Mike did everything together and now his brother is going thru some personal trials of his own. Pray that the Lord be in his mind and heart to be able to be strong for himself, parents and nieces and nephew.
Beverly

(Bev & Jeff, praying through the night for your dear friend Mike's family - let me know if there's anything I can do)

Sylvia's Requests...

At prayer group last evening, we prayed for Nancy I's son John's friend who was dx with cancer - and afterward we talked about how special it is when our children call us to pray with them for a special intention - tonight our cousin Sara (15) asks us to pray:

hey aunt syl. Can you send out a prayer request to storm the heavens with prayers for my math teacher. today in class he got a call that his mom and sister were in a car accident, his sister died and his mom is in ICU and might not make it. thanks soo much! its been a rough week for me.
love you

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Please pray for one of my patients - her name is Rose and she was just dx with colon cancer (she is also a breast cancer survivor) - she and her husband are very much involved in the Serra Club (Bethlehem) - when scheduling Rose's surgery they asked if I was Catholic - I told them that I was and that I would be praying for them - I told them about our prayer group and Rose's husband said "get us on every one!".

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Dear Ones,

Just heard from Tom's sister, Jackie, that her daughter, Stacey, who's expecting her second baby in April, has placenta previa (sp?) & needs to stop lifting, take it easy, etc. She has a toddler, is a physical therapist who works with children at DuPont, & now she has to rest, which is not going to be easy. When Tom's mom had that in her 7th month of pregnancy with Tom's youngest brother, she had to go on complete bedrest for the last two months. That's when Tom learned how to cook!

So, we're entreating all good prayers for Stacey & her baby so that they'll go full-term & have a healthy baby. Thank you & God bless.

Love,

Norine

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UPDATE ON BABY CODY:

Leslie,

Thank you for your concern and prayers. We know that it is the prayers that effect what God decides what will do.

Cody is in recovery after surgery Friday. He has been in a drug induced coma since the then and is now being weaned off the anesthesia. He is functioning well and came through the surgery without complication or surprise.

We are very grateful for the riches of God’s inheritance: namely the studies , research, wisdom, knowledge and hearts and minds of the medical missionaries in Houston Medical Center and beyond because without it our baby would not live past a year or more.

I looked up truncus ateriuss and it is described below:

Truncus arteriosus (TRUNG-kus ahr-teer-e-O-sus) is a heart defect that creates severe circulatory problems. If your baby has truncus arteriosus, one large vessel leads out of the heart, instead of two separate vessels — one leading out of each of the lower chambers of the heart. Also, the two lower chambers are missing a portion of the wall dividing them. As a result of truncus arteriosus, oxygen-poor blood that should go to the lungs and oxygen-rich blood that should go to the rest of the body are mixed together. If left untreated, truncus arteriosus usually leads to death within the first or second year of life. Surgery to repair the heart and blood vessels is usually successful, especially if the repair occurs before your baby is 2 months old. Sorry I have not replied sooner. In the past two weeks we have been shuttling to the hospital in Austin, Texas which is three hours from Houston, going to the hospital downtown in Houston for the pre-op and surgery at the Texas Childrens hospital which is 45 minutes to an hour away, post-op visits, more car driving, having family time and trying to keep up with work and the house and feeding everyone, out of town family for the past week off and on and haven’t had time to email or call. Thanks for your faith in God and in His providence for us.

Love,

Janie

Painting Heaven

This is WONDERFUL.

This will be the BEST four minutes you have spent this day...this month...this YEAR.

Click the link...

Sylvia's Requests...

You may have head the news of the woman who was killed while crossing Hanover Avenue - Mrs Venditto is the aunt of Janet Stralo, one of our faithful prayer warriors - you may know Janet more affectionately as grandmother to baby Cole. Please keep the Venditto family - especially Mrs. Venditto's daughter Roseann, in your prayers.

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Please also keep in your prayers my co-worker Pam - her dad passed away about one month ago - she's having a difficult time - "I find I don't even have time to grieve" - and we pray for all who experience the loss of a loved one - (Christine, I hold you, Kevin, & the Fab Five close to my heart xoxo)

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Our cousin Suzi's son Nicholas is having surgery early tomorrow morning for his tonsils and adenoids - please pray for all to go well, and for little Nicholas to have a quick recovery. Thanks!

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Prayers are needed for a friend of our son, John. He just found out he has cancer and John asked to put him on the prayer list, ( I don't have his name.)

Thank You, Nancy

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Please pray for my friend Kim's son Billy who's driving cross country to pick up his brother Josh to bring him home for Christmas - for Guardian Angels to surround him on his travels there and back.

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Dear Prayer Sisters,

I received the following prayer request from my sister. Could you please add Pearl to your list.

Love, Renee


Please put Pearl on your prayer chain. She is a Mom of one of the teachers at my school. She fell and broke her pelvis and arm today. She is 93 years old.

Thanks,
Christine

20 Keys to YOUR happiness

1. Compliment three people every day.

2. Watch a sunrise.

3. Be the first to say "Hello"

4. Live beneath your means.

5. Treat everyone as you want to be treated.

6. Never give up on anyone; miracles do happen.

7. Forget the Jones's.

8. Remember someone's name.

9. Pray not for things, but for wisdom and courage

10. Be tough-minded, but tender hearted.

11.Be kinder than you have to be.

12. Don't forget that a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.

13 Keep your promises.

14 Learn to show cheerfulness even when you don't feel like it.

15. Remember that overnight success usually takes 15 years.

16. Leave everything better than you found it.

17. Remember that winners do what losers don't want to do.

18. When you arrive at your job in the morning, let the first thing you say brighten everyone's day.

19. Don't rain on other people's parades.

20. Don't waste an opportunity to tell someone you care about them.

For Aaron's Mom...Please Pray

A good friend, Paul Walker writes...

Rick, hope things are going well with your new endeavors.

We have been busy with Amy and her family here. Aaron's mom has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer - stage 4. Not good. They will be with us until at least Sunday.

Please Pray for Claudia "Anne" Wertin

This note from a very good friend...and more importantly...a very good person...who could use your prayers.

Surgery scheduled as pain and elevated ovarian cancer marker for Dec 9th--possibly in the mid to late afternoon with the Devinci Robot and 2 surgeons. Hoping for a quick night and out the next day. Looking for pain relief and positive outcome. Prayers appreciated. Claudia "Anne" Wertin

Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation

'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics... We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'

It's Called Christmas with a Capital "C"

Merry Christmas faithful ones. The year has been full of requests and the many prayers and offerings have been rewarded with His grace. Pray for others...it is in the giving that we receive. RGB

Alice Lester 100 years old...Prayer Request

Rick,
I would like to ask you to post a prayer request for my grandmother. Her name is Alice Lester. She turned 100 on May 31st of this year. Tuesday she was diagnosed with liver cancer. We think she could be called home at anytime.

Thanks!

Regards,
Jeff Lester

Prayers WORK

08.11.2009

Dear Bhajan:

Well and nice to hear from you. And thank you very much for your information on CLL.

Now Kohila is quite OK after the administration RITUXMAB a monoclonal antibody medicine that is available in India since last two years. Earlier Fludrabine was the available one.

We have six doses of RITUXMAB to Kohila at one month interval, and this medicine has worked wonders. Now her blood counts and blood parameters are as healthy as a normal adult person. However, we have been advised to do monthly blood check up as a monitoring step. It is about six months that she lives like any normal person with out any health problems due to CLL or otherwise.

It is all due to prayers from friends like you.

I have taken note of your clipping and this medicine details - for future reference in case it is necessary.

Ungalai pondra nalla ullangalukku nanri.

Further, Vinod is in Mumbai with Reliance and Aarthi is with TCS, Bangalore and are doing fine. We are looking for alliance for our daughter which is yet to settle.

Welcome to Chennai.

Regards.

Ganesan. R

In Memory of Jerry Bockwinkel, My Uncle

Departed 3:10PM Central Time, April 4, 2009

O loving God . . . I pray that You welcome my deceased Uncle, Jerry Bockwinkel, into heaven with You. Forgive any sins and reward his goodness. Grant that I may be with him, and my family and friends again in Your Peaceful presence. Amen.

The Prayer of Oscar Romero

The Archbishop served the people of El Salvador and was assassinated in 1980 while he was saying mass in San Salvador.

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.

Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of sayingthat the kingdom always lies beyond us. No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the church's mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything.

This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.

We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.

We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord's grace to enter and do the rest.

We may never see the end results, but that is the differencebetween the master builder and the worker.

We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.

We are prophets of a future not our own.
Amen.

Wednesday, April 1st, was the anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero. For the reflection that day, Bishop Untener included a passage titled "The mystery of the Romero Prayer." The mystery is that the words of the prayer are attributed to Oscar Romero, but they were never spoken by him. They were, in fact, spoken by John Cardinal Dearden in November of 1979. They come from a homily he gave at a Mass for deceased priests. But what is even more important to know is that they were words drafted for Cardinal Dearden by Ken Untener.

Be Generous in Prosperity

Be generous in prosperity,
And thankful in adversity.

Be fair in judgment,
And guarded in speech.

Be a lamp unto those,
Who walk in darkness.

Be eyes to the blind,
And a guiding light.

Be a breath of life,
To the body of mankind.

Be a dew to the soul
Of the human heart.

And a fruit upon the tree,
Of humanity.

- Bahá'u'lláh

Provocative Question

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tugged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, of the thousands that passed by, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best violinists in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written for a violin which was worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize artistic talent in an unexpected context?

An interesting question drawn from this experience:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?