‘Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit’. (St. Lucy)
Kathleen, deemed unfit for purpose, evicted from her own home while still quite young to be reared and cared for by staff in St.Finian’s Pschiatric Hospital. Many folk in Kathleen’s locality had no inkling Kathleen ever existed until she passed away. Kathleen was revealed at her own funeral, shocking to the core.
Kathleen and I met when I worked in the high support hostel where she resided in her later years. At that time she was almost eighty years of age. It took quite a while for her to trust me, moody and angry, high wall around her, always alone. God only knows how she must have suffered up and down the long years.
Glacially, Kathleen did begin to warm to me and I was over the moon. ‘Is it you who’s here today’, she would say smiling, obviously pleased that I was working on that particular day.
Fiercely independent, Kathleen did her work with pride, setting tables and cleaning up after everyone else. Sadly, for Staff members, I saw little warmth from any of them towards Kathleen, even less gratitude. Kathleen, however didn’t notice or care. She expected nothing and so was never disappointed.
One day, another client asked if it was Good Friday today and I replied - ‘Yes, Jesus died on the Cross for all of us’. Kathleen looking out the window uttered sharply - ‘I don’t believe a word of it’. Jesus smiling sadly, whispered knowingly - ‘No wonder’. Jesus knew only too well what Kathleen had suffered at the hands of unkind uncaring folk.
Fr.Leo Clifford rip. told a story about a District Nurse who worked very hard and the doctor told her: ‘I’m going to ask for a raise for you - God knows you deserve it’. The nurse replied, ‘If God knows, that’s all that matters because I’m doing it all for Him’. God had His eyes on dear Kathleen too.
I had the sublime privilege of praying ‘The Chaplet of Divine Mercy’ at Kathleen’s bedside the day she breathed her last. At that time, I did not possess the deep realisation of the Sacredness, Beauty & Gravity of death. I had no idea that there was no roof in Kathleen’s room that day, and Heaven had no floor. All of us together in one Sacred Sacrosanct Space.
One day, another client asked if it was Good Friday today and I replied - ‘Yes, Jesus died on the Cross for all of us’. Kathleen looking out the window uttered sharply - ‘I don’t believe a word of it’. Jesus smiling sadly, whispered knowingly - ‘No wonder’. Jesus knew only too well what Kathleen had suffered at the hands of unkind uncaring folk.
Fr.Leo Clifford rip. told a story about a District Nurse who worked very hard and the doctor told her: ‘I’m going to ask for a raise for you - God knows you deserve it’. The nurse replied, ‘If God knows, that’s all that matters because I’m doing it all for Him’. God had His eyes on dear Kathleen too.
I had the sublime privilege of praying ‘The Chaplet of Divine Mercy’ at Kathleen’s bedside the day she breathed her last. At that time, I did not possess the deep realisation of the Sacredness, Beauty & Gravity of death. I had no idea that there was no roof in Kathleen’s room that day, and Heaven had no floor. All of us together in one Sacred Sacrosanct Space.
Nowadays I realise it deeply, each time I am privileged to pray with folk as they take leave of this world. Thank you from my deepest heart, Kathleen, I gleaned many gems from our beautiful friendship. Because of you, I know who God is.
‘The worst disease is not leprosy, but the loneliness of not being wanted, being left out, being forgotten.’. (St. Mother Teresa)
‘How many times do kings and queens allow themselves to be tricked into letting their pride reach the skies and their egos touch the clouds, when in the end they’re as forgotten as a pile of cow manure!’ (St. Clare of Assisi)
‘The worst disease is not leprosy, but the loneliness of not being wanted, being left out, being forgotten.’. (St. Mother Teresa)
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