Come closer

“I’m at ICU, in isolation. Blood results came just now. Blood level too thin (6.75, normal is 1.4). High risk for brain/internal bleeding. Angiogram and CT scan and other tests scheduled for tomorrow are now pushed to in a few hours from now, as my condition its not possible to wait anymore.”

If you get a message like this from a loved one, wouldn’t you make a call quickly? I  did just that. I frantically pressed the CALL button in my Iphone and wished with all my heart that I would hear a voice on the other end of the line, not a groan. When I heard my brother’s voice, I immediately hushed him from saying anything and proceeded to say a prayer for him while he listened.

His condition turned for the worse hours after, so I hurriedly booked a flight to Singapore where he was based. The next 4 days were a whirlwind of laboratory tests, keeping careful watch over him in case his heart beats faster than normal and helplessly  looking on  at him gasping for air  while he does  simple tasks like  washing his face, feeding himself or just reaching out for the blanket.

But prayers work miracles. The lab tests came out and showed that his heart and lungs were healthy. Though there were multi-clots found in the left portion of his lungs, it was not serious enough to subject him to an angioplasty. We wanted to know where the clots came from but a complete test on his body , from  head to toes showed no clue where the clots could have first appeared.

While everyone else continued to ask the question, “Why?” I stopped asking. I told them that there isn’t any real cause because God had removed them even before we could get more worried.

After narrating what happened to a close friend, she was teary-eyed. All she could tell me was to share with my brother how fervently she had prayed for him “so he will fully appreciate God’s greatness and mercy.”

The family and friends did not stop lifting up my brother’s condition in their prayers. The chain of pleas to God for a miracle was answered! Less than week after having been admitted to the ICU, he’s now resting in his home…still gasping for breath but definitely recuperating well.

Sometimes the question pops in my head — “Is the scare over?”

I close my eyes and can only think that it is God Almighty alone who knows us inside out and what we are to be in the future.

I will continue to pray no matter what happens. My brother is a Catholic but because of a  crisis in the family, he struggled on his own to create his career and he found success outside the Philippines. With a high-paying job comes pressure. He hasn’t really called on God as often as he should have.

I believe his stint in the ICU was God’s loving nudge for him to come closer to Him in his trial. We have long prayed for this. Years and years. We didn’t stop at telling God to put His name in His heart and make him feel the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In the same way that St. Monica did not rest from praying until her son Augustine came to know Jesus. He even became a saint and a doctor of the church. How a mother’s love and prayers can work miracles even if it took her more than 30 years to see God’s grace work on St. Augustine.

I know that God sends signals to us, in many forms and in different circumstances. The signals have always one aim: to bring us closer to him.

We may be buried in work, distracted by the world’s pleasures and sitting on wealth. But when God sends His signal for us to stop and remember Him, our minds and heart will be one with Him. Our spirit will cry out to Him like a deer panting for water. We don’t realize it but He will make us feel He has always been inside our souls.

When my Iphone beeped to remind me that it was 6 o’clock, I stopped the conversation in my brother’s hospital room and led them in the Angelus. With that done, my brother shook his head. He couldn’t believe he still remembered the prayer.

I told him God has always been there in his body and mind from the time he learned that prayer from our parents and He will always be part of him as His child no matter if he has stopped coming closer to Him.

My brother’s ICU stint is a story I will share with others because I know God wants His goodness and mercy to be spread to all.

It was a scary period in my life to fly to my brother’s bedside. But it is also a humbling experience to witness God’s power and miracle at work.

Once again, God gave me another testament to share with my friends and with you who are reading this column.

At the end of any incident, God just really wants us to come closer to Him.

It is the only way to earn a spot near His heavenly throne, not only to be close to Him but to be WITH Him.

Thank you Lord for another miracle experience!