ANNETTE VISITS ME

Today at mass I had a profound experience with my friend Annette.  I had been pondering the many  recent changes of a situation in my personal life.  I was amazed and excited about these changes and then I felt the over whelming presence of my dear friend Annette!  Yes my friend who is now part of the Communion of Saints! Definition:

Paul's letters clarify how the Apostolic Church under the influence of the Holy Spirit spoke of believers as "saints," whether living or dead.

Paul asked the saints to pray for him and to imitate him.
Faithful people in the Post-Apostolic Church in the Apostles Creed defined the confessional response to faith in their creed: "We believe in the communion of saints."
Through Baptism we pass "from death to life; death no longer has dominion over us." Christians must believe that there is no real distinction between the believer in human life and after human life. Saints, living or dead, are indistinguishable before God.

If we can pray for and with saints in this life, we can pray for and with those saints after human life.

And as Paul asked saints to imitate him as he imitates Christ, the Church encourages Catholic Christians to imitate the holiness of the saints as they imitated the holiness of Christ and the Father.
As a hem of a garment, the shadows of saints, and clothes of the saints were used devotionally in the Apostolic Church, so relics and images of the saints are devotionally encouraged by the Church today.
First among saints by the fullness of grace which was hers is the Mother of Jesus, Mary.

You see before Annette died or transitioned into the next life I asked her to pray for a specific thing which I shall not reveal now.  She visited me during mass to let me know indeed she was taking my prayer request to the Lord himself!  I just felt her presence.  I started crying and was over joyed that she let me know she had not forgotten me and my special request. She is still my dear friend!  Though we are separated  between worlds our souls can be united!  During mass the Angels and Saints join us!

I have also been praying faithfully daily for this particular prayer request for many years.  I've been growing in conviction about the power of prayer to change situations and lives.  I have been getting up daily to spend precious time with the Lord.  Do I get distracted?  ALL THE TIME!  I have a journal where I write down all my prayers requests and the request of others.  I have another journal where I write what I believe the lord is saying to me and a third journal to write down my thoughts. These  journals have really helped me. 

We have a God who cares!  He is just waiting to hand out His graces to us but we must pray to have those graces released into our lives and the lives of others.  It is one of the greatest things we can do for those we love and even those we don't :)