Saturday, May 31, 2014

Raquel's Message of Thanks After her Kidney Transplant



My friend Raquel Balagtas, who had put out an appeal for a kidney donation last March, 2014 was fortunate enough to have had a kidney transplant last week. She wrote this letter about the recent events in her life. I'm reprinting it here, with her permissison. 
~~~

From Raquel Balagtas:

These are 4 of our 5 sons:  Jet, Yuri (he lives in the Phil. with his wife Amor and their 4 sons!), Gamby and Rallee.

George and I call them our "Very fine sons." 



We used to wonder if anyone of them would take care of us when we grow old.  Daughters have  been traditionally given this task.  Wonder no more.  They are the daughters we never had -- very caring, never left me alone.  They took turns in the hospital and bringing me to my appointments waiting patiently with me.
 
When Rallee called George to update him, they were both crying.  George could not come as our finances would not allow it and the notice that there is an available kidney for me came so suddenly, after only waiting for about a week.  So our sons handled everything, arranging their working schedule so they could be with me.  It was very important that a caregiver is available, a condition to be approved for a transplant.  Praying for me in heaven was Gino, our 3rd son who died in 1987 and who promised to build a house for us right beside his house, when we asked him who will take care of us when we grow old.  "I will also give you a maid and a driver and whatever you need."  He has given us more because 20 years after his death, God gave Himself to me, through a spiritual conversion which I had in 2006.
Divine Intervention was very much in the picture.  God provided all the right timing and the generous anonymous donor after being in the waiting list for a little over a week, and without having to go through dialysis.  God in all His wisdom knew what was right for me.  My living donors, who submitted applications and who underwent series of testings, were all turned down. I salute them and thank them from the bottom of my heart.  Parishioners from Immaculate Conception who printed a whole page appeal, initiated by Tillic Lorayes, Cecilia Brainard and my son, Jet, were printed whole page in the Sunday Bulletin, "Would you donate a kidney?".  Many prayers and concerns came in.  St. Therese's Parish, through Msgr. Lofton, Helena, our Carmelite group included me in their prayer list.  From Italy, came Jerry Angeli with his passport and blood type of AB+ was also getting in touch with us and even calling MUSC desiring to be a donor.

A prayer for a miracle addressed to Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity was composed.  Family, friends, classmates from St. Theresa's College and St. Scholastica's College, parishioners, and lay groups from all over the world, were including me in their kind thoughts and prayers.


God has glorified Himself through me.  I was resigned to His will with joy and this is what He has done.  My soul is still in my body and that's why I am still here, recovering to the best of my ability, fighting rejection and infection.  But I am no longer here.  In the faculties of my soul, my memory, my will, and my understanding, I now belong to God.  I've always prayed for union with God, a transforming union.  Now more than ever, I am here but I am no longer here.  I understand what St. Paul is saying.

May I live the rest of my life as a service to God, in joy and sorrow, concentrating on following His will, which is our sanctification.

Thank you to all, our fine sons, my brothers and sisters, my classmates, my friends and colleagues in church and at work.  I would also like to thank my daughters-in-law, Ria, Ede, Amor and Brittany who have been helping out physically and with their prayers in their own families and in their own churches.

Blessings and graces in Carmel!
Raquel

P.S. A medical aide asked me to name my new kidney organ,  I thought about it seriously and decided on Elizabeth of the Trinity.  I continue to pray for my donor and his family.




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Prayer to the Trinity, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity's prayer
“Consuming Fire! Spirit of Love! Descend within me and reproduce in me, as it were, another incarnation of the Word that I may be to Him another humanity wherein He may renew His mystery.”
~~~
Read also
The Saint of the Divine Indwelling about Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity

A Miracle for Raquel Balagtas!


tags: St. Theresa's College, Manila, San Marcelino, Philippines, STC, St. Scholastic's College, Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity


This is all for now,

Cecilia


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