Day one

Thunderstorms caused our plane to leave Knoxville 45 minutes late. I arrived in Philadelphia with barely enough time to make it to my gate. I was one of the last to board, but the bonus was that weather had affected many flights and so there were a lot of open seats on the plane(including my whole row).

Flying is always stressful, but from the first announcement in Knoxville that there was a weather event in the Northeast, I kept hearing the antiphon that appears in morning prayer every fourth week, "Trust in God and He will do everything for you."

That is a difficult antiphon to pray when everything seems to be going the wrong way, but now I find myself sitting in Lourdes, France at the end of a long travel day that has been guided by God all of the way. Tomorrow I will go to the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes and I will be taking with me, all of those who are sick and in need of healing. I think of Lourdes Garza, Karin Botica and Tom O'Neil who are battling cancer. I think of my own family and friends who are in need of healing. And I remember all of the many names that people have given me to pray for.

Intercessory prayer is so little understood and yet so powerfully effective.