Letters to Heaven: Lead Me in the Dance

"Your life has meaning only when it becomes a dance with Jesus, your eternal Partner. So draw near to Him, lean in, and dance." Catherine Martin in "A Woman's Heart that Dances"

October 18, 2011

Dear Jesus:

Good morning! I am here spending a few minutes with You in the Blessed Sacrament. I need to find time to do this more often because I truly enjoy this quiet time with You.

I have been reading a book titled "A Woman's Heart that Dances." I have been receiving so many messages from You through this book. My relationship with You is a dance. If I let You lead me in the dance, I will be able to dance as well as Ginger Rogers.

You are the choreographer of my life. You are designing the movements and the steps. You are the one that chooses the music. Sometimes, You pick an upbeat sound and I'm twirling and jumping all across the stage of life filled with happiness. Other times, You choose a mellow melody and You lead me in slow quiet movements. Yet, many times, You pick a sad ballad, and as I dance with You, I cry. This is the hardest dance for me but I have learned that tears are as necessary as laughs. When I cry, my tears cleanse your wounds. I have also learned that I cannot run away from the pain. I have to embrace it, and bring it to your cross. I have to place everything at the foot of the cross: my tears and my pain, my laughter and my joy, my worries and my sorrows, my happiness and my peace. I offer it all to You, Jesus.

Please, lead me in the dance. I will follow your lead, and I will dance.

I love You, Jesus!!!

October 18, 2017

Dear Jesus:

Let's dance. I need to sway across the dance floor with You.

Please, lead me in the dance. I will follow your lead, and I will dance.

I love You, Jesus!!!

Letters to Heaven: Show me How to Be a Bright Light

"God is in love with us and keeps using you and me to light the light of love in the world. Let His light of truth be in your life so that God can continue loving the world through you and me. Put your heart into being a bright light." St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

October 13, 2008

Dear Jesus:

I am your instrument. You can use me. Show me how to be a bright light. The world needs You so badly. There is so little love.

Last week, they found a baby inside a garbage dump just a few blocks from my house. How can a mother carry a baby in her womb for nine months, and then throw him into a garbage dump after he's born? Lack of love. If a mother can do that to her own newborn baby, what can we expect from the rest of humanity?

A fourteen year-old child stabs a classmate to death in the bathroom of their school. Lack of love. Lack of compassion. Lack of feelings. Lack of emotions. Every day in the newspaper there is news of some horrific event. There is absolutely no value for human life. People just don't care. They have desensitize themselves from all feelings. There is such a lack of love, such a lack of God.

The topic of conversation everywhere is the economic crisis. That's all everyone seems to care about. We just don't realize that as bad as things may be here, we are rich compared to the rest of the world. We don't need to look too far. We have Haiti and Cuba right on our backyards. The pictures of the devastation left behind by the hurricanes should move the hardest of hearts, and yet, most people don't care. It's easier to look the other way, and to keep complaining about the economic crisis.

Lack of love. Lack of God. "Whatever you did to the least of my brothers, you did it to me." How can we meet You at the end of our lives if we live with such lack of care in the here and now.

You want us to help the needy, the poor, the forgotten. If we don't open our hearts to them, if we don't show them compassion and love, our hearts will eventually become pieces of cold stones without feelings.

Jesus, You have blessed us by giving us more than we need. It's time to show our appreciation and gratitude.

I love You, Jesus!!!

October 13, 2017

Dear Jesus:

We don't realize what we have until we travel. Yes, there's a beautiful world out there, but there are so many people in need. We see them on the street asking for a coin or a scrap. We want to help them all, but we soon realize it's simply impossible. And even if we give them our loose change, they are back at their same spot the following day.

We also see a lot of evil. We have to be on high alert 24/7, or we can easily become the victims of an unscrupulous taxi driver or a scammer who wants to steal from naive tourists like us. But we also see a lot of beauty, a lot of people with good hearts, hard working honest people at the hotels, driving taxis, buses, willing to help out. And that is what we need to concentrate on, and learn from them.

Today, we visited Notre-Dame de la Médaille Miraculeuse (Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal). We were blessed to arrive at the chapel just as mass was starting. We were pleasantly surprised that on a Friday at noon, the chapel was packed. It was standing room only. We were lucky to grab one of the last few spaces. It made me happy to realize that Your church is alive in Paris. After the mass, I noticed a couple of nuns talking to a man that was begging outside the church. I don´t know what they were telling him, but because of the smile on his face, I couldn´t help think that they were being a bright light to him.

Jesus, please show me how to be a bright light to everyone that I encounter, good or bad. And please, allow us to return home safely tomorrow. Keep our family and friends back home healthy and safe. And please, spare all the people in California that are being affected by the fires. Keep JC, Morgan, and all their friends safe and out of harm's way. As hard as it would be to lose property and valuables, all that can be replaced. A life cannot.

I love You, Jesus!!!

Letters to Heaven: Third Time is the Charm

"As a mother you are only as happy as your saddest child." Beth Moore

October 10, 2011

Dear Jesus:

Why is it that the peace lasts for such a short period of time? We were doing so well. All the kids were happy and thus, we were happy. But as Beth Moore said: "You are only as happy as your saddest child." Now, my saddest child is Chabeli, and thus, I am very unhappy.

Chabeli's heart has been broken into a million little pieces. It happened last weekend. A three-year relationship has come to an end and she is devastated. It breaks my heart to see her so sad. It has been a very rough week. There is not much I can do or say that will change the facts to make her feel better. All I can do, is be there for her when she needs a hug or when she needs a shoulder to cry on.

There is nothing that a mother wants more than to see her babies happy, and when they grow up, with the right partner. Aside from the fact that I feel like I have lost a family member, I am also very sad because she will be out there on her own, meeting a bunch of jerks, driving alone at night, and coming home by herself.

The message in yesterday's homily was "don't be anxious." I know that she's not alone. You will be with her. You will protect her. You will surround her with an army of angels. But I can't help worry because that is my nature.

Jesus, You better find her someone wonderful. I know that You already know who her forever partner will be. You just have to wait for the right time to bring him into the picture. Please, Jesus, let it be "third time is the charm." My little girl doesn't deserve to have her heart broken again. This is too hard for her. Please, find her a good, smart, hard-working, mature young man that has her same values as far as family, religion, home, work ethics, and that enjoys living in Miami so I can have her and my future grandchildren near me. Pick the right man for her just like You did for me 33 years ago.

I love You, Jesus!!!

October 10, 2017

Dear Jesus:

It took three years for You to bring the right young man into the picture. He loves my girl, he's good to her, he takes care of her, and he makes her happy. And the most important thing is that Chabeli loves him. It looks like third time is definitely the charm.

Please, Jesus, bless their relationship, and if he is her forever partner, guide them through the path of happiness. Help them to realize that in order for a relationship to last forever, they must place You at the center.

I love You, Jesus!!!

Letters to Heaven: My Ways are Not Your Ways

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways." Isaiah 55:8

October 8, 2014

Dear Jesus:

I'm leaving to Spain today. After ten years, I'm going back. I still can't believe it. I need to pinch myself. We are going against all odds. It definitely was not part of the plan for 2014. But I should know by now that my plans are not your plans, and my ways are not your ways.

My plan was to go to the Scandinavian countries in May. But then my dad was diagnosed with the angiosarcoma, and my plans were altered. We were left with an open ticket which we are using now to go to Spain. I'm sad that Chabeli and Alex cannot go. They were part of the original plan. But Alex is now back at school, and Chabeli can't take time off from work at this time. I will concentrate on the fact that this will be a nice get-away for Rafe and me. This year we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. This is our gift.

Today is my dad's 86th birthday, and I'm leaving him with concerns in my heart. My mom discovered another red spot on his head, the size of a quarter. She says it looks like the first one that was removed. Please, Jesus, don't let it be the sarcoma that is continuing to spread. He has not recovered fully from the first surgery. I don't even want to think about the possibility of him having to go through this once again. Please, have mercy on him, have mercy on his soul. If this cancer is more aggressive than we anticipated, please don't let him suffer.

I will pray for him from Spain. I know that if we don't go now, we may not have another opportunity. Please protect the kids and my parents while we are gone. Please protect us while we travel.

I love You, Jesus!!!

October 8, 2017

Dear Jesus:

Today, my dad is celebrating his 89th birthday. Please wish him a happy birthday from me. You took him to his heavenly home almost 16 months ago. I still miss him a lot, but I couldn't stand seeing him suffer one more day here on earth. The red spot that my mom discovered on his head three years ago turned out to be a new tumor. It was removed, which meant more skin grafts. He spent the last two years of his life in and out of hospitals. But in your mercy, You allowed him to travel one last time to Spain just nine months before You took him home. He was born in Cuba, but Spain held a special place in his heart. Thank You, also, for giving me a small window of opportunity to take that wonderful trip to Spain as well. That land of my ancestors, and where I spent my childhood, also holds a special place in my heart.

Right now, I'm on a train between Vienna and Prague. Once again, my plans are not your plans, and my ways are not your ways. We had to postpone our trip by two weeks, but the days turned out to be better for various reasons. The first is that we were able to spend Chabeli's birthday with her. The second one is that we were home when Alex had his car accident. The third one is that we were able to see a fabulous exhibition by Raffael, one of my favorite painters, which started at the Albertina Museum in Vienna on the 29th of September. We would have missed it if You had not altered our plans. We also got to see an amazing opera, "Don Giovanni." Our original tickets were for "Salome." I'm pretty sure that "Don Giovanni" was a much better choice, and when they exchanged our tickets, we got balcony seats with a much better view than where we were supposed to have sat originally. So your ways are definitely much better than mine.

Take charge, Jesus. You are our tour director. Please guide us and protect us on our second week. And please continue to keep watch over our family and friends back home.

I love You, Jesus!!!

Letters to Heaven: I Can Only Imagine

“I am a seagull, of no land,

I call no shore my home,
I am bound to no place,
I fly from wave to wave.”
~ Empress Elisabeth of Austria, North Sea Songs 7, 1885

October 6, 2014

Dear Jesus:

Last weekend was very tough. Danny, one of Alex's friends from middle school, passed away. He was hit by a car two weeks ago in Tallahassee. He spent a week in a medically induced comma to keep the swelling in his brain down, but in the end, You took him home to heaven.

On that same day, Alex called me to tell me that Kevin, one of his friends from UConn, had been in a car accident. His truck rolled four times. Kevin had a broken neck and internal bleeding in his head. He had to undergo surgery. Alex was sobbing. He had one friend in Tallahassee that was dying, and another one in critical condition in Hartford. I later found out that Alex was supposed to be in the truck with Kevin. They were going to a football game in Hartford, but Alex was not ready so Kevin left without him. Thank You, Jesus, for sending an angel to hold Alex back.

Kevin is recovering, thank You, Jesus. Dealing with the death of one friend was tough enough. Two friends would have been too much. Alex came home to attend the funeral services. We attended the viewing on Saturday night. Alex returned to UConn today in the morning. After I dropped him off, I went to the resurrection mass. It was very tough, but at the same time, it was beautiful.

These past two years I have experienced death very closely, from the death of a 3-month-old to the death of my 84-year-old in-laws. In these two years, I have visited funeral homes at an average of one per month. Therefore, I have been reflecting a lot about death. Death does not discriminate. We all have an expiration date, we just don't know when that date is.

A few years ago, I was asked: "What is your biggest fear?" My answer was immediate: "My biggest fear is to lose a child." That is still my biggest fear, but something has changed. I used to be afraid of death itself. I am no longer afraid. When my day comes, I won't be afraid. However, I still hope to go before my children because no parent should ever have to go through the pain of losing a child.

What has changed? I guess I used to see death as the end. Yes, I believed in heaven, but I still saw death as an end. The end of life here on earth. But now, I don't see death as the end anymore. Now I see death as a beginning. It's the beginning of our life in heaven. The beginning of our life with You.

Someone told me recently that we are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spirits having a human experience. How beautiful and how true. When we look at our lives that way, we should not be afraid. If we think of ourselves as spiritual beings instead of human beings, we cannot fear death because death will simply transform us back into our normal being.

I love one of the songs that was chosen for Danny's mass. "I can only imagine what it will be like when I come face to face with You, Jesus. Will I sing, will I dance, or will I be still in awe of You?" I would like to imagine myself singing or dancing with joy. But since I'm not musically inclined, must likely I will be still in awe of You. I can only imagine what a beautiful moment that will be. And when it happens, I will be ready. But please, and I know that I'm being selfish, don't take my children first. I want to be there already, waiting for them.I love You, Jesus!!!

October 6, 2017

Dear Jesus:

As a little girl growing up in Spain, I was in love with Sissi Emperatriz (Empress Sissi of Austria). I read her books and loved her story. Of course, what I read was more fantasy than reality. Yesterday, I visited the Hafsburg Palace which contains the Sissi Museum and the apartments where she once lived. Her story is as tragic as can be, a 19th century version of Princess Diana with the only difference that in Sissi's case, she was truly loved by her husband. She became more famous after she died, which is the case with many people. Their lives become legends.

On this trip, we have visited the tombs of kings, queens, emperors and empresses. We have also visited the tombs of saints and others that have played an important part of history. One church we visited, contained remains of unknown Christians that were martyred in Vienna during the Roman Empire. And we went to a cemetery that contains the remains of almost 3,000 Jews that died of hunger and exposure during the Soviet occupation in Hungary.

Jesus, You created the earth billions of years ago. According to Google, 108 billion people have populated the earth. That's a lot of people that have died and gone to the other side. The majority will not make it into the history books. They will be forgotten by humanity but not by You. Each soul that has inhabited this earth is part of your garden, and even though not everyone makes it to heaven, You love them just the same.

Even if most of us will be known only to our families and our small communities of friends and faith, we each have a purpose in Your Kingdom. We are all laborers in your garden. We have to plant seeds of faith and hope. We may never see the plants and flowers in full bloom, but we trust You, the gardener, to continue cultivating them even after we are gone.

Even if our life here on earth is short lived, like Danny's was, we each come with a mission. It's best to complete it as soon as possible just in case we run out of time. I can only imagine, what it will be like, when my mission is completed and I come face to face with You.

I love You, Jesus!!!

Letters to Heaven: The Traveling Troubadours

"We have to accustom ourselves to pray in all places and at all times." Dom Augustin Guillerand

October 4, 2009

Dear Jesus:

Here I am, in our Sacred Garden. I sit at your feet and look back at my week. I share with You how things have been. I love this time of the morning when all I can hear is the sound of the birds singing outside.

Alex got a couple more awards in a ceremony they had this week during school hours. He got the medal for "Academic Achievement" and he also got the "Honor Roll" certificate. I'm very happy for him. These achievements and recognition make him feel very proud.

The "Quince's" (Fifteenth Birthday Parties) season has begun in earnest. He had two invitations this weekend. He didn't go to the one on Friday because he went to the Belen Kick-Off dance instead. But last night, he attended his first "Quince's." My baby is growing up fast. It was a formal event in a hotel. He looked very handsome. Alex is very popular and outgoing. Yesterday morning, there were three girls outside his bedroom window waking him up. Oh boy, I'm in trouble, that's all I can say. Jesus, please keep him safe and happy.

Chabeli continues to do very well academically, socially, and in every possible way. And Rafi has been doing so good that I'm almost scared to rejoice. But I do rejoice, and I am so thankful. Rafi is right now leading a normal life thanks to the medication. Thank You for sending us to the right doctor who had the knowledge, insight, and wisdom that only You can provide, to find the right medication and the right dosage so that we could have our healthy Rafi back. Thank You, Jesus.

I love You, Jesus!!!

October 4, 2017

Dear Jesus:

I am praying to You from a train, but I have gotten used to praying to You from anywhere and at anytime. "The real place to pray in is the soul, for God dwells there. If we wish to obey our Lord’s counsel when we pray we should enter the chamber of our soul, close the door, and speak to the Father, whose loving eyes seek ever our own. This inner chamber of our soul is the true temple, the sacred sanctuary, and we carry it with us and can at any time either remain there or quickly return to it, should we have been obliged to leave it" Dom Augustin Guillerand. Thank You, Jesus, for dwelling in my soul and traveling with me wherever we go. We are the traveling troubadours.

We left Budapest this morning and now are on our way to Vienna. Thank You for accompanying us on this first part of our trip, and for sending angels to protect us from those other evil angels that try to sneak up upon us. We already had one of these encounters in the form of a dishonest and unscrupulous taxi driver. We grabbed a taxi when we exited the Opera House. It's not recommended that we hail taxis especially at the tourist places, but we were in a hurry and it was the only taxi on sight. The driver engaged us in conversation: "Where are you from? What cities are you visiting?" He seemed nice enough so we had a pleasant conversation with him, unbeknownst to us that he was assessing us. At the end of our drive, he charged us 3,600 HUFs (approximately $14 which is a reasonable fare). We gave him 10,000 HUF (approximately $40), and asked him to give us back 4,000 HUF. He showed us a 1,000 bill and claimed that we had not given him enough for the 3,600 HUF fee. We thought that maybe we had made a mistake since we are not familiar with the currency, therefore we gave him an additional 5,000 HUF and told him to keep the change. We even apologized for our mistake. He must have laughed all the way to his house for having taking advantage of two dumb tourists. He will have to respond to You at some point. We realized our mistake when we reached our room and I checked my wallet. Earlier, I had withdrawn 25,000 HUF from an ATM machine, which gave me two 10,000 bills and one 5,000. I only had one 10,000 bill left, therefore, we had given him 10,000 and he took us for a ride. Oh well, our guardian angels are always looking out for us. We recovered 8,000 of the 9,000 we lost before the night was up. I hope the taxi driver has a family to feed, and that's the reason for his slimy ways. I have already forgiven him, and said a prayer for his soul.

At night, we had reservations for a Danube river cruise. The concierge asked us if we wanted to pay at the hotel or at the boat. He told us that if we paid him, it had to be in cash. If we paid at the boat, we could pay with credit card. We chose option two. When we arrived at the boat, we tried to pay but the lady insisted that we had a ticket, therefore we did not need to pay. We were not going to fight her so we didn't pay. We figured the hotel would charge it to our room, but they didn't. The cost of each ticket was 4,000 HUF therefore, we recovered 8,000 of the 9,000 the taxi driver took from us. I just hope he's married to the lady in the boat, so they can balance each other out. Thank You, Jesus and our guardian angels, for looking out for us.

Please protect our children as well, also members of "the traveling troubadours." At this point in time, while we are in Europe, they are in New York, Minneapolis and Connecticut. The only one left in Miami is Penny, our ferocious dog who is protecting our home.

I love You, Jesus!!!

Letters to Heaven: Angels and Saints

"We should show our affection for the angels, for one day they will be our co-heirs just as here below they are our guardians and trustees appointed and set over us by the Father." Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

October 2, 2008

Dear Jesus:

Today we celebrate those angelic creatures that I have come to love since I was little, when I was introduced to my guardian angel.

God has always used angels as His messengers. We find them all over the Bible, both in the old and in the new testaments. He used an angel to announce to your Blessed Mother, Mary, that she was chosen to be the mother of the Son of God. He also used an angel to tell Joseph not to despise Mary. The shepherds found out about your birth from an angel.

I have always loved angels, and at the same time, I have found them to be mysterious. My hubby bears the name of Rafael, the archangel. We named our first born after the three archangels: Rafael Gabriel Miguel. I believe in angels, both spiritual and human. There are persons that are angels living here on earth. They always happen to be where you need them, at the right place, at the right time.

I have met angels, I have encountered them, and I have received their unselfish help.

Guardian angel, please protect me, and all those that I love, today and always.

I love You, Jesus!!! 

"The world's thy ship and not thy home." St. Theresa of Lisieux

October 2, 2017

Dear Jesus:

Hello from Budapest. This enchanted town has captured my heart in just two days. It's absolutely gorgeous.

We started our day yesterday attending mass at Mathias Church. It was the high mass with an angelic choir. Of course, it was in Hungarian so we didn't understand a word other than Amen and Alleluia. But we were able to follow the mass, and with the Magnificat, we read the Scriptures in English. We were impressed at how packed the mass was. It was quite a contrast with Italy last year, where the masses were empty.

Yesterday, on the feast day of St. Theresa of the Little Flower, I ran into her image at St. Stephen's Basilica. I have been praying her novena so this was the perfect confirmation that she has been taking my prayer requests to You.

Today, on the feast of the Guardian Angels, I kept bumping into angel paintings everywhere... some of them a bit pornographic.

And at the end of the day, we encountered a Cuban that lives in Sarasota. Well, she's not really Cuban, she was born in Tampa, but her grandparents are Cuban and she grew up in Hialeah. Close enough. What can i say? We are everywhere. Even in Budapest.

St. Theresa, pray for us.

I love You, Jesus!!!