Without faith there is no hope. Through Faith in God, there is great hope to be found.
Today, little Baby Charbel needed another procedure to help him to get to the next stage. His road is long, and the journey is difficult. Now, when things look so complicated and uncertain, it would be so easy to give up hope.
I have prayed and prayed about what to think here. More than once, the doctors have said that Charbel will definitely die – and more than once they have been totally wrong. At one stage, I heard that his doctors are calling him indestructible because Charbel truly has defied their expectations.
Some might look at this situation and see the suffering of Baby Charbel and the sorrows of his parents as they watch his suffering – for what greater sorrow is there than a mother watching her child suffer?
But I see something a little different behind the thin veil of suffering.
I see miracles. Blessed, blessed miracles.
There is no sorrow for me. I watch this suffering and sorrow, and a part of me rejoices – not at this veil of Earthly suffering, which is overwhelming – but at the Heavenly blessings concealed beneath it.
Many, many times since he was conceived, God could have chosen to take this little treasure home to Heaven – when the doctors told his mother to kill him, when he was born needing help with his heart, when he had a heart attack, when they turned off the life support machines, when he had sepsis.
Many, many times, God chose to keep Charbel here on Earth with us.
Many, many times the doctors told his parents that this was the end and there was no hope and only a miracle could save him. Many, many times, they have been wrong. The doctors said he will only survive with a miracle.
And yet, so far – he survives.
That IS the miracle.
Charbel’s brave, brave parents in surrendering to God’s own will, promised that if Charbel is healed they will give thanks to Blessed Carlo Acutis and work to progress his sanctification.
Let us stop, right now, and give thanks for the miracles so far. For surely that is what surrender actually is… living each moment according to God’s will – blocking out the white noise and listening only to the will of God.
Now, I wish to follow the example of baby Charbel’s parents – for they are true heroes here.
I am done listening to the doctors and the nurses. They are human, and humans have got it wrong with this blessed treasure of a child, all the way through.
Now, I am not only listening to God.
God is the King. Our Lady is the Queen. Charbel’s mother is the General. Charbel's family are the lieutenants. We who join with them in praying, are just the foot soldiers. And Charbel, beautiful, holy, Charbel, is the treasure that we all fight to protect.
We are the army who fights for Charbel.
And, as any soldiers, in any army, in any place, in all the world, we chose to lay down our lives for our King. For us, that means we lay down our Earthly lives and take up our spiritual mantle, to do battle – through prayers – for our King, to protect our treasure.
And we NEVER EVER give up until our King tells us to do so.
And the only way that He, God, will tell us to give up our prayers for a miracle, is if Charbel becomes a saint in Heaven.
Until then… we pray and pray and pray.
For we are the soldiers of God and there is yet work for us to do.
Because with Charbel everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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