Beautiful Marie

We have been praying for this precious family and little girl. It must be so terrible to lose a child but how beautiful is their faith which can carry them through. They also had another daughter, Monica, who died from a brain tumor when she was only three years old.
Marie Francesca Teresa
is now with God.
Last Sunday began such a bizarre chain of events. Our five-year old, Marie, somehow aspirated a bead. She was resuscitated at church and then again in transport to the hospital. She was then life-flighted to Children’s Hospital where she was lovingly cared for all week. Medically, everything possible was done. Spiritually, heaven was stormed with everyone’s beautiful prayers. But God had other plans for Marie. Her loving little heart stopped at 12:10pm today.
Selfishly, we all wanted Marie to stay with us. But we must rejoice in knowing that our ultimate goal for Marie is met. It is a terrible thing to lose a young child, but in a strange way very peaceful. We know for sure that this pure spirit is with God. The rest of us are left to struggle and fall in this valley of tears, without that same guarantee. So for us as family and friends, we hope this will make us work a little harder to live good and holy lives, so that one day we can all be united.
Although with God there are no accidents, we believe Marie’s has caused us all to stop and drop to our knees, focusing on what is truly important in life. As most parents do, we put so much energy into things of this world - sports, school, entertainment etc…Yet how much time do we spend praying and teaching devotionals? Are we really preparing our children and ourselves for heaven? Because all else is meaningless if our ultimate goal of eternal life is not met. This has prompted so many of us to reconnect with God, giving up our petty and sinful ways.
We have already had many miracles this week, involving the salvation of souls. What could be more important than the transformation of lives? All the prayers have not been wasted, especially all the wonderful prayers of you children. Our Lord will use them to do great things in the souls of others. Some may be obvious, but many will be hidden in the souls of each of us. Remember kids to use Marie in your prayers. She is now your very own saint in heaven!
The outpouring from all of you has been overwhelming and very touching. This is truly what is meant by the mystical body of Christ. Here on earth, we so often ask one another to pray for us. How much more powerful are the prayers of our loved ones in heaven as they behold the face of God? This is the communion of saints. Mary, Mother of Jesus, Blessed Mother Teresa, Monica, and now Marie - Pray for Us! I whispered so many of your names in Marie’s ear last night, asking her to take each of you and place you in the tender heart of Jesus.
On the feast of St. Therese, just two weeks ago, when tucking the girls into bed, there was talk of growing up, becoming a nun or getting married. Marie began to get very anxious, as she often did, about not wanting to grow up. If she’d had her way, she would have crawled back into the womb long ago. She spent the first two years of her life in my lap with her thumb in her mouth. So, the conversation continued with Marie insisting she never wanted to get older. I told her, “when you were four you didn’t want to be five, but now you like being five.” In her worried way, she frantically insisted, “but I always just want to be five, I want to stay five forever and ever.” You got your way little one. For all eternity you’ll be perpetually, perfectly five!
We realize Marie was probably peeking into heaven all week. And no matter how hard we pleaded, she could not pull herself away from the beauty and awesomeness of heaven. Can we blame her? At one point I cried out to Monica to send her home. I could almost hear her voice saying, “she already is”.
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mariebreda (see photos of this beautiful child)