One of the unexpected blessings of having a kid come out of the NICU is that suddenly I'm flooded with miracle healing stories. There are so many people who hear about Tessy's grace-filled sickness and instantly respond with tales of their own.
This week Rosa M., the mother of both a seminarian (a priest to be) and a novice (a nun to be), called me excitedly on the phone. "You're never gonna believe what happened to me . . ."
Two weeks ago, Rosa was sitting at her extremely lowly desk job in the administrative wing of our neighborhood Seventh Day Adventist Hospital. She heard someone screaming "HELP! HELP!"
Rosa said she knew instantly from the sound of the panicked voice that something very, very bad was happening.
A father of a newborn had just entered the wrong hospital door looking for the Emergency Room. In his hands he had a baby who was suffering from multiple strokes. The Dad hadn't realized how sick his baby was, and delayed seeking medical treatment for a long time.
Rosa rushed out of her cubicle and flagged down a Charge Nurse. "Someone is hurt! I don't know where!" Seconds later she saw the Charge Nurse running back down the hallway carrying a limp, blue baby.
A minute later the call come over the intercom announcing the baby had died.
Rosa said "I threw my head down on my desk and said 'NO! Baby Jesus, NO! I know that you still have the power to save that little baby even when all the doctors think he is dead. You save him, Baby Jesus! You save him just for me!"
Some time passed.
Then healed baby came back down Rosa's hallway- same Charge Nurse, same Father, and a reassuringly steady heartbeat on his isolette monitor- on his way to admission into the hospital's NICU.
Rosa said she was so overcome, she asked someone to watch her desk for a while.
"I went directly to the bathroom. I got down on my knees and I thanked Baby Jesus."
"It's a beautiful thing when you and God know something that nobody else know! The doctors, they think they saved that baby. But I know, Baby Jesus save that Baby."
I told Rosa that God put her in a humble hospital job just for moments like that. To save babies. "You're the most important person in that hospital. Not the surgeons. Not the doctors. Not the NICU nurses."
I believe that. My friend Rosa is important because she's got the direct pager number for "Baby Jesus", the divine physician who heals us all.
St. Rose of Lima, pray for us. Teach us to all be humble petitioners of the Baby Jesus for strangers in need.
