Story from the past Fr. Sparky and the Lady bugs
Fr. R had said Mass.... He is
very much a Marian priest to the point I have called him a “Mamma's boy”.
Fr. R has shared his spirituality and his journey as a priest with me; although
he is a “young priest” his story is funny on many levels and very interesting.
Fr. R flat out states that it was Our Lady of Medjugorje that “called him” to
be a priest with that statement I have always told him… no it was her Son who
did the calling… And we would go around and around so I have called him a
mamma's boy and it is really the “Big Boss” in the Eucharist that did the
calling.
Fr. R went to
Medjugorje to thank the Blessed mother for calling him to be a priest… the very
first Mass he said upon his return I was there and listened to him speak about
his retreat, when I received Communion from him at that Mass I held my hand out
and when Fr. R’s hand with the Host made contact with my hand a “spark” shot
out of the Host into both our hands… it was so remarkable that both Fr. R and I
stepped back and laughed….
Well since that time, this has
happened a great deal when I receive Communion from Fr. R… one morning while
receiving the Eucharist … the “sparks flew”… so after Mass I went into the
Sacristy and told Fr. R that I am officially changing his name to “Fr. Sparky”
and went on to say… this will stop when you admit that it was Jesus in the
Eucharist who called you to the priesthood, he is just trying to showing you he
is really present in the Host…
With that Fr. R responded, “This
will stop when you use more fabric softener to get rid of the static
electricity that flows in you”… Which, made me laugh for just this past weekend
my daughter criticized me for using too much fabric softener… okay with that I
said nothing… but I thought “Mamma's boy”… and am I the only one here with a
“static electricity” issue???
Okay…. Like “real mom” (the Virgin
Mary that is) and her two kids were fighting and one was taking “cheap shots”
at the other, the mom would step in… I had a vision of
the Virgin Mary…. Like I have not had in many, many years. I saw her in the way
I first began seeing her 20 years ago…. And in those visions as this morning
she looks like Our Lady of Medjugorje….
She has the dark hair, luminous
skin, and the blue eyes (although darker then Jesus’ eyes) and dressed in blue
with a white veil…. Now, I am thinking when I see her … I am in trouble I
picked on “her son the priest” …
this pillar and there I am standing
on it and the vision ends… I have no clue what this means...
Now I am thinking okay Blessed
Mother are you with me or did I tick you off… for I certainly believe you are
with Fr. R… and outside my window a “cloud of lady bugs appear” out of
nowhere….
Not just a few or even a few hundred
but a swarm a cloud of them… Now Legend has it that the lady bug is a sign of
the Blessed Mother and that is why it is named “Lady Bug” it is named after
“Our Lady”… so now I think okay who is going to believe this… then my friend
calls and tells me that outside her daughter’s workplace there is a swarm of
lady bugs that she outside taking photos of them… and her co-workers are saying
it is a sign of the Blessed Mother…
… they are really cute and the
strange thing there was not a bird in the sky… usually when there are a lot of
bugs in the air there are also a lot of birds for they try to eat the bugs… not
one bird in the sky there has not been one bird since the swarm appeared… As a
matter of fact the outside is eerie still no sound, no other animals just the
Lady bugs…
The sparks from the Host are similar
to what I felt a few years ago when Jesus allowed me to hold his hand. And the
next time I attend Mass with “Fr. Sparky” I will keep a static cling sheet in
my back pocket … And hope that no lady bugs will fly out of my pockets…
"The Legend of the Ladybug"
In Europe, during the Middle Ages, swarms of insects were destroying the crops. The farmers prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary for help. Shortly thereafter, the Ladybugs came, devouring the plant-destroying insects and saving the crops! The farmers called these beautiful insects "The Beetles of Our Lady". Over time, they became known as "Lady Beetles" and in America as "Ladybugs". The red wings were said to represent the Virgin's cloak and the black spots were symbolic of both her joys and her sorrows
