A Saint I Ain't

I have a standard reply when people casually, jokingly, refer to me as 'St. Nick'. A Saint I Ain't.  People are always adding the word 'Saint' to my name. I thought my reply is appropriate, it is the literal truth and it rhymes. Or it used to be the truth. Does having a Saint relic inside your body make you closer to being canonized?

What does the Catholic Church (Church Of My Youth) Require For Canonization?

• Heroic Virtue...hmm. Not me.
• Posthumous Miracle. Not yet. I'm not quite toast yet. That is a miracle.
• Martyrdom... Well, people tell me to quit being a martyr. But no.
• Second Posthumous Miracle. Nope.

So, I guess I am not likely to become a Saint as a Catholic. The Church I attend now is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So, does that get me the official 'Saint' title, that and the relic?

The relic I am thinking of is my St. Jude Model 31MJ-501 Heart Valve.

So, who is this St. Jude, and why has he invaded my Saintly Body?

St. Jude, one of the original 12 Apostles,  the patron saint of desperate situations and hospitals. Possibly even a brother of J.C., according to some accounts.

Hmm. That is one serious looking Saint dude. And there he is in the picture, holding his hand over his ticker. They even have an official Catholic prayer to Jude... 

"May the Sacred Heart of * be adored, glorified, loved and preserved now and forever. Sacred Heart of * have mercy on us, Saint Jude worker of Miracles, pray for us, Saint Jude helper and keeper of the hopeless, pray for us, Thank you Saint Jude."

Hmm. (I edited out the Saviors name so I don't get too sacrilegious on this post) But there they go, bringing up heart again. Hopeless, that's me. Desperate, oh yeah, that's me. Is all this a coincidence? A Miracle?

Well, I have miracles. I posted previously about one miracle. But, this whole heart thing might be another one. I had this heart murmur thing all my life....but it was not until I hit 50 that they diagnosed the problem, that it was life threatening. And in surgery to fix the heart problem, the natural valve failed and they had to replace it with this St. Jude contraption. The things the modern medical fields can do in the name of healing now...all the procedures and gadgets and scopes and medicine and implants...miracles all, without any doubt.

My heart surgeon credits my wife for insisting I go to my home care Dr. to get the murmur checked out. He also credits my home care Dr. for referring me to the Cardiologist. So the miracles start to pile up, right wife, right physician, right cardiologist and right surgeon, all saying all the right things. An angel out there watching over me? Angels all around me.

Late at night and the house is quiet. The ladies living here all asleep and I can here St. Jude Medical device 31MJ-501 ticking away like a Swiss clock. This  means that I'm still alive, still shuffling to the beat on this mortal coil. Survive for another day.

Thankful to Angels, to St. Jude, and to my Father in Heaven.

Cheers, nca