Pray Always

Hillary Ibarra clings to what she learned as a child: when tribulation keeps coming for those you love, keep praying.

My dad and mom taught my siblings and me to pray in all circumstances, and I witnessed God’s provision many times as a little girl when my hard-working parents struggled to pay bills or buy groceries. I know from experience that God’s love shines through difficult circumstances when we pray.

For instance, one particularly hard Christmas season during my childhood, we drove in our old clunker through spitting snow to a tiny post office to claim a package from my aunt and uncle. Inside we found toilet paper, toothpaste, and food staples. My parents rejoiced over those essentials more than traditional gifts. God sometimes provides in funny ways.

Because I grew up witnessing God’s answers to prayer, I always believe prayer is the answer, even when it doesn’t seem like God is answering. I get weary, but I’m persistent.

A few years ago, my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. By being the primary caregivers for my sister’s special-needs son and his younger brother, my parents helped my sister through nearly two years of excruciating chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation treatments while she continued to work full-time to support her family.

I didn’t live near my sister, so I supported her in the best way I knew. I walked the trails near my home, gazing toward the mountains which were small compared to the enormity of my sister’s battle, and prayed the Rosary fervently for her life. And I flew to be with her during her mastectomy.

My sister beat that terrible cancer, and she spoke with me of the peace and courage she received from God during treatment.

Soon after my sister’s cancer battle, my mother’s mysterious illness was diagnosed as lupus, and my dad lived in constant fear of losing her as he watched her health fail and her energy evaporate. Her doctor’s prognosis was grim, and we thought our remaining time with Mom was short.

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Again, I pounded the neighborhood paths through autumn, a hard Advent, a subdued Christmas season, and an anxious spring, offering up the Rosary for my mother’s recovery, slowly coming to a place of peace where I could trust and embrace God’s will.

Miraculously, because of the prayers offered up all over the country for her, my mother’s lupus went into remission, another dangerous marker in her blood disappeared, and she regained her health in time for our family to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary with friends and relatives.

My parents’ 50th was a gift from God because we soon learned that Dad had ignored his body’s signals while caring for Mom. A week after that amazing occasion, an ambulance took my father to the emergency room. He needed surgery, and post-surgery tests found stage 4 prostate cancer. I listened to my mother crying on the phone, struggling to give me the news.

I pray with my children for their “Paca” on our way to school each morning after praying the Our Father (as Dad prayed the Our Father with my siblings and me when we were growing up). On my morning Rosary walk, I crunch through the leaves and look up into autumn’s canopy of amber, garnet, and gold, renewing my faith and recovering my peace one step at a time, knowing God will help my dad through this cancer.

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I know from experience that God’s love shines through difficult circumstances when we pray. #CatholicMom

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My parents spent their small savings while seeking answers and obtaining care for my mother during her illness, but they hold fast to their faith in Christ through another storm, grasping His hand as the turbulent waves break against them, consoling others who are heartbroken for them. Their lives do not consist of the things they possess, but of the love and the resilient faith they have passed on to their children.

The light of that faith carries us through this world of tribulation, and prayer is the vehicle.

Igniting hope. Bringing peace. Delivering consolation and timely help.

My parents taught me that.

And as family, friends, and even strangers gather around my parents as they fight this new battle, I trust that God in His mercy will provide yet again.

Editor's note:

We at Catholic Mom have a stewardship responsibility to raise funds for our mission; however, once in a while, a need comes to us that we feel compelled to respond to. The family of our contributing writer, Hillary Ibarra, has a great need for support for their medical bills. All of us in the Catholic Mom community support one another every day, and today we want to offer this GoFundMe link here so anyone who has the means can offer some support to Hillary’s family. Most importantly, we invite you to pray with us for them, and the HCFM team will be offering an intention in our monthly Mass.

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