God's love and mercy are available to all, without exception.
This story began by Divine Providence over ten years ago. An event significant to the story occurred several months ago, and the rest of the story remains to be played out.Eleven years ago, a woman in her thirties stood in the kitchen of a beautiful new home. The house was for sale. A young man was also present. He was also in his thirties, and he no longer lived there because he had filed for divorce. The young woman in the kitchen was the sister-in-law of the estranged man.
He was at the house for some reason no one can remember, and stood between the kitchen island and the sink. The woman said one thing to the man she loved as a brother. "Do you know that if you commit adultery and die in a state of mortal sin, you will go to hell."
He scoffed at her.
She was trying to save his soul from the grips of the devil and the eternal pains of hell.
He refused to listen.
Around that time, the man's wife had two visions. In one, she saw a woman's face. Through that vision, she was informed why her husband had filed for divorce. In the second vision, the man had been in a fatal car accident. He was lying in a hospital bed, and he was going to die. In the vision, his (first) wife was by his side.
The day after his divorce was granted, the man married the woman in the vision in a civil ceremony.Through the years, the ex-wife's side of the family and the man's children prayed for the souls of the new couple.
Ten years later, the man's former sister-in-law got very sick. She learned that her illness was fatal, and that without a miracle, she was going to die.
She asked her sister to call her former husband, who was a medical doctor, to ask if the man would speak to her by phone and give her medical advice. As a favor to her beloved sister, the former wife placed the call.
That night, the man called his former sister-in-law. It was the first time they had spoken in many years.
For roughly half an hour, the two spoke and the man offered medical advice to help the woman extend her life. She was very grateful to him for his help and kindness. She was still a young woman, and wanted to live.
She wanted to live for the sake of her family, because the welfare of others was always her primary concern. And so it was that the woman who tried to save the man's immortal life spoke to the man who tried to save her mortal life.
Both the woman and the man were the same in that they both wanted to live.
The way each one chose to live was very different. Truly the sick woman was very healthy, and the healthy man was very sick.
The woman died several months later, having lived, loved, and suffered in imitation of Christ. She had given God her "yes" on His terms, and her soul entered into eternal life well prepared.
The family prayed for a miracle and perhaps it was granted: their beloved was called to heaven instead of the man, because her soul was ready.
"Trust all things to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and to Mary, Help of Christians, and you will see what miracles are." ~ St. John Bosco
