What more could I want?
Monday, January 6, 2020
Brother Richard DeMaria
Editor’s note: After leaving the Archdiocese of Miami, Brother Richard De Maria spent six years as a missionary in Africa. In 2016, he was diagnosed with ALS — Lou Gehrig’s disease. He has chronicled his journey of faith in accepting this disease in a monthly blog, “Journey to Death,” from which this blog is excerpted.
November was a month of more debilitation: I can no longer hold my prayer book and so I go to prayers every day and listen to the brothers praying. I am also having trouble with my left leg being weak. My greatest difficulty is communication, because many here have hearing problems and my speech is woeful.
Still, I recently spent six hours on a wheelchair for a visit to the Columbia University ALS Clinic in Tarrytown, New York. They have decided that I have remained stable over the past three months and, if anything, there is a slight improvement.
I am watching the new series of "The Crown" and realize that I am very much as pampered as Queen Elizabeth: people respond to my every need. This includes the staff and the other brothers.
I continue to believe that this time is a grace that allows me to appreciate the goodness of others' generosity to me. People make great sacrifices to visit me and attend to my needs. It also provides a time to pray for those who are close to me.
I think that being grateful for all I receive is the essence of my spiritual life. Just noticing the good things in our lives and being grateful every second of the day is a complete spirituality.
I was sharing with my spiritual director that, although there are a few places I would like to have visited, I am happy with my life: I have experienced deep loves in these years; I have had many opportunities to make a positive change in the world in different offices that I have held; I have always felt the presence of God — meaning love — in my life; I have been a part of a religious community of which I am proud.
What more could I want?
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