Tuesday 4 February 2014

Message from Fr Piet Wijngaard, Chaplain to the Shrine

Fr Piet, our chaplain, is not very well.  Fr Piet is someone who gives of himself with amazing generosity and he is gifted in so many practical ways – we have never discovered the secret of his energy – it must be a special grace.

"This afternoon (04/02/14) I heard at long last the results of the various tests I have had since I landed up in hospital on 27th November with a blockage in my oesophagus. The bad news is that I have a malignant tumour on my right lung, but the good news is that it doesn’t seem to have spread. I have an appointment with an oncologist this Friday and the problem with the swallowing will be addressed soon too. The whole situation makes me think of a lady at home in Holland.

Her name is Truus. She was happily married, was a real bubbly young woman with five sons. One Saturday afternoon her husband, Henk, was watching a couple of their boys playing soccer. It was a very exciting match and he died there and then of a massive heart attack. A long time later Truus told me that she had been pretty miserable and had been going around for a couple of years with only one question in her head “Why me?” until one morning she woke up and found herself asking “Why not me?”. It changed her life in an instant and she became once again the cheerful mum she had been before. 

Now I can really share her sentiments. Millions of people have cancer and after all two of my own sisters died of it and therefore “Why not me?”. Many thanks for your great support and many prayers.     
Piet Wijngaard, O.Carm.   "



(c) Photo Johan Bergström-Allen / www.carmelite.org