Interceding for Our Own

Editor’s note: Many of you know Fr. Paul Vota, MJ. We print the following testimony here to ask for continued prayers for him. Fr. Vota came to the community in Phoenix in the early years of Miles Jesu, when it consisted of only a handful of men in one community, including Fr. Duran and Paul Murphy. He was the first priest to be ordained (by Pope John Paul II) for Miles Jesu. Last fall,Fr. Vota was diagnosed with Stage 4 abdominal cancer. In November he began treatment, including chemotherapy, and in December he came very close to death. The following is the testimony of Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ, about Paul Murphy’s intercession for Fr. Vota.

On December 6th, i received a phone call in Phoenix asking me to come to Chicago to help take care of Fr. Vota. It is our custom in Miles Jesu to stay with any community member who is hospitalized and different members were taking it in shifts to stay with Fr. Vota. I was happy to have the opportunity to spend the time with Fr. Vota, but i had no idea of how sick he really was until i got to Chicago and saw him.

He had already been in the ICU at St. Francis Hospital in the Chicago suburb of Evanston (the same hospital, by the way, where Paul Murphy was born in 1930) for several days. The doctors were not offering a very optimistic prognosis of his situation. His small intestine was completely obstructed, most likely, the doctors thought, because of numerous tumors collectively pinching it closed. Because the source of the blockage was not isolated, surgery to open it or remove the blocked section was not possible. Moreover, Fr. Vota’s condition was extremely weak and delicate because his white blood cell count was absolutely nil, thus further precluding any possibility of surgery. Three weeks of chemotherapy had effectively drained his immune system, and the accumulation of “therapeutic poisons” mixed with bile and gastric acids backing up from the blocked intestine were threatening death by septic poisoning. Fr. Vota was dying.

For those of us who have known Fr. Vota over the years, asking Paul Murphy’s intercession for him was an obvious thing. Fr. Vota lived with Paul Murphy in community and has spoken many times about Paul Murphy’s influence on his own vocation:

“The first time i visited the Miles Jesu house in Phoenix, Paul Murphy made a big impression on me. I had never met him before, but i was immediately struck by the way that he exuded peace and joy.

“I received a letter from Paul when i was home in California. Paul wrote that Fr. Duran, the founder of Miles Jesu, was a very good spiritual director. Paul’s letter made a big impression on me and it led me to go to the Miles Jesu community in Phoenix.

“Paul had a sincere concern for people. When i was first in Miles Jesu, he would kneel down beside me in chapel, put his arm around me, and say ‘Jesus, take care of Paul. Blessed Mother, take care of Paul.’ Paul Murphy inspired me to make my vows in Miles Jesu. I made my vows on Christmas Eve (1977) because Paul Murphy had made his vows on Christmas Eve.”

I went to the hospital that Saturday evening for my first visit and all-night shift with Fr Vota. He greeted me with a weak smile behind glazed eyes that fixed on me when I came near the bed. His voice was so soft that no sound was made, but I read my name on his lips.

I had determined beforehand not to let him detect any fear or sadness in my face or voice. He didn’t need that. He needed a lot of help to continue the struggle to survive that he was fighting so courageously. He was making tremendous efforts to do everything that the doctors so much as even suggested and a whole lot more.

Sitting or even standing up was highly recommended to help break the blockage by sheer force of gravity. So, just after arriving and the nurse having left the room, he signaled for me to help him sit up. It took me a moment to understand him. Not only did he want to sit up, but he wanted to stand up next to the bed. Knowing this was recommended, i didn’t hesitate, and with great effort got him on his feet with my arms under both shoulders. The good nurse came back in with eyes wide open and with a slightly accusatory tone asked me what I was doing? I told her he wanted to stand up and that i had heard it was good for him. She helped put him back down on the bed and said to be very careful because he was so weak he could collapse any time, and alone i wouldn’t be able to hold him. I was to call her for help whenever he wanted or needed to sit up or stand.

Fr. Vota’s mouth was constantly dry, but the nurses had warned us that drinking even water would only make some of his problems worse. So we devised a system where he would rinse his mouth out with a sip of water or an ice chip and then spit it out.

Oftentimes between rinsings and sittings up we would pray the rosary and the breviary. Paul couldn’t respond, in fact, he couldn’t speak audibly almost the whole time he was in the hospital. But he would listen intently, if drowsily at times. Those were the times he was most calm and peaceful. Throughout this ordeal, he always accepted calmly and pleasantly any advice or instructions you had to give him.

His condition was stable, yet precariously fragile. That Sunday (December 8th) was a pivotal day. His white blood cells had shown a miniscule increase to 0.1 (8.0 to 9.0 is the normal range). The doctors were optimistic because the white cells had begun an upward motion. Messages by phone and e-mail were going out to so many places asking for prayers for Fr Vota, especially through the intercession of the Servant of God, Paul Murphy. Along with all the members of Miles Jesu around the world, the boys and girls at our children’s homes in Ukraine and India and Nigeria were praying for Fr. Vota. Many visits to the tomb of Paul Murphy in Phoenix, and to the house in Mesa, Arizona where he died, were made on behalf of Fr. Vota’s recovery. The specific petition was that the obstruction would be reversed and for an increase in his white blood cell count.

On Monday, i had the morning shift and was there when the doctor came in with the results of the blood test that showed that the white blood cell were responding tremendously to medication – they were to above normal levels! Fr. Vota now had a strong ally in his fight against the poison, but it still was as vital as ever that the obstruction be reversed. The calls kept going out for that specific intention.

By Tuesday, Fr. Vota actually looked and sounded a little peppier. The white blood cell count had skyrocketed to three times the normal level, and by the end of the afternoon the abdominal obstructions had receded. The crisis was over.

I get emotional just thinking of that day when Fr. Vota came back from death’s doorstep. We called home right away and told everyone the great news and then it was spread all around to those who were praying.

About ten days later, now in a normal hospital room two floors above the ICU, Fr. Vota’s doctor was urging him to go home, because he said “hospitals are for sick people and you’re not sick, just weak.” In the middle of the conversation Fr. Vota told the doctor thoughtfully, “I almost died.” The doctor agreed with him and said that he had expected him to “leave us” on that first Sunday in the ICU. Fr. Vota registered that, but didn’t say anything then.

When we came to help bring Fr. Vota home later that day, he was sitting on the side of the hospital bed getting dressed. All of a sudden the conversation with the doctor came back and hit him. “God saved my life,” he said, “because of all the people praying for me to Paul Murphy.”

Fr. Vota has asked for prayers for his complete recovery from cancer through the intercession of the Servant of God Paul Murphy.

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