ISAIAH 40:29

By Peter Vuono

   When I was a young boy I always, like many boys, wanted to be strong. I was inspired by wrestlers, bodybuilders, powerlifters, muscle men of the movies and my two cousins Ronnie and David who were Mastodons!

   I then embarked in powerlifting in 1967 and finished 2nd to last in my first meet in Nashua in Jan. of 1973. As time went on I achieved modest success but as the wights got heavier, so too, did injuries. On 3 different occasions, I ruptured both bicep tendons and herniated the L5 lumbar. However I never had surgery and in 85 after a hiatus from my broken back I pulled a 575 deadlift. I marveled how lucky I was but it got worse as I aged.

   After I retired from the school department I, at age, 59 had a heart attack and quadruple bypass. However I spent only 8 days in the hospital and was lifting weights two weeks later! Two years later, events fell into place that bordered on the miraculous. I completed my Black Belt training and humbly received the degree after 10 full years of training. In 2014, I pulled a 400 deadlift, again only two years after surgery, for an Elite Powerlifting Federation American record. However, more calamity struck. In the years that followed I had skin cancer surgery, cubital tunnel surgery, carpal tunnel surgery and lastly, in 2021, a knee replacement. It was then that more miracles occurred and I began to wonder.

 I walked the day after surgery on my knee without a cane or walker. On day 4 after surgery, I drove the car. I then decided to get back into powerlifting and on December 10, 2023, I at age 70, broke a world deadlift record for the Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate. Spurred on by the success, I unwisely went into another meet just six months later in Yarmouth Port. After missing my 1st attempt, I made it and then succeeded in breaking my own world record in the deadlift. I was filled with emotion.

  I fell into my wife's arms crying like a baby when I had the epiphany of why things went so positively. No, it wasn't the 7 days a of week training.

It wasn't the 3 days a week of cardio,

It wasn't the protein shakes or the vitamins.

It wasn't my own determination or tenacity

It wasn't just plain luck!

It WAS my decades long devotion to the Rosary which saved me.

It was God's accomplishment and not mine!.

Saint Padre Pio calls the Rosary the "Weapon of the age" but you can petition to the Lord in your own way!

It doesn't matter if you do it as a Muslim or a Buddhist, or  a Hindu, a Jew, a Christian or a Catholic so long as you petition the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. THAT is the true solution to the mystery of life. This is certainly NOT written as a statement of braggadocio but one of testimony! As Pope John Paul once said, "This is no time to keep the gospels secret but to preach them from the housetops."

   The Prophet Isaiah lived in the 8th century but his words are just as true now as the were thousands of years ago "The Lord gives comfort to the weary and strengthens the weak". 

 THE TENTH LEPER

By Peter Vuono

   In Luke 17:11 we see ten men afflicted with leprosy approach Jesus. They asked him to have pity on them and to cure them. Jesus said, "Go show yourselves to the priest". On their way, they noticed that they were healed and rejoiced. One stopped- a Samaritan- who was hated by the Jews. He returned to Jesus, fell on his knees and praised Jesus and God in thanks

   Jesus said, "Were not 10 healed? Where are the other nine. Did only this foreigner come back to praise God?" This story has a twofold purpose. It's first to show us that blessings may come our way at any time and that many are sometimes in disguise. However, we should learn to recognize them. The 2nd meaning is that God often uses people to bestow gifts and blessings upon us. We should certainly thank Him but also the persons giving the gift. In this way, it encourages them to continue good works and in turn makes THEM realize how special they really are in being co-pilots to God.

  Too often good deeds are never thanked. We see this all the time. I'd like to relay one such story. Years ago, New Jersey's Scott Bigelow got into wrestling. He was big, strong agile and had a legitimate Black Belt. He wrestled with great success in the 3 biggest wrestling companies of the day. 

   In July of 2000, while coming home from a tour of Japan at 3:30 AM, Bigelow notice a home in flames in his neighborhood. Three children, ages 3,5 and nine were left alone by their mom and managed to start a fire. Bigelow burst into the home and gabbed the children like a grizzly would grab a pumpkin. He ran down the stairs and out of the home to remand the kids to the fire personnel. He was a hero; but not without consequences. He received 2nd degree burns over 40% of his body and would spend 10 days in the hospital.

    Bigelow always fluffed the deed off in various YouTube videos but it was indeed an act of bravery- that no one acknowledged. He had worked for two billionaires and one millionaire and none of these men ever did anything to show recognition. In his later years his health waned. He succumbed to illnesses certainly exacerbated by the ring. It is safe to say, that if his deed was acknowledged then maybe the despair that he must have felt, would have been somewhat softened. He died at age 45.

    I approached the Carnegie Foundation which gives recognition to Bonafide heroes. I was too late as recognition must be given within 3 years of the act of bravery. This story is both tragic and sad but it surely illustrates the importance of Luke 17:11. I taught summer school English for 15 years and one of my assignments was to learn how to write  a " thank you" letter. I sincerely doubt that any of my students continued this assignment after the summer was over but that does not mean that we should abandon the thought.

   Send an E-mail. Write a letter. Send flowers or candy. Go to Dollar Tree and buy the fifty cent card.One of my friends from Germany actually sent a video of thanks to me years ago. It doesn't really matter how one does it. What's important is that you become the tenth leper. 

"Kind words and good deeds are eternal. You never know where their influence will end"- H. Jackson Browne Jr.