A prayer request to my readers

This passed-on to me by a friend studying at the University of Dallas:

Dear friends,The last few days have been unexpectedly heartrending for me, and I am writing this to ask for all of your prayers for the son of a wonderful Catholic family who was lost in a drowning accident yesterday afternoon.

My Mom and I drove to Kansas early yesterday morning, intending to pick up a friend for the weekend, and unexpectedly found ourselves in the midst of a tragedy. As we approached our friend's house in Maple Hill, we crossed a bridge full of police officers staring down into the water. We pulled into the Van der Puttens', and were met with the news that several families in the parish had been spending the day on the river to celebrate the feast of Our Lady's Assumption. About 11 boys, and one father, were on a sandbar about 30 feet out, when the sandbar suddenly collapsed, and the father and several teens tried frantically to swim the younger boys to shore. With the undertow pulling them under, they managed to get most of the boys to safety, but as Peter Zaplitow grabbed his nine-yr-old brother Michael and another 8-yr-old, all three began to sink. Michael finally pushed Peter away towards shore, and let go of his brother. Peter swam the other boy to shore, almost collapsing himself, and watched helplessly as his brother went under. It all happened in a matter of minutes, at about 1:30 pm.

When we arrived at 5 and received the news, we drove to the parish church, and joined several hundred sorrowing parishioners to pray Our Lady's rosary continuously until about 10 pm, when the search and rescue teams called off the search for Michael's body for the night. His body has still not been recovered, and the search will continue over the next days.

It is in times of great tragedy that the deep mysteries of our Catholic faith, the intermingling of sorrow with trust and hope, became so present and real. The Zaplitow family were an incredible witness of love and faith in their grief, and it was truly a gift to be able to pray for them as a community, truly joined in the body of Christ. Please, if you would, remember Michael's soul and the intentions of his family, in your prayers.