‘Because He’s Outside of Time’

By Marc Massery

On Mother’s Day in 1996, Bette Harrison received word that her younger brother Ricky had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at age 46. 

“Truly, in that moment, I felt as though I had been stabbed by a sword and went down on my knees,” she said. As a Catholic convert from Judaism, Bette, of Irvine, California, worried about her brother’s salvation. He died without any faith. 

Bette’s Benedictine spiritual director, Abbot David, felt God was telling him to pray with Bette for Ricky’s soul. So together, every day at 3 o’clock, they prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet over the phone for Ricky. 

Three years and hundreds of Divine Mercy Chaplets later, Bette received a call from her mother’s friend, René, who was in his mid- 80s. “Bette, I had a dream, unlike any other I have ever had in my life,” René told her. Bette was particularly interested because she had been going to a prayer group in which they were discussing the spiritual significance of dreams. 

René had never known Bette’s brother except through photographs. But he said, “I sat face to face with your brother last night [in the dream]. … It was so clear, as if we were sitting face to face, it felt so real. … He looked incredible. He looked good. What a handsome man.”

René continued, “He had three messages he wanted me to give to you. [He said], ‘Tell Bette that I’m OK. Secondly, thanks for her prayers; she can stop now. And thirdly, tell her, ‘I love her.’” René would die just three weeks later. 

René did not know that Bette and her spiritual director had been praying for Ricky’s soul every day. That is to say, they had been praying every day until very recently. Earlier that week, Abbot David had stopped calling Bette to pray as usual. So, curious after speaking with René, Bette called her spiritual director and said, “We’ve been talking every day for three years, and praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet at the 3 o’clock hour, not missing a day, and suddenly you stopped calling. Why?”

“I felt the prayers were sufficient,” Abbot David responded. Bette knew Abbot David was spiritually sensitive, but she was amazed at the coincidence.   

Then around the anniversary of her brother’s death, Bette called her sister-in-law and told her about René’s dream. Her sister-in-law told her, “Ricky used to say to me, ‘I’m not sure Bette knows that I love her. I never told her.’” So, at the time, she encouraged him, “Well, why don’t you tell her?” Ricky never did tell Bette he loved her before he passed away. But thanks to the Divine Mercy Chaplet and René’s dream, Bette feels as though he has. 

On the 20th anniversary of Ricky’s death, at the 3 o’clock hour, Bette was praying for Ricky’s soul when for the first time, she noticed something in her yard.  

For the previous 20 years, she and her husband Jim had had an ornamental plum tree that never produced any fruit. “I had commented to Jim, ‘I wish we could have real fruit,’” Bette said.  She didn’t think it was possible on their property. She said, “[Suddenly], there was a perfect plum. One plum, and I looked at it. I was astounded. How can that be?”

She believed it was a sign from God about Ricky. “I then thought about what Abbot David used to tell me, ‘If you don’t get it on the inside, God will give it to you on the outside.’”

She wanted to call to tell her sister, Cheri, but she didn’t want to diminish the moment. Then, suddenly, the phone rang. It was Cheri. “I can’t believe you just called!” Bette said. “I think this is a miracle moment. I have to tell you what’s happening.”  

After Mass the next day, Bette invited a friend, Ann, to come see the plum tree and tell her the story. “We continued to praise God and His goodness, when suddenly, we both looked up and, all at once, we noticed the whole tree was in bloom,” Bette said. “God’s grace gets greater, I notice, the more you thank Him and praise Him. … He can never be outdone.” 

Through these experiences, Bette has become convinced of her brother’s salvation. “The Lord knew — because He’s outside of time — He knew I’d be praying for my brother’s soul. His mercy is unfathomable,” she said. 

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LAMDVD

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