Scripted in Heaven

By Lourdes Duque Baron

Scripted in Heaven follows the journey of Dr. Robinson V. Baron and his physical and metaphysical healing.

As a stubborn surgeon, he ignores a cryptic warning from an old lady about a supposedly imminent complication with his health. The struggles that follow take him to a journey of spiritual renewal, which leads him to rediscover his tru

• Language: English
• Publisher: TOPLINK PUBLISHING, LLC
• Release date: Sep 13, 2017
• ISBN: 9781947938182

Lourdes Duque Baron

Lourdes Duque Baron, MHA, MSG, is a Catholic baby boomer and the wife of Dr. Robinson V. Baron. Upon embarking on this incredible journey, she has dedicated her life to spreading the message of Padre Pio. In late 2012, she will open a shrine of St. Pio da Pietrelcina in the convent of the Trinitarians of Mary on 3009 E. Cameron Avenue in West Covina, California. Somewhere in the process of putting this book together, I had a self-realization: the lost soul that I desired to save belonged to me. And so, while I penned the simple truth of our great trials and tribulations, I found God speaking to me. I found myself in the middle of a transformation. It was March 16, 2011. I had just finished reading The 33 Doctors of the Church by the Capuchin author Fr. Christopher Rengers, O.F.M. Cap. It was an account of the lives of saints who shaped the hearts and minds of the Catholic Church. In my study, I had a new revelation every time I came to a new page in the book, prompting me to develop this incessant need to turn to the next, to seek out the next revelation. I came to realize how little I knew of my faith and it became clear to me that I have not only been keeping Jesus at a distance, but that I have been offending my Lord for the past 64 years of my life.

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Scripted in Heaven

Lourdes Duque Baron

MHA, MSG

Copyright © 2017 by Lourdes Duque Baron, MHA, MSG.

PAPERBACK: 978-1-947938-17-5

EBOOK: 978-1-947938-18-2

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Printed in the United States of America

I dedicate my first book…

to my True Love

Robin

my Children

Hector, Gregg, Stephanie & Naren

my Grandchildren

Rj, Isaac, Kenji, Ashleigh, Chrissey, Liana, Holland, & Dylan

and to my Great-Grandson

Noah

And to my Beloved Relatives and Friends who have passed on…

Brenda Rico Duque

May Abad Magsino

Rosalie Pagulayan Montero

Rosemary Planas

&

Marie Cusato

You will always be in my heart!

Our mortal lives are Scripted in Heaven.

The script is simple: He created us in His likeness—to love Him and to serve Him. However, He also gave us free choice, which is often an easier road we take when we face problems.

Free will makes it difficult to follow Him, especially when the snares of Satan are firmly planted in this secular world. Thus, it is a daily struggle to stay righteous.

1

A True Story

Scripted in Heaven is a story about the physical and metaphysical healing of Dr. Robinson V. Baron. It is a story of a surgeon who believes he is invincible. When the misguided night of his soul succumbs to the relentless, illicit carnal seductions and lures him to the cesspool of mortal sins, he ‘meets’ Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, who’s been dead for over 29 years, and encounters a saving grace that delivers him from the portals of perdition.

Part I: The Awakening

Four years before he was diagnosed with cancer, Dr. Robinson V. Baron ‘meets’ Padre Pio in the halls of Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina, California. However, he scoffs at the message from the Divine.

Part II: Spiritual Mentors

Headed by the quarterback Saint Pio da Pietrelcina, the team of 33 Doctors of the Church scooped us from the snares of Satan and ensured our spiritual touchdown. This section is a glimpse into the lives of our spiritual advisors, from whom we found guidance.

Part III: Conversion

Here, I share reflections of my life prior to my conversion, which were revealed to me during my husband’s physical struggle and our spiritual journey. These are the lessons we’ve learned.

Table of Contents

The Awakening

Divine Intervention

The Incident

That Celestial Spark

Tatay

The Photograph

The Wedding

Thanksgiving

The Night Before Colonoscopy

The Colonoscopy

Calling on Marie

Sister Saturnina Pascual

Operation: Pray

Len Points Us to Father Flavian

Father Flavian

Discovering Padre Pio

Eyes to San Giovanni

Praying for the Chief

Conceding to Confession

Saving Grace: My Angel Gregg

It Runs in the Family

Benvenuti in Italia!

San Giovanni Rotondo

The Arm of the Black Nazarene

Shared Suffering

Mystery at the Operating Room

Spiritual Euphoria

Chemotherapy Diet

Remembering Charlie

Gregg Meets Padre

Monte Tabor, Mexico

Invitation to Italy

Green Light

To the Eternal City

Lourdes, France

Saint Peter’s Square

Isn’t This Wonderful?

Return to San Giovanni

The Cave of the Archangel Michael

Short-Lived Euphoria and Expectations

The Day of the 2nd Surgery

An Encounter with Emilio

An Answered Call

Spiritual Mentors

Journey to Sainthood:

Biographical Highlights of the Life of Padre Pio

The Thirty-Three Doctors of the Church

Doctores Ecclesiae

Connections

Conversion

Introduction

Road to Holiness

Forgiveness

Treasures in Heaven

The Saints Go Marching In

On Fasting

Conversion to a More Perfect Soul

Finding Jesus

Humility

Conversion from a Lukewarm Soul

The Sevens

Avarice

Material Things and Earthly Possessions

Pride

Common Characteristics of a Saint

My Prayer

Terrible Sins

Carnal Sins of Impurity

A Holy Matrimony

Community at the Cathedral

Mystical Testimonies & Miracles with Dr. Peralta

A Timeline of Dr. Baron’s Medical Catastrophe

Part I

The Awakening

1

Divine Intervention

Fall 1997

Dr. Baron, Dr. Baron! Wait! I need to talk to you!" Sharp shrills echoed through the halls of the hospital, as a fragile woman trailed behind the man in the surgical robe. She ran towards him, yelling his name. Her loud voice was marked with urgency, but subtle reservation curbed her tone. Taking notice of the cry, the man stopped. He turned around and saw an old woman calling for his attention. It was Marie Cusato.

Hey, Marie. What’s the emergency? He stops briefly to listen to one of the hospital’s favorite volunteers.

Dr. Baron, Padre Pio told me to pray for you because he said you have a kidney problem. Her voice trembled as if she herself were fearful of her own ominous message.

Oh yeah? the doctor replied in curiosity. He was perplexed at such a casual confessional from Marie. But as he was already rushing to his next surgery, Dr. Baron immediately brushed off her suspiciously random and unfounded diagnosis.

I’m fine, Marie. There’s nothing to worry about. I exercise and I eat right. I’ve not even had a sick day at work! Don’t worry; I’ll be okay. He saw Marie begin to mouth a response, but he interrupted her before she could begin.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get prepped for surgery. They’ve been paging me. The anesthesiologist is about to make my patient comfy.

On queue, his pager went off. Dr. Baron read the message aloud to make sure Marie heard his excuse validated.

See: Dr. Baron, patient about to sleep, he proved to her.

I’ve got to go, but we’ll talk soon. You have a good day now, Marie! He walked away hurriedly down the hall of the hospital before Marie watched him disappear as he turned left towards the operating room.

How can you not believe me? Marie whispered to herself. Her eyes followed the doctor until he vanished from her view. Her face filled with anxiety and swelled with sadness. He didn’t take me seriously, she said in regret, as if it were her fault. With a heavy heart and her head hanging low, Marie walked away slowly and headed towards the exit.

Marie Cusato has aged over the years. She was now in her eighties, but she still possessed the passion of a young heart that committed to stay active in her community even at such age. Plenty of her time is spent at the hospital. At first it was because she would not refuse to leave her sick husband’s bedside, but even when he got better, Marie kept coming back until she eventually became known as the hospital’s own favorite Good Samaritan. Without a doubt, she is well liked by all the volunteers and treasured by the staff at the Queen of the Valley Hospital. As a compassionate Christian, Marie pledges her time at this particular hospital facility, a Catholic institution, where she wastes no time in evangelizing to anyone who would lend her a listening ear.

Today, she felt as if no one listened. After that rejection from the doctor, Marie’s usual sweet smile was markedly absent from her face, clearly saddened by her scoffed warning. His meager excuse undermined the seriousness of her revelation. In her heart, she felt as if the doctor had dismissed the Divine.

Still perplexed at Marie’s cryptic warning, Dr. Robinson V. Baron thought about what the old woman said to him as he started scrubbing down to prepare for his first surgical case for the day. He could still see her face and hear her voice.

Why was she so frantic? He thought about Marie’s premonition, wondering if he should even heed her warning. Padre Pio wants her to pray for me because I have a kidney problem?

He couldn’t concentrate much as the chatter in the operating room increased and interrupted his thoughts. How could I have a kidney problem? I’m at the prime of my life! He rationalized, or at least he tried. What is that woman talking about?

Somehow, Marie got to him, as if she planted a seed of doubt that would slowly begin to take root in his mind.

✧ ✧ ✧

2

The Incident

November 1999

Two tumultuous years have followed that mysterious exchange at the hospital. It’s now November, nearing towards the end of another year.

It has been a long two years since Marie anxiously warned Robin about a presumed kidney problem. Robin was quick to dismiss the possibility of having bad kidneys, but the urgency that was so pronounced from Marie’s cries that day was enough to entertain his thoughts once in a while, even when many days have already passed without a single sign or symptom of sickness. Still, Robin remained resilient.

It was just another day at the Queen of the Valley Hospital where Robin was scheduled to perform a couple of surgeries. As usual, the hospital was busy and buzzing with people and patients coming in and out of the facility. The Queen of the Valley campus in West Covina is just one of the three hospital facilities of Citrus Valley Health Partners, tucked in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. Located in one of the primary valleys of the Los Angeles County, it boasts of the service it provides to a vast community of close to one million people in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. Despite the unusually heavy foot traffic in the halls that morning, the day seemed ordinary. At least it began that way.

Robin started with his regular routine that morning at the hospital. He had several surgical cases lined up for him, so he went straight to the operating room to check what was on the schedule. He looked at the charts, reviewed the details of the operations he had to perform, and prepared himself for the day’s challenges. In the almost two decades he’s been doing this, what was on the agenda today was nothing remotely close to unusual.

He finished the first two surgeries—two cholecystectomies, the surgical removal of the gallbladder—with ease, and with much success by early afternoon. Everything ran smoothly and all according to plan.

Finally, Dr. Baron was ready to start the operation on his third case of the day, the last on his schedule. He had to perform a fairly common procedure on a man who needed an excision of mass in his torso. Having done this dozens of times before, he didn’t expect a surgery as exciting as the ones in the trauma rooms of hospital dramas on television. This was a piece of cake that should have no complications. At least that’s what he thought. Easy.

Dr. Robinson V. Baron, known for his precise surgical moves, made a perfect incision on the man’s flesh, just the right size to remove the mass that was the size of a ping pong ball. It was neither too small nor too big—just perfectly perforated. For Robin, every move, every incision, and every stitch had intent, and for that, his colleagues respected him for his precision and perfection.

Halfway through the surgery, as Robin began to make another incision on the patient, he felt the cold metal cut through his own flesh, immediately sending chills down his spine. The scalpel he held in his right hand slipped and cut his left ring finger.

Suddenly, the constant cycle was no longer certain. This was horribly out of the ordinary and a retreat from the regular routine.

Robin was shocked at such an amateur mistake. Immediately, he released his grip on the scalpel, and before it even dropped to the floor,

he was already removing his latex gloves, rushing to the sink. He called for the rotating nurse in circulation, all the while staring at his bleeding finger in complete disbelief.

Ouch! Son of a bitch! He tried to ignore the sharp pain and instead attempted to recall the last time an accidental cut like this happened. It’s been such a long time that he could not remember.

This one’s deep! Nurse! I want the chart!

Blood continued to gush from the incidental incision. Even placing his finger under running water was not enough to wash away the blood. All he could see was red flowing from inside of him.

The nurse rushed back with the patient’s chart and handed it to the doctor. Before dressing his wound, Robin quickly sat down to scan the patient’s history. His eyes swiftly grazed in all directions as he read through the notes on the medical record.

Robin’s jaws dropped as he found his eyes fixed and focused on the three letters that jumped at him: HIV.

DAMN IT! This patient has HIV! His world shook. Why didn’t anyone tell me about this? There’s a contagious panic in his voice.

The thought of being exposed to a deadly virus because of a clumsy mistake that could have been prevented angered Robin. Suddenly, the surgeon did not feel so invincible anymore.

Why didn’t you tell me about this? he shouted at the nurse as he finished unscrubbing. "Who forgot to tell me about this minor detail?" It was evident that there was more wrath than sarcasm in his voice. He was furious—enraged, even.

Doc, I’m so sorry! This patient was dispatched from the ER and we rushed him to surgery as soon as he came in. The nurse began to explain, but she feared the anger that was brewing inside of Robin whose nostrils flared wider with each deepening breath.

We didn’t expect there would be any incident. You’re always precise! Of all your years in practice, there hasn’t been anything like this. Not a single cut. She was more praiseful of the doctor’s clean run than apologetic for her own mistake of not running through the patient’s history.

Robin was still in total disbelief, shocked by the sudden turn of events, and of course, by the grave danger to which he was just exposed. But he knew that he had a job to finish. After all, he was the surgeon in charge and he was still responsible for sewing back up the patient he cut open who was still laying down on the operating table with his insides exposed, knocked out from the anesthesia. Without saying a word, Robin put a bandage on his bleeding finger, scrubbed down again, and slipped on not one, but two pairs of sterile gloves for extra precaution. The doctor shook in shock as he resumed working on the HIV infected man, whose unclean blood just made contact with Robin.

It was a challenge to finish the operation. Never before had he felt so nauseated at the sight of blood, but he imagined the infestation of the virus and trembled in terror. After what seemed like hours of surgery, he finally closed up the patient, but Robin did not reach the sense of relief he usually feels after completing an operation. There was no sense of closure, but tragically instead, an open wound. Immediately, he rushed to the ER to get a blood sample, following all protocol for accidental exposure to the deadly human immunodeficiency virus.

For the first time in a long time, Robin felt lost and out of control. The tide turned so quickly on him, that he felt like a captain suddenly thrown off course, now unable to navigate through the course of the rising and falling of changing waters. Suddenly, Robin, the skilled surgeon, found himself in the helpless position of a powerless patient.

A nurse was immediately called to the ER to assess their colleague’s situation. Robin caught a glance at the basket of syringes and tubes used for extracting blood samples. He knew what was taking place, but it was what was yet to happen that feared him. He has accepted his potential exposure to HIV, but it was the possibility of an actual contagion that rattled his reality.

You better be a sharp shooter and not hurt me, Robin joked with the nurse, but a smile was noticeably absent from his face. His thoughts were racing, so he tried to slow them down with a dose of sarcasm in the hopes of calming his nerves.

Robin had only been lying there on the hospital bed for no more than half an hour, but the wait seemed like an eternity. He thought of the consequences of his mistake as he began to blame himself for the danger in which he put himself. If only I were more careful. Robin thought of all the scenarios that could play out from his situation, even bracing himself for the worst possible outcome.

At least if I get AIDS, it wasn’t because I was sleeping around, he thought, attempting to casually console himself. Death with dignity is still more admirable than dying from a sexually contracted disease.

Slowly, the harsh reality of what had just happened began to sink in. A doctor himself, Robin did not wait on anyone else to give a prognosis on his own condition. He himself read the patient’s chart and saw that the man on whom he was performing the operation had full-blown AIDS. Robin felt defenseless realizing that his risk was doubly high and that he had no control of curbing the spread of the disease. In a sort of a masochistic manner, he replayed the scene in his head over and over again until the image of bad blood entering his bloodstream from his self-inflicted cut tainted his thoughts.

Morbid ideas began to invade his mind, much like how the contagion with which he is threatened would contaminate his bloodstream. He predicted his untimely death from the incurable acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, understanding that the deadly virus would attack his immune system until it could no longer defend itself from the foreign invader that is HIV. Robin imagined a rapid spread of the retrovirus and its indefensible attack on his T cells until his vital organs could no longer fight off the contamination from within. He pictured a frailer and more fragile version of himself, decaying and ultimately dying on a deathbed, waiting to be sealed up in a coffin for his final resting place six feet under. Haunting chills ran through his body.

In a short time, the news about Robin’s accident and possible exposure to AIDS swiftly spread through the hospital like wildfire. At a nurse’s station, two nurses expressed their concern for Dr. Baron.

My God. This is horrible. Full-blown AIDS? She too, like the rest who quickly heard the news, was in utter shock.

There’s going to be a big lawsuit, I’m sure of it, the other added. But that’s not the worst part… A long pause endured before the nurse said another word.

He’s going to contract AIDS. The screaming silence was deafening. Then, she swallowed before saying anything else, the good doctor will die from that damn disease.

After what seemed like an endless wait in a limbo of uncertainty, another doctor rushed into the room where Robin was being held. He had with him the results from the blood test that finally came in.

Dr. Baron, so far, your blood results are all showing normal values, except we found that your creatinine levels are elevated. You have double the normal values of creatinine, the doctor said.

Though relieved, Robin knew that it was not the time to rejoice. He acknowledged that even if his results were normal now, it did not guarantee that he’s free of the HIV retrovirus; it takes months for it to show up in the system, so what may be absent in the protocolic blood test now could appear later.