An alert reader sent this my way: the poignant story of a baby in need of a miracle, and the namesake who just might provide it:

Tracy and Tami Hauser are praying for a miracle and asking others to do the same. On Oct. 8, their seventh child, John Paul, was born with a rare chromosomal disorder called Trisomy 13, which doctors consider incompatible with life. Despite the bleak diagnosis, the Hausers are praying for their son’s healing through the intercession of the late Pope John Paul II, their son’s namesake.

The Omaha couple wants to spread a devotion to the late Pope’s beatification and canonization prayer in hopes that he will intercede for them and grant them one of the three miracles needed for his canonization.

“Every day is a miracle and even if John Paul should end up dying and going to heaven, it’s still a great thing for this devotion for Pope John Paul to be spread,” Tami Hauser said. “I am confident and believe that he loves this baby and will intercede for us. I have just felt compelled to spread this devotion to him.”

The couple, whose children range in age from 21 years to 12 weeks, said their goal is to get 1,000 people praying the beatification prayer daily with them.

They have already distributed nearly 400 prayer cards within their parish community at St. Margaret Mary Church, as well as to their neighbors, family and friends. They even dropped off a few prayer cards to the chancery.

In response, the family has received prepared meals and letters telling of prayers for their son, including one from Omaha Archbishop Elden Francis Curtiss.

“I was praying last night on how to get more people praying with us and it occurred to me that Pope John Paul II really believed in utilizing the media to spread devotion, and that I should contact the Catholic Voice to help me spread a devotion to this prayer and cause,” Tami Hauser said. “It must be the Holy Spirit.”

The Catholic Voice is the newspaper for the Archdiocese of Omaha.

Already John Paul has experienced small miracles.

Most children born with the disease die before birth and the few that survive usually do not come home from the hospital, Tami Hauser said. The ones who do come home have a 50 percent chance of dying within the first six months of life and 91 percent chance of dying within the first year, she said.

John Paul already has overcome two episodes where he stopped breathing and recovered on his own, and he has no external or internal malformations, she said. Many babies born with Trisomy 13, which occurs when extra DNA from chromosome 13 appears in some or all of the body’s cells, have multiple abnormalities.

His breathing seems to have improved and strengthened with time, Tami Hauser said. He has hit his developmental goals so far, and he can hear and see. Last week he smiled at his grandmother, she said.

Check out the rest — and whisper up a prayer for little John Paul.