Tag: elderly

On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Court ruling is step in the right direction

In my Editor’s View column in the March 3 issue of the Catholic Herald, I encouraged people to join a prayer campaign to support the Little Sisters of the Poor.

These Sisters — who primarily care for the elderly — were involved in fighting for their religious beliefs. They refused to go along with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate requiring them to provide contraceptive services for their employees.

Many people have been praying for the Little Sisters of the Poor and others involved in the Zubik v. Burwell case being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Their prayers seem to have been answered.

Read More
On
Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Join prayer campaign to support Sisters

An order of Sisters has been quietly caring for the elderly for many years. Founded by Sr. Jeanne Jugan in 1839 in France, the Little Sisters of the Poor now serve in over 30 countries of the world.

The Sisters’ website describes their mission “to offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family, and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to himself.”

Read More
On
George Weigel

China’s population crisis: an evangelical opportunity?

State-sponsored cruelty has been a staple of the human condition for millennia.

But has there ever been a more wicked policy, with more disastrous social consequences, than the “one-child policy” China began to implement in the early 1980s ­ a state-decreed population-control measure that resulted in, among other horrors, untold tens of millions of coerced abortions?

In her new book, One Child (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), veteran China-watcher Mei Fong describes both the impact of the policy on the destruction of China’s traditional social fabric and its draconian effects on China’s medium- and long-term future.

Read More
On
Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Esteeming our elders

Occasionally we hear disturbing stories in the media about young people who perpetrate abuse against the elderly.

In a widely reported 2009 story, for example, caretakers at the Quadrangle Assisted Living facility outside Philadelphia were charged in connection with the abuse of an elderly patient named Lois McCallister. Three employees, aged 19, 21, and 22 were caught on a surveillance camera as they taunted, mocked, and assaulted the partially naked 78-year-old woman.

She had begun complaining to visiting family members several months prior that someone was hurting her and hitting her. There were also initial signs of bruising on her hand and wrist.

Read More
On
Fr. Don Lange

Consider offering support and prayer for retired priests

To the editor:

In his inspiring Holy Thursday homily, Pope Francis declared, “I ask the Lord Jesus to confirm the priestly joy of those who have already ministered for some years.” He prayed that God gives them a “second wind” to help them faithfully serve.

Our 77-year-young pope continued, “I ask the Lord Jesus to make better known the joy of elderly priests, whether healthy or infirm. It is the joy of the cross, which springs from knowledge that we possess an imperishable treasure in perishable earthen vessels. May these priests find happiness wherever they are.”

Read More
On
Jean Mueller

Check authenticity of ‘once in a lifetime’ investment

Q I have always considered my parents to be intelligent and capable of making good decisions, but I wonder if they may be taken in by a new acquaintance who is also in the investment business.

They recently invested in a project that is “going to be huge,” according to the investor. My parents were told not to share too many details because they are a few of the “special people” who were allowed in on this.

It sounds so fishy to me, but they think this is the next big thing but they can’t tell me what it is. Am I over-reacting? (A concerned son in Evansville).

Read More
On
Audrey Mettel Fixmer

Learning to cook with ‘appeal’

Grandmom column by Audrey Fixmer

My late husband taught me two important lessons about cooking.

When I confessed to him a few weeks before our wedding that I knew nothing about cooking (zilch!), he advised me in his typical philosophical manner, “There are two ways to look upon the challenge of cooking: one as an art, which requires creative talent, and the other as a science, which requires a cookbook. Get a cookbook.”

Read More