Today I found a marble while doing the laundry. There it was, blue and shiny among the grey folds of my son’s sweatshirt.
My heart leaped as I picked it up and admired its beauty, thinking about how Michael would smile when I showed him his lost treasure.
But just as suddenly as I found it, the marble slipped from my fingers and bounced into the dusty unknown beneath the hot water heater. Sighing in defeat after peering into the darkness, I shrugged and continued with my work.
 |
|
I suddenly feel as though I cannot communicate with my father.
Our conversations have become more like a parent-child check-in rather than a pleasant visit. What I mean by that is I feel as though I am taking on a more parental role in our relationship.
My dad lives alone and has some chronic health conditions but nothing too serious. Lately my visits have become focused on whether or not he took his medications, or if he has eaten, or when he last did.
I want dad to be safe and happy but I don’t want to be the person drawing attention to all of the things he is not doing to care for himself.
Is this typical of aging parents? I have no siblings and most of my other relatives live far away.
(From a daughter in Baraboo.)
In response to the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this past September, the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis of the Diocese of Madison is providing a monthly series on a particular theme on marriage and family. Each theme is a chapter in the preparatory catechesis developed for the event entitled Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive, available in paperback from www.osvparish.com or for free online at www.worldmeeting2015.org This is the ninth of 10 themes that will be explored.
Understanding the nature and mission of the Church is intrinsic to understanding the family, and specifically, the family as the domestic Church.
On the night before His passion and death, Christ prays for those who will believe in Him through the words of His disciples, “that they may all be one; even as you Father, are in me, and I in you” (John 17:21).
Q I am concerned about my mother. She is in her early 80s and has enjoyed relatively good health.
She has a little arthritis but does not let that stop her from doing most everything she wants to do.
Since my father died several years ago, she has been living in an apartment complex for older adults. She has friends and seems to enjoy many of the social activities offered by the apartment management.
My concern is that lately when I visit she seems sad. For lack of a better term, she seems to have lost her “spark.”
I tried to talk to her about the upcoming holidays and she said we could discuss it later. This is a woman who used to begin Christmas shopping in July! I ask her what is going on but she dismisses the question.
I don’t know how to help her. Do you have any ideas? (From a daughter in Dodgeville)
Q I am concerned about my mother. She is in her early 80s and has enjoyed relatively good health.
She has a little arthritis but does not let that stop her from doing most everything she wants to do.
Since my father died several years ago, she has been living in an apartment complex for older adults. She has friends and seems to enjoy many of the social activities offered by the apartment management.
My concern is that lately when I visit she seems sad. For lack of a better term, she seems to have lost her “spark.”
I tried to talk to her about the upcoming holidays and she said we could discuss it later. This is a woman who used to begin Christmas shopping in July! I ask her what is going on but she dismisses the question.
I don’t know how to help her. Do you have any ideas? (From a daughter in Dodgeville)
 |
|
Conservation International has sponsored a series of videos that have become YouTube sensations, garnering millions of views.
They feature famous actors — Harrison Ford, Kevin Spacey, Robert Redford, and others — voicing different aspects of the natural world, from the ocean, to the rain forest, to redwood trees. The most striking is the one that presents Mother Nature herself, given voice by Julia Roberts.
They all have more or less the same message, namely, that nature finally doesn’t give a fig for human beings, that it is far greater than we, and will outlast us. Here are some highlights from the Mother’s speech:
To the editor:
I just read in the very last paragraph of an article in the June 2 Wisconsin State Journal, “Walker ready to sign 20-week abortion bill,” this statistic for 2013: “89 of 6,500 abortions were performed after 20 weeks.” A mere 89 little people were killed after 20 weeks and the rest were younger. No big deal!
It’s sickening to see the apathy of a once-great nation in regard to standards of living. Who are we to judge which is more important, the life of the child or of the mother?
 |
|
Anna Jarvis (1864-1948) is recognized as the “mother of Mother’s Day.” She never married or had children, but as a child she heard her mother wish that there was a day to honor all mothers, living and dead.
She started the custom of wearing carnations on Mother’s Day. White carnations were her mother’s favorite flower because they symbolized a mother’s pure love. Today, red and pink carnations are given to honor a living mother and white carnations to honor a deceased mother.
In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, shocked by the Civil War’s bloodshed, organized a mother’s day for peace. This prepared the way for today’s Mother’s Day.
LANCASTER — May is dedicated to our Blessed Mother. Are you looking for a way to grow in your faith?
Consider joining St. Clement Parish for a weekly discussion and video series on Fr. Michael Gaitley’s book 33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat.
 |
|
In 1978, Charles E. Rice, a former professor of law at Notre Dame Law School made this prediction in his book Beyond Abortion: The Theory and Practice:
“The abortion of the future will be by pill, suppository, or some other do-it-yourself method. At that point the killing of a baby will be wholly elective and private. We have, finally, caught up with the pagan Romans who endowed the father, the pater familias, with the right to kill his child at his discretion. We give that right to the mother. But it is all the same to the victim.”
