The jewelry box was pretty battered, so I didn’t expect to find anything of much importance within it. I opened it slowly, so as not to overextend the hinges. Inside were Dad’s compass, a small (and quite worn) silver crucifix, and his Boy Scout medals (including his cherished Eagle Scout medal). I picked through the various items, remembering how much my dad had loved the Boy Scouts and how proud he was of his many accomplishments in the organization. I tried to figure out what the crucifix belonged to, since it had a loop at the top. It wasn’t from his rosary; I had found that in a different spot long ago. Then, nestled in the back corner of the jewelry box, I noticed a tarnished, inconspicuous ring. I lifted it out of the box and gave it a closer look.

“What was he keeping that for?” I wondered to myself.

Then it dawned on me. The ring I held between my fingers was my dad’s wedding ring! Having worked in a machine shop all of his life, Dad never wore the ring because it could easily get caught in the equipment and cause loss of a finger – or even an entire hand. For that reason, and because he had large, big-boned hands that made wearing the ring cumbersome, Dad kept the ring in his top dresser drawer for safe keeping. I’d been told that it had been lost. Yet, there it was, resting in the crook of my palm!

I showed the kids my discovery, letting them finger through the contents of the jewelry box and telling them what I knew about each piece. It was fun for all of us, and I was happy to have one more connection between my children and the Grandfather they’d never met. After we’d gone through everything, we put the box away and went back to our usual routine. I didn’t think much more of it after that, at least in terms of how it might have impacted the kids.

I didn’t think much more of it, that is, until our middle son became engaged. To be completely accurate, I didn’t think of it; my son did. Just after he and his beloved announced their engagement, Luke came to talk to me. He seemed a tad uneasy, and I could tell he had something on his mind. It took him a while to get to the point.

“Mom,” he said. “What do you think of my having Grandpa’s wedding ring to use as my wedding ring?”

I was completely taken aback. I’d figured that my children would eventually want to have their grandfather’s memorabilia, but I in no way anticipated that any of them would want to have his wedding ring as their own.

Being the poised and keen person that I am, I gave the most sublime and profound response. “Uh…would it even fit you?”

“It fits me perfectly. I already tried it on,” he replied. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and was waiting for the right time to ask you. Could I have it?”

By now, I had a better grip on myself. “Oh, my goodness,” I mumbled. “Well, yes. Of course you can have Grandpa’s ring.”

I have to take a commercial break here and put in a plug for my three other children. The hardest part of giving away my dad’s wedding ring is having only one to give. Luke’s siblings reacted with astounding love and selflessness! Luke graciously asked for his siblings’ consent, and they gave it without hesitation. They felt that it’s right for Luke to have their grandpa’s ring because he’s the first in the family to get married. Luke, on his part, realizes that he’s carrying on my dad’s legacy not just for himself, but also for his siblings, and the next Fenelon Clan generation as well. I am so very proud of all my children!

Last week, I took Dad’s wedding ring to the jeweler to see what it’s made of (it didn’t feel like gold) and whether it might be polished up a bit for Luke. The jeweler took it to the back room and returned a couple of minutes later with a brilliantly gleaming-gold ring! Dad’s! The ring is made of brass (the only thing Dad and Mom could afford when they got married 63 years ago), but the jeweler was able to bring it to a marvelous sheen that uncannily mimics gold. The jeweler placed Dad’s wedding ring in a ring box and handed it to me.

“I can’t believe it,” I gasped. “I never in the world thought Dad’s ring could look so handsome!” I’m pretty sure the shop workers prayed that I would stop blubbering and thanking them and just leave so that they could get on to their other customers. I finally did.

The way Dad’s wedding ring “cleaned up” holds great significance. It hasn’t only been given a new shimmer, it’s also been given a new life, one filled with hope and promise. When Luke dons his grandpa’s wedding ring, he’ll be giving testimony both to his heritage and to his future. As he does so, his grandfather will be right there by his side – at that moment, and for always.

I realized that before I got some perspective, I actually wasn’t very pro-life at all.

Yes, I believed that abortion was wrong, so in that sense I was pro-life, but now I know better.

Being pro-life does not just mean you are against abortion, and that you want to save the lives of the innocent unborn. Yes, that is of course a very fundamental part of being pro-life, but there is so much more to it, and if we fail to miss these other key aspects, then we actually fail to be truly pro-life.

Protecting and defending life is an all-encompassing call. It is not just about the babies, it is about their mothers, their fathers, and their families. Yes, people need to speak for the unborn when they don’t have a voice, but if that is the primary focus, we are completely missing the mark.

The mother is the one who ultimately decides the fate of her child, so if we aren’t pursuing the healing, and genuine interest of her life, then we are utterly failing.

In fact, if I’m completely honest, when I was in the midst of my unplanned pregnancy, the slogans out there like “abortion kills a child” or graphic pictures of aborted babies made me resent the pro-life movement.  I understand their motives to spread awareness of the realities of abortion, but for the woman in the crisis (the very women that are considering abortion, the women we need to reach the most) this is a huge, huge turn off.

Why might you ask?

Well, it is simple.

When you only focus on saving the life of the baby, you fail to acknowledge something very important, and that is that the mother’s life needs to be saved too. Did we already forget that the very women who find themselves in unplanned pregnancies and who are considering abortion are very broken, afraid, and alone? They need some serious, genuine love and healing. But, quite frankly, when there is all this hollering for the babies, the woman in the crisis thinks she is forgotten. She thinks everyone just cares about the baby, no one cares about her.

She is desperately crying out, ”No one cares about how traumatically my life has changed, no one cares about my future, no one cares about my dreams, no one cares about helping me!”

We cannot forget about the mothers, fathers, and families of the unborn. They matter too. They are the ones making decisions, and we need to support them.

So how exactly can you be genuinely pro-life? I will speak on behalf of the mother specifically here, and I made a list of simple suggestions/ideas from the girl “who has been there”, and as someone who works with these girls every day as an adviser at a Pregnancy Resource Center:

1. Volunteer at or financially support Pregnancy Resource Centers. These are places that offer free services like pregnancy tests, and ultrasounds to women as well as options counseling. They typically offer parenting classes and provide real-life resources for women who choose life. They are actively working to help the woman and her family before, during, and after the birth of her child. They also don’t just stop at helping women who choose life, they also provide healing and counseling programs for the women who have been hurt by abortion.
2. Offer up your home to single women who are pregnant and may need a safe haven. Some girls that choose life are kicked out of their own homes, or they are so ashamed and embarrassed that they need a safe place to be during their pregnancy.
3. If you are capable, look into adoption.  The girls that cannot raise their children because of their circumstances or finances need good families to entrust their children to if we want them to choose life. Pray about this and see if you are called to adoption.
4. Change the language! A big reason women are choosing abortion is simply because they are afraid of what people will think or say if they find out they got pregnant. (This was my biggest fear!) This means that we need to create a culture of life, instead of death and gossip. Instead of saying “Did you hear who got pregnant?” say “Did you hear who chose life?” Wow, what a different way to approach the same topic. One is gossip driven, and one is life affirming and compassionate.
5. Another simple thing to do is compliment pregnant women, this goes for any pregnant woman. Often times if a woman appears to be young, pregnant, and without a ring on her finger, she gets stares. Those stares are cruel. So, instead of staring, tell her how beautiful she looks. Single, unmarried pregnant women are not affirmed enough on their worth, which is why it is so challenging to choose life. One day when I was at the library I saw a young pregnant girl, and I wrote her a little note stating how beautiful she was and slipped it to her. Little things like that can go a long way!
6. If you are parents, when you have “the talk” with your daughter, explicitly tell her something like this: “I hope you are never in this situation, but you need to know that if you ever found yourself pregnant, we will still love you and will do everything we can to support you, don’t ever be afraid that we won’t be there for you if that happens.”  You can change around the wording, but the point is to explicitly tell her that if she finds herself pregnant you will support her and love her. I “knew” that was the case with my parents, but they never explicitly said that, so the devil planted seeds of doubt and made me question whether or not they would support me, and when you doubt that, it makes it so much easier to rationalize an abortion.
7. Number six goes for anyone having a heart-to-heart with a young woman about sex, whether you are a friend, mentor, church leader, etc.
8. Support women who choose life by throwing them baby showers! My friends and family threw me showers, and it was the most touching thing that has ever happened to me.  I have never felt so loved. It brings me to tears even thinking about it. Showering these women with love is the best way to offer them healing. They need to know that they are loved (especially when this world constantly judges them).
9. Another very meaningful thing is when people affirmed me as a mother. Being a new mom, especially an unwed mother, is extremely scary. Half the time I have no clue what I’m doing, and so any encouragement is literally a gift from heaven. I remember one day a friend was babysitting and she left a little card on my bed after I came home just saying what a great mom I was and it brought me to tears. That type of encouragement keeps me going!
10. Offer to babysit! Single moms need help! If we are to be pro-life and not let single moms and their children slip into poverty, we need to help them by offering childcare so they can work, or finish school to provide for their family and get on their feet. I know that if my family didn’t help me with watching AvaMarie, I would not have been able to graduate college.

Finally: One of the biggest tips is to seek out the single moms.  I often find myself so busy with work and motherhood, that I’m too exhausted to really invest in stuff for myself or in even maintaining friendships. When my friends call me up, it means the world to me. It lets me know I’m not forgotten. Most of the time I can’t even meet up or hang out, but the fact that I was remembered and invited makes all the difference.

I know this seems entirely “mother focused” but imagine if we coupled these actions with the pro-life discussion about the baby. Women would stop getting abortions because they would know they are supported and loved! Women in unplanned pregnancies would no longer think of themselves as screw-ups and would instead receive healing and recovery through a REAL culture of life.

I’ve seen and experienced the fear of being judged or unloved as the primary factor in abortion, and these tips would hopefully eliminate that fear.

If we are to fight for the unborn, we are to fight for the mothers just as much!

Julia was left at some distance, because she would not be defiled by the superstitious ceremonies which she openly reviled. Felix, the governor of the island, who was a bigoted pagan, asked who this woman was who dared to insult the gods. Eusebius informed him that she was a Christian, and that all his authority over her was too weak to prevail with her to renounce her religion, but that he found her so diligent and faithful he could not part with her. The governor offered him four of his best female slaves in exchange for her. But the merchant replied, “No; all you are worth will not purchase her; for I would freely lose the most valuable thing I have in the world rather than be deprived of her.”

However, the governor, while Eusebius was drunk and asleep, took upon him to compel her to sacrifice to his gods. He offered to procure her liberty if she would comply. The Saint made answer that she was as free as she desired to be as long as she was allowed to serve Jesus Christ. Felix, thinking himself derided by her undaunted and resolute air, in a transport of rage caused her to be struck on the face, and the hair of her head to be torn off, and, lastly, ordered her to be hanged on a cross till she expired. Certain monks of the isle of Gorgon carried off her body; but in 763 Desiderius, King of Lombardy, removed her relics to Brescia, where her memory is celebrated with great devotion.

Reflection.—St. Julia, whether free or a slave, whether in prosperity or in adversity, was equally fervent and devout. She adored all the sweet designs of Providence; and far from complaining, she never ceased to praise and thank God under all His holy appointments, making them always the means of her virtue and sanctification. God, by an admirable chain of events, raised her by her fidelity to the honor of the saints, and to the dignity of a virgin and martyr.

Reflection: St. Julia, whether free or a slave, whether in prosperity or in adversity, was equally fervent and devout. She adored all the sweet designs of Providence; and far from complaining, she never ceased to praise and thank God under all His holy appointments, making them always the means of her virtue and sanctification.

But a culture that expects life to be lived to its fullness must be able to embrace and make peace with—even find joy in—the normalcy of human suffering.

A few years ago, this expressed sentiment prompted a fellow blogger to ask: why?

I have to admit, she had me stumped. Though I had come up with the connection between the culture of death and society’s disdain for suffering, I couldn’t exactly explain why the two were so connected. Then, nearly two years later, I came across a section in Fr. Jacques Philippe’s book Interior Freedom entitled “Refusing to Suffer Means Refusing to Live”:

Suffering should be remedied whenever possible, but it is a part of life, and attempting to get rid of it completely means suppressing life, refusing to live, and ultimately rejecting the beauty and goodness that life can bring us.

Why does hatred of suffering lead to decreased respect for human life? Because refusing to suffer is refusing the totality of living. It is a rejection of life itself.

If anything is certain in this life it is that we all will, at some point, experience suffering. Accidents will happen; people will let us down; our bodies will deteriorate; our loved ones will fade. Suffering is part of human existence and we should reduce or ease it where we can, but eliminating it completely is not within our power. In fact, very often the more we reject and try to avoid suffering, the more we encounter it; as our ability to forebear any difficulty becomes decreased, the smaller and more insignificant trials begin to seem huge and intolerable.

When I was 17 and the doctors told me that I would never walk again, I knew I had two choices. I could wallow in self-pity and sit around moping about my fate and refusing to face life in a wheelchair. Or I could accept the diagnosis, get out of bed, and confront the challenges that come with a disability head on.

I’m not going to lie. The past thirteen years have not been easy.

But that doesn’t mean they have been “too hard” to take, or that joy has eluded me. I’m still a human being, I’m still alive, and my life still has meaning and infinite value despite my challenges and limitations. What’s more, experiencing adversity has provided me with an elite (and extensive) education in the practical living-out of those valuable virtues: humility, patience, courage, and perseverance.

A life without suffering or conflict is one of heaven, not earth. On earth, even Jesus, the God-man, suffered. So did his beloved mother.

In another book, In the School of the Holy Spirit, Fr. Philippe posits that what often prevents us from becoming saints is the difficulty we have in fully accepting everything that happens to us. Though he does not will suffering, which is a consequence of Original Sin, God does, much to our bewilderment, allow it and he invites us to consent to it, not in a sense of passive resignation, but in the trusting, total abandonment that “for those who love God, everything works together for good” (Rom 8:28).

God’s ways are not our ways; he created us and alone knows what is best for us. He is infinitely good and eternally seeks our well-being, so we can be sure that whatever he allows to befall us is never purposeless, but ultimately for our benefit and the good of others.

The Culture of Death is rooted in an inability to meaningfully connect with suffering. Trained by the popular culture to believe that pleasure alone translates into “living life to the fullest,” we try to avoid pain rather than move through it, which means we can never triumph over it or transcend it.

We think that by pushing all that is imperfect and difficult out of our sights, we are showing the tenderness of our hearts, when all we are really betraying in our fear, and how it owns us.

But we needn’t be owned. Let us trust in Christ who tells us, “do not be afraid, little flock (Lk 12:32). Take up your cross and follow me. For my yoke is easy and my burden light (Mt 11:30).” Remember, ours is not a God who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has similarly been tested in every way (Heb 4:15), who gave himself up unto death for us so that we would not have to suffer alone.

It is not fleeing from suffering that heals us, but our willingness to accept it, grow and mature through it, and find meaning through union with Christ, who suffered with infinite love.

“[T]he greatest lesson on human dignity always remains the cross of Christ, our salvation has its origins not in what the Son of God did but in [H]is suffering, and whoever does not know how to suffer does not know how to live” –Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, “The Problem of Threats to Human Life.” 

A version of this article was originally published at Patheos.com.

In the Creed, after having professed faith in the Holy Spirit, we say: “We believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.” There is a deep connection between these two realities of faith: the Holy Spirit gives life to the Church, guides Her steps. Without the presence and the incessant action of the Holy Spirit, the Church could not live and could not accomplish the task that the Risen Jesus has entrusted her; to go and make disciples of all nations (cf. Mt 28:18). Evangelization is the mission of the Church, not just of a few, but my, your, our mission. The Apostle Paul exclaimed: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16). Everyone must be evangelizers, especially through with their life! Paul VI pointed out that “… evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize,”(Apostolic Exhortation. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14).

Who is the real engine of evangelization in our lives and in the Church? Paul VI wrote with clarity: “It is the Holy Spirit who, today just as at the beginning of the Church, acts in every evangelizer who allows himself to be possessed and led by Him. The Holy Spirit places on his lips the words which he could not find by himself, and at the same time the Holy Spirit predisposes the soul of the hearer to be open and receptive to the Good News and to the kingdom being proclaimed.”(ibid., 75). To evangelize, then, we must be open to the action of the Spirit of God, without fear of what He asks us or where He leads us. Let us entrust ourselves to Him! He enables us to live and bear witness to our faith, and enlighten the hearts of those we meet. This was the Pentecost experience of the Apostles gathered with Mary in the Upper Room, ” Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues,as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim”(Acts 2:3-4). The Holy Spirit descending upon the Apostles, compels them to leave the room in which they had locked themselves in fear, makes them come out of themselves, and turns them into heralds and witnesses of the “mighty works of God” (v. 11). And this transformation wrought by the Holy Spirit is reflected in the crowd that rushed to the scene and which came “from every nation under heaven” (v. 5), so that everyone hears the words of the Apostles as if they were spoken in their own language (v. 6 ).

Here is a first important effect of the Holy Spirit that guides and inspires the proclamation of the Gospel: unity, communion. At Babel, according to the Bible, the dispersion of peoples and the confusion of tongues began, the result of man’s act of arrogance and pride in wanting to build on his own strength, and without God, “a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven “(Gen 11:4). At Pentecost, these divisions are overcome. There is no longer more pride toward God, nor closure towards one another, but there is openness to God, to going out to announce His Word: a new language, that of love that the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5), a language that everyone can understand and which, when welcomed, can be expressed in every life and in every culture.

The language of the Spirit, the language of the Gospel is the language of communion, which invites us to overcome closure and indifference, division and conflict. We should all ask ourselves: how do I let myself be guided by the Holy Spirit so that my witness of faith is one of unity and communion? Do I bring the message of reconciliation and love that is the Gospel to the places where I live? Sometimes it seems that what happened at Babel is repeated today; divisions, the inability to understand each other, rivalry, envy, selfishness. What do I do with my life? Do I bring unity? Or do I divide with gossip and envy? Let us ask ourselves this. Bringing the Gospel means we in the first place must live reconciliation, forgiveness, peace, unity, love that the Holy Spirit gives us. Let us remember the words of Jesus: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).

A second element: on the day of Pentecost, Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, stands up “with the eleven” and “raided his voice” (Acts 2:14); “proclaimed” (v. 29) the good news of Jesus, who gave His life for our salvation and who God raised from the dead. Here is another effect of the Holy Spirit: Courage! the courage to proclaim the newness of the Gospel of Jesus to all, with self-confidence (parrhesia), in a loud voice, in every time and in every place. And this happens even today for the Church and for each of us: from the fire of Pentecost, from the action of the Holy Spirit, ever new missionary energies are released, new ways in which to proclaim the message of salvation, new courage to evangelize. Never be closed to this action! May we live the Gospel with humility and courage! May we witness the novelty, the hope, the joy that the Lord brings to life. Let us feel within us “the delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing” (Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation. Ap. Evangelii nuntiandi, 80) Because evangelizing, announcing Jesus, evangelizing brings us joy! It energizes us. Being closed up within ourselves brings bitterness. Proclaiming the joy and hope that the Lord brings to world lifts us up!

I will only mention a third element, but it is particularly important: a new evangelization, a Church that evangelizes must always start from prayer, from asking, like the Apostles in the Upper Room, for the fire of the Holy Spirit. Only a faithful and intense relationship with God allows us to leave our enclosures and announce the Gospel with parrhesia. Without prayer our actions become empty and our proclamation soulless, it is not animated by the Spirit.

Dear friends, as said Benedict XVI, the Church today ” especially feels the wind of the Holy Spirit that helps us, shows us the right path, and so, with new enthusiasm, we are on our journey and we thank the Lord” (Address to Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, October 27, 2012). Let us renew our trust in the Holy Spirit every day. The trust that He enacts in us, He is in us, He gives us courage, confidence and peace! Let us be guided by Him, men and women of prayer, witnessing the Gospel with courage, becoming instruments in our world of God’s unity and communion.

Thank you.

Obama: Teacher! My woe is great.

Clinton: Tell me, my pupil.

Obama: It is true you told many exaggerations and frequently stepped well beyond the bounds of truth, yet your approval ratings prospered. This had been the case with me, too — until last week. Suddenly, many are second-guessing my words — even my friends in the media are turning on me!

Clinton: Well, it is not conceivable that you just learned about the IRS scandal by hearing about it on the news. I laughed out loud when I heard that one.

Obama: Teacher, you are the undisputed master of political rhetoric. You have engaged in activities that would have ruined lesser men, yet you are still loved by many. You must help me master such rhetoric or I may be in trouble.

Clinton: My student, I have been waiting for you to come to me. I will now share with you what I have shared with no other human being about the art of politics.

Obama: Please, teacher.

Clinton: I pose to you this question, student: What is the nature of truth?

Obama: I’m a brass-knuckle Chicago politician, teacher. How would I know?

Clinton: Excellent, my pupil. For the truth is the first thing one must abandon to be effective in politics.

Obama: Teacher?

Clinton: I ask you, student: If a man were convicted of a crime he did not commit, would he not proclaim his innocence with great vigor?

Obama: Yes, teacher, he would do so to pronounce the truth, and in so doing, he would make a convincing case.

Clinton: Yes, and for a man, then, to be persuasive in political rhetoric, he must speak with the same vigor as a truthful man.

Obama: But what if that man is not telling the truth?

Clinton: This is why a man must abandon the truth, student, so that he doesn’t know when he isn’t telling it.

Obama: You are good, teacher! But where I really need help is getting people to believe my words again. I tried to feign anger over the IRS scandal — I tried to show outrage — but people find it hard to believe a couple of low-level agents took it upon themselves to harass some 500 conservative groups. I tried to tell reporters that I did call the Benghazi incident a terrorist attack from the beginning, but they’re certainly not buying that. What am I doing wrong?

Clinton: Your words and storylines are not consistent, my pupil. Keep the stories simple, and do not keep adding elements to them. Consistency is thus: If a man never tells the truth, how can other men determine when he is lying?

Obama: Excellent, teacher! But I worry. Now that AP reporters are aware my administration was snooping on them, many in the press are coming after me. Right or wrong, a new storyline is forming about me: that my administration used the might of the IRS to attack conservative opponents and help win the election. That we put politics above all regarding Benghazi and misled the American people, also to win the election. That my people and I really are hardened Chicago politicians who abuse our power to squash any opposition. My credibility is at stake. How can I return to the level where, when I spin the yarn, my words are effective and persuasive and nobody mocks my exaggerations?

Clinton: You do so the same way I did.

Obama: Teacher?

Clinton: Practice, practice, practice.

Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

(Proverbs 8:22-31; Psalm 8:4-9; Romans 5:1-5; John 16:12-1)

Sharing in the life of the Trinity and Sharing our Lives with One Another

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Every time we make the Sign of the Cross, we acknowledge the central mystery of the Christian faith: that our God is three divine Persons in one God. It is the one statement that separates us from all of the other religions in the world, and it is the foundation for everything else that we profess and believe as Catholics.

But the teaching of the Trinity really explains much more than mere metaphysical propositions. It tells us about the inner life of God—the intimate love and communion that are constantly flowing between the Father, Son, and Spirit. God is far from an isolated being or uninvolved deity. His very existence has to do with relationships.

If it is God’s nature to share himself, and if we are created in his image, it follows that we too are meant to share our lives with each other. As Paul reminds us, we are the body of Christ, and a body “is not a single part, but many.” (1 Corinthians 12:14). We were built to be in communion with one another, joining together to build the kingdom and to proclaim the gospel to all of creation. It’s a tall order, and anyone who has tried to do it alone knows that it just doesn’t work!

But the Trinity is more than just a model for togetherness: it also gives us the power to live it! We really can love one another as fully as Jesus loves us—if we draw from the love of God that has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Jesus promises that as we deepen our relationship with one another, our lives will start to reflect the very life of the Trinity—and that’s how we can experience the joy we are meant to know as Christians!

“Holy Spirit, draw us all into the love that you share with the Father and the Son! Stir up your gifts within us, so that we may pour out that same love on one another!”

(Many thanks to The Word Among Us (www.wau.org) for allowing us to use meditations from their monthly devotional magazine. Used with permission. The Word Among Us Mass Edition contains all the readings and a meditation for each of the daily and Sunday Masses.)

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Questions for Reflection/Discussion

1. Reflect on the following verses in the First Reading: The Lord possessed me, the beginning of his ways,” “from of old I was poured forth,” “then I was beside him as his craftsman, and I was his delight day by day, playing before him all the while, playing on the surface of the earth; and I found delight in the human race.”  In what ways do these words, and the other words in the First Reading, give us a glimpse into the relationships and intimacy within the Trinity, especially between the Father and Jesus?
2. In the Responsorial Psalm, we see the primacy of man: “You have given him rule over the works of your hands, putting all things under his feet.” Why should this truth motivate us to be good stewards over God’s creation? How well would you rate your own stewardship? What steps can you take to improve it?
3. The Second Reading tells us that “the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Can you share a time in your life when you have “experienced” God’s love for you, not merely “known” about it?
4. In the Gospel, we also get another glimpse into the Trinity through these words of the Lord Jesus: “He (the Holy Spirit) will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”  What do these verses tell us about the relationships between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? In what ways has the Holy Spirit “spoken” to you?
5. The meditation ends with these amazing words: “But the Trinity is more than just a model for togetherness: it also gives us the power to live it! We really can love one another as fully as Jesus loves us—if we draw from the love of God that has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). Jesus promises that as we deepen our relationship with one another, our lives will start to reflect the very life of the Trinity—and that’s how we can experience the joy we are meant to know as Christians!” If you are in a small faiths sharing group, what additional steps can you take to deepen your relationships with the members in your group? What steps can you take to build relationships with others in your neighborhood or in your parish?
6. Take some time now to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to allow you to experience more deeply the love of the Trinity; and for the grace to share it with others. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as a starting point.

“And I don’t like it. And I didn’t do enough of it as a kid. Or as a young adult. I’m not meant to wash dishes. I’m better than that! And who cares about dishes anyway?” Oh, wait, the Holy Father recently told us no whining? But…

I have always idealized the day that all this housewifery will end and I can “go back to work.” In my fantasies, someone else will clean the house and help the children do homework, while I wear fancy suits (yes, I know no one does this any more — humor me) and stand in the spotlight.

After all, didn’t Our Blessed Mother take on a completely new role after the Ascension of Our Lord into heaven? She guided, supported, and advised the new church in Jesus’ absence. The New Testament didn’t exist yet, so who was there to tell the stories of Jesus’ early life? Mary. She could teach the disciples about the message from the Angel Gabriel, who told her that the child to be born to would be called the Son of the Most High, and his kingdom would last forever. Mary could tell of how she lost the child Jesus in Jerusalem and found him again in the temple after three days, the holy temple that Jesus called “my Father’s house.” All the things she had been pondering in her heart, she could tell to the apostles and the disciples as they waited in the upper room for the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. In a way, she was preaching the Good News to them, teaching them about her son.

“But who do you think was doing the dishes? Who was cooking and cleaning for the apostles in the upper room?” a priest asked recently. Dishes?! Again!?! Is the work of a woman really never done? But it isn’t too much of a stretch to think that Mary was taking care of the apostles the same way she always took care of her son Jesus as he grew up in her home. At the wedding of Cana, Mary noticed when the wine ran out, even when it wasn’t her party. She asked Jesus to take care of what was essentially a domestic task, and he did. Mary paid attention to these things.

Certainly, Mary could preach, teach, and wash dishes. If anybody could do it all, she could. But there are other women to show us the way as well. St. Gianna Berretta Molla worked as a doctor and a mother while developing an intense interior holiness. Popular Catholic blogger Jennifer Fulwiler took care of five young children while writing posts for the National Catholic Register while being eight or nine months pregnant in the hospital with pulmonary embolisms. My favorite recent post of hers? Because why even have a blog if you can’t write chatty posts while stuck in the hospital? As well-known as Jennifer is, she still says she devotes only 10% of her day to writing and the rest to her home and kids.

So no matter what else we do in life, most moms are going to wind up having to wash at least a few dishes. And the sooner we (okay, I) accept that reality, the sooner the whining will stop. Like, maybe, tomorrow. Or next week…

With whispers of futurity
   And echoes of the past,
Twin birds a shelter find in thee
   Against the wintry blast—
The fledgling Hope, that preens her wing,
   Too timorous to fly,
And Memory, that comes to sing
   Her coronach, and die. 

Choristers

O wind and waters, ye alone
Have chanted the primeval tone
   Since Nature first began.
All other voices change, but ye
Abide, the soul of harmony
   Interpreting the man.

He listens, and his heart is fain
To fashion an immortal strain;
   Yet his sublimest lay
Is but the music of a tongue
Attuned to silence, and among
   The echoes dies away. 

Fern-Song

Dance to the beat of the rain, little Fern,
   And spread out your palms again,
   And say, “Though the sun
   Hath my vesture spun,
He had laboured, alas, in vain,
   But for the shade
   That the Cloud hath made,
And the gift of the Dew and the Rain.”
   Then laugh and upturn
   All your fronds, little Fern,
And rejoice in the beat of the rain!
 
The Tree

Planted by the Master’s hand
Steadfast in thy place to stand,
While the ever-changing year
Clothes, or strips thy branches bare;
Lending not a leaf to hold
Warmth against the winter’s cold;
Lightening not a limb the less
For the summer’s sultriness;
Nay, thy burden heavier made,
That within thy bending shade
Thankless multitudes, oppressed,
There may lay them down and rest.
Soul, upon thy Calvary
Wait; the Christ will come to thee. 

The Rain and the Dew

“Thou hast fallen,” said the Dewdrop
   To a sister drop of rain,
“But wilt thou, wedded with the dust,
   In banishment remain?”

“Nay, Dewdrop, but anon with thee—
   The lowlier born than I—
Uplifted shall I seek again
   My native home, the sky.”

John B. Tabb

For a recitation, click the play button:

“The Pine-Tree”: Lyrics, p. 20; Poetry, p. 27. November 1892. A coronach is a dirge or lament; a bird preens when it straightens and cleans its feathers with its bill.

“Choristers”: Father Tabb, p. 185; Poetry, p. 53. September 1903. Choristers are members of a choir; primeval means of the earliest times; fain means eager; a lay is a song.

“Fern-Song”: Poems, p. 72; Poetry, p. 11. 1894.

“The Tree”: Lyrics, p. 16; Poetry, p. 26. September 1895. Calvary is the hill near Jerusalem on which the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified; the word comes from Calvarius, Latin for the Hebrew Golgotha; see Matthew 27:33.

“The Rain and the Dew”: Lyrics, p. 50; Poetry, p. 58. February 1892. Anon means soon.