'Dear Friends' May 2008

Monday, May 5, 2008    Gifts for Mom . . . and the Rest of Us Dear Friends,     Here in the United States next Sunday, May 11th, is Mother's Day. Worldwide, it's the feast of Pentecost. Our prayer for all moms -- especially those who are caregivers or care-receivers -- is that they will be open to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. May the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity bless them -- and bless you, too! -- with wisdom, understanding, counsel, knowledge, piety, fear (love) of the Lord, and fortitude.     Last Pentecost Pope Benedict XVI offered the reminder:     Dear brothers and sisters, the first Pentecost took place when Mary Most Holy was present amid the disciples in the Upper Room in Jerusalem and prayed. Today, too, let us entrust ourselves to her maternal intercession, so that the Holy Spirit may descend in abundance upon the Church in our day, fill the hearts of all the faithful and enkindle in them the fire of his love.     Our Lady in Need, pray for us! - - -     A traditional prayer to the Holy Spirit: Come, Holy Spirit     Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth.    Let us pray: O God, who instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit, grant, that by that same Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in his consolation, through Christ Our Lord. Amen. - - -     Please join us in welcoming the newest members of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. "Hello" to Meg and Chris G. of Oregon, Anne R. of California, and Lucy A. of Washington state. Please keep them and their intentions in your prayers. They have promised to pray for caregivers and those receiving care.    And, of course, we invite you to join, too! You can find out more about becoming a member here.     No meetings, no dues. Our members include caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both (including quite a few former caregivers).     God bless you!                                                       Monica and Bill To contact us To join FSJC To make a donation To view or make prayer requests Past "Dear Friends" notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, May 12, 2008    Waiting is Doing Something Dear Friends,     "Waiting rooms" could have a lot of other names that would be just as accurate. Just as descriptive. Names like . . . "sitting here worrying room." Or "wish I were somewhere else room." Or . . . "prayer room." ("Please, dear Lord, let the test results be good.")    No doubt you've noticed caregiving includes a lot of waiting. Waiting to get an appointment. Waiting to be seen at a appointment. Waiting on the phone ("Your call is important to us . . . .") Waiting at the pharmacy. Waiting for medications to take effect and the pain to subside or the healing to begin. Waiting -- so anxiously -- to spot the next symptom, the next sign, of your care-receiver's getting better, or getting worse. And sometimes, waiting for God to take your loved one home to himself.     We're all familiar with the phrase -- the truth -- that God's ways aren't our ways. What we may not realize, or forget, is that it also means "God's clock isn't our clock."     Someday, once we've entered the eternal, it will all make sense. Just you wait and see. - - -    Please join us in welcoming the newest member of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. "Hello" to Naomi R. of New York. Please keep her and her intentions in your prayers. She has promised to pray for caregivers and those receiving care.    And, of course, we invite you to join, too! You can find out more about becoming a member here.     No meetings, no dues. Our members include caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both (including quite a few former caregivers).     God bless you!                                                       Monica and Bill To contact us To join FSJC To make a donation To view or make prayer requests Past "Dear Friends" notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, May 19, 2008    'Non-event 2008' Warmly Welcomed Dear Friends,     We've been so pleased with the reaction to the Friends of St. John the Caregiver "Non-event Fund-raiser 2008." It would seem many members and donors are very happy to not be cordially invited.     Check out the invitation, the "I'm So Glad I Don't Have to Do That!" sheet, and the handy donor form/membership form to read more about it. (You'll be glad you did. Really.)     Thank you so much to those who have already sent a donation! - - -    Please join us in welcoming the newest member of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. "Hello" to Anna Mae D. in Florida, Mary B. in Washington, and Gen T. California. Please keep them and their intentions in your prayers. They have promised to pray for caregivers and those receiving care.    And, of course, we invite you to join, too! You can find out more about becoming a member here.     No meetings, no dues. Our members include caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both (including quite a few former caregivers).     God bless you!                                                       Monica and Bill To contact us To join FSJC To make a donation To view or make prayer requests Past "Dear Friends" notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, May 26, 2008    Turning to Our Mother Dear Friends,     We don't want the month to end without a special tribute to Mary since May is a time traditionally associated with Marian devotion. Why is the fifth month of the year dedicated to Our Lady?     Although May is a form of "Mary," the name comes from the Latin for the "month of Maia," the Roman goddess of grain. The people of ancient Rome celebrated the first day of May by honoring Flora, the goddess of flowers, who was represented by a small statue wreathed in garlands. A procession of singers and dancers carried the statue past a sacred tree decorated with blossoms. Later, festivals of this kind spread to other parts of Europe, reaching their height of popularity in England during the Middle Ages. Dances around a May pole were common and, often, a May queen was chosen as part of the festivities.     Devotions to Our Lady on the first days of May date back to St. Philip Neri (1515-1595) [feast day today, May 26!] who began the custom of decorating the statue of Mary with spring flowers. Annibale Dionisi, an Italian Jesuit, proposed devotions to Mary throughout the entire month. As happened with other pre-Christian customs and festivals, the Church incorporated the earlier May celebrations and gave them a Christian dimension. May began to be celebrated in honor of Mary with many of the same type of festivities, including floral tributes, processions and the crowning of a statue.     That quote is from "Encyclopedia of Mary" (Our Sunday Visitor, 2007), a book we spent many, many months researching and writing. What we discovered -- not to our surprise -- is that Mary has been loved and honored since apostolic times.     When we began the Friends of St. John the Caregiver we knew that asking for the Blessed Mother's help and intercession would be central to assisting caregivers and care-receivers.     Our Lady in Need, pray for us! - - -     Thank you so much to all who have sent in a "Non-event 2008" donation. (The invitation was a big hit!) If you've been meaning to do that, please take a few minutes to write that check and drop it in the mail. (A little from that "economic stimulus" check from the government, perhaps?) - - -    A new month -- Sunday is June 1st -- means new postings at CatholicCaregivers.com. That's where you'll find the latest editions of "Catholic Caregivers" (topic: "Caregiver Grief: Sorting Out, Moving On, Remembering"), Bulletin Briefs and Prayers of Intercession. - - -     And speaking of new, welcome our newest FSJC member! "Hello" to Patricia G. in Massachusetts. Please keep her and her intentions in your prayers. She has promised to pray for caregivers and those receiving care.    And, of course, we invite you to join, too! You can find out more about becoming a member here.     No meetings, no dues. Our members include caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both (including quite a few former caregivers).     God bless you!                                                       Monica and Bill To contact us To join FSJC To make a donation To view or make prayer requests Past "Dear Friends" notes