Observing Mother’s Day—Never let a Hug go by

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Our Mom, Lillian age 39 1959

By Larry Peterson

Mother’s Day is almost here, and I will tell you immediately that it has never been my favorite holiday. Truth be known, it has consistently been my most dreaded day of the year. So please bear with me as I share my journey to finally finding some inner peace with this beautiful celebration.

My mother died in 1961. She had just turned 40. (if you had Leukemia 60 years ago your chances of survival were almost zero). For some reason, I have only a few faded memories of her. And, for me, that is an emptiness that has always exploded inside me each year during the Mother’s Day observance.

We were kids when she died. There were five of us, and at fifteen, I was the oldest. My sister and brothers (the three youngest have now passed away) remembered details about her, such as the softness of her hair, her laugh, how she loved cherry vanilla ice-cream or pulling the shopping cart to the A&P. As for me, memories were almost.non-existent. Fortunately, I had the second-hand information my younger siblings shared.

Death visited us often when we were young. Grandma (she lived with us) died two years after Mom. Dad died two years after her. We were officially orphans (that became a novel, The Priest and The Peaches), and we hung together and survived and did okay. But “death” kept lurking nearby and over the years, my sister was widowed, my brother was widowed, and I was widowed—twice. My brothers, Bobby died in 2007, Johnny in 2016, and Danny in 2022. We had a stillborn daughter in 1978 and I lost my son, Billy, last July. But it all began with Mom.

I always managed, fortified by my Catholic faith, to move through the grief process and learn to accept what had happened. It was sort of like making peace with someone you wish you had never met. But with my Mom, that process never completed itself until recently. I never realized until years later how she was always teaching us a lesson as she lay there either holding her blue Rosary or having it next to her. It was as if it was a part of who she was.

I finally came to understand why I have been “stuck in the mud” with my Mom’s sudden passing, albeit so long ago. I was selfish. I never thought about what must have been going through her mind as she lay dying at the age of 39. It was always about me and how MY Mom died. That was the reason for my decades’ old problem. Therein was the cause of my emptiness. It was never about her. I felt sorry for myself when she died and kept feeling sorry for myself, year after year after year.

I needed help, and finally, it came.  Out of the clear blue, my daughter, Mary, called me and, during the conversation, said, “Hey dad, do you realize I’m going to be 40 on my next birthday?”

Talk about being hit by lightning. My own daughter was going to be the same age as my own mother was when she was slowly being killed by an insidious, no holds barred, and merciless disease. I had never thought of my Mom as a 40-year-old woman with five kids. I thought of her as my Mom, who died leaving me alone. How pathetic was that?

Mary, who also happens to look a lot like the grandma she never knew, had only asked me a simple question. She could not have known the power that was in it. She had no idea that at that moment, it removed the veil from my clouded “Mom world” and set me on my journey to discover the woman and person who was my mother.

It had taken decades, but I finally began to reflect and ponder about this woman I had called “mommy.”  Her name was Lillian, and she carried me in her womb. She fed me, bathed me, held me and hugged me, nursed my siblings and me through illnesses such as mumps, measles, and chickenpox (all of which I have no memory). This woman cleaned our house, washed and ironed our clothes, cooked, shopped, and even worked part-time. I cannot imagine how she must have felt as she prepared to leave her family knowing death was getting closer and closer.  How awful and terrifying that must have been for her?

How did she hold her not yet two-year-old son on her lap and look at him without going hysterical? How did she handle thinking about her six-year old son, missing his front teeth, to whom she would never give a sweet hug to again?  She had a ten-year-old who was in fourth grade and always needed his Mom to help him with his homework. Would his dad help him? I never considered such a thing.

And of course, there was my sister, Mommy’s “little” girl, Carolyn. But she was 13 already, and she was growing up. She would need her Mom to talk to about woman things.  How did she feel having the knowledge that her children would soon be motherless? What did she say to our Dad, her husband, and lover, as they lay together in bed, in the dark of night waiting for the inevitable as their five kids slept?

Mom had been close to death several days before Christmas, 1960. But she made a miraculous recovery and came home. (See story here)  During the first part of February, she took ill again. I have this vivid memory of her lying in bed with Bobby, age six, and Johnny, who just had his second birthday, each nestled into the crook of her arms, one on the left and one on the right. Her best friend Adeline was standing there talking to her about something, and she was looking at me. I said, “Okay, I have to go to work.” (I worked for the local grocer delivering groceries) and I left. No Hug, no kiss, I never even said good-bye. I just left.

When I got home, she was not there. She was back in the hospital. We were supposed to see her Saturday morning but she died before we got there. I will always regret that I never HUGGED or KISSED my Mom one last time that one damn day. Sometimes you don’t get a second chance. Trust me, I know. Never let a hug go by.

It took a very long time but I have forgiven myself for being an insensitive kid. I have stuffed my “sorry for me feelings” in my trash bag of vanquished self-pity. Those thoughts about my Mom have brought me to a better place. I know my siblings and I were blessed to have her as our Mom.

On this Mother’s Day, I will also thank God for that phone call from Mary. I will then thank Him for my Mom. Then I will go home, and, fortified by a different mindset, I will still sit by myself and cry…not out of self-pity but simply because I miss her and wish I could hug her—just one more time.

Copyright©Larry Peterson 2023

Snowflakes, Rainbows, & the Twenty-Four Hour Day—Proof there is a Creator

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written after seeing a  rainbow—

 

Earth & Kepler 452b           public domain

By Larry Peterson

In 2006, NASA’s New Horizon spacecraft left our humble, little planet and began its voyage to the edges of our solar system and beyond. After traveling 3 billion plus miles New Horizon finally passed the dwarf planet Pluto, the furthest planet from our sun. I don’t know about you but I find it humbling and awe inspiring that we human beings, using the perfection that surrounds us, can manage to find a planet that is so far away. Yet, within our universe, Pluto is as close as a neighbor down the street.

Hello sister planet

Let’s move past Pluto. It seems NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, launched in 2009, found a possible ‘exoplanet six years later.’This planet is worlds beyond our puny solar system. Incredibly, this exoplanet could be similar to our hometown, Earth. Hello sister planet, Kepler 452b.  The Kepler Telescope has identified close to 5000 exoplanets since it started scanning the deepest parts of space. But this is the first one that could be similar to Earth.

Now, get this–it is one thousand and four light years away. Our closest star system is Alpha Centauri, a mere 4.3 light years away. This means our closest star system is trillions of miles from our solar system and would take us tens of thousands of years to get there. Kepler 452b is 200 times further than that. My question is–how can our melon sized brains discover and learn about these things?

Light from the Sun takes eight minutes to reach us

How can we possibly know how to measure distance and location and density and climate relating to places that are so unimaginably far away? The speed of light is 186,000 miles per second. (Who figured that out)? How do you measure the speed of light? Assuming the number is correct, that means in one minute light travels 11+ million miles. That would be almost 16 billion miles in one day. Multiply that number by four and a half years. Do you see where I’m going with this? The light from our sun takes eight minutes to reach Earth. Yet Kepler 452b is more than a thousand “light years” away, and our scientists know it revolves around its sun in 385 days vs our 365 days. WHEW!

What about Earth? How much of what Earth does is taken for granted? Well, here is one thing it does that we never think about and completely take for granted, that is TIME. There are 24 hours in a day. Not 25 or 23 or 24.8, but 24. Imagine if there were random hours in a day. Yeah, right. So how did we get 24 hours in a day? Let’s just take it for what it is. Perfectly ordered.

Proof of Intelligent Design

We live on a planet that is simply a speck in the universe it occupies. It sustains our life by giving us the air we breathe, the resources to feed and protect us, and we possess minds that can figure it out. It is not only MIND BOGGLING it also is proof that it is the result of intelligent design. Common sense tells us (at least many of us) that all of this could not just be the result of some random, cataclysmic explosion in space eons ago. If this explosion did occur it was managed, controlled, and planned.  Question; by whom? Answer. He has many names but most of us call Him GOD.

What about explosions? (Please bear with me–I do intend to make a point.) Explosions are destructive and, for the most part, maim, kill and destroy. I can remember several Fourth of July celebrations ago when a guy in Maine, in a festive frame of mind, brilliantly set a rocket off from the top of his head. He died instantly. We can go back more than 75 years and read the history of August 6, 1945, when the atomic bomb blew the Japanese city of Hiroshima to smithereens. It ended World War II by killing about 80,000 people. It follows that if I set a bomb off in my car the chances of the result being a better and faster car are–well, ZERO.

So now–to the point. The Big Bang Theory of Creation  (it was a Catholic priest, Georges Lemaitre, who first advanced the theory of the “Big Bang”) has become the favored explanation of how our seemingly infinite universe came into existence. Scientists agree that the universe did have a beginning.  They also know that the universe is expanding, changing, and dying, just like we are.  To the question: At the moment of creation, when the unimaginable explosion took place who was at the controls getting all of these moving parts in order?  Reasoning and common sense give us the plausible answer. Trying to prove something else is simply the result of self-pride and self-serving egotism.

Twenty-four hours in a day is perfect for us

Random explosions do not and cannot result in perfection. Twenty-four hours in a day is perfect for us to depend on, including the animals.  It is a contradiction to believe otherwise. Everything around us is perfect. We can predict the rising and setting of the sun to the second, the new and full moons to the minute. We know when the tides rise and fall and can predict their lowest and highest points to the minute. We know when an eclipse, whether solar or lunar, will occur and where. We have learned how to use the world around us to maintain our very existence or, in many cases, destroy it.

Bottom line: because the universe is so vast and expansive (and apparently infinite) and all of it is moving and changing within a perfectly ordered system proves someone bigger and smarter than any of us put this in place. We cannot understand this. We cannot scientifically prove it. But, no matter what, we live in it and survive by it every second of every day of our lives.

Perfection does not come from chaos. Perfection can only come from someone who is PERFECT. I know who that Person is even though I cannot see HIM or touch HIM. All I have to do is see a rising sun, a blooming rose, a full moon, a rainbow…or hear the cry of a newborn baby or ponder the magic of one snowflake, unique unto itself. Oh yes, and I check my watch often!

“a persons a person no matter how small”

 Maybe Dr. Seuss nailed it in his famous book, “Horton Hears a Who”. Maybe our planet Earth is really no bigger than Horton’s, “Whoville”. Maybe we are specks on the end of a ball of dust. Maybe we are not as big and as smart as we think we are. We had to have a Creator. It is common sense. It is ultimately all in HIS hands.  I am also sure HE subscribes to the famous sentence in Dr. Seuss’s book; “a persons a person no matter how small”.

It seems those very “smart” people who reject what must be so, need to breathe in a deep dose of humility and realize all this did not just happen as the result of some random explosion or expansion. It is illogical and makes no sense (at least not to me).

Please Note: On  Christmas Day, 2021, a rocket lifted off from French Guiana launching the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit. This telescope replaces the famed Hubble Telescope as the biggest and most powerful in the world (Kepler was smaller) Incidentally, Hubble just celebrated its 33rd anniversary and is still on the job scanning the universe looking for new discoveries. The James Webb Telescope is able to see further than did Hubble and Kepler and capable of taking pictures thousands of light years away.

Copyright©Larry Peterson 2023

 

 

 

He embraced the two Greatest Commandments; He Loved God and his Neighbor

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Two Great Commandments                                           public domain

By Larry Peterson

A stranger named Francis Delalieu

Servant of God and Stigmatic, Louise Lateau, was born on January 29, 1850, in Belgium. She passed away at the age of thirty-three. But this story is not about Louise. It is about a stranger who came and stayed for more than two years. He saved not only Louise’s life but the lives of her mother and two sisters. His name was Francis Delalieu.

The Lateau family was literally near death. The father, Gregory, had died from smallpox just three months after Louise had been born. Adele, with three little children, was still bedridden after having a very rough time giving birth to Louise. Louise, still an infant, had also contracted smallpox. The oldest child, three-year-old Rosina, was trying to be the in-house caregiver which included taking care of two-year-old Adelina.

The local doctor, overwhelmed with this smallpox epidemic, had stopped by about a week after Gregory’s death to check on the family. He did his best to show Rosina what to do. He knew it was hopeless and was sure he would soon come by and find them all dead. He told his friend, Francis Delalieu, about the family.

Widowed mom with three babies and no money and all had smallpox

Try to imagine how this newly widowed mother of three babies, with no money, was feeling. The despair and hopelessness must have been unbearable as she watched her three children quietly dying before her eyes. Weakened to a point where she was unable to get out of her bed, she was probably just praying that she would not be the first to die, leaving them alone. And suddenly the front door opened and there was Francis Delalieu. God was listening after all.

Francis immediately took charge. First, he cleaned up the children. Then he reassured them and left to acquire food and necessities. This man, this stranger, surely had the love of Jesus in his heart. He was risking his own life by being in a smallpox-infected household. He was spitting into the eye of the storm as he cleaned, fed and cared for the little children. This was, after all  1850, and not the twenty-first century. They did not even have running water.

Depending on circumstances being a caregiver can be a monumental challenge

I have been (as have many others) a primary caregiver to someone seriously ill. Some caregivers are helping to nurse their loved one back to health after a serious surgery or accident. The upside to this type of caregiving is that an end is in sight because a reachable goal is possible ie. recovering from open heart surgery.

Then there is the alternative of caring for someone who is terminally ill. The goal in these cases is to help your loved one live as peacefully and as comfortable as possible until God calls them home. And then you have a person like Francis Delalieu. The only possible motivation he might have had was to be filled with the love of a Good Samaritan. There was no family connection. There were “no strings attached”. He simply LOVED his neighbor. It follows that, foremost, he LOVED God with his whole mind, heart, and soul.

Who was Francis Delalieu?

Who was this man? Who was this stranger who came into a household that was a breeding ground for smallpox and had three babies with a bedridden mom living there and all were near death? Who does this kind of thing simply out of kindness and compassion? Who would stay for almost two and a half years until the mother and children were once again healthy? Francis Delalieu is that person. There are many like him and many are unheralded and unheard of.

The only information available about Francis Delalieu is that he was a farmhand or a laborer and that he lived in or around the small town of Bois d’ Haine, in Belgium. It is known he took Adele Lateau and her children under his care and nurtured them until they were well. After that and sometime during 1853,  Fraancis seems to have vanished.

Anna Louise Lateau was gifted with the Stigmata in the year 1868. For the rest of her life, her nourishment was only the Holy Eucharist and a few glasses of water per day. She became one of the most famous stigmatists of the 19th century. Francis Delalieu, was an unknown man who stepped up and took care of his neighbor just like the Good Samaritan in Jesus’ parable. I am sure his reward has been great in heaven. When God is involved, all things are possible.

Copyright©Larry Peterson 2023

 

She helped prostitutes reclaim their dignity

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Meet Adele Bonolis

praying for others—public domain

By Larry Peterson

She helped prostitutes reclaim a life of dignity

Adele Bonolis was born in Milan on August 14, 1909.  She was the youngest of four children and was born into a family where religion was not practiced. Still, the basic principles of it were adhered to. Her mom and dad were “believers” but non-participants in church activities, including the Mass. However, they did have their children baptized, and Adele was christened in the Basilica of St. Ambrogio.

Adele became a member of Women’s Youth, which was part of Catholic Action. This is where she received her primary education in the teachings of Catholicism. Adele attended classical high school, maintained good grades, and received her diploma. She then graduated from the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart. After graduating, she became a high school religion teacher.

Her Father told he not to look at the prostitute—she kept on watching

A childhood encounter with a prostitute was a seminal moment in the life of Adele. She was with her dad and saw a prostitute going by. Her father told her not to look at the woman, but Adele did not hear him. She was mesmerized by the woman’s appearance and kept watching her. This was a turning point for Adele. It was that brief moment that helped her decide that once she grew up, she would help these women regain their lost dignity and become socially redeemed. She wanted to help give them a chance for a new life. She had no idea how this would be done.

Adele demonstrated determination and possessed unmistakable leadership qualities. In 1947, she began directing a summer camp for needy children in the poverty-stricken town of Lecco. Then she was put in charge of overseeing a parish level group of the Women’s Youth of Catholic Action. Her natural ability to coordinate and manage this group led  to her working in the diocesan center with women at risk and, before long, in the city of Milan. It is here that her plans to help the forgotten prostitutes begin to take shape.

The Merlin Law outlaws prostitution and brothels

In 1957, following the new Merlin Law, houses of prostitution were permitted to be closed down. Prostitution itself was not outlawed, but brothels were. One of these, located in Montano Lucino, became a reception center for former prostitutes. It was called the Maria Assunta Center for Female Orientation. That was followed by the Casa San Paolo opening in Vedano, the Casa Maria dell Grazie in Cibrone, and the Villa Salus in Lenno.

Adele’s compassion extended to other categories of women, such as former prisoners and the mentally ill. She believed that “our faith commits us to firmly believe in the value of the human person and that no one’s past can be sufficient to cancel this mysterious yet real value.”

She demanded a family atmosphere in all of her homes

Slowly but surely, volunteers sign on with her. But first, they must commit to the concept of “rehabilitating love, going through the reconstruction of the person.” In her home(s), she wants a family atmosphere where everyone helps each other.  She believed that this type of environment leads to the person’s rehabilitation and helps get them prepared for reintroduction back into society. At times there were up to thirty people staying in her homes.

She fought the cancer in her intestines as best she could

Adele began experiencing a decline in health, and it was discovered that she had an intestinal tumor. She continued in her ministry as long as she could, but eventually, her illness prevented her from continuing. She died on August 11, 1980. At her funeral, Monsignor Libero Tresoldi said, “Approaching Adele Bonolis, the impression was that of one who found in her a point of support, a place of refuge, a hope to proceed along the path. She had always been concerned with behaving like the sail of a boat looking for the breath of wind and letting itself be led by it.”

On January 21, 2021, Pope Francis declared Adele Bonolis a woman of “Heroic Virtue,” and she became Venerable Adele Bonolis. Her beatification now moves forward.

Copyright©Larry Peterson 2021 updated 2023

 

 

 

Blessed Maria Restituta—Her Lenten journey took one year

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Blessed Maria Restituta

Her lenten Journey took one year                                                                     en.wikipedia.org

By Larry Peterson

Arrested and imprisoned for hanging crucifixes.

Just imagine being arrested on Ash Wednesday and sentenced to prison for the crime of “hanging Crucifixes.” I cannot imagine how I would have handled it. All she had to do was take the crucifixes down. Maybe I would have complied with the order. Honestly, I do not know. Helena Kafka, who became known as Sister Maria Restituta, refused. Her story follows.

May 1, 1894, was a happy day for Anton and Marie Kafka.  Marie had just given birth to her sixth child, and her mom and her daughter were both doing fine. The proud parents named their new baby girl Helena.  Devout Catholics Anton and Marie had Helena baptized into the faith only thirteen days after her birth.

The ceremony took place in The Church of the Assumption in the town of Husovice, located in Austria.  Before Helena reached her second birthday, the family had to move and settled in the city of Vienna.  This is where Helena and her siblings would remain and grow up.

Began training as a nurse at the age of 15

Helena was a good student and worked hard. She received her First Holy Communion in St. Brigitta Church in May 1905 and was confirmed in the same church a year later. After eight years of school, she spent another year in housekeeping school and, by the age of 15, was working as a servant, a cook, and being trained as a nurse.

In 1913, she became an assistant nurse at Lainz City Hospital. This was Helena’s first contact with the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in Austria. She was immediately moved to become a Sister herself.  On April 25, 1914, Helena Kafka joined the Franciscan sisters and, on October 23, 1915, became Sister Maria Restituta. She made her final vows one year later and began working solely as a nurse.

Worked as a surgical nurse during World War I

When World War I ended, Sister Maria was the lead surgical nurse at Modling Hospital in Vienna.  She and all other Austrians had never heard of Adolf Hitler. They could never have imagined that one day, because of this man, their beloved nation would be annexed into the German Republic.

On  March 12, 1938, the Austrian Nazi Party pulled off a successful coup d’etat, taking control of the government. The unforeseen and unimagined had come to pass. The Nazis, under Hitler, now controlled the once proud Austrian nation.

As a head nurse, she was indispensable

Sister Maria Restituta was very outspoken in her opposition to the Nazi regime. After a new wing of the hospital was built she hung a Crucifix in each of the new bedrooms. The Nazis demanded that all crucifixes be removed. Sister Restituta was told she would be dismissed if she did not comply. She refused, and the crucifixes remained hanging on the walls. The Nazis wanted to remove her immediately from the hospital staff but were prevented because Sister Maria was the head nurse and, at the time, indispensable.

One of the doctors on staff, a fanatical Nazi supporter, , would have none of it. He denounced her to the Nazi Party. On Ash Wednesday, 1942, she was arrested by the Gestapo after coming out of the operating room. The “charges” against her included “hanging crucifixes and writing a poem that mocked Hitler.”

 She loved her Catholic faith

Sister Maria Restituta, the former Helena Kafka, loved her Catholic faith and, filled with the Spirit, wanted to do nothing more than serve the sick. The Nazis promptly sentenced her to death by guillotine for “favouring the enemy and conspiracy to commit high treason”.  The Nazis offered her freedom if she would abandon the Franciscans she loved so much.  She adamantly refused. She would be the only Catholic nun ever sentenced to death by the Nazis.

Her one-year Lenten journey ends during Holy Week, 1943

An appeal for clemency went as far as the desk of Hitler’s personal secretary and Nazi Party Chancellor,Martin Borman. His response was that her execution “would provide effective intimidation for others who might want to resist the Nazis”. Sister Maria Restituta spent her final days in prison caring for the sick. Because of her love for the Crucifix and the Person who was nailed to it and died on it, she was beheaded on March 30, 1943. The day she died happened to be Tuesday of Holy Week. She was 48 years old.

Pope St. Joun Paul II visited Vienna on June 21,1998.  That was the day Helena Kafka, the girl who originally went to housekeeping school to learn how to be a servant, was beatified by the Pope  She had learned how to serve others extremely well. But the one she served best of all was her Savior. She gave Him her life.

She had been sentenced and sent to prison on Ash Wednesday, February 18,1942. She was executed one year later on March 30, 1943. It was Tuesday of Holy Week. It was truly a remarkable Lenten journey for Blessed Maria Restituta.

From a letter written by Blessed Maria Restituta Kafka:

“It does not matter how far we are separated from everything, no matter what is taken from us: the faith that we carry in our hearts is something no one can take from us. In this way, we build an altar in our own hearts.”

Blessed Marie Restituta, please pray for us.

Copyright©Larry Peterson 2023

 

 

The Shadow Saint; March 19 is all about St. Joseph

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The Shadow Saint; March 19 is all about St. Joseph

Joseph and child public domain

By Larry Peterson

All humankind contributed to the death of Jesus Christ. That is why God sent Him to us. Without the salvific actions of Jesus we would have been lost forever. He suffered and died for us because the love of God is so unfathomable it was the only way to give us all a second chance to grab onto the brass ring of Eternal Salvation. But first we needed a man named Joseph.

I call Joseph of Nazareth the “Shadow Saint” because so little is known about him. There is not one spoken word he ever said that was recorded.  But his quiet life resonated like huge cymbals being smashed together over the ages and into our very 21st century existence.

Joseph was a Jewish man who possessed great faith and was considered ‘righteous’. He trusted God and took Mary as his wife even though she was pregnant at the time. She could have been stoned to death for the sin of adultery but her betrothed loved her unconditionally. He was a regular man and must have had doubts but he would never allow anything to happen to her. He cared for and protected his wife and “foster” Son from the moment God asked him. He loved them without reservation. Imagine the faith and courage that took. Imagine the love that flowed from within him.

Joseph, the carpenter from Nazareth, was obviously humble and egoless and gave of himself. He was a real MAN.  And it was this man, this quiet, shadow saint who single handedly saved the life of our Savior from being put to death while He was still an infant. Imagine if he had not been able to accomplish this.

As a man, I try to imagine having to confront what Joseph confronted as Mary’s husband. He accepted her pregnancy at a time when the scandal of such a thing oftentimes meant execution for the woman. He was forced to put her on the back of a donkey and take her 80 miles over rocky, dirt roads to Bethlehem for the census. She was almost full term and the trip would have probably taken three to five days. I would have been sick to my stomach praying we could make it. Then, upon arrival, his wife goes into labor. There were no ERs, no cell phones, no 911 calls, no paramedics…you are on your own, end of story.

He was in a strange town without friends and could find no shelter. He was probably trembling and telling his wife, “Stay calm sweetie, it will be all right. Don’t worry. Don’t worry.”  And he is forced to bring her to a dirty, smelly stable that is an animal shelter. Here she has to give birth to her child. As a man, he must have felt so inadequate, so un-manly. His heart must have been breaking.

The miracle of the Virgin Birth takes place and mother and child are fine. But then Joseph discovers that King Herod wants to kill his baby boy. Okay guys, think about it. You have made it this far and now you learn the army has been ordered to find your child and kill him. They are out in force searching for YOU and YOUR family. They are killing all boys two years old and under so as not to miss killing your son. But it is you and your wife and child they want. Those other children are ‘collateral damage”, an afterthought to Herod’s vicious orders. The fear and anxiety within him must have been overwhelming yet he did his best to maintain upbeat.

Somehow, someway, with his resolve of faith and trust in God propelling him forward, he made it to Egypt and saved his family. I have no idea how he managed to do it. Egypt was three hundred miles away but he got them there safe and sound. He saved not only the Redeemer of us all and the Blessed Mother, he made it possible for all of us to be saved too. Imagine that.  And he never said a word we know of.

St. Joseph, thank you and please pray for all of us. HAPPY FEAST DAY

 

Copyright©Larry Peterson 2023

Sometimes we need a Coach in the Pulpit

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By Larry Peterson

We Catholics hear much about how we must evangelize. Unfortunately, most Catholics do not know how to do it. Most of us even avoid discussion with each other about controversial topics in the Church. Certainly, none of us are going to stand on a milk crate on a street corner, hold up a Bible and say, “Repent, repent.” So, how should Catholics evangelize?

Pope Francis “Every baptized person has a mission—“

On March 8, 2023, Pope Francis gave a talk about Evangelization in Vatican City. He is quoted as saying, “Every baptized person, whatever his position in the Church or level of education in the faith, is an active subject of evangelization.” The Holy Father also said that every baptized Catholic has a mission to actively proclaim the Gospel. I think that for the vast majority of  Catholics, that seems to be a pretty tall order. Why? Because we are not sure how to evangelize and may even be afraid to try.

Imagine we Catholics are a football team.  Our “head coach.” would be Pope Francis and he would have a huge and experienced coaching staff in place. It would consist of many priests and bishops. The “head coach” would need these assistant coaches because the Catholic Church has members (players) all over the world. The vast majority of players need guidance in being taught the faith, practicing the faith, and of course, in spreading the faith. That part includes evangelization. Teaching their players is the job of the coaches.

Venerable Fulton J Sheen—the greatest Evangelization “Coach” ever

Among them stands one coach that may be the greatest Catholic coach ever. This man taught over 30 million people the Catholic faith. His name is Fulton J. Sheen. He was so effective in his ministry that he is on the road to sainthood.  On September 12, 2012, upon recommendation from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Benedict XVI, declared Fulton Sheen a man of “heroic virtue” and elevated him to Venerable Fulton Sheen. His beatification is pending.

When I was a child, our dad tuned into “Life is Worth Living” every Sunday evening with Bishop (he was not an Archbishop yet) Sheen. Dad loved this show and we all sat around on the floor, “quietly” watching with him. Truth be known, even though I was only a youngster, I liked the show. Something was mesmerizing about listening to and seeing Bishop Sheen.

Bishop Sheen once said, “I am worried about America—I am worried about her soul”

Bishop Sheen had a big blackboard he used as he taught the viewing class. Without fail, the first thing he always did was draw a small cross on the top of the board and write the letters JMJ (representing Jesus, Mary, Joseph) under it. Then the lesson would begin. The following quote harbors a profound insight from the great Catholic teacher.  Close to sixty years ago, he said, “I am worried about America! I am not so much worried about its politics and economics, important though they be: I am worried about its soul. After all, politics and economics are determined by the sense of values which underlies them.”  Bishop Sheen surely knew his business.

Maybe it is time we not only worry about our nation’s soul but maybe it is time to actually do something about it. Maybe we all need to somehow find our own way to stand up and follow the Holy Father’s admonition to Evangelize so as to help save its soul.

We have all witnessed over the years the destruction and heartache caused by floods from hurricanes such as Katrina in 2005, Andrew in 1992, Maria in 2017, and Ian in Naples in 2022. These are awful occurrences, but we all try to help by either going to those places to give hands-on assistance or sending money and food. Many of us, especially elderly and homebound, simply pray.

Are we to be simply bystanders as our religious freedoms are stripped away?

But are we, the people of faith, doing our best to stem the flood waters of secularism pouring into our American life and smashing down the doors of religious freedoms? Are we just bystanders as the very spirituality that is the foundation of all our freedoms is slowly stripped away. Piece by piece they are being packed up and stuffed into the storage bin of what “once was”?  Are we more concerned with “not offending someone” that we do not defend this great gift of faith of which we have been blessed?

I believe that for us, the “players” on the Catholic team, it starts with the priest, the pastor of our parish. He is our local Catholic coach. We need him to validate our game plan. He has the “bully” pulpit where he can stand before his congregation (team) and proselytize however he wants. If he has assistant priest(s) assigned to the parish, he can give them his game plan for the week.

We need to be given an evangelizing game plan from our spiritual coaches

Sunday Mass would be an excellent time to give his flock some guidance. Most of the time, we hear about the bible readings for the day. Rarely, if ever, are the issues facing us outside the church doors mentioned. Abortion, LGBTQ, gay marriage, the ‘woke agenda”, euthanasia, drug use, obeying the Ten Commandments, etc. These issues face the average Catholic/Christian the world over, on a daily basis. We need an evangelizing game plan from our coaches. How should we defend our side of the field?  And, can it be done without “offending” someone?

If we, the faithful, attend Church one hour a week, that leaves 167 hours (or the rest of the week) outside the Church. The problem is that by the time most of us leave the Church, we barely remember what the homily was about.  Our “coach’s” fifteen minute talk was more “blah-blah-blah than “fight-fight-fight!  Heeding the gospel lesson should be like following the game plan we have just been given. We had better stop taking our faith for “granted”. Leaving church is like the opening kickoff.  Game on!

I wish our clergy would be more vocal about current issues that affect our faith. How often do you hear from the pulpit about a morality that has run amok in the United States and around the world? They could mention much more often that abortion is evil, and gay marriage is not approved of by the Church, and transgenderism is not acceptable. They can explain that divorce and getting remarried without annulment is not permitted. These are things that are “in our face” every day. Most of us do NOT know how to stand and defend against these onslaughts.

The coaches should mention the rules of the game–OFTEN

They can do much more to clarify Church teaching about marriage, family values, birth control, cohabitation, and contraception. We, the lambs, need to be guided by our shepherds. These are topics the flock needs to hear about, starting with the “game plan” presented on Sunday. The secular world is a daunting foe. And what about the Holy Eucharist and the Mass?: It is said (Pew Research) that 70 % of Catholics do NOT believe in the Real Presence. If that is true how come most everyone at Mass will go up to receive the Risen Christ in Holy Communion? Have they ever been told they should NOT do that? Have the coaches told us the rules of the game?

We, in the pews, need to hear it from the pulpits. Then we need some guidance on methods of evangelization. When, where, how, with whom? How can we be “lone evangelizers”?  Alone, we can always be setting Christian examples by giving a smile to someone passing by, saying hello to a stranger, opening a door for someone, giving some money to a person in need, or saying grace publicly in a restaurant. Those things can be our evangelizing warmups. From there we can advance towards becoming Christ-like.

The Greatest Commandment’’ know it by heart

The Ten Commandments (also known as the Decalogue) were given by Almighty God to a Hebrew man named Moses.  He in turn handed them over to the Hebrew nation. These same commandments were embraced by Christ Himself and used as part of the cornerstone of His new Church. They still are the basic rules given to us to live by. But in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus simplified the Ten Commandments.

We can go to Luke 10: 25-28. This is when Jesus gives us the Greatest Commandment. He is asked by a scholar, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

 Jesus asks, What is written in the law?”

The man replies, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.”

 Yes, our foremost Catholic roots come from a Hebrew man who was personally given them by God. Our Catholic roots come from Judaism. Our Catholic faith comes from Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And he was Jewish. We are all joined together in perpetuity.

In the 21st century they are described in detail in the Catechism of the Catholic Church beginning on page 553; #2052. (If you do not have a catechism, you should get one—they are available at all Catholic bookstores and also on-line). The world of the secularist frowns on the Ten Commandments. Why? It has a lot of “Thou shalt NOTs” in it and many people think that they should never ever be told what or what not to do.

Time to spread the “:Good News”

I think most Catholics today would defend their faith and evangelize but just do not know how to do it. My method of being a “lone evangelizer” is via social media.  How many of you use Facebook and/or Twitter? How about Linkedin or Pinterest? Youtube? Snapchat? Google plus? Tumblr? Instagram? Jump on and spread the “Good News”. We all can be evangelists right from our own homes. How easy is that? Or is it? You may lose some friends. I have for sure. I have also gained some. I have also been removed from sites a few times.

My link;   www.facebook.com/larrytpbx

You know, following Christ was never supposed to be easy. But Satan and his people are a formidable foe. We need a more aggressive game plan.

Evangelize Pic reprinted from public domain

©Larry Peterson 2023  All Rights Reserved

 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

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Grief

By Larry Peterson

Some words from a Catholic man about grief and bereavement 

We say many “comforting” things to people in “mourning.” Still, I have discovered that for those who are in a “mournful” state, comforting them sometimes is not possible. Many have what is akin to a deep, open wound that is extremely painful. For many, the healing and scarring process takes a long time. The scar formed is always there to remind us of what was.

From the CCC 989: We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives forever, so after death, the righteous will live forever with the risen Christ, and He will raise them up on the last day. Our resurrection, like His own, will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity. 

 Oh yes, we know all these things. We indeed say that we believe these things. Every Sunday, we profess our faith out loud and in public, saying, “and on the third day, He arose again.”.

As Catholic/Christians, our faith has comforted us during our lives. The belief that death is only a transition to a world filled with perfect happiness is instilled in us. We shall be sharing our heavenly world with Jesus, the Blessed Mother, angels, saints, and loved ones gone before us. There will be no more pain and suffering, no illness, and nothing negative. Shouldn’t we be jumping up and down with joy? Unfortunately, “tomorrow” now has a permanent hole in it, and we have no idea how to fill it.

Victims of Adam and Eve’s original sin

We are human beings after all. We are also victims of Adam and Eve’s original sin. This is the sin that brought us illness and death. This is the reason for our grief. This is the reason for our pain and suffering. This is the reason for “bereavement,” which means “deprivation” or to have “suffered a loss”.

“Big Boys don’t cry”

Having these feelings is “normal”. As a man, I have tried to stifle any outward display of emotion in public. (That is how we were raised—Big boys don’t cry—well, real men do.). At home, who cares. No one is there to see my crumblings. After my wife’s funeral a few years ago I did fail miserably at Walmart. It was several  days after her funeral and  I had gone there to get a few things. I noticed that there were no customers in the  cell-phone section  I needed a memory chip for my phone so I asked the clerk where they were. He pointed them out and I grabbed a new chip and handed it to him.

He offered to put it in the phone and transfer my photos into it. He opened the picture file and there is my wife smiling at me. I lost it and morphed into a babbling spectacle at, of all places,  Walmart. A nice little crowd gathered for my impromptu performance but kept their distance. Hey, I might have been a lunatic or an old terrorist…whatever. You get the picture (pun intended). I was told by the facilitator of a bereavement group that my reaction was perfectly normal. Maybe it was, but I sure was embarrassed

We come face to face with a journey we all must take

The point is, as Catholic/Christians, we all witness death during our lives. And we should remember that seeing death brings us face to face with a journey we all must make. Grief is an internal process, and everyone experiences it in their own unique way. We all know of the resurrection and the reward of eternal life. However, it can be tough to deal with when you get hit with the personal impact of a loved one’s death and the grief that instantly explodes inside you.

What she did for all of us is indescribable

Time and prayer help heal those deep wounds. The days come and go and it does happen. We are mortal humans. We must feel the pain. Imagine how our Blessed Mother felt watching them torture and kill her Son? What she did for all of us is indescribable.

From CCC 991: belief in the resurrection of the dead has been an essential element of the Christian faith from its beginnings. “The confidence of Christians is the resurrection of the dead; believing this we live.”

We should never forget this.Do not be afraid —the Eternal Now awaits us all. It will be a wondrous place indeed.

Copyright©Larry Peterson 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

“YES Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!”

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Celebrating the 125th Anniversary of Virginia O’Hanlon’s Santa Claus Letter

Santa Claus and Child               photo   Hollywoodreporter.com

By Larry Peterson

I wrote this blog  years ago and except for a few minor changes,  I am re-blogging it for Christmas, 2022.  The reason is simple. I believe in Santa Claus and I am sick of hearing these elitist-know-it-all-uppity-ups declaring that “lying” to your children about Santa Claus is wrong and traumatic and teaches the wrong lesson and blah-blah-blah. That is NONSENSE.

Christmas with  Jesus and Santa (yes, they are tied together) is not about a day in time. No, it is about a seasonal spirit in time: a season where the spirit of kindness, and goodness, and charity, and most of all love explode around us. It is a time of wonder and miracles. Damn right I believe!

Many may feel this article makes no sense at all. Well, I don’t care. The fact is, Santa Claus, is rooted in the great St.Nicholas and this 4th-century saint, heeding the words of Christ to “sell what you own and give the money to the poor,” did just that; he gave everything he had to the poor and needy. He devoted his very existence to serving God.

St. Nicholas morphed into the Santa we are familiar with today. But there is no getting away from the fact that his origin was heaven sent. The Santa Claus we know and all that goes with him has filled the hearts of children with wonder and awe since the 19th century. Why do so many folks want to take it way? Why does anyone feel the child must know the “truth”. They find out soon enough what “truth” is. Believing in Santa Claus and the wonder he creates never hurt anyone. Rather, it is one of the great unheralded examples of all that is GOOD.

Therefore, I would like to share an editorial from Mr. Francis Pharcellus Church, who was an editorial writer for the old New York Sun. The editorial was about Santa Claus. It is an example of what the media people of today should be telling our children, (fat chance of that happening). It was written during a time when there were no radios, phones, televisions, iPads, smartphones or even blue-tooth. People talked to each other and used paper, pen, and pencil to message each other. Can you imagine?

What follows was written back in 1897 and, in my opinion (given a chance), is still timely.  Some of you might have seen this before. If you have, enjoy it again. If not, enjoy it now. It is a letter written by eight-year-old, Virginia O’Hanlon, of West 95th Street in New York City, to the newspaper asking if  Santa Claus was TRUE. Her dad had told her that if the “Sun” said it was true then it must be so. Enjoy a moment back in time when things were a bit simpler and the innocence of children was loved and respected by most ‘grown-ups’.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is There A Santa Claus?             

From the editorial page of The New York Sun

September 21, 1897

_______________________________________________

Dear Editor—I am eight years old. Some of my friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in THE SUN, it’s so. Please tell me the truth. Is there a Santa Claus?

Virginia O’Hanlon

115 W. 95th St.

_______________________________________________

Dear Virginia, your friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except what they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes Virginia, there isa Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus? It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginia. There would be no child-like faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your Papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah Virginia, in all this world, there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives! And he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten time ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

©Larry Peterson 2022

A Mirror of Christmas— the Happily Married Couple

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By Larry Peterson

 

Honoring Traditional Marriage during the Christmas Season

 

Joseph and Mary set the standard for married couples.. This is about a couple who did their best to meet that standard. There are many more like them. No couple can compare to Joseph and Mary but many do try to follow their example. This couple did for 68 years.

Roger and Helena Cartier on their 65th Wedding Anniversary

St. John Paul II said, “Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eternal souls, with whom they make up a sole family, a domestic church.”

The sainted Holy Father was referring to people like Roger and Helena when he made that statement. That is because this couple did, in fact, create a domestic church when they took their marriage vows so long ago. These two people, this man, and woman are a Catholic love-story not only for today but for all time. They made the ultimate commitment to each other, emptied themselves for each other, and never looked back.

.I am using them as examples of the countless couples like them, past and present, who have also joined together to create “domestic churches.” These domestic churches that supported their love were built on the cornerstone we know as faith; faith in Jesus Christ. And it was Jesus who was the cornerstone of the first domestic church, which included Mary and Joseph.

Spread across the landscape of our society are many well-springs of marriage and family. These homes have one predominant thing in common. God is the essence and focal point of their lives. Roger and Helena were the patriarch and matriarch of one of those families.

The family is the nucleus of any society

Of course, we all know that many marriages have not worked out. But this essay is not about failed marriages. This is about the millions of marriages that have stood the test of time and became “domestic churches.” Sadly, secularism has convinced many the world over that marriage is what “you” want it to be, with whomever you want to be with. It also proclaims those of the Judeo-Christian faith are intolerant and have NO love in their cold hardened hearts for diversity. This secularistic atmosphere has cut deeply into the very fabric of our society and wounded it severely. That fabric is the family. And the family is the nucleus of any society.

Roger passed away in 2017. He was 91. Helena passed in in 2019.at the age of 90.  Roger was a retired letter-carrier. He was also an ordained Deacon in the Catholic Church. When Roger passed on to his eternal reward, he and Helena had just celebrated their 68th wedding anniversary.

The thought of applying to the Permanent Diaconate horrified him

The Deacon was a World War II veteran. He was hired by the post office after he and Helena were married. A few years after that, he became quite active in the Knights of Columbus. He rose to the District Deputy’s position giving him oversight of many K of C councils in the Connecticut area. Then his good friend, Father Kuzdal, suggested to Roger that he should apply to the Permanent Diaconate. Roger was horrified. He believed he was highly “unqualified” to do this.

What Roger and Helena did not realize at the time was that God had chosen both of them. Just as Mary Magdalene was there to help the apostles, Helena would help her husband in a ministry that required ordination into the Sacrament of Holy Orders. They had embraced themselves with each other’s love and wrapped their Catholicity around it. The “domestic church” they created was what St. John Paul II spoke of.

Deacon Roger told me how close he was to leaving the diaconate program. All the other candidates were college graduates, seemingly well versed in scripture and well-spoken. He was sure he had no business being in such “lofty” company. He went to Father Kuzdal and voiced his concerns. Father looked at him and said, “Roger, you have a quality these other fellas do not have. You are a natural listener. You have a gift. You do belong here.”

The final confirmation came from his partner in love and life, Helena. She agreed with Father Kuzdal, and in 1986, L. Roger Cartier became Deacon L. Roger Cartier. He was ordained in the Diocese of Norwich, CT, and remained there for a year. Then it was on to Pinellas County, Fl, where he served until his retirement from ministry.

Deacon Roger assisted quietly and efficiently over the years, always being there when needed. He was the spiritual director of both The Legion of Mary and the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Roger always donned his Santa outfit for the Christmas parties delighting countless children, and he visited the school frequently, talking to the kids about “being Catholic.”

He was always available for Stations of the Cross, or Benediction and novenas. Roger visited the funeral homes when folks passed, did internments at the cemetery, and still spent time with the families. He was a constant fixture at the local hospital and nursing homes. He also presided over weddings and performed Baptisms.

“…the man was a listener. People sought him out specifically for that reason.”

The one thing that was most noticeable (at least to me) was the “one on one” conversations he always seemed to be having with someone. This is where Father Kuzdal, so many years earlier, had profiled Roger Cartier correctly. The man was a “listener.” People sought him out specifically for that reason. He would look them in their eye and listen.and he would remember to ask them the next time he saw them how things were going with “such and such,” ie;  (lousy back, a surgery, kids, financial worries, family problems, or whatever it might be. People loved him because they knew he cared about them. He was REAL.

Deacon Roger and his Helena left behind three daughters, nine grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. They had formed a “domestic church” within our midst, and today it has expanded to over a dozen more domestic churches. . As for me, it was my honor and privilege to know them. As for all those who did not, comfort in the fact that people like Roger and Helena are always among us. Goodness exists and is often part of a “domestic church” that extends its loving arms to all that may cross its path.

Christmas is about love and giving. A young, happy couple celebrated the first Christmas by greeting their newborn Son. The Cartiers, and those like them, are the reflection in the mirror of that very first Christmas.

Man and woman are created in God’s image and likeness; and for this reason, marriage likewise becomes an image of God.

Pope Francis: Rome, Italy, May 25, 2018

Copyright©Larry Peterson 2017; 2022