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On January 7, 2015, during his general audience, Pope Francis lamented how mothers are often under-appreciated.
The pope stated, “To be a mother is a great treasure. Mothers, in their unconditional, sacrificial love for their children, are the antidote to individualism. They are the greatest enemies against war.”
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We in Wisconsin should especially appreciate Earth Day because it was started by Gaylord Nelson when he was a U.S. senator from Wisconsin.
On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans crowded streets, parks, and auditoriums to celebrate the first Earth Day. They called for a healthy, sustainable environment. Earth Day’s time had come.
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On Easter, we celebrate the feast of Jesus’ resurrection. His resurrection is the heart of our faith.
In 1 Corinthians 15:14, St. Paul teaches, “If Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our preaching is in vain and our faith empty.”
Like many Jews who suffered from messiah fever, on Holy Thursday, deep down, the apostles may still have had lingering hopes that Christ was a political messiah who would conquer the hated Roman occupiers and establish his earthly kingdom.
Despite three years of on-the-job training, the apostles often failed to fully understand that Christ’s kingdom was a kingdom of justice, love, and peace and not of power and violence.
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In 1974, National Catholic Schools Week was established as the annual celebration of Catholic education. In 2017, Catholic Schools Week begins on January 29 and ends on February 4. Its 2017 theme is “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge, and Service.”
During this special week, Masses, open houses, and other activities for students, families, parishioners, and others are offered. Through these events, Catholic schools call attention to contributions Catholic education provides for youth, church, community, and country.
Since I was a Catholic school- teacher for 22 years, in this article I will focus upon appreciating the value of Catholic schoolteachers.
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Recently I greeted a young pregnant mother by saying, “Hi to both of you.” Her smile told me that she acknowledged she was carrying an unborn baby, not just a glob of tissue.
Weeks later I met her proud husband, their beautiful baby boy, and the baby’s admiring little big sister.
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Jim Mahoney, a Marine sergeant, was married shortly before going overseas in World War II. He and his wife never had the chance to celebrate Christmas together.
He returned from the Pacific in December of 1945, hoping and praying that he would make it home in time to be with his wife for Christmas so he could surprise her with a special Christmas gift.
He flew into New York City on Christmas Eve after the stores were closed. As he rode in a cab, he noticed a drugstore that was still open. He stopped the cab and made a purchase.
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On July 4, 1939, the New York Yankees sponsored a memorable Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day. Though he was dying at age 36, Gehrig told the surprised crowd, “I’m the luckiest guy on the face of the earth.”
Gehrig was thankful because he had a Hall of Fame baseball career, a wonderful wife, family, friends, fans, teammates, and much more. He and Babe Ruth were teammates on one of the greatest teams in baseball history.
On Thanksgiving Day we gather with family and friends to share a meal and thank God for our cornucopia of blessings as Lou Gehrig did.
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Occasionally I ask second and third graders to name someone who is kind, loving, forgiving, and reminds them of Jesus.
Often they reply grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, teacher, coach, friend, priest, Sister, or someone else. The person whom they name may be one of the countless uncanonized saints whom we honor on All Saints Day, November 1.
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In Isaiah 49:15 Isaiah asks “Can a mother forget her baby, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”
This passage praises mothers as symbols of amazing compassion, never forgetting their beloved children. Pope Francis said that a mother is concerned “above all about the health of her children. She cares for them with great and tender love the way Mary, our spiritual, heavenly mother, cares for us.”
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For some astronauts, an unexpected result of their participation in the space program was a deepening of their faith in God.
Frank Borman was commander of the first space crew to travel beyond Earth’s orbit. Looking down on Earth from 250,000 miles away, he radioed back a message, quoting Genesis 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.”
He later added, “After viewing Earth from space, I experienced an enormous feeling that there had to be a power greater than any of us, that there was a God and a beginning.”
