Yes, we're a little early on this but we really
wanted you to get the message!
- - -
As we mentioned last week, the 20th annual
World Day of the Sick is going to be Saturday, Feb.
11. You may want to check to see if your parish or
diocese is marking the event. Some places have a special
Mass with the anointing of the sick.
Again this week we cordially invite you to join
the Friends of St. John
the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include
YourAgingParent.com and
CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about
becoming a member here.
No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that
you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include
caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both
(including quite a few former caregivers). You can:
As Lent gets closer (Ash Wednesday is Feb. 22), we
thought
we'd highlight one of the
Spirituality Topics
that are available on YourAgingParent.com: "Your
Care-receiver's Spiritual Health." This is how it
begins:
It’s not really possible for you to know your care-receiver’s
spiritual health. Ultimately, none of us knows the state of another
person’s soul. That’s between the person and God.
Still, we can see indications of spiritual health, and
we have ways to foster it. The Catholic Church exists to foster it!
We can observe changes. If your dad always took a mile-long walk
after dinner but now he doesn’t, something could have changed
physically. In the same way, if your wife never missed Sunday Mass
but now her attendance is hit-or-miss, something may well have
changed spiritually. A good way to begin that “spiritual checkup” for your
care-receiver is to look at these changes. Keep in mind that the
reason for the change may or may not have a spiritual basis. For
instance, there’s a difference between your wife being unable to go
to church because she no longer drives and her not wanting to
go to church because she’s angry at God after the death of a loved
one. On the other hand, as we age we may pay more attention
to spiritual matters. Your mom may have moved from being lukewarm
about spiritual matters to being intensely interested. This isn’t
uncommon. Unlike physical or mental health, spiritual health can
reach its peak in old age. Even as a mind and body falter, a soul
can continue to grow in grace.
Are you unsure about your loved one’s spiritual
health?...
"Happy Valentine's Day, Dear Caregiver!
With love, Your Care-receiver
(and the members of the Friends of St. John the
Caregiver)."
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This week we're so pleased to welcome Susan P. of
Louisiana and Leticia H. of Texas as the newest members
of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. Please keep
them and their intentions in your prayers. They have
promised to pray for you and yours.
And we cordially invite you to join
the Friends of St. John
the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include
YourAgingParent.com and
CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about
becoming a member here.
No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that
you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include
caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both
(including quite a few former caregivers). You can:
Whether Ash Wednesday comes early or late, it always
seems to come as a surprise. (This year it's Feb. 22.)
No doubt there are
ways
you'd like to observe Lent 2012 but, no doubt, your
caregiving obligations mean there are some you simply
can't. Maybe you'd like to make it to weekday Mass more
often. To set aside time for private prayer. To read the
Bible on a daily basis. To cut back on this or that, to
give up this or that, to . . .
We want to point out that what you can do
is what you are doing. And what you are doing in
so many challenging and personal ways is taking care of
your loved one, this beloved son or daughter of our
Heavenly Father.
God knows that's one of the finest Lenten
observances possible.
Our prayer for you this Lent is that you'll
better realize that your fears, your fatigue, your
anxiety, your perseverance, your words of comfort, your
trips to the pharmacy, your dealing with healthcare
providers, and all the rest are a litany --a series, a
list -- of prayers that you began long before Ash
Wednesday 2012 and will continue long after this year's
celebration of Easter.
Be at peace. What you're doing is what God
asked you to do.
- - -
You
can find Creighton University's daily online Lenten
feature, "Praying Lent,"
here.
- - -
This week we're so pleased to welcome Patrick B. of
Wyoming as the newest members
of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. Please keep
him and his intentions in your prayers. He has promised to pray for you and yours.
And we cordially invite you to join
the Friends of St. John
the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include
YourAgingParent.com and
CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about
becoming a member here.
No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that
you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include
caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both
(including quite a few former caregivers). You can:
St. Katharine Drexel:
First Came Family Caregiving
Dear Friends:
This Saturday, March 3, is the feast of St. Katharine
Drexel
(1858-1955), an American who founded the Sisters
of the Blessed Sacrament. You can read more about her
life
here but what stands out for us is her role as a
family caregiver before entering religious life, and her
final two decades as a care-receiver:
She was born in Philadelphia in 1858. She had an
excellent education and traveled widely. As a rich
girl, she had a grand debut into society. But when
she nursed her stepmother through a three-year
terminal illness, she saw that all the Drexel money
could not buy safety from pain or death, and her
life took a profound turn.
And, in the words
of Pope John Paul II in his
homily during her canonization in 2000, after she
and her order had accomplished so much to help Indian
Americans and African Americans in the United States:
For the last 18 years of her life she was rendered
almost completely immobile because of a serious
illness. During these years she gave herself to a
life of adoration and contemplation as she had
desired from early childhood. She died on March 3,
1955.
In Her Own
Words
"If we wish to serve God and love our neighbor well,
we must manifest our joy in the service we render to
Him and them. Let us open wide our hearts. It is Joy
which invites us. Press forward and fear nothing."
"It is a lesson we all need—to let alone the things
that do not concern us. He has other ways for others
to follow Him; all do not go by the same path. It is
for each of us to learn the path by which He
requires us to follow Him, and to follow Him in that
path."
St. Katharine Drexel, pray for us!
- - -
Again a reminder that you
can find Creighton University's daily online Lenten
feature, "Praying Lent,"
here.
- - -
This week we're so pleased to welcome Lori M. of Indiana as the newest member
of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. Please keep
here and her intentions in your prayers. She has promised to pray for you and yours.
And we cordially invite you to join
the Friends of St. John
the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include
YourAgingParent.com and
CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about
becoming a member here.
No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that
you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include
caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both
(including quite a few former caregivers). You can:
thought
we'd highlight one of the
ways
you'd like to observe Lent 2012 but, no doubt, your
caregiving obligations mean there are some you simply
can't. Maybe you'd like to make it to weekday Mass more
often. To set aside time for private prayer. To read the
Bible on a daily basis. To cut back on this or that, to
give up this or that, to . . .
(1858-1955), an American who founded the Sisters
of the Blessed Sacrament. You can read more about her
life