YourAgingParent.com

Weeks of Oct. 8 and 15, 2012
Prayer Requests

The Little Flower's 'Other' Sister

Dear Friends,

If you're a fan of St. Therese of Lisieux (whose feast day is Oct. 1), we want to recommend an article we think you'll enjoy. And if you have a child or sibling with special needs, we think you'll find that same article encouraging. Featured in the October issue of Ligourian magazine, it tells the story of St. Therese's "challenging" sister, Léonie.
Author Theresa Doyle-Nelson writes:

Léonie’s appearance and demeanor were less charming than those of her four sisters. She was emotionally and physically frail and wasn’t very bright, having great struggles with her schoolwork. She could be stubborn and defiant, truly a thorn in the side of a very bright, spiritual, and otherwise happy family.

And the writer includes this on the daughters taking care of their aging parent:

After Thérèse’s entry into Carmel, Léonie and Celine took tender care of their father. He had become partially paralyzed, and his mental health had begun to deteriorate. For a while, he lived at a mental institution in Caen, where the two sisters visited him at least once a week.

The article is online here.

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       This week we're so pleased to welcome Christine B. of Québec, Maryellen E. of California, and Kathy W. of Missouri 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:

        sign up on-line here

        or call us toll-free at 1-800-392-JOHN (5646)

        or print and mail an application form.

God bless you!

Monica and Bill

To contact us
To join FSJC
To make a donation
To view or make prayer requests
Materials order form
Past "Dear Friends" letters
"Among Friends" quarterly newsletter

Weeks of Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, 2012
Prayer Requests

All Saints Day
and 'The Beatitudes for Caregivers'

Dear Friends,

The Gospel for the feast of All Saints Day (Thursday, Nov. 1) is the Beatitudes: Matthew 5:1-12. It seems like a good occasion to feature, once again, 'The Beatitudes for Caregivers":

        Blessed are those who sleep poorly because they're worried about their loved one or because their loved one wakes in the middle of the night and needs help, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

       Blessed are those who mourn because their loved, though still alive, is slipping away because of dementia, for they will be comforted.

       Blessed are the meek who force themselves to speak up and speak out to make sure their loved one receives the help he or she needs, for they will inherit the land.

       Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for answers to why this is happening to their loved one and how much longer it will go on, for they will be satisfied.

       Blessed are those who show mercy, kindness, and compassion to their loved one, for they will be shown mercy, kindness, and compassion.

       Blessed are those who keep clean a loved one who is physically or mentally unable to keep himself or herself clean, for they will see God.

       Blessed are those who help their loved one find moments of peace, for they will be called children of God.

       Blessed are those who are misunderstood, not appreciated, and taken for granted in their role as caregiver, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

        Blessed are you whose caregiving efforts are unjustly criticized -- or who are falsely accused of not caring about others -- because of your love for your care-receiver . . . and your love for God, who has asked you to help his beloved son or daughter.

       Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.

--Friends of St. John the Caregiver

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As we've written in previous 'Dear Friends' letters:

       All Saints Day is the feast day of your family members, friends and other loved ones now in heaven. And certainly, in that crowd, there are more than a few caregivers and care-receivers!
       While canonized saints -- those specifically declared by the Church to be in heaven -- have a personal feast day, every saint (that is, every soul in heaven) shares All Saints Day.
       It's seem safe to say they're praying for you and your care-receiver on that day . . . and on every day.
       You have friends -- and family -- in high places!

You can read more about the Communion of Saints (the faithful on earth, the saints in heaven, and the souls in purgatory) in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, beginning with No. 946.

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       This week we're so pleased to welcome Nancy K. of Connecticut, Mary S. of Illinois, Brenda S. of Texas, Ashley G. of Florida, and Wendy C. of Arkansas 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:

        sign up on-line here

        or call us toll-free at 1-800-392-JOHN (5646)

        or print and mail an application form.

God bless you!

Monica and Bill

To contact us
To join FSJC
To make a donation
To view or make prayer requests
Materials order form
Past "Dear Friends" letters
"Among Friends" quarterly newsletter

Weeks of Nov. 11 and 18, 2012
Prayer Requests

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Dear Friends:

On a day dedicated to giving thanks to God and our loved ones, we — on behalf of your care-receiver — want to thank you for many ways (the cornucopia of ways?) you live that love.

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As it has for a number of years, Creighton University's online ministry has daily prayers for Advent, which begins Sunday, Dec. 2.

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Free Christmas Gifts! Friends of St. John the Caregiver holy cards, prayer cards and prayer books:
          --make great stocking stuffers,
          --are ideal for including in Christmas cards,
          --and are the perfect accompaniment for those tins of Christmas cookies you’re giving to family, friends and neighbors.
       Free means free! The items are free and the shipping is free, too. This is the order form that has the list of material available and just click here for ways to contact us.

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       This week we're so pleased to welcome Kathy S. of Pennsylvania and Ellen H. of New York 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:

        sign up on-line here

        or call us toll-free at 1-800-392-JOHN (5646)

        or print and mail an application form.

God bless you!

Monica and Bill

To contact us
To join FSJC
To make a donation
To view or make prayer requests
Materials order form
Past "Dear Friends" letters
"Among Friends" quarterly newsletter

Weeks of Dec. 10 and 17, 2012
Prayer Requests

Annual Appeal 2012-2013:
'You Are in My Prayers'

Dear Friends:

It was easy to pick a theme for the 2012-2013 Annual Appeal letter that we're mailing this week. Here's what the letter says:

       Over the past ten months, “You are in my prayers” has come to mean so much more to the two of us. As you may know, in February we found out Monica’s cancer has returned and her oncologist said she has, at most, about a year to live. From the middle of last winter to the end of this fall, we’ve found comfort, courage, and strength knowing so many people have been praying for us and our family.

       Now, in a new, deeper, and so much more personal way, we know how much the prayers of members of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver mean to caregivers and care-receivers.

       At its core, at its heart, FSJC is about praying. When we began this all-volunteer ministry seven years ago all we asked of our members (now numbering more than 500 worldwide) is that they pray for caregivers and those receiving care.

       Those members and those giving and receiving care truly are a community—the “two or three gathered in my name”—and, we’re certain, Christ is in their midst (Matthew 18:20).

       Thanks to donations to the Friends of St. John the Caregiver, since 2005, caregivers and care-receivers have been:

       —blessed with that prayerful support of others;
       —comforted with the knowledge they’re not alone; and
       —assisted with information and resources provided at no cost to them.

We’re asking you now to please donate and help support this one-of-a-kind Catholic ministry and resource.

        On behalf of countless families around the globe—names and faces and stories you’ll never know, see, or hear on this side of heaven—thank you! Please take a minute—right now—to fill out the enclosed donation form and to write that check. You can go online to FSJC.org and click “Donate” and give that way, too. (Your donation is tax deductible as provided by law.)

God bless you!

Monica & Bill

PS – You are in our prayers!

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We've put a copy of the Annual Appeal letter here and the donor form is here.
Thank you so very much for your support!

- - -

As it has for a number of years, Creighton University's online ministry has daily prayers for Advent.

- - -

       This week we're so pleased to welcome Judy H. of Pennsylvania, Kathie B. of Wisconsin, and Hsi-An of Washington state 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:

        sign up on-line here

        or call us toll-free at 1-800-392-JOHN (5646)

        or print and mail an application form.

God bless you!

Monica and Bill

To contact us
To join FSJC
To make a donation
To view or make prayer requests
Materials order form
Past "Dear Friends" letters
"Among Friends" quarterly newsletter

Weeks of December 24 and 31, 2012
Prayer Requests

'Don't Be Afraid,
Beloved Daughter, Beloved Son'

Dear Friends:

A blessed and merry Christmas to you, your care-receiver and all your loved ones! This is from the Gospel for midnight Mass:

While they were there,
the time came for her to have her child,
and she gave birth to her firstborn son.
She wrapped him in swaddling clothes
and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living
in the fields
and keeping the night watch over their flock.
The angel of the Lord appeared to them
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them,
"Do not be afraid . . . "

       We know it's hard -- sometimes impossible! -- not to be afraid as a caregiver. And so our prayer for you this Christmas, and throughout 2013, is that your days, and your nights, will be less fearful.
       May you, in your heart, hear what the angel said to Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist, Luke 1:13), to Mary at the Annunciation (Luke 1:30), to Joseph in a dream (Matthew 1:20), and to the shepherds on that first Christmas: "Do not be afraid."
       The Messiah -- "God is with us" -- has come.
       God is with you.
       You are his beloved daughter, his beloved son, and he is very pleased with you.

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Thank you to the many people who have already responded to our 2012-2013 Annual Appeal! Please send in your donation if you haven't already done so.
We've posted both the Annual Appeal letter and the donor form.

- - -

       This week we're so pleased to welcome Terry M. of Florida as the newest member of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. Please keep her 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:

        sign up on-line here

        or call us toll-free at 1-800-392-JOHN (5646)

        or print and mail an application form.

God bless you!

Monica and Bill

To contact us
To join FSJC
To make a donation
To view or make prayer requests
Materials order form
Past "Dear Friends" letters
"Among Friends" quarterly newsletter