By Eileen Love
This time of year, Respect Life Committees are hard at work making their message known.
No issue is more crucial than protecting innocent life. While all life is sacred and deserving of protection - surely, we are called to remember the elderly, the terminally ill, those incarcerated and in need of someone to minister to them - the life of the innocent unborn – the tiny voiceless creatures whose very lives depend on us are in most urgent need of protection. The basic right to life is the bedrock fundamental truth on which all the other truths will stand.
In our area, one Catholic parish places hundreds of tiny pink and blue flags (such as landscapers might use) on the hillside adjacent to the church. It is an arresting sight, reminding people of the ongoing horror of abortion and affirming that Christ’s healing love and reconciliation await all those affected by this sorrow.
In Denver we will host our Respect Life Conference on Saturday, October 24 at Christ the King Parish. If you can squeeze it into your schedule, do so! The theme is The Family: Hope for the Future- In addition to Mass being celebrated by Archbishop Chaput and Bishop Conley, we will have Keynote speaker Helen Alvare, pro-life feminist and good friend of ENDOW to give a global perspective on the family.
And how’s this for a God-moment? Praying the rosary in front of the local Planned Parenthood building, two women nodded to each other, both thinking the other looked familiar, but unable to place her. After an hour of prayer, and occasional snippets of conversation as they watched patrons come and go from that sad imposing structure in a fenced off area in a broken-down neighborhood, one of the women suddenly had a light bulb go on. “Wait a minute! Don’t you work at St. Luke’s Hospital?!” “Yes”, answered the other woman. “I’m a labor and delivery nurse. My name is Delaine.” The women stared at each other and slowly, a moment of joy crept up on them.
Said the first woman, “You delivered my baby seven years ago!”
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday, October 2, 2009
Mary's Other Month
,Mary's Other Month By Gigi Zapiain
OK I’m biased, but I think my Mom is the cutest senior citizen around. She loves a good romantic comedy at the movies, is a great traveler that enjoys exploring new places, never misses her aerobics class with women 40+ years younger than herself, could plant a dry stick in the ground and nurture it into a blooming plant, and revels in an end-of-season shoe sale as much as I do.
She and my Dad were married for 51 years before he returned to the Lord in 2005. After the funeral, I realized that as long as she had been alive, Mom had never been alone. She grew up in her boisterous family, went to college with her sisters, worked for an airline while living at home when she met the handsome grad student finishing up at Fordham University and tied the knot. With me and my brothers long since grown and out of the house – I realized she no longer had anyone to come home to with Dad gone.
Mom was and still is in good health, but there was no way I was going to leave her – alone. I won’t bore you with the details, but I decided to leave New England and head to Texas to where Mom had lived much of her life to seek my fortune there.
It was in October that I headed south that year – this gorgeous month when the weather is bracing and the trees wear their blazing finery – and remembered that it is that “other” month that is dedicated to Mary, Mother of God. It’s not often that I can claim to know what Jesus was thinking – but I have to say I know exactly how he felt when he did not want His Mother to be alone. I don’t believe for a minute that Jesus thought that Mary couldn’t look after herself – rather the Lord entrusted her to the Beloved Disciple because a Mom is always a Mom – and in her human nature, Mary would do best in an environment where she could continue her loving, nurturing ways; now in a special way with the Apostles, especially the one that Jesus loved.
After getting over a bit of southwest culture shock, the Lord was merciful and I was able to land a good job, and brought Mom to live with me. It would not be true if I told you things are perfect having Mom for a house-mate. If she had her way I would wear sailor-collared dresses to work every day – but it would also be untrue to say it is not good. It is very good, and I believe the Lord has blessed our decision to be together. I know Dad would have approved – and I know that Jesus does.
OK I’m biased, but I think my Mom is the cutest senior citizen around. She loves a good romantic comedy at the movies, is a great traveler that enjoys exploring new places, never misses her aerobics class with women 40+ years younger than herself, could plant a dry stick in the ground and nurture it into a blooming plant, and revels in an end-of-season shoe sale as much as I do.
She and my Dad were married for 51 years before he returned to the Lord in 2005. After the funeral, I realized that as long as she had been alive, Mom had never been alone. She grew up in her boisterous family, went to college with her sisters, worked for an airline while living at home when she met the handsome grad student finishing up at Fordham University and tied the knot. With me and my brothers long since grown and out of the house – I realized she no longer had anyone to come home to with Dad gone.
Mom was and still is in good health, but there was no way I was going to leave her – alone. I won’t bore you with the details, but I decided to leave New England and head to Texas to where Mom had lived much of her life to seek my fortune there.
It was in October that I headed south that year – this gorgeous month when the weather is bracing and the trees wear their blazing finery – and remembered that it is that “other” month that is dedicated to Mary, Mother of God. It’s not often that I can claim to know what Jesus was thinking – but I have to say I know exactly how he felt when he did not want His Mother to be alone. I don’t believe for a minute that Jesus thought that Mary couldn’t look after herself – rather the Lord entrusted her to the Beloved Disciple because a Mom is always a Mom – and in her human nature, Mary would do best in an environment where she could continue her loving, nurturing ways; now in a special way with the Apostles, especially the one that Jesus loved.
After getting over a bit of southwest culture shock, the Lord was merciful and I was able to land a good job, and brought Mom to live with me. It would not be true if I told you things are perfect having Mom for a house-mate. If she had her way I would wear sailor-collared dresses to work every day – but it would also be untrue to say it is not good. It is very good, and I believe the Lord has blessed our decision to be together. I know Dad would have approved – and I know that Jesus does.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Crossing the Finish Line
By Jamie Gruber
The gun fired and the eight runners took off toward the finish line. Mid way down the track, one man fell. He got up, but fell down again. This happened a couple more times before in frustration, the man began to sob loudly. Two of the other runners heard the cries and turned to look at the man stumbling down the track. Without hesitation both runners turned away from the finish line and ran to help him. Picking him up off the ground, the three runners ran holding raised hands across the finish line. The cheering crowd erupted with joy for the next ten minutes.
This story of the Special Olympics is a beautiful picture of humanity. Sadly, for every one story like this, we could think of hundreds that have defiled humanity. Terry Polakovic, co-founder of ENDOW, in a speech at the Eucharist Congress earlier this month defined for us why the bad stories outweigh the good. Quoting Sister Maximilia Um, FSGM, she said, “The angst of modern man lies precisely in his inability to decode and understand the secret of his own nature.” We have it all twisted—we are running away from the opportunities that will teach us how to decode and understand our nature, and instead we are sprinting toward a “gold medal” that has no merit in Heaven.
Last night, I was in the kitchen with my roommate doing the dishes. She asked the routine questions about my day. I answered in my usual way: super busy. She prodded a little deeper and I realized my day really wasn’t that busy or crazy, but by saying I was busy I felt that I had made progress in the pursuit of my own “gold medals.”
The story of Mary and Martha from Luke’s Gospel shares a similar message:
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.
-Luke 10:38-42
Can you imagine Jesus coming into your house to spend time with you and you are running around, cleaning and cooking and INGORING Him!? Absurd, right? That is what we do every day when we choose to follow paths to our own gold medals. Jesus has fallen and He is crying out in every person we pass. We have ignored Him and continue to do so as we choose worldly pursuits.
The story of the Special Olympics is a perfect picture of what I hope to see when I enter into God’s Kingdom. As I run across the finish line, I want to be holding hands in triumph with all those who have helped me and I them gain Heaven. And when we get there we will hear the sweet words “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
The gun fired and the eight runners took off toward the finish line. Mid way down the track, one man fell. He got up, but fell down again. This happened a couple more times before in frustration, the man began to sob loudly. Two of the other runners heard the cries and turned to look at the man stumbling down the track. Without hesitation both runners turned away from the finish line and ran to help him. Picking him up off the ground, the three runners ran holding raised hands across the finish line. The cheering crowd erupted with joy for the next ten minutes.
This story of the Special Olympics is a beautiful picture of humanity. Sadly, for every one story like this, we could think of hundreds that have defiled humanity. Terry Polakovic, co-founder of ENDOW, in a speech at the Eucharist Congress earlier this month defined for us why the bad stories outweigh the good. Quoting Sister Maximilia Um, FSGM, she said, “The angst of modern man lies precisely in his inability to decode and understand the secret of his own nature.” We have it all twisted—we are running away from the opportunities that will teach us how to decode and understand our nature, and instead we are sprinting toward a “gold medal” that has no merit in Heaven.
Last night, I was in the kitchen with my roommate doing the dishes. She asked the routine questions about my day. I answered in my usual way: super busy. She prodded a little deeper and I realized my day really wasn’t that busy or crazy, but by saying I was busy I felt that I had made progress in the pursuit of my own “gold medals.”
The story of Mary and Martha from Luke’s Gospel shares a similar message:
Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.
-Luke 10:38-42
Can you imagine Jesus coming into your house to spend time with you and you are running around, cleaning and cooking and INGORING Him!? Absurd, right? That is what we do every day when we choose to follow paths to our own gold medals. Jesus has fallen and He is crying out in every person we pass. We have ignored Him and continue to do so as we choose worldly pursuits.
The story of the Special Olympics is a perfect picture of what I hope to see when I enter into God’s Kingdom. As I run across the finish line, I want to be holding hands in triumph with all those who have helped me and I them gain Heaven. And when we get there we will hear the sweet words “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Thursday, September 17, 2009
The Lives of the Saints
POSTED BY GIGI ZAPIAIN--
Just a couple of weeks ago, our group finished the ENDOW course, Edith Stein: Seeker of Truth. We always take more time to complete any of the studies than what is usually expected, but nobody minds. Our bunch likes to do a lot of processing.
Lives of the saints are something I’ve read and enjoyed since childhood (remember The Picture Book of Saints by Fr. Lawrence Lovasik?) and in college my then-boyfriend introduced me to author Louis de Wohl, who wrote, among other things, a series of historical novels in the 1940’s and 50’s on saints and various figures pivotal in the history of the Church. One of my favorites was The Quiet Light, about the life of St. Thomas Aquinas, who disappointed and defied his illustrious and prosperous family of noble title. Their ambition was for young Thomas to be appointed a cardinal or at least a bishop – and were horrified by his taking a vow of poverty and joining a rag-tag mendicant order, the Dominicans. The plot hatched to tempt the young monk and shame him into leaving is as timeless as Thomas’ response is unique. His simplicity left his confessors in tears; while his writings, the fruit of his intense life of study, prayer, and contemplation, stunned the known world. After that novel, I had a new appreciation for my medieval philosophy class.
I really hadn’t connected saints with philosophy much since then until delving into the Edith Stein study. I found myself thinking about some of the things I had learned and remembered that it was Aquinas who said that “philosophy is the handmaiden of theology.” This was certainly true for Edith, whose earnest and scholarly study of philosophy could never quite answer her questions about reality, the nature of existence, and the ultimate meaning of life. It was only sometime later, through the example of Christian friends and colleagues, that Edith was able to drop what she called “the barriers of rationalistic prejudice” and became open to observing and experiencing without preconceived notions. Later, reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, Edith became convinced of the truth of Christianity.
Philosophy deals with what can be known by human reason and can take us only so far, but if it is grounded in integrity and reality it can prepare the mind for the leap between empirical or natural truth (always with the help of grace) – to revealed or supernatural truth – that which we could only know through God’s Revelation. And because both natural and revealed truth come from the same Source, they can never be in opposition to one another.
In our own day, Pope John Paul II observed that that too often, modern thought claims that human reason and supernatural faith are at odds. In his encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason), the pope writes that faith and reason are not only compatible, but essential together. Faith without reason, he argues, leads to superstition. Reason without faith leads to relativism.
Hmm. Maybe that encyclical could be the topic of a future ENDOW study. In the meantime, I think I need to reread St. Teresa’s autobiography. I’m no philosopher, but given what it did for Edith Stein, I might have missed something the first time around.
Just a couple of weeks ago, our group finished the ENDOW course, Edith Stein: Seeker of Truth. We always take more time to complete any of the studies than what is usually expected, but nobody minds. Our bunch likes to do a lot of processing.
Lives of the saints are something I’ve read and enjoyed since childhood (remember The Picture Book of Saints by Fr. Lawrence Lovasik?) and in college my then-boyfriend introduced me to author Louis de Wohl, who wrote, among other things, a series of historical novels in the 1940’s and 50’s on saints and various figures pivotal in the history of the Church. One of my favorites was The Quiet Light, about the life of St. Thomas Aquinas, who disappointed and defied his illustrious and prosperous family of noble title. Their ambition was for young Thomas to be appointed a cardinal or at least a bishop – and were horrified by his taking a vow of poverty and joining a rag-tag mendicant order, the Dominicans. The plot hatched to tempt the young monk and shame him into leaving is as timeless as Thomas’ response is unique. His simplicity left his confessors in tears; while his writings, the fruit of his intense life of study, prayer, and contemplation, stunned the known world. After that novel, I had a new appreciation for my medieval philosophy class.
I really hadn’t connected saints with philosophy much since then until delving into the Edith Stein study. I found myself thinking about some of the things I had learned and remembered that it was Aquinas who said that “philosophy is the handmaiden of theology.” This was certainly true for Edith, whose earnest and scholarly study of philosophy could never quite answer her questions about reality, the nature of existence, and the ultimate meaning of life. It was only sometime later, through the example of Christian friends and colleagues, that Edith was able to drop what she called “the barriers of rationalistic prejudice” and became open to observing and experiencing without preconceived notions. Later, reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, Edith became convinced of the truth of Christianity.
Philosophy deals with what can be known by human reason and can take us only so far, but if it is grounded in integrity and reality it can prepare the mind for the leap between empirical or natural truth (always with the help of grace) – to revealed or supernatural truth – that which we could only know through God’s Revelation. And because both natural and revealed truth come from the same Source, they can never be in opposition to one another.
In our own day, Pope John Paul II observed that that too often, modern thought claims that human reason and supernatural faith are at odds. In his encyclical Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason), the pope writes that faith and reason are not only compatible, but essential together. Faith without reason, he argues, leads to superstition. Reason without faith leads to relativism.
Hmm. Maybe that encyclical could be the topic of a future ENDOW study. In the meantime, I think I need to reread St. Teresa’s autobiography. I’m no philosopher, but given what it did for Edith Stein, I might have missed something the first time around.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Birthdays!
By Mercy Gutierrez
Liturgically, we just celebrated the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8th) and this feast day left me with many thoughts. As you might know, Catholics don’t usually celebrate saints’ birthdays in the Church. Pope Benedict remarked that “the Church always argued that it was premature to celebrate a birthday because the rest of the life of the person born on that day was subject to such ambiguity.” Obviously, the Blessed Mother is exempt from this norm because of her Immaculate Conception and grace-filled purity throughout life. However, Catholics typically celebrate the end of a saint’s life, usually marked by their date of death, knowing that is when the saint encountered the full splendor of Christ and entered into eternal life with Him. So, with our eyes fixed on eternity, it makes sense to celebrate the beginning of eternity rather than the beginning of our earthly life.
As women, God has entrusted us in a special way to celebrate life. The question remains, “how can we celebrate life while still reminding our children (biological or spiritual children) about our journey toward everlasting life?” This summer, I was impressed that my daughter received a special call from her Godfather on the date of her baptism, June 23rd. Every year, he has made a point to celebrate her “birth in Christ” more so than her natural birthday eight weeks earlier. Likewise, I hear of families who celebrate the feast days of all saints who carry their children’s namesake. Similarly, other families celebrate feasts of each child’s patron saint selected during their sacraments of First Communion or Confirmation. A friend of mine, upon entering religious life, was given a new name by her Superior and a new “birthday,” namely the feast of the saint given. No matter the tradition, the point remains the same. We must always orient our lives and that of our families toward heaven. Persevering in holiness is no easy task! So, any reminder of our heavenly destination and those who have successfully gone before us is a welcomed birthday gift in my mind!
Liturgically, we just celebrated the birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 8th) and this feast day left me with many thoughts. As you might know, Catholics don’t usually celebrate saints’ birthdays in the Church. Pope Benedict remarked that “the Church always argued that it was premature to celebrate a birthday because the rest of the life of the person born on that day was subject to such ambiguity.” Obviously, the Blessed Mother is exempt from this norm because of her Immaculate Conception and grace-filled purity throughout life. However, Catholics typically celebrate the end of a saint’s life, usually marked by their date of death, knowing that is when the saint encountered the full splendor of Christ and entered into eternal life with Him. So, with our eyes fixed on eternity, it makes sense to celebrate the beginning of eternity rather than the beginning of our earthly life.
As women, God has entrusted us in a special way to celebrate life. The question remains, “how can we celebrate life while still reminding our children (biological or spiritual children) about our journey toward everlasting life?” This summer, I was impressed that my daughter received a special call from her Godfather on the date of her baptism, June 23rd. Every year, he has made a point to celebrate her “birth in Christ” more so than her natural birthday eight weeks earlier. Likewise, I hear of families who celebrate the feast days of all saints who carry their children’s namesake. Similarly, other families celebrate feasts of each child’s patron saint selected during their sacraments of First Communion or Confirmation. A friend of mine, upon entering religious life, was given a new name by her Superior and a new “birthday,” namely the feast of the saint given. No matter the tradition, the point remains the same. We must always orient our lives and that of our families toward heaven. Persevering in holiness is no easy task! So, any reminder of our heavenly destination and those who have successfully gone before us is a welcomed birthday gift in my mind!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
List Vs Habits—Seeking Faith-filled Spouses
By Jamie Gruber
In high school my girlfriends and I read a book on book on Christian dating: how to date, who to date, when to date. We desired dating to be purposeful and God centered. The dating culture of our peers was driven by hormones and status, and easily ended. If we were to have purposeful and God-centered relationships, we would need to create a way to sustain meaning in the midst of chaos. Our solution to avoid falling into “another high school fling,” was to create a checklist against which each boy would be measured. Now, we did this with the best intentions: to stay pure and seek Christ. However, it shouldn’t surprise you that we didn’t have many dates. Let’s face it, no 17 year old guy had a chance.
The four short years of high school came and went and off to college we all went with the hope that a man would finally match our list… but yet another disappointment. To our innocent surprise, college did not produce perfect checklist quality men. Yet we still believed in the power of the list, so we clung to our list sure that it would soon yield a live person.
Leaving college I said to a friend: “Well, in high school and college males were still boys, but NOW in the working world, I will find a decent list-worthy man—after all, they do pay their own bills and work 9-5…” It has been a year since I left college and still, no list-approved dates.
This past weekend, I was part of a conference for young adults titled, “It Takes a Family to Raise a Village.” One of the professors gave a lecture on the dos and don’ts of marriage. In one sentence he changed my outlook on lists. He said don’t create a checklist of expectations for your future spouse—this is a recipe for disappointment. Instead, create a list of habits YOU want to bring to your future marriage. When husbands and wives are equipped with virtuous habits their relationship is able to flourish and grow toward Christ.
Immediately, my list was shattered. I was using the list to ignore my responsibilities in preparing for my vocation. Rather, I was idolizing my future husband’s perfection and his virtue. This weekend, I was reminded that marriage is a Sacrament, a window to Heaven. Ultimately, marriage is a vehicle to our sanctification. One day, my virtuous contribution will be just as vital as my husband’s to our salvation.
My new list has my name at the top and it is a list of habits I want to contribute to my marriage. There is a weight that has been lifted. It is not for me to match a man to my list. Instead it is my duty to form virtuous habits now. Habit formation is the greatest active marriage preparation we can do as single people. We love our future spouse the most when we create habits of virtue in ourselves that will lift our marriage to heaven.
Jeremiah 29:11 reminds me that God has a perfect plan for my future. Building up virtue allows that plan to carry on as God sees fit and one day, through His Grace, I will meet my future husband and be fully equipped for marriage: “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.”
In high school my girlfriends and I read a book on book on Christian dating: how to date, who to date, when to date. We desired dating to be purposeful and God centered. The dating culture of our peers was driven by hormones and status, and easily ended. If we were to have purposeful and God-centered relationships, we would need to create a way to sustain meaning in the midst of chaos. Our solution to avoid falling into “another high school fling,” was to create a checklist against which each boy would be measured. Now, we did this with the best intentions: to stay pure and seek Christ. However, it shouldn’t surprise you that we didn’t have many dates. Let’s face it, no 17 year old guy had a chance.
The four short years of high school came and went and off to college we all went with the hope that a man would finally match our list… but yet another disappointment. To our innocent surprise, college did not produce perfect checklist quality men. Yet we still believed in the power of the list, so we clung to our list sure that it would soon yield a live person.
Leaving college I said to a friend: “Well, in high school and college males were still boys, but NOW in the working world, I will find a decent list-worthy man—after all, they do pay their own bills and work 9-5…” It has been a year since I left college and still, no list-approved dates.
This past weekend, I was part of a conference for young adults titled, “It Takes a Family to Raise a Village.” One of the professors gave a lecture on the dos and don’ts of marriage. In one sentence he changed my outlook on lists. He said don’t create a checklist of expectations for your future spouse—this is a recipe for disappointment. Instead, create a list of habits YOU want to bring to your future marriage. When husbands and wives are equipped with virtuous habits their relationship is able to flourish and grow toward Christ.
Immediately, my list was shattered. I was using the list to ignore my responsibilities in preparing for my vocation. Rather, I was idolizing my future husband’s perfection and his virtue. This weekend, I was reminded that marriage is a Sacrament, a window to Heaven. Ultimately, marriage is a vehicle to our sanctification. One day, my virtuous contribution will be just as vital as my husband’s to our salvation.
My new list has my name at the top and it is a list of habits I want to contribute to my marriage. There is a weight that has been lifted. It is not for me to match a man to my list. Instead it is my duty to form virtuous habits now. Habit formation is the greatest active marriage preparation we can do as single people. We love our future spouse the most when we create habits of virtue in ourselves that will lift our marriage to heaven.
Jeremiah 29:11 reminds me that God has a perfect plan for my future. Building up virtue allows that plan to carry on as God sees fit and one day, through His Grace, I will meet my future husband and be fully equipped for marriage: “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.”
Thursday, August 20, 2009
I Like August
By Terry Polakovic
The other day I heard a radio commercial poking fun at the month of August as the only month without a designated holiday. The gist of the commercial was that there is nothing worse than the month of August. I must say, I respectfully disagree.
As a person who loves to learn, I have always found that there was something exhilarating about August. Summer winds down and everyone seems ready to get back into a regular routine and whether they will admit it or not, most people just do better when they have a routine. When my children were young I used the month of August to get them ready for school, motivate them and gear them up for all the new adventures waiting just around the corner. We carefully planned our trip to Target to purchase school supplies, and, once we were there, it would take us a couple of hours to choose the ideal backpacks and pens that would last for a year and notebooks that no one else would have. It wasn’t just a shopping trip; it was an art.
Education has the power to transform us and make us better versions of ourselves. This is just one of the reasons I love being a Catholic. As Catholics, we are heirs to the richest intellectual tradition in all of history. Unfortunately, very few of us even realize it. Fewer still make an effort to seek it out. But I think John Paul II got it right when he said, “Time dedicated to education is time truly well spent, because it determines a person’s future, and therefore the future of the family and of the whole society.” So, do yourself a favor and while everyone is getting ready for “back-to-school” get yourself ready too. Join an ENDOW group, read a book about the saints, read Frank Sheed’s Theology and Sanity, read George Weigel’s Witness to Hope about the life of Pope John Paul II. Education is a lifelong journey.
There are a few other things I like about August. I like the cooler mornings, I like fresh Colorado produce, I like buying a couple of new sweaters, I like planning our September Conference and thinking about all of the new women I might meet this year because of ENDOW. August? Bring it on!
The other day I heard a radio commercial poking fun at the month of August as the only month without a designated holiday. The gist of the commercial was that there is nothing worse than the month of August. I must say, I respectfully disagree.
As a person who loves to learn, I have always found that there was something exhilarating about August. Summer winds down and everyone seems ready to get back into a regular routine and whether they will admit it or not, most people just do better when they have a routine. When my children were young I used the month of August to get them ready for school, motivate them and gear them up for all the new adventures waiting just around the corner. We carefully planned our trip to Target to purchase school supplies, and, once we were there, it would take us a couple of hours to choose the ideal backpacks and pens that would last for a year and notebooks that no one else would have. It wasn’t just a shopping trip; it was an art.
Education has the power to transform us and make us better versions of ourselves. This is just one of the reasons I love being a Catholic. As Catholics, we are heirs to the richest intellectual tradition in all of history. Unfortunately, very few of us even realize it. Fewer still make an effort to seek it out. But I think John Paul II got it right when he said, “Time dedicated to education is time truly well spent, because it determines a person’s future, and therefore the future of the family and of the whole society.” So, do yourself a favor and while everyone is getting ready for “back-to-school” get yourself ready too. Join an ENDOW group, read a book about the saints, read Frank Sheed’s Theology and Sanity, read George Weigel’s Witness to Hope about the life of Pope John Paul II. Education is a lifelong journey.
There are a few other things I like about August. I like the cooler mornings, I like fresh Colorado produce, I like buying a couple of new sweaters, I like planning our September Conference and thinking about all of the new women I might meet this year because of ENDOW. August? Bring it on!
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