ANOTHER MOTHER IN MOLOKAI

Our next Hawaiian is SISTER MARIA LEOPOLDINA BURNS (1855- 1942) who was a member of the Sisters of St Francis of Syracuse, New York, and a close companion and the biographer of St Marianne Cope.

Together with Mother Marianne and 5 other sisters, they departed from Syracuse to travel to Honolulu to answer the request of King Kalākaua of Hawaii to care for leprosy sufferers arriving on November 8, 1883.  The trip from New York to the boat in San Francisco, reads like a fictional travel log.

They traveled on the SS Mariposa. With Mother Marianne as supervisor, the Sisters' task was to manage Kakaʻako Branch Hospital on Oʻahu, which served as a receiving station for Hansen's disease patients gathered from all over the islands. The more severe cases were processed and shipped to the island of Molokaʻi for confinement in the settlement at Kalawao, and then later at Kalaupapa.

In 1889, together with Mother Marianne and Sister Vincentia McCormick, they opened and ran a girls' school in Hawaii, which they named in Henry Perrine Baldwin's honor, a prominent local businessman who supported their missions.

Sr. Leopoldina 3rd from left, M. Marianne far right.

 After serving for nearly 40 years on Molokai, Sister Leopoldina retired in 1928 to the St. Francis Convent in Manoa Valley  (where I lived when in Hawaii, often attending daily Mass at the small convent chapel still run by the sisters) )where she lived until her death.

 Sister Leopoldina died on June 3, 1942 with the reputation for holiness. She was the last of the Catholic sisters to serve alongside Father Damien.

The definitive biography of Mother Marianne, Pilgrimage and Exile (aka "Song of Pilgrimage and Exile") written in 1982*  and later updated was founded primarily upon manuscript sources, reads like a novel.  The whole adventure of the sisters at times is like something out of Indiana Jones, filled with mystery and intrigue.

The Journals of Sister M. Leopoldina Burns are undated, although apparently they were begun in the 1920s at the direction of Sister Flaviana.  Both an original set of notebooks and a rewriting of the same with more development of incidents are extant.  In the latter set there are 56 chapters in 15 notebooks.  Sister Leopoldina also wrote a Little History of Mother Marianne’s Work which contains selections from the journals.

In 1980, Bishop John Scanlan of Honolulu appointed a historical commission, along with consultants, to collect all available documents concerning Mother Marianne, especially her writings, for submission to Rome, a major step toward her beatification. Pilgrimage & Exile, the fruit of this careful research, is the inspiring story of  St Marianne and her sisters who lived lives of extraordinary dedication, sacrifice, and faith. St. Marianne is called "beloved mother of outcasts," but the same title could be for the others sisters, including Sister Leopoldina.

*  Written by one of the sisters from the order of St. Marianne and Sr. Leopoldina  and O.A. Bushnell, a professor at University of Hawaii.  See Blog  4/1/2016

A NEW CHURCH FOR OUR TIMES

Odon Czintos- Hungary

Bishop Mario Grech Administrator of Gozo and Pro-Secretary for Synod of Bishops wrote the following to the clergy of his diocese, “one would be committing suicide, if, after this pandemic, one were to return to the same pastoral models.” This reflection arises from the recent challenges and limitations for pastoral work during the COVID-19 pandemic. L’Osservatore Romano and Vatican News report that this crisis “… has shaken foundations we thought were immovable, as we have seen in the economic sector, in science, and in politics.” This unprecedented situation also involves the Church. “Pope Francis – observes Grech – continues his appeal regarding the need for pastoral conversion.” Bishop Grech adds that we have become more aware of this need for conversion during the pandemic, as we have been immersed in new “experiences that prompt us to contemplate the face of Christ.”

Bishop Grech warns against reducing the pastoral activity of the “church to the sacristy, away from the streets, or simply being content to projecting the life of the sacristy on to the streets.” He observes that during these last few months of isolation, suffering, and pain we are presented with “an opportunity (a kairos) for renewal and pastoral creativity,” that demonstrate to us the reality that we cannot return “to the practices that limited us before the pandemic.” A time that revealed in certain Christians, consecrated and lay, “a strong pattern of clericalism.” Bishop Grech cites the words of the famous French author Georges Bernanos regarding ‘rotten Christianity.’ “One asks, how is this profession of faith meaningful – if then this same faith does not become leaven to transform the dough of life?”

From this perspective, Bishop Grech moves to the idea of the ‘domestic church’ that has been revitalised and experienced in a new way during this lock down. He observes that a certain clericalism since the fourth century has worn away at the “nature and charism of the family in as much as it is the domestic church.” One finds a restoration and development of the theology of the domestic church during Vatican II, especially in Lumen Gentium paragraphs 10 and 11. Bishop Grech remarks that “just as in the first centuries, the family today can become again the source of Christian life.” Moreover, “in as much as the basic structure of the Church is sacred and liturgical, one must also revive their place in the family as the domus ecclesiae.” Drawing upon the insights of Augustine, John Chrysostom, as well as Jewish culture, “the family should be a place where faith is celebrated, reflected upon, and lived. 

Women Praying- Vladimir Dimitrov- Bulgaria

The parish community must help the family to be a school of catechesis and a classroom of liturgy where one might break bread at the table of the family home. Parents, by virtue of the grace of the sacrament marriage, are ‘ministers of this worship’ wherein the home, they break open the Word and pray with the Word, so as to transform the faith of their children.” Bishop Grech hopes that the Lord may multiple many examples of families’ “creative in love,” who are ready “to create spaces for prayer in openness to the most poor and needy in our midst.” Equally important after this pandemic will be the “ministry of service,” the diakonia as a ‘new’ path for evangelisation. “One cannot celebrate the breaking of the Eucharistic Bread and of the Word, if one does not share with the ‘poor who are theologically the face of Christ.’” Service or diakonia “is the sure way to experience Christian love. One communicates the Gospel not only by preaching but also in service. The Church reaches people not only through catechesis but also through the experience of diaconal service. As the Pope says, if we move amongst the poor, we will discover God.”

Bishop Grech shares a letter written to him by a humanitarian worker after the rescue of a group of migrants at sea with the help of his diocese. “Unfortunately, I often witnessed in the past incomprehension between the Church and people, as well as from non-Christians of goodwill. Today things are changing and now they feel that the Church is a friend who hears the cry of the poor and seeks to come to their aid.”

Kathe Kollwitz- Germany

In this ‘change of times,’ according to Bishop Grech, “the contribution that the Church can give, or rather must give, is the proclamation of Jesus Christ to the world and the joy of the Gospel.” This contribution can be understood in light of Pope Francis’ Christmas Greetings to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2019. Pope Francis notes that in Europe and throughout much of the West, the Christian faith lives in a new era. “We find ourselves living at a time when change is no longer linear, but epochal.  It entails decisions that rapidly transform our ways of living, of relating to one another, of communicating and thinking, of how different generations relate to one another.” 

Bishop Grech takes up the thought of De Lubac as found in his book, The Drama of Human Atheism. “It is not true, as it is sometimes said, that man cannot organise the world without God. What is true is that, without God, he can only organise it against man.” Likewise, this global pandemic reveals that at times, “economic and financial interests have been given precedence over the common good.” This dynamic must be corrected.

Kathe Kollwitz- Germany 

In his conversation with Vatican media, Bishop Grech focuses on the “gift of synodality as a way of ecclesial life,” a gift given to the Church by the Holy Spirit. “The synodal path – affirming the call of Pope Francis – is the path that God expects of the Church in this third millennium. As a dynamic of communion, synodality is above all, the affective integration of all participants, in a spirit of dialogue, so that all might arrive at a point of consensus… Although synodality belongs to the ecclesial vocabulary, it has value for society in general. Adapted as a working principle for the secular world, synodality could be a style of collaboration for inter-personal relationships and human fraternity. Synodality is an antidote against isolation that helps us to appreciate the beauty of the human community. Walking together is not always an easy task, be it for the Church or for society, but all of us need to exercise this practice so vital for the future.” Looking ahead to the next synod and the theme of synodality, Bishop Grech hopes that there “will be reflection on synodality before the celebration of the Synod itself so that the Synod Fathers might offer a deeper contribution to this theme.”

            Adapted and translated from the article in L’Osservatore Romano (by Alessandro Gisotti )

APOSTLE OF HAWAII

As readers of this Blog know, I am  very fond of Hawaii , especially its "holy people”. Our Oblate, whom I stay with on the Big Island, is here with her, soon to be off to college daughter and two of her friends, to help us out for the month.  So it is fitting that I present some recently  discovered  people who are being considered for sainthood, one my pastor when I lived in Hawaii (Oahu) many years ago. The first, should be more widely known, especially by his own people, the Hawaiians.

FATHER ARSENIUS WALSH, SS.CC., (1804 – 14 October 1869), was an Irish Catholic priest who was among the first Roman Catholic missionaries in the Kingdom of Hawaii. He was a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, the same order as St. Damien of Molokai. He is called the Apostle of Hawaii.

The first members of his congregation had arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, on 9 July 1827, under the leadership of Father Alexis Bachelot, SS.CC., named the first Prefect Apostolic for the region by the Holy See. The Picpus community, composed of both priests and lay brothers, soon began to gain converts among the Native Hawaiians. 

This quick success, however, sparked the opposition of  the  Congregationist missionaries who had arrived from the United States several years earlier and who had been embraced by the chiefs of the kingdom. Encouraged by the Protestant clergy, the chiefs passed laws which imposed heavy penalties, such as forced labor, beatings and imprisonment on their people who embraced Catholic practice. This led to a Catholic underground where the two French priests had to care for their new flock by presiding over private Masses in darkened homes and had to offer catechetical instruction for new converts in secret. The chiefs expelled the priests of the community on Christmas Eve 1831, having them transported to Lower California in Mexico, but allowed the lay brothers to stay. The priests were taken in by the Franciscans there and served at the California mission.

An Irish seminarian in the Hawaiian community, Brother Columba Murphy, SS.CC., still a layman in the eyes of the government, made frequent visits to the mission, continually appraising the situation for the Fathers in Mexico. By the mid-1830s, the political climate in Hawaii had changed. Brother Columba went to Monterrey to encourage the two priests to return. Unable to locate them, he left a message advising them that the time was ripe. In response to this, Father Walsh was sent to Hawaii.

Father Walsh, who might have been born Robert Walsh, a given name often ascribed to him, arrived in Hawaii on 4 September 1836 and established himself with the lay brothers of his congregation. His expulsion was urged by the Protestant clergy, who had the king's ear. Unlike the other Picpus Fathers,  (the orders other name  because their first house was on the Rue de Picpus in Paris, France), however, he was a British subject, and gained the support of the British consul in Hawaii, whose favor was being sought by the kingdom. Consequently, he was permitted to stay, on the condition that he not engage in any proselytization of the native people.

Encouraged by his presence and changes in the island leadership, the two French priests returned to Hawaii the following year. They were joined by another priest of the congregation, Louis Désiré Maigret, who had been appointed as the first Vicar Apostolic of the Sandwich Islands. Opposition and persecution continued, however, and Father Maigret and another French priest had to leave that following December.

Religious persecution eventually ended after the arrival of a French frigate, L'Artémise,  captained by Cyrille Pierre Théodore Laplace, in the process of circumnavigating the world. He had been given instructions by the French government to protect the French residents of Hawaii and to ensure the free exercise of the Catholic faith. Laplace presented King Kamehameha III with an ultimatum, demanding these steps with a monetary surety for compliance, otherwise threatening bombardment of the island. Consequently, the king issued the Edict of Toleration, which led to the free practice of the Catholic Church in Hawaii.

In 1841, with the successful establishment of a congregation in Honolulu, Father Walsh was sent to establish a mission on the island of Kauai, a recently conquered island in the kingdom. He landed on 22 December and was given a warm welcome  the islanders.  He celebrated the first Mass on Christmas Day, under a tree in the village of Koloa, by which he inaugurated the Mission of St. Raphael. He then began classes of instruction in the faith and opened a school at the mission, following which he set out on a tour of the island to expand his mission to the surrounding population. He was able to have a small chapel built on the site by the following March.

St. Raphael

On this island, however, Father Walsh encountered the same hostility and persecution which had taken place on Oahu. The chieftess of the island, Amelia Kekauonohi, was a staunch Protestant, and, while not taking any open steps, did not interfere when lower chiefs would imprison and impose heavy penalties on those who established ties with the mission. Father's energy was thus divided between preaching the Gospel to the populace and defending his followers against the local chiefs.

Despite this opposition, and the eventual failure of some of his missions on the island, Father Walsh spent the next six years establishing churches and schools around the island, including the St Raphael Catholic Church, which began in 1843.

He even extended his mission to the island of Niihau  celebrating the first Mass there on 31 July 1842.  He returned to Oahu either in 1848 or in 1859,  where he became the pastor of Ahuimanu. It was there that he died on 14 October 1869.

MOTHER OF OUR CHURCH

Last week we celebrated the feast of Pope Saint Paul VI, which is listed as a memorial ad lib- which means we can celebrate it if we want, or not.  But for us this Pope had a significant influence on our foundation to the USA in the 1940s, so we celebrated it as a full memorial.  In 1960 he gave us Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations),  one of the principal documents of the Second Vatican Council.  It is not coincidental  that we celebrate his feast so close to the new feast of MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH.

 

Elly Tulis- Indiana

“At once virgin and mother, Mary is the symbol and the most perfect realization of the Church: ‘the Church indeed… by receiving the word of God in faith becomes herself a mother. By preaching and Baptism she brings forth sons, who are conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of God, to a new and immortal life. She herself is a virgin, who keeps in its entirety and purity the faith she pledged to her spouse”.

So why has the Church put this new feast the day after Pentecost? Mary was with the Apostles when the Holy Spirit descended upon them on that very first Pentecost!  Christ gave His Mother  to us as our Mother, so she is the spiritual mother of the Church. 

“The hope is that the extension of this celebration to the whole Church will remind all Christ’s disciples that, if we want to grow and to be filled with the love of God, it is necessary to plant our life firmly on three great realities: the Cross, the Eucharist, and the Mother of God. These are three mysteries that God gave to the world in order to structure, fructify, and sanctify our interior life and lead us to Jesus. These three mysteries are to be contemplated in silence.”

                                                                                                    Cardinal Robert Sarah

“God’s plan included providing a Savior who entered this world through a dual choice: God chose Mary and Mary chose God. The Church honors Mary because she is the beloved Mother of Jesus. Mary was part of God’s plan for salvation. As the Mother of God and as the Mother of the Redeemer, she maintains a place of honor in both the earthly Church and in the heavenly.

Her relationship is distinct from all other humankind, because she was born sinless. Mary was completely human, born without sin and remained sinless. By nature of her humanity she required salvation. Mary’s role was not forced on her; she was completely free to say yes or not. Jesus restored grace to the world. Mary participated in this by her loving cooperation with God. Mary played an integral part in God’s plan to save the world.

She was present and devoted to Jesus as his mother and supported him in his ministry from Cana to Calvary. After his death she remained present in prayer and faith. Our devotion to Mary is out of love and respect to God and His plan. It does not and is not intended to diminish the truth that Christ alone is our mediator. Mary is a great helper to us as we seek the road to holiness. She was human and as such was forced to face temptation. She did not cave in to temptation but endured in all things.

She is the model of virtue. By meditating on her, we grow more like her Son. We honor and have piety toward Mary for no other reason than to better know Christ and to open the whole world up to receiving the graces of Christ. The Second Vatican Council encouraged people to cultivate a loving devotion to Mary and strongly urged theologians and pastors to abstain from gross exaggerations and or neglectful omission in considering the dignity of Mary.

Mary’s place is with God in heaven. Christians are called to understand as Mary did, that in the end truth will prevail, as all things are restored in Christ. The Fathers of the Second Vatican Council provide us with a great.”  (Lumen Gentium)

FROM OUR MOTHER ABBESS- PENTECOST

PRAYER to the HOLY SPIRIT in the MIDST OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC                                MOTHER ABBESS LUCIA KUPPENS,OSB,  May 2020

P. Solomon Raj, India

How could we have not noticed before? After the Ascension, Jesus sends the Apostles into “lockdown” to wait for the Holy Spirit to come! They are to go back to Jerusalem. Stay in Jerusalem. They are to stay together, self-isolating as a group, staying in one room, until the Father’s promise to send the Spirit is fulfilled. Not knowing what to expect, feeling threats of persecution from without and uncertainty within, they must have been filled with terrible fear and anxiety. Does the scene sound familiar?

But they are not left in uncertainty:

When the day of Pentecost came it found them gathered in one place. Suddenly …there came a noise like a strong, driving wind which was heard all through the house where they were seated. Tongues as of fire appeared, which parted and came to rest on each of them. All were filled with the Holy Spirit. They began to express themselves in foreign tongues and make bold proclamation as the Spirit prompted them.

Acts of the Apostles 2: 1-4

The Holy Spirit finds the Apostles where they had been “quarantined,” and though they were all Galileans, gives them the power to be understood in every language under heaven. Thus, through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the “mighty works of God” were proclaimed to the ends of the earth and universally understood by all. I do not think it is too fanciful to draw the analogy here with the way the sharing of knowledge and experiences on social media has brought the four corners of the world very close and made it possible for an almost instantaneous and global communication of news of the pandemic to be shared in every language and distant culture.

It remains to be seen whether this experience of the Covid-19 Pandemic will in fact lead us closer to a unity in the Holy Spirit or to a regression back to the tower of Babel, but the possibility of this crisis bringing about a true intervention of the Spirit is unmistakable. The outcome depends on what we make of the opportunity. For the coming of the Holy Spirit does not mean an instant end to the virus, or a guaranteed cure, or recovered jobs, or no more suffering, any more than it meant the end of persecution for the early Christians. Rather it means that we may be strengthened by the gifts of Holy Spirit in such a way that when we emerge from the pandemic, we are stronger people, more loving, more united, clearer about our priorities and what we believe.

Along with the rest of the world, the Abbey has been experiencing the restrictions and challenges of living under “Stay at Home” orders since roughly mid-March 2020. We have closely followed the directives of Archbishop Leonard Blair in all matters of public worship and the guidelines of Governor Ned Lamont on all issues pertaining to the containment of the virus. Regrettably, we had to close the Abbey guesthouses, close the church of Jesu Fili Mariae for public worship, and make the lower monastery, unfinished as it is, our whole world until further notice. Work on the new building by necessity slowed to a mere trickle of things that could be done without the construction crews needing to come inside. Last Christmas, you may remember, we had projected that we would be finishing Phase III of the building in June or July of 2020 and celebrating soon thereafter. Instead, we seemed to see our completion date receding on a distant horizon.

Pentecost Mosaic - George Mayer Marton - 1957.

Liverpool Roman Catholic Cathedral

And yet, simultaneously, we discovered an opening to a greater interior horizon, an intensification of prayer, a deepening of community bonds as we had to work together to protect the most vulnerable in our midst. We have been flooded with requests for prayers during this time: for those who are ill, or caring for the ill, or separated from loved ones, or out of work. We have tried to honor each request personally, renewing the Abbey’s tradition of placing prayer intentions at our statue of St. Benedict, now located inside the cloister. We have read these intentions aloud at our Communion Service each day or at the very special hour of Matins at 2:00 a.m. Our Foundresses had had the insight long ago that people who are suffering feel the pain of isolation and hopelessness most keenly in the small hours of the night, so that is when we should be especially vigilant in prayer. The widespread suffering caused by the pandemic has brought this home to us in a radical way, as we have tried to be more consciously in union with those calling on our prayers.

And we know that we have been sustained by the heroic faith of so many people praying for us. Thank you for your steadfast witness to the love of God and presence of Christ in all circumstances. As another sign of our solidarity with you, our bells ring every evening in union with bells across the land in gratitude for the first responders and frontline medical personnel. The words of John Donne, once a commonplace of English literature classes, now resonate with the poignancy of our lived experience: 

No man is an island entire of itself…. Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.  (Meditation XVII)

Mark Durham - USA

By now, several months into the pandemic, much has been written about the positive effects of living in quarantine. The surging, unstoppable creativity of people across the globe has been well-documented and shared on social media. The extraordinary generosity of those reaching out to offer spiritual assistance, economic help, and much-needed entertainment to others has been a constant source of inspiration. But this re-ordering of priorities and growth in charity for one’s fellow creatures as a result of “quarantine,” should not be a total surprise. As contemplatives, living an enclosed life and taking a vow of Stability, we are, in a sense, always in training for moments such as this. Our whole life is built on the assumption that the interior horizons of the spiritual life are real, essential, and limitlessly rewarding. No matter what state of life we are called to, we always need the renewal that comes through re-focusing our interior gaze. This time of “lockdown” has given our community a needed chance to re-invigorate our prime Mission: to pray without ceasing, with the help of the Holy Spirit, for the needs of humanity.

Taking the Apostles and Our Lady in the upper room as our model during this time of apartness, we have implored God the Father to pour out once again the gift of his Holy Spirit on a suffering world. We hope you all will join us in this effort, in whatever way is native to you and possible in your circumstances. For the more of us who unite to lift our voices in praise and prayer, especially for those who are overwhelmed by this terrible trial and cannot pray, or do not know where to turn, the more we will open a channel for the mercy of God to flow to all who need it. We cannot control or determine when the virus will end, but we can help ensure that the world on the other side of this crisis, the world which we are shaping right now by the way we treat each other, will advance however slowly toward being a more merciful, just, and loving world. We will get through this, as many are fond of saying these days, but not on human strength or ingenuity alone. It will require a new awareness of the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, especially at this critical time when restrictions start to loosen.

Sadao Watanabe

As we gradually and prudently get back to work, let us together place our hope in the inextinguishable fire and consoling hope of the Spirit’s sevenfold gifts:

For the gift of Fortitude for those ill with Covid-19 and all those whose lives have been disrupted by unemployment, displacement, and grief due to its effects.

For the gift of Understanding for all those family members, care givers and health professionals trying to assist the sick and dying.

For the gift of Piety, that there be an increase of mercy transmitted from person to person and that the spread of compassion be strong enough to overcome the devastation of indifference and fear.

For the gift of Knowledge for all researchers and scientists trying to discover the laws of the Covid -19 virus and find a vaccine to stop it.

For the gift of Counsel for all those who have to make policy decisions about how to handle the pandemic on the national and local levels, that they work together to discern when and how to re-open the countries of the world.

For the gift of Wisdom for all leaders, at whatever level, who hold the fate of others in their hands.

For the gift of Fear of the Lord that people everywhere join in acknowledging that we are not the rulers of the universe, but only creatures, totally dependent on God’s love to find and maintain our proper place in his marvelous Creation.

We ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

NEW SAINTS FOR A WORLD IN NEED

Today came news that several of our favorite “saints-to-be” will  soon be canonized and beatified.

BL. CHARLES de FOUCAULD, a French missionary killed in Algeria in 1916 will be declared a saint. The blessed, also known as Brother Charles of Jesus, was a soldier, explorer, Catholic revert, priest, hermit, and religious brother, who served among the nomadic Tuareg people in the Sahara desert in Algeria. Bl. Charles wanted to live among “the furthest removed, the most abandoned.”     

He was assassinated by a band of men at his hermitage in the Sahara on Dec. 1, 1916.  (See Blog: 3/20/13)

 Closer to home, VENERABLE MICHAEL McGIVNEY has been approved for beatification due to a first miracle. From Connecticut, very near where our Prioress grew up, he was a 19th-century American priest who founded the Knights of Columbus.  (See Blog: 10/29/12)

Father McGivney founded the Knights of Columbus to encourage greater, active participation of lay Catholics in their faith and to care for families when the breadwinner died. Today the Knights are one of the biggest Catholic organizations in the world, known for their charitable efforts and counting about 2 million members in the Americas, Caribbean, Asia and Europe. They also promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  We have very active members as frequent helpers to our monastery.

                                                                 

Ven. McGivney died amid a 19th-century pandemic which may have been caused by a coronavirus.  Biologists using gene-sequencing methods have attributed the pandemic to a type of coronavirus. This virus, which first appeared in Russia, killed a total of 1 million people worldwide, including 13,000 in the United States.

Father McGivney became seriously ill with pneumonia and died on Aug. 14, 1890, at age 38. His beatification will take place in Connecticut.

French laywoman VENERABLE PAULINE MARIE JARICOT, who lived from 1799 to 1862 in Lyon,  will also now be beatified.

She founded the Living Rosary Association and the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, which later became the first of the four pontifical mission societies.

Pauline Jaricot, a member of the lay Dominicans, was devoted to promoting support of the Church’s missionary efforts around the world. 

THE FUTURE OF OUR CHILDREN

May 25, in a letter to an Italian journalist, Pope Francis said we should pray for mothers to have courage as they face the challenges of the post-coronavirus world.

“The question of every mother resounds in the heart: ‘What world will my child live in?’” the pope wrote.

“Let us pray for them, so that the Lord may give them the courage to accompany their children with the trust that it will certainly be a different world, but it will always be a world loved very much by the Lord.”

Several of our friends and relatives have children graduating this May and June and are off to college.  With the uncertain state of our world, I wondered what parents were thinking regarding the future of their children, so I posed the question to a few. And also asked how they were coping with children at home full time.

From our Hawaiian Oblate Karen who has two children off to universities in California.

Am I ready?  I don't think any parent is ever ready to send their kids thousands of miles away from them to face the cruel world by themselves.  I am fearful for all of the things that I would be without the COVID: their physical safety, mental health, finding good friends, rejecting bad boy friends and girl friends, building good habits, avoiding opiods, being academically successful at college, and most importantly, finding the career that makes them happy.  I can tell you that I am SOOOOOO happy one of my kids will be at a wonderful Jesuit college and the other at a small/medium sized school in a medium sized town. 

Ana- No graduation

Having them go to college is actually more comforting for me than young people who don't have a plan for the next couple of years in life.  I have two nephews graduating from college this month. What job prospects are there for them?  What about all of the seniors not going to college?  what will they do stuck at home without jobs?  Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I think this, like many other times in history, is a short term hurdle to overcome with a new life on the other side.  I am trying really hard to trust in God (spending an hour a day in prayers, reflections and doing the Jesuit spiritual exercises this month) and keep a positive attitude.

My one big question is this: We have taken it for granted that our children, families, friends, spiritual community are just a plane flight away.  So I have always been comfortable being physically distant knowing that in a day I could easily get anywhere I needed if someone needed me.  Is this dependence on easy, affordable and safe airplane travel going to be something we are going to continue to depend on or will we all have to start being more geographically centric?  If my kids are in CA and I can't get there in a drop of a hat, I am moving there. 

Children at Play- Edvard Munch- Norway

Another mother  of four very active children  (one in college) wrote: The stay home order has been an utter blessing for the kids and I. The change has resulted in a much more peaceful home and we have also appreciated the change in pace.  I was already homeschooling the younger two girls, but now we are not running around  5 days a week.

Our days and evenings have been filled with family bonding time; board games, card games, baking, long walks and exploring our garden.  Since we cannot go to the store, we are working on making gifts for family and friends for special occasions.  Handmade soaps, knitted items, floral collages and baked goods have been appreciated by family and friends.  We have participated in "drive by" birthday greetings for friends and have developed a special relationship with our next door neighbors, whom my children now call Grandma & Grandpa.  

We have been able to participate in Mass at the Cathedral through VEMO and have found an online adoration website.  Sunday school has continued through Zoom and emailed lessons after the books were mailed to the house.  I have been reading saint books to the younger two girls as they work on puzzles and we have finished one on Joan of Arc, Saint Vincent de Paul and are currently reading one on Saint Francis.