As the month that celebrates the maternal strength of mothers and the Blessed Virgin Mary blooms, we are reminded that the most profound "yes" a mother can give is not just to the child she carries, but to the cross she may one day have to carry for them.
When you sit in a darkened theater, you know the play is the result of months of rehearsal. You see the sets and understand they were built by human hands.
Please bear with me for a brief laying of the foundation - because it leads to one of those breath-catching wow moments that seems especially fitting as Lent draws near.
My husband was raised by his grandmother. After raising her own ten children, she took in him and his two older brothers when their parents couldn’t raise them.
A couple of weeks ago, someone I deeply care about was navigating a season of intense, internal struggle. The stress was invisible, yet she wore it so visibly.
Our family of 10, (2 parents, 7 children and 1 grandchild) had outgrown our family car, a beige six-passenger Chevrolet Impala. My parents advertised our car for sale so they could buy a used suburban they’d found at a car dealership.
Listening to a homily last weekend, my thoughts swirled – initially in full agreement with what Father was saying. Then “yes, but” popped into my head.