Mothers feel 'unconditional love in both directions'

By Susan Bailey | CFP Correspondent

As Mother’s Day approaches, families scramble to find just the right gift for Mom to show their love and appreciation for all she has done for them. Catholic mothers know that maternity is more than a job; it is a vocation modeled after Mary, the mother of God, requiring sacrificial love.
For older mothers with grown children, the greatest gift family members can give is time.
“The empty nest syndrome is real,” said Kathleen LaPlante, mother of two sons and a parishioner at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Worcester. “I miss being with them regularly.”
Ms. LaPlante became a mother at age 27. Her sons are Kegan, 30, and Alden, 28. They remain close despite the fact that Kegan travels around the country. Alden is married and Ms. LaPlante welcomes her daughter-in-law, making the family larger “with more love to go around.”     She called her Catholic faith the foundation of her motherhood. “Without it, I could not have been as available to my two sons as I was. It was my anchor, and therefore, their anchor.”
She cites the rosary as her lifeline, particularly through difficult times. One such time was during the illness and death of the stepmother of her sons.
“She was diagnosed with brain cancer and died within 9 to 10 months,” said Ms. LaPlante. “It shook us all. Prayer and service were instrumental in keeping our relationships strong and in helping her bear the torturous passage she had to travel. It led to me questioning life, death, suffering. I am still wondering about it all, but my faith keeps me grounded.”
Ms. LaPlante counsels young mothers to appreciate every moment despite the hard work and sacrifice.
“It really does go by fast,” she said.
She also recommends finding a way to ask others for help, even if family members are not nearby, and to “give yourself a break from the demands of parenthood.”
Motherhood to her was a blessing, “watching my sons grow emotionally and spiritually, and experiencing unconditional love in both directions.”
Chris Farmer, the mother of two daughters (Katie, 22 and Nikki, 16) and a member of the community at St. Luke the Evangelist Parish in Westborough has found motherhood to be “the most profound, exciting, life-changing  transformation I could ever hope for.”
Originally career-minded, motherhood had not been in the forefront of her mind. “But when I married Dave at 29, I knew that a family was in store, if it was God’s will,” said Ms. Farmer who had her first child at 33.
As a cradle-Catholic, Ms. Farmer believes such an upbringing influenced her as a mother. But she also maintains that her maternal role has shaped her faith.
“Motherhood brought me back to where I was always meant to be, where my mother has asked me to be: “To stay close to God.”
Doing so would prove crucial during and after a horrific car accident involving the entire family.
“My minivan carrying all four of us was hit from behind by an 18-wheeler truck on the Mass. Turnpike,” she said. “Once everything came to a dead stop and we knew we were whole, we tried to calm the girls by holding hands in the center of the van and immediately gave thanks and praise to God for protecting us and saving our lives.”
Although Ms. Farmer was to suffer more serious, chronic injuries, she relied upon God’s grace to see her through the four-year recovery.
“I have to live with a new normal – but God gives us the grace to move forward and accept what we can’t change,” she said.
Ms. Farmer believes it is important for mothers to focus on growing their relationship with God first, then with their husbands, “and from there, love will grow the abundant fruits of motherhood.”
While she encourages taking advice from others, she emphasizes prayer and discernment: “With your husband, create your own identity in parenthood … pray as a family and try not to compare yourself with others.”
Gloria Josephs, director of youth ministry at St. Luke’s, identifies herself as a mother, never regretting her decision to give up teaching to become a stay-at-home mom.
“I gave unconditional love and 100% of myself to raising our children. Now it is coming back to me one thousand times better in that these three grown children are amazing people. So loving, giving and caring.”
The Josephs children include Laura, 32 and recently married; Dana, 30, and Michael, 27. Ms. Josephs was 27 when she had Laura, but not before experiencing a miscarriage.
“I miscarried the same day Christa McAuliffe and the Challenger blew up,” she said. “I was sitting on my couch with my feet up and it all happened at the same time. I will never forget that day!”
Although she experienced other miscarriages, along with a difficult delivery of her last child, Ms. Josephs and her husband found solace in God.
“It was very hard on me and David, but our faith got us through and we were blessed to have three healthy children,” she said.
Ms. Josephs believes that the decision to embrace motherhood involves stepping out with trust in God.
“I would tell young women to leap into motherhood. There is no perfect time, no training. All you need is love and to give love.” She added, “If you could stay home for the first year that is priceless. So much happens in that first year of life.”
Believing that “God is love, and unconditional love at that,” she credits her faith with playing “a huge part in my vocation of motherhood.”

– The Gracy Olmstead quote comes from “The Federalist,” “We’re Talking About Motherhood Wrong. It’s a Vocation, Not A Job,” published Aug. 11, 2017.





Ministry conceived in a mother's love shares rosary with troops

By Christina Galeone | CFP Correspondent
    
WORCESTER – Cecelia Mason finds wisdom and comfort in a quote from the Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. The renowned archbishop once said: “The rosary is the best therapy for these distraught, unhappy, fearful and frustrated souls, precisely because it involves the simultaneous use of three powers: the physical, the vocal and the spiritual…”
While her son, Raymond Mason Jr., was serving in the U.S. Navy as a Reserve Petty Officer 1st Class, Mrs. Mason discovered that the iconic archbishop was right. Her devotion to praying the rosary was indeed therapeutic.     “As I look back at the many hours I spent praying the rosary while my son was sent in harm’s way, I find this is how God reeled me into something that would change forever the lives of moms – including my own.”
That life-changing “something” that she refers to is Operation Ranger Rosary. It’s the ministry that she started on Feb. 14, 2008. Meeting once a month at her parish, Blessed Sacrament, in the Phelan Center, Mrs. Mason and other dedicated volunteers make rosaries for members of our military.
Because the rosaries are primarily given to active members of the military, the ministry volunteers assemble the rosaries by using crucifixes, nylon cords and tan plastic beads that blend in with desert uniforms and won’t jingle. Over the years, the group has sent thousands of rosaries to military chaplains, throughout the world, who have distributed them to members of the Armed Forces. Many rosaries have also been delivered to patients in Veterans’ hospitals and sent to various Massachusetts police departments.
While the ministry – which relies on donations to buy the supplies for the handmade rosaries and the postage to ship them – has provided many brave men and women with inspiration, hope and faith, Mrs. Mason noted that it has also made a substantial difference in the lives of their moms.  
“It gives them the inspiration not to give up; the rosary has strengthened their faith, giving them courage to proceed in life with their goals,” Mrs. Mason said. “At times, Operation Ranger Rosary will have a mom from a service member come in to learn how to make this combat rosary. Instead of fear, their eyes fill with tears, knowing that the rosary she made for her son or daughter is the protection and comfort needed.”
And the ministry has touched her heart and soul in a special way as well.
“Operation Ranger Rosary has enriched my life by instilling peace in me, enlarging my circle of friends and allowing me to help others.”