Dear Class of 2019 grads and families, We celebrate your graduation from Georgetown Visitation this June! As we look to a new school year, we will no longer automatically include you in our weekly Loving Life, Living Jesus recipient list. However, if you would like to continue receiving these reflections, simply sign up here so you won't miss a single week of how members of the Visitation family - near and far - are Living Jesus! "Let us love the good pleasure of God and see his will in all that happens to us, embracing it lovingly." - St. Jane de Chantal Showing Strength by Robert Paxton, parent of Cate '17, Marie Clare '19, and Annie '21 After procrastinating way too long in writing this week's Loving Life, Living Jesus installment, I found my inspiration during the Father's Day Mass at St. Jane de Chantal in Bethesda (how eerie and fitting is that!) when the priest repeated the following passage from Romans 5, verses 1-5: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. As I hit my "middle years," I know that we can emerge from the other side of bad situations as stronger, wiser, and more compassionate individuals. When I was younger, though, I didn't have that sense. I am the youngest of four and while I lovingly embraced that coveted spot of being looked after by my grandparents, parents, and older siblings, that didn't stop my inexplicable need to look after my middle brother. I will add that he really didn't need another caretaker, as our parents were fully engaged and always there for us. But given Ralph's penchant for running out in the backyard with a 9 iron during thunderstorms just to "see what might happen," you can see why I had a heightened level of concern. (Or perhaps it was his love of running after water moccasins and blue racers with that same 9 iron because he loved the "chase.") Regardless, my big brother's adventurous nature clashed with my cautious one and suggested to me that he might need a little extra "tending to," even from a younger brother. As a teenager, Ralph was diagnosed with a chronic condition that resulted in major surgery as a young adult. I learned then that my "need" to look out for him was misplaced. Despite the extreme pain he often experienced and the medications he was on, I never heard him complain, never saw him down, never saw him give up. That might have been because I was so anxious on his behalf. Every trip to the doctor, I worried. When he went into surgery and I was 700 miles away, I worried even more. I never saw Ralph worry, though. He has persevered, continuing to embrace life and to move forward. When his son was diagnosed with the same chronic condition and later a cancer diagnosis, no doubt there was worry and concern all around. But with his faith and the prayers and support of family and friends, they persevered. My nephew, much like his father, continued to move ahead, finishing college (and even riding his bike to classes across a sprawling college campus) all the while going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments. The strength they showed has spoken to me in a powerful way: their lives provide strong witness to the spirit of St. Jane's embracing God's will lovingly, not as martyrs, not as survivors, but as ones who live their lives fully, whatever may come their way. Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (St. Margaret Mary Alacoque) O Heart of Love, I put all my trust in you. For I fear all things from my own weakness, but I hope for all things from your goodness. |