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Running for the Poor!

This is my fundraiser for Team Our Lady of the Angels 2019 campaign. Please help me reach my goal and help this great cause!

Team Mission of Our Lady of the Angels will be fundraising through the
2019 Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Shamrock Shuffle!

Mission of Our Lady of
the Angels exists to provide material and spiritual support to the West
Humboldt Park, Chicago- one of the most challenged neighborhoods in the United
States. The Mission feeds about 1000 families a month, provides additional
material and pastoral support to families, youth, and senior citizens, and,
most importantly, brings the love of Christ to a neighborhood
desperately in need of hope. 

Funds will be used to complete
the renovation of the Mission’s new outreach center to the poor in West
Humboldt Park, Chicago. The new outreach center will provide the very needed space for the
Mission’s donation storage/ distribution, a handicapped accessible kitchen/
dining room, meeting space for neighborhood and retreat groups, and a 60+
bedroom retreat center for volunteers and retreat guests. 

Information about the
Mission at www.missionola.com

Information about the
outreach center renovation project at https://missionola.com/school.html 

We need your help to complete
this project! Be part of the miracle that is TEAM OLA!

The Mission is a 501(c)(3)
and relies entirely on the donations of private donors.

Running for My Mother!  Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, Marytown

Mama was diagnosed
with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in her late 20’s. MS is a life-altering condition
in which there is no cure. Symptoms
include chronic fatigue, muscular pain, bladder/bowel dysfunction, gait and
coordination difficulties, blurred/double vision and cognitive impairments. As
the disease progresses, many patients experience emotional or mental health
issues, requiring further adaption and change.

By God’s grace, a strong
faith and willful determination to keep the disease at bay, mama spent many
years living a productive, fruitful and independent life. Other than occasional fatigue, the disease was
manageable for decades. For many years mama worked as a Corporate Benefits
Manager for Sweetheart Cup Corporation after which she retired at the age of
52. The years following retirement were filled with great blessings. Mama cared for Grandma and redirected her
focus and energy towards the church and local community. Mama taught second grade religious
education, served as a Eucharistic minister, supported children in foster care
through the CASA system, served at a local homeless shelter and visited the elderly
at a nearby nursing home. Mama also
became involved in Garden Therapy for seniors at the DuPage Convalescent Center
in Wheaton. Over the years, mama felt the love of God
working in her life, especially regarding her condition. Mama was certain her prayers were being heard
and answered. Mama had a simple request: never lose her ability to walk
and thus remain independent. Other than
her inability to no longer drive a car, mama’s independence had been a great blessing
from God. Many patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis are wheel chair bound
at an early age, with some confined to a bed.

As Christians, we know
that God is always in control. In His providential plan, life as we know it can
change in a matter of seconds. October 19, 2017 mama met with her Neurologist.
The outcome of her annual visit was favorable. Other than the recent use of a
cane for balance, there were no new symptoms or progression of those existing. As mama left the office she recalls the last
words of the neurologist: “everything will be fine as long as you don’t fall and
break your hip.”   November 17, 2017,
less than a month later, mama fell and broke her femur/hip. What followed was something mama was convinced
would never happen. What followed was going
to be the hidden and sometimes unforeseen blessings of unanswered prayers. After an extended hospital stay and eleven weeks at a rehabilitation facility mama came home. Unfortunately, having multiple sclerosis compounds
the recovery process of any type of illness or injury. Many times it means an
exacerbation of existing symptoms and or the progression of new symptoms.

Mama’s rehabilitation
included learning to walk again and a modified way of swallowing.
Mama also had to regain some of the cognitive impairments that resulted from
the progression of the disease. Daily
sessions of physical, occupational and speech therapy resulted in mama’s
ability to walk short distances with a medical device and resume her favorite
foods with slight swallowing techniques. Mama doesn’t remember much of what
transpired over the course of those eleven weeks but I remember.
I remember a strong, faith filled woman determined to walk
again. And by God’s grace she succeeded.

So what is life like
for mama since her fall? Mama is able to
walk with a walker and move about within her home. Praise God. Mama is able to frequent the use of
a restroom with assistance. Praise God. Mama
is able to eat and drink with slight modifications and under
supervision. Praise God. Mama graduated
from a hospital to a regular bed. Praise God. Mama is able to shower with assistance.
Praise God. However, she sure misses
those nightly bubble baths. Mama is no
longer able to cook yet has her own personal chef. Praise God. Mama is no longer able to clean or
manage daily chores, yet has a cleaning person. Praise God. Mama is no longer able to putter in the garden,
yet has a gardener. Praise God. Mama is no
longer able to dress herself yet is still able to maintain her own sense of
style through her fashionable hats. Praise
God. Mama has difficulty reading yet still has the gift of hearing and being
read too. Praise God. A favorite pastime, Mama is still able to travel but
requires more time to prepare. Does the hotel have handicap rooms available? Praise
God. Mama is able to visit friends and family once wheelchair
accessibility and mobility considerations are taken into account.

For mama, life now
means complete dependence upon others to care for her daily needs. Mama is now dependent upon others for participation in the many activities she once enjoyed independently.  The life mama once had changed in a single moment when she tripped on a
curb. How often many of us take for
granted the tasks we perform daily without any thought. How often we take for granted the brief moments
we have to ourselves. How often we take
for granted that we can take care of simple and mindless tasks without the help
of others? Unfortunately, the realities of living with the progression of
Multiple Sclerosis can strip a person of such independence.

However, if you asked mama
about the changes in her life you would not hear any complaining,
sadness or yearnings for her life of independence. “Growing in holiness
requires more than having faith in God. We must also willfully embrace
suffering and ‘the crosses’ that befalls upon us as part of God’s plan. Christ
does not desire our faith alone, but our faith in action which includes faith
in suffering.” (Phil 1:29).

Jesus carried out His mission
through the cross. He suffered
physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, all out of pure love and
will of His father. Mama’s strength and
courage comes from our Lord. Through the Holy Eucharist “Jesus’ grace is
sufficient, for His power is made perfect in our weakness. If we are weak, we are strong in Christ.” (2
Cor. 12:9-1). Fortitude, a gift of the
Holy Spirit eases the burden to bear the suffering of our crosses. As Christians, we know life is full of
suffering, trials and tribulations, all of which we have to endure as we make
our journey home to God. However, it is
through these hardships in which we make reparation for our sins and those of
others. “Peter warns us that we may have
to suffer various trials. Peter does not want us to be discouraged by this
reality, but understand that such suffering purifies us and prepares us for
union with God.” 1 Peter 1:6. Many of the saints willingly embraced suffering
and most prayed for it.

Today, society finds
it difficult to understand suffering from an all good and loving God. Today’s culture seeks worldly pleasures and
comfort. Today’s culture has forgotten
who Jesus is and what He came to do. Today’s culture has forgotten what Jesus
taught. “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his
cross daily and follow me.” (Lk 9:23). Sadly, today’s culture has buried the cross. Today’s culture has forgotten that without the
cross there is only death and of which there can be no salvation.

At some point in life
everyone will experience suffering in one form or another. There are the crosses of poverty, illness, broken
relationships, separation from loved ones through death, job loss, etc. However there is beauty to be found in
suffering for it’s a sharing in Gods great plan to redeem the world. When we endure suffering with a joyful spirit
we partake in the cross of Jesus. When we offer up our suffering and sacrifice
we share in the salvation of others. We
suffer because we love Christ. What a wonderful purpose and meaning suffering gives
to each one’s life if accepted and offered up. Being a disciple means to be
Christ like. Nothing else makes us more
like Christ, than the cross. Suffering
well can also mean strengthening, developing, and molding us for something
greater that we will be called upon to do by our Lord later in life. Or it’s an
opportunity to be in the right place at the right time to do God’s work.
Perhaps we meet someone in a doctor’s office that we would not have met
otherwise. It is through Divine Providence that we met this person either for
their benefit, ours or countless other people who we will never know or
meet. Think of the impact one encounter
can make on a whole group or better yet generation.

Hard as it may be to
accept, suffering is a gift from God. It
is through suffering in which we become most united to Christ Crucified. To place the cross in front of our life and
leave the world behind means to trust in the one who gave us life. The way of
the cross is one that leads to trust in Jesus and His plan of salvation. It is the way to the One who promises the way
to the fullness of life and true happiness.
Our Sorrowful Mother Mary was the first disciple to suffer from her
‘yes’ to the Angel Gabriel to Calvary where she remained with her Son at the
foot of the cross.

If you asked mama
which life is easier, more comfortable, more pleasurable, before or after the
fall, she would obviously say before.
However, if you asked mama which life has increased her faith and trust
in our Lord? United and conformed more fully to the image of Christ? Is less
self seeking and more Him seeking? Is helping bring others to Christ and aiding
in their salvation, and will bring about her salvation? Mama would most certainly say life after the
fall.

In retrospect, the fall
has been one of mama’s greatest blessings. Life after the fall has brought her
in closer relationship with her family.
Life after the falls has brought mama to daily mass, time with Jesus in
Eucharistic Adoration and frequenting the sacraments of Christ’s Holy
Church. How valuable to the soul is the
life of grace given through the Holy Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. How valuable to a soul are the intercessory
prayers offered for the salvation of souls. How valuable is the morning
offering prayer in which pain and suffering are offered up to our Lord for the
Holy Souls in Purgatory. Life after the fall means prayers and sacrifices for
Holy Priests, a Renewal and Sanctification of the Catholic Church instituted by
Jesus Christ and special dedication to St. Joseph. Being born on the Feast Day
of Our Lady of Sorrows, life after the fall has brought about a special devotion
to Our Blessed Mother and a wonderful opportunity to become an advocate for the
unborn through the 40 days of Life Campaign.
Life after the fall is good because God is good all the time.

Let us never lose
sight of the grace and blessings that come through the cross. After all, the
worst of all suffering was aligned with the most beautiful and fruitful event
in all of human history. We call it Good Friday. Jesus suffered death on a cross; a tragedy in
which good came about. It was through
the unconditional love and self-sacrifice of one Man in which the gates of
Heaven were opened for all who choose to take up their cross and follow Him.

Mama, may you continue
to rejoice and persevere in your sufferings knowing it will continue producing endurance, character and hope (Romans 5:3-4) so that when our
Lord calls you home you can say with St. Paul “I have competed well; I have
finished the race; I have kept the faith.”

Mama, I love you to Heaven and Back.