Author: Julie Lotarski Page 2 of 11

Today is 3/21 aka World Down Syndrome Day.  The reason is because individuals with Down Syndrome have 3 copies of chromosome 21.  You may have noticed people today wearing silly socks and that is for showing support for 3/21.  Since chromosomes look like socks, we rock the socks on 3-21. 

Over the years I have had the privilege of witnessing a very special connection between the Virgin Mary and my good friend’s 10-year-old daughter Sammy.  Sammy has Down Syndrome and when she sees an image of the Virgin Mary her face lights up.  I have a Mary doll at my house and whenever she comes over, she manages to find it within minutes.  Once she does, the Mary doll never leaves her side.  I have contemplated giving her the doll, but I selfishly want it to stay at my house so that I can experience the joy in seeing this special connection again and again.    

It is said that the Virgin Mary holds a special connection to those with Down Syndrome due to her experience as the mother of Jesus.  Although those with Down Syndrome are not born without sin, their souls are about as pure, and innocent as can be.  Some say that Mary’s most difficult pain was not seeing her son’s death, but perhaps in the constant mockery he endured.  Parents of individuals with Down Syndrome unfortunately might meet a similar fate if they see their child being mistreated.

Genesis teaches us that God created man in His own image.  This is often referred to as “Imago Dei.”  A friend told me recently that when she looks in the eyes of a person with Down Syndrome, she feels like she is looking straight at God.  As if their radiant holiness is illuminating through their pure and sacred hearts.  Perhaps that is why Mary is so connected to those with Down Syndrome.  For they represent the face of the Triune God.  Now imagine the possibilities if we could realize that too.   

Prayer To The Blessed Virgin Mary For Her Children With Down Syndrome

Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, you were given to us as a mother and teacher. Come and teach us through the Lord’s grace to be the best mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and friends that we can for your children with Down syndrome. Help us to accept these children as children so special to you, with gratitude as a beautiful gift from God. Make us faithful to God’s will. Guide us with your motherly wisdom, fortitude, gentleness, and most of all, love, so as to help nurture your beautiful children. Place your mantle around them as a protection from all harm and evil. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, Our Lord, in whom we place all our trust. Amen.

We are told our God is just which is a relief because humans are obsessed with justice.  But what we think is just and what God thinks is just may be very different things.  If someone hurts us, we want them to “get what’s coming to them.”  We may even cheer and feel happy when something bad happens to said person.  But is that what God wants? 

I’m not going to lie, there are certain people in this world (sex traffickers, child abusers, murderers) I would prefer to end up in hell.  Because that would be logical and that would seem fair.  But I fear that’s not how God rolls…

We are told not to worry about justice, to leave it up to God.  But that’s easier said than done right?  I read somewhere that the best thing we can do for justice is to pray.  So, if you know someone being treated unfairly, or your heart breaks thinking of all the innocent children of the world being misused, please pray with me.        

 Lord help us to fight injustice in the right way, may we always look to you as the solution. Oh Lord, that there would be more and more hearts transformed by your grace. May this time of injustice produce opportunities for conversation to talk about your grace, mercy, and forgiveness. 

I like to think that if St. Joseph were a modern-day celebrity, his catch phrase would be, “Words are Cheap.”  The foster-father of Jesus has no recorded words in the Gospels and that’s not a coincidence.  I believe God was using St. Joseph to teach us a valuable lesson.  The age old, “actions speak larger than words” message.  The words of St. Joseph don’t matter because his actions tell us everything we need to know.  God entrusted St. Joseph to keep Mary and young Jesus safe. 

Have you ever wondered how the physical delivery of Jesus took place in Bethlehem?  No?  Just me? Okay.  Were any midwives present with Mary in the stable?  Did the innkeeper bring hot water and towels?  It did not become customary for fathers to be present in U.S. birthing rooms until the 1960’s, but what if St. Joseph was the first modern husband holding Mary’s hand, helping her push, and assisting in the delivery?  Obviously, we have no proof of this, but I think it seems plausible enough. 

Today is March 19^th, the feast day of St. Joseph as Husband of Mary.  (May 1^st is the feast day for Joseph the Worker).  Your church may have had a special sweets table after mass with patrons wearing red.  That is because the celebration of St. Joseph’s Day began in Sicily, where St. Joseph is believed to have saved the people from famine.  So, tradition began that the faithful wear red and celebrate with a feast.  I have heard that Sicily still celebrates with parades and entertainment for St. Joseph.  (Husband, I think we ought to partake in an Italian pilgrimage in honor of your namesake- wink, wink).    

St. Joseph is invoked for aid in selling houses.  So much in fact, Rocket Homes wrote about it in their blog.  If you weren’t aware, home sellers often bury a St. Joseph statue upside near their ‘For Sale’ sign in their yard.  Why upside down?  To incentivize the saint for quick assistance so that he can be turned right side up. 

The years between the Nativity and Jesus’ teaching are called ‘The Hidden Years’ and other than the ‘Finding in the Temple’ story, we don’t know much about the Holy Family during this time.  But if we use our imagination, it is easy to picture Jesus having the most wonderful childhood.  I bet St. Joseph was a great dad.  Calm, patient, strong and steady.  Probably whittling wooden toys for him as a child and then teaching him carpentry as he grew older.  Could there be more loving parents than Joseph and Mary? 

Have I piqued your interest in St. Joseph?  Do you want to know more about this great saint but are saddened by the lack of information we have about him?  Perhaps, his catch phrase ought to be, ‘Always leave them wanting more.’    

The final two weeks of Lent are also known as “Passiontide.”  Simply put it is reserved for us to focus on the passion and death of Christ.  During this time the Church’s liturgy becomes more somber and a more sorrowful atmosphere is created by veiling statues, crucifixes, and artwork in the church.  A “fasting of the eyes” one might say.  As we are reminded of Christ’s perfect surrender, we are encouraged to surrender ourselves to Christ.  My students might say the faithful are “locking in” during this time as it brings us a heightened awareness of the Lenten sacrifice.    

During “Passiontide” the Passion of our Lord should be our sole focus.  St. John Chrysostom would encourage us to “double-down” our alms and works of mercy.  Many of us enter the Lenten season with a plethora of good intentions, but you know what they say about good intentions…

The Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday) will be here before we know it.  Let’s not wait until the eleventh hour to prepare ourselves.  Perhaps you vowed to increase your fasting, charity, or scripture reading.  Welp, now’s the time to do it.  We only have two weeks left. 

Racehorses wear blinders to maintain focus and improve performance.  During Passiontide it is time to put on our metaphorical blinders and home in on the altar.  Jesus chose to save us instead of Himself.  How might we make ourselves worthy as we walk with Him on the road to Golgotha?        

I have an aunt who is a sister.  My husband has an uncle who is a brother.  Just another example of how well we compliment each other.  No, but seriously, I have never known of anyone else who had a member of their family join the religious order. 

As a little girl in a Catholic school, I vaguely remember hearing a spiel encouraging us to grow up to become priests, sisters, brothers, etc.  I’m sure we all rolled our eyes and thought, “Yeah, right!”  (I know I did…) 

Today at mass we listened to 3^rd year seminarian Peter Davis speak about his call to serve God.  He was attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign at the time.  I thought about all the other opportunities he must have had being at a big ten school like that.  I imagined what I was doing my freshman year at college, and what my husband was doing back at his U of I days.  Needless to say, listening to this smart, articulate, young man speak about his devotion to the church I was very impressed and also grateful. 

Grateful because we are facing a priest shortage as we see priests working far past retirement age or we recruit priests from other countries to help close the gaps.  As parishioners, we are quick to criticize if we cannot understand a priest’s accent or find their homily ‘missing the mark,’ yet we don’t offer much in the way of helping this situation.  If we are not willing to enter into religious life ourselves, the least we could do is pray for those who do. 

Honestly, Peter Davis, I’m rooting for you, and I vow to pray for you as well!

I was reading through various prayers for vocations and below is my favorite.

Lord, You told us that “The harvest indeed is great but the laborers are few.  Pray, therefore, the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest.”  We ask You to strengthen us as we follow the vocation to which You have called us.  We pray particularly for those called to serve as priests, sisters, brothers and deacons:

Those whom You have called, Those You are calling now, Those You will call in the future.

May they be open and responsive to the call of serving Your people.  We ask this through Christ, our Lord, Amen. 

Today we celebrated our son’s 5^th birthday.  His current interest at the moment is wild cats so that was the theme of the party.  Which got me thinking about the biblical use of lions which I wanted to write about tonight, but I will need more time to research that topic. 

It is easy to get carried away with birthday parties these days.  As a mom I put a lot of pressure on myself to give my boys the perfect birthday.  In fact, every few months I joke (or maybe half joke) to my husband that if anything should ever happen to me, I expect him to hire a party planner for all our sons’ birthday, graduation, etc. parties.  I do not mess around when it comes to party planning.  In my opinion, every party must have a theme accompanied by a Pinterest board with a minimum of 20 pins.  Choice of food should coordinate with said theme (complete with cutesy labels to ensure the guests understand your thought process).  For example, it’s not a coincidence you chose to serve blackberries with cantaloupe, it’s obviously “Tiger Fruit.”  Wrap it all up with an adorable parting gift and you’ve hit it out of the park!  Never mind the fact that eight hours have passed by, and you just now realize you haven’t had time to pee, you just achieved a Shutterfly book worthy party! 

Years from now I doubt my son will remember the “tiger tails” I served at his 5^th birthday party.  I mean I will only because the amount of time I spent making them when they turned out so poorly is just plain embarrassing.  Could there have been a better use for my time?  Most likely.  Still, I hope when my boys grow older and they think of all the time and effort I spent trying to make their birthday parties special, they will smile and remember how loved they are. 

As nice as treats and presents and parties are, at the end of the day they are just another example of excessive consumerism.  (Even if they are low-key adorable!).  So, I thought I would take a moment in my writing tonight to bring God back into the birthday party scene because our eternal salvation should be the “party” we are focused on the most.  Therefore, I wouldn’t appreciate if everyone reading this post would take a few moments to say the following prayer for my son on his 5^th birthday. 

God our Father, the birth of your Son Jesus Christ brought great joy to Mary and Joseph. We give thanks to You for MJ, whose birthday we celebrate today. May he ever grow in your faith, hope, and love. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Just to clarify last night’s “angry post,” I don’t blame God for curing one person and not another.  Although I do blame those who contribute to a misinterpretation that individuals are rewarded/ cured because of their own merits.  We have no idea what God’s plan is or why bad things happen to good people. 

There is so much about God’s plan I don’t understand, and I desperately want to.  Which is why the song ‘Stay Strong’ by Danny Gokey is one of my favorites.  Last night I went to bed angry.  Not with God but with society.  Frustrated that I couldn’t understand God’s will and feeling like society doesn’t understand me.  When I woke up this morning, I immediately started singing this song in my head.  Perhaps it was a nudge/ reminder/ comfort sent to me from above.     

Below are the lyrics if you would like to reflect upon them. 

Stay strong my friends. 

Stay Strong

By: Dany Gokey

I’ve been waiting for breakthrough, I’ve been praying for change.

I know You’ll work it all for good but how long will that take?

I’ve been asking for healing and I’m not gonna lie

I’m ready for the miracle, God, let it be this time. 

But if I never see the promise on this side of the grave

My hope might be shaken but my faith with never break.

Because I know the day is coming when You’ll right all of the wrong

So I’ll praise You in the waiting and my faith will stay strong.

God, You taught me to trust You, You showed me how to believe.

You’re the author and the finisher of what You start in me.

So I’m not gonna doubt it, I’m gonna hold onto peace.

‘Cause if I have You and nothing else, I still have everything.

‘Cause if I never see the promise on this side of the grave.

My hope might be shaken but my faith will never break.

Because I know the day is coming when You’ll right all of the wrong.

So I’ll praise You in the waiting and my faith will stay strong. 

I’ll count it joy when I am tested.

‘Cause You bring beauty from my pain, it’s never wasted.

But if I never see the promise on this side of the grave.

My hope might be shaken but my faith will never break.

Because I know the day is coming when You’ll right all of the wrong.

So I’ll praise You in the waiting and my faith will stay strong.

Because I know the day is coming when You’ll right all of the wrong.

So I’ll praise You in the waiting and my faith will stay strong.

Will stay strong. 

The UN estimates 14,000 children die every day worldwide.  So, if you have one of those, ‘my child had stage 4 cancer, we prayed, and then everything was fine” stories, go f–k yourself. 

There is the exception and then there is the rule.  Most children diagnosed with stage 4 cancer will die, no matter how hard their parents pray.  That is the rule.  Yet we focus on the exception.  The glamorized, against all odds stories.  “Stories” because that is what they are, or a more fitting title might be “fairy tales” because that better fits their likelihood. 

I have really been vibing with Hallow this Lenten season until tonight when I began listening to a Miss Linda Maliani’s “Surrender Story.”  Linda and her husband were lukewarm Catholics when they discovered their two-year-old daughter Alyssa had stage 4 neuroblastoma.  Long story short, Linda hears God’s voice, meets Mother Theresa, and the tumor disappears.  Not only that but Alyssa defeats the odds again at age 14 when diagnosed with a dangerous heart condition.  Then again Alyssa survives four pregnancies doctors recommended she abort because of said heart condition.  Am I supposed to be impressed by this surrender story?  A family gets everything they want and in turn they praise God for all His glory and become activated Catholics? 

You know what would have been an impressive surrender story?  Interviewing the mother, whose daughter DIDN’T survive cancer and still surrendered to God.  Where is that story Hallow?  Remember, it is EASY to have faith when you get the outcome you pray for and nothing EASY is ever impressive. 

So, in conclusion if I have one more made-for-tv movie miracle plotline shoved down my throat, I’m going to have an aneurism.  JUST BECAUSE YOU PRAY FOR SOEMTHING, DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE GOING TO GET IT.  So please stop selling that notion.  And until someone can offer a better consolation than, “It wasn’t God’s will,” take your miracle and run!  You wouldn’t sit and eat filet mignon in front of a homeless person, so don’t broadcast your survival story to all the parents who have buried a child.  That’s just bad manners.  I’m not sure what these stories accomplish other than spread false hope and make the parents of previously mentioned 14,000 children feel horrible about themselves, but hopefully one day in the near future we will look back at these stories and think, “That didn’t age well, did it?”             

When I think of ordinary evil, I think narcissists.  Incapable of love or empathy, with no hope for a cure, how else can it be described?  ‘Narcissist’ is a term that gets thrown around a lot these days but, in all seriousness, we can all probably name at least one individual we have encountered in our lives that fits the bill.  If you start reading about narcissism you will find that there is nothing that can be done to change or help a narcissist, the only solution is separation.  So how do we protect ourselves when we cannot separate?  Well, the opposite of the devil is said to be St. Michael the Archangel.  Therefore, the archangels are an excellent source to turn to for protection from evil. 

St. Raphael the archangel is revered as a healer.  He is identified as the angel who “healed” the earth when it was defiled by the sins of the fallen angels. Who better then to protect/ heal us from the evils of narcissism. 

Prayer for Defense Against All Evil

Send me your Champion, the glorious archangel Saint Raphael, to heal me of all my spiritual and physical afflictions in the HOLY NAME OF JESUS, Most Holy Mother, Queen of the Angels and Archangels. I pray he will keep Satan and all other evil spirits at bay. Be Saint Raphael, my guardian and guide as I travel through life. Pray for us, wonderful Saint Raphael the Archangel, bringer of blessings!

Amen.

I don’t know if there is anything more humbling than motherhood.  As soon as you start to feel like you have it under control, your kids serve you up a nice piece of humble pie.  If you want to feel good about yourself, keep reading.

Tonight, I was patting myself on the back for being a super star mom.  Pick kids up from day care with zero tantrums, check!  Feed snack, check!  Load kiddos back in the car and run errands to Hobby Lobby, Aldi and pick up dinner from McDonalds, check, check, check!  I bring the boys back inside; we wash our hands and in the 10 seconds I step outside to bring in some groceries I return to a hysterical boy staring at the dog eating his hamburger next to a toddler dumping out happy meal boxes.  No problem, I’ll just shove a screaming toddler into his car seat, drive back to McDonalds to replace said hamburger all while stress-eating an entire large fry by myself.

I don’t even know what to say most days other than, “I’m so tired.”  My coworker offers comfort and reminds me that these are the hardest years.  Still, I need to survive, so, I thought tonight I thought Id spend some time looking up “prayers for tired moms.” 

If I stroke a chord with you, feel free to pray the following: 

Heavenly Father, I come to you today, humble and exhausted, and ask that you carry my burdens. I pray that you lift my weary spirit and fill me with your love and peace so that I may be restored and renewed in body and mind. Lord, pour your heavenly nourishment into my soul and give me the energy to sustain myself in my role as a mother.

https://www.imom.com/5-prayers-for-the-overwhelmed-mom/