'Dear Friends' April 2012
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Week of April 16,
2012
Prayer Requests
'Jesus, I Trust in You'
Dear Friends:
One of the ways some parishes marked
Divine Mercy Sunday (the Sunday after Easter) was to
place a large image of Jesus --
 "Divine
Mercy" -- in the sanctuary. At the foot of the image is
the prayer "Jesus, I Trust in You." Maybe a caregiver
can't help but notice it doesn't say "Jesus, I
understand You" or "Jesus, I always like the Father's
will for me and for my loved one."
As you well know, we aren't going to always
understand or like what our lives on earth include. It's
by trusting in Jesus, by accepting "your will be done on
earth as it is in heaven," that we open ourselves up to
the graces that can help us get through those times of
not understanding, of not liking.
And, certainly, the same is true for
care-receivers.
A verse from
yesterday's responsorial psalm offers an encouraging
note: "I was hard pressed and I was falling, but the
Lord helped me."
- - -
This
week we're so pleased to welcome Alida D. of Michigan,
Robert B. of Australia, and Kristine B. of New Jersey as
the newest members of the Friends of St. John the
Caregiver. Please keep them and their intentions in your
prayers. They have have promised to pray for you and
yours.
And we
cordially invite you to join
the Friends of St. John
the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include
YourAgingParent.com and
CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about
becoming a member
here.
No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that
you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include
caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both
(including quite a few former caregivers).
You can:
sign up on-line here
or call us toll-free at
1-800-392-JOHN (5646)
or
print and mail an application form.
God
bless you!
Monica and Bill
To
contact us
To
join
FSJC
To make a
donation
To view or make
prayer
requests
Materials
order form
Past
"Dear Friends"
letters
"Among Friends" quarterly newsletter
|
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Week of April 23,
2012
Prayer Requests
The Stages of Caregiving
Dear Friends:
"The Stages of Caregiving" is one of dozens of
Topics available
 here
on YourAgingParent.com. This is how it begins:
It can help to
recognize there is no tidy, single, all-encompassing definition for
“caregiver.” Rather, it’s a job that includes multiple
responsibilities which vary not only from family to family, and not
only within one family, but within the particular relationship you
share with your spouse, aging parent or other loved one.
The caregiver you are today may not be the caregiver
you were six months ago because the care your family member needs –
the care you need to provide – has changed. In the same way, the
caregiver you are now may not be the caregiver you will be in six
months. If your loved one’s health improves, you may be less
involved. If it worsens, you may be more involved.
Further complicating this, once you and your family
member have experienced a particular facet of the
relationship and then moved to another, it doesn’t
mean you will not return to that first one for a
time. . . .
You can find the complete topic
here. And it's
available in a flier format on CatholicCaregivers.com
here. The flier is designed to be used as a parish
bulletin insert. (It's available in both a Word document
or PDF format.) You can find a list of flier topics
here.
- - -
Again this week
we
cordially invite you to join
the Friends of St. John
the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include
YourAgingParent.com and
CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about
becoming a member
here.
No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that
you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include
caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both
(including quite a few former caregivers).
You can:
sign up on-line here
or call us toll-free at
1-800-392-JOHN (5646)
or
print and mail an application form.
God
bless you!
Monica and Bill
To
contact us
To
join
FSJC
To make a
donation
To view or make
prayer
requests
Materials
order form
Past
"Dear Friends"
letters
"Among Friends" quarterly newsletter
|
|
Week of April 30,
2012
Prayer Requests
St. Joseph the Care-receiver
Dear Friends:
The feast of St. Joseph the Worker (tomorrow,
May 1) has the two of us remembering that Joseph is
the patron saint of a "happy
 death"
because,
tradition holds, Mary and Jesus were at his side
when he died. Stretching that tradition a bit (or adding
to it), it seems safe to speculate he could also be
known as St. Joseph the Caregiver if, before his death,
his spouse and foster son helped take care of him in his
final months, weeks, or days. That's certainly a
possibility.
And, as you know, Scripture says that after
Jesus' death, it was Mary who needed care (John
19:25-26).
Every family, even the Holy Family, is
touched by caregiving and care-receiving. Every family,
even the Holy Family, relies in a special way on the
grace of God during that time.
May his grace be with you this week, and
always.
- - -
This
week we're so pleased to welcome Karen G. of North
Carolina as the newest member of the Friends of St. John the
Caregiver. Please keep her and her intentions in your
prayers. She has promised to pray for you and
yours.
And we
cordially invite you to join
the Friends of St. John
the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include
YourAgingParent.com and
CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about
becoming a member
here.
No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that
you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include
caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both
(including quite a few former caregivers).
You can:
sign up on-line here
or call us toll-free at
1-800-392-JOHN (5646)
or
print and mail an application form.
God
bless you!
Monica and Bill
To
contact us
To
join
FSJC
To make a
donation
To view or make
prayer
requests
Materials
order form
Past
"Dear Friends"
letters
"Among Friends" quarterly newsletter
|
|
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