Aspiritech - Creating Careers for those with Aspergers

As the mother of a child with Aspergers, I do wonder about his future. Will he be able to have a job and be a productive member of society? He has a lot to offer, but he also has a lot of limitations. While we are working to help minimize those, my sense is that life will always be a struggle for him.

That is why I was excited to see this article about Aspiritech: Startup company succeeds at hiring autistic adults. You can also read more at their website: Aspiritech.org

Prayer to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska

October 5th is the Feast Day of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska

St. Faustina,

You told us that your mission would continue after your death and that you would not forget us. Our Lord also granted you a great privilege, telling you to "Distribute graces as you will, to whom you will, and when you will." Relying on this, I ask your intercession for the graces I need, especially (mention your intentions).

Help me, above all, to trust in Jesus as you did, and thus to glorify His mercy every moment of my life. Amen

From the Association of Marian Helpers

Feast of St. Francis

Canticle of the Sun
by St. Francis

Most high, all powerful, all good Lord!
All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing.

To you, alone, Most High, do they belong.
No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.

Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures,
especially through my lord Brother Sun,
who brings the day; and you give light through him.
And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars;
in the heavens you have made them bright, precious and beautiful.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
and clouds and storms, and all the weather,
through which you give your creatures sustenance.

Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water;
she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.

Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
through whom you brighten the night.
He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.

Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth,
who feeds us and rules us,
and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.

Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you;
through those who endure sickness and trial.

Happy those who endure in peace,
for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.

Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,
from whose embrace no living person can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Happy those she finds doing your most holy will.
The second death can do no harm to them.

Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks,
and serve him with great humility.

Catholic with Breast Cancer

This is an important article for every Catholic woman to read: Just Show Up - We Are Called to Love. I pray and hope that that this woman's testimony is not the experience of every Catholic woman with breast cancer, but I've seen first hand how hurtful Catholic women can be to each other and I have no doubt that this happens all too often. We sometimes really need the reminder to be kind to each other.

Book Review: "Unbridled Grace"

Unbridled Grace: A True Story about the Power of Choice
by Dr. Michael J. Norman
Indianapolis, IN: Dog Ear Publishing, 2011

“Unbridled Grace” by Dr. Michael Norman is subtitled “A True Story about The Power of Choice.” Dr. Norman is a firm believer in the gift of our free will and the power of our choices to shape our lives. We can choose to either cooperate with God’s will for us or work against it. Following God’s will is frequently the much harder path. It “initially instills fear deep within our hearts because it requires the greatest sacrifice, possible acceptance of pain, and no promises of easy solutions. . .[but] surrender, detachment, meekness, and humble submission to God’s will is the only path to our destiny and God’s dreams for us.”

Dr. Norman should know. He faced incredible odds and, in the midst of them, developed a renewed faith in God and continued to trust in Him even when the whole world seemed stacked against him. In 1994, he was fresh out of chiropractor school, married, with a new baby, when he answered a classified ad in the local newspaper for a part-time chiropractor. The job seemed perfect – he could work around his private practice and he desperately needed the money.

Unfortunately, he would ultimately find out that his employers were actually members of the Russian mafia. Despite his innocence of any wrongdoing, he would be arrested by 6 FBI agents in front of his then five-year old daughter and given a choice. He could plead guilty to Federal perjury and agree to lie to put others in prison in order to avoid prison time, or he could fight the trumped up charges and risk going to prison for ten years. He chose to fight.

“Unbridled Grace” tells the story of that fight and the struggles and blessings that came along with it. The story itself is compelling – it could easily be a riveting movie, but that isn’t the best part of this book. Rather, it is the reflections at the end of the chapters in which Dr. Norman shares his hard-earned wisdom about life and faith that make this book worth your time.

In the midst of his struggles, he rediscovered the Catholic faith of his youth, inspired by a Father John who took the time to meet with him regularly and guide him in his journey. Dr. Norman integrates elements of that renewed faith and his learning the art of submission into these instructional passages. He does not sugarcoat the teachings. He is a man who has suffered and knows that others suffer as well. He has experienced dryness in prayer and felt abandoned in the midst of his hurt. He also acknowledges the battle is never-ending this side of heaven. But he emphasizes that how we wage that battle has eternal ramifications. Our time here on this earth is short. We will have to answer for how we used that gift of time.

“Unbridled Grace” is a quick read, but with a tremendous message. One would never want to have walked in Dr. Norman’s shoes, but we can all recognize our own battles in his personal struggles. He shares much wisdom in these pages which can help us on our journey towards God.

Is Making Sacrifices "Stupid?"

I’m really not one to talk about voluntary sacrifices I make – the whole “do not let your right hand know what your left hand is doing” thing. It’s something between me and God. But, I happened to casually mention to a friend that I was basically doing another Lent for 40 Days for Life, which began September 28th and runs through November 6th. The response? “Wow! That’s really stupid.”

It was not that this individual thought that the pro-life movement was stupid . No, this person is staunchly pro-life. Rather, it was the idea that I thought that my giving up something would in any way help the cause.

At first, I was deeply offended. As I thought more about it, however, I realized that most people probably share my friend’s opinion and it was worth giving some time (and a column!) to. Do our sacrifices actually matter or I am simply denying myself needlessly? If they do matter, how does it work?

Obviously, this kind of sacrifice is different than the Lenten version, which is done in a spirit of mortification and penance – to acknowledge and make reparation for one’s own sinfulness and attachment to worldly goods and to focus more on God and prayer. This type of sacrifice isn’t being offered up for oneself, but rather for another.

The answer lies in the Catholic belief in the Communion of Saints. We profess this every week when we say the Nicene Creed at Mass: “We believe in the Communion of Saints,” but what does that actually mean? It means that all of us – those in heaven, those in purgatory, and those of us struggling here on earth are all interconnected.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states the following:

The Christian who seeks to purify himself of his sin and to become holy with the help of God's grace is not alone. "The life of each of God's children is joined in Christ and through Christ in a wonderful way to the life of all the other Christian brethren in the supernatural unity of the Mystical Body of Christ, as in a single mystical person.”

In the communion of saints, "a perennial link of charity exists between the faithful who have already reached their heavenly home, those who are expiating their sins in purgatory and those who are still pilgrims on earth. Between them there is, too, an abundant exchange of all good things." In this wonderful exchange, the holiness of one profits others, well beyond the harm that the sin of one could cause others. Thus recourse to the communion of saints lets the contrite sinner be more promptly and efficaciously purified of the punishments for sin. (1474-1475)

Therefore, the good acts of one can indeed help someone else. Pope Benedict XVI emphasized this idea in his Lenten message for 2009. He stated that “by freely embracing an act of self-denial for the sake of another, we make a statement that our brother or sister in need is not a stranger.” In the case of “Forty Days for Life,” those participating are offering sacrifices and prayers to help unborn children and their mothers, all of whom are most certainly part of the Communion of Saints.

A belief in the value of sacrifice to help another person takes faith. Like many other situations, we may never see the fruit of our actions. People may indeed think that we are being dumb and denying ourselves needlessly. We trust in God and in his mercy and humbly offer our small gifts of self-denial. In the end, God’s opinion is the only one that truly matters.

Thank Your Guardian Angel Today

Today is the feast of the Guardian Angels, which makes it the perfect day to say Thank You to them for all that they do for us. Personally, I'd like to thank them for protecting me and my children from two car accidents. Last week, a car swerved on the other side of the road and nearly hit me head-on and today, a small truck switched lanes and nearly crashed into me. Both times, I ended up scraping the curb, but escaped unhurt. Thank you, Guardian Angels! I'm glad you are there and I look forward to meeting you someday.