"Idylls and Rambles"

The Scarlet Pimpernel

2006-04-24T10:51:00.000-05:00

"We seek him here, we seek him there, those Frenchies seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven? —Is he in hell? That demmed, elusive Pimpernel."
I wanted to recommend to all my readers a movie I saw for the first time last evening, The Scarlet Pimpernel - perhaps literature's greatest alias! The book by Baroness Orczy (which has also been turned into a musical) tells the story of an English nobleman who plays the hopeless dandy by day and the dashing, swashbuckling hero of the French Revolution by night! Saving the lives of French aristocrats from the guillotine with his ingenuity and bravery (while leaving his signature at the scene of every "crime": a scarlet pimpernel) he mocks the French Revolutionaries who are struggling to cement their power. While secretly undermining the Reign of Terror as the Scarlet Pimpernel, Sir Percy Blakeney falls in love with the beautiful Marguerite whose sympathies for the revolution begin to fade as she sees her friends trade in reason and justice for blood-thirsty madness. Imagine Sebastian Flyte (Anthony Andrews) takes on Gandalf (Ian McKellan) while falling for Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman (Jane Seymour). It's a great story of heroism and love and as soon as I finish Chaim Potok's Davita's Harp , I'm going to read the book (which I just purchased this morning from Newman's - where else?!)

The Family and the Economy

2006-04-20T15:13:00.000-05:00

GK Chesterton wrote that "the family is literally being torn in pieces, in that the husband may go to one factory, the wife to another, and the child to a third. Each will become the servant of a separate financial group, which is more and more gaining the political power of a feudal group. But whereas feudalism received the loyalty of families, the lords of the new servile state will receive only the loyalty of individuals; that is, of lonely men and even of lost children." We have, for the most part, lost the economy of the home. Today, husband, wife and child wake up, get in 3 separate cars, drive to 3 separate buildings often times in 3 separate cities and commit themselves to work/study in 3 separate institutions. This has much to do with the breakdown of the family that pervades our (post?)modern society experience and contributes to the structure of sin which our great JPII spoke of. Be not afraid my dismal readers, I will not leave you without hope however! These thing can be reclaimed, even better, redeemed. Far from a nostalgic longing for the pre-industrial days, I offer you modern examples of how we can begin to live again, the "economy of family" and in a way that will hopefully speak to the rest of modernity. The first step of course is to pray.. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God..." After reading Wendell Berry: (who may in fact be the greatest American writer we have on this and other related topics) I got down on my knees and prayed, telling the Lord that if this is the way he ordered things to be, then I wanted to live it out for His greater glory and the well being of my family! In short, he answered my prayer. Four out of the six members of my family will be piling into one car this summer and working together at one institution: the University of MI. Not that my family and I will be pledging our loyalty to the University's policy and disordered definition of "diversity" but I am very excited to be able to live, in a small way, the ever closer movement towards a Heldt family economy; its re-piecing! (Besides, aren't we called to bring the light of Christ into the darkness - and we will be 4 strong!)In conclusion, its like Schindler said, "when literally everything has fallen a part, its consoling to know then that every, however small, thing you do can change this reality!" Until I can have my family owned bookstore and a backyard full of chickens and bees, I'll be at U of M:) Check out this link to another modern-day family economy!! Remember, even the smallest person/action can change the course of the world. (I think I'm going to write a book entitled: Everything I need to know, I learned from the LOTR:)

The Return of the King!!

2006-04-17T11:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday some of my friends and I decided to celebrate this Easter Lord of the Rings style. In honor of our risen King we thought it would be, however cheesy(as I have been accused), very appropriate to watch the final part of the trilogy: The Return of the King. Can I just say that I never tire of that story (either the books or the film version); it's so beautiful. Of course we have all picked our characters - those we most relate to and those we would most like to marry! Naturally I am torn between Sam and Faramir. The latter because I have a heart like Eowyn's, the shield maiden of the Rohirrim but the former because, well, have you ever met anyone more faithful, humble or courageous? Anyway... I'd like to close with some words taken from JPII's Easter homily in 2001:
"Men and women of the third millennium, the Easter gift of light that scatters the darkness of fear and sadness is meant for everyone; all are offered the gift of the peace of the Risen Christ who breaks the chains of violence and hatred. Rediscover today with joy and wonder that the world is no longer a slave to the inevitable. This world of ours can change: peace is possible even where for too long there has been fighting and death... Men and women of every continent, draw from his tomb, empty now for ever, the strength needed to defeat the powers of evil and death, and to place all research and technical and social progress at the service of a better future for all... You, victorious King, grant to us and to the world eternal salvation!"

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

(Ancient verse referring to Aragorn; quoted in Gandalf’s letter, Book I, Chapter 10)

May Christ, our Risen King, continue to fill your hearts with His joy and peace this Easter week!!

My dear sweet Christ on earth...

2006-04-16T17:55:00.000-05:00

Today, as we celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord we also remember our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI as he celebrates his 79th birthday and his first birthday as our pope! Below is a beautiful comment by him in recollection of the days of his birth and Baptism as passed on to us by Dr. Schindler.

I was born on Holy Saturday, April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn. The fact that my day of birth was the last day of Holy Week and the eve of Easter has always been noted in our family history. This was connected with the fact that I was baptized immediately on the morning of the day I was born with the water that had just been blessed. (At that time the solemn Easter Vigil was celebrated on the morning of Holy Saturday.) To be the first person baptized with the new water was seen as a significant act of Providence. I have always been filled with thanksgiving for having had my life immersed in this way in the Easter mystery, since this could only be a sign of blessing. To be sure, it was not Easter Sunday but Holy Saturday, but, the more I reflect on it, the more this seems to be fitting for the nature of our human life: we are still awaiting Easter; we are not yet standing in the full light but walking toward it full of trust (Joseph Ratzinger, Milestones, p. 8).

Christos anesti, alleluia!!

Holy Saturday: Mary, the Helper of Our Faith

2006-04-15T15:00:00.000-05:00

On this Holy Saturday, the Church identifies itself again with Mary: all faith comes together in her, the first of believers. In this stillness, silence and darkness that envelops creation, she alone remains to keep alight the flame of faith in preparation to receive the awesome news of the Resurrection. In remembering Mary on this a-liturgical day, the Church is called to dedicate herself to stillness, silence and meditation, as she waits, to foster hope for a renewed encounter with the Lord... (Adapted from JPII General Audience on 3 April, 1996)

Beneath the cross the Mother kept
Bleak vigil under darkened skies.
Upon the cross her Son hung nailed,
Stabbed through by crowds of hostile eyes.

"And your own soul a sword shall pierce,"
The old man in the Temple said,
The Spirit's sword, the word of God -
God's word be done, was all she said.

Upon the cross the Savior died;
Beneath, the Mother bowed her head;
Above the storm broke harsh and wild -
God's word be done, was all she said.

A soldier came and thrust him through;
The blood and water proved him dead.
They laid his body in her arms -
God's word be done, was all she said.

At vigil's end, the Crucified
Arose from death her glorious Lord.
O Father, Son and Spirit, God,
We praise and magnify your Word.

(Words taken from today's hymn in the Magnificat)

Mary, Helper of Our Faith, may we imitate your great faith on this dark day and pray always as you did in times of deep sorrow and heartache: "God's word be done." Remind us always, Oh Mother of Hope, that death never has the final word and stand in quiet watch with us as we wait this night for the Resurrection: a renewed encounter with your Son!!

Poetic Reflection for Good Friday

2006-04-14T09:37:00.000-05:00

Good Friday

The barren tabernacle calls no name
No peace nor presence found
Today the Church is just a hall
Her Lord and Savior bound.

Grievous Calvary has consumed our hosts
God’s Son has been swallowed
So now we sit and stare askance
Hoping for the hallowed

Death has snuffed out the candle and the lamp
There’ll be no one kneeling
Today God sleeps below the earth
Her King inside her healing

Without him chastity and love now seem
Folly and desiccated
Today no lover, no romance,
Heartsick and deflated.

Without his richness poverty pierces
And gold seems so absurd
Put away the snowy linens,
With wealth now transferred.

Obedience has lost its power to
Send us forth proclaiming,
So we sit impotent and wait
On a dead king reigning.

Unconsumed, he descends to quench the fire
And feeds the primal dead
But he dies to make anew,
And so becomes our Bread.

Fr. David Vincent Meconi, SJ

St. Joseph and Fatherhood

2006-03-20T22:46:00.000-05:00

In my Old Testament class this afternoon we discussed how after the fall, we lost our sense of God as Father and replaced it with tyranny and fear. This is reflected in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve, after eating of the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, immediately hide in response to God's presence ("hitalak" - walking) in the garden. "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden." (Gn 3:8) When confronted with the evil they had just committed, Adam's initial reaction is to blame Eve and then God. "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me (emphasis mine), she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." (Gn 3:12). Because of their actions, God had to drive them out of the garden. He does not do so out of sheer anger but because death had entered man's created order and for him to remain in the garden and continue to eat from the tree of life would only cause more disorder and sin - it would be a lie. Even after man's disobedience, God, in His goodness and mercy does not cast Adam and Eve out before he makes for them suitable garments of animal skin, as they are about to enter a land of much harsher climate and environment. In our continued fear and projected blame upon Him, God remains Fatherly. It isn't until the coming of Christ that the seperation, this deep self-inflicted wound is completely healed however. It is Christ who takes us up in his sacrifice and divinizes us, allowing us to call upon the Father lovingly and with trust as his children, in the very words Christ teaches us: "Abba" or Daddy!

How appropriate that the Lord chose to reveal this to me and my classmates on the feast of St. Joseph, the protector and foster father of Christ - the revealer of the Father!!

I would like to conclude with a beautiful meditation on the Our Father by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI:

"The word Father makes me sure of one thing: I do not come from myself; I am a child. I am tempted at first to protest against this reminder as the prodigal son did. I want to be "of age", "emancipated", my own master. But then I ask myself: what is the alternative for me - for any person - if I no longer have a Father, if I have left my state as child definitively behind me? What have I gained thereby? Am I really free? No, I am free only when there is a principle of freedom, when there is someone who loves and whose love is strong. Ultimately, then, I have no alternative but to turn back again, to say "Father," and in that way to gain access to freedom by acknowledging the truth about myself. Then my glance falls on him who, his whole life long, identified himself as child, as Son, and who precisely as child and Son, was consubstantial with God himself: Jesus Christ. When I say "Father," the word automatically calls up the word "our." When I speak to God, I cannot address him solely as "Father." When I say "Father," I must include the "we" of all his children. But the opposite is also true: when I say "Father" I know that I have entered the company of all the children of God and that they are at my side. Consequently, talking with God does not distract me from my responsibility for the earth and for all mankind; it gives it to me anew. In the light of prayer, I can venture to accept it."

St. Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Conception and Foster-father of Jesus Christ, protector of the Holy Family, protect our families and the Church and help us always, to love Mary and Jesus so that we may, like you, find a happy death in the comfort of their arms!

Fasting, Alms and Prayer

2006-03-07T09:25:00.000-05:00

Three things we ought to consider this Lent:

1. Fasting - an expression of self-mastery also in depriving oneself of something in saying no to oneself

2. Alms - more than just the external work of mercy (both corporal and spiritual) but must begin as an interior gift that is to say, an attitude of opening up oneself to the other (neighbor)

3. Prayer - opening to God

It is these three things united, this total attitude in man's relationship with himself, with his neighbor and with God that it becomes possible for him to reach conversion and remain in that state of conversion...

John Paul the Great, in his Lenten Message from 2005, reminded us that this season is set before us an opportunity for the intensification of prayer and penance and for opening our hearts to the docile welcoming of the divine will. This spiritual journey outlines for us the preparation to relive the great mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ. This is accomplished through listening to the Word of God more devoutly (prayer), by practicing acts of mortification more generously (fasting) and to render greater assistance to those in need (alms). Here is the link to read our Holy Father's message for this Lent.

I pray that this spiritual pilgrimage of Lent will bring bring us all to and help us remain in a deeper state of conversion!

Ash Wednesday

2006-03-01T21:36:00.000-05:00

A short prayer I recommend to you this Ash Wednesday:

"May this Lent help us to free ourselves from our refusals and our doubt concerning God's covenant, from our rejection of our limitations and from the lie of our autonomy. May it direct us to the tree of life, which is our standard and our hope. May we be touched by the words of Jesus in their entirety: 'The kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel' (Mark 1:15)."

This was taken from a set of homilies given by Cardinal Ratzinger on the story of the creation and fall. The homilies have been conveniently translated, organized and published in book form by Eerdmans (housed in MI - my home state) and is a part of the Ressourcement series whose mission is to establish a retrieval and renewal in catholic thought. The series is edited, I believe, by my professor and dean of the JPII institute, Dr. David Schindler. I know they have another book out on Dorothy Day entitled, On Pilgrimage, also an excellent read. If you're interested, you can order either of the books through Newman Bookstore (use the handy link under Education). The full title of the former book mentioned is, In the Beginning...: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall. If you want an understandable exegetical read on the first 3 chapters of Genesis, give it a whirl. To put it in perspective: if the Rosary House started on fire, this would be one of the things I grab on my way out:)

Today my friend and I were walking to mass and I complemented her on her eye shadow, a color that she informed me, had been specifically chosen to match the ashes she was about to receive. I love being Catholic - it affects everything we do, right down to what color eye shadow we (girls) apply!!!!

I pray that your Lenten pilgrimage will be a fruitful one.

P.G. Wodehouse

2006-02-28T09:46:00.000-05:00

I tend to go through phases, last week Oscar Wilde, this week, P.G. Wodehouse... Wodehouse was introduced to me by my housemate who always seems to find her way into my room when she develops a serious case of procrastination. Not that I am complaining, for I can trace my first encounter with Wooster and Jeeves to just such an occasion. I believe it was a cold Saturday afternoon, and this particular housemate, who will remained unnamed, came bursting into my room declaring that she absolutely could not do anymore work. As a fellow student, I could empathisize. I invited her in and we sat, curled up on my bed and read stories of the famous duo - I the listener, she the storyteller, complete with British accent. The room shook with laughter that afternoon. And thus began, friends, my affair with yet another 20th century British writer.
So, if you ever come down with a serious case of procrastination or are just in the mood for something delightful and easy, I would highly suggest anything by Wodehouse - there is much to choose from. He wrote over 100 books, at least 20 film scripts and collaborated on over 30 musical comedies with the likes of George Gershwin and Cole Porter (another personal favorite of mine). If you like farce and social satire then you'll take great pleasure in reading this clever English comic. His contemporary, Evelyn Waugh (another writer I would strongly recommend) remarked that "Wodehouse's idyllic world can never stale. He will continue to release future generations from captivity that may be more irksome than our own. He has made a world for us to live in and delight in... and [is able to] satisfy the most sophisticated taste and the simplest." After you have familiarized yourself with Wodehouse (or if you're already acquainted) then go to this link and find out which character you are. Apparently I am MADELINE BASSETT: "a lovely, tender girl-- who loves rainbows and fairies and daisies and baby's breath and gumdrops and summer storms and heavenly poems and feather quilts and starry nights and songs. There's no need for me to biff off--all of my companions ran away hours ago!" Hmmm, maybe a little to close to the truth. I'm not sure how to feel about this:)
Just a thought: why is it that so many of the British (and pseudo British) writers insist on being called by their initials? Extra blog points for anyone who knows what P.G. stands for (and no pro-life searching to find out, that would be cheating)!!!!!!
Cheers,
J.E. Heldt
Dedicated to that Spanish princess: my life without you would be like Wooster's without Jeeves!!! By the way, how is that rain in Spain?

Second Spring: Flowers in Bloom

2006-02-27T10:50:00.000-05:00

Check out this article in the Detroit Free Press. Over 200 women came to the Dominican Sister's discernment retreat!!! Can you smell the flowers of our second spring blooming? Let us take a moment and offer up a prayer of thanksgiving for the gardener: John Paul the Great whose spiritual care encouraged our blossoming by teaching so many of us how to hear the voice of God calling (each of us to a particular state of life: marriage or the consecrated life) and how to be open to receive the graces necessary to respond to these states (vocation) which are to be lived out through a variety of situations and forms, one of which I have so conveniently set up as a link right here. Check it out and spread the word!!

A Good Woman

2006-02-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I saw the movie A Good Woman based off of Oscar Wilde's play, Lady Windermere's Fan. I would highly recommend this film. Unfortunately, the Irish born writer seems to be remembered more for his lifestyle than his art. Both the prurient and the puritan are blinded by prejudices and miss the truth behind both the writer and his writings. I will not bore you now by casting my own judgment (as I fear I lack both the talent and the right) to either sanctify or condemn him but simply recommend to you now this well done interpretation of his play.
Originally entitled, A Good Woman, Lady Windermere's Fan was Wilde's first successful play which premiered on the 20 February, 1892 at the St. James Theatre in London. The play (movie) is intrinsically moral in its tone and typically characteristic of Wilde's writing, filled with wit and wisdom! A theme which is often found recurring throughout Wilde's art and resurfaces in this particular piece is the redemption of ostensibly "evil" or "bad" people by acts of love and (or as) sacrifice along with the confounding of the "moral" and "good" appearing people when they give way to a sort of holier-than-thou attitude. When the good Lady Windermere, who is about to commit a self-destructive act, is confronted and advised by the notorious Lady Erlynne whose entrance into the Windermere's life is not quite what it appears (nor what the gossip would suggest), she scoffs at Mrs. Erlynne on the grounds that she is a woman of ill repute and says, "You whose whole life is a lie, how could you speak the truth about anything?...You talk as if you had a heart. Women like you have no hearts. Heart is not in you. You are bought and sold." Mrs. Erlynne obviously hurt, persists with selflessness, "Believe what you choose about me. I am not worth a moment's sorrow. But don't spoil your beautiful young life on my account!... You don't know what it is to fall into the pit, to be despised, mocked, abandoned, sneered at - to be an outcast! to find the door shut against one, to have to creep in by hideous byways, afraid every moment lest the mask should be stripped from one's face, and all the while to hear the laughter, the horrible laughter of the world, a thing more tragic than all the tears the world has shed. You don't know what it is. One pays for one's sin, and then one pays again, and all one's life one pays. You must never know that. As for me, if suffering be an expiation, then at this moment I have expiated all my faults, whatever they have been; for tonight you have made a heart in one who had it not, made it and broken it. - But let that pass. I my have wrecked my own life, but I will not let you wreck yours..."
Helen Hunt performs the character of Lady Erlynne marvously as does the remainder of the cast in their particular roles - all of whom charm and humor the audience. The sole performing exception, in my humble but quick to give opinion, was that of Lady Windermere as played by Scarlet Johanson - I felt the character could have been better casted. However, the early 20th century upper class attire, the gorgeous Italian coast-line scenery and music all make up for any miscasting flaws and add to the already delightfully well adapted script that leaves the viewer in want of nothing, except maybe to partake of the finer things in life accompanied by the tongue off of which would role, at will, Wilde-like wit, wisdom and humor! If you want to read more on Oscar Wilde I would suggest Joseph Pearce's book, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, whose own wisdom and wit has found itself in this blog entry.

Pro-life search engine

2006-02-17T12:14:00.000-05:00

Please use the new pro-life search engine. What a great way to help build up the culture of life. The more you search, the more money is donated to pro-life charities. "We must build a new culture of life that confronts today's problems affecting life. The purpose of the Gospel is, in fact, to transform humanity from within and to make it new." JPII (#95 EV) We can help do this, one little (pro-life)search at a time!
Click here for the link

Life's a Dance

2006-02-13T09:41:00.000-05:00

For the Ladies:
Some of my girlfriends and I were sitting around the kitchen the evening past, discussing how ballroom dancing is a beautiful metaphor for life. When dancing, even if you have not been well familiarized with the steps, it is crucial that you look your partner in the eyes, trusting yourself to his lead. It is much easier to follow, not to mention looks better, when you have settled your gaze upon him as opposed to your feet. A woman who watches her feet cannot help but battle for the lead in a desperate attempt to get the footwork down and avoid humiliation; in doing this she forgets her distinct but necessary role and tries to control where the movement will lead making it impossible for both her and her partner to dance properly. A roused confidence and surrender almost magically causes her feet to move with greater ease and agility. It is also important that the woman, in her frame, maintain some resistance. If she posses a sort of rag-doll passivity in her following, the man has no way of communicating to her where they are to go because she can neither receive or respond. In this case she is not freely following but being awkwardly pulled along, again not transforming the movement into dance. An active receptivity is necessary for her to respond to his leading invitation. If the lady, in confidence and trust, can keep her gaze on him, allowing him to move her along by communicating to her where they are to go and what she is to do by an active receptivity than the movement transcends that of motion and becomes a dance: graceful and beautiful bringing joy to both the dancers and the observers. So remember ladies, whether it be our loving Lord or your own handsome and charming Mr. Darcy, keep your eyes on him with a confident and trusting disposition and follow his lead with an active receptivity and you will never be left wanting for the romance and excitement of life!! I must thank my housemate Megan whose feminine insights shared were the source of inspiration for this entry.

The beauty of holiness...

2006-01-17T09:31:00.000-05:00

and the holiness of beauty. "Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence. It is an invitation to savor life and to dream of the future. That is why the beauty of created things can never fully satisfy. It stirs that hidden nostalgia for God which a lover of beauty like Saint Augustine could express in incomparable terms: "Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you!". Taken from John Paul's Letter to Artists #16.

"Beauty will save the world."

2006-01-16T13:34:00.000-05:00

One of the 20th century's leading catholic thinkers, the great G.K. Chesterton had this to say on women and beauty: "Women have a thirst for order and beauty as for something physical; there is a strange female power of hating ugliness and waste as good men can only hate sin and bad men virtue." I must concur, as a woman, I don't just appreciate beauty (as well as order) but feel drawn, maybe even called toward it in a way that is proper to my femininity and I believe this expresses itself in nearly every aspect of my life from the way I decorate my room to the route I chose to take on my early evening walks. There is something about beauty that makes me feel close to God and passionate about both Him and His creation. Isn't it true though? Think of how you feel when you read a poem by Hopkins or look at a Botticelli or make a dinner that not only tastes good, but is arranged in a way that is visually pleasing or stroll through a botanical garden or hear Schubert's Ave Maria sung by a perfectly pitched soprano voice. It changes you. Someone not to long ago asked me what I wanted to do, and I replied, "I want to make things beautiful because beauty is the splendor of truth!" Stratford Caldecott wrote somewhere that Christianity is all about a beauty that saves and beauty is that quality in something which attracts us towards itself and calls us forth out of ourselves towards this other or another. Hence, the aesthetic experience is a self-transcending one. Here ugliness is a sort of imprisoning while beauty is freeing. I want to evangelize the culture and I am going to make this world more beautiful by bringing Christ to the center of it, one embroidered pillow case at a time!!

Mary, Mother of the man Jesus Christ who embodied beauty, you are the most beautiful of all created persons. Pray for us that we may be remade, rewoven and rebuilt so that we may become dwelling places for all that is good, true and beautiful in the world!

As a side note, any of you aspiring Shakespeares who wish to contribute to the beautifying of our culture through the written word, check out the new Young Adult Catholic Literary Magazine called Dappled Things. It's first publication was released online in December and they are hoping to have a printed edition soon. The deadline for the Lent/Easter edition is February 10th and they are looking for submissions from young Catholics. Here's the link

Immaculate Conception

2005-12-08T20:39:00.000-05:00

The Immaculate Conception is my favorite Marian feast day! On this feast, a few years ago, I consecrated myself for the first time, using the prayers of St. Louis Marie DeMontfort, to Mary. She, under this particular title, was instrumental in helping me discern God's call to study at the JPII Institute which only happens to be directly across the street from the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception!! One other experience taking place on this feast, although painful, has forever touched and changed me. Two years ago, a friend of our family's past away. She was the young mother of 5 beautiful child and wife to a courageous man. Her funeral was celebrated on this feast day at our home parish, St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Dexter, MI. Immediately after the funeral I went home and wrote a letter to her husband which I would like to share with you as a way to honor Mary, who I know was praying for her, continues to pray for her surviving family today on the 2 year anniversary of her funeral and taught me about love...

A Story of True Love

I think it was Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta who said that in order for love to be true, it has to hurt. When I first heard that beautifully bold statement it hit me like a ton of bricks. Love, hurt? You see, I have grown up in a world that promotes materialism, where the more you have the happier you will be, a world that encourages ambitious individualism (or selfish-ness), independence - to make it on your own, where beauty is about physical appearance and heavily stressed and a world where promises, devotion, and even love simply mean: only if it isn't to much work and makes me feel good. You can imagine my shock and confusion then when I read those words of Blessed Teresa not so long ago.

I can remember the first time I meet Carol. It was the 4th of July and I came home early from a party to watch my brother and James light off fireworks. I knew very little of Carol then except that she had five kids, was dying of cancer and taught James to love Christ and the Catholic Church. That was all I needed to know in order to form the conclusion that she must have been an amazing woman. I had to meet her. My sister informed me that she was sitting in the back of the family Explorer because she wasn't feeling very well. I was nervous to meet her because in all honesty, what do you say to a young mother of five kids who is dying of cancer? Never the less, I had to meet her.

Time flew by as I talked to Carol about our faith and families. Her courage was admirable and inspiring. I told her she would be in my prayers and she looked me in the eyes and gave me a heartfelt, thank you. As I stepped out of the car, I thanked God for having had the opportunity to meet her and secretly asked Him for faith like hers. It hit me then that I had to meet this woman's husband. What kind of a man, with five kids and a dying wife, could find the time and the energy to bring his family to a midnight, homemade, fireworks display. Naturally, a man of great courage, faith and love.

One night, about a month or so ago, I needed to borrow a shirt from James. You see, as a former Gabriel Richard student, he could provide me with something green and white to wear for the school spirit week. As James went to go find me his shirt I sat in the family room and talked to Carol about my student teaching, her health and our faith. For a split second, I looked at her, her hair failing out, her body swollen and fragile and I couldn't help but wonder how she managed to continue on or how there was a man who could stick by her side through this terribly trying time. As those thoughts raced through my mind, I began, for the first time in my life to understand what true love really is.

The only other times I ever saw Carol were at mass. The first was on her birthday over the summer. After daily mass, I gave her a hug, told her I would be praying for her and then curiously looked upon the man who had just taken her to mass and would then go on to take her for more chemotherapy on her birthday.

The last time I saw Carol was again, at mass, on the feast day of Christ the King. Despite the fact that Jenny was in Minnesota, James and Lily came to sit next to me. I told James it was wonderful to see his mom up and about, he quietly agreed. Mass proceeded on and as I walked back to my seat after having received Jesus, I saw Carol sitting in her pew, looking so beautiful, wrapped in the arms of a man who loved her dearly. Tears filled my eyes as I saw Mother Teresa's word lived out.

I am writing this letter, or story, because I want to thank you, Doug, for your example. I was never able to thank your wife, but she knows now. I will never forget the last time I saw her, the two of you together, loving and hurting. It takes courage to truly love someone because to love is to hurt. As a young woman discerning a vocation to marriage, I cannot repay you or your wife for what you have taught me about love. Love isn't about being attracted to a good-looking person, although it may be a part of it. Love isn't about romantic feelings and tingles, although that may also be a part of it. Love is in fact about giving of yourself, giving so much that it hurts. Christ loved us in that way. I pray that I may be, someday, as beautiful, courageous and as faithful as your wife was, and I pray too, that I may one day find a man who will love me as you have truly loved her.

Carol has carried her cross faithfully and now she has found her salvation. You, however, are still carrying yours, and I can't imagine how heavy it must be. I have been praying for you and I have asked God to help you with your cross and I trust He will. I will continue to pray for you because it is probably all that I can do to help ease your pain. May Saint Joseph intercede for you and protect your family from all harm.

Last year, one year after Carol's funeral, this feast fell on a Wednesday and I was teaching a rather tough group of 7th graders Religious Education. That day I kissed my darling twins goodbye for the night and rushed off to the flower shop to buy just enough flowers for each one of my kids to present to Mary before mass that evening. I asked my parish priest for permission to do so and he suggested we walk up with him at the opening of mass to present the flowers then. It was so beautiful I had to fight off the tears as each child lay their flower at the feet of our Mother. All throughout mass my mind drifted back to how I spent the last feast day of the Immaculate Conception, at Carol's funeral. I fingered the rosary that I had touched to her at the viewing almost nervously, praying for some sort of sign that she was in heaven and no longer needed my prayers. I used that particular rosary almost daily praying for the repose of her sole and grace for her suffering family. After mass, I was walking out with my class, sign-less, when one of the kids (a boy who was not techincally part of our class but would show up with his friend every once in awhile anyway) asked me what I was holding. I told him it was a rosary. He looked at it curiously and retorted that he thought maybe his Grandmother had one. He then looked at me with all sincerity and goodness and asked if he could have it. I knew this particular boy came from a very troubled family but to part with the rosary was something I didn't think I could do. Immedieatly however, I found my hand, almost against my will, outstrechted handing him the most precious relic I owned and burst into violent tears. I told him, through my sobbings, even though this rosary was so important to me, I wanted him to have it. He looked me in the eyes, without embarrassement or nervousness, took it gently from my hand and swore to take care of it for the rest of his life. I knew at that moment that Carol and Mary were giving me the sign I had asked for (although it came in an unexpected way, I didn't think it would require me to "give of myself" in the way it happened). Proof that it was authentic I think! I have not kept in contact with this boy but I'll say that a few months later, on the Wednesday class before the Easter Triduum, he asked me if I would take him to confession... I know he is in the hands of Mary and is prayed for by Carol!

Mary, by your Immacualte Conception, you collaborated, through your fiat, in the restoration and redeemption of all mankind. Pray for us on this joyful day and order us after yourself, the perfect follower of Christ your Son.

Mary, model for all Christians...

2005-12-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note as I am supposed to be exerting all my energy into final studies, but what's the point if I can't share the "love" with you all? I am reviewing my notes for my Theology of Mary class and ran across this great bit of info articulated by our saintly prof, Father Grandos ( who has a voice like that of what you'd imagine God's to be from the Old Testament stories, you know deep and resonate). Here it is:

The crisis of charity ought to be fought with spousal love (the rhythmic giving and receiving of self to the other)

The crisis of faith to be battled with an authentic child-likeness (complete trust in the Father who loves us)

The crisis of hope to be overcome by parenthood (where the transmission of life overcomes the fear of a future that lies ahead filled with the unknown)

Mary, at the Annunciation, you gave of yourself completely in trust to bring forth the life of the Son who comes bearing hope... Pray that we, like you, may abandon ourselves to the will of the Father with a child-like trust so that we may also diminish fear and bring hope in, to and through life! Amen.

Ode to the Jesuits

2005-12-03T23:38:00.000-05:00

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that I have an obsession with the Jesuits. I suppose the fascination started with my first encounter with Fr. Joseph Fessio SJ whose passionate words on liturgical reform (among other things)caused my soul to stir. In fact, he was the one who first introduced me to the man and writings of the then Cardinal Ratzinger. I would follow Fr. Fessio around like a silly school-girl with a crush. The poor man couldn't watch a baseball game without me by his side. I even made up a song about him but I won't go there... I am sure, now, he doesn't remember my name (or maybe even my existence - she brushes a single tear off her cheek) but I'll never forget him because it is to this tall, dark SJ that I owe a somewhat unique dimension of my faith. Since then, I have been exposed to only the best Jesuits the order has to offer. Because of this, I have a hard time swallowing the commonly negative generalizations made about the order as a whole. For the history of my encounters with the Jesuits continues with the 5 cataclysmic months spent in Oxford under the spiritual care and guidance of the SJ I love most, Fr. David Meconi. He then introduced me to a Polish SJ named Janusz who took me around my favorite country: Poland!! He spent nearly a week showing me everything concerning JP the Great. The most recent experience I had with the Jesuits was at the last WYD in Cologne, Germany. There was a group of 10 or so SJ's who led us on a pilgrimage dedicated to the Sacred Heart. I will forever be grateful to these men who seem to know exactly how to be in the world but not of it, because they influenced, heavily, the faith of my brother who now shares my appreciation for this particular order. In D.C. I am fortunate enough to know a small handful of saintly SJ's as well. But the story doesn't end here. The Jesuits in heaven take care of me too and occasionally send me small signs to remind me of this fact. For even today, on the feast of St, Francis Xavier, I received a postcard in the mail, from a friend, of Montserrat and the Black Madonna where St. Ignatius of Loyola, who was there on March 25, 1522, visited and hung his military accouterments before the image of the Virgin. It was after that, that he went and spent several months in a cave near the town of Manresa, Catalonia where he practiced the most rigorous asceticism and wrote the spiritual exercises!! Although this doesn't concern St. Francis directly, it does secondarily, in the sense that he was the best friend of Ignatius and became a member of the Society of Jesus. I love all the sainted Jesuits: Ignatius, Francis Xavier, Edmund Campion, Aloysius Gonzaga, and the North American martyrs. They were so manly and holy! So, on the feast of St. Francis Xavier, I beg you to join me in soliciting the intercession of these men for all the Jesuits here on earth, the good and the bad. I'll end with a quote from St. Francis Xavier, "We must be wary of our own strength and trust in God immensely. Let us never show discouragement and never doubt victory." Consoling words as I start my studies for upcoming finals...

We wait with hope in darkness, anticipating the birth of the Son who comes forth with great light...

2005-11-30T20:52:00.000-05:00

Here is a beautiful quote from our Holy Father concerning Advent:

Advent is concerned with that very connection between memory and hope which is so necessary to man. Advent's intention is to awaken the most profound and basic emotional memory within us, namely, the memory of the God who became a child. This is a healing memory; it brings hope. The purpose of the Church's year is continually to rehearse her great history of memories, to awaken the heart's memory so that it can discern the star of hope. All the feasts in the Church's calendar are events of remembrance and hence events of hope. These events, of such great significance for mankind, which are preserved and opened up by faith's calendar, are intended to become personal memories of our own life history through the celebration of holy seasons by means of liturgy and custom. Our personal memories are nourished by mankind's great memories; in turn, it is only by translating them into personal terms that these great memories are kept alive. Man's ability to believe always depends in part on faith having become dear on the path of life, on the humanity of God having manifested itself through the humanity of men. . . . It is the beautiful task of Advent to awaken in all of us memories of goodness and thus to open doors of hope.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
"Seek That Which Is Above"
Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 1986)

May the heart of Mary, which contains in it the perfect memory of her Son, penetrate the depths of our hearts this Advent.

All in a loaf of bread?

2005-11-22T20:53:00.000-05:00

Dr. Schindler has forever changed my way of thinking. I go to class on Tuesday afternoons and walk out feeling like my entire life has been flipped upside down...

I am an advocate for buying fewer things at a higher cost for two reasons. One, I want to purchase things of good quality and two, I want to know that whoever made what I am buying has been paid a fair wage. I do not do this because I am a socialist but because I believe that everything has an order. When you buy something, you are buying a way of life (so Dr. Schindler tells us)! In one sense, that seems very overwhelming but in another, there is something beautifully simplistic about it. To buy, for example, a loaf of bread from the family owned bakery of your local community as opposed to a loaf of bread that has been mass produced from the grocery store (one that has been pumped full of preservatives, among other crap, to the point where the only thing "bready" left in it, is its basic appearance) allows us to a promote a Catholic culture that is to say, a culture of love by this one small action. One cannot deny that our economy espouses a self-interest mentality. If man is made in the image and likeness of God (who is Trinitarian) then man must be made for communion and his existence is ultimately, that of gift. What does this have to do with bread you may curiously ask? Hang on for just a moment. Although I am no economist, I just don't see how Catholics who really want to live as people of the beautiudes can support an economy of self interest. (I won't even get into the argument of neo-conservative Catholics, another blog entry maybe). Adam Smith, one of the fathers of American economics, tells us in his Wealth of Nations: "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages." Is this what we are to expect from humanity? It seems so degrading. Economics built off of self-interest is not concerned with the human person but with efficiency, that is to say, with time and money. I realize that there is more to it than that, that an economy of self-interest is suppose to work mutually towards and benefit the other's self-interest but is this the best we can do? I don't believe it. The point I am trying make is that, according to Dr. Schindler, in doing something as simple as spending the extra bit of money on the loaf of bread from the family owned bakery (or spending the extra time to make it yourself) promotes a more Christ-like economy. We can change the culture one loaf of bread at a time!!

Society and Church needs Genius of Women!

2005-10-28T15:26:00.000-05:00

"Where women's changing roles are concerned, the pope's writings contain no trace of the dogmatism that often characterizes the rhetoric of organized feminism and cultural conservatives alike. He affirms the importance of biological sexual identity, but gives no comfort to those who believe men's and women's roles are forever fixed in a static pattern. On the contrary, he has applauded the assumption of new roles by women, and stressed the degree to which cultural conditioning has been an obstacle to women's advancement." MaryAnn Glendon

For all you feminine genius' looking to do some more reading on the new feminism, check out the link for the reading list put together by Leonie Caldecott, it's excellent!! Many of the books can be ordered through the Newman bookstore (use the handy link) or through Amazon. I'm blogging this because I came across many "new" titles that look exciting.

For my Theology of Mary class I am writing a paper on Mary: model for the new feminism - if I am pleased with it and feel it is worth "publishing" I'll post that at the end of November - if you don't mind praying for me as I brainstorm and write I would greatly appreciate it!

Angelus, 23 July 1995
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. It is a "sign of the times" that woman's role is increasingly recognized, not only in the family circle, but also in the wider context of all social activities. Without the contribution of women, society is less alive, culture impoverished, and peace less stable. Situations where women are prevented from developing their full potential and from offering the wealth of their gifts should therefore be considered profoundly unjust, not only to women themselves but to society as a whole.

Of course, the employment of women outside the family, especially during the period when they are fulfilling the most delicate tasks of motherhood, must be done with respect for this fundamental duty. However, apart from this requirement, it is necessary to strive convincingly to ensure that the widest possible space is open to women in all areas of culture, economics, politics and ecclesial life itself, so that all human society is increasingly enriched by the gifts proper to masculinity and femininity.

2. In fact, woman has a genius all her own, which is vitally essential to both society and the Church. It is certainly not a question of comparing woman to man, since it is obvious that they have fundamental dimensions and values in common. However, in man and in woman these acquire different strengths, interests and emphases and it is this very diversity which becomes a source of enrichment.

In Mulieris dignitatem I highlighted one aspect of feminine genius, that I would like to stress today: woman is endowed with a particular capacity for accepting the human being in his concrete form (cf. N. 18). Even this singular feature which prepares her for motherhood, not only physically but also emotionally and spiritually, is inherent in the plan of God who entrusted the human being to woman in an altogether special way (cf. Ibid., n. 30). The woman of course, as much as the man, must take care that her sensitivity does not succumb to the temptation to possessive selfishness, and must put it at the service of authentic love. On these conditions she gives of her best, everywhere adding a touch of generosity, tenderness, and joy of life.

3. Let us look at the Blessed Virgin's example. In the narrative of the wedding at Cana, John's Gospel offers us a vivid detail of her personality when it tells how, in the busy atmosphere of a wedding feast, she alone realized that the wine was about to run out. And to avoid the spouses' joy becoming embarrassment and awkwardness, she did not hesitate to ask Jesus for his first miracle. This is the "genius" of the woman! May Mary's thoughtful sensitivity, totally feminine and maternal, be the ideal mirror of all true femininity and motherhood!

Johannes Paulus Magnus

To be or not to be

2005-10-24T21:08:00.000-05:00

I was lying in bed reading last night and I ran across this great quote by Chesterton (does any one else wonder why his cause for cannonization hasn't been opened yet, that's a whole other blog entry - any takers? anyway...) on existence: "But as I was still thinking the thing out by myself, with little help from philosophy and no real help from religion, [he recalled], I invented a rudimentary and makeshift mystical theory of my own. It was substantially this: that even mere existence, reduced to its most primary limits, was extraordinary enough to be exciting. Anything was magnificent as compared with nothing." This got me thinking about a number of things. First, that as the Angelic Doctor teaches us, God doesn't need us! Yet, despite the fact that we don't have to be, we are!!! I know that among some of my blog readers there will be those called to share the gift of their existence in a very public and loud way while others will live out that gift in a way that remains very private and quiet. Whether you are called to be a great theologian and live in the academy, raise 7 beautiful children with a husband who you think is even better looking than George Clooney, sit at the bedside of an elderly person, pour concrete, create budgets for U of M, design cars for Ford or humbly sit in class at the JPII Institute and wonder if you'll ever have anything profound to offer, know that in the fact you simply exist, that you ARE, it is GOOD and EXCITING!!!!!! To take it even further, to raise you up even higher we can talk about the Incarnation: God made man!! Grace has seized our human nature and far from diminishing it, has raised it up, in Jesus Christ! (I stole that from de Lubac by the way) I'll stop with paragraph 22 from Gaudium et Spes (its long I know, but worth reading) "The truth is that only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of Him Who was to come, namely Christ the Lord. Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. It is not surprising, then, that in Him all the aforementioned truths find their root and attain their crown. He Who is "the image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15), is Himself the perfect man. To the sons of Adam He restores the divine likeness which had been disfigured from the first sin onward. Since human nature as He assumed it was not annulled, by that very fact it has been raised up to a divine dignity in our respect too. For by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man. He worked with human hands, He thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart. Born of the Virgin Mary, He has truly been made one of us, like us in all things except sin. As an innocent lamb He merited for us life by the free shedding of His own blood. In Him God reconciled us to Himself and among ourselves; from bondage to the devil and sin He delivered us, so that each one of us can say with the Apostle: The Son of God "loved me and gave Himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20). By suffering for us He not only provided us with an example for our imitation, He blazed a trail, and if we follow it, life and death are made holy and take on a new meaning. The Christian man, conformed to the likeness of that Son Who is the firstborn of many brothers, received "the first-fruits of the Spirit" (Rom. 8:23) by which he becomes capable of discharging the new law of love. Through this Spirit, who is "the pledge of our inheritance" (Eph. 1:14), the whole man is renewed from within, even to the achievement of "the redemption of the body" (Rom. 8:23): "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the death dwells in you, then he who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also bring to life your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who dwells in you" (Rom. 8:11). Pressing upon the Christian to be sure, are the need and the duty to battle against evil through manifold tribulations and even to suffer death. But, linked with the paschal mystery and patterned on the dying Christ, he will hasten forward to resurrection in the strength which comes from hope.
All this holds true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way. For, since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery. Such is the mystery of man, and it is a great one, as seen by believers in the light of Christian revelation. Through Christ and in Christ, the riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful. Apart from His Gospel, they overwhelm us. Christ has risen, destroying death by His death; He has lavished life upon us so that, as sons in the Son, we can cry out in the Spirit; Abba, Father"

*The answer then to Hamlet's age old question then clearly is, to be - an existence that becomes more lively and authentic in Christ our brother!!!!

Rambles from "Happy Buddha"

2005-10-21T14:43:00.000-05:00

The Happy Buddha said...
This is something that I have really had on my heart for quite some time. And although I lack the eloquence to adequately explain my position, I will give it a shot.

We "must reconcile ourselves to our natural greatness." JP II's words caused me to focus on our worth. They are at the same time uplifting and humbling. Nothing I own, nothing I do, nothing I say can ever give me as much value as the simple fact that I am first a child of God.

In the same way that the very first and essential right is the right to life. If you are denied this right you can have no other. The first and essential value of the human person is that they are loved by God.

"I am wonderfully made."

Thank you for your thoughts which were expressed in a manner neither lacking in elegance nor adequacy!

Be who you are!!

2005-10-17T08:41:00.000-05:00

I have three things I would like to share on this topic:

1. I once heard a quote attributed to St. Catherine of Sienna and it has stuck with me: "Be who you are and you will set the world on fire." It's a beautiful statement but as a young woman I have struggled immensely in trying to figure out just exactly who it is I am, because I can't very well set anything on fire if I don't first have that! I have learned, by grace alone, that I can only discover who I am in Christ. Since I have been created in Him, it only makes sense that I would discover the truth of who I am by consulting Him as my Creator! (Use the analogy of a painting and its painter. Who better to discuss the true meaning of the painting with than the painter himself?)

2. I must confess that reading stories of the saints has often left me feeling troubled. I never felt I could live up to such extreme holiness demonstrated by the lives of Catherine of Siena or Francis of Assisi for example. Would I have the faith necessary within my freedom to chose God in extraordinary circumstances? The problem I discovered was a self created one. I am a completely distinct creation. I am not called to be a copy of Catherine or Francis. God has a plan for me that only I, in my singularity, can fulfill so I should chose to accept and follow: it is in this that my sainthood is to be achieved! I attribute this thought to a brilliant English writer from the 20th century, Evelyn Waugh. He wrote, "Saints are simply souls in heaven. Some saints have been so sensationally holy in life that we know they went straight to heaven and so put them in the liturgical calendar. We all have to become saints before we get to heaven. That is what purgatory is for. And each individual has his own form of sanctity which he must achieve or perish. It is no good my saying: 'I wish I were like Joan of Arc or St. John of the Cross.' I can only be St. Evelyn Waugh - after God knows what experiences in purgatory." To steal from him a little more, I probably won't be thrown to the lions nor am I mystic and I certainly don't look like an El Greco - but I can, in being myself, become a saint and in so doing "set the world on fire" in my own small way! So, continue to discover who you are in Christ and beg for the grace to follow the path He has created for you so that you may become St. fill-in-the-blank! We'll have this place ablaze in no time...

3. Here's my last thought. We ought to pray not only that we come to know ourselves in and through Christ but for an increase of faith to follow His specific will for us as well, especially in regards to those called to the priesthood and relgious life. We need not pray for an increase to these particular vocations but rather for, as Balthasar tells us, "a new generosity to respond to these vocations, which in fact are never lacking but which often go unanswered."

my first "ramble"

2005-10-12T16:27:00.000-05:00

In my introduction paragraph I declared my intentions for this blog: a forum for the discussion and dialog on what it means to be human. As this is informally my first post I would, presupposing or forgoing, for now, our very definition of what it means to be human, ask: Is a blog even an appropriate means for "communicating" this very topic. Before I submit this question to you my friends, family and the rest of the cyber space dwellers, I would like to further explain my reason for creating this blog.

As I am privileged enough to be studying at the JPII Institute, it has been drilled into me that being is gift. God creates us out of sheer love and we are to participate in that by giving the gift of ourselves to others and ultimately back to God. Anyway, sticking with this theme of gift, I would like to take the gift of what I am learning at the Institute and share it by means of this blog. As I am hundreds of miles away from those with whom I want to share this knowledge with, a blog seems like an appropriate way to do so, however, in understanding what the person is: unity of body and soul - I wonder if this is in fact an appropriate way to share the gift of myself through what I am learning with you. You cannot hear my voice, see my facial expressions and hence on the most fundamental level, we are not able even to simply "be" together through this venue of "communication." (I could be digging myself into a hole here because if I get some lofty responses about how this isn't an appropriate means, then the life of my blog will come to an abrupt end!)

Wisdom and Innocence!

2005-10-12T15:57:00.000-05:00

In regards to the singular comment on this post, I must clarify! For as much as I would love to boast myself the young girl in the picture, facts deduced from a very simple investagation would lead almost anyone to the conclusion that in order to be the girl in the picture, I would have to be around 95 years old now! Here is how I figured such a number: If G.K. lived from 1874-1936, then it was probably around 1915 when that picture was taken. I am assuming he was around 40 and she, 5? If she was 5 in 1915, then that would make her about 95 this year(I hope I figured all the math out correctly)! On the other hand,it's much more delightful to think myself the young girl...

"A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, Do it again; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough... It is possible that God says every morning, Do it again, to the sun; and every evening, Do it again, to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we." Chesterton