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10: Motherhood - with Cassie Schetgen and Hannah Misak
3 Plays1 year ago
Duhawks assemble! This episode features the wisdom and reflections of Cassie and Hannah, two faithful Catholic women who have answered the call to a very extraordinary vocation: Motherhood. They each describe their experience of starting and growing families, the inspiration found in Our Blessed Mother Mary, and the joys and pains and laughs that come with bringing small children to the Source and Summit, the Eucharist.
The website and resources referenced can be found here:
https://dbqarch.org/archdiocesan-eucharistic-revival
https://www.eucharisticrevival.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Bye.
Meet the Hosts and Guests
00:00:19
Speaker
Happy April, everyone, and welcome to the Dubuqueristic Revival Podcast.
00:00:24
Speaker
My name is Father Jacob Rouse, and I am the pastor of Notre Dame Parish in Cresco, Iowa.
00:00:28
Speaker
I also would like to mention that I went to Loris College for my undergrad, and I'd like to introduce my co-host, Father Kevin Earlywine.
00:00:36
Speaker
Father Kevin, where are you at as a priest, and where did you go to college?
00:00:40
Speaker
I am Father Kevin Earlywine, pastor of St.
00:00:42
Speaker
Patrick's in Hampton and St.
00:00:44
Speaker
Mary's in Ackley, and I went to Loris College in Dubuque.
00:00:50
Speaker
Yeah, strange coincidence, huh?
00:00:51
Speaker
Yeah, that's pretty cool.
00:00:53
Speaker
We are joined by Hannah and Cassie, and we are going to be talking about one of my favorite concepts and vocations, and that is the vocation of motherhood.
Hannah's Journey to Motherhood
00:01:03
Speaker
So I'd like, Cassie, can you introduce yourself and where you went to college?
00:01:08
Speaker
Sure.
00:01:08
Speaker
My name is Cassie Shekin, and I went to Loris College.
00:01:13
Speaker
Oh, weird.
00:01:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:17
Speaker
And welcome, Hannah.
00:01:18
Speaker
Where did you go to college?
00:01:19
Speaker
Thank you.
00:01:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:20
Speaker
My name is Hannah Meshack, and I also went to Loris College.
00:01:25
Speaker
Whoa.
00:01:26
Speaker
We're all dohawks.
00:01:27
Speaker
What's a dohawk?
00:01:28
Speaker
What?
00:01:30
Speaker
I'm a do-hog.
00:01:33
Speaker
I was setting up for I'm a do-hog, but do-what works too.
00:01:38
Speaker
Thanks, everyone.
00:01:39
Speaker
And actually, we've all had name changes since we've all started knowing each other, whether it's our last names or whether it's our clerical titles.
00:01:49
Speaker
So it's cool that we can still have friendship and relationship and conversation despite all the many changes in life.
00:01:56
Speaker
Isn't that nice?
00:01:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:58
Speaker
That is nice.
00:01:59
Speaker
There you go.
00:01:59
Speaker
So, who else wants to start?
00:02:06
Speaker
Hannah, how about we have you go first?
00:02:08
Speaker
Can you give us just kind of an overall overview sketch of your journey from college to motherhood?
00:02:15
Speaker
Maybe if you worked for the church or around the church, anything like that, how you met your husband, that kind of thing.
00:02:22
Speaker
Sure, yeah.
00:02:23
Speaker
So, I went to Loras, and after I graduated, I graduated
00:02:28
Speaker
worked as a focused missionary for four years.
00:02:30
Speaker
I was in Ohio serving at the Franciscan University of Steubenville.
00:02:37
Speaker
And then after that, I came back to Dubuque and worked at Dubuque County Right to Life for about two years.
00:02:46
Speaker
And then I worked at Dupaco for three, almost four years.
00:02:52
Speaker
Then I started a full-time job as a mom.
00:02:56
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:02:59
Speaker
I met my husband through his... I was in a small group and his sister was in the group as well.
00:03:07
Speaker
And she said, hey, I've got this brother.
00:03:11
Speaker
He's pretty cool.
00:03:12
Speaker
Kind of set us up.
00:03:15
Speaker
Yeah, right?
00:03:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:16
Speaker
So we've been married almost three years now.
00:03:20
Speaker
And we have two little boys.
00:03:23
Speaker
Leo is two and Ambrose is seven months.
00:03:27
Speaker
So...
00:03:29
Speaker
Wow.
00:03:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:30
Speaker
They're a lot of fun.
00:03:31
Speaker
What's your husband's name?
00:03:32
Speaker
Ben.
00:03:33
Speaker
Ben Meshach.
00:03:34
Speaker
Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
00:03:36
Speaker
Ah.
00:03:37
Speaker
Good way to remember it and pronounce it.
00:03:39
Speaker
Yes.
00:03:39
Speaker
Yeah, because it doesn't look like that, but.
00:03:43
Speaker
But that's how it sounds.
00:03:44
Speaker
That's how it sounds, yeah.
00:03:46
Speaker
For the benefit of our listeners, so you were a focused missionary.
Cassie's Journey and Transition to Motherhood
00:03:49
Speaker
That means you were really, really attentive to whatever was in front of you, right?
00:03:53
Speaker
Sorry, what's a focus missionary?
00:03:55
Speaker
That was a joke about focus.
00:03:56
Speaker
You just got it.
00:03:59
Speaker
Hold on.
00:04:00
Speaker
Sorry.
00:04:01
Speaker
We forgot our drums and a cymbal.
00:04:04
Speaker
Focus is a fellowship of Catholic University students.
00:04:07
Speaker
So I was working on the college campus leading Bible studies and discipleship, doing one-on-one discipleship with students.
00:04:16
Speaker
And I did a mission trip to Peru once and...
00:04:22
Speaker
We have our big Sikh conferences and different things like that.
00:04:28
Speaker
Relational ministry.
00:04:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:35
Speaker
that does outreach to college students and university students on over 100 campuses in the United States.
00:04:40
Speaker
Yes.
00:04:40
Speaker
Right?
00:04:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:42
Speaker
Great.
00:04:42
Speaker
Do you work for Focus, too?
00:04:43
Speaker
Shout out to Focus, by the way.
00:04:45
Speaker
Yeah, we're great.
00:04:45
Speaker
But you didn't know we were sponsored.
00:04:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:47
Speaker
No, I'm just kidding.
00:04:48
Speaker
Yeah, sponsored by Focus.
00:04:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:50
Speaker
But if they want to throw us money, I guess I wouldn't stop them.
00:04:52
Speaker
But just kidding.
00:04:54
Speaker
Focus is great, though.
00:04:54
Speaker
Okay.
00:04:55
Speaker
Cassie Shetkin, can you...
00:04:59
Speaker
answer the same question uh after after during college after college um work history how you met your husband yeah children yeah so i um like i said i'm married to brandon we actually met at loris college um through mutual friends we weren't like super close ourselves um until we kind of had some of the same friends um and kind of got to know each other that way um
00:05:26
Speaker
We, after we dated, let's see, we got married in 2015.
00:05:30
Speaker
So we dated from about 2011 through 2015 and then got married that summer.
00:05:38
Speaker
For work, I started working at Holy Spirit Parish in Dubuque here in 2011.
00:05:44
Speaker
And then I worked there
00:05:48
Speaker
until March of 2020 as the director of worship.
00:05:51
Speaker
And that's when I quit to stay home with our kids.
00:05:55
Speaker
We have Felicity, who is almost eight.
00:05:59
Speaker
Lucy, who is five and a half.
00:06:01
Speaker
Cecilia, who just turned three last week.
00:06:04
Speaker
And then we have a baby, James, who is almost eight months old.
00:06:08
Speaker
He and Ambrose were born right around the same time.
00:06:12
Speaker
I also have done some part time work.
00:06:14
Speaker
Since I had quit the full time job, I did coordinator of faith formation for Holy Spirit Parish, the Cathedral and St.
00:06:21
Speaker
Patrick kind of directing sacramental prep.
00:06:25
Speaker
And helping with religious ed and also just doing some music work on the side as well.
00:06:32
Speaker
I've always done music stuff since I started my music career when I was younger.
00:06:39
Speaker
So just helping out with funerals, weddings, various liturgies around town.
00:06:45
Speaker
Hmm.
Challenges and Joys of Motherhood
00:06:47
Speaker
Very good.
00:06:47
Speaker
If anyone's ever been to an archdiocesan mass at the cathedral, mainly chrism masses or ordinations, you've probably heard Mrs. Cassie Sheck singing the Responsorial Psalm and other things.
00:07:02
Speaker
Yes, we just started rehearsals for that this past week.
00:07:05
Speaker
There you go.
00:07:06
Speaker
For the chrism mass?
00:07:08
Speaker
Yes.
00:07:09
Speaker
Oh, exciting.
00:07:11
Speaker
I like how I noticed how you both...
00:07:15
Speaker
quit your jobs to be stay-at-home moms.
00:07:19
Speaker
And a very dear friend of mine also tried that at one point.
00:07:22
Speaker
And just the amount of reactions of... So, like, what do you do all day?
00:07:28
Speaker
Like, I just think it's curious, but also a shame that people think, wait, so you're not, like, contributing to this modern capitalistic society.
00:07:37
Speaker
So what do you do, you know?
00:07:40
Speaker
Has there been any sort of, like...
00:07:43
Speaker
Oh, I'm not doing this or I'm not doing that, but rather looking at it as a positive.
00:07:48
Speaker
What's that transition been like to to be a stay at home mom?
00:07:51
Speaker
I mean, because that's an embrace of a job as well.
00:07:56
Speaker
It was a hard transition for me.
00:07:59
Speaker
I went, you know, from working for quite a while and, you know, you get to see physical results in a job, whereas I did not always see that and don't always see that with being home with the kids.
00:08:13
Speaker
So just reminding myself that this is holy and like the Lord is here, you know, where two or three are gathered in my name and, you know, hopefully, you
00:08:25
Speaker
We're inviting him in every day to our home.
00:08:29
Speaker
But, you know, it's the domestic church here.
00:08:33
Speaker
And it is beautiful, sometimes really hard, but really good work.
00:08:40
Speaker
And I mean, I homeschool too now.
00:08:43
Speaker
So we started homeschooling when Felicity was in kindergarten.
00:08:46
Speaker
So sometimes I actually do get to see results, like teaching me to read and things like that.
00:08:51
Speaker
But, you know, the day to day, it's hard to sometimes feel like you're doing stuff just when you don't always see the results right away.
00:09:00
Speaker
But it is there.
00:09:02
Speaker
It's good.
00:09:04
Speaker
Yeah, I when I was leaving my job, I, you know, you'd tell people I'm going to be staying home, you know, and I got a lot of mixed results, mostly from women.
00:09:14
Speaker
And I think mostly it was
00:09:16
Speaker
probably their own feelings about, you know, if they had to stay home, but some were, um, you know, I could never do that.
00:09:25
Speaker
I had to get away from my kids or whatnot.
00:09:28
Speaker
And then some were just, Oh, we're so glad that you can make that work, you know, for you guys and your family.
00:09:34
Speaker
This is such a, they grow so fast and it's good to have that time together.
00:09:39
Speaker
Um, so that was kind of hard, you know, when people would be like, Oh, I can't believe you're staying home.
00:09:42
Speaker
Um,
00:09:44
Speaker
But, you know, since I've been home, it's like Cassie said, you don't always get a lot of, you know, you can't always see the growth, but it is a lot of teaching, you know, or teaching the kids how to walk and how to talk and how to not throw food on the floor and, you know.
Finding Holiness in Motherhood
00:10:05
Speaker
So their learning starts at a young age, even before they go to school, you know, but...
00:10:13
Speaker
It is such a joy just to be with the little boys and to see them discovering, you know, oh, this is my toe and I can put it in my mouth, you know, and I can do that over and over and over and be perfectly happy with that, you know.
00:10:31
Speaker
But it can also be very hard because it's, what does my mom say?
00:10:36
Speaker
Children are there to help get rid of your sin and suffering.
00:10:40
Speaker
or sin and selfishness to get rid of your sin and selfishness.
00:10:42
Speaker
And it's very true because I, you know, all of a sudden all these insecurities or all of these, uh, weaknesses that I have are, are being pushed to the forefront and, uh,
00:10:56
Speaker
it's, it can be hard to face that, you know, it's purifying.
00:11:00
Speaker
Yes.
00:11:01
Speaker
Purgative, purgative.
00:11:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:07
Speaker
That's beautiful.
00:11:08
Speaker
Thank you for sharing.
00:11:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:11:09
Speaker
It's the, the finding something I talk about.
00:11:13
Speaker
It's easy for me to preach, you know, when I'm not actively caring for kids, but, uh, finding the, the divine and the domestic and, you know, the mystical and the mundane, you know, and, uh, so kind of finding the holy in the present moment.
00:11:24
Speaker
And, uh,
00:11:25
Speaker
Yeah, like how do you connect with that in the midst of screaming kids in dirt poopy diapers, you know?
00:11:32
Speaker
I was going to mention that you... Oh, I was just going to mention right before, a couple years ago, right before Christmas, I was invited to someone's house and they had a little two-year-old toddler at the time.
00:11:45
Speaker
And I remember he had what I call a severe poop storm.
00:11:50
Speaker
And...
00:11:51
Speaker
We were eating dinner and all of a sudden like and he was playing with his toys and then we looked and there was like a trail of fecal matter all throughout the house where he had been running.
00:12:00
Speaker
Apparently, it was just overflowing and they were like so embarrassed and I'm like, it's fine, really.
00:12:04
Speaker
But then they like both got up in there and I'm like, it's fine.
00:12:07
Speaker
But but it led me to reflect on like this is we're in the midst of Christmas like.
00:12:11
Speaker
Jesus had poopy pants, you know, like he was a baby and probably had a severe poop storm, you know, and just like, what does that mean to reflect on like the incarnational of like the almighty, you know, the infinite would become an infant and like, yeah, would have poopy dirty diapers that would be gross and, you know, and there's something to reflect it on there.
00:12:31
Speaker
So that's who we worship.
00:12:34
Speaker
I know, right?
00:12:35
Speaker
Cute little baby in the manger.
00:12:37
Speaker
They left the part about changing diapers.
00:12:40
Speaker
Swaddle.
00:12:41
Speaker
Swaddling.
00:12:43
Speaker
I like how you mentioned that you really don't get to see results at least
00:12:48
Speaker
right away.
00:12:49
Speaker
There's no, like, it's not like your employer calls.
00:12:52
Speaker
I'm imagining like a toddler, one of your children sitting in like an office saying, okay, here's your performance review for the last, uh, the last season.
00:12:59
Speaker
And, uh, yeah, it's not like you get to have a, an email or something from your boss saying like, Hey, you did a great job today, you know?
00:13:06
Speaker
So, um, since you can't really see those, those exact dynamic, uh,
00:13:12
Speaker
progress reports, like where do you find comfort and where do you find like affirmation in how you're doing as a mother?
00:13:24
Speaker
That is a good question.
00:13:27
Speaker
I am a list maker, so that's, you know, it is such a challenge at times.
00:13:34
Speaker
But it really, it's in the little moments, I think.
00:13:38
Speaker
Like, for example, today I had James down doing tummy time, you know, and...
00:13:44
Speaker
He's just sitting there happy as a clam, like laughing and pushing himself up.
00:13:49
Speaker
And then all of a sudden he's just like reaching his hands out to me.
00:13:51
Speaker
And it's just like those little moments where, you know, they smile at you and you can just see the joy in their eyes.
00:13:58
Speaker
And then it causes you to reflect on like...
00:14:02
Speaker
If this is a reflection of my fatherly love, you know, there's that dynamic, too.
00:14:06
Speaker
So, you know, it it doesn't seem like much maybe to the to the capitalist world we live in, where it's all about what we're doing or producing.
00:14:16
Speaker
But it's these little moments where we can see reflections of who we are, maybe as God's children in our own children.
00:14:27
Speaker
that at least give me the little push I need or that reminder that this is good and holy.
00:14:34
Speaker
And I am serving them as Jesus, as we're called to serve others.
00:14:42
Speaker
You know, there's a lot of corporal works of mercy that we do every day.
00:14:46
Speaker
Oh, the naked feed, the hungry, get drink to the thirsty.
00:14:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:55
Speaker
I think in, like you said, it's in those little moments, especially I find, um, just looking at the little one, like they're so innocent.
00:15:04
Speaker
They are so innocent, even when they take the food and throw it on the ground or whatever.
00:15:09
Speaker
Like, I mean, as much as I get frustrated, they are so innocent and pure and, you know, you can look in their eyes and see, you know, their complete joy over getting a popsicle or whatever it is, you know?
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah, I think that innocence is just, I don't know.
00:15:34
Speaker
It's beautiful.
00:15:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:36
Speaker
It's really transcendentals, right?
00:15:38
Speaker
Yeah, beauty.
00:15:39
Speaker
Throw in philosophy.
00:15:41
Speaker
There you go.
00:15:42
Speaker
Well, yeah.
00:15:44
Speaker
Brandon will be really proud.
00:15:50
Speaker
What is a transcendental?
00:15:51
Speaker
No, I'm just kidding.
00:15:52
Speaker
We don't need to go into that.
00:15:53
Speaker
That was one of my philosophies.
00:15:55
Speaker
I just taught about it last night.
00:15:58
Speaker
Yeah, I think when we look at either the children that you actually bore and gave birth to and are raising every day or the children in my school or my church, like when I see them,
00:16:09
Speaker
and just love them as they are uh i mean that's truly how our almighty father sees us and i think that's such a good we cannot be reminded of that enough how beloved we are and it's so easy to forget that um in our world and in our daily life of being busy and trying to produce things like um have did your children hannah or cassie help you with your taxes
00:16:35
Speaker
Or did they bring in an income?
00:16:40
Speaker
Did they do anything like that?
00:16:41
Speaker
Like, no, you love them even for just laying there on the floor on their stomach and giggling.
00:16:48
Speaker
Just because they are, right?
00:16:49
Speaker
Just because they are.
00:16:50
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:16:51
Speaker
Yeah, that's how the father feels about us.
00:16:52
Speaker
And I think we need to constantly be reminded of that.
00:16:56
Speaker
Right.
00:16:57
Speaker
It really is beginning to understand and participate in like the father's heart.
00:17:02
Speaker
Right.
00:17:02
Speaker
God, the father.
00:17:03
Speaker
And, you know, like there is something about that.
00:17:06
Speaker
We don't understand it until we experience it.
00:17:09
Speaker
And but I've been reflecting a lot.
00:17:10
Speaker
Like when I talk to married couples, it's just like.
00:17:12
Speaker
how everything we are is truly oriented towards like our call in life is to this call to fathers and mothers, whether it's, whether it's biological or spiritual.
00:17:21
Speaker
But this idea of like that all of a sudden, my life is not my own, which is purifying, right, that I have to die to myself.
00:17:27
Speaker
And now all of a sudden, there's these other people who I'm committed to by love, and they make demands on my time, which I don't always like.
00:17:34
Speaker
Right.
00:17:35
Speaker
But then at the same time, there's this like it.
00:17:37
Speaker
So so it's purifying in that sense.
00:17:38
Speaker
Right.
00:17:39
Speaker
And then it makes demands on you and that it does bring out your frustrations, your weaknesses, your insecurities are all brought to the forward.
00:17:44
Speaker
So it happens in priesthood, too.
00:17:47
Speaker
But but that also then just like beginning like.
00:17:52
Speaker
yeah like we begin to know what the love of god is really like i mean hopefully we experience that in our own parents but then like in this call to love like him and with him like we don't fully understand that he loves us as we are where we are you know it's like a whole new experience of say the prodigal son story you know that uh once you enter into that so very beautiful so
00:18:16
Speaker
Yeah.
Motherhood and the Eucharist Connection
00:18:17
Speaker
So could you, speaking of, let's take this all deeper.
00:18:22
Speaker
Connect some dots since this is a Eucharistic revival podcast, you know.
00:18:26
Speaker
Let's talk about some of your experiences of motherhood and the Eucharist.
00:18:30
Speaker
So both you can talk about some of the practical experiences of the Eucharist, you know, from going by yourself to now having children, right?
00:18:38
Speaker
I'm sure that there's the practical experience of kids crying at Mass and so on.
00:18:42
Speaker
But then also, but then after that to like, you know, we'll maybe go deeper to like just some of the spiritual connections between motherhood and the Eucharist.
00:18:53
Speaker
Go.
00:18:55
Speaker
Start with the practical.
00:18:56
Speaker
Is that what you're saying?
00:18:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:00
Speaker
Let's start with taking your kids to mass.
00:19:01
Speaker
What's been your practical experience of the Eucharist?
00:19:04
Speaker
Well, last Friday I had to take Leo out like three or four times and then Ambrose because he had to eat him.
00:19:11
Speaker
And yeah, yeah, it was, uh, Leo, I was going up to communion and he stops in the middle and I'm already holding Ambrose and
00:19:22
Speaker
Leo just stops and is like starting to fall to the ground.
00:19:25
Speaker
I was like, we have to go.
00:19:26
Speaker
I need, I need to go get Jesus.
00:19:28
Speaker
You have to come with me.
00:19:30
Speaker
So I just like picked him up under my arm and hauled him up.
00:19:33
Speaker
I was so embarrassed, but you know what?
00:19:37
Speaker
I got Jesus and he survived just fine.
00:19:41
Speaker
So.
00:19:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:42
Speaker
It's yeah.
00:19:43
Speaker
It's,
00:19:51
Speaker
Very, it can be very distracting.
00:19:57
Speaker
One of my experiences that just like I still think about this often.
00:20:03
Speaker
So, you know, it's a little unique when I'm helping out with music for a liturgy.
00:20:09
Speaker
I will never forget the first time that I cantered after Cecilia was born.
00:20:15
Speaker
So she was born in March and this was Father's Day.
00:20:18
Speaker
We went to I was cantering at the five o'clock at Cathedral.
00:20:22
Speaker
And it was a visiting priest and it was a it wasn't it was a visiting organist, too.
00:20:27
Speaker
I can't remember who was playing.
00:20:28
Speaker
But so I'm sitting up there before mass and all of a sudden, like I'm hearing like running footsteps.
00:20:35
Speaker
And Lucy, our second little one, she was running up to see me.
00:20:41
Speaker
And I was like, you have to go back by daddy right now.
00:20:43
Speaker
You know, she did.
00:20:45
Speaker
By the time it's the Gloria, I can see Brandon is on the floor with a screaming child.
00:20:50
Speaker
And I just had to look away.
00:20:51
Speaker
And, you know, he eventually got them all out, all three of them by himself.
00:20:56
Speaker
And then, you know, Felicity had to go to the bathroom then during the homily.
00:21:00
Speaker
So they went downstairs, then they're back up.
00:21:03
Speaker
And again, then I hear running during Offitory.
00:21:06
Speaker
And Lucy came up into the canter area and I was just mortified and I did not know what to do.
00:21:14
Speaker
But, you know, everybody was so welcoming.
00:21:17
Speaker
Like, after Mass, you know, I was so embarrassed and like, you can't do this.
00:21:23
Speaker
But everybody was so good.
00:21:24
Speaker
And, you know, nobody complained about it or anything, which I could definitely have seen someone doing.
00:21:30
Speaker
But...
00:21:31
Speaker
I've heard horror stories about people not we've never experienced it, but I have heard of people like run them on the Internet, you know, where somebody, you know, either just like look scornfully at someone or, you know, just let some have it verbally to afterwards.
00:21:46
Speaker
So I heard that, too.
00:21:48
Speaker
yeah so what what words of encouragement would you give to young parents in those experiences as you're experiencing it yourself so or maybe you guys are the ones that need encouragement or what would be the encouragement you would want to hear so i bring them anyway amen when people come up after mass or during mass or just say you know if
00:22:13
Speaker
we're so glad you're here.
00:22:14
Speaker
This is the future of the church.
00:22:15
Speaker
You know, like it's just very encouraging to hear that.
00:22:19
Speaker
Even, you know, people will sometimes offer, come over, you know, can I, can I hold one of the babies for you or something like that?
00:22:26
Speaker
You know?
00:22:26
Speaker
So to me, that's always a comfort knowing that I'm, this is my community and they're here to help me even with the screaming kids.
00:22:36
Speaker
So yeah.
00:22:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:22:38
Speaker
How they, the kids need Jesus.
00:22:41
Speaker
They need Jesus.
Engaging Children During Mass
00:22:42
Speaker
I need Jesus.
00:22:42
Speaker
So I need to be there and the kids need Jesus too.
00:22:45
Speaker
So.
00:22:47
Speaker
Amen.
00:22:48
Speaker
Yeah, kids learn by practicing, right?
00:22:50
Speaker
So we have to be there for them to learn how to pray.
00:22:54
Speaker
And so it doesn't have to be perfect.
00:22:57
Speaker
I know just a couple of practical things that I've done if we're really seeming to lose control.
00:23:03
Speaker
It's just like play I spy sometimes, you know, just quietly whisper like, okay, can you find the sanctuary lamp?
00:23:09
Speaker
Or do you see the statue of St.
00:23:12
Speaker
Therese?
00:23:12
Speaker
You know, just like little things like that can kind of get them at least thinking about where they're at and maybe not.
00:23:18
Speaker
irate in their screamings or wailings, but that those kinds of things or, you know, encouraging them, okay, now we're going to sit down and we're going to hear the words from scripture.
00:23:29
Speaker
So what way is Jesus speaking to you?
00:23:32
Speaker
Like from this reading, you know, just trying to engage them and, or show them at the consecration, like that's Jesus's body and blood, you know, those little reminders, um, to get them thinking about what's going on and why we're there.
00:23:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:46
Speaker
It's definitely challenged me to,
00:23:48
Speaker
to have to pay better attention to the mass so that I can explain it.
00:23:52
Speaker
Like, okay, like you said, okay, we're going to hear a story about Jesus now or, you know, just, and that does engage them for,
00:24:00
Speaker
however long, but at least it's kind of explaining it a little bit.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:05
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:07
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:08
Speaker
I know this priest who made a really wonderful YouTube video, just encouraging parents to bring their children to mass by, by the priest pretending to be all the kids and all the crazy things kids do and popping up in the pews and, and then, you know, all the humorous things kids do, throwing things and popping up the pews and,
00:24:26
Speaker
clapping and screaming and all those things and uh and then saying you know it's okay if your kids do it so bring them but just don't you do it so who was that priest uh that priest was named father jacob rouse by the way so and it got tons of wasn't that your your most viewed video on youtube i think so yeah it was yeah that was a lot of fun to make i've seen every single one of those in reality i didn't make any real jobs yeah
00:24:51
Speaker
um what would you say to a young couple who's afraid and they say well well no we'll just we'll bring them when they're older when they're more well behaved what would you be your response if someone said that to you yeah it's hard for them to learn how to behave as the parents want them to behave right yeah if they aren't there if this is the first time that you're asking them to be quiet and to sit
00:25:16
Speaker
you know, in this quietness, they are going to, they're not going to know what to do with it, you know, so we have to take them so that they learn, so that they can practice.
00:25:30
Speaker
Practice being quiet and come to learn the different movements of the mass.
00:25:38
Speaker
Yeah, we experienced that just a little bit, you know, when COVID happened in 2020 and masses weren't public.
00:25:47
Speaker
You know, Felicity, she was almost four at the time and Lucy was like one and a half.
00:25:52
Speaker
And that was hard because obviously like watching mass on TV is not the same thing at all.
00:25:58
Speaker
Like we tried, we tried to go through and like have everybody kneel and stand, but it's just not the same.
00:26:03
Speaker
So yeah, you got to be there.
00:26:05
Speaker
That's how they learn.
00:26:06
Speaker
I think something to reflect on for ourselves or myself is to what, what are my expectations?
00:26:13
Speaker
Am I frustrated?
00:26:14
Speaker
Cause the little one is, or am I embarrassed because the little one is babbling, you know, like he's a baby and he babbles, he's not doing anything wrong.
00:26:23
Speaker
I am the sinner here.
00:26:24
Speaker
They are not, you know, so I need to reflect on myself and you know, why, why am I getting embarrassed or why,
00:26:31
Speaker
And, you know, are these feelings coming up?
00:26:33
Speaker
Because if we're not doing anything wrong, then then it's not on us.
00:26:39
Speaker
You know, the kids are just being kids.
00:26:41
Speaker
And yeah.
00:26:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:26:44
Speaker
At the end of mass, I've had parents say, yeah, little Jimmy today.
00:26:47
Speaker
He was he behaved a lot better than last time.
00:26:50
Speaker
And I I don't ever like take the time after mass to challenge this.
00:26:54
Speaker
But it's like I think, what do you mean behaved like?
00:26:58
Speaker
He was exclaiming.
00:26:59
Speaker
He was praising the Lord the whole time.
00:27:01
Speaker
He wasn't crying.
00:27:02
Speaker
He wasn't screaming.
00:27:03
Speaker
He was just talking.
00:27:04
Speaker
I don't think that's bad behavior if you're one and a half.
00:27:10
Speaker
I think that's important for us as adults.
00:27:14
Speaker
And then looking at children, what do you mean by behave?
00:27:17
Speaker
What does that mean?
00:27:18
Speaker
Act how you are supposed to or just be in line with your nature?
00:27:23
Speaker
I don't know.
00:27:25
Speaker
Also watching my nephews as they've been growing up, I've been really blown away just like how much they retain when they seem like they're not paying any attention at all.
00:27:36
Speaker
You know, like they are like playing with their cars or whatever.
00:27:39
Speaker
And then they like will make some comment that it's like they heard something in mass that, you know, like you're like, I didn't think you were paying attention at all.
00:27:46
Speaker
But so they're also absorbing more, I think, than we sometimes realize, even when they seem like they're
00:27:52
Speaker
quote unquote, not behaving or or they seem like they're occupied with something else and not paying attention.
00:27:56
Speaker
It's like they actually are listening because their little brains are making all these connections more than we realize.
00:28:03
Speaker
Quick story on that before we get into the Eucharist.
00:28:06
Speaker
One time I was at a first communion party.
00:28:11
Speaker
for a young child.
00:28:13
Speaker
And she picked up one of those, we're all 90s kids, you know, they're like hop, hop, skip things where you put a ring around your ankle and then it's like a jump.
00:28:24
Speaker
Skip it.
00:28:24
Speaker
Yes, thank you.
00:28:25
Speaker
Anyway, Google it.
00:28:26
Speaker
You'll see it.
00:28:27
Speaker
Anyway, she picks it up and it's a giant ball on the end of a string.
00:28:30
Speaker
She picks it up and starts swinging it at people and going smoke on you.
00:28:35
Speaker
Smoke on you.
00:28:36
Speaker
It's imitating the incense that she just saw at mass.
00:28:42
Speaker
And she's over and over and over again.
00:28:46
Speaker
And that was, I mean, the biggest honor to like, they notice and they, they pick up on things just by being there.
00:28:56
Speaker
So they're like little sponges.
00:28:57
Speaker
They are.
00:28:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:00
Speaker
That's what I'm going to visualize during Triduum this year.
00:29:03
Speaker
What were you going to say, Hannah?
00:29:13
Speaker
Oh, we go to Adoration every once in a while.
00:29:18
Speaker
The other day, this was, I guess, a while ago.
00:29:20
Speaker
You kneel down before you go into the pew.
00:29:26
Speaker
Leo was not fairly two at that time.
00:29:29
Speaker
all of a sudden he just started kneeling down.
00:29:32
Speaker
He'd kind of bow his head and he'd look around and he was, you know, imitating, like you said, sponges.
00:29:37
Speaker
He was imitating people coming in and out and get up and get back down and get back up and down.
00:29:44
Speaker
And, but,
00:29:46
Speaker
Yeah, they learn.
00:29:48
Speaker
At our Christmas Eve mass, I chant some of the parts of the mass.
Children's Engagement and Learning at Mass
00:29:53
Speaker
And so for the opening prayer, you know, I said, let us pray.
00:29:56
Speaker
And then you heard very distinctly from the back of church, a voice echo back, let us pray.
00:30:02
Speaker
And it was some little kid, you know, who did that.
00:30:03
Speaker
And of course, everyone started laughing.
00:30:05
Speaker
So yeah, some little three-year-old kid who's there.
00:30:08
Speaker
So yeah.
00:30:14
Speaker
So moving from the practical into the, I guess, some of the more contemplative or spiritual, to go deeper into some of the spiritual reflections, connecting motherhood to, especially the Eucharist, as we're talking about the Eucharistic podcast or the Eucharistic revival, just to some of the Eucharistic mystery.
00:30:34
Speaker
Yeah, some reflections on that.
00:30:39
Speaker
Well, one of the first ones that came to my mind is the image of the pelican.
00:30:45
Speaker
That's one of the Eucharistic images that I was introduced to from Brandon, my husband.
00:30:52
Speaker
He loves, his favorite hymn is Adorate Devote.
00:30:56
Speaker
And verse six of that, let me look, I have it pulled up here.
00:31:01
Speaker
It's bring the tender tail true of the pelican.
00:31:04
Speaker
Bathe me, Jesus Lord, in what thy bosom ran.
00:31:09
Speaker
Blood whereof a single drop has power to win all the world forgiveness of its world of sin.
00:31:15
Speaker
So the mother pelican, if she can't find food for her young, will actually use her own beak to pierce her breast.
00:31:23
Speaker
And so then the little baby pelicans, which I don't know what they're called, but the baby pelicans will then...
00:31:30
Speaker
Yeah, I'm not sure.
00:31:31
Speaker
They're like kids?
00:31:32
Speaker
Maybe they're just... I don't know.
00:31:36
Speaker
Anyway, but then they'll feed literally from their mother's blood.
00:31:41
Speaker
So that's obviously been an image of Jesus that's used throughout the ages.
00:31:48
Speaker
And so I thought of that connection with how, you know, mothers...
00:31:53
Speaker
will just about do anything to take care of their children.
00:31:58
Speaker
And so, you know, that we obviously see that with God giving up his only begotten son for us, his children to nourish us and bring us to heaven.
00:32:09
Speaker
Beautiful.
00:32:11
Speaker
Yeah, that's an incredible image.
00:32:12
Speaker
I'm sure some of our listeners might remember seeing.
00:32:14
Speaker
What is that?
00:32:15
Speaker
There's a bird sitting in a nest and then something's flowing from its chest.
00:32:19
Speaker
Usually that'll, hey, that rhymes.
00:32:21
Speaker
That'll be probably maybe on the altar or maybe decorated mosaic and marble, something.
00:32:28
Speaker
Just look around the churches you've been in and you might be able to see it.
00:32:32
Speaker
But yeah, that is a Eucharistic image of actually feeding the flesh of the parent to the children.
00:32:40
Speaker
And I think that is not only Eucharistic, but also actual physically motherhood.
00:32:48
Speaker
And then the thing that I'm reminded of is the line that we say every single mass, this is my body, which is given up for you.
00:32:57
Speaker
And then do this in memory of me.
Mary's Role and Motherhood
00:33:03
Speaker
Yeah, and the parallels there too are just awe-inspiring of whether it's the priest saying it in persona Christi, like, okay, I'm giving up my body, whether it's going to be staying late after a long finance council meeting or sending emails or whether it's like running around town to nursing homes and hospitals, but then also in motherhood of like physically saying, this is my body.
00:33:29
Speaker
And now I'm helping to create you, my little one.
00:33:34
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, obviously, the woman, when she brings a child into the world, like, lays herself, you know, you're broken open.
00:33:44
Speaker
And so there's pain, but there's such beauty in that.
00:33:49
Speaker
And so...
00:33:50
Speaker
You do it, obviously, when you bring the child into the world, but then every day, you're laying your life down in other ways, too.
00:34:00
Speaker
It's not just that one time and then you're done.
00:34:02
Speaker
You're off the hook.
00:34:04
Speaker
You're always called to strip yourself away.
00:34:07
Speaker
Hannah, you said it so well before.
00:34:09
Speaker
I think it was your mom that said you get rid of the sin and selfishness or you see that more when you have kids.
00:34:17
Speaker
Um, I think a lot of parents can, can attest to that.
00:34:21
Speaker
Kind of along those lines, the image that I've been meditating a lot on is, um, Mary as the tabernacle or first tabernacle.
00:34:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:35
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:36
Speaker
Yep.
00:34:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:38
Speaker
And just how she had Jesus inside her for nine months and, um,
00:34:46
Speaker
And every time that we receive the Eucharist, we also have Jesus inside us physically.
00:34:52
Speaker
He's not like growing like he wasn't Mary, obviously, but he's still inside of us.
00:34:59
Speaker
And yeah, I just, it would be amazing to have been a fly on the wall at Mary's and Joseph's house, like to be able to watch her and Joseph, you know, as parents to see what,
00:35:15
Speaker
What did they do?
00:35:16
Speaker
You know, all that stuff that we could learn from them.
00:35:20
Speaker
But yeah.
00:35:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:35:25
Speaker
Obviously if we're talking about motherhood and Jesus, Mary's a big part of all that.
00:35:30
Speaker
So yeah, that's an important connection.
00:35:33
Speaker
I've encountered both in my priesthood that Mary is like the priest.
00:35:40
Speaker
icon and well, she is Theotokas, but she's the model of motherhood.
00:35:45
Speaker
And she's where I speaking as the mother get, get all my inspiration and my example from, but then the other side is, is how could I ever live up to her?
00:35:54
Speaker
She, she's the perfect mother and she had no sin and everything that goes along with that is, do you find Mary hard and difficult to relate to, or is, can you talk a little bit about that?
00:36:06
Speaker
I feel like it, I,
00:36:08
Speaker
it's come in waves.
00:36:09
Speaker
Like at first it was like, yeah, she's obviously my mother.
00:36:13
Speaker
And then it kind of wasn't super close with her.
00:36:17
Speaker
And now I feel like as a mother, again, I like, okay, you're, you're obviously farther along, you know, you look for mentors and she's obviously somebody who's done it and done it well, you know, even, um, though she doesn't have any sin, but, uh,
00:36:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:36
Speaker
Sometimes, you know, when, when I'm in those, those down moments, like I'm all alone.
00:36:42
Speaker
Nobody's ever done this before.
00:36:43
Speaker
This is so hard.
00:36:44
Speaker
You know, like Mary, you don't, you don't really understand.
00:36:47
Speaker
Jesus is perfect, you know, but, um, you know, she is, how often do we, you know,
00:36:55
Speaker
It's like when I'm in a teenager phase of like, oh, no, the world doesn't understand me, you know, I'm like, okay, I'm, I need to be mature.
00:37:05
Speaker
And actually, she does understand she is my mother and she's our mother and
00:37:13
Speaker
So, I don't know.
00:37:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:37:15
Speaker
Yeah, she's always the first person I call on, really, like if I am having a difficult moment.
00:37:22
Speaker
And, you know, it's obviously if I can, I've heard other people say like it is, it could be challenging to relate to her since she's perfect.
00:37:31
Speaker
But, you know, I think.
00:37:34
Speaker
as her being the Lord's mother, she had that perfect love and she looks at us in that perfect love.
00:37:43
Speaker
It's more about her.
00:37:45
Speaker
It's not about me and my sinfulness necessarily.
00:37:47
Speaker
It's how she views us.
00:37:50
Speaker
And I think if we think about it that way, then...
00:37:53
Speaker
you know, a perfect mother, how can she want anything for us, but what's best?
00:37:59
Speaker
So, you know, if I turned to her in those moments of darkness, you know, she's seen the worst of the worst when she went to Calvary, like with her son.
00:38:07
Speaker
Um,
00:38:09
Speaker
I can't fathom what that felt like.
00:38:13
Speaker
And, you know, I often think of mothers that have experienced loss, like what that feels like.
00:38:21
Speaker
But she knows that.
00:38:22
Speaker
Like she knows that suffering.
00:38:24
Speaker
So when we are in those moments where we're experiencing darkness and despair, like...
00:38:30
Speaker
she could have found that despair, but she knew that there's a plan and she knew that it was for the good.
00:38:41
Speaker
So just thinking of that in those moments of darkness that she's there with us, she's walking with us and showing us her son, ultimately taking us to him.
00:38:52
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:38:56
Speaker
There's a really, really beautiful book that I would highly recommend to anyone about Mary called The Read of God by Carol Hauslander.
00:39:05
Speaker
I don't know if you all have read it.
00:39:06
Speaker
I'm currently rereading it with a group.
00:39:09
Speaker
And it's, I think she does such a beautiful job of drawing out the kind of the,
00:39:15
Speaker
profundity of Mary, but also like how much she really does connect to our human experience wherever we find ourselves in life.
00:39:23
Speaker
And I remember reading in there one of the things, she says there's many great things in there, but one of the things she said is, you know, she talked about Mary, even Mary at times perhaps could have been baffled by Christ, you know.
00:39:35
Speaker
It doesn't mean like her perfection doesn't mean that she always like
00:39:38
Speaker
was able to fully grasp what Jesus was about all the time, you know, like that, you know, and that there's just like something to be said about like the mystery of our children, like we don't always understand or we're sometimes baffled by them about, you know, like, like that she too may have had moments of kind of like,
00:39:56
Speaker
how how am I to navigate this you know um I may not have always perfectly known how to uh you know in the in the moment how to to navigate and steps forward and such but uh I was just very struck by that and just kind of uh um but yeah and but then I was second the whole like Mary at the cross of course um having done some funerals of people who have lost their children um
00:40:19
Speaker
um yeah and watching parents grieve that like it's it's heart-wrenching and it's um but it's like then you really feel like you begin to understand Mary at the foot of the cross yeah and what that was like I will put the book title in the uh show notes so you don't need to worry I'll catch that um Cassie does Felicity ever uh baffle you
00:40:43
Speaker
Yes.
Reflections on Parenting and Faith
00:40:47
Speaker
She's the most like me, though, probably.
00:40:50
Speaker
So she's not the one that baffles me the most.
00:40:56
Speaker
That's okay.
00:40:57
Speaker
That's a fun thing that we didn't talk about beforehand, but I'm just going to throw on you.
00:41:02
Speaker
Have you been able to see yourself or your husband come out in your children?
00:41:07
Speaker
What's that like?
00:41:08
Speaker
Like looking in a weird mirror?
00:41:10
Speaker
Yeah, it is.
00:41:12
Speaker
You see, you can learn a lot about yourself by looking at your children.
00:41:16
Speaker
You can see the ways that you are failing in your own life, but also the things you do well.
00:41:27
Speaker
So, yeah, you learn to be self-reflective a little more.
00:41:32
Speaker
But, yeah, it is fun to see, like, the good things and the quirks and the not-so-good things in your kids.
00:41:40
Speaker
And they help you grow in humility, but also love of yourself, too.
00:41:48
Speaker
Good.
00:41:49
Speaker
We got to love ourselves, too.
00:41:50
Speaker
Hannah, do you ever see yourself or your husband in...
00:41:55
Speaker
Well, yes.
00:41:57
Speaker
Actually, the other day, Leo, we were at the fish fry and Leo ate the packet of butter from his plate.
00:42:04
Speaker
And then he stole the one from my plate and ate it.
00:42:07
Speaker
And Ben said, that's yours.
00:42:10
Speaker
That's your son.
00:42:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:20
Speaker
One thing I also will throw out there, just talking about reflecting ourselves in the children, you know, of course, in scripture we talk about, like, or it reveals to us, we're made in the image and likeness of God.
00:42:29
Speaker
So we're in some ways, like, that small, distorted reflection of God back to God, right?
00:42:34
Speaker
Like, we're still growing into that image, you know, reflected back to us.
00:42:39
Speaker
But...
00:42:40
Speaker
But the beautiful thing is like that's a two way street, right?
00:42:42
Speaker
Like, you know, we see our children reflect things of ourselves in us, but then hopefully, you know, they also like begin to imitate and grow into the better parts of ourselves as we ourselves are being purified.
00:42:52
Speaker
And like, it's very much like that in, you know, the Eucharist, right, is forming us, helping us grow into that image of who he is more fully, you know, or more into his likeness, you know, of who he is as we grow into that.
00:43:05
Speaker
We're nourished by him, that we're conformed more fully to that image, you know,
00:43:08
Speaker
in still like our own unique way right like i was just talking to someone how that weird baffling thing how siblings like as you grow older you see like in certain ways how much alike you really are and also in some ways how vastly different you are you know uh and we all grew up the same household with the same parents and yet and the similarities and differences of of all of that um and i've also just been reflecting to bring it full circle i guess i was reflecting on the father's heart of just like
00:43:34
Speaker
God's attentiveness to us and our needs that I don't always trust and believe in.
00:43:39
Speaker
But this was actually an example to me.
00:43:42
Speaker
In an experience of motherhood, I happened to be at an event and I ended up holding someone's baby for them.
00:43:50
Speaker
And the baby, he seemed perfectly happy and was just making squeals and squirms and things like that.
00:43:54
Speaker
And
00:43:55
Speaker
That seemed all normal.
00:43:56
Speaker
And then he made another squeal, which to me sounded exactly the same as the other squeals.
00:44:02
Speaker
But as soon as he made this other squeal, his mom instantly got up and came to get him because she knew that squeal meant something else that he needed the bathroom or something, I guess, or was hungry.
00:44:13
Speaker
I don't know.
00:44:14
Speaker
That mother was Hannah, by the way.
00:44:17
Speaker
And I was just like blown away.
00:44:19
Speaker
And it led me to some reflection.
00:44:20
Speaker
I'm like, to me, that just sounded like the same kind of squeal.
00:44:23
Speaker
It sounded no different to me.
00:44:25
Speaker
But the mother's attentive ear that just hears this, you know, this very subtle, nuanced, different squeal that I don't know how it was different.
00:44:35
Speaker
But apparently it was different enough to communicate something else.
00:44:38
Speaker
And just like was very impressed by that attentiveness.
00:44:42
Speaker
And I told you that.
00:44:44
Speaker
But it just got me reflecting, of course, of like how God's attentive to those subtle movements in our own heart.
00:44:50
Speaker
even when we uh even when we aren't right just like a baby right a baby sometimes he doesn't know what he needs or she doesn't know what she needs she's just like i'm uncomfortable they're not even sure if it's hungry or sick or tired you know but they're just i have an uncomfortable feeling so i'm gonna scream and take care of it you know and it's kind of like i mean so too with god right that whole the holy spirit intercedes with inexpressible groanings it says and so like
00:45:15
Speaker
just that attentiveness of the Father's heart.
00:45:18
Speaker
So watching motherhood in action helped me to reflect more deeply on God and his attentiveness to us and his closeness to us and our needs in the Eucharist and many ways he is in our life.
00:45:33
Speaker
It's a good job at being moms.
00:45:36
Speaker
Great job being moms.
00:45:38
Speaker
I think it's a very, very important vocation.
00:45:41
Speaker
I think people for their motherhood, whenever I get a chance, saying, I think you're a really good mom.
00:45:48
Speaker
So even, and I've seen the impact of those kind of comments.
00:45:51
Speaker
So I think that's an important thing for you as listeners, you know,
00:45:56
Speaker
Go thank a mom somewhere, you know.
00:45:59
Speaker
Everyone knows it's the world's hardest job, but that can be just kind of taken for granted in some cases.
00:46:05
Speaker
But I do love the complementarity of the locations as well.
00:46:09
Speaker
There's so many parallels and overlaps and things that we get to experience, like sometimes seemingly un-cognitively.
00:46:19
Speaker
unending, you know, quiet time for reflection and prayer.
00:46:23
Speaker
As priests, we get to have that.
00:46:25
Speaker
But then there's other things that we each have and share in.
00:46:28
Speaker
But then when we cooperate together as the body of Christ, as members of a parish, we get to make the kingdom of God be more accessible for everyone else in the community.
Domestic Church and Family Life
00:46:43
Speaker
So I'm really thankful for the vocation of motherhood as it complements the vocation of priesthood as well.
00:46:49
Speaker
It's like that domestic church we were talking about before, right?
00:46:52
Speaker
I often talk the family is the domestic church and the church is the family of families.
00:46:57
Speaker
So there's the interconnection between those vocations.
00:47:01
Speaker
Yeah, can we, just in case anyone's unfamiliar with that phrase, the domestic church, can someone jump in and just give a brief definition of what that concept means?
00:47:17
Speaker
Cassie, you said it first.
00:47:19
Speaker
Yeah, I did.
00:47:22
Speaker
Father Dwayne Toman, wonderful holy priest of our diocese.
00:47:27
Speaker
He was my boss first when I worked at Holy Spirit, and he was very big on the domestic church.
00:47:34
Speaker
So how, you know, from the parish standpoint, how do we support the domestic church?
00:47:38
Speaker
So the domestic church, you know, is the family.
00:47:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:43
Speaker
As I said, you know, where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.
00:47:47
Speaker
And so, you know, each family has Christ present in them.
00:47:52
Speaker
And how do we make it a little church, basically?
00:47:57
Speaker
You know, how do we bring Christ into our homes, but then so that it feeds society around us, too?
00:48:05
Speaker
You know, the family is the...
00:48:08
Speaker
the littlest structure in the surrounding community.
00:48:12
Speaker
I don't, I'm not doing a very good job paraphrasing that, but you know, it's the basic building block of community.
00:48:18
Speaker
So if we can transform our own lives and pattern and become like Christ, then we can do that little by little in the greater society.
00:48:33
Speaker
My godson's mother was reflecting on the domestic church aspect.
00:48:38
Speaker
And well, then she said, victoriously at the end of a long pause, that means I'm the sacristan.
00:48:46
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:49
Speaker
And I love that.
00:48:50
Speaker
I love that confidence in that.
00:48:51
Speaker
The sacristan is the person who comes in before Mass and sets things up, pours the wine, counts out the hosts, does the dishes afterward, is probably anxiously watching during Mass to make sure nothing's going wrong.
00:49:05
Speaker
The sacristan is, yeah, I don't know.
00:49:10
Speaker
I think that's a cool parallel.
00:49:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:14
Speaker
Mom, life of the Holy sacristan.
00:49:18
Speaker
There you go.
00:49:20
Speaker
Yep.
00:49:20
Speaker
So it's building communions of love centered on Christ.
00:49:24
Speaker
Right.
00:49:24
Speaker
So well put everyone.
Living the Eucharist at Home
00:49:28
Speaker
So I guess to close out the episode, we're sort of coming in for a landing here.
00:49:33
Speaker
Domestic church, sacristans.
00:49:38
Speaker
We're in the season of Eucharistic Bible.
00:49:40
Speaker
Is there anything else you want to say or you want to encourage?
00:49:43
Speaker
I guess this is,
00:49:44
Speaker
whether we're on the theme of motherhood or the Eucharist or both, just as we're in this season of Eucharistic revival, what's kind of a final word or thought you want to leave people with?
00:49:54
Speaker
I have a great love for the saints.
00:49:57
Speaker
There are some saints that are mothers, some newer saints too, St.
00:50:02
Speaker
Gianna, St.
00:50:03
Speaker
Zellie Martin and stuff.
00:50:04
Speaker
And I just have, there's a camaraderie there.
00:50:08
Speaker
You know, I'm like, okay, they've done it.
00:50:10
Speaker
They know what they're doing.
00:50:11
Speaker
They, you know,
00:50:13
Speaker
got through all the struggles as well.
00:50:15
Speaker
And so just asking for their intercession or knowing that they're, you know, walking with us in this journey has been comforting as well.
00:50:26
Speaker
So.
00:50:27
Speaker
Beautiful.
00:50:28
Speaker
Thank you.
00:50:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:32
Speaker
I, you know, as I was thinking about the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, like,
00:50:38
Speaker
Do does my life reflect that in my home, too?
00:50:43
Speaker
You know, so are we making mass, whether it's daily or weekly?
00:50:47
Speaker
You know, are we are we setting that aside and really living that as our most important part of the week?
00:50:54
Speaker
So that's just been something I've been thinking about a little bit and.
00:50:58
Speaker
might encourage other people to think about is how do you treat when you're going to mass?
00:51:03
Speaker
Is it just, you know, we got to fit it in between everything else in the weekend or is it the pinnacle of your weekend?
00:51:11
Speaker
That moment where you can go and be fed.
00:51:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:18
Speaker
I think also along that, those lines of making our, the Eucharist is a source and something is that reflected in the home.
00:51:24
Speaker
I was just thinking of the, I sometimes think on the parallels or the connections between the home dinner table and the altar, you know, as both being this place of, um,
00:51:34
Speaker
often underappreciated sacrifice, you know, like just like Jesus died on the cross.
00:51:39
Speaker
We don't always appreciate that.
00:51:40
Speaker
So parents, you know, pour out this labor to bring this food together and make the money to buy the food and put it on the kids table.
00:51:46
Speaker
And then, you know, often underappreciated sacrifice.
00:51:49
Speaker
Right.
00:51:50
Speaker
But it's also the place where we're then we learn and we are forged into who we are is part of that communion of love, right?
00:51:57
Speaker
As recipients of that sacrifice, it does forge us and we grow into our identity, you know, like we learn how to be right and how to behave like we don't throw food off, you know, at the table, you know, whatever, you know.
00:52:09
Speaker
And we, you know, just like as we gather around the table of like the sacrifice of Christ, like it forges us, we begin to learn to what does this mean?
00:52:18
Speaker
What does it mean for me to live this mystery, right?
00:52:21
Speaker
To live like around this, I'm forged into what it means to be part of the family of God, right?
00:52:26
Speaker
And overflowing love and how that and just how so much is, you know, how much of our identity and so many things we learn are around the dinner table at home and thus around the altar at church.
00:52:37
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:52:38
Speaker
Yeah, whether it's a, I'm speaking for myself too, an ungrateful person in the parish or the Israelites in the desert or a toddler at dinner.
00:52:47
Speaker
I don't want this.
00:52:48
Speaker
Mommy, I want mac and cheese instead.
00:52:51
Speaker
You just spent all this time making a wonderful oven roasted chicken and now I want crackers instead.
00:53:00
Speaker
Israelites did it in the desert with the manna and we continue to do that in different ways in our own life so and yet yet and yet we still just continue to pour out ourselves our labors our loves for our beloved children beautiful
00:53:19
Speaker
Well, thank you.
Closing and Gratitude
00:53:21
Speaker
Thank you for coming on and sharing about motherhood and the Eucharist on this episode.
00:53:26
Speaker
Just a last closing word for our listeners to be checking about Eucharistic Revival things.
00:53:32
Speaker
One thing you may want to check out is there is a National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that's crossing the United States and will be passing across southern Minnesota in June.
00:53:43
Speaker
So June 2nd, it will be in Rochester.
00:53:45
Speaker
And June 9th, it will be in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
00:53:48
Speaker
And so that's kind of right along the edge of our diocese.
00:53:51
Speaker
So if you want to check that out, you can check out the National Eucharistic Revival website and click on pilgrimage.
00:53:57
Speaker
Or you can go to those particular dioceses websites, the diocese of Winona, Rochester or La Crosse, Wisconsin, and to see the particular details of how you might connect with those events as in that part of the National Eucharistic Revival event.
00:54:09
Speaker
And thank you all again.
00:54:11
Speaker
Thank you, Cassie and Hannah, and for coming on and talking about motherhood.
00:54:15
Speaker
And everyone, make sure you go and thank a mom for being a mom.
00:54:19
Speaker
So yeah, yeah.
00:54:22
Speaker
And with that, we'll see you in the Eucharist.