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November 24
St. Margaret, Lake Henry
A rush of memories came to me as I saw the twin spires of Lake Henry’s beautiful country church: pictures of my parents’ wedding, my baby sister’s funeral, and my mom’s funeral. I was barely in the doors when my cousin wrapped me in a big embrace. Mona attended the church often as a child and had the equivalent of books full of memories compared to my own snapshots. She often visited my parents on the farm, helped us clean up the farm when they moved and kept in close contact when they moved to Washburne Court, frequently calling, and generously sending cards and gifts. As a young teenager in eighty grade, Mom had lived with Mona’s family helping her older sister, Loretta, with her young family, which also helped Mom’s large immediate family with one less mouth to feed. These cousins had an incredibly close bond with my Mom as more of an older sister than an aunt. I could list quite a few people who would have given anything to have my Mom and Dad as their parents. Our family wasn’t perfect, of course, but their appreciation made me aware that I won the family lottery.
With a handful of people there for daily Mass, Mona and I had our choice of pews in the large church. A smile crossed my face when I saw the beeswax pillar candles flickering under a statue of Mary. Dan, Scott’s brother, would often light one for me and brought his granddaughter with to pray. McKayla’s prayer was, “Dear Jesus, Please give Linda all the toys she wants.” From her lips to God’s ears, right?
Today was the Solemnity of the King of the Universe and Father Glenn aptly connected the gospel to the long-standing fascination with royalty, but stressed that God’s majesty is multiplied several times. Plus, the King of the Universe is focused on service to the people and mercy to those in need unlike most other lowercase kings. “How can we serve Jesus?” Father Glen asked then explained that we are baptized into service, that each of us is unique and needs to use our talents. Regardless of our temperaments or our life circumstances, we need to both pray and listen.
Mom’s Eulogy
St. Margaret’s in Lake Henry is where my mother was baptized, had her first reconciliation and communion, was confirmed, married and held her funeral mass. She was a parishioner of St. Louis the majority of her adult life, but when Patti, Joe and I were planning her funeral, Father Glenn asked if St. Margaret would be an option and we wholeheartedly agreed. How sweet for Mom to have so many sacraments in one church.
During her last days in her assisted living, I spent many hours watching her as she was quite restless. Once she bolted up in bed and said, “I need to get in line for communion,” and I crawled in beside her and held her until she fell asleep. She called out to Jesus frequently, always in joy, even rapture.
After a long fight against cancer, going with comfort cares was again that switch we saw with Dad where the focus shifts from life to death. Cancer swi