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Dear friend of the friars,

As Mother�s Day approaches, my thoughts turn to those of my own mother, who has recently turned ninety-four. How very blessed my brothers, sisters and I are to have so many years with her.� I sit here with a smile remembering, as a young boy, the comment made by one of our pastors: �Your mother is a living saint�, informing us of just how lucky we were�.� Impulsively, I wanted to respond with, �You should try living with a living saint�.� But of course, having been raised to be a bit more respectful than that, not to mention that my mother was standing within reach, prevented me from such impulsivity.� All that my brothers, sisters and I could do was politely smile and nod in agreement with Father.� Looking back, I now know that Father was right; putting up with, and mothering eleven of us, could not have been easy, or fun, all of the time and I do know there were many hardships for both her and my father. But as Mom often says: �All of you are my treasures and I am so grateful to God for each of my children�.� In return, how truly grateful I am to have the privilege of being her son and having been taught the love of God and of neighbor from one who genuinely practices such love every day. Therefore, I invite you to join me in remembering our mothers, who are our treasures, in a Triduum of Masses beginning on Mother�s Day, May 14, 2006.

I invite you to remember the many mothers and grandmothers who struggle each day to bring up their children and grandchildren in a world that is not as �God friendly� as when I was young.� I invite you to remember the single mother, in Altoona, PA, who struggles to keep here children safe, warm and fed.� I invite you to remember the grandmother in Minneapolis, MN, who has had to assume the mothering duties of her grandchildren because �, and I am sure that each of you can fill in numerous reasons, for many of you are in that very same place.� I invite you to remember the mother who home schools because she fears her children will not find a �Godly� environment in the world that they must venture out into each day.� I invite you to share in our ministry to these many mothers by your prayers and financial support. We are asked daily to assist these many mothers with our prayers and material goods: we are so very dependent on your help and generosity which, in turn enables us to help these women.

I invite you to remember my mother, your mother and the many mothers whom our friars minister to daily�mothers who fret about their children�s and grandchildren�s spiritual well being because they do not go to Mass on a regular basis, or at all.� I invite you to help us in our evangelization of your children and/or grandchildren. How, you may ask, can I do anything?� Each year I ask my mother what she would like for Mother�s Day and each year I get the same reply, �Nothing�.� Perhaps you are familiar with this response because you have either heard it or spoken it yourself.� This year I invite you to hand out one of our invitations instead.� As you can see, they are cards inviting the bearer to attend Mass with you on Mother�s Day.� What a gift they will give to you and the Mother of Jesus by accepting your invitation: an invitation to give thanks to the Son of Mary, who is the source of all life.

On behalf of myself, our friars and the staff here at St. Bernardine Monastery, I wish you a Happy Mother�s Day.� I invite you, whether a mother or not, to celebrate the gift of life on this day of recognition that all mothers truly deserve.� May God continue to bless you and those close to you.

Fr. Bill Linhares

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