Reflections & House Chronicles

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House Chronicles

Farewell, Dear Friend

We were all stunned this week to learn that Gary Gisselman, a dear friend of St. Anthony’s, died August 9. He was a kind, humble, gentle soul, and he will be missed by many, not only here at St. Anthony’s but also in the wider community. Gary wore many hats in life - teacher, librarian, historian,...

The Heat is On

Heat is indeed the headline for this year’s Volunteer Week. Thursday started off with a high of 80, climbing to the mid-80’s on Friday, to 90 on Saturday, and 92 on Sunday before clouds and an overnight rainstorm “cooled” the temperature on Monday down to mid-80’s again. By Tuesday when the week...

Dear Volunteers

“How wonderful that no one need wait a single moment to improve the world.” - Anne Frank I read something the other day that got me thinking. It said that there is only one degree of difference between the temperature of ice and that of water. If you think about it, that doesn’t seem like a lot of...

Priceless!

Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless. - Sherry Anderson This month is Global Volunteer Month and next week is National Volunteer Week. There is no better time to recognize and celebrate all that our awesome volunteers do and have done here at St....

Choosing Thanks

In the spirit of the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we share this prayer written by Diane Butler Bass. She has granted blanket permission to reuse it with the only restriction that she be credited as its author. We hope that it blesses you and all those you gather with for the holiday. Deo...

Volunteer Week 2024

Our annual gathering of volunteers kicked off last Thursday. Actually, this year we had some pre-kickoff help from the NCIS crew. Neighborhood Catholics in Service, a group of 22 middle-school aged youth and their 10 adult and high school-aged chaperons, came last Tuesday. NCIS has been coming to...

Earth Day

Earth Day, which takes place annually on April 22, has a dual purpose. The first is to educate and bring awareness to everyone about the damage humans are causing to our common home. The second is to promote action to, at a minimum, decrease the ongoing damage, and hopefully also do something to...

It’s Nice to Be Appreciated

Last week, the Board of Directors invited all of the team members - staff and residents - to an appreciation lunch. It was their way of tangibly expressing their gratitude for the efforts the team makes week in and week out to keep St. Anthony’s going.  The team was not allowed to do anything -...

A Most Generous Gift

St. Anthony's is humbly honored to announce that we have been selected as one of the beneficiaries of the Thomas and Marilyn Kraemer Trust. Tom and Marilyn were long-time area residents, owning and operating several funeral homes in Marathon County, including one here in Marathon. Their gift will...

Brother, It’s Cold Outside

Those words have certainly crossed our minds this week, and they might have echoed through the halls of St. Anthony’s seventy years ago, based on these two Chronicle entries from mid-January 1954: Cold Weather The 12th of January was the first day this winter that the reading on the thermometer...

Reflections

Questions

In my quest to travel to places I have never been before, I planned a trip to the north shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota. I had seen a Facebook post about all the beautiful waterfalls along the highway from Duluth to Grand Portage on the border with Canada. I did some preliminary research on...

Sacred Togetherness

My daily commute to work is often less like a commute and more like a session of the Society for Outdoing Each Other With Recommendations of Obscure Music and Books. I may be ahead of the game, as far as obscure music recommendations go. My carpool buddy’s daughter once apparently asked in awe...

On the Road Again!

Since I was able to balance a two-wheel bicycle, I have enjoyed bike riding. It was the main, if not only, means of getting around up to and past high school. A car was seldom an option, especially in a one car family with multiple drivers waiting a turn. Interestingly, riding a bike has become a...

The Way of the Water Lily

Late summer finds fields of water lilies adorning the edges of northern lakes. Alabaster white petals surrounding yellow fringed globes float gracefully on carpets of broad, green leaves. My friend Jim, an underwater photographer, takes pictures of lily buds as they emerge from the lake bed....

Yes, Lord I Am Listening

One day recently as I was driving home from work and the refrain from the song “Center of My Life” kept repeating in my head. Like a mantra. I have learned that when this happens I do not brush it off because I know the Lord is trying to tell me something. I may not always know what that is but...

Who is This Woman?

Mystery. That was a word that filled my childhood regarding anything that was just not understood or explainable. Mystery. That was what Mary, Mother of Jesus was for me as a child. As I grew in my understanding and reading of scripture, I began to have glimpses into who Mary was and who she is in...

Faith of a Child

Do you have the faith of a child? What does that even mean? I started to ponder this a little differently than I have in the past when recently listening to John’s version of the Loaves and Fishes story (John 6:1-14). John’s version of this story (compared to Matthew’s and Mark’s) is the only...

Are Stories Important in Our Spiritual Lives?

Stories are important in our lives. When we gather with family members and friends, we might often share a story that brings home a point. Grandparents might tell stories that point to a particular belief. They might be true or they might be somewhat fictitious. A thirty-five inch northern might...

Hope

I wrote this reflection during the week after Pope Francis’ death wishing to capture some of the inspiration he had left. Much has happened since that time; we have a wonderful new Pope and the Holy Spirit continues to guide the church and all of us. It seemed good to look back on the legacy of...

The Challenge and Opportunity of Change

Despite having always enjoyed math, physics was never my cup of tea. However, I do remember Newton's First Law of Motion states that an object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion (unless acted on by another force). In other words, it seems that a disinclination to...

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