Reflections & House Chronicles

Make sure to come back often to review our inspirational articles provided by St Anthony’s!

Sign-up for our weekly Email here.

House Chronicles

House Chronicles

The House Chronicles will be taking a little break. Stay tuned for further developments. Deo Gratias!

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...

Mission: Impossible

Those two words might describe how it feels to be our Center Director. Yet, like every episode of the TV show, Jackie Kellner somehow manages to get the mission accomplished. Although unlike the TV show, it rarely happens in under an hour. In fact, it often takes much more than her 40 hour work...

Holy Encounters

During Advent and the Christmas season, we hear many Scripture stories about holy encounters. We hear of an angel’s visit to Mary, Mary’s visit with Elizabeth, the shepherds and the wise men visiting the infant, the Holy Family meeting Simeon and Anna in the temple, and finally an angel’s visit to...

Christmas Break

‘Twas the week of Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. . . . Well, to be honest, there weren’t any two-legged creatures around the house for a couple of days to confirm that no four-legged creatures, or winged creatures for that matter, were stirring....

Awe and Wonder

Each year when we deck our halls for Christmas, we set up many, many nativity scenes. One goes under the tree, many more go on the window ledges in the front hall, others are scattered throughout the building, and of course this one goes outside. We have so many that some years, we don’t even get...

Community

In last week’s Chronicle, I wrote about the many reasons people come to St. Anthony’s. One of the reasons was to build a deeper relationship with others, or in other words, build community. This past Saturday was a great opportunity for community building at the annual Holly Days celebration...

Welcome Seekers

Folks are often surprised when we tell them that not only are non-Catholics are welcome here, but they come here and are a fair share of our guests. Mostly, they seem to believe that our Catholic roots somehow preclude us from welcoming other Christians, or non-Christians, or even those who are...

Reflections

Prayer of Release

Recently a friend sent me a prayer composed by Sr. Mary Ann Barrett, OP, a Grand Rapids Dominican. It is a prayer that she received from her friend and that she was sharing with me. A gift it has truly proven to be which I would like to share with you. You can read the prayer at this link. This...

Jesus: Human Like Us??

I clearly remember, many years ago, first seeing this image of Jesus on the cover of a Liguorian magazine. I was so taken by that image that I saved it for a long time, but somewhere along the line, it was lost! (Recently searching for this image online, I finally found that it was on the April...

Who Are Your SHE-roes?

Happy Women’s History Month! Throughout the world, March is designated as a time of recognition and celebration that honors women who have made this world a better place. Some we know by name. Some are unnamed. Perhaps this month would also be a good time to pause and reflect on the women who have...

Stories

Ahhh, stories. I do not know anyone who doesn't love a good story. Growing up listening to my parents and aunts and uncles tell family stories was such a joy! As my sister and I grew older we came to expect that many of these stories would be told and retold at our extended family gatherings. And...

Drawing Closer to the Holy

(Editor’s Note: Last fall, we offered a retreat titled "Drawing Closer to the Holy". As a closing prayer, the participants were asked to share a few words about their retreat experience. Their thoughts were woven into the following meditation.) It is time tomake my life countto find peace.Not to...

Rend Your Heart

Even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning. Rend your heart and not your garment. - Joel 2:12-13 2024 --- Leap Year brings two significant days in the month of February. One, of course, is the extra day we get every four years, the 29th of...

Living Symbols

While working many, many years ago as a pastoral musician, I became accustomed to the idea of structuring my life around the secure predictability of Roman Catholic liturgical feasts. Decades later, I’m still a bit of a stickler for liturgical accuracy, especially regarding the features that...

Potpourri

The beginning of the year is a time when I try to clear the top of my desk of all the “stuff” that mysteriously has accumulated over the preceding months. The good news is that I will have a nice clean space to work on, but the problem that occurs is I start reading what has piled up – everything...

Christian Unity Week

This year the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is January 18-25. Christians have been a part of this 100 years plus octave (8 days) praying for visible Christian unity. I have included the prayer below for you to join me and those around the world during these 8 days. The prayer is from the...

It Starts With Me

This is the theme for this year‘s Martin Luther King day.What are some actions we can take when it comes to social diversity and equanimity?How can I remain an active part of the community and spread good will?How will I participate even if I have fear?We are all sisters & brothers of the...

Are you ready to join us?

St. Anthony's welcomes YOU!