Milwaukee Catholic Mamas
The pandemic caused some adjustments by all of us. Some members of the Milwaukee Catholic Mamas Facebook group shared some of their memories of 2020. (Submitted photo)
Milwaukee Catholic Mamas were asked to answer the question: What will you remember most from 2020? Here are some of their best responses.
“The year of online Mass … alongside the amazingness of curbside pickup so many places.”
“Sitting in the car watching Mass in the parking lot while my 14-year-old climbed through the sunroof and watched from sitting on top of the roof. The greatest things I learned though were: never delay any sacrament if you can possibly avoid it because you may not get to receive it if you do; and we have some seriously awesome, bend-over-backwards, devoted priests in our diocese who didn’t need capes to be real heroes when we needed them.”
“I learned that my grandpa was right many years ago when he told my husband and I to always be prepared. He grew up during the Great Depression and was in World War II. He knew we had no idea what was coming. Thankfully, my husband took that to heart, model Boy Scout that he still is. I learned that God can always find more ways to make you stop taking so much for granted and help you have a humble heart. Pain and suffering have become well-known to me in 2020 and, although I hope to have them behind me in 2021, I will continue to unite my suffering with Christ and offer more prayers knowing his will is so much better than my own. Releasing my control, trusting him and giving it all to him. I learned that God puts us exactly where we need to be; so we have everything we need because he will always provide. And lastly, I learned that when tempers are short due to everyone being inside (thanks, COVID), saying the rosary and praying together as a family are great ways to diffuse it. I would find my husband ready to yell at the kids and I would say ‘I was hoping to say a family rosary anyway.’ No one refused. By the time we were done, no one was upset. Thanks, Mary.”
“I am grateful for the silver lining element of the pandemic. When the pandemic hit, I prayed and asked to find a job that would provide for my family and give me satisfaction. I now work for Pick ‘N Save and fill online orders. My favorite part is taking those orders out to the cars. We have some regular customers; so I look forward to that responsibility. I work with some really nice colleagues; many are way younger than I am, but we work as a team. I’m respected and if I have a problem, I go to my supervisor and ask for help. They call me to fill in just like a sub. My family has stepped up as I am working more; so we need to work together. We watch Mass online and plan special meals, like Easter, Thanksgiving and now Christmas. Our son got married in 2020, so our hearts welcomed a new daughter to the family. We are stronger than we know, so there are some good things that happened, amidst the COVID.”
“Having to be apart from the Eucharist so long made me realize even more what a gift it is. I’ll always remember unexpectedly crying after finally receiving Communion at Easter Mass in a parking lot.”
“Never in a million years would I have thought that our ability to attend Mass could be taken away from us. I realized how much I take for granted my ability to exercise my religious freedom. I have also appreciated the creative spirit of those around me. My mom made us a very fun quarantine calendar that was kind of like an Advent calendar … pull the Post-It note and it revealed a fun activity or treat, like making homemade pizza, and she included the ingredients. Another mom organized driving Stations of the Cross, which inspired a drive-through Halloween event for our school that was very successful. We are looking forward to a Caroling by Candlelight at school in December, too. Activities look different but everyone seems up for a challenge. Birthday drive-bys, a baseball season which made it seem like life was back to normal, and the importance of hope and mindset also come to mind.”
