Dear Friends,

My mother will be 84 this June and is living through her final stages of Alzheimers’ disease.  I have watched the very things that brought her joy and peace slowly slip away. She was an avid reader of spiritual books, devoted to daily prayer, loved to swap recipes and sew and had great pride in her children and grandchildren. Over the last 10 years, bits and pieces of who she was have been lost in the tangled mess of her memories.

The Church teaches our souls are made up of our memory, will and emotions. I have been pondering what does the soul experience on this earth in a person whose memory and will can no longer be drawn upon? As much as it would comfort me to know that my mother could offer all her suffering up to the Lord, that she could continue to pray her rosary with devotion or follow Mass online, it gives me great comfort that her salvation is not determined by what she remembers but by the fact that she is a cherished memory of our Father in Heaven.

There is a quote attributed to St Francis de Sales that brings me much consolation, “A heart-memory is better than a mere head-memory. Better to carry away a little of the love of Christ in our souls than if we were able to repeat every word of every sermon we ever heard.”

Amid frequent falls and small strokes, my mother’s mind continues to shut down. After a particularly bad week, we asked for her to receive the Sacrament of the Sick. I thought it so amazing that although she can’t remember my name, she remembered to fold her hands and bow her head at the elevation of our Lord in a tiny host. This is now a heart-memory. My mother loves Jesus, and love finds a way.

Words may be forgotten but LOVE is never lost.

Yours in the Heart of Jesus,

Donna