The mother of the sons of Zebedee reminds me so much of my own mother, who entered paradise last December after nearly 95 years on earth. Ruth Eileen, my mother, was laser-focused on heaven, not merely for herself and her husband, who departed several years earlier, but importantly for her children. Through the last 3 or 4 years of her life, as my mother lived with me and my family, hardly a day went by that she did not pray the rosary for her children. Her faith was, and still is, inspirational. Even near the end of her earthly life, when she had the strength, Ruth Eileen would whisper God have mercy on my babies. I doubt I can ever achieve my mother’s level of faith and trust in our Lord.

Indeed, drinking the chalice is not always easy, particularly in a society that often seems to ignore, if not demean, faithful individuals. This is one of the myriad of reasons that I love my home at Notre Dame. Faith is evident at every corner of campus (in the dorms, chapels, and classrooms). At Notre Dame, the faithful are embraced, not ostracized. Members of the Notre Dame family typically strive to serve rather than to be served, making drinking from the chalice so much easier.

Drinking from the chalice can be difficult, but Jesus did that throughout his ministry. And that is the message of the gospel. In my estimation, the weakest among us, those who have no voice, are the unborn. Over fifty years ago, my mother worked to start one of the earliest pro-life counseling organizations in Wisconsin. As I saw her long life come to an end, I appreciated her devotion to life from conception to natural death. I am proud to note that the pro-life community at Notre Dame is strong in helping students and faculty drink from the chalice and show their respect for God’s most vulnerable.