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May is a month of celebration and growth. Flowers are blooming. The grass has turned green. One of my favorite things about May is all the special occasions we get to celebrate in our church and in our communities.
The month begins with the fun tradition of May Day. We used to pick flowers or make them and put them in little cups with pipe cleaner handles and hang them on the neighbors’ doors. I wonder why we were so sneaky with our simple gesture of love. Of course, in May we also celebrate Mother’s Day. For me this day has become a celebration of generations. I not only honor my mother with love and gratitude for all she has taught me through the years but I feel blessed to be a mother myself and am enjoying seeing my own daughters as mothers to my precious grandsons. It’s such a privilege to experience life through the eyes of our children and again through their children.
In many Catholic parishes May is also the time for children to celebrate First Communion and Confirmation. These joyful occasions mark the growth of faith that was planted at baptism and lovingly nurtured and fed by family and the community. It’s beautiful to see the next generation taking their own steps on their spiritual journeys. As a campusminister here at St Ambrose, I continue to be blessed with opportunities to watch our students grow and blossom into the people that God created them to be.
Memorial Day weekend holds a special place in my heart too. Growing up, it was always a time for family camping trips and remembering our loved ones who’ve passed away. Decorating graves with flowers reminds us that even though they’re no longer with us, their memory and love continues to live in our hearts.
And, of course, May is the time for graduations! Every graduation is a celebration of accomplishments, an ending and a beginning. It’s a time to remember people, events, blessings and struggles that have led to that day! It’s a time to hope and dream about what’s next. It’s time to blossom and to share and to love.
As we approach the end of the semester and stand on the threshold of new beginnings, my prayer is that we carry with us the lessons of May—the beauty of life, the warmth of cherished moments, and the love of those who journey alongside us.
Inspired by Matthew Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, the Evicted exhibition brings visitors into the world of low-income renter eviction. The exhibition challenges visitors to face the enormity of one of 21st-century America’s most devastating problems while providing context for the crisis and a call to action.
May is a month of celebration and growth. Flowers are blooming. The grass has turned green. One of my favorite things about May is all the special occasions we get to celebrate in our 
