A Word to Mothers
Reflection for Mother's Day
Mothers, we salute you and thank you on this, your special day. May you feel special for the way you co-created new life with our divine Creator. We thank you for carrying us in your body for nine months, sometimes suffering much in the process. In our first reading today, Barnabas and Paul said to the people: "You must undergo many hardships..." Mothers, in the course of your life, you have undergone many hardships in your role as mother. At the end of the day, you may not feel appreciated. If this is the case, know that God who sees all things does appreciate the way you model his self-giving love to the world.
If at times you failed in your role as mother, please forgive yourself because that is what God and Mary, our mother would want you to do. Carrying around guilt is soul-destroying. Say you are sorry to God and to your children and begin anew. If you have a poor relationship with your children or with your own mother follow the wise advice of the serenity prayer:
Change what can be changed
Accept what can't be changed
Pray for the wisdom to know the difference
Always remember, we are all in process. God is not finished with us yet. So here on earth we will often mess up and fail others and ourselves. Say a genuine "sorry" and go on, praying for the grace to do better.
One of the hardships that other women have to undergo is to learn to accept the reality that they are not going to be blessed with a child even though they very much want one. Let's keep these wonderful ladies also in our prayers this day.
A Mother's Journey
Marge Wilson, a parishioner emailed me the following last year.
The young mother set her foot on the path of life.
"Is this the long way?" she asked.
And the guide said: "Yes, and the way is hard.
And you will be old before you reach the end of it.
But the end will be better than the beginning."
But the young mother was happy,
and she would not believe that anything could be better
than these years.
So she played with her children,
and gathered flowers for them along the way,
and bathed them in the clear streams;
and the sun shone on them, and the young Mother said,
"Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."
Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark,
and the children shook with fear and cold,
and the mother drew them close and covered them
with her mantle, And the children said,
"Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near,
and no harm can come."
And the morning came, And there was a hill ahead,
and the children climbed and grew weary,
and the mother was weary.
But at all times she said to the children,
"A little patience and we are there."
So the children climbed,
and when they reached the top they said,
"Mother, we would not have done it without you."
And the mother, when she lay down at night,
looked up at the stars and said,
"This is a better day than the last, for my children
have learned fortitude in the face of hardness.
Yesterday I gave them courage.
Today, I have given them strength."
But, the next day came strange clouds which darkened
the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil,
and the children groped and stumbled, and the mother said:
"Look up. Lift your eyes to the light."
And the children looked and saw above the clouds an
everlasting glory, And it guided them beyond the darkness.
And that night the Mother said, "This is the best day of all,
for I have shown my children God."
And the days went on, and the weeks and the months
and the years, and the mother grew old
and she was little and bent.
But her children were tall and strong,
and walked with courage.
And when the way was rough, they lifted her,
for she was as light as a feather;
and at last they came to a hill, and beyond they could
see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.
And mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey.
And now I know the end is better than the beginning,
for my children can walk alone,
and their children after them."
And the children said, "You will always walk with us,
Mother, even when you have gone through the gates."
And they stood and watched her as she went on alone,
and the gates closed after her. And they said:
"We cannot see her, but she is with us still.
A Mothers like ours is more than a memory.
She is a living presence."
Your Mother is always with you.
She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street;
she's the smell of bleach in your freshly laundered socks;
she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well.
Your Mother lives inside your laughter.
And she's crystallized in every tear drop.
She's the place you came from, your first home;
and she's the map you follow with every step you take.
She's your first love and your first heartbreak,
and nothing on earth can separate you...
Not time, not space ... not even death!
(Author Unknown)