Dear Friends,
This Sunday we celebrate our mothers. It is probably impossible to look at motherhood, through spiritual eyes, without looking at Mary the mother of Jesus. Is there any other woman in history whose role is better defined as that of a mother than Mary? I suppose the Messiah could have come to earth as a fully-grown person. God could do whatever God wants, Jesus did not need to come through the womb of a woman, but God chose that path. This choice makes it clear the importance God places on motherhood. Moms matter! Jesus shares with all of us the very human experience of being born and cared for by a mother.
In preparation for the May Crowning on Friday, I asked the lower grade students this week to tell me what Jesus would say about his mother. I thought the words they used would be good to describe all excellent mothers: patient, forgiving, calm, loyal, loving, friendly, brave, cute, knowledgeable, did not yell, determined, honest, organized, great cook, responsible, able to inspire, faithful, good at giving hugs…it was quite a list!
Jesus was born to an ordinary girl who lived an ordinary life. Yet there were extraordinary choirs of angels singing his arrival that night in Bethlehem! And three extraordinary wise men came bearing gifts for a new born baby, laying in a manger. However, it is not the choir of angels or the three wise men who are found throughout the Gospel. It is that ordinary girl, Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is found throughout the Gospel. From the time Gabriel came to her to announce she had been chosen among all women to give birth to the Messiah, to Jesus’ birth, throughout his ministry and even during his death and resurrection. Mary was there as God’s plan unfolded. Her role was that of a loving mother, who had hope and a strong faith in God’s ultimate plan.
Even though Scripture does not go deeply into Jesus’ life before his ministry began, I can imagine how precious the little boy was to his mother, Mary. How she would take care of her son, what she may have cooked for him, how she taught him how to walk, talk, and even shared moments of goofy laughter and tears of sadness all the years he lived with her at home. Mary must have cuddled Jesus in her arms – probably not wanting to let him go, perhaps not wanting the years to go by so quickly. Did her heart ache, knowing his destiny and what that might mean?
Mary reminds us this Mother’s Day that it is the little daily things moms do for their children that matter. Moms influence their children’s lives through the little things they do for them, the loving words they say to them and the way they live.
Happy Mother’s Day to all mother’s out there! May God continue to give you wisdom, strength, perseverance, peace and abundant joy. What you do on a daily basis really does make a difference. May God help you to be and do all those things that our young students listed for Mary – ordinary things, but quite amazing things.
Peace,
Fr. Damian