I wrote this for my church bulletin in commemoration of Mother's Day 2016. Keep in mind it was for the church bulletin when reading the "religious references". Happy Mother's Day to all those beautiful mothers out there! :)
The noun mother,
by definition, is “a woman in relation to a
child or children to whom she has given birth”.
Everyone has or had a mother to whom they were borne. It is impossible to enter this world without
one. It’s impossible to even have a heartbeat
without one…or a heart for that matter! And
to that end, biologically speaking, virtually every woman can be a mother. That
is to say, she is anatomically able to reproduce and give birth. The verb mother,
by definition, is “to bring up a child with care and affection”. To make the conscious decision to dedicate
one’s life to helping and teaching a helpless creature to become the best they
can be in life. It is quite possible to
be a mother who does not mother, e.g. guppies.
Guppy mothers eat their babies; not the most nurturing environment!
Possible too, is mothering without
giving birth to a child. How many of us
know a woman or women who have loved us and nurtured us as though we were their
own child? Women who have never had the
experience of childbirth yet love a child or children in their care as though
they felt every contraction of labor. The
blessed women who adopt to ensure a good life for that child filled with love
and affection. Is that child flesh of
their flesh? No, but he is heart of her heart and his love for her, because of
her mothering, is unconditional.
Since becoming a mother I see so
clearly now that mothering is not always easy and rewarding. Sometimes it can be hard and disappointing. My
usual self-confident nature is questioned and tested almost daily; as is my
patience and compassion. I share this with my mother and she nods
empathetically because it’s all too familiar to her. She went through it all
(seven times) and understands my frustration.
She gently reminds me of their attributes and tells me of the joy and
pride I’ll feel when someday too soon I will watch my children succeed as
adults who are ready to take on the world. In only the way a mother can, she
picks me up, brushes me off, and sends me back in.
So on this celebration of Mother’s
Day, we celebrate the woman who gave birth to you or took you from a lesser
life and with the Grace of God, spent or will continue to spend the rest of her
life until her dying day, caring, nurturing, worrying, supporting, and loving
you. The woman who taught us how to
speak, how to hold a fork, how to take our first steps, and how to pick ourselves
up when we fell. The woman who gave us
pep talks to lift us up and whose sometimes brutal honesty kept us
grounded. We celebrate this woman who
bought us to church and taught us about Christ and Adam and Eve and the Holy
Spirit; about Noah and Job and Sts. Peter and Paul. This woman who lovingly molded us into the
person we are today. She wasn’t
perfect. She made mistakes and
not-so-great decisions. She yelled and
maybe even, Heaven forbid, spanked. She
punished, grounded, muttered under her breath about your behavior. Sometimes her words stung. Sometimes she realized this and swallowed her
pride to apologize to you because she sees she’s hurt you and your pain is her
pain.
Those of us blessed with a mother still gracing this
Earth must cherish every moment with her.
Perhaps not every moment will be joyous and fun; perhaps even upsetting
and frustrating but should be cherished just the same. She’ll be gone someday, and if her prayers
are answered, long before you follow and the opportunity to be with her gone
along with her. Those who’ve lost her
already must remember only the wonder that she was. Forget the cross words said in anger or the
swat given in frustration. Remember that
like our Blessed Mother Mary, the woman who raised you accepted that task not
as a burden, but as a gift from God.
Deacon Ron ends every liturgy with “Go in peace
glorifying God with your life.” This
Mother’s Day, glorify God with your love for the woman hand-picked by Him to be
your mother.
Happy Mother’s Day, 2016 to all of the mothers
within our Sts. Francis and Clare family and may the Lord bless you and keep
you.
~ Eileen
Cassidy Bishop
