Blessed be the Mother

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