Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day! Today we celebrate our mothers and the incredibly important role they play in all our lives. From the beginning of Christianity Christians have had a strong devotion to the Blessed Mother. Honoring our mothers and motherhood is deeply ingrained in the Catholic psyche. The fact that God chose to enter our world through a mother is evidence of His own esteem of motherhood. Mary is the crown jewel, the masterpiece of all God’s creation. In a sense every mother shares in this dignity.
One of the hallmarks of our age is a more intentional awareness and sensitivity to the lived experience of people, and especially for those experiences that might be outside the normal coarse of things. A recent trend, for example, is for major corporations to give people the opportunity to opt out of receiving “Happy Mother’s Day” emails. This has been seen by some a subversive attack or diminishment of the nuclear family or motherhood, etc. But I think a more charitable interpretation is that it’s an attempt to be sensitive to, for example, women who struggle with infertility, or mothers who have lost children through miscarriage or some other unfortunate accident. I can appreciate that. So in this spirit of our age, today we also acknowledge and honor all women with these or other experiences.
That being said, it is nevertheless right and just that we collectively honor and celebrate our mothers today—with gusto. As St. Paul says, we are called to give “respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due” (Rom. 13:7), and who deserves respect and honor more than our mothers!? First and foremost among them, we give honor to our Blessed Mother, Mary, the Mother of God. We also honor the other noble and holy women, the saints of God, who have lived an exemplary motherhood. For example, given her experience with her wayward-son-become-saint, Augustine, St. Monica is the patron saint of mothers. Other mother saints include, for example, St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary; or St. Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist; or St. Sylvia, mother of Pope St. Gregory the Great; or St. Bridget, mother of St. Catherine of Sweden; or St. Zelie Martin, mother of St. Therese of Lisieux; and so many more!
Mother’s Day is an occasion for all of us to reflect on the ways in which our mothers have excelled in their role as our mother. So mothers: we love you! we give thanks to God for you! we honor and we celebrate you! May God bless you and reward you today through the intercession of the Most Holy Mother of God!