The Mother of Love

Today we celebrate Mother's Day, in this very suitable month of May, dedicated by the Church to Our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Nothing but the relationship between God and humanity is more familiar to us than the mother. In her, we come into existence, gain life and a body. We mature and grow, and the mother protects us from all harm as we come into life, not merely building us a shelter but literally being our shelter themselves, giving their entire body to us for nine months. We share in our mother's air, food and sustenance - in her very life. And, after birth, she continues this role, being the support we can all depend on for kindness, mercy, wisdom and guidance as we grow into adults. With daughters, they even pass on this vocation, passing on the torch of life to a new generation.

Of course, not all mothers fulfill their role, and even though it can be difficult, we must recognize that they are human and just as prone to mistakes as we are ourselves. Everyone sees what "the mother" is, and what it should be. But do we truly understand the depth of meaning and value God places on His daughters, and on His own Mother and Queen of Heaven and Earth, the Blessed Virgin? In these days of the dereliction of parenthood, and especially motherhood, the mother can become distorted or even forgotten entirely. Perhaps, through contemplating all of Our Mother and the true meaning of motherhood itself, we can regain some realization of the beauty and goodness inherent in the mother.

What does it mean to be a mother? It cannot simply be to give birth apart from any other qualification. Even though birth itself does confer physical motherhood, it also involves greater responsibilities and connections between mother and child than mere reproduction. So, then, what does it mean?

Motherhood is characterized above all by love. Within the spiritual heart, love is the most central quality of man(1). Our very purpose for existence, and our ultimate destiny with God, is rooted in love.(2) For this we were made, and without this, we cannot exist.(3) We are introduced to this love before we are even born. The very act of conception is an act of matrimonial love, just as the carrying of pregnancy, giving birth and caring for the child are acts of love which the mother shows to her baby, even within her womb. Despite all the sin and damaged relationships we are all born into, the mother is the enclave of love, the image of God's own creative and providential love for us, a sanctuary to which we can all escape.

It is difficult to imagine a love on earth closer to God's own love for humanity than that of a parent for their child. What relationship is more connective, more affectionate and more obliging than this? Even though the parent does not create the soul of their child, they are parents of the entire person, body, soul and spirit. As noted earlier, reproduction is not the deepest quality of the parent. Rather, it is the fact that parents are the first relationship we have, our first experiences of life and love. Indeed, through family, we first become aware of our purpose in life - to love and be loved - and what this entails. It is more then sentiment, more than an ideal. Truly, "Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." (1 John 4:7-8 NRSA) To know love is to know God Himself, and through the mother, we receive our first personal experience of God as Love.

In this way, the Blessed Virgin Mary was also the Mother of God. Despite having not created Christ's soul or divinity, just as no mother creates their child's soul or spirit, she was still His Mother in every way. Throughout His life, she poured out herself for Him. From the very moment of the Annunciation, she put aside her questions and submitted fully to God's loving plan for Creation through His Son, without concern for her own prosperity. (Luke 1:26-38) She raised Him through childhood, even risking her life for Him as they fled Herod's persecutions into Egypt. (Matthew 2:13-23) And perhaps the greatest example, not only of her maternal love for Him but for her role as our mother, comes from the Wedding at Cana event. Already aware of His true nature and purpose, she asked Him to begin His ministry with a miracle of sustenance - wine, the drink which would later become the host of His Blood. Through Mary, people came to know Christ and His glory - indeed, His own disciples came to believe. (John 2:11 NRSA; see John 2) Mary went with Christ along His Via Dolorosa, through His Passion and Crucifixion, suffering with her Son. And, in the last moments of His life, Christ granted her motherhood towards all mankind - by the reconciliation of His Passion, all became adopted into Christ's family, and so Mary became the Mother of all Living. (John 19-25-26; Genesis 3:20)

May we see the Blessed Virgin as the highest example of the mother, what it should be and what it truly means, to God and for all mankind. Let us also appreciate more deeply the sacrifice and vocation of our mothers, to assist them as best we can, to honor, love and respect them - and to forgive their mistakes, as we expect them to forgive ours. May the Blessed Virgin intercede in my prayer. Amen.

Endnotes:

1 " Part 1, Section 2, Chapter 1, Article 1, Paragraph 6, SubSection 2
368 The spiritual tradition of the Church also emphasizes the heart, in the biblical sense of the depths of one's being, where the person decides for or against God." Quoted from the Knights of Columbus website's Catechism search - http://www.kofc.org/un/catechism/search.action

2 " Part 1, Section 1, Chapter 2, Article 1, SubSection 3, Heading 2
68 By love, God has revealed himself and given himself to man. He has thus provided the definitive, superabundant answer to the questions that man asks himself about the meaning and purpose of his life." Quoted from ibid. above.

3  "Part 1, Section 1, Chapter 1, SubSection 1
27 … For if man exists it is because God has created him through love, and through love continues to hold him in existence." Vatican Council II, GS 19 § 1. Quoted from ibid. above.