Mothers: God's First Blessing to Us

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today, May 10, is the annual second-Sunday-of-May celebration of Mother’s Day. Begun in the late 1800s, it was codified by Woodrow Wilson in 1914 as the annual, national celebration of mothers. Carnations are a common sight on Mother’s Day, as are cards, chocolates, and breakfast in bed.

When you think of motherhood, who is the first person who comes to mind? Who are your “Mothers-as-heroes?” For most of us, women and men, I suspect that is our own mother, the woman who gave birth to us, nurtured us and reared us. Men may think of our wives, the mothers of our own children. Perhaps, some of you also think of your daughter who has a child of her own. Out of curiosity, for all of you mothers out there, did any of you thought first of yourself?

In the history of motherhood, there is truly one woman who must among the pantheon of mothers and the Mount Rushmore of Moms: Eve. This woman was, in every conceivable way, a pioneer in her field. She started it all – the mother of all mothers. Even her name means “Mother of Every Living Thing!” She was in uncharted territory. Before her, there is no history of childbirth. She had no mother to ask, “Is this normal? Did you feel this happen?” She couldn’t get information from friends. It was BC – Before Computers – and she had no way to access What to Expect When You Are Expecting.  In fact, she was such the overachiever that she started out with twins!

If you look up the word “Blessed” in your Bible concordance, one thing will jump out at you (I hope): that every time the word blessed is used to talk about humans being blessed by God, it means that the person has been given a gift of God. If you look up “blessed” in a dictionary, it will say something like, “Having good fortune bestowed or conferred upon.” To be blessed by God is to have His Fatherly, good fortune poured out on us. Usually, but not always, this also includes His name being added in a special way as well.

Mother’s Day may be a secular celebration, but the Church has been celebrating the vocation of motherhood since Eve. I’m using this word, “vocation.” It gets used in the secular world, so let me explain it. It’s more than just a job. A Christian vocation is the calling in which God works through us to those around us. In our vocation, we demonstrate faith, through love and service, to our neighbors. There are lots of vocations – student, teacher, employee, employer, pastor, citizen, child and parent, just to name a half-dozen. The list is almost endless because the ways God works in and through us to help others is almost endless.

In the vocation of motherhood, God works through mothers to rear children. When a mother nurses, changes a diaper, helps a baby crawl and walk, goes to the doctor, God works through the mother. When a mother encourages a child, God works through the mother. When she made a sack lunch, or packed it in a favorite lunch kit, or added a note that said, “Have a good day, sweetie,” she was being Christ to her child. When she taught her son to tie a shoe, or a daughter how to ride a bike, she did so with the joy of Jesus. When she disciplined, it was with the love of God who disciplines His own dear children. Through mothers, God blesses the world.

There is no such thing as a perfect mother – not your mom, not your wife, not your own self. That is a huge thing to know. Not even Mary, Jesus’ mother, was perfect – despite our Catholic friends’ claim to the contrary. If satan tries to tell you that you are a failure as a mother because you got frustrated at your kiddo, or you burned dinner, or you didn’t react fast enough to keep your toddler from tumbling and breaking an arm, that is his lying to you about you. Mothers – all of you – stand at the foot of the cross today. Jesus has died for you and forgives you your maternal mistakes.

Mothers truly do follow in Eve’s footsteps. There were those times that mothers’ sinful nature reared its ugly head, times she sinned against her husband, her children, against God, and even against herself. God has a remedy for mothers. In fact, wonder of wonders, God in His mercy, used the vocation of motherhood to rescue fallen humanity when Mary gives birth to His Son, Jesus, Who dies to forgive mothers. Forgiveness, from the fountain of the cross through the font of Baptism, washes over mothers fully and completely in Christ Jesus, and from mothers to their own children.

I realize that not every mother is Carol Brady and Claire Huxtable. Many are more like Peg Bundy. If you were adopted, you thank God for your biological mother who gave birth to you and then entrusted you to the woman who reared you as her own. If you were habitually mistreated, seek solace in the arms of your Heavenly Father. And if you have a good mother, thank God for the blessings He has given and continues to give you through her. It’s OK to see your mom through rose colored glasses and to choose to remember the good things she has done for you while forgetting the times she made you eat liver and onions or go to bed before Dancing with the Stars was finished. Because in those things, even the ones you didn’t like, those things were made holy in the blood of Jesus and done in faith in Christ. In that plate of microwaved, low-salt fish, God was at work for you through her loving hands.

To all of you mothers who still are mothering your own children – especially children in your own home – you have a true blessing. Remember, a blessing is a gift of God. That doesn’t mean motherhood is easy – far from it! But, with God’s help and by His grace, you do that Godly work of being a mom. And, to all of you mothers who mother from a distance, whose children are grown and on their own, perhaps with their own children, be a “senior stateswoman.”  Share the beauty of your blessed vocation. Encourage, exhort, pray, and mentor younger mothers. Don’t sigh about “back in my day,” and lament how things used to be. You are not the mother of today’s child. Instead of critique, encourage and share your own blessing in Jesus’ name.

A long time ago, a wonderful saint whom I’ll call Annette, called me a day or two before Mother’s Day. She asked me one question: “Are you preaching about mothers on Sunday?” Why, I asked. “Because,” she said, “I chose to not have children or get married and I always feel left out while every other woman in the room gets praised. You know who I feel like? Like the Samaritan woman at the well, all alone, while everyone else gathers and laughs.” That resonated with me, and still, 20 years later, I remember her pain in those words. Some women chose to be neither wife nor mother. Others, for whatever reason, God has not allowed the blessing of motherhood. And, I know there are some who lost a child all-too-soon. None of those things make you “less than.” And, to Annette, and any other woman who has felt like the woman at the well, left out from the group, I am sad that has happened to you. Dear sister and child of God, then in your unique vocation, be that Christian model of a faithful woman who is able to watch, care for, and love others with that special gift that God has given you, pray for those who are mothers, and weep with those who weep. But know this: you do none of those things alone.

So, this Mother’s Day, flip the script for just a second. Instead of thinking of yourself, your vocation as mother - or not a mother – think of yourself in the vocation of child. Regardless your age, you are the child of a woman whom God chose to give you life. Whatever your vocation might be, and in this way, it applies to us men as well, join in giving thanks to God for your mom, the woman who reared you, cared for you, and loved you – even if it wasn’t your blood-mother. Remember, and stand at the foot of the cross with your mother, remembering Jesus forgives her just as He forgives you for your childish and childlike sins. And all of us, thank God for His gift of mothers.