BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER!

 

            Without doubt, the most revered and honored title in the english language and every other language is that special title for the most special people in the whole world---that beautiful title--

 

---Mother!  On Mother's Day, we honor mothers in a special way.  It is quite fitting that Mother's Day falls during may, the month of Mary, who is the Mother of God and Our Blessed Mother!

 

            Mothers are so marvelous that even God wanted one.  When the Heavenly Father decided to send his Son into the world to save us, he willed him to have a mother just as we all do.  And Mary was that mother!  Of all of the worlds mothers she is the most tender, the most understanding, the gentlest, the most full of sympathy and compassion---the most motherly.  Our Lady was all of this for her Divine Son. 

 

Woman Behold thy Son, Son Behold thy Mother!

 

            Each one of us has a special place in his heart for his or her mother whether they are living or dead.  And so today we honor all mothers. 

 

            In paying tribute to mothers, the great Cardinal Mindzenty of Hungry put it so well.  His eminence said:

 

"The most important person on earth is a mother.  She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral.  No!  She need not.  She has built something much more magnificent than any cathedral---a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body.  The angels have not been blessed with such a grace.  They cannot share in God's creative miracle to bring new saints to heaven.  Only a human mother can do that.  Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any human creature.  God joins forces with mothers in performing his act of creation... What on God's earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother."

 

            It is sad in our day, however, that we live in an era when motherhood and the family are under attack.  That attack, I believe, stems from, Satan himself, the father of lies.  The pagan world about us, under the lead of Satan, tells us that women will find their true greatness and fulfillment only when they are liberated from motherhood and are able to go out of the home. And so motherhood is out---careers are in!  Ask any young girl these day what she wants to be when she grows up.  Because of the influence of society, the answer will be a doctor, a lawyer, an indian chief---every and anything, but very seldom a mother.  How sad that is!  As a result, we are witnessing the destruction of the family.  The true love of children and family is being replaced by sins of greed, lust, avarice and the like.

 

            And so my dear Catholic people, let us not be taken in by the false values of this world.  Let us not sell short the great gift of motherhood for there is nothing so wonderful and important as to be a mother.  This was made very clear to me several years ago when I attended a conference in Willow Grove, Pa.  One of the speakers was Dr. Wanda Poltawaska.  The master of ceremonies introduced her and told of her wonderful accomplishments---of her life in a concentration camp in Poland during the war---how she went on to be a doctor of science and an author, a famous lecturer, etc.  When Dr. Poltawaska began her address she said to the master of ceremonies: "I thank you kindly but you forgot my most important title!"  She said: "You see, I am a mother!  Seated out front are my children and with them are my beautiful grandchildren."

 

            Our Blessed Mother has many titles.  She is Gate of Heaven, Refuge of Sinners, Tower of Ivory, Mystical Rose, Mary Most Chaste, Mary Most Pure, Queen of Angels, Queen of the universe, and on and on.  But the one title that she likes the best is that of mother.  Why?  The same reason that you good mothers like to be called mother.  Because you are proud of your children and you love them.  Our Lady likes to be called mother because Jesus, Our Lord, is her Son.  And because all of us are her children.  And she loves us all.  And like any other mother, she wants us to love her. 

 

            On this Mother's Day, in honor of our tender heavenly mother and in honor of all mothers, in the words of the poetess Mary Dixon Thayer, we say to our Lady, we say to her:

 

Lovely Lady dressed in blue, teach me how to pray

 

God was just your Little Boy, tell me what to say!

 

Did you lift Him up, sometimes gently on your knee?

 

Did you sing to Him the way mother did to me?

 

Did you hold His hand at night

 

and, did you ever try telling Him stories of the world?

 

And oh! Did He cry?

 

Do you really think he cares if I tell him things---little things that happen?  And do angel's wings make a noise?

 

Can He hear me if I speak low? Does he understand me now?

 

Tell me, for you know!  Lovely Lady dressed in blue

 

teach me how to pray!

 

God was just your Little Boy and you know the way!

 

Treasure in Clay by Mary Dixon Thayer: The Child On His Knees.

 

Given at Holy Cross, Mother's Day May 9, 1993