Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day! Today we honor, in a special way, those women who have played such an important role in our lives. A prayer of God’s blessing on mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, godmothers, spiritual mothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, single mothers, mothers to be, and all who play a maternal role in our lives and all women who long to be mothers is a beautiful thing and we give thanks for the love that they give every day of their lives. We think also of those mothers no longer with us. We need to learn from mothers that heroism is shown in self-giving, strength in compassion, wisdom in meekness. May God bless you abundantly on this special day! It is good for us also to remember to honor Our Lady in some way today.  Jesus gave her to us all to be our Mother.  It is quite fitting that Mother’s Day falls within the month of May, a month dedicated in a special way to the Mother of Our Lord, and the Mother of us all, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

This LAST MONTH has been a week full of blessings for our parish––blessings and reminders of the great gift of life. From First Communions to May Crownings of Mary, and NOW Mother’s Day. AND this last month given us much to be thankful for and to give praise to God.

Mother’s Day is a perfect moment to thank our mothers for giving us life. A mother, like no one else, has the power to open our minds and hearts to the reality that not only is life good, but your life and my life, by name, is very good, and has an infinite value and God-like dignity. As St. John Paul II so beautifully pointed out, part of the genius of woman is the indispensable role she plays in showing all of humanity the tremendous value of every human person. Our mothers have this role in a preeminent way. They give us life. But a mother’s role doesn’t stop there. We know they are meant to feed us, to love us, to raise us, to pass on the faith and lead us to Jesus, to teach us by their actions and words that you are so important that God died to save us and make us his friend. How desperately our world needs mothers and their witness to human life. What a task! What an amazing person a mother is! Take a moment today; thank and love your mother.

May is also about Mary, our Mother! Even if our own mother has fallen short in some ways, and we know that some of us may have had absent mothers, mothers that passed away when we were young, or mothers that didn’t love us as they should, each of us has a second mother, a perfect mother––Mary. Mary isn’t a young girl from ancient history who’s long gone (and far away) or a statue in our church or flower garden. Mary is our living mother, who desires to have a relationship with us, who labors every day to help us know how much God loves us by name and how important it is to love Him in return. May is a month when we turn to Mary in a special way. May is an opportunity from God to grow in our relationship with Mary. How real is Mary to you? Do you talk to Mary in prayer each day as you would a mother? Are you struggling to know God’s love or to love someone else (maybe even your own mother)? Turn to Mary, talk to her, ask for her help, as a young child would to a loving mother. Mary never grows weary of helping us. With Mary, just like any relationship, there is always more – more life to share and receive, more to know, more to experience, more to love.

Mary, our heavenly mother, and the mother of Jesus Christ, on this day when we honor all mothers, we turn to you. Never has it been known that anyone who sought your intercession was left unaided by grace. Dear Mother, thank you for your “Yes” to the invitation of the angel which brought heaven to earth and changed human history. You opened yourself to God’s word and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Dear mother, intercede for all our mothers. Ask your Divine Son to give them the grace of surrendered love so that they could join with you in giving their own “Fiat.” May they find daily strength to say yes to the call to the sacrificial love- the very heart of the vocation of motherhood. May their love and witness be a source of great inspiration for all of us called to follow your Son.
I love every mother: Mothers keep the world’s heart beating. Technology is everywhere but a Mom has a heart that feels love, teaches love, and expresses love. No computer, no smartphone can do that. Happy Mother’s Day. Fr. John

Mission Statement

To live the Great Commandment
Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart,
with all your soul, and with all your mind.’  And
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Matthew 22: 37-38