Mothers and Mystery
Recently I shared thoughts about my mother’s example of outreach and how it fostered a sense of service in me. Her gestures of goodwill continue to inspire me. No act of kindness was an extra effort for her, never a reach beyond her limits or means. It was always very matter of fact, as though it was automatic.
The other dimension that was, and is, omnipresence about her was prayer. She was a woman of countless devotions, almost to a fault. Whatever the practice, she exercised it. There was never a sense that I was unaccompanied by her invocation. Like Abraham Lincoln, I can fondly claim, “I remember my mother’s prayers, and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”
Mom would have celebrated her 100th birthday this week. The anniversary of her death was last week. Mother’s Day is this weekend. Her memory is keen.
I am fortunate to hold these memories. Both my grandmothers died during my childhood; my godmother died when I was in my 20s and my mother-in-law died when I was 31. The opportunity for relationships was limited.
I had the rare favor last month of celebrating the births of two grandsons last month. My two oldest daughters, though 900 miles apart, walked side-by-side through their entire pregnancies. It was wonderful to be a spectator as they shared their experiences and expectations with each other. Their excitement for each other – and their new nephews was uncontained.
Walking each step with them through the joys and struggles of pregnancy was their own mother, my wife. She is indeed a rare find – a pearl of great value (cf. Mt 13:46). As the mother of nine grown children, she continues to give sympathetic ear and loving interest to each of them, uniquely. I continue to be amazed by that bond, which is so distinct from my own relationship with our children.
That insight is summarized cogently thus: “Motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life, as it develops in the woman’s womb. The mother is filled with wonder at this mystery of life, and ‘understands’ with unique intuition what is happening inside her. In the light of the ‘beginning,’ the mother accepts and loves as a person the child she is carrying in her womb. This unique contact with the new human being developing within her gives rise to an attitude towards human beings – not only towards her own child, but every human being – which profoundly marks the woman’s personality” (John Paul II, Mulieris Dignitatem, 18).
This year, as we celebrate the mothers we know and love, let’s pause to reflect on the inseparable “communion with the mystery of life” that accompanies the nobility of motherhood. Let’s consider the enduring relationship between mother and child, and the concern it engenders toward others. Let’s renew our respect for life, in and beyond the womb. Let’s recall that we’ve each a mother to thank for our own being, and every mother to thank and revere for their life-giving love.
My mother, Rita