Mothers and Mary

This weekend we celebrate Mother’s Day; while, all month we celebrate Mary, the mother figure most central to our Catholic tradition. 

We often do Mary a great disservice by pretending that her life was idyllic.  If you look at most images and statues of Mary they seem to suggest that she did nothing but gaze piously toward heaven.  In reality, she suffered the same ups and downs all mothers do, delighting in her child’s growth while knowing that every day brought her closer to his death.

                                             

All mothers have dreams for their offspring; certainly she never imagined that her kind, sensitive son would die hanging naked, a criminal crucified between two thieves; truly a nightmare for this gentle woman.

On this day we often do many women a great disservice.  For many, Mother’s Day doesn’t mean breakfast in bed, corsages, or presents.  For many Mother’s Day is an annual bad dream.  Many wanted children only to learn that they could not bear them.  Many gave a child up for adoption or lost one to death.  Tens of thousands of mothers struggle as their beloved sons and daughters are stationed in war zones.  Children are imprisoned, ill, addicted, or estranged from their mothers.  Mary, too, endured bewilderment, confusion, disappointment and pain.  No stranger to excruciating loss, she embraces those to whom Mother’s Day brings sadness.  Because we are one mystical body of Christ, the old adage, “when one cries, another tastes the salt,” applies to us as we recognize how difficult this day is for many women.

As with all women who are mothers, we can be certain that Mary’s life was filled with moments of great joy as well as times of sorrow.  When we see Mary as a woman and a mother, as one who struggled to put food on the table and struggled with her spouse to pay the taxes to the Temple, Herod, and Rome, we begin to flesh her out, make her real, and understand her at a more personal level.  There are some truly beautiful statues of Mary, but none of them show her as she was – one of us.

As we honor Mary this month, let us ask her to pray to her Son for all women to find joy and peace in their lives.