Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mother's Day!


Happy Mother’s Day! So much is written about mothers – what they do, how hard they work, how much love they give. No one would be here today if it was not for a mother. No matter how hard science tries, you cannot come into this world without a mom. From this one stem of similarity, there is incredible diversity. You have young mothers, single mothers, older mothers, birth mothers, step mothers. It’s actually possible to have at least 3 mothers – mother, birthmother, and step mother (guess, the “step” parent could continue indefinitely but you get the idea).
Even though it is called Mother’s Day, I think it’s a day to celebrate all women. How often has an aunt or friend been a mother to you? Just look around our St. Barnabas community – how often has a fellow member bestowed motherly love and kindness. There are the Grandmothers who quickly reach out for the baby in the congregation, the adults happy to divert their attention from the service to entertain the little one in front of them, our dedicated members of the children’s programs, and those that offer encouragement and insight. Amongst our St. Barnabas community, there are many sharing motherly love, kindness and wisdom.
As everyone knows, motherhood is at times challenging. When you look to the most holy mother of all, Mary, I think of how difficult it was to raise the Son of God. I hope none of us are faced with raising a distracted child left behind when the family travels, one who alienates his/her elders, never quite “settles down,” performs miracles, spreads news not everyone wants to hear, has followers with no day jobs, fights against injustice and, in the end, is betrayed by a “friend” and murdered. It is because of Mary’s willingness to accept her part in God’s work and endure such pain and grief as a Mother, that we are all blessed by the life of Jesus.
On this day to celebrate Mothers, let us remember all those “mothers” in our lives and remember to thank them for their love, their wisdom and their lives they have shared with us. And for Moms, let us ask to be bestowed with the strength of Mary, the courage of Joan of Arc, the compassion of Mother Teresa, and the grace of God, to achieve our full potential as Moms.
Jennifer Lefere