Monday, May 10, 2010

6th Sunday of Easter - homily

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers and godmothers here and to your mothers at home. If you haven’t done so already, call your mother today and say thank you for the life she has given you. Without our mothers and fathers, we wouldn’t be here! Motherhood is the most important work in the world. Let me say that again, especially to our future mothers here: motherhood is the most important work in the world. It’s not just because mothers give us life; it’s because they give us love. Without our mothers we wouldn’t have life or be the people we are. Mothers give us life and give us love. While the love of our fathers is very important for many reasons, mothers love us in a way that no one else can. The bond between a mother and child is the strongest bond on earth. We have a special love for our mothers because we have a special bond with them that begins in their wombs. This is why abortion is so painful to mothers, especially: it kills the child with whom they have already bonded. Mother Teresa called it the “greatest poverty”.

The bond between a mother and child is the strongest bond on earth. We see this with each of our three mothers: our own mother, the Blessed Mother, and Holy Mother Church. Our own mothers give us natural life. It is through our mothers and fathers that we have life in the first place. Thank God they were open to life! Our mothers have said yes to life and have said yes to love. They have nurtured us, formed us, and loved us to be the people we are today. They continue to live out the strongest bond on earth; a mother’s work is never done. They consistently want what’s best for us and continually give their life for us. They want us to have life and to have it abundantly.

While our mothers bring us natural life, our Blessed Mother has brought us supernatural life in her Son, Jesus Christ. Thank God Mary and Joseph were open to life! Mary said yes to God and to life and love her whole life. She is the example to all mothers because she always said yes to God as a mother. She always trusted that He would take care of Jesus and lead him to what was best for him. With God’s help, she formed Jesus in his human nature to be the man He became. He has become our Savior through Mary. Everything we have in Christ is through his mother, Mary. It is through her ‘yes’ that we have a Savior.

We experience supernatural life in Christ through Holy Mother Church. As Pope John Paul II taught us, “the Church as Mother gives birth to, educates, and builds up the Christian family”. We are a Christian family and the Church is our mother. Just like our mothers and the Blessed Mother, Mother Church truly wants what’s best for us. She gives birth to our supernatural life in Christ in Baptism and nourishes it through all of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. She educates us about the Word of God and the new commandment of love. She builds up our life in Christ through the love She shows us on a daily basis. It is because of Mother Church that we know about Jesus Christ in the first place and have the opportunity to enter into His love.

This last point is probably the most significant about our mothers in relation to today’s Gospel. Jesus says, “whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him”. This amazing opportunity is what our mothers give us! They bring us to Jesus and to love him. They have showed us how to love Jesus and to keep His word. And, this leads to something truly incredible…what every human heart desires: to be loved by the Father. Whoever loves Jesus and keep his word, the Father will love him, and the Father and Son will come to him to make their dwelling with him. This all comes about through our mothers. The love of our mothers brings us the love of the Father. What a gift our mothers give us! It is the greatest gift that a mother can give her child.

Finally, as God makes His dwelling with us tonight in the Eucharist, may we thank Him for all of our gifts, especially our mothers. Let us thank Him for our mothers, the Blessed Mother, and Holy Mother Church. We thank Him for the life he has given us through them. We thank Him that they have said yes to life and to love. Through our mothers, may we have life and have it abundantly. Through them, may each one of us receive God’s love and receive it abundantly.

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