Reflection for May 12-Mother's Day

Mothers:

Models of Charity

The readings for Ascension Sunday can be found here.

In St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, there is a beautiful statue sculpted by Bernini of a woman holding a child.  It is actually not a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Christ Child.  Rather, it is a statue of an allegory – an allegory of virtue – in keeping with the ancient Greek and Roman traditions.  The statue is called “Charity” — and it is no wonder why Bernini chose a woman with child to represent this virtue.

So, what is charity?  It is simply love of God that is reflected in love for neighbor.  It is agape, or unconditional love, the kind of love Christ commanded us to have a few Sundays ago (John 13:33).  I believe that Bernini chose to show a mother with her child to best represent charity because a mother’s love is unconditional!

Think about it: the mother sacrifices herself in so many ways in order to give her child everything he needs.  From the very moment of the conception of the child, the child is completely dependent on the mother.  The mother must go through the pains of labor in order to give birth, and then when the baby is born, she must constantly nurse the child from her breast.  (And from what I hear, this is not exactly a pleasant experience!)

For the first several years of a child’s life, the child is completely dependent on the mother for feeding, protection, comfort, discipline and – yes – even faith.  In order to fulfill her role, the mother constantly sacrifices herself – her own wants, needs, comforts, pleasures – to give her offspring the very best of life.  This is the charity, the unconditional love, that our Lord teaches us to have.  In a beautiful way, mothers show that this kind of love does not end once a child grows into a teenager, a young adult, or a grown-up.  Mothers don’t stop being mothers, and they continue to love and care for their kids their entire lives.

To all the mothers in my life, on behalf of all children (myself included), I thank you for your self-sacrifice for us your children.  While some in the world may not see the awesome vocation and gift of motherhood, the Church does, and we appreciate you.  May God reward you, may our Lady, Queen of all mothers, pray for you, may the angels and saints protect you, and may you have a blessed Mother’s Day!