Good Shepherds and their Good Mothers

On occasion, the holiday on the secular calendar aligns nicely with the feast on the Catholic liturgical calendar.  This Sunday, everyone (hopefully!) will be honoring their mothers with flowers and chocolates — but most importantly with the treasure of their time, either in person or by phone.  In the Catholic Church this Sunday, we celebrate “Good Shepherd Sunday.”  In John 10, Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd.  He is linking Himself to Psalm 23 and Isaiah 40 – to Yahweh – the divine Shepherd of Israel.  So, what does this have to do with Mother’s Day?

Jesus Christ, the Chief Shepherd, chooses human shepherds – priests – to guide His flock.  Like the Chief Shepherd Himself, priests are not angels but are born of women.  The Good Shepherd has a deep love for His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The early life of Jesus was nurtured by Our Lady in the home at Nazareth.  She did all the things mothers do for their children: fed Him, cleaned Him, taught Him, held Him, comforted Him, played with Him, listened to Him, and prayed with Him.  (Jesus was the perfect child, so at least she did not have to discipline Him.)  Being a mother is hard work – especially if your son is the divine Savior of the world – but the role of every mother is of eternal value for each child.  And even when the child is an adult, a mother never stops being a mother.  Our Lady is an example for all mothers of union with her Child in the joyful and sorrowful events of His adult life.

Most priests I know have close relationships with their mothers.  In imitation of Our Lord, we honor, respect, and love our mothers.  My own mother, Jo Beth, died almost nine years ago when I was still in seminary.  She was not a Catholic Christian, but loved our Lord and encouraged me to pursue the Catholic priesthood if that was what God was calling me to do.  I am grateful for the personality traits I got from my mom and her example of kindness to people whom world considers insignificant.  Thankfully, I have a stepmom, Shane, who loves me like a son and has never tried to downplay the role of my deceased mother.  She had the most significant role in my family’s conversion to the Catholic faith and has been there for me through my life’s milestones.  I am grateful for the love of my living grandmothers, too: “Mema” (Betty, my mom’s mom in Ft. Worth); “Grammy” (Irene, Shane’s mom in Gilmer); and “MeMe” (Kaye, Shane’s stepmom in Natchitoches, LA).  Since my years in seminary and now as a priest, I have many “mothers” who have supported me through the years.  They love when I visit them, cook for me and give me a place to rest (you know who you are :-).  As a pastor, I also have many “mothers” in the parish who cook for me, check up on me, and encourage me to be a holy priest (you know who you are, too ;-).  I thank all mothers on this Mother’s Day and Good Shepherd Sunday.  Thank you for your gift of life; thank you for your sacrificial love for us, your natural and spiritual children; and thank you for praying to the Good Shepherd for us human shepherds and helping us to be the men we are called to be.