Thanks Mom(s)!!!!!!!!

Hi folks,

Thank God for the wonderful celebration of Mothers Day. It is the most popular day for the restaurant industry, the flower stores and in the memory departments of most of us. Graduates refer to their schools as their “Alma Mater” which literally means “Nourishing mother”. Religious orders refer to their foundation buildings as “Mother Houses”. Miners hitting a large strike of ore would call that hitting the “Mother Load”. We refer to this planet as “Mother Earth”. We even call our Catholic faith Holy Mother Church. There is something precious, like gold, nourishing, sustaining and stable about the vocation of being a mother. I thank God for the gift of my Mom and later today I’ll go to St. Francis of Assisi cemetery and pray the rosary with her again.

In the reading from the Gospel of John today Jesus says that He wills to give us peace, but not as the world gives peace. I believe that was a gift my Mom had. She was the disciplinarian of the family. She and Dad discussed proper punishments for my misbehaviors, but she was normally the one who meted out the proper punishment. Of course, as a child I thought all punishment was harsh and unfair. But now I see how Mom and Dad made me a man of faith and strong values. They practiced, “let the punishment fit the crime.” I’m now glad they did. I remember in high school when several of my classmates all agreed that if they had the chance to switch mothers, they would all choose mine. I thought they were crazy then. But they saw the love and strength that lay very shallow beneath her disciplinarian disguise. I do too.

Thanks Moms for your vocation as our Mothers. I’ll pray part of my rosary today for you too.

paz,
Fr. Chuck Walker