Happy Mother's Day to All Mothers!

A Very Happy Mother’s Day to all Mother’s here this morning!

Although Mother’s Day is not a liturgical Feast Day per se, it was the custom of Bishop Grant, D.D. and Bishop Musey, D.D., to give a Sermon on this subject.

We continue this custom.

It is interesting how Mother’s Day falls during the month of May which, liturgically, is devoted to Our Blessed Mother.  In Our home parish, Mother’s Day was always the day set aside for the Children’s First Holy Communion.

The Holy Rosary, which our Blessed Mother gave to Catholics, has a total of 15 Mysteries which are classified into three groups, namely, Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious.  These three groups represent some of the wonderful joys, the horrible seven swords of sorrow, and the great glories of our Blessed Mother.  But in various ways, these joys, sorrows, and glories are also experienced by many Mothers.

The Catholic Church presents Mary to all women of all ages, especially to Mothers, as a example to follow and to imitate.

Pop culture presents to pre-teens, to teenagers, and to young adults various pop culture “icons”, so to speak, for them to imitate, to emulate in their own lives.

A few years ago, perhaps you remember how television news stations were saturated with stories of the various joys and tragedies of Anna Nicole Smith of whom it was said that she tried to imitate Marilyn Monroe.  In some respects, it appears as if she did a very good job.  Too bad she did not use the energy she used imitating Marilyn to instead imitate our Blessed Mother.

Over the years, various Mothers have told Us how they were trying very hard, by the Grace of God, to imitate our Blessed Mother and also to pray to our Blessed Mother since she understands the duties and needs of a Mother as well as a Mother’s daily cares and loving concerns for her Husband and for her Children, while, at the same time, in her heroic act of selflessness, being forgetful of herself and her own needs.

Many a Mother has told Us how, being drained and exhausted at the end of the day, she would take her Rosary to bed with her, asking our Lady to comfort her family and herself and to console them, to give them peace, to give them the Graces they need to get through another day and to thank our Lady for all of her help during the day now ending.  She would also ask Our Lady of Mount Carmel to always keep her mantle of protection around her family and herself.

But, just as our Blessed Mother put her hope, trust, confidence, and love in God, so also should all others, especially Mothers.  Consider how our Blessed Mother, out of a great love for her Divine Son, kept vigil at the foot of the cross as He died so slowly before her tear-filled eyes of the agony of her own terrible sorrow.

But, she was not alone.  There were also other women who, by the Grace of God, and by the Virtue of Heroic Charity, had Heroic Courage to overcome their human emotions, their human fears of being arrested, imprisoned, and also crucified as the Scriptures says:

“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, His Mother, and His Mother's Sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen” (John 19:25).

“Woman, behold thy Son.  After that, He saith to the Disciple:  Behold thy Mother.  And from that hour, the Disciple took her to his own” (John 19:26-27).

And, by saying this, because of His great love for each of us, Christ made HIS Holy Mother the SPIRITUAL Mother of every Baptized Catholic!  This is why the Blessed Virgin Mary is truly our “Mother”, in virtue of what some Scripture exegetics consider to be what today would be called Christ’s “Last Will and Testament”.

Tradition has it that our “Mother Mary” and Saint John moved to the city of Ephesus which, in those days, was a fairly long way away from Jerusalem, away from her family and friends.  Here again, our Blessed Mother has given Mothers an example to follow  - that at one or more times during their lives in this world, it might be necessary for them to move away from the security of their family and friends, to remain with their Husbands and Children as the "heart" of her own family.

Over many, many, years We have met a handful of Ladies, each of whom was also a Mother, who told Us that they had one or more visions of Our Blessed Mother. Although a Sermon is not the place to comment on their claims, it is interesting to note that several of these Women have told us how surprised they were at how Our Lady acted and spoke which was not as how some painters and various authors have depicted her as being a very quiet, quasi-literate, non-professional Woman.

Instead, they described Our Blessed Mother as being more like the chief executive officer of a large corporation, very professional, very articulate, very intelligent, etc., etc.  We were told this was quite a shocking departure from their pre-conceived notions of Our Blessed Mother.  But there is nothing unholy about these attributes.

Consider how, although Our Blessed Mother is firm, yet she is not stubborn, nor is she negative. Unlike some CEO’s, she is not worldly, materialistic, paganistic,  prideful, or tyrannical.  Neither is she a bully, a tyrant, a control-freak, a gossip, selfish, inconsiderate, someone who refuses to share what she has, etc., etc.

Running a household, albeit on a smaller scale, is akin to running a corporation.

A Wife and Mother is, in a way, the CEO of her home.  But, just as the Husband and Father is the HEAD of his Family, so also the Wife and Mother is the HEART of her family.

So, on the one hand, neither should a Wife and a Mother have pity parties, nor be the proverbial “door-mat”, but, yet on the other hand, be loving, kind, patient, understanding, and have a life of solid prayer, self-sacrifice, and virtue.  These things are used to help to balance the dual role of running the household as a professional Woman while yet avoiding the sinful and negative things modern women CEO’s do.  Above all, Our Office would have Us remind all Mothers to pray to Our Blessed Mother for guidance and to ask HER:

“WHAT would YOU do in MY situation?”
"HOW would YOU do it in MY situation?"
"WHEN would YOU do it in MY situation?"
"WHAT would YOU NOT DO in MY situation?"

Miscommunication is a major cause of misunderstandings.  Remember also that, just as various professions have their own specialized dictionaries and vocabularies, such as the medical profession, lawyers, accountants, theologians, etc., so also Women and Men each tend to have their own vocabularies - their own "dictionaries", if you will.

Also, when Husbands talk with their Wives, it is usually as they would talk with other Men.  So, Husbands do not understand why their Wives do not understand them.

But, the opposite also is true!  Ladies, please always remember that - - -  Men are NOT fluent in “girl talk”!

Also, while Women tune into verbal tones and inflections, facial expressions, and body language, Men are usually oblivious to most of this.

A wise Wife realizes all these things and DOES NOT take it personal, nor get her feelings hurt   IF and/or WHEN her Husband mumbles some incoherent verbal sentence - or at least something that sounds like it - in between his grunts and/or indistinct attempts at what is defined as "articulation" as he emerges from the respit of his proverbial "cave" into which he too frequently seems to enter to heal his "bruised ego" or other "damage" from the verbal "slings and arrows" which wounded him at work or at school or in visiting a certain family member???!!!

Not getting one’s feelings hurt should also extend to the fact that, BY NATURE, Women, who are primarily verbal, speak from 25,000 to 100,000 words a day - according to various university studies, while Men, who are primarily visual, with exceptions, speak and/or write about 1,000 to 15,000 words a day - also according to the same various university studies!

So, if a Husband is not always interested in talking with his Wife, sometimes it might be because he has already reached his 15,000 word quota for the day and is  “talked out”, whereas a Wife might have a spare 25,000 words or more left to go and she expects and hopes that her Husband understands without her having to explain such things to him?!!

As for you Children, of course you must always obey your Parents - in everything which is not sinful - because they take the place of God in your lives in this world.

Today, Mother's Day, is a most special day set aside for you to honor your Mother - she gave you life!  Therefore, today is the one special day for you to honor her in any one or more numerous ways.

Examples include such things as giving your Mother a Mother's Day card.  Some of you might think it is no big deal if you do not give her a Mother's Day card, but this is one way to hurt her feelings because a Mother's Day card is supposed to express the love you have for her.

Another example would be to give your Mother a bouquet of flowers - the kind she really likes.  Many - but not all - Mothers like roses (some prefer red, others pink, some white, still others yellow, etc.).  Mother's always appreciate gifts as well or perhaps being treated to a fine dinner, whether at your place, or at a restaurant.

But most Mothers also realize that their adult Children who have financial problems are simply unable to buy her much of anything and she would feel guilty accepting an expensive gift if you could not afford it.

On the other hand, if you are financially secure and give your Mother something very cheap, or nothing at all, your Mother would be very hurt by such a selfish, materialistic, worldly act.

Young Children can be helped by their Fathers or older siblings to get at least a card for their Mothers.  Even if extremely poor, they could at least write on a piece of paper something like:  "Mom, I love you!  Happy Mother's Day!"  By respecting your Mothers, you respect God Whose place, along with your Fathers, she takes in this life.