Advent Reflections – December 4, 2015

Published on December 4, 2015November 16, 2015 by KateLeave a comment

Open to Life: The Reality of Motherhood

The reality of motherhood is very simple. A woman is a mother in the physical sense when she conceives and bears a child. If we were to leave our definition of motherhood at this fact, our understanding would be very narrow indeed. Just because someone bears a child does not necessarily give them the monopoly on the title “mother.” A grandmother or grandfather who takes care of their grandchildren because the mother is absent. An aunt or uncle who adopt their niece or nephew because their mother has passed away. A friend who cares for her friend’s children while she is deployed. The two best friends that raise their families next door to one another, sharing their parenthood across their backyards. The older couple at church that quietly and gently mentors young couples in their relationships with each other and with God.

Motherhood is more than physically bearing a child. It is recognizing that a life outside of our own requires our time, attention, compassion and nurturing. When we are open and welcoming to the life that is around us, especially the life that is in need, we participate in our own motherhood, whatever that may look like.

Think of one person who you have been like a mother too (if you are a mother, try to think of someone who is not your physical child). How were you open to welcoming their life into your own?

Advent Reflections – December 3, 2015

Published on December 3, 2015December 1, 2015 by KateLeave a comment

Characteristics of a Mother

Each of us has a unique experience of motherhood. All of our mothers were different. Some of us are mothers. Some will never become mothers. Regardless of our experiences and situations, we all have some basic notion of motherhood. Our human history has attributed certain characteristics to what I would call an “ideal mother.” Based on my own reckoning, and in no particular order, here are a few such characteristics that I believe sum up the basics of an “ideal mother”:

Open to life
Able to love without needing, requiring or expecting love in return
Willing to sacrifice or suffer on behalf of others, especially her children
Capable of forgiveness
Desires to live in harmony with others

Mary fulfills all of these characteristics. Indeed, she even exceeds the expectations of history by perfectly living each of these qualities to their fullest.

When we imitate Mary, we are striving to ingrain these qualities into the very fiber of our being. By living these characteristics, we not only will draw closer to Mary, we are walking in her footsteps which always lead us directly to her Son.

Which of the 5 qualities listed resonates the most with you at this particular stage of your life? Which, at first glance, do you think would be the hardest to adopt?

Advent Reflections – December 2, 2015

Published on December 2, 2015November 14, 2015 by KateLeave a comment

The Notion of Motherhood: Part 2

Yesterday we approached God as Mother. Today, we are going to encounter the motherhood of Mary.

A number of years ago, my mother-in-law gave me a series of writings by Chiara Lubich (founder of the Focolare Movement) that have had a profound impact on how I understand Mary. In one letter, written in 1987 for the Year of Mary, Chiara states:

Let’s imitate her [Mary] in what is essential. She is a mother, Jesus’ mother and spiritually our mother. From the cross, Jesus gave her to us as such in the person of John. We have to be like her other self, as a mother. In practice we have to state this intention: during the Marian Year I will behave toward every neighbour I meet, or for whom I shall be working, as though I were their mother.

Chiara goes onto list a number of qualities that we tend to associate with motherhood, which Mary exemplified perfectly during her life. A mother is always welcoming, gracious, hopeful, forgiving, etc. When we start to adopt the heart of a mother, Mary’s heart, we are transforming our vision to see those we meet in a new light. Chiara challenged her readers, and us today: