Pentecost, Mary and Mothers

Easter was so early this year that this Sunday, Mother’s Day, is also Pentecost Sunday, the last day of the Easter Season. The end of Pentecost also means that close to 1,000  young people are completing their Christian initiation in the sacrament of confirmation in local celebrations all across our diocese. I know you join me in gratitude to God for these young men and women who are the hope of the Church and who can bring so much energy and dedication to the work of the Gospel.

May is springtime and it is so fittingly the month of Mary. On a beautiful day in May there are wonders at every turn inviting us to lift our hearts to God in prayer. And in May that prayer should especially be offered in harmony with the prayer of the Mother of God. Yes, the apostles asked Jesus to teach them how to pray and the Mother of Jesus also gives us an example to follow.

The month of May is a great opportunity for renewing our prayer life and our devotion to the Mother of God. Those of us of “a certain age” remember fondly the shrines to Mary at home and in our classroom, banked with bouquets of iris and peonies and roses. We remember the times when we would pray the Rosary at these shrines, either as a family, or class, or individually. You know there’s no reason for these things to remain distant memories. And if anyone wants a refresher course on how to pray the Rosary, I have a standing offer to send you a nice pamphlet to help you get started again or for the first time. Just drop me a note and it will be on its way. In the meantime, rejoice with our God in this beautiful season.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the observance of Mother’s Day here in the United States. The Church has been dedicating the month of May to Mary, the Mother of God and Mother of us all, much longer than our nation has been observing Mother’s Day. But it is very appropriate that Mother’s Day falls in this special month dedicated to our Blessed Mother. As we honor our Mothers, let me close with one of those e-mail missives that bounce around the Internet. This one is especially appropriate as we thank God for all of our mothers, living and dead, on this Mothers’ Day.

Somebody said it takes about six weeks to get back to normal after you’ve had a baby ... somebody doesn’t know that once you’re a mother, “normal” is history.

Somebody said you learn how to be a mother by instinct ... somebody never took a three-year-old shopping.

Somebody said being a mother is boring …somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver’s permit.

Somebody said if you’re a “good” mother, your child will “turn out good” ... somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said “good” mothers never raise their voices ... somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor’s kitchen window.

Somebody said you don’t need an education to be a mother ... somebody never helped a fourth grader with his math.

Somebody said you can’t love the fifth child as much as you love the first ... somebody doesn’t have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books ... somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in his ears.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery ... somebody never watched her “baby” get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten ... or on a plane headed for military “boot camp.”

Somebody said a mother can do her job with her eyes closed and one hand tied behind her back ... somebody never organized seven giggling Brownies to sell cookies.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married ... somebody doesn’t know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother’s heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother’s job is done when her last child leaves home ... somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don’t need to tell her ... somebody isn’t a mother.

A very happy Mothers’ Day to all of our Mothers!