Celebrate Mother’s Day a Different Way
(Originally published in CL 5/7/13
With Mother’s Day approaching, like any modern day mom, I am looking forward to celebrating the day. I must admit, I love breakfast in bed, I love receiving the gifts, the flowers, the homemade cards. I particularly enjoy enjoying relishing in the graces of the day. I must admit though, my mind does go back to a different version of Mother’s Day. I have very fond and vivid memories of taking part in an annual Mother’s Day recital, hosted by my home parish, St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, run by the Oblates of the Immaculate Mary in Toronto.
Sister Archangela, and a host of other Felician sisters, would orchestrate an event after mass that honoured the vocation of motherhood. Children would recite beautiful poems celebrating the tenderness and love of a mother, musicians would play songs on the depth of her love and prayers would be prayed to thank God for the gift of our mothers. Oh yes, and don’t forget the flowers, mothers were showered with flowers and often times a formal blessing by the pastor.
It was no doubt a potently beautiful event that did not shy away from being religious, and I loved it! As a young girl, I was deeply moved by participating in these recitals, it stirred within my soul such gratitude and longing to become a mother. In the Polish culture, while I was growing up, mothers were revered, the vocation itself considered sublime.
There was sacredness in the celebrations of the day, and yes those celebrations were linked to Mary, the Mother of God. Each mother knew that she had a duty before God, not only to care for her children, but to pass down the Catholic faith.
As I was raised, I knew becoming a mother, meant not only embracing a hearty list of things to do, to buy, to organize—it wasn’t only a photo opportunity of happy moments, becoming a mother involved an level of accountability before God Himself.
It’s a stark contrast to secular Mother’s Day celebrations which at times to me, ring hollow.
Very recently, my mom, from her death bed, announced,
“The only thing, I have ever wanted was to succeed at passing down the Catholic faith. To have children, who practiced and lived their Catholic faith from the bottom of their hearts.”
It really did get me thinking.
Can you imagine living with that goal as a desired end in mind?
How different the world would be all Catholic mothers made passing down the Catholic faith as their life’s priority?
Imagine for just a second, if we all forgot all of the other things that seem to pull at us as mothers, what would our life look like?
I don’t know if I am the only mom who thinks that sometimes the world is completely upside down. It appears that some mothers seem to make EVERYTHING else a priority in their lives. Honestly, it drives me crazy!
I was edified when a few days ago, a friend on Facebook, posted this as her status,
“My number one goal as a mom is to do everything in my power to help my children get to Heaven. This ultimately, is all that matters. Pray for your children every day, teach them our beautiful Catholic faith, and help them develop a wonderful relationship with Jesus and His Blessed Mother. Your children will be eternally grateful.”
It got me thinking maybe we should all consider hosting a Mother’s Day recital in our parish!
