A Motherly Love

A Motherly Love

Sixth Sunday of Easter

10 May 2015

Some of you may recall the tornado that destroyed Henryville, Indiana. Stephanie Decker, a mother of two, was at home when her husband texted her that a tornado was bearing down on their neighbor-hood. Stephanie took her 8 year old son and 5 year old daughter and huddled in the basement.

She covered them with a comforter and then shielded her children with her own body to prevent debris from landing on them when the twister hit the house. As the house disintegrated, wreckage broke seven of her ribs and two steel beams severed her legs. She couldn’t move. The storm continued to ravage her home until the tornado collapsed the house around her and her children. Her actions saved her children, but when she was taken to the hospital, both of her legs had to be amputated – one just below the knee, the other just above it. 

There is no greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. 

Today in America, we celebrate Mother’s Day.  And May is the Month of the Blessed Mother Mary, for whom all Christians can call Mother.

But Mother’s Day can be a painful time too, especially for the childless and mothers who have lost a child by miscarriage or in childbirth, and those mothers who have grieved the death of one of their children, God comforts you, for He knows the depths of your loss and grief, and be assured of our prayer and love. 

For most of us here we are thankful for our mothers, and other women and mothers in our lives: grandmothers, aunts, co-workers, or neighbors who have been mothers-figures, or adoptive mothers or step-mothers.  And what of the women of faith and courage who inspire us, our “faith-mothers”, or any of the many religious sisters and faithful Christian women who have influenced us and loved us and served us for so long almost with no thanks. There is no greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

One mother told me, “The love that a mother feels for her children can't be defined by words. Few mothers give their lives for their children by dying for them, but most mothers do daily die to themselves in order to give so much.” Another mother said: “A mother’s love is like that of God’s love, for we give our love willingly and abundantly without expecting anything in return… In fact we give in hope that our children will realize that love is unconditional.” There is no greater love. 

Jesus reminds us that God loves us unconditionally just like mothers who love their children despite their faults. Mothers often say they never thought they could love another person as they love their child. And yet with each new child, they feel their love expand.

Yet nothing can compare with the love of God; in fact it is almost impossible to comprehend. Yet this is the love we called to participate in. Just as God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him, when a woman gives birth or nurtures another person, she is giving new life to the world. 

Jesus even compared his deep love for his people to that of mother bird; “As a mother hen longs to gather her chicks under her wings, so I long to gather you to myself” (Luke 13.34). Elsewhere He says, "The Kingdom of God is like a Woman in search of a lost coin" (Luke 15.8-9).

Jesus knows the depths of love and the pain that often accompanies a mother’s love. There is no greater love than this than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

And though we call God “Father”, we may take the mystery of God for granted, and forget that God cares tenderly for his children like a mother. The Scriptures reveal God’s tenderness and strength in images of motherhood.

“In the Psalms God is compared to a nursing mother, God forms men and women in the womb, God carries the Chosen People like a mother carrying her children in her womb, giving birth to them in the Land of  Promise.”

And just as mothers carry their children in their womb and nourish them with their own body and blood, and after giving birth, the mother’s breast feed their children, St. Julian of Norwich wrote: “Jesus, [our beloved Mother] feeds us with himself…”  (Julian of Norwich, 14^th century).

There is no greater love than this. 

St. Thomas Aquinas employed the image of the pelican for Christ in his hymn Adoro te. The Pelican was seen as a figure of Christ’s motherly love in the Eucharist.  Centuries ago, people believed that the mother pelican fed her own flesh to her offspring. That is why on the top of some very elaborate altar pieces, such as St. Boniface in Evansville or the Old Cathedral in Vincennes, there is a pelican with a bleeding heart, feeding its offspring. Now, even though science has shown that this is a myth, the image of the mother pelican still reminds Catholics of Jesus feeding us with his Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist so that we might have life. In the gift of the Holy Eucharist we encounter the self-emptying and self-giving of Christ, like a loving mother.

There is no greater love than this.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church attest to the beauty of the this metaphor of God as Mother: God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood. But we know that human parents can disfigure both the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God is GOD…[but] no one is father as God is Father (CCC 239). 

God is love. And God gives love freely. It is a love that can completely transform us. For love is patient, love is kind, it believes, it hopes, it protects, it trusts, it perseveres and endures! God is love and  God shows no partiality! 

If we live in God, then God will live in us; and since God is love, then love will dwell within us. And we who are Christian and have been baptized INTO Christ, share in the divine nature, and because of that we can live out the divine love as God does and as Christ did and continues to do so.

Jesus said: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.” There is no greater love. [So may we rejoice in his love and joy this day and every day]. 

But Jesus doesn’t let us off easy. We are to share his love and mercy and joy with one another, no matter who they are or what they’ve done. Remember what He said: “This I command you: love one another." We pray for the grace and the strength to love one another as he has loved each of us.

There is no greater love than this.

THE MUSTARD SEED - AN UNLIKELY KINGDOM

1) When I was a little boy growing up in Vincennes, my father took me past his boyhood home and showed me a large Walnut tree. This tree was special to him because when he was but a small boy in the 1940s, his father helped him plant the walnut seed. My dad was amazed that the seed sprouted and the tree grew. It is still there and is very large! On this father’s day, my dad’s tree is a testament to his faith that that small walnut would grow. He is still amazed that the tree grew from the walnut and that it has withstood the test of time.

In the bible, the Cedar tree is extolled as a symbol of the majesty of God. The cedar tree grows upwards to 130 feet tall with a trunk of more than 8 ft in diameter. The Cedar trees of Israel and Lebanon were used for building ships, palaces, and temples. King Solomon built the great Temple in Jerusalem with cedar trees. And the Psalmist reminds us that: The just person shall flourish like a cedar of Lebanon.   

2)      Yet even though the scripture says that the great cedar tree will be lifted high, the prophet Ezekiel warns that the Lord will bring low the high tree and lift high the lowly tree.  And, again, the prophet Isaiah used the Lebanon Cedar as a metaphor for the pride of the world, as an arrogant example of worldly power and self-aggrandizement.

This is very similar to the Gospel message where Mary, the mother of Jesus proclaimed in her Magnificat: “He has cast down the arrogant of mind and heart; has thrown down the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly.”

3)      Jesus listeners were likely taken aback when he proclaimed that “the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.” A mustard seed? The smallest of seeds? Jesus’ followers were likely waiting for him to declare that the Kingdom of God is like a mighty cedar tree!

But no. Jesus confounds his audience and maintains that the kingdom of God is like the wild mustard plants that can grow into large shrubs and small trees. WHAT?  The Mustard plant is a weed in contrast to the impressive mighty cedar tree!  While the wild mustard takes over the field, we want order; but the weeds thrive and the mustard blooms and the birds of the air come to roost.

4)      Mustard does not need any cultivating, for it sprouts all by itself, for once a mustard seed falls in fertile soil, it germinates almost at once and begins growing. Mustard plants are not trees per se, but are bushes though they grow between 10 and 20 feet tall. And there are few plants which grow so large in one season as a mustard.

There is a definite "subversive and scandalous" element to this parable, in that the fast-growing nature of the mustard plant makes it an "undesirable, unwelcome weed" that will present a danger to the status quo or “business as usual.” Once a mustard seed is sown it is nearly impossible to get rid of.

5)      Jesus chooses the humble mustard seed over the image of a mighty cedar tree to show that even though the beginnings of the Kingdom of God are small, over time it would grow into something large and firmly rooted, in which many would find shelter and comfort, while others would find it detestable and even against tradition or respectable religion.

The growth of the kingdom is slow and rooted in a tiny beginning, but it is on the move.  Look at the growth of the early church, from a small following in the first century to the 3^rd century where the mighty Roman Empire could not contain the rapid growth no matter how many Christians it put to death.

Or consider the days of slavery or the days of open discrimination and Jim Crow laws and segregation. Slowly but surely the march towards freedom took place. For instance, even though many Christians despised Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement, the movement refused to go away because the mustard seed of the kingdom and the gospel message had taken root in people’s hearts!

The wild mustard weed is nearly impossible to get rid of once it has infested a field, but so is the faith of those who seem to be weeds in the kingdom of God. And not only is this nasty weed unwelcome, but then so are the many different birds it attracts!

The wild mustard takes over the field, thriving like the kingdom, and the mustard blooms and the birds of the air come to nest! Just like all the "sinners" and tax collectors and the lowly ones who came to Jesus, these birds then threaten the well planted crop.

So the kingdom of God, like the mustard seed, poses a healthy challenge to the society and religion and to the hearer of the gospel: The church is not to be country club for self-righteous saints, it is an open field for the unwanted weeds and unwelcome birds.

The kingdom of God is messy. Worldly power is threatened by the Kingdom of God just as mustard seed threatens the perfect garden. We as subversive mustard seeds are called to challenge our culture, our society, and even members of our church. We, like the mustard plant, are called to invite the undesirable, unwelcome birds that seek refuge among us.

Yes, when we do this, we may well be viewed with suspicion, and be a thorn in the side of those who want to maintain the status quo, but the kingdom of God is not about “business as usual” in a perfect “weedless” garden.  

What the world considers a weed is really the greatest image of the kingdom of God.

No matter how small we consider our efforts or our faith, it is the beginning of great growth.  When we love our enemy and pray for him or her and when we walk with those who have lost faith, the mustard seed blooms! When we help a neighbor, visit the sick, or pay someone’s bills, the mustard seed blooms! When we make a meal for the lonely or those who are grieving the death of a loved one, the mustard seed blooms!

When we defend the human dignity of each and every person, regardless of nationality or language, the mustard seed blooms! When we stand up for those in poverty who have no voice, when we defend the rights of workers, the mustard seed blooms! 

When we assist the woman with an unplanned pregnancy–both before birth and after she gives birth, when we truly defend marriage by living our vows and giving witness to the sacrificial love that is marriage, when we love our children and our parents, no matter what they’ve done, the mustard seed blooms! For in the smallest acts of love the seeds of the kingdom bloom.

Let’s pray that our hearts might be like fertile soil ready to allow the seed of the kingdom to take root and germinate at once!

God’s love is constant. 

God is on the move. 

God’s kingdom moves forward.

The smallest seed of faith can grow into a great faith.

Even a giant walnut tree begins as a single walnut.

A MOTHERLY LOVE

Sixth Sunday of Easter      Year B            Nativity Parish        Deacon John W. McMullen

A MOTHERLY LOVE

Most of you may recall the recent tornado that destroyed Henryville, Indiana. Stephanie Decker, a mother of two, was at home when her husband texted her that a tornado was bearing down on their neighbor-hood. Stephanie took her 8 year old son and 5 year old daughter and huddled in the basement.


She covered them with a comforter and then shielded her children with her own body to prevent debris from landing on them when the twister hit the house. As the house disintegrated, wreckage broke seven of her ribs and two steel beams severed her legs. She couldn’t move. The storm continued to ravage her home until the tornado collapsed the house around her and her children. Her actions saved her children, but when she was taken to the hospital, both of her legs had to be amputated – one just below the knee, the other just above it. 

There is no greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. 

Today in America, we celebrate Mother’s Day.  And May is the Month of the Blessed Mother Mary, for whom all Christians can call Mother.

But Mother’s Day can be a painful time too, especially for the childless and mothers who have lost a child by miscarriage or in childbirth, and those mothers who have grieved the death of one of their children, God comforts you, for He knows the depths of your loss and grief, and be assured of our prayer and love. 

For most of us here we are thankful for our mothers, and other women and mothers in our lives: grandmothers, aunts, co-workers, or neighbors who have been mothers-figures, or adoptive mothers or step-mothers.  And what of the women of faith and courage who inspire us, our “faith-mothers” like Sister Sharon, or Sister Jean, or any of the many religious sisters and faithful Christian women who have influenced us and loved us and served us for so long almost with no thanks. There is no greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.

One mother named Tilly said, “The love that a mother feels for her children can't be defined by words. Few mothers give their lives for their children by dying for them, but most mothers do daily die to themselves in order to give so much.” Another mother, Helen, said: “A mother’s love is like that of God’s love, for we give our love willingly and abundantly without expecting anything in return… In fact we give in hope that our children will realize that love is unconditional.” There is no greater love. 

Jesus reminds us that God loves us unconditionally just like mothers who love their children despite their faults. Mothers often say they never thought they could love another person as they love their child. And yet with each new child, they feel their love expand.

Yet nothing can compare with the love of God; in fact it is almost impossible to comprehend. Yet this is the love we called to participate in. Just as God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him, when a woman gives birth or nurtures another person, she is giving new life to the world. 

Jesus even compared his deep love for his people to that of mother bird; “As a mother hen longs to gather her chicks under her wings, so I long to gather you to myself.” Jesus knows the depths of love and the pain that often accompanies a mother’s love. There is no greater love than this than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 

And though we call God “Father”, we may take the mystery of God for granted, and forget that God cares tenderly for his children like a mother. The Scriptures reveal God’s tenderness in images of motherhood.

“In the Psalms God is compared to a nursing mother, God forms men and women in the womb, God carries the Chosen People like a mother carrying her children in her womb, giving birth to them in the Land of  Promise.”

And just as mothers carry their children in their womb and nourish them with their own body and blood, and after giving birth, the mother’s breast feed their children, St. Julian of Norwich wrote: “Jesus, [our beloved Mother] feeds us with himself…”  (Julian of Norwich, 14^th century).

There is no greater love than this. 

St. Thomas Aquinas employed the image of the pelican for Christ in his hymn Adoro te. The Pelican was seen as a figure of Christ’s motherly love in the Eucharist.  Centuries ago, people believed that the mother pelican fed her own flesh to her offspring. That is why on the top of some very elaborate altar pieces, such as St. Boniface in Evansville or the Old Cathedral in Vincennes, there is a pelican with a bleeding heart, feeding its offspring. Now, even though science has shown that this is a myth, the image of the mother pelican still reminds Catholics of Jesus feeding us with his Flesh and Blood in the Eucharist so that we might have life. In the gift of the Holy Eucharist we encounter the self-emptying and self-giving of Christ, like a loving mother.

There is no greater love than this.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church attest to the beauty of the this metaphor of God as Mother: God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood. But we know that human parents can disfigure both the face of fatherhood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God is GOD…[but] no one is father as God is Father (CCC 239). 

God is love. And God gives love freely. It is a love that can completely transform us. For love is patient, love is kind, it believes, it hopes, it protects, it trusts, it perseveres and endures! God is love and  God shows no partiality! 

If we live in God, then God will live in us; and since God is love, then love will dwell within us. And we who are Christian and have been baptized INTO Christ, share in the divine nature, and because of that we can live out the divine love as God does and as Christ did and continues to do so.

Jesus said: "As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.” There is no greater love. [So may we rejoice in his love and joy this day and every day]. 

But Jesus doesn’t let us off easy. We are to share his love and mercy and joy with one another, no matter who they are or what they’ve done. Remember what He said: “This I command you: love one another." We pray for the grace and the strength to love one another as he has loved each of us.

There is no greater love than this.