A Tribute to My Mother

How do I say happy Mother's Day to my mother? It only seems like yesterday that I lost her, but I believe that she is in eternal glory and can hear me. Therefore, I want to thank her before God and all of heaven and tell her that I love her.

KNOXVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) - How do I say happy Mother's Day to my mother? It only seems like yesterday that I lost her, but it has been six years since she passed away. Yet, I still think of her on Mother's Day and want her to know that I appreciate all she gave me and that I love her. 

So I will honor her in the best way I can. I will share with you the inspiration my mother gave me, but I will do it with the help of Saint John Paul II who captured it so well in his beautiful encyclical, The Gospel of Life.

At the beginning of his encyclical, he says that human beings are called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimensions of their earthly existence. This supernatural vocation reveals the greatness and the inestimable value of human life even in its temporal phase.

Life in time is the fundamental condition, the initial stage and an integral part of the entire unified process of human existence. Human existence is a process of divinization made possible in and through Christ. It reaches its full realization only in eternity. This means that human life is a sacred reality to be preserved and brought to perfection in love as a gift of ourselves to God and to each other.

Toward the end of the encyclical, Saint John Paul II tells us that women are called in a special way to bear witness to this sacred reality through genuine love and to reconcile people with life. Women are specially suited to this task because the experience of motherhood makes them acutely aware of another person.

Motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life as it develops in the mother's womb. This unique contact with a new human being developing within them gives rise to an attitude towards all human beings, which profoundly marks the woman's personality.

In other words, a mother welcomes and carries in herself another human being, enabling it to grow inside her, giving it room, respecting it in its otherness. Women first learn and then teach others that human relations are authentic when they are open to accepting the other person.

Mother, I cannot give you flowers, but I believe that you are in eternal glory and that you can hear me. Therefore, I want to say thank you before God and all of heaven for making room for me in your life and teaching me to do the same for others. Happy Mother's Day. I love you.

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