Our Mothers

         Here I am again with a blog assigned for May, so close to Mother’s day! Being a sentimental person who saves things, I once again displayed an Easter card my mother had sent me so many years ago, and I think of her wishing me all those blessings again from her place in eternity.  

We may not all be mothers, but all of us have a mother somewhere. Some are close by and well known to us. Others may be unknown, or far away, but gave birth to us many years ago. And others, like mine, have gone to their eternal reward.

Recently I came across a quote from the musician Charles Gounod that I found so fitting for this day. The Bach/ Gounod “Ave Maria” rivals the Schubert “Ave Maria” as a request for weddings, funerals, and other religious celebrations. Both are a reflection/tribute on Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the Latin version of the familiar “Hail Mary.”

Gounod had this to say: My story bears witness to my love and veneration for the being who bestows more love than any other earthly creature – my mother! Maternity is the most perfect reflection of the great Providence: the purest, warmest ray He casts on earthly life; its inexhaustible solicitude is the direct outpouring of God’s eternal care for His own creatures.

This quote was a discovery for me, and I went searching for other musicians’ experiences. Poor Mozart! His mother had accompanied him to Paris, got sick and died there, so he had to break the news to his father who was still at home in Salzburg. Somewhere I read that the death of the mothers of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky had a profound effect on the music they were composing at the time.

 Jesus bequeathed His mother to us in His words to John as he hung upon the cross, and earlier He had taught that anyone who “Does the will of my Father is mother to Me.” So how can we be mother to Jesus at this time?

If I can bring Him to birth in the life of someone who has never known Him, that is being mother to Jesus. If I can grieve with those who have lost a loved one to death, to drug addiction, or left the Church, that is being mother to the crucified Jesus. If I can rejoice with those who experience the coming back of the lost loved one, or the birth of a child, that is being mother to the new life of the risen Jesus. But most of all, in the words of Jesus Himself, “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, my sister, and my mother.” (Mt. 12:50)

And how blessed are we who have had a mother who leads us to Jesus!

Sr. Mary Carol Hellmann, OSB