Honoring mothers glorifies their Creator

During the spread of Christianity to Europe, the common pagan festivals began being replaced by a celebration honoring the “Mother Church.”  The Mother Church, usually the closest cathedral under whose jurisdiction people received their sacraments, would be decorated with flowers, jewels and other such offerings.  As this practice developed and spread to England in the 1600s, the celebration was broadened to include one’s own mother as well. 

When the first English settlers arrived in America, they discontinued this tradition because the necessities of daily living consumed most of their day and because many of them had come to avoid political and religious persecutions.  

By comparison to these past celebrations, the personal honoring of mothers as celebrated in 70 countries around the world today is a relatively new phenomenon. Every year, on the second Sunday of May, we honor mothers in the United States. 

The modern day celebration of Mother’s Day began with Julia Ward Howe’s proclamation of Mother’s Day in 1870.  Distraught by the death and carnage of the American Civil War, Ward wanted to gather mothers together to protest the futility of war.  Her idea succumbed to a lack of support; even so, she is credited with planting the seeds of the current celebration. 

The banner of motherhood was next adopted by Anna M. Jarvis, who campaigned for creation of an official Mother’s Day in remembrance of all mothers and peace.  On May 10, 1908, the first official Mother’s Day was celebrated in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.  By the end of 1909 all the states were holding Mother’s Day services. 

White carnations were used to honor deceased mothers while red and pink ones were given to the living.  In 1912, West Virginia became the first state to officially recognize Mother’s Day, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson signed it into national observance, declaring the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. 

Understanding the history of traditions and celebrations helps people to appreciate them and their heritage. Understanding who and what is honored offers, perhaps, an even deeper appreciation for what is celebrated. As we begin the month of May and prepare to honor our mothers, it is good to re-examine what it means to be a mother.

Spiritually, many of us have little appreciation for the profound depths of being a mother. As an embodied soul, the human person is created for three levels of vocation in response to God’s love. 

The first level of vocation is a universal vocation–namely, to be children of God. Secondly, we each have a vocation according to gender–either male or female. In this level of vocation, we become aware of being created for unity and communion with one another through a gift of self.  The third level of vocation, common to every person, involves the unique vocation God calls the individual to. This is God’s plan for us in salvation history.

Everyone has a uniquely specific vocation to fulfill, just as each tile in a mosaic contributes to the overall picture depicted in the mosaic. When we develop who we are as persons, apart from the roles we play or the activities we engage in, we honor God. 

For most women, the second and third levels of vocation involve embracing who they are as women. This means acknowledging that they were created with a gift to receive and nurture life and that they also have a particular, personal mission God has called them to fulfill.

Without acknowledging the first two levels of vocation, we can never attain an understanding of the third, personal call, for the first two help direct us to that unique personal call.  For that reason we want to recognize, honor and build up the second vocation of women–that unique role they have in creation, the gift of receiving from and giving life to another human person.

Mankind was created for worship, for filial friendship with God. Our expression of worship moves beyond the church walls to every action of our day, regardless of how large or small.  Created by God in His image as men and women, even our worship is expressed according to how we live our life as man or woman.

For the woman, who embodies such feminine gifts as gentleness, empathy, warmth, devotion, compassion and mystery, this means embracing the full, authentic feminine genius, including the possibility of motherhood. Some will lead lives that result in spiritual motherhood rather than that of a physical nature. They too are honored. 

The most humble task, such as changing a diaper or bandaging a scraped knee, performed with love gives rise to that which is most noble in the human person–the glorification of God.  This is why we honor our mothers. We do so because their selfless offering of their physical being that we might have life gives glory to God.

By their many acts of sacrifice they teach us also to give our yes to God’s love and to offer our worship. Without the gift of motherhood, we would not know this.  Mothers deserve to be honored, for to honor them is to honor the Father who created them as women with all the many gifts that entails.