The Virgin Mary, motherhood and the family of God

Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT is a member of the order of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.

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Mary’s motherhood, like motherhood in general, was lived out quietly behind the scenes. St. John Paul II pointed out “History is written almost exclusively as the narrative of men’s achievements, when in fact its better part is most often molded by women’s determined and persevering action for good (Papal Message on Women’s Conference to Mrs. Gertrude Mongella, May 1995).”

Mary achieved more than any other human being. This was done in the most intimate way in the context of her divine motherhood, a role that God asked her to live, and which she joyfully assented to! She continues to bring souls to life in grace and to love saints into being, so essential and eternal is her motherhood to who she is.

But just as God took his own flesh from the body of Mary, so every child comes into this world through the body of a mother. Every conception is a kind of annunciation, God asking permission of the woman to bring a new life into the world because his creative love has delighted in the thought of that particular and unique little one.

He “entrusts the human person to her in a special way” (Pope John Paul II) and asks every woman’s immediate care and participation in the formation of the life he gives. Just as he sent his own Son to be his ultimate gift to a world dying from sin, so he sends every child to be a gift to a world in desperate need of his goodness.

Some are meant to show the face of Christ’s mercy, others his compassion. Some will be teachers in his likeness; others will bring his miracles into people’s lives. Others will spend and consume themselves to heal and unite us all into one family of Our Father.

Every mother wants greatness for her child. That greatness will be measured by the part they play in the greatest drama ever, the drama of redemption, the battle for souls, the battle for the brothers and sisters of our own particular age. The call on every life is to participate in redeeming its own age. Every gift of Christ made incarnate in the lives of those born into this world is meant to serve this.

It should be no surprise then that the attack on family is so strong today. We have an enemy who fights ferociously to keep us from living the image and likeness of God, especially as mothers and fathers. He hates the reflection of the Incarnation in every newborn child. And he despises the communion of Trinitarian love that each family is called to live.

Mothers have a particular answer to this, which is seen most clearly in the life of our Blessed Mother at the foot of the Cross. In Christ, all the joys and sufferings, sorrows and glories of motherhood are taken up into his mystery and become redemptive. Archbishop Fulton Sheen puts it this way, “The pains which a woman bears in labor help to expiate the sins of mankind, and draw their meaning from the agony of Christ on the cross. Mothers are, therefore, not only co-creators with God; they are co-redeemers with Christ in the flesh” (Three to Get Married).

There is likewise a Eucharistic reflection which St. John Chrysostom notes; “As a woman nourishes her child with her own blood and milk, so does Christ unceasingly nourish with his own blood those to whom he himself has given life.”

If we are to imitate Christ and become one with him in all things, motherhood is truly a privileged place where, with Christ, a woman can fully say, “This is my body which is given up for you.” The tragedy today is that so many women are saying instead, “This is my body and I will not give it up for you.” They have not seen nor understood the greatness of their calling.

The work of pointing the way and leading people to the kingdom that is not of this world is not an easy work. It requires death to self. But God takes even the most insignificant daily realities and makes them fruitful in this work. Mary did for Jesus everyday what all mothers do for their children, dressing them, washing them, feeding them, teaching them. It is hidden work but has immeasurable value.

Mothers know this better than others. They not only live out the paschal mystery in their own flesh and spirit, but they also live it out for and with their children. Their boundless love bleeds redeeming grace into the lives of their sons and daughters. Mary is the most profound example of this. But it is clearly seen in the lives of women like St. Monica, St. Gianna Molla, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and countless mothers whose lives will never be known to anyone outside of their immediate circles, until they get to heaven that is, where they will be honored and esteemed for their deep and faithful participation in the creation of God’s own family.

Human motherhood, along with human fatherhood, comes directly from the hand of God. Both are, in fact, a reflection of and participation in God’s own fatherhood that is Divine. When God created man he considered what would be the human expression of the life he himself lives. His answer was family, and family constituted as mother, father and children.

In the simplicity of God, our life on earth is meant to be about what our life in heaven will be like. The real stars in heaven will be mothers, for without their “yes” to our existence, none of us would have a chance of going there. But the supreme star will be our Queen, our Mother Mary whose “yes” to God’s love gave us our Savior and Redeemer, the chance to once again call God our Father, and the gift that every heart longs for: to live in the perfect family forever.