A blessed Mother’s Day to all of my readers, both to those who have born children and to the rest of us who marvel at the miracle of motherhood. Yesterday, after the Vigil Mass, I asked all the mothers present to come up for a red rose and a blessing. I was delighted by how many women in a relatively small congregation came up—about 65% of the congregation. I’ve given out roses before on Mother’s Day, but for some reason I saw these women with a new wonder this year. Each one was a flower herself! Unique, delicate, luminous, strong, graceful, and fragrant.
A man I greatly respect once told me that “every woman is sacred: no exceptions.” God has placed within every woman the capacity to bear new human lives, each endowed with an immortal soul, and each worth more than all the power and glory of the most glittering cities on earth. While many who claim to be “feminists” denigrate motherhood and childbearing as an intolerable limitation to the woman’s “freedom,” true feminism supports women in their sublime ability to nurture new lives.
Our Lady, of course, is the supreme example of motherhood: she who lost nothing of her virginal purity by bringing God into the world in human flesh. Mary, the mother of Him who did not abhor the Virgin’s womb, helps us overcome our fear of human flesh. Without the love of God, without a deep appreciation for all that God has created, and a deep faith in God Himself, we often find the carnal dimensions of marriage and childbearing repulsive. Mary changed God’s diapers, potty-trained Him, and cleaned up his vomit. I can understand why non-believers think we are nuts to believe that the Almighty God took on the disgrace of human flesh!
But God loves the flesh that he has created. He endows women with a maternal love that overcomes the more unpleasant aspects of their children’s bodies. Moreover, God elevates a mother’s natural love by faith in the Incarnate God, and through the love of His own Mother. We glorify God for giving us each our own mothers. Mine is beyond the grave now, but I talk to her several times a week. “Mom, I love you. Mom, I need your help on this one! Mom, pray for me.” May God’s blessing, and our deep gratitude, be upon all women, especially those God has given the gift of conceiving and bearing children.
The above comes from a May 8 posting on the blog of Father Joseph Illo.
Except in our society the Cathedral is marshalling the forces of government and media and tech to destroy life and femininity.
For those who don’t know, the Cathedral is the alt-right’s new term for the left-wing union of government, media and tech to crush conservative opposition.
Unfair!!!
So much in the way of good looks – in ONE family!
Harrison, even though your creator was an atheistic humanist, he did have some insights into the future. He foresaw the “equity” of today. His dark novels may’ve been influenced by his World War II experience. He was captured by German soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge. Vonnegut was taken by boxcar to a prison camp south of Dresden. During the journey, the Royal Air Force mistakenly attacked the trains carrying Vonnegut and his fellow prisoners of war, killing about 150 of them. He lived in a slaughterhouse when he got to the city of Dresden, before the tragic fire-bombing of that city by allied air forces. His mother’s suicide and his divorce from his wife, after she became a Christian, were all tragic for his tortured soul. Not surprisingly, he said Orwell was his favorite writer. And, our prayers for the dead need not be limited to believers, “Remember our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the peace of your Christ, and all the dead, whose faith You alone have known. Admit them to rejoice in the light of your face, and in the resurrection give them the fullness of life.” May God have mercy on us all.
Families like Fr. Illo’s give me hope for the future. May God bless him and his sister and any other family members he might have, and may his mother, through the mercy of God rest in peace.
Literature Matters:
Very well said!