Jesus tells us in our Gospel this Sunday, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus is basically talking about self-sacrificing love. Other than Jesus himself, what better example of this agape, this unconditional love, do we have than that of a mother? Mothers have gone without sleep or food, changed their own plans, or given up something new for themselves, all to take care of the needs of a child. Monks and nuns may stay up late or rise early in the morning to pray, but no one knows more about the concept of a vigil than a mother staying up with a colicky baby, or the mother of a teenager who lies awake in bed waiting to hear the sound of the garage door to know her child has come home safely from an evening’s event.
On this Mother’s Day we thank our mothers and those who have acted in a motherly manner for all their love that they have shared with us. May God continue to bless our mothers.
