May 9, 2021 - The Sixth Sunday of Easter - Happy Mother's Day!
May8,2021
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
The gospel this weekend tells us what matters most in our lives - love. We all need to be loved and to love others. It is often said that a good mother is the heart of the home. She loves her husband and children unconditionally and sacrifices for them throughout her life. Though many demands are placed upon her, she does not count the cost because she loves her own. She lays down her life in devotion, and thus reflects the Heart of Jesus in her home. In a Christian Mother, we experience the presence of Christ Himself. This type of love is real.
A Christian Mother knows well the importance of her vocation. She is aware from the beginning that she and her husband are co-creators with God Himself in bringing forth life. Life to her is sacred and requires devoted love. A Christian Mother takes seriously the need to become like Mary, the Mother of God, as she also responds to the graces God sends to her. With these particular graces, she is able to do all that a mother is asked to do to bring her husband and children to the Savior, knowing that her reward will be a high place in heaven.
When I look back, I realize how much my own mother loved me. She did all she could to teach me the love of God and others by her word and example. So many times, I would come into the house and see her on her knees in prayer, praying the Holy Rosary of Our Lady. In her later years, she would attend Mass daily at 6:30 a.m. And I was the priest celebrant. My last memory of my Mother was when she come to me for confession in the church and then did her penance and prayers at the prie-dieu in front of the statue of Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth. A few days later, she would slip away from this world in her sleep.
When I was a child, my dear Mother would sing me to sleep with one of the many Marian hymns she knew. The one I remember most has these words: “O Mary, my Mother, to thee do I flee. In all my affliction I hasten to thee. Thy heart is so gentle, so loving, so mild. Thou canst not reject me, thy suppliant child.”
Yours in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Fr. Mark G. Mazza, Pastor