Jesus Loves YOU

Mother’s Day (like Father’s Day) is interesting in that it is a secular (not liturgical) holiday, but it celebrates a beautiful role that God has given to so many women. The day before Mother’s Day last year, I attended Vigil Mass, and the priest announced that there would be a special blessing and gift for all mothers, stepmothers, and godmothers- how nice. After Mass, I was talking with a friend who is a mother, and a man walked up to us with the basket of pens asking us to take our Mother’s Day gifts. I politely declined, saying that I was not a mother. He was very well-intentioned, wanting me to be able to take a gift for myself, so he said to me, “Surely you’re a godmother though?!” I informed him that I was not a godmother either. I could tell he just wanted me to be able to take a pen so badly!

There was definitely a time in recent years when Mother’s Day was painful for me since I am not a mother but have always desired to be one. I’ve grown to surrender that desire more to God in the last couple of years, so Mother’s Day doesn’t hit me hard now like it used to, thankfully. (Interior freedom is a wonderful gift of surrender!) However, on the way home from church last year, the reality that I’m not a godmother either struck me after that man’s comment. Feeling a little defeated at that point, I went for a walk in my neighborhood.

While walking, I came across the message “Jesus Loves You” that had been written with a pressure washer on the concrete in the middle of one of streets near my house. It was just the message I needed that evening to remind me of that truth! The message hadn’t been there just a couple days earlier. Suddenly I didn’t feel so defeated. It was a great reminder that Jesus loves you, and He loves me- so much so that He died for us. He loves each and every one of us with our respective callings, states in life, circumstances, gifts, and shortcomings! We don’t have to have a certain role in order for Him to love us- we are unconditionally His beloved. He still loves me even though I couldn’t take a pen from the basket that day. That didn’t change my worth in His eyes, so why should it change my worth in my eyes?

We each have a specific and unique mission from God Himself that no one else in the entire world has or could fulfill. How amazing is that? It literally gives me chills to reflect on just how much God cherishes each one of us, and just how specific each person’s mission is. Every person’s individual role in the Body of Christ is important and necessary, even when He asks us to do things that don’t appear sensational in the least and might not be all that rewarding in the present. He doesn’t love us because of our callings. He wouldn’t love me more if I had children, and He doesn’t love me because I write a faith-based blog. He loves me because I am His, period. That is true for each and every one of us.

Regardless of our specific callings, their demands, and the different heartaches that might arise in the midst of them, we all share a common vocation: the vocation to holiness and evangelization. How we each live that out will look different, but it’s neat that at the end of the day, we all have a common calling.

“Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist are sacraments of Christian initiation. They ground the common vocation of all Christ’s disciples, a vocation to holiness and to the mission of evangelizing the world. “

-Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1533

Mother’s Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our earthly mothers (who gave us life!), grandmothers, godmothers, stepmothers, mother figures, spiritual mothers, friends and relatives who are mothers, and the beautiful vocation of motherhood in general. We can reflect on how to express gratitude to the mothers in our lives and how to support them in their very important job. They are called to live out holiness and to evangelize in a specific way. Mothers are definitely to be cherished!

Mother’s Day, though, can be a challenging day for parents that have lost a child or have a strained relationship with a child, and it can be a difficult day for children who have lost a parent, or adult children who long to be parents themselves but aren’t. If you’re in a spot where Mother’s Day is difficult for you in any way, I encourage you to lean into the fact that Jesus loves you. He has something very specific in mind for your life and looks upon you with great love. Also, Mary is there waiting to comfort you with a loving embrace.

All of us can lean into Mary more as Mother’s Day approaches, in the month of May nonetheless! We can spend more time talking to Mary, praying the rosary, reflecting on her life, and being grateful for her presence, love, intercession, and beautiful example to all of us. Our Heavenly Mother is perpetually there to guide and comfort us in all aspects of our lives, and she always leads us closer to her son. Mary constantly points us to Him, never to herself.

If you are a mother yourself, your call to motherhood is beautiful and is to be celebrated! Know that people (like me!) actively pray for you, and feel free to reach out to others for specific prayer intentions as you live out your wonderful calling. Helping your children to know Jesus and get to heaven is the number one job of a parent, and that is no small task!

I still hope to be a mom and godmother one day, but even if not, I can stand firm on the fact that Jesus loves me, and I am not “less than” because I don’t have children or godchildren. Each person’s calling looks different and is authored by God, and each person has a specific role in the Body of Christ. Ultimately each person’s calling comes down the same thing: holiness and evangelization. Those things can be lived out in a variety of ways, and it’s a gift to be able to support each other on our respective God-given missions. However your life looks, Jesus loves YOU!

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