I always look forward to Mother’s Day. I love breakfast in bed, the gifts, the flowers, the homemade cards. I relish in the graces of the day. But my mind also goes back to childhood memories of Mother’s Day.
I remember fondly taking part in an annual Mother’s Day recital hosted by my home parish, St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, run by the Oblates of the Immaculate Mary in Toronto.
The Felician Sisters would organize an event after Mass that honoured the vocation of motherhood. Children would recite beautiful poems celebrating the tenderness and love of a mother, musicians would play songs on the depth of a mother’s love and prayers would be offered to thank God for the gift of our mothers.
Oh, yes, they never forgot the flowers. Mothers were showered with flowers and a formal blessing by the pastor.
There was sacredness in the celebrations of the day and I was deeply moved by participating in these recitals. They stirred within my soul such gratitude and longing to become a mother. In the Polish culture, while I was growing up, mothers were revered, the vocation itself considered sublime.
I learned that becoming a mother meant not only embracing a long list of motherly chores and lining up photo opportunities of happy moments, but becoming a mother involved to a level of accountability before God. It’s a stark contrast to modern secular Mother’s Day celebrations which, at times to me, ring hollow.
A few years ago my mom, from her death bed, announced,
“The only thing I have ever wanted was to succeed at passing down the Catholic faith. To have children who practised and lived their Catholic faith from the bottom of their hearts.”
How different the world would be if all Catholic mothers made passing down the Catholic faith as their life’s priority?
I don’t know if I am the only mom who thinks that sometimes the world is completely upside down. It appears that some mothers make everything except motherhood a priority in their lives. It drives me crazy!
I was edified recently when a friend on Facebook posted this as her status:
“My number one goal as a mom is to do everything in my power to help my children get to Heaven. This ultimately is all that matters. Pray for your children every day, teach them our beautiful Catholic faith and help them develop a wonderful relationship with Jesus and His Blessed Mother. Your children will be eternally grateful.”
Maybe we should bring back Mother’s Day recitals.
Dorothy Pilarski is the founder of Dynamic Women of Faith, author, Catholic radio host, motivational speaker, blogger, guest columnist with the Catholic Register and a facilitator on Salt + Light TV. www.dorothypilarski.com