A very blessed Mothers' Day

A very blessed Mothers’ Day weekend to all of the women of the parish as we celebrate motherhood and womanhood. We acknowledge those women who have brought forth new life into the world and also those women who nurture new life and eternal life in others.

On Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, I am always mindful of those families who have adopted children. This is the powerful example of God, himself, who adopts us, and who was adopted himself! We know that St. Joseph was the foster father of Jesus. There is a beautiful country song, I believe by Randy Travis, entitled And I Will Raise Him Up. It describes a foster father who took a little boy into his care and raised him up as though he were his own child. The song even refers to St. Joseph.  What we celebrate on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day is divine love. God chooses to be known as father. His Son teaches us to call His Father, our Father.

The image of Mater Ecclesiae (above), Mother of the Church, is a beautiful mosaic that Pope John Paul II had displayed on the Vatican apartments facing St. Peter’s square. It is also the mosaic image that is on the bell tower at Sts. John and Paul in Sewickley. After St. John Paul II survived the assassination attempt on his life on the feast of our Lady of Fatima, he had this image of our Lady placed in St. Peter’s square. He took the bullet that had been taken out of him and placed it in the crown of Our Lady of Fatima’s statue in Portugal. The Holy Father, as well as others, believed that the Holy Mother spared his life because the bullet turned 90 degrees inside his body, saving him from a fatal wound.

On May 1st, which was also the Feast of St. Joseph, the bishops of the United States and Canada rededicated their countries to the Blessed Mother. We believe in her powerful intercession for all of us. Remember the first miracle Jesus performs in the Gospel of John at the wedding feast of Cana? (John 2:3-5) It was through the Blessed Mother’s prompting that Jesus responded to the needs of God’s people. Jesus entrusted her to us as he hung upon the cross and made her the mother of all the faithful. With so dear and loving a mother, we should all find great encouragement and consolation. The struggles we face today are not beyond God’s love or power! We have a tremendously   loving ally in Mary, the mother of Christ. Let us not fail to turn to our Blessed Mother in prayer and supplication.

The Holy Father, Pope Francis, also encouraged us to pray a rosary every day for healing and protection. May the pandemic of coronavirus, and also the     pandemic of sin in our world, be eradicated by the power of God and his grace working in all of us. May we, through these challenging times, become the people God intends us to be—people of love, mercy and service.
God love you,