by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers!
Motherhood is a gift from God and one of the most blessed of vocations. Let us truly celebrate, affirm and honour our mothers – not only today, but throughout the year.
What does your mother mean to you? What kind of vision do we have for our mothers/families in T&T? In the midst of our celebrations, let us remember in prayer those mothers who have died. My dear mother, Ruby, died when she was only 65. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of her. Ma was a radiant example of love, service, patience, self-sacrifice and generosity. She had an unfailing sense of duty to her family. She was a woman of faith, wisdom, and common sense.
She passed on to her seven children her deep, abiding faith, and moral and spiritual values. In the face of life’s adversities, she and my father, Balgobin Ramdeen, taught us about family solidarity – a vital dimension of family life. I love, respect, and admire my mother for all that she accomplished and all that she taught us. She was a most gracious woman who is still deeply loved and missed.
For those of you whose mothers are still alive, express your thanks and appreciation to her each day; work on your relationship with her and cherish your time together as our lives are shorter than we think. If your mother has passed on, try to honour her memory by living your life in a way that will make her proud.
Archbishop Joseph Harris has urged us all to adopt a Missionary Project. Reach out to homeless women, struggling single mothers, elderly women in homes for the
aged or those lying in hospitals with no one to visit them. Let us not forget the widows, grandmothers, guardians and the single women who act as mothers to others. If we truly love God, we will see Him in the faces of each of these women; we will reach out in compassion to assist them; we will serve them.
Zenit reports that on May 1 Pope Francis reflected on two traits of Christian identity, saying that Christianity is marked by its concrete presence in history and its focus on service. He said: “Jesus washes the feet of the disciples, inviting them to do as He has done: to serve.
Christian identity is service, not selfishness… We are called to service. Being Christian is not about appearance, or even about social conduct, it’s not a little make-up for the soul, because it should be a little more beautiful. To be Christian is to do what Jesus did: serve!”
Pope Francis invited us to ask ourselves, “In my heart, what more can I do? Do I have other people serve me; do I use others, the community, the parish, my family, my friends? Or do I serve, am I at the service of others?”
Service is not only about charity, but includes acting as advocates – lobbying our politicians to ensure that our economy is working for our mothers, e.g. in the areas of healthcare, education, housing, employment, social services, and poverty reduction. If we are to become servant leaders, we must not turn a blind eye to domestic violence that is destroying the lives of so many of our women – and men. The AEC Bishops rightly focused on this issue during their recent meeting. Let us help our men to be better fathers and husbands/partners.
Family life is under threat globally. Let’s strengthen family life by helping to nurture responsible parenting and create conditions that will allow families to flourish. And employers, play your part also by recognising and planning for the diverse needs of women as mothers, e.g. by providing workplace crèches, better maternity/paternity entitlements, and a living wage. At a national level, we can serve our mothers by advocating for the development of good economic and social policies to promote the integral human development of mothers.
Mothers, we love you. Turn to Our Lady to intercede with her Son for you as you journey on.
Let us remember the words Pope Francis uttered during the celebration of the Mass of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in January 2014: “Our pilgrimage of faith has been inseparably linked to Mary ever since Jesus,ndying on the Cross, gave her to us as our Mother, saying, ‘Behold your Mother!’ (Jn 19:27). These words serve as a testament, bequeathing to the world a Mother. From that moment on, the Mother of God also became our Mother!…Mary becomes in this way a source of hope and true joy!
“The Mother of the Redeemer goes before us and continually strengthens us in faith, in our vocation and in our mission…To her let us entrust our journey of faith, the desires of our heart, our needs and the needs of the whole world, especially of those who hunger and thirst for justice and peace, and for God.”
The strength of our nation depends, to a large part, on the strength of our mothers. We thank you, Lord, for the gift of our remarkable mothers, and for their steadfast love.
