Woman: Mother

Anne Lastman

“Woman draws her life from man and gives it back again and there is love.” (Lyrics from the song sung by Peter, Paul, and Mary.  There is love.)

As we in Australia approach Mothers’ day, on May 12^th, I have thought about what it means to be a “mother.”

Yes, we can understand what meaning we have attached to this unique creation(mother) whom God called “helper” and some would say that “helper” means subordinate. And yet “helper” can mean lover or even companion, but also one who joins and assists in all ventures of the one who completes her. One who completes the journey towards the new venture. Her male begins the holy venture, but woman gathers life and completes the holy venture. 

As time passes and we discover more about woman, we discover a love in her unlike any other created being but a love like her own creator.  A creative love. A woman and mother whose middle name is Mercy. A mother whose first inbuilt charism is Love. Mercy.  “The name of God is Mercy” said His Holiness Pope Francis, because within her Mercy is embedded, a love so fine that it stretches to encompass all in her ambit.

“Mother love” is a mysterious love written deep within the heart of a woman. Deep within the essence of her feminine “I.”  “Mother love” is the mysterious union between her “I” and the “I” of another, her child. A new creation.  A union which society does not fully understand.  Indeed, woman herself has not understood the uniqueness of her being or even anticipated such a love which sustains life and the world. 

Woman has written within her being a connection, a primordial attachment to her infant, from its earliest moment of conception. This because her body knows it has co-operated with man and God to bring to birth a new creation. “motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life as it develops in the woman’s womb” (Saint John Pau II).  “Each and every time that motherhood is repeated in human history, it’s always related to the covenant which God established with the human race through the Motherhood of the Mother of God” (Saint John Paul II) and indeed the covenant is extended every time motherhood is repeated making the birth of every child a salvific moment for woman.

 Mother and mercy are the healing needs of life’s wounds. Through her suffering a mother can hold her child in her arms even in death.   Through her suffering she can achieve a change of a society in travail and reverse the misery of that past primordial act in Eden, (Gn. 3:1-34) now the misery which has overtaken society in our time.  

If the question were to be asked “what or who is a mother?” The response would be easy and quick because every time, era, society, generation has established that “mother” has an important meaning attached to it.  Mother always means life bearer. No man is ever able to say the words “I’m a life bearer” Even in our society no transgender individual can legitimately say “I am a life bearer”.  Why?  Because the design is not for the male to be “a life bearer” but “life generator” Indeed, mercy, love and mother make up the compassion of God. In him is found all love because he is love (Ps 103) and all mercy and she draws her love from him and gives it back again to continue another creation all love”

Acknowledged in its fullness, this is the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never before achieved.  That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing a deep change, women who are imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to assist humanity in not falling” (Council’s message to women at closing of Vatican II).

How prophetic has been this call to women and mothers to save the world. To save the children, to remind humanity that the world and families and children are God’s gift.  He calls on women to remember and remind those who would have forgotten, and now see power, mammon, and war, that children are the creation and the future and not mammon.  To protect them against all violence and intruders against them. Mother asks them to see that children suffer. To recognise that they are the response of divine and human love. A blessing to humanity.  A mother pleads for all children.  A mother always continues to plead for all children and is in agony when any child is in pain.  Mary, woman, mother, hurt deeply to see her child, her son in pain and then in death.  Woman, mother, also sheds torrents of tears for those children and their mothers who are in pain and cannot be reached.  A mother calls out to the heavens to come and rescue the woman and her child/children because she too saw the pain of her son and she invokes his name to come and help her. 

The late Saint Pope John Paul II called this special love “Feminine genius.” He didn’t mean the genius in the building a cathedral or climbing a mountain, but the genius of being mother and understanding her role, and she understood that God had created this in his “Divine workshop” one who understood Him and his mode of creating a new masterpiece as mother would continue this. His template of love.  He created these to be the glue which holds humanity together. Woman who becomes mother holds the world in the palm of her hand. This is her genius. Understanding Her creator’s love and enfleshing it.   

This Holy Father, Saint. John Paul II, believed that the mystery of the woman is best seen when she sees herself as part of a human unity with the man, and together with their own “one” like them. She recognizes that she is to be so different because her creator shaped her differently so that she could continue to help him (in his workshop) with her work as mother who carries, gives birth and nourishment to the one from her own body.    He created her as a softer image of Himself to love as he loves. But “Gentle Woman” as our hymn says.

Saint John Paul II. also wrote and spoke much about the glory of woman and her charism of motherhood. Letter to Women, Muglieris Dignitatem, On the Dignity & Vocation of Women. He reflected on the strength and importance of woman and her role as mother.   He spoke of her not as an afterthought of God but as the final most creative and mysterious masterpiece. One who is Helper. First his helper and then helper for all of humanity.  

Understanding the fecundity of woman is important because, even beasts and nature are designed to reproduce and continue life, but woman is different.  She “hears” and understands that within that new creation which she carries, begins a new tree, a new life, a new history. 
“Tree of Life” (woman) replaces the one (tree of death woman) which caused so much pain and death. Woman will understand what mother means because another mother will hold her child in her arms and watch him grow, and then watch him suffer and die.  Her love during the years softened his future and showing what life and then death mean as she holds the child of her blessed womb both at birth and death. The mother loved and understood. Just a mother loves and understands even when it seems difficult to do so. 

Saint John Paul II, always believed that the true strength, the mystery of the woman, is best seen when she sees and knows herself as woman, wife, mother, protector of her family and all her children. Her strength then is indomitable even though she is the softer one of the Lord’s designs.  

Woman in her design is the secret of God. In his divine workshop he moulded the one who would cooperate with him to create a new humanity worthy of the heavenly places left empty.  She would say “Yes” to his desire to create a new and different creature than his first creation (angels).  Woman, who would be moulded in such a way that a new being would come to birth. Her mystery of life and birth.  Her mystery, a love so different, that it would be called “mother.”  From all time “mother” would be the one who loves so differently that all of creation deserved to experience and maintain a one called “mother” and so all with life and living have called her mother.

 “Mother love” is the effect of that mysterious union between her “I” and the “I” of another, her child.    Into every womb is inscribed the compassion of God. Into very womb is imprinted the word “compassion” (Rakhem) an emotional word for “womb” is the way by which He Himself would enter into the experience of life, human love, and with “mother” as” helper” would redeem all of Adam’s descendant’s from beginning until the end of time.  He would redeem father Adam and Mother Eve and all their estranged  children.  

The grief experienced because of the loss of life in her womb, (miscarriage, abortion, death) is because woman has written within her being a connection, a primordial attachment to her infant, from its earliest moment of conception. From the first cell division, there is her soul and love to urge it on. To accompany it on its journey to meet her, so its death without that meeting is a great mourning and loss for her. Irreconcilable pain.  “Motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life as it develops in the woman’s womb.” (Saint John Paul II) Each and every time that motherhood is repeated in human history, it’s always related to the covenant which God established with the human race through the motherhood template of the mother of His son Jesus.  And indeed, the covenant is strengthened every time motherhood is repeated making the birth of every child a salvific moment for woman. Every child brings into humanity a new grace, a new work which participates in the overall redemption.

Mercy Love and mother Love mirror one another.  How beautiful it is to say of Mary “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb” because God has designed the womb of every woman to be blessed with the same mystery and blessing as the one in which Jesus arrived at physical life. It’s in this mystery which God nears intimately and closely and “overshadows” every woman and breathing a new soul into her womb.  

The war against the woman, mother, infant, is a war against maternity, femininity, motherhood and innocence and this war against the woman and her baby is one which throughout time has been attempted, through various means, including child sacrifice, infanticide, abandonment, and abortion.

And always mother suffers. Every mother, like Rachel, weeps for her children who are no more. Suffers when a child hurts or dies.  A mother never looks at a child who is hurting and says “he is black. He is white skinned. He is a different religion or whose parents are of a political persuasion, but a mother looks at a stunned, hurting child, starving child, and weeps, especially if she feels helpless, like the Mother just over 2000 years ago who also felt helpless. God placed humanity into her womb and into her care. To her He entrusted “life” The same life He had created in the beginning. 

When we celebrate Mother’s day, a blessing and thank you mother.  A big thank you mum is what she needs to hear.  No gifts are necessary, just “thank you I love you. I wouldn’t want another mum.”  Mothers are resilient, forgiving in an instant, love passionately, sacrifice, renews her covenant with every new conception. She loves all of her children 100% each and further loves the children that God has created and especially those who cannot know mother love for the present time.  Mothers have trusted the Creator who in turn will trust her, looks at her child/ren and is so delighted and declares that its “very good.” 

Whilst we celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day once per year, we know that mothers and fathers are the mysterious creatures who created them, and every day of their whole life once conception occurs, they love and for them it’s always “Mother’s Day” or “Father’s Day”  There is never a day which passes when she is not mother, and he is not father This is the blessing that for all time Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are to be perpetuated.

Thank you to all mothers for your love and sacrifice.