08 May 2011

The Vocation of Women

This weekend has been difficult. I am torn. I am extremely upset about leaving Allison and Caralyn and Kelley and our cozy little apartment, knowing that when I do make my way back to Auburn in the fall, things will not be the same... (I hate change.) I am excited to go home and spend time with my mom (more on that later.)

As I lay in my bed for the last time until August, I should be thankful for this opportunity become more detached from earthly things. As of now, my room is NOT my room anymore. I have moved all of my things out so that my summer sub-leaser can move in, and I feel so weird. For anyone who has ever slept in my bed, you know how ridiculously comfortable it is. I am sad about leaving it for three months. I also just really love my room here... a lot. Detachment is hard for me, especially right now. I am going to miss everyone in Auburn SO much this summer and it is not easy to come to terms with my impending graduation in December.

On the other hand, I finally get to go home to my mommy! I haven't seen her since January, and I can't wait to spend the summer (minus the month of June) with her! God knew exactly what He was doing when He gave her to me to be my mom. She embodies sacrificial love and God was made real to me through her. She taught me to seek Him, and she loves me more than anyone ever could. I hope that (if God blesses me with children) I can love my children as much as she loves me, and that I can lay down my life for them as she has for me.

While I'm on the subject of mothers, I have been attempting to increase my devotion to the Most Holy and Perfect Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary has been hard at work praying for me and my family, and I can see her prayers coming to fruition in real ways. God answers the prayers of His Mother! This month of May is dedicated to Our Lady, and in this Easter season, hope and joy abound!

In Blessed John Paul II's apostolic letter Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity of Women, 15 August 1988), he writes:



"Motherhood has been introduced into the order of the Covenant that God made with humanity in Jesus Christ. Each and every time that motherhood is repeated in human history, it is always related to the Covenant which God established with the human race through the motherhood of the Mother of God...

Does not Jesus bear witness to this reality when he answers the exclamation of that woman in the crowd who blessed him for Mary's motherhood: "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!"? Jesus replies: "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it" (Lk 11:27-28). Jesus confirms the meaning of motherhood in reference to the body, but at the same time he indicates an even deeper meaning, which is connected with the order of the spirit: it is a sign of the Covenant with God who "is spirit" (Jn 4:24). This is true above all for the motherhood of the Mother of God. The motherhood of every woman, understood in the light of the Gospel, is similarly not only "of flesh and blood": it expresses a profound "listening to the word of the living God" and a readiness to "safeguard" this Word, which is "the word of eternal life' (cf. Jn 6:68). For it is precisely those born of earthly mothers, the sons and daughters of the human race, who receive from the Son of God the power to become "children of God" (Jn 1:12). A dimension of the New Covenant in Christ's blood enters into human parenthood, making it a reality and a task for "new creatures" (cf. 2 Cor 5:17). The history of every human being passes through the threshold of a woman's motherhood; crossing it conditions "the revelation of the children of God" (cf. Rom 8:19)." (Emphasis added)

God calls every woman to be a mother in some way. Selfless love is the fulfillment of our vocation as women, so Happy Mother's Day to ALL Mothers, both spiritual and physical.

Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, Intercessor for all Mothers, pray for us, now and at our  hour of death.

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