"BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER!"

"BEHOLD YOUR MOTHER!"
The most honored word in any vocabulary is that wonderful word, Mother. How fitting it is that we honor mothers during May, the month of the most wonderful of mothers, Mary, the Mother of God. MOTHER OF GOD! What an awesome thought! Mary is the Mother of God!
God has a tremendous esteem for motherhood. Mothers are so special that even God wanted one! In the Gospels we see the tender love that the Lord had for His, holy mother. Yet, the Lord loved us to the extent that He wanted her to be our own mother in an individual way. In His love, the Lord would not keep her only for Himself. "There stood at the foot of the cross, Mary, the mother of Jesus! Son, behold your mother! Woman, behold your son. And John took her into his home.” From that moment, followers of the Lord have taken her into the home of their hearts. Every Christian can now say: "Behold my mother!"
We live in an era when family and motherhood are under attack. This wicked attack stems from, Satan, the Father of Lies. He hates Our Lady and motherhood because they stand for life. The Lord taught us that Satan is a "liar and a murderer from the beginning." The pagan world tells us that women can find true fulfillment only when they are liberated from motherhood. MOTHERHOOD IS OUT! CAREERS ARE IN! Thus, the family is being destroyed as the evils of abortion and contraception abound in our society. My dear friends, let us not be deceived by the false values of the pagan world. Let us remember always that mothers are a great gift from God. There is nothing on earth as wonderful as a mother.
Several years ago, I attended a seminar in Willow Grove, Pa. and one of the speakers was Dr. Wanda Poltawaska, a renowned philosopher. The Master of Ceremonies told of her life in a concentration camp during World War II. He then spoke of how she went on to become a doctor and of her many titles. Yet, when Dr. Poltawaska began her talk she insisted to the audience that "most important and wonderful title is the title of MOTHER. Seated in the front row are my children and my grandchildren. Above all else, I am a mother."
Our Blessed Mother has many titles. She is Gate of Heaven, Refuge of Sinner, Seat Of Wisdom, Mary Most chaste, Mary Most Pure, etc. But the title that she likes the best is, Mother. She told us this clearly at Guadalupe.
On this glorious day when we honor all mothers, may I dedicate the poem, The Child On Her Knees, written of Our Blessed Mother by MARY DIXON THAYER:
LOVELY LADY DRESSED IN BLUE
TEACH ME HOW TO PRAY
GOD WAS JUST YOUR LITTLE BOY
TELL ME WHAT TO SAY!
DID YOU LIFT HIM UP, SOMETIMES
GENTLY ON YOUR KNEE?
DID YOU SING TO HIM THE WAY
MOTHER DOES TO ME?
DID YOU HOLD HIS HAND AT NIGHT
AND, DID YOU EVER TRY
TELLING HIM STORIES OF THE WORLD?
AND OH! DID HE CRY?
DO YOU REALLY THINK HE CARES
IF I TELL HIM THINGS
LITTLE THINGS THAT HAPPEN? AND
DO ANGEL'S WINGS MAKE A NOISE?
CAN HE HEAR ME IF I SPEAK LOW?
DOES HE UNDERSTAND ME NOW?
TELL ME, FOR YOU KNOW!
LOVELY LADY DRESSED IN BLUE
TEACH ME HOW TO PRAY!
GOD WAS JUST YOUR LITTLE BOY
AND YOU KNOW THE WAY!

Father Richard J. Rego, S.T.L.