Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day! One of my favorite Spanish proverbs is: "An ounce of mother is better than a pound of clergy." The word “mom” is synonymous with sacrificial love in its purest form, as Jesus expressed in his farewell speech: “Love one another as I have loved you.” Mothers leave their legacy with us. They live in and through us.

On Mother’s Day, let us Christians acknowledge the truth that we have two mothers: our earthly mother and our heavenly mother, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The Catholic Church proclaims the great nobility of the mother of Jesus, Mary most holy, and presents her as the supreme model for all mothers. She was born into humble  surroundings; she was called by God to be the mother of the Son of God. She affirmed her obedience to the call of God and lived out her vocation throughout her entire life. Mary, the mother of Jesus, our Blessed Mother, is the true model of motherhood. Let us ask her intercession for all our mothers. Happy Mother’s Day!

On the Sixth Sunday of Easter, we reflect on God's infinite love for humanity. The Gospel reading for this  Sunday (John 14:15-21) continues from last Sunday. It is part of a farewell message.

When a friend departs, we tell him how much we love him, ask for his advice and recommendations, recall wonderful experiences together, and make lots of promises. The night of Holy Thursday, the Upper Room turned into a stage for the most beautiful farewell of all time. Jesus Christ knew well that it was the final    encounter he would have with his friends, and he took advantage to leave us a gift, a recommendation, and a promise: the gift was the sacrament of the Eucharist; the recommendation, his commandment of love; the promise, the Holy Spirit with his abundance of gifts.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." Those who love Christ become the recipients of the love of the Father and will become the temple of the Holy Spirit. Love is not just words or an interior feeling, but it should manifest in action (14:23-24, 1John 3:18). The Holy Spirit will serve as an intercessor before God, a source of strength in faith, and a teacher of the truth. He is present and active both in the Church as a community and in its individual members.

When Jesus withdraws the visible presence from this world, he promised the Holy Spirit: to instruct us in Jesus’ doctrines and illumine our minds to receive deeper knowledge of our Faith; to enable us to defend our Faith powerfully; to guide us in the proper practice of true love towards God and recognizing Jesus in everyone. By relating love and command, Christ reveals the novelty of his message. We accept this heritage of love when we forget ourselves and surrender ourselves to those around us, when we work together and see the face of Christ in the suffering, in the poor, the humble, the abandoned, in the small. Love becomes reality when it crystallizes in work.                                                                                                Christianity has much to offer the modern world. It constructs a civilization of love where justice and charity become the law. There is a Swiss proverb that runs "words are dwarves, examples are giants". Without trials, love is nothing more than a noble but empty sentiment. Without actions, love remains in mere talk and, in the end, is a great deception. Without proof, love is dead. Jean Cocteau said: "Love doesn't exist, what exists are proofs of love".

Pope Leo was sharing a reflection on August 26, 2025, on Jesus' passion, death, and resurrection based on the Gospel of Mark 14:12. He said, “The Gospel shows that love is not the result of chance, but of a conscious choice. It is not a simple reaction, but a decision that requires preparation. Jesus does not face his passion out of fatalism, but out of fidelity to a path freely and carefully accepted and followed. This is what comforts us: knowing that the gift of his life stems from conscious intention, not a sudden impulse.”

We are Eucharistic people. We gather to celebrate the Mass. The Mission of the Church flows from the celebration of the Mass. At the end of the Mass, we are sent out to proclaim the Risen Lord and make his name known and loved. Each one of us needs to invite the Holy Spirit and ask him to guide us to engage in the mission of the Church.