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Father Daniel Toof |
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St. Anna’s Catholic Church 836 East Spring Street Monroe, GA 30655 Phone : 770-267-7637 |
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To contact us: |
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May 13, 2012 Sixth Sunday of Easter |
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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY Mr. Sly, as a husband, brings a perspective to Mother’s Day that as a celibate I do not have. His reflections also touch very meaningfully on the eternal value of the vocation to Motherhood. God bless our Moms! I’m with my Mom (and Dad) in Nebraska; I’ll be back next weekend! Many Blessings, Fr. Dan
By Randy Sly Catholic Online When my children were small, each year I would take them on a special shopping trip to buy gifts for Mother’s Day. My two older girls must have been early elementary and pre-school age when we went on our “mission for mom” at WalMart. As we entered the store I told Dena and Debbie that we had to look for something very special. We wandered from aisle to aisle, seeking something that would have deep and supreme “I love you” kind of meaning. I could tell they were trying hard to come up with ideas. Then Dena excitedly announced, “Dad, I’ve got it! Potholders!” with Debbie nodding in eager agreement. My daughters had caught an important aspect of their mother’s love. They captured the joy she felt in feeding them, clothing them, loving them, caring for them. They thought nothing thrilled my wife more than working in the kitchen on behalf of her family. She needed potholders… beautiful new matching potholders for her sacred space. Knowing Sandy, anything the girls brought home would be “the best gift ever,” because that is a mother’s heart. Still, how wonderful when you can touch that heart with a message that not only says “I love you” but makes an indelible impression. I have learned a lot about motherhood watching my wife as we moved from one passage of parenthood to the next. I better understood self-denial and sacrifice, where nurture was more important than her necessities. I beheld a love from her, as Scripture teaches, that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” I also have learned a lot about the Church and, in particular, the important role of Our Blessed Mother from beholding the gift of motherhood at work in my wife, my now-grown daughters, and other friends and family. Motherhood is the glue of family relationships and the heartbeat of life for those who are joined together. There is nothing else quite like it in all creation. Today we honor mothers. True, it is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but it is a special day of celebration. We remember the gift God placed in the hearts of women from the foundation of the world - a gift that gives the world life, generation upon generation. Motherhood is not just about bringing biological life, but the fullness of life through love, sustenance, and nurture. The gift of motherhood also assured the world of redemption, as God brought forth from a mother’s womb His only begotten Son. That was not the end of it, however. She was with him through his years of development, nurturing and strengthening Him. She provided the maternal foundation upon which our Lord grew “in wisdom and in stature, in favor with God and with man.” (Luke 2:52) And through Him she has become our Mother as well, in His Church. Let us honor our mothers and the mothers of our children, for truly this is a supreme work of womanhood.
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