Happy Mother’s Day to you. I pray your day is peaceful and blessed. Here in the U.S., we celebrate this day as a family. Where is the heart of a family? Many of us say our family’s heart is Mom. But what is in a mother’s heart?

“18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.” [Luke 2:18-20]¹

My experience is from my heart and what I’ve heard from other moms. Just as Mary did, moms ponder things. We may react in different ways, but we place our family in our heart. Then we think about what is going on around us and how it affects our family. Mostly, mom’s care for and love those around them. Like Mary, a mom’s heart contemplates and then wonders what the happenings mean for their children.

The last few years battered our families. Here in America, and from what I hear in the rest of the world, the onslaught on the family has changed what families look like. Even if our families change, when a mom carries a child close to her own beating heart, her heart does not change. There is a protective link to her child that is usually unshakable.

Let’s not forget the dads. There is something special in the family when a dad bonds to the child growing in his wife’s womb. And family, including moms, dads, and kids, celebrate that bond with their moms today.

Families are precious. Yes, I come from a traditional perspective because it is what I know best. My family is grandparents, moms, dads, kids, aunts, uncles, and cousins. In my Catholic faith, marriage is a sacrament. We committed ourselves to the sacrament of marriage. That sacrament extends to every part of our family life. Our calling in the church is to our marriage and family. This is why the faithful value life so highly. And this is also why every blow at the core of the family breaks a mother’s heart.

Take the family you have left and hold them close. Love them even if you are at odds. If they lash out, forgive, and let them go. If they return your love, forgive any hurt and love them back. While pondering her family, the mother’s heart hurts, heals, and loves. May your heart heal today.

Our Father in heaven, on this day when moms are in our hearts, spread your healing presence through our hurting world. Please give answers to mothers’ prayers for their families as they ponder your greatness in our homes. Help us let go of the ones who chose another path, knowing someday our paths will cross again. We thank you for bringing truth to light, showing us the ones who love us, and tightening the bonds between us. In Jesus’ Name, amen. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.

May your family be blessed this day,

Milly

Footnote:

¹All scripture is from the New King James Version: Prophecy Study Bible New King James Version, Editor John C. Hagee © 1997 by Thomas Nelson, a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.