St Gabriel Windows

St Gabriel Windows
Photocopy c. 2013 Jamie Laubacher

Monday, May 15, 2006

Mother: Heart of the Domestic Church

As a follow-up to Mother's Day, you might want to read this great article, sent to me by my friend Lisa, authored by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle at Catholic Exchange. It begins:

“The family should be your place of encounter with God,” our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II told us. As mothers, we need to realize that this is indeed true. We meet God each day in the smiles and in the tears of our children. He is there in our laundry rooms as we work hard, keeping things clean and in order for our families. He is present during our intimate dinner conversations, during our disagreements and also in the quiet of the home. He is deep down in the hearts of our families.


We Have the Power

Our homes are our domestic Churches. We must strive to find God there. We must come to be satisfied with our work in the home, acknowledging the fact that it is far more important than what we can achieve outside its doors. We have come to realize that we have actually assisted our Lord in creating human life! Our children should be able to count on our presence to them, as well as our dedication and unconditional love for them. Let us pray that there will be peace in our hearts, knowing that our Lord is pleased with our selfless acts of loving service to our families.

The vocation of motherhood calls for flexibility, patience, creativity and the giving of oneself. A mother’s role is a self-sacrificing one. She puts her interests and desires on hold the moment she finds that a new soul has been conceived within her. Her offspring's desires become her desires. She becomes very naturally and lovingly involved in every aspect of her child's development. Her heart expands with each new precious life entrusted to her. The motherly seeds of love that God has sown within her being begin to spring forth and blossom, as she nurtures her children tenderly and selflessly. She realizes her purpose in this world and embraces even the suffering that she must endure bringing each new soul forth to see the light of day.

We, as mothers, have within us the power to create either a happy, loving home where our family can retreat from the world, or one that is full of discord and unhappiness. It is so true that we are the heart of the home. When we are not fully present to our families, there is usually chaos in one form or another. Our children can become or feel lost, lonely, confused, or misdirected and may even feel unloved. It is important to be present to our children. If we are not at the moment, then we should make every effort to make changes necessary to be there for them. We should avoid, whenever possible, having our children come home to an empty house without us there to welcome them. (Read the rest of the article by following this LINK).

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