Hey Y’all!

Recently for family reasons I had to travel back to the land of my birth, Kansas City on the Missouri side.Even though I left there at the tender age of 15, never to live there again, I still consider it the place where I am from. Where I’m from seems important to me somehow. Early on I was fed from the land, that’s the reason I look corn-fed today. I have happy memories of old familiar places – the Dime Store, Brookside Barber Shop, McClain’s Bakery, Milgrim’s Grocery, McGonigles Meat Market, Allen’s Drive-in, Andre’s, Border Star School. These places, many which don’t remain, still exist in my imagination. And while the memory of these places is strongly nostalgic, I suggest we have an even stronger connection not to where we were from, but to whom we were from. That should be why we celebrate Mother’s Day.

Who we come from is very important. You might have strong memories, or you might be making profound memories now. Can you recall your mom’s perfume? (I still smell the heaviness of “Taboo” circa 1965.) Can you recall the taste of your mom’s best dish? (I can taste a rhubarb pie from 1972.) These sensate memories, or the sensate experiences being made now – i.e., seeing your mom’s Facebook posts – are aspects of your identity. We get a sense of who we are through the values, lessons, memories and relationships which make us unique. So, we who we come from is vital to us.

But it is also true that not every memory of place or people, even mom, is a happy or pleasant one.Sometimes the memory is traumatic or tragic. That is why on a day like Mother’s Day it is important for us, as people of faith, to find our identity in an even larger family. That is the family of God – in which God is our Father, Jesus Christ is both like us as a brother and a Savior, and the Holy Spirit is the agent of meaning and purpose and will. And this family of God also gives us a mother – a Blessed Mother, who is the humble Queen of Heaven, inspiring us, urging us to imagine eternal things, and praying for us even as we live our given time “in this valley of tears”. As we ponder the wonder and the grace of being part of this biggest and best family in God, our identity is shaped, refined, reworked, maybe softened, maybe strengthened.We identify ourselves as Catholic Christians! This identity lets us know where we come from. It lets us know who we come from. And best yet, it also lets us know where we’re going.

So, God bless all Moms, all Godmothers, and all those with maternal instincts and influence. And let’s give thanks to God for those who continue to “mother” us in ways of love and grace.

Fr. Reynold