Motherhood, Fatherhood and Calling no Man Father

As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.  Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven.  Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Messiah.  The greatest among you must be your servant.  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.  Matthew 23:8-12

The other day I was sitting in my office pondering Our Blessed Mother and thinking about the Litany to Our Lady Healer of Families.  And in a moment it struck me that one of the Dogma’s of our faith is Mary the Mother of God, or Theotokos.

I pondered this for awhile, that Mary, who is the daughter of God the Father, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, and Mother of the Son, all things relationship with God, but the preeminent definition of who she is in relation to God is MOTHER.  That is the essence of who she is and is a defined dogma.  And I realized with my heart (not just my head) that this means she isn’t just the Mother of Jesus’ humanity (Nestorian heresy), but the Mother of the his divinity, his whole person;  And since the Spirit by the action of the Holy Spirit we receive him in the Eucharist and he dwells in us, she is LITERALLY OUR MOTHER and not just spiritually.  The more we turn to her, the closer in union we become with God.

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16

And so it was here that I knew God was trying to tell me something more.

Our existence is about our very relationship with God and how we relate to God extends outward to our fellow man.  When we recognize our source, and that it is a source outside of ourselves, but that dwells in us, we become Christ-like.

The very first relationship we have is that of daughter or son.  This is a relationship of receiving.  We are young, weak, unable to care for ourselves, and so we must receive what we need in order to flourish.  A child that receives from his or her parents what is needed is a child that flourishes.

The next relationship we have is two-fold – it can be brotherly or sisterly – or it can be spousal.  These relationships are giving and receiving.  These relationships are intimate, not in a sexual way (though with spouses that intimacy is also physical), but in a way, that when the good of the other is sought, these people can know who you are and continue to give love and receive love from you.

The next relationship is that of Mother or Father.  This relationship is one of giving.  When a child is in the womb, and later born, they are completely weak and helpless.  They cannot give of themselves.  Mothering and Fathering requires much sacrifice.

This is the ultimate expression of God in us because it requires total giving.

Motherhood and Fatherhood are life giving.  I have written before of how women give life from their wombs and men, as Priests, give life to us in the Eucharist.

The relationship cycle is meant to purify us and draw us closer to God.  Throughout our lives it is an ebb and flow of these relationships, but union with the will of God is Motherly and Fatherly.  It is self-giving love.

We need first to receive, and then give and receive, in order to be brought to this union of giving the way that God did.  When we walk this path, when we walk in the authority God gave us, we become confident Mothers and Fathers that the devil will flee from.  This self giving love does not require actual Motherhood or Fatherhood, it requires the recognition that the Love of God is sacrificial and giving and can dwell within each of us.  It is TRUE CHARITY and does not expect reward.

Mary as Theotokos, is the ultimate expression of the love of God.  Defining Mary as the Mother of God defines who Jesus is and how He wants to fill us and what we are to become.

If a society looks down upon Motherhood and Fatherhood the society will collapse because it is a society that doesn’t know how to give.

Jesus came as the Divine Child to show us the SOURCE OF CHARITY, to show us how to give.

Mary and Joseph were essential to this plan because they had to give of themselves in order for the rest of us to receive HIM and grow into Mothers and Fathers whether literally or spiritually.

He started as a child to show us who we are to become.

Looking at the Divine Child you are looking at the SOURCE.

Which brings you back to the will of God;  The source, the giving tree, the Tree of Life.

There is a reason Satan attacks Motherhood.  There is a reason even Catholics are now attacking calling a Priest Father.

Destroying Motherhood and Fatherhood destroys CHARITY.

In a twisted diabolical form they claim to uplift women by attacking the very essence of what forms her in LOVE.  They take what Jesus said about calling no man Father and twist it to destroy what Christ is trying to teach us about LOVE.

The Fatherhood of the Priest is NOT a Fatherhood of man.  Remember no one is good but God alone (Mark 10:18). The Priesthood is the Fatherhood of God.  A Fatherhood of giving.  A SOURCE OF CHARITY.  Priests are giving us DIVINE LIFE LITERALLY. The devil wants nothing more than to destroy this.  And he is working inside the Church to do so.

It is why Mary is so needed right now.  And her sons, the Priests, who are also FATHERS of GOD because they give us the SOURCE OF CHARITY in the Eucharist.  Look at the Divine Child.  The Divine Child mirrors Christ on the Cross and the Eucharist… a person totally in the hands and control of others…How will you LOVE HIM?