The Importance of Motherhood

Yesterday we celebrated Mother’s Day, the day that acknowledges the inherent vocation of women and the women in our lives who have served this vocation by raising us and nurturing us into the person we’ve become today. The role of a mother in the family is to bring her children up in the Faith through the home life and to provide an example of this to her children by practicing virtue and disciplining them when necessary. Mothers are indispensable in the family to provide an example of authentic femininity to their children and how their daughters should behave toward a man. Sadly, in today’s society, this example of motherhood is being erased through same-sex “marriage” and the tragedy of abortion, allowing women to kill their unborn child so they can go on living their life without having to be responsible for bringing up children, which is sadly the main reason in some cases. If we want to bring our society back to celebrating mothers the old-fashioned way, we must push back against the modern-day agenda threatening to destroy what motherhood is really about.

The main way to do this is through education, prayer, and standing up for what is right no matter what it might cost us. We must stand firm in our stance on the beautiful vocation of motherhood and not allow it to be erased, which sadly is happening with people even suggesting that the term “mother” be replaced with “birthing person.” This is absurd and certainly does not reflect all of the things that a mother does in the family. To say that a mother is just a “birthing person” greatly devalues and degrades her other roles in bringing up the children and holding the home life together while supporting her husband in his roles of supporting and providing for the family. Modern-day society greatly skews this in a way that makes it seem that just being a housewife is a bad thing, telling women that they must assert themselves and insist on doing the same things that men can do in the workforce. While this might not be a bad thing in every situation, the true vocation of a woman to be a mother and the matriarch of the family can get lost when women start trying to force on themselves the roles of a man in society. Men and women were created with their own unique characteristics and roles in society and family life, and the woman’s main job is to raise up children and nurture them in the home. Being a mother is a great gift that a woman is given by God and we must return to viewing it this way, instead of seeing it as a burden to be overcome. Women are incredible in that they can carry life inside of them and give birth to it, and this God-given ability must not be taken for granted.

Two examples of great motherhood can be found in St. Monica, the patron saint of mothers, and St. Gianna Molla, a more modern example who willingly chose her baby’s life over her own. St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine, and she suffered much during his youth when he was given over to concupiscence and lust, even fathering a child out of wedlock. She prayed incessantly for his conversion and her prayers were ultimately answered and he became a great saint. Mothers are responsible for the religious education of their children and St. Monica took this responsibility seriously. Mothers can pray to her asking for her intercession in their child’s life as well as in their life, asking her to help them be good mothers. She can also intercede for our society and pray for it, that its understanding of motherhood will be changed and the role of mothers will be cherished instead of seen as a trial.

St. Gianna Molla was the mother of four children and during her fourth pregnancy, she was diagnosed with a tumor in her uterus. She refused an abortion and hysterectomy, opting to only remove the tumor. After the surgery, she continued to insist that her family choose the baby’s life over her own if they must make a choice during delivery. She died from sepsis a week after the baby’s birth (www.catholic.org). St. Gianna shows us the unconditional, selfless love of a mother that never dies. The love of a mother gives us a taste of the love of God on earth so that we can come to anticipate it even more. We can ask St. Gianna to strengthen our mothers and prepare them for their roles in putting their children before themselves.

In addition to these examples, we of course also have the pinnacle of motherhood as an example, Mary, our Blessed Mother. She raised the Son of God and taught Him the basics of His faith and how to pray. She too can be an example for our mothers and for society on the beauty of motherhood and the joys it brings.

St. Monica, St. Gianna, and Mary our Mother, pray for our mothers and for our society!