May 9, 2010: 6th Sunday Easter (C) Mother's Day

  Click to hear the audio of the homily

Few days ago, I began to ponder what to write on the Mother's Day card for my mom. This is one of those Mother's Day when I didn't forget or rush through. Last year, I sent my mom a bouquet of flowers, and my mom told me that she and dad laughed because how small it was. The flower arrangement you see on the Internet is not exactly what our moms get. So this year, the envelop inside the card was empty of any gift cards or presents. It simply had few Korean words which I scribbled which said, 'Mom I love you and thank you for continuing to pray for me that my homilies will not be boring.' Really, that's what she prays for, that my homilies will not be boring! I also included in the card a photo of me talking to the Second Grade class at Mercy about the death of Stanley the Fish. Although the photos aren't worth much in dollar value, I know my mom would be proud to see me in action as a priest. Many folks ask me, "Fr. Paul, I bet your mom was so proud of you when you told her that you wanted to become a priest." And I tell them, "No. My dad wanted to disown me, and my mom began to cry because she wanted her son to get married." Now, both mom and dad are quite proud of me. It took 4 years into seminary for both of them to get comfortable with me becoming a priest, though. These days, when I go to my parents' house, my mom is busy being my secretary for getting her friends lined up for home mass or for confession. So now, she considers my priesthood as one of the best gifts that I could have given her.

At 9AM Sunday mass, we have the children and an expectant mother crown Blessed Mother with flowers. How appropriate on the month of May and on Mother's Day to do this! Now I wondered for some time why we use a crown made of flowers rather than fancy gold crown. Around the time of Mother's Day, all the jewelers around town are advertising diamond and gold jewelery for moms. Wouldn't more pricey jewelery more appropriate to show how much we love our Heavenly Mother?

On one occasion when I was at a home of a young family, the little daughter who was playing outside brought back her mom a little flower. And her mom said, "That's for me? How beautiful? Thank you, my darling." What made that flower such a beautiful gift? It was a gift from a humble and pure heart brimming with affection for her mother. I wonder how big will be Blessed Mother's smile when she see the little ones process in with a precious gift from their hearts?

This week, I gave a couple of talks. On Tuesday, I spoke about Mother Teresa and the next morning, I was on the Catholic Radio to talk about Blessed Mother. During the radio talk, Deacon Jodi Moscona asked me to talk about Blessed Mother. And I said, if there is one thing that Blessed Mother wants more than anything is that she wants us to know her not as Mary of the theology, but Blessed Mother who is sitting next to us, in our car on the way to work, in our dining room at breakfast, with her arms around us, gently urging us, "Do whatever my Son asks you to do."  

Take for example of Mother Teresa. For Mother Teresa Blessed Mother was a concrete, daily presence to be met with, welcomed, known, cherished, and learned from. Mother Teresa taught her followers not only to pray to Blessed Mother, but to live in company with her. Living with her implies an ongoing, daily encounter with her unseen but powerful presence. This requires not only faith on our part, but also the willingness to invest the time to draw near to her. Mother Teresa taught her Sisters and co-workers that Blessed Mother's was a presence that helps us to see through the darkness, a presence that consoles and sustains us when we are weak, a presence that reminds us of the cry of her Son when we are forgetting him or following the voice of ego.  Blessed Mother knows well what her Son can give us, as He said in our gospel: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid."