Ascension Sunday (Mother’s Day)

We might not ordinarily see a connection between Jesus’ Ascension into heaven and Mother’s Day. But consider the meaning and effect of Jesus’ Ascension. Pope Leo the Great said it this way: “With all due solemnity we are commemorating that day on which our poor human nature was carried up, in Christ, above all the hosts of heaven, above all the ranks of angels, beyond the highest heavenly powers to the very throne of God the Father.” Said more simply, this occasion marks the moment that human nature first entered heaven.

But we can also understand the Ascension of the Lord this way: After three years of public ministry of teaching his followers—and then after showing them that he was truly the Son of God by means of his rising from death to a new and glorified state—Jesus declared that he would no longer be with his disciples as he had been. From that point forward, his disciples—relying on the help they would receive from the promised Advocate (or Holy Spirit)—would be entrusted and responsible for carrying on the work he had taught them.

It calls to mind the experience of coming into adulthood, when suddenly our mothers are no longer right there at our sides. And even for those of us who can’t wait to get out on our own and prove that we know everything, we eventually learn how much we really depend on their protection, their wisdom and their love. It’s fitting that this holiday occurs on Sunday, the Lord’s Day, reminding us that mothers are a gift from God and that honoring them, honors God, just as the 4th Commandment declares.

I think few people would argue that being a mother is a role and responsibility that is often under-valued. And if we’ve lost sight of the dignity of the vocation of motherhood in our culture, maybe it’s possible we undermine the inherent dignity of women in general.

From a young age, too many of our daughters are objectified and sexualized. In their desire to be affirmed and loved, too often, we men manipulate them into believing this love is achieved by allowing to use them. Too often, we undermine the dignity of women in they ways we prey upon any physical weaknesses they bear, bringing harm upon them.

We undermine womanhood in whatever way we fail to see it as a God-given gender and identity, rather than simply a matter of one’s own self-determination. We undermine womanhood in whatever way we’ve convinced ourselves that the key to their happiness and strength is to become more like men, rather than actualizing the unique strength that God gave only to women.

We hear this in these words from Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter, Mulieris Dignitatem:

“The moral and spiritual strength of a woman is joined to her awareness that God entrusts the human being to her in a special way….precisely by reason of their femininity - and this in a particular way determines their vocation…A woman is strong because of her awareness of this entrusting” (MD, 30)’

“(The Church gives) thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the ‘mystery of woman’ and for every woman - for that which constitutes the eternal measure of her feminine dignity, for the "great works of God", which throughout human history have been accomplished in and through her….The Church gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine "genius" which have appeared in the course of history, in the midst of all peoples and nations; she gives thanks for all the charisms which the Holy Spirit distributes to women in the history of the People of God, for all the victories which she owes to their faith, hope and charity: she gives thanks for all the fruits of feminine holiness” (MD, 31).

To you women—mothers and daughters alike—in this month, let us not only look to Mary as a model for what it means to be a daughter of our Lord, but also ask her as your Mother, to pray for you. Who among you doesn’t need her prayers, as one who knows your struggles.

I acknowledge that there are women in our midst for whom the notion of motherhood evokes emotional pain: perhaps your relationship with your own mother, or perhaps you’ve wanted to become a mother, but have been denied that yearned for experience. I don’t know that pain, but I ask you to turn to our Blessed Mother for healing and consolation.

For the rest of us, before this day is over, spend a few minutes prayerfully considering one, two or three things that you’re most grateful for about your mom—even if only that it gave way to your life. Say thank you to God for that, then say a prayer for her, that she might know she is loved and that she might find joy in being a mother.

In Luke’s account of Jesus’ Ascension, he tells us that as Jesus ascended from the midst of his disciples, his hand was raised as a gesture of blessing over them. His love and blessing would see them through. So it is with our mothers—even in the ways they struggle in the challenging, and often exasperating responsibility of being our moms—all throughout our lives, they remain with us, loving us and blessing us. As they have blessed us, may God bless our mothers.