Our Lady of Lourdes Church and School

The passage in John’s Gospel that is sometimes referred to as the “Farewell Discourse”, is the context from which we take this Sunday’s gospel passage. Here we see Jesus sitting at table with this friends, preparing them for the time when he will no longer be with them in the flesh. He is “schooling” them, or mentoring them, for the roles they are soon going to be taking up. The writer of the gospel knows that one of the dominant experiences of the early believers is one of fear. And so Jesus offers some reassuring words of hope to his followers: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me…” These are deeply reassuring words for a people who are unsure about what the future holds. They are comforting for those who struggle to remain faithful in times of testing or in times when there are many “voices” demanding our attention. “Have faith in me” Jesus says. “Put your hope in me”, the Lord says. The very image that Jesus offers to his followers is one of reassuring presence. The image of the prepared room suggests comfort and reassurance, implying that faithfulness will ultimately bring peace, even if it is difficult for us to see it or to understand it straight away.

The incredible confidence of the statement of faith that Jesus makes is shared with his followers: “I am the way, and the truth and the life.” To have seen Jesus is to have seen the Father. To live as Jesus lived is to live as the Father calls us to live. To be a Christ-like presence for others is to be all that God calls us to be in our own lives. Jesus isn’t asking his followers to become other than they are. He isn’t suggesting that they be carbon-copies of him. Rather, Jesus is offering a word of empowerment, a word of encouragement, so that we can - each of us - begin to recognize that we are all called to embody the will of the Father in the world, each of us in our own unique and wonderful way. When Jesus says that he is in the Father and the Father is in him, he is reminding each of us to consider how we might make that statement true in our own lives. “The Father who dwells in me is doing his works.” It’s a reminder that, for the believer at least, God continues to work in and through us, and that our faithfulness, our living of our faith, has implications for our behavior and how we relate with one another.

It occurs to me, given this is Mother’s Day weekend, that this imagery that Jesus offers his followers is exemplified in the lives of all those who find themselves in the role of “mothering”. Just as Jesus prepares his nearest and dearest to manage their lives without his constant presence, so too those who mother us in life do just this kind of mentoring and preparing. Difficult though it can be for both the one being mothered and the one doing the mothering, the solo flight from the nest is an integral part of our maturation and growth as human beings. It is also particularly true for our growth in the life of faith. Those who share their mothering vocation with us earn a place in our hearts like none other, and we know we can count on their support and their prayers throughout life. So too, those who live into the mothering role commit themselves to a lifetime of care and encouragement. There is great comfort and peace to be had as this kind of relationship is lived in life.

The implications of how mothers give of themselves, how they sacrifice, how they make choices for and on behalf of those whom they mother, are sometimes evident. However, more often than not, the self-giving that mothers undertake has consequences and long-term effects that we can barely begin to recognize, often until many years have passed. The faithfulness of those who mother others, of those who live their lives with the constant care of others foremost in their own living, is an amazing thing to witness. In a very real sense, I believe that it reflects the faithfulness of God in our own lives, and that it invites us to consider how we respond to that kind of faithfulness in the living of our own lives.

So, on this weekend when we honor all those who are mothers in our lives and in our communities, we offer a word of profound gratitude to them for also revealing to us something of the selfless, faithful, encouraging, ever-present nature of God in our lives.