When Saul arrived in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples,
but they were all afraid of him,
not believing that he was a disciple.
Then Barnabas took charge of him and brought him to the apostles,
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus and most especially today all of you, our beloved mothers,
Poor Saul, fired up for the Lord. He arrives in Jerusalem and tries to join the disciples there. His Jewish friends have rejected him as a heretic and apostate. But Saul is on fire, ready to take on the world and convert all to the name of Jesus. He’s ready to bring them to Jesus’ Church. Saul met a cold, stony wall of silence, both from the Jews and from the disciples in Jerusalem.
Like Saul, our children are born into this world with hearts on fire for the Lord. They are full of hope and consummate wonder at the greatness of God’s creation.
Our children are born into a world that yearns and groans for the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom so easily seen in their love. Children see the Kingdom of God with a love and understanding that surpasses the learning of the sophisticated and the imagination of the theologian. Like Saul our children are called to make the name of Jesus known to all.
Saul, the new believer, on fire for the Lord, needed a friend. Barnabas took him under his wing and brought him to the Apostles. He introduced him to the Church. He not only made all the appropriate introductions, but he bore witness to Saul’s proclamation of the Lord.
Mothers, on this special day dedicated to your honor, reflect on this passage and on what Barnabas did for Saul.
You do the very same thing for your children, born into the world, and into your motherly care, with the fire of the Holy Spirit within them.
These, your children, are not known to the world and the world fears their innocence and love. Like Saul, your children are neophytes to the faith. Like Saul, your children’s coming here identifies them as heretics from the beliefs of and faith in the world.
You, by sacrificing from your very heart, have brought them into the world and, like Barnabas; have taken them under your wing. You protect them and love them. Doing right by them you bring them to the apostles, to the Holy Church. You bring them here and they bear witness to the way you raised them. They bear witness to your faith in Jesus Christ and His Church.
In the beginning their witness is the innocence of love that knows God so well. Their witness is the innocence of love that allows them to see the very plain fact that Jesus loves them and wants to be with them.
If you have listened to the words of the psalmist:
Let the coming generation be told of the LORD
that they may proclaim to a people yet to be born
the justice he has shown.
… then your children will do that throughout their lives. They will forge ahead, and with your love and guidance they will continue to proclaim Jesus Christ, the Messiah. In a time to come, and to a people yet to be born, they will bear witness to His name.
This is your heritage and your gift.
As mothers you hope, pray, and most especially work, non-stop, for the welfare of your children. You wish —“ and more than wish —“ you make possible your children’s ability to reach beyond themselves, to become the gift that God has given to the world from the very instant they were conceived.
You know, as mothers, that your children can achieve greatness, personal success, and perhaps even great fame. Perhaps they will achieve the sort of quiet fame most of us reach. It is the quiet fame of being a good provider, a faithful friend, a good husband or wife. Regardless, you have cooperated in bringing God’s gift to maturity.
Jesus Himself told us that the Father:
…takes away every branch in me that does not bear fruit,
and every one that does he prunes so that it bears more fruit.
Mothers, you are the branches that have borne fruit. Not just the mere presence of a child, but the presence of a child, who with your love and care, matures into a man or woman of God. The Father has pruned you through the struggles, pains and sorrows you have faced, and has made you the instrument through which your children will become powerful witness for Jesus Christ. Remember to have faith in the fact that the Father makes you into the perfect instrument for the job you have to do.
St. John reminds us that the Father’s commandment is this:
we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another just as he commanded us.
You understand this well. You live this in your witness, your example to your children and to the world. Because of you your children will have life everlasting. Thank you for giving us this gift. Thank you mom for bringing us to the Lord.
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