Good Shepherd Sunday is also Mother's Day this year. How appropriate! Just listen to the passage in the Gospel of John where Jesus talks about what it means to be a good shepherd:
I am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep ... A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep. - Jn 10:11-15
A good shepherd loves like Jesus. A good shepherd is not a hired shepherd, but is one whose sheep are His own.
A good mother loves like Jesus (just look at His own mother, Mary!). A good mother is not a hired shepherd, but is one whose children are her own.
Does that mean that only the biological mothers of children are good mothers? No - again, look at Mary. The Mother of God is the Mother of all the living, Mother of the entire race of redeemed humanity, inviting all to accept the call of her Son to life eternal in the new and everlasting kingdom of God. Mary is Mother of the whole human race, and she is the greatest mother of all.
So in what sense are the children her own?
Simply this: she loves us. She loved all of us enough to stand at the foot of the cross of her Son and silently consent to His self-sacrifice for the life of the world. She loved us enough to give her life to God, to be the Mother of God, to follow Jesus and walk in the darkness of faith and trust, believing in the promises of God even as she saw her Son die.
We are the children of God, of the Good Shepherd, and His mother, because both were willing to lay down their lives for the children, for the sheep, to give everything so that we might have life.
Happy Mother's Day on this Good Shepherd Sunday! And as we honor the Blessed Mother, let's also honor and pray for the mothers and grandmothers in our families - indeed, for all the women in our lives who have cared for us with a mother's love. Let's remember with grateful hearts the countless ways, both big and small, in which they have laid and continue to lay down their lives out of love for us.
If you consecrated to Jesus through Mary or completed the Consoling the Heart of Jesus retreat, we'd love to hear your story. Please take a moment and share your journey below. If you have pictures, we'd love to see them, too. Just email them to HAPP@Marian.org!
