Consider this… Hope and Mothers
Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.
1Pt 3:15
How often do people ask us why we are hopeful? If that doesn’t happen on a regular basis, maybe we should ask ourselves why? As we are in the Easter Season, we are invited to recognize the hope that is given to us because of the resurrection. If hope is really a part of our lives, nothing can bring us down, no tragedy, no fight, no renewal, no job loss, nothing! Now, I realize that this is easier said than done.
Consider how much effort and energy we invest in things that are never going to help us have hope. When we invest in things that bring us hope, it can change our lives! Jesus is the ultimate source of hope for us, and sometimes when things don’t go our way, have we ever considered that maybe Jesus is trying to guide us in a different path that we haven’t been open to or considered? Hope requires trust in God’s plan. Again, easier said than done.
This weekend as we celebrate Mother’s Day, it is a time to recognize how much Mothers are an image of hope in our world today. First I want to acknowledge that when we speak of Mothers, I include all women in this category. I believe that all women have an innate ability to foster life in their own unique way. For some it is in the traditional sense of forming a home with a husband, bearing children and nurturing them. For others it’s through the female generative nature in creating life by how they interact with people and the world. Some women bring life into the world by how they create relationships of love, or by bringing beauty to the world through talents and caring, or by nurturing friends through difficult times in life.
Women have a natural ability to be hope bearers and we recognize their giftedness and the many ways they sacrifice for others, so that others can be better. This is what I believe we celebrate today. Thank you and blessings to every form of Mother on this Mother’s Day Weekend! We pray for you in a special way and ask God to bless you.
This week we celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord on Thursday [May 18, 2023], which is a Holy Day of obligation. There will not be a vigil mass because of my schedule with the Diocese. I apologize, but on Thursday the masses will be as follows:
- 8:30 am — Arcade worship site
- 5:30 pm — Arcade worship site
- 7:00 pm — East Arcade worship site
Let’s strive this week to be people who embrace, share and spread hope. Just think of what the world would be like if we spread hope as easily as we spread other things.
Keep smiling 🙂 Fr. Bryan
Based on Fr. Bryan’s letter in the bulletin of May 14, 2023. Modified slightly, formatted for web, and emphasis modified from original.
