By Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae

“As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you…”, says the Lord (Is 66:13)

The occasion of a mother’s day each year gives us the opportunity, and rightly so, to appreciate the immense contributions our mothers and wives have made in our lives- as children and spouses. On such a day, we are more accustomed to shower gifts, presents, and words of appreciation to these women without whom our lives would probably have been so empty as to lose their very meaning. On one such occasion, beyond the words of appreciation and the gifts which they more than deserve, it is proper that we reflect on the broader context of motherhood itself, examine some good and bad biblical models of it, and see how those who have been lucky enough to be invited into this vocation can exercise theirs in fruitful and fulfilling ways, especially in the light of the ever-constant challenges of our day.

A UNIQUE GIFT FROM GOD
Like fatherhood, motherhood is a unique gift from God, a rare privilege God gives to humans to share in God’s own work of recreation, a channel through which God’s command of fulfilling the earth can be actualized. Even though we are accustomed to call God “our father”, we see in scripture that God is described in the image of a mother (cf Is 49:14-15; 66:13, Ps 131:2-3). Even the Catholic Catechism, the most orthodox or ‘conservative’ of Christian doctrinal sources, admits in paragraph 239 that:
“God’s parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood (Isaiah 66:13;Psalm 131:2),which emphasizes God’s immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature….” (CCC 239).
Even though the title ‘mother’ is never used of God in the Bible, He is described as showing qualities of tender care and loving kindness a mother possesses, a clear indication that motherhood itself springs from God as its source.
Because this vocation of motherhood springs from God, it is sacred, blessed, sanctified, and holds special place of importance in the eyes of God. Is it any wonder then that out of the ten commandments, the only one with immediate reward or punishment is our duty towards our mothers and fathers?
The exaltation of the unique importance of motherhood reached its apex in the New Testament when God decided to send His son into the world to save us. St. Paul, recounting the event in his epistle to the Galatians, said:
“when the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, BORN OF A WOMAN…..”
(Galatians 4:4, Emphasis mine). Why did he need to state again that God’s son was born of a woman, when there is no other way in which humans could have been born? The emphasis cannot be ignored. In this woman, this mother, the role of motherhood has been raised to an entirely new and higher level.
STRENGTH TO ENDURE AND EXCEL
Oh if only all our mothers would see how important they are in God’s plan? The implications of this is that since the vocation of motherhood is from God, God also gives strength to all mothers to be able to endure and conquer the hardships that come with it. His grace is abundant and sufficient enough for all mothers experiencing one pain or another in the exercising of their vocations as mothers (cf Titus 2:11-12 et al)
All they have to do is to ask Him, ask him for strength, guidance, inspiration and wisdom to be able to carry out this arduous but fulfilling and joyous task of motherhood.(Cf Matt 7:7 etc)

MODELS AND EXAMPLES TO FOLLOW
Like many things, those of us living today are so lucky that we are not the first to live – others have lived before us. We are not the first to believe- others have lived the faith before us. We are not the first to be ‘christian’ mothers - others have lived this vocation of motherhood before us. And this fact means that we have them as models and examples to follow- to avoid their pitfalls and imitate their triumphs and successes. Thus “encompassed by a great cloud of witnesses”(cf Heb 12:1), it would be foolish of us to struggle on our own without learning about them to make our journey easier for us. I therefore present a few Biblical models of motherhood and indeed, womanhood for our reflection as we honor our mothers:

SARAH: YOUR MIRACLE IS ON THE WAY
I start with Sarah because she represents those who have tried in many ways to become a mother, but have not succeeded and therefore have lost all hope. Sarah was the legitimate wife of Abraham who had been promised that he would be the father of many nations, yet despite their old age, were still childless. After many prayers, when finally the angel of the Lord appeared and prophesied of her motherhood, she had lost hope and did not believe. Before you judge her, please remember you and I have done that several times over. Sarah looked at her physical conditions and doubted the word of God. So do we, and so do many women seeking childbirth or spouses. If you have been praying for a child or spouse, and all attempts have been fruitless, remember to hold out to the end and not lose hope- believe in the creative word of God and your miracle will be on the way.
HANNAH: DO IT FOR ME OR I WON’T LEAVE YOU
Hannah, mother of Samuel, represents all women who have been ridiculed or are being ridiculed because they are childless. Her persistence and endurance in prayer is the type Jesus would later on praise and admonish us all to follow, when he gave the example of the woman and the unrighteous judge. It is the kind of faith needed to move mountains of impossiblilities in our lives. It is the faith that says. “unless you do it for me, Lord, I won’t leave you”. To what extent have you prayed to God for your miracle? Hannah shows you that whatever the cause of your childlessness is, be it barrenness or not, medical condition or not, the word of God is able to permeate through and set you free.
EVE: DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WORD SOWS BAD SEED
Perhaps none other, apart from the mother of Jesus for a different reason, suffered motherly heartaches as much as Eve, the first mother. She, being the mother of all the living, had a unique chance to plant a good seed of obedience to God’s word in her home-and in all of us. She messed it up, and even though we do not fault her of the evil caused by her son Cain in killing his brother Abel, we now know from hindsight that when the seed of disobedience to God is planted anywhere, it reaps a harvest of violence, chaos and evil. Ask David. As always, God forgives and heals, and she had a good son in Seth. For all mothers who have bad children, ask yourself how far you implanted the word of God in them, beyond merely going to church. The good news is that your enduring prayers for them, like Saint Monica my mother (mother of Saint Augustine), will convert them in the end.
The list is endless. Let me add just a few:
SALOME: SHOOT FOR THE STARS, YOUR KIDS DESERVE THE BEST
One of the women I’ve grown to like very much in the Bible, but who many of us easily condemn without reflecting much deeper about the implications of her actions, is Salome, the mother of James and John. We read in Mathew 20 that she came forward to request of Jesus that her two sons sit at Jesus’ either hand in his kingdom. That’s pretty ambitious, isn’t it? Rightly so, she earned the condemnation and indignation of the other disciples, as well as we the readers. However, we are mistaken when we end the story there. We all know that in the end, there were three apostles who were in the inner circle of Jesus: Peter, James and John. As a matter of fact, it was only these three that Jesus took to the mountain of transfiguration. After Pentecost they were known as the pillars of the church, and even Saint Paul had to acknowledge that. However, have you thought about it that these same James and John are the two sons whose mother Salome asked of Jesus to give place of importance, and was condemned? As a matter of fact, John became “the disciple Jesus loved most”, and he was the one in whose care Jesus entrusted His mother on the cross, in John 19. So, did Salome’s ambition for her kids reap fruits? Sure they did.
Remember, “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violence take it by storm”. What kind of ambition do you have for your kids? How far can you go for your kids? What sacrifices can you make for your kids’ future? It will pay off
EUNICE AND LOIS; ANNA: TRAIN THE CHILD THE WAY TO GO…..
The eternal principal of good home training from childhood has stood the test of times, and if the training is good enough and implanted into kids by word and example, they will grow well. Mothers who typify this include Eunice and Lois, mother and grandmother respectively of Timothy, who trained Timothy so well in the scriptures(cf 2 Tim 1:5) Timothy was such a good boy, so well versed in scriptures that St Paul loved him like his own son. Remember St. Paul himself had also had such training and was zealous for the Lord.
One compelling example that we often overlook is the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Anna. She, like Hannah did of Samuel, made Mary love God from her very infancy, praying for hours in the temple. No wonder she returned the favour to Jesus when he was a kid.
From experience, the significance of such an early immersion into God cannot be overemphasized, so mothers who want their kids to excel… the ball is in your court.
REBEKAH: CHOOSING BETWEEN KIDS BRING ENMITY
Isaac’s wife Rebekah who manipulated and aided Jacob to scheme and take the birthright of his elder brother Esau reminds us that preferential treatment given to our kids does not pay off. Isau almost killed Jacob.
RACHEL, mother of Joseph and Benjamin who lost her life during the birth of Benjamin is a reminder of mothers who give the supreme sacrifice for their kids. The destiny of Joseph is a reminder to such orphans that God is always with them.
THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY: SUMMARY OF ALL
I cannot have enough pages to write on the benefits not only mothers but all Christians will gain in imitating the mother of Jesus, according to St Paul’s injunction in Phil 2: 6-8. This is not only because she was specially chosen by God and was FULL of grace even before Jesus was born to bring grace unto humanity (cf John 1:17), but also because she, being truly human in every sense of the word, cooperated fully with the grace of God, and thus conquered all the trials and hardships that came her way by her response to God’s grace.
Whereas other models of motherhood exemplify one or another virtue, she typifies all of them.
In her trust in God’s word even when she did not understand it and when her physical conditions determined otherwise- ie, told to give birth as a virgin- she asked God how it would be possible, and believed in the word of the angel. Contrast that to Sarah’s. In her daily prayers at the temple, and in her advice to the wedding hosts to do whatever Jesus told them, she showed to what extent her faith in Jesus was- that her son would be able to do the impossible, even though His time was not yet. It was like the faith shown by others who merited praise from Jesus during his ministry – the woman with issue of blood, Syro-phoenician woman, the army commander, and others. The intended length of this article will not permit me to explore fully what a model of motherhood Jesus’ mother is. Powerful audio CDs and booklets have been made by this author on this and related topics which can be obtained by sending email to gtrabboni@yahoo.com

IN CONCLUSION
What could we have done without our mothers? The rest of us- children and spouses, wish to salute all our mothers, the MMAASIMA who make the impossible possible in our various homes, who believe in us the kids when the husbands are yet to, our counselors in the homes, our advocates, our first teachers, and our best friends throughout our lives. Even though challenges of modernity threatens to continually shift the role of mothers, and make fathers of some mothers, your place in our hearts remain unchanged. God richly bless you and shower his gifts on you. May you enjoy your vocation of motherhood, and be fulfilled especially in seeing your offspring prosper. For our aspiring mothers, may the spirit of the Lord guide you and lead you to find the saint Josephs who will understand your unique gifts and appreciate you, as you both fulfill your vocations of parenthood. May He grant it even so, AMEN.


-Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae,
Mothers’ Day, 2010
Columbus, Ohio, USA
gtrabboni@yahoo.com