Motherhood - we do set aside this day in our country to give special honors to mothers, to acknowledge their special role in shaping the lives of each of us, and consequently recognizing the special place that mothers play in the life of our nation.
We might also stop and reflect for a moment that despite the unique and powerful role that mothers play in shaping each of our lives, we as a nation spend virtually no time preparing our young women for the role of motherhood. Certainly the school systems give virtually no attention to helping young women become mothers. Colleges? They are interested in degrees and careers but though you can find a Women’s Study major at many colleges, it has nothing to do with motherhood. The media also offers little in terms of true guidance in what it takes to be a mother.
And we cannot deny that in Christianity, though the virtues of motherhood are often extolled, especially in relationship to Mary the Mother of God, little is offered in the church schools or even in our New Testament scriptures about motherhood.
And yet our very understanding of God’s plan of salvation rests upon the notion of God finding a woman to be mother to His Son. The incarnation could not have happened without a mother. Salvation, at least as we understand God’s revelation, could not have happened without a mother. God in his love and wisdom chose a woman, the teenager Mary, to be the Mother of His Son, and thus the Mother of our Salvation.
And the image we have of Mary, the reason for why God chooses her to be Mother of His Son, seems to be found in ideas of her purity, her humility, her love, her willingness to believe in God’s promises, her desire to hear the Word of God, and her willingness to be God’s servant, to be obedient to the will and word of God, her capacity to accept the fullness of God’s grace. Her ability to be God’s chosen mother, was found in her desire to be faithful to God.
This imagery we might quickly realize applies to us all, not just to women, nor just to those who would be mothers, but to any who would follow Christ and be children of God.
Today in the church we honor the Myrrhbearing Women, those women disciples of the Lord, who also exhibited those same virtues - humility, love, faithfulness, and a fearlessness in the face of those who opposed God, but a total fear of God. For they were willing to courageously go to the tomb of Christ to anoint his body, knowing full well that they did this in opposition to their Jewish leaders and under the watchful eye of Roman soldiers. So bold were they to come at dawn in full view of everyone. Bold, courageous and fearless were they in their faith and love. And yet when the angel tells them of the resurrection, they flee from the tomb saying nothing to anyone because they were afraid. Ultimately it is only God who they fear, and an encounter with God, reveals that in fact the only One that they fear is God. And this godly fear is for them yet another virtue.
One final comment - The Myrrhbearing Women were going to the tomb of Christ, to do what they believed they were required to do. They were fulfilling a religious obligation. Yet we also understand that in fulfilling the law, this was a total act of love for Jesus on their part. Fulfilling religious duty and doing it because of love, are not ideas in opposition to each other, but rather are the signs of true religion.
For us, our ‘Going to church’ must become a similar work. Though we might do it in obedience to God and to please God and to fulfill our sense of religious duty, it is most blessed when we also do it out of love for Christ. Like the Myrrhbearing women, we too are engaged in an act of love, for here we come to proclaim Christ’s death and to meet the risen Lord.
Going to church becomes for us a journey to the place where we behold our destiny. Here we come to see what is the ultimate destiny of our lives and of the world. Going to church is part of that great journey, that magnificent voyage to the Kingdom of God. Going to church may also be just part of our sense of obligation, but it is also and always is the path to opening the doors of the Heavenly Kingdom so that we might see God.
Christ is risen!
Fr. Ted Bobosh
Mother’s Day and the Myrrhbearing Women 2003
Diocese of the South
