Fr. Michael Williams

On ‘mother’s day’ it’s worth reflecting that some mothers are long suffering. The vocation of motherhood inevitably will involve suffering. Think of a mother whose child has made some bad decisions and so goes off the rails, or think of a mother who watches her child suffering illness. These things will cause the mother to suffer because she sees the one she loves suffering.

The image of a long suffering mother, or father, can help us to understand God who is also long suffering. God created humanity, each one of us, to enjoy the wonders of His creation. Ultimately, He created us to love Him and to love the family of mankind, here and now, and then to continue that love in the eternal life of heaven.

But the human race, and each one of us- to varying degrees- like wayward children have often turned away from the good God. But God, like a long suffering parent, continued to love and to cherish His wayward children even though they “added infidelity to infidelity”. From the Old Testament we learn that God sent prophets to His people to try to get the people back on track, but prophets like Jeremiah were rejected because “men have shown they prefer darkness to the light [and] their deeds were evil”.

Yet the long suffering God did not give up on His children. He persevered and went further. He sent to the world, “the only Son who is closest to the Father’s heart”. God sent to us, what was most precious to Him.

The consoling thing for us to know is that ‘even when humanity had lost God’s friendship, God did not abandon humanity’: “God sent His Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through Him the world might be saved”. St Paul emphasises the point when writes to the Ephesians, “God loved us with so much love that He was generous with His mercy: when we were dead through our sins, He brought us to life with Christ”.

God restored us to His friendship through the sacrifice of Jesus who laid down His life for His friends. “The Son of Man was lifted up [on the cross on Good Friday]” to reveal what lengths the Father would go to for His wayward children- you and me. The cross reveals God’s love for us. We should all have a crucifix in our homes in a prominent place because this image reminds us of God’s love for us; it reminds us of the long-suffering God who “loved the world so much that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not be lost but may have eternal life”.

This truth is what brings us into the light, and the light gives us a deep joy. The greatest joy we can ever have is to know that God loves us and cares for us, and wants us with Him. The powers of darkness under the leadership of the Evil One, will whisper in our ear that it’s not true, and if we listen, we will end us being as miserable as him. But the truth is, “by a gift from God”, we have received “God’s only Son” into our midst. Let us gives thanks for such a great gift and respond to God’s generosity with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts.