Mother's Day: A Nice Cultural Tradition, and a Quite Catholic Celebration

Today is Mother's Day (or Mothering Sunday). In Minnesota, at least, it's also the start of fishing season. Why, I don't know. My wife suggests it may be a way for mothers have some time alone.

This is also a time when Catholics make make a bit of a fuss over Mary.

I was brought up as a Protestant, but can't remember when I didn't have a soft spot in my heart for Mary. And a great deal of admiration. Her gutsy response to the message Gabriel brought her (first chapter of Luke) led to what we celebrate at Christmas - and the huge victory celebration we call Easter.

I'll probably come back to Mary in this blog, but today I'll link to "Honoring the Mother of God and all mothers" (Examiner.com (May 10, 2009)).

The article starts out:

"The Virgin Mary has had many titles given to her throughout the course of history. The one that is most significant today is 'Mary, Mother of God.' You might be asking how God, the eternal and almighty, could have a mother. The answer really is quite simple...."
(Examiner.com (May 10, 2009))

Simple, yes. Easy to accept, no. The matter of Jesus being God and man was hard to swallow in the early years of the Church, and hasn't gotten any easier with the passing of millennia. But, Jesus was pretty clear about it: and I'm inclined to believe Him. (I'll limit myself to one reference: Article 2 of the Catechism. This is a topic I don't have time to get into tonight.)

I hope you had a good Mother's Day/Mothering Sunday.

Related posts, in another blog:

• "It's Mother's Day in the Philippines - 'Read All About It' "
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (May 9, 2009)
• "Mother's Day, Mothering Sunday, Goes 'Way Back"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (May 8, 2009)

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Thanks to Pamluter, on Twitter, for the heads-up on the Examiner.com article.