A mother’s love is both her greatest blessing and her biggest curse. It causes her heart to soar to heights never before imagined, but can also cause her the greatest pain, fear, and guilt.

Can you imagine the feelings of a mother who has watched her son’s execution and mourned him for three days, only to see him come back to life?

Growing up in the Evangelical Christian church, I don’t remember studying the Virgin Mary much. Honestly, she was sometimes associated with “superstitious” Catholicism (I know, I know . . . I’m married to a Maronite Catholic now and know that’s not the case!). Studying her now, I see that the Bible doesn’t really give her a voice of her own. In art, she is always depicted as calm, serene, and at times extremely sorrowful, as in the Pieta, which i now look at so differently after becoming a mother myself. As we know, however, motherhood is not always so peaceful, and I like to imagine her going and screaming into her reed mat when a toddler Jesus had just pushed one too many buttons. Maybe it wasn’t like that. But I bet it was.

A modern-day Pieta

So this Easter, let’s rejoice not only in our redemption, but in the joy of a mother who has witnessed a miracle in the life of her child. And let’s take a moment to pray (to God, Jesus, or for intercession from Mary herself, or to whomever you pray) for all of the mothers around the world who, whether from disease or other misfortune, are forced to watch their children suffer and can only pray for a miracle.

 

 

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