Having children involves a spiritual earthquake. Through making you a parent, God invites you to do something today’s society never really invites you to do: take the focus off yourself. As a mom, nothing belongs just to you anymore – not time, not space, not even your body. You are now inextricably at the service of a new human being, who in turn is wholly dependent on you. Nothing could be further from the individualistic ethos that goes so deep in American culture, and even deeper in today’s secular America.
And so, you find yourself at a crossroads: You can choose simply to endure the burden of motherhood, or you can choose to embrace it. If you choose to embrace it, you will set yourself on Christ’s own path: “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). I would encourage you to embrace it, because embracing the cross – the path of self-forgetful love – is the road to true happiness: “There is more happiness in giving than in Receiving” (Acts 20:35). –Fr. Jon
And so, you find yourself at a crossroads: You can choose simply to endure the burden of motherhood, or you can choose to embrace it. If you choose to embrace it, you will set yourself on Christ’s own path: “No one can have greater love than to lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). I would encourage you to embrace it, because embracing the cross – the path of self-forgetful love – is the road to true happiness: “There is more happiness in giving than in Receiving” (Acts 20:35). –Fr. Jon
Love it! This is so very true and something that I find myself thinking on a daily basis... I couldn't agree more!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the uplifting message!