Readings:

Acts 6:1-7; Ps. 33; 1 Pt. 2:4-9; Jn. 14:1-12

This weekend we celebrate one of the most important secular holidays of the year: Mother’s Day. So, I want to begin by acknowledging all mothers, and say on behalf of all children: Thank you, we love you, we pray for you, we want what is best for you, just as you have always sought to provide what is best for us. These are challenging times, and certainly not the best of circumstances to celebrate Mother’s Day, but I’d like to encourage sons and daughters everywhere to spend some time with their moms, whether that be in person or over the phone or via Skype. We spend so much time doing our own thing, let’s set aside some time this weekend just for mom.

Since it’s Mother’s Day, I could not help but notice that our readings all speak about caring for others—much like a mother cares for her family. After all, we call the Church our mother, and we see the Church acting as a mother in the Acts of the Apostles. As you know, the Acts of the Apostles was written by St. Luke as the second volume to his Gospel. In it, we see how the Early Church moved from huddling together in fear in the upper room, to being filled with the Holy Spirit and going out to all the world proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. And as the Church began to grow, many Jews and Gentiles were entering the fold. Obviously, there were many cultural differences among them, but they all shared the same belief in Jesus. Still, some of the Gentiles were concerned that they were not receiving the same treatment as their Jewish brothers and sisters. This situation could be likened to two siblings fighting over the same candy bar. I am sure there are a few moms out there who have had to deal with this very situation. And what inevitably ends up happening is one of the children will say: “Mom! They won’t give me a piece of the candy bar!” They call upon their mother to set things right. Well, it was no different in the early Church. The Hellenists, that is, the Gentiles, were concerned they were not receiving a fair share of the daily distribution. So, they brought their concerns to the Church and Mother Church responds by providing them with deacons. This was a human response to a human concern.

St. Peter focuses on the humanity of the Church as he shows how we were all chosen and precious in the sight of God, and like living stones … built into a spiritual house. In other words, we hold each other together in faith like mortar between bricks, and we build one another up in faith into a spiritual house. This, too, is an image of Holy Mother Church in action. The Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, is made up of human members. It is a living structure, not a building; it is made up of you and me, of all believers, and therefore, it listens to the cries of her children and responds.

The way in which Holy Mother Church listens and responds to her children was prepared for us by Christ. Jesus tells his disciples how he prepares a place for each of them. In the context of the passage, we know Jesus is speaking of that special place for us in heaven, but I want us to consider the ways in which the Church is really a foretaste of that place prepared by Jesus for each of us. First, it is the Church that has been entrusted with proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Faith comes through hearing, so it is the preaching ministry of the Church that spreads the Gospel throughout the world. Second, the Church has been entrusted with the sacraments, those mystical experiences of God’s grace, most importantly the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of our faith. Third, the Church is our place of worship, liturgy, prayer, education, formation, and support. It is through the Church that we deepen our knowledge and faith, and grow as living stones. Within the Church there are no distinctions other than brother and sister in the Risen Lord: We are together as one body in Christ. And where He has gone, we do know the way.

What is the way? Simply put, it is the example of Jesus: His teaching, his listening, his healing, his courage, his passion, his suffering and death, his resurrection and ascension into heaven. As St. Peter says, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12). It is Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Through him, all humanity has access to the Father, if only they choose to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.

Jesus has prepared a place for us, not only in heaven, but here and now. Jesus has given us the Church. And like a mother, the Church looks after her own. Even now, as we broadcast Masses and liturgies through the internet, the Church, as mother, is providing spiritual nourishment for her children. We pray that this time of distancing will soon be behind us and we can once again be together, close to one another, close to our spiritual mother. But, most importantly, that we will be close to Jesus in the Eucharist. In the meantime, let us keep our eyes fixed firmly on him, so that our longing for Christ will soon be satisfied.

Given during the COVID-19 pandemic.