A mother's love is of God...and we need more of it.

At mass this weekend, the scripture readings speak of God’s love and the unconditional nature of it.   They are fitting words as we celebrate our mothers and give thanks for the ministry of motherhood.  In many ways, a mother’s love is the best example of what God’s love “looks like.”  Its not always pretty and to the outside observer, it may not make sense.  This week I found a reflection that I found both unimaginatively compassionate and at the same time hard to accept.  I want to share it with you because it is a genuine example of the conflicted love we try to live.  They are the words of a teacher named Becki Norris, who testified during the penalty phase of the man convicted of the Boston Marathon bombings. In her explanation for testifying she said in part:

Over the past two years, I have had to accept that a kind and gentle temperament is not a lifetime guarantee, and a smart and caring child can go far, far down an evil path...I testified to help the jury see why he might be spared the death penalty. I also hoped to show him, in spite of what he has done, that someone cares about him as a person....

I urge you to read the whole reflection in its entirety, (Why I Testified On Behalf Of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev) because I know that in reading it I was challenged to ask, "Is this what Christians are supposed to do?  Is this what the mandate to love is all about?"  Personally I don’t know.  

I share her thoughts, not to validate them or to say that you too should feel this way.  Victims of violence, especially the victims of this act, can not and are not called to feel this way - but is not someone?  I was particularly struck by the line, “I hoped to show him, despite what he has done, that someone cares about him, as a person.”  Love sees beyond the act and recognizes the person.

We have all heard the phrase which labels someone as one whom, “only a mother can love,” and we all have encountered people in life, that only God can love.  As disciples we have to challenge ourselves, once in a while, to be the person through which God loves the “unlovable.”  It is most certainly not easy to love.  Mrs. Norris' life would be less challenging if she never loved this young man, if she was ignorant of his unique humanity that engaged her.  But she dared to love this student, and now she bears the pain of that love. Would she have preferred not to have ever known and loved him?  Would a mother prefer to have never loved her child?  Would God?

Love is of God, it is not an act of human manifestation.  In a world that continues to be torn apart by violence - we seek a divine intervention.  We seek love and God seeks to love -- through us.  The world can not heal without love.  We desperately pray for peace, for freedom from terror and terrorist.  We pray that there be less people in the world like this man.  But we also must pray for more people like this teacher and mother.  On this Mother’s day, may the divine ministry of motherhood provide us an example and a challenge to love one another as we have been loved.