You’ve seen the bumper sticker, right? “Love your Mother.” Great sentiment, almost Biblical. In fact, one of the commandments that God gave Moses on Mount Sinai, says… “Honor your father and your mother.” Except that the bumper sticker I’m referring to shows a picture of the earth, drawn in green. In other words, our mother is supposed to be the earth, or Gaia. In our neo-pagan age, folks around us who have rejected God are going back to the bad-old-days of worshiping gods and goddesses of their own making, such as, for example, Gaia. When St. Paul walked the streets of Greece, preaching the Gospel, the Greek goddess of the earth was, in fact, Gaia. Great; our mother is supposed to be a chunk of dirt.

The real truth is that God has given us three mothers.  Three? Three! The mother who gave us physical birth, also knows as “Mom”; the Mother who gave us spiritual birth, the Church; and the Mother of a redeemed humanity, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Being a mother is tough. It is a little easier if we had a great mother as an example, but each child is unique, and all of us have to learn some things by trial and, some times, even error.

The other day, listening to KPIO 1570 am radio, I heard a young man, who had come to the priesthood after converting from a life spent in the pursuit of pleasure. Among other things, he said something like: “Mothers are always carrying their children. First in their womb, suffering through pregnancy and childbirth. Then they carry them in their hearts.  Oftentimes, this is the more painful and the longer of the two.” He’s right, I thought. In fact, years ago, when my kids were toddlers, I was talking with a friend when one of my babies stepped on my toes.  Instinctively, I said “Ouch!” My friend immediately said: “That’s nothing. When they are little, they step on your toes. When they are big, they step on your heart.” How many mothers have experienced the truth of that statement?

Those of us who belong to the St. Monica Cenacle, and gather in the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel the 4th Monday of every month to pray for our fallen-away children and/or grandchildren can vouch for that.  Suffering and sacrifice is the prerequisite for motherhood. That, and patience.

Isn’t the same true for our Mother the Church? She gives us birth through Baptism, nourishes us through the Sacraments; tries to teach us what is right and what is wrong; is there for us when we are in trouble and patiently waits for us when we stray, always ready to welcome us back when we are tired of wandering around in all the wrong places.

Then there is our Mother Mary. She is the beautiful face of a redeemed humanity. The one who was able to say “no” to Satan every time that he tried to tempt her away from God, and who said “yes” to God every moment of every day. No wonder so many of us love her! She is our mother, just as Jesus is our brother.  She was His last gift to us, as He hang upon the Cross.

How many of us have turned to Mary when we did not know what to do with our children, asking for her help, knowing that she would understand our grief! She who stood at the foot of the Cross, watching her innocent Son die to save us, will never turn a deaf ear to our troubles, and she’ll present them to her Son, on our behalf. It is no wonder that in Italy just about everywhere we run into small pictures of Mary, painted on walls, or standing as a small chapel by the side of the street. They remind us of the three Mothers that God gave each one of us, out of His infinite love and care. “Love your Mother,” this small street chapel reminds that to every passer by in Grumo (literally, lump or speck), a tiny dot on Lake Como. No, not Gaia.