From The Bishop

An Instagram post on Mother's Day captured the attention of many throughout the world. The Royal couple, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, shared a photo of their newborn son with the world. Included with the picture of Meghan cradling the feet of her son Archie Harrison, there is a quote from Nayyirah Waheed's "Lands": "My mother was my first country; the first place I ever lived." To date, it has approximately two million likes. Evidently, people enjoyed the post. Nayyirah Waheed is an African poet who has published two books. Wikipedia states that her poetry revolves around the themes of love, identity, race and feminism. It seems that she also understands what it means to be a mother. Nayyirah affirms that a child within the womb receives a type of "citizenship" â€" a place to live and grow (country) from a mother. She also nurtures that life within her by providing a home that offers comfort and security (the first place I lived). It is a powerful image that speaks about the gift of life and the beauty of being a woman and a mother. It is during the month of May that we celebrate Mother's Day and honour all mothers. From my own faith tradition, it is also the month that is dedicated to Mary, the mother of God. Why should Christians honour Mary? One of the reasons can be found in a familiar story from the Bible. It involves a wedding feast. "On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.' And Jesus said to her, 'Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.' His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.' Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, 'Fill the jars with water.' And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, 'Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.' So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, 'Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.'" (John 2:1-10) Mary is a model Christian and a powerful example of what it means to be a woman and a mother. She was the one who noticed that the wine had run out, and to save the bride and groom embarrassment, she asked Jesus to do something. As our spiritual mother, she is always looking over us with love and compassion, asking her son to help when we are in need. Mary always points us to Jesus. In fact, her words to the wine stewards can be directed to all Christians: "Do whatever he tells you." She wants us to follow her son faithfully because he is 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life.' Mary received the author of life in her womb by saying 'yes' (fiat) to the angel Gabriel. She became God's "first country" and "first place to live" as the Word became flesh to live among us (John1:14). As followers of Christ, we are blessed to have Mary as our mother, too. Published first in St. Catharines Standard on May 18th, 2019 Photo souce: Wikipedia, Giotto di Bondone: Madonna with the Child