Keep working on love….

Love is the greatest legacy of motherhood. In a real way, a mother’s love always spells the meaning of Christ’s love in our lives.

A key character in Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull is Jonathan’s teacher, Chiang. When the day comes for Chiang to say goodbye to his young student, Jonathan knows it is a special moment.

He wonders what parting advice his old teacher will give him. Chiang utters it in just five words: “Jonathan, keep working on love.” It is this same parting advice that Jesus gave to his own disciples: “Keep working on love…”

Indeed, Christ’s example of love and sacrifice invites us to love beyond ourselves. It is this kind of selfless and unconditional love which Christ has shown us that conquers sin and even death itself. With this kind of love, death is transformed from the taking away of life into a voluntary return of the gift of life to the Giver of life.

Love reaches the eternal level when it goes beyond ourselves, when we are able to love others more than ourselves. It is this kind of love that makes our human relationships last, transforming them to eternity. This kind of love outlives death, defeating death’s power over us. Unconditional and selfless love is the real measure of Christian life. His kind of love is the reason for the resurrection.

Our love for one another has to be filled with the love that inspires the Eucharist, the living memorial of Christ’s love for us. This re- enactment of Christ’s sacrifice in Calvary, which is the ultimate expression of His self-giving, inspires and powers us to love as He does. The love Christ has left as a legacy is the greatest of God’ gifts. When we learn to love as Christ loves, we learn to believe and hope without seeing. St. Augustine declares in one of his writings: “He (Christ) disappeared before our eyes, that we might find Him in our hearts.”

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this month, let us continue to discover the love that Christ has placed in our hearts through our mothers. Let us immortalize in our hearts Christ’s love which is the source of every mother’s love.

Healing Corner. “Arise then…women of this day! Arise, all women who have hearts! Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!” (Howe, Mother’s Day Proclamation, 1870)

Mother’s Day is celebrated to honor all mothers and express gratitude for the hardships they bear in bringing up a child. Most countries including US, Australia, Canada and India celebrate Mother’s Day on the second Sunday of May. Mother’s Day came into being due to the efforts made by Ms Julia Ward Howe and Ms Anna Jarvis. Since then people across the world have been celebrating Mother’s Day with joy and devotion.

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, of all ages!