“You will realize that I am in my Father and  you are in me and I in you.”  I love these words from today’s gospel, Jesus telling his disciples and us, “You are in me and I am in you.”  The closeness, the intimacy, the connectedness with Jesus is something we all long for.  We heard it last Sunday also, when Jesus told his disciples he would prepare a place for us, “so that where I am you also may be.”    Indeed, closeness with us is something that Jesus wants, too!

I cannot help but think that special agents of this closeness to us are our mothers.  They are connected us from even before we were born.  As children they held us, helped us learn to walk, to eat, to play, to pray.  As we grow, they never stop worrying about us.  I have shared that when I am going through something hard, I feel like my mom automatically intuits that, and just knowing that she knows I am struggling makes me feel better.  Our mothers convey a sense of care and love for us, and in doing so, communicate God’s love to us.  

But as sure as I am writing this, I know that some children, adult or younger, have challenging relationships with their mothers, and some mothers have challenging relationships with their children.  This letter is also for you!  I want to tell you that you can bring those challenging relationships to mass, to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and let her and her Son look upon you with love.  You can lay your challenging relationships before God and ask for healing and reconciliation.  I want to encourage you not to give up on your children or on your mothers.  Mothers, be like the father of the prodigal son, always watching and waiting for your children to come back to you to be reconciled.  Never shut your door on them completely.  And fellow sons and daughters, never give up on your mothers.  Try and understand where they are coming from, why they think the way they do, and see if you can interpret their words to you as their way of caring for you, even if it hurts.   This Mother’s Day, we all give thanks to God for our mothers, however they loved us.  We offer our hearts; we pray for healing.  Our mothers are a gift.

The Diocese of San Diego takes all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously and addresses them promptly, confidentially, and with integrity. To report any incident of sexual misconduct, please contact the Victim Assistance Coordinator.
Criminal abuse that is reported or suspected is reported to law enforcement in accordance with civil law.

Mary Acosta

Coordinadora de Asistencia a Víctimas

(858) 490-8353.