For example, at age three-and-a-half, Billy was tall enough to reach the top of some cooking appliances. His parents took him into the kitchen to explain that he should never touch the stove because the surface could be hot and he would get burned. To demonstrate their point, they placed their palms on the unlit oven and quickly jerked them away as if they were in pain. Sadly, their lesson backfired. Billy was quick to imitate their gesture but refused to remove his hand. They raised their voices, push his arm down, shouted “No” and “Don’t touch” and other instructions he could easily understand. But he was headstrong. The more they insisted that he should not touch the range, the more obstinately he pressed his fingers against it. Even as tears rolled down his cheeks, he was determined to have his own way.
His mom was beside herself. “My first three children were angels,” she exclaimed. “When their dad and I told them to do something, once was enough. They obeyed. I even remember thinking that motherhood and raising children was a much easier responsibility than I had been led to believe. Then Billy came along. Trust me. If he had been my first, he would have been my last.”
Luckily Billy’s Godmother, Lolli, lived nearby. Unlike many godparents who view this sponsorship as an honorary title for a one-day-only baptismal event, Miss Lolli took her role far more seriously. She taught him how to pray, took him to novena services, and even brought him to see Santa in the department store but only after visiting the baby Jesus in church.
Years later, when Billy became a parent himself, he began to realize just how challenging he had been as a child. “I was a terror,” he admitted. “This is why God placed these two wonderful women in my formative years: my birth mother and my Godmother. I didn’t need an entire village to bring me up, but I thank God for giving me two moms and I bless them both on Mother’s Day and every day of my life.”
Holy Homework: Even though there may be a “Godparents' Day” on some calendars, let’s celebrate the many mothers who love children into a positive, lifelong relationship with God and neighbor. In addition to the mother who gave us life, let’s send greetings and prayers to all moms, including Godmothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, expectant mothers, adoptive mothers, single mothers, surrogate mothers, and let’s not forget those “Mother-Teresa-like” religious women who care for the poor, educate children, and nurse folks infirmed in body and soul back to physical and spiritual well-being.
Happy Mother’s Day, one and all.
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