Prayer and Reflection
As Mother’s Day approaches, I’m deeply thankful for the gift of being a mother. It is a privilege, intricately woven together by God’s design. Motherhood has given me a deep sense of purpose. At the same time, I hold with tenderness the truth that not all women give birth, yet many live with a mothering heart. Motherhood, in this broader sense, is an orientation toward love.
Motherhood reveals itself through nurture, mentorship, steadiness and the quiet way some women create refuge for others when the world is brittle or unkind. Motherhood is presence, protection, nourishment and devotion. The world flourishes when mothers, in all their forms, are cherished and supported.
Sacrifice is undeniably part of the calling of motherhood. Not the kind of sacrifice that performs or erases the self, but the deliberate decision to hold another’s wellbeing alongside your own. This truth often sits uncomfortably beside the modern narrative of ‘having it all’. The idea that fulfilment is found only in accumulation, that presence can be outsourced, that more is always better, is simply untrue. Something essential is lost in that story.
Choosing presence does not diminish success; it deepens it. A quiet richness emerges when ambition softens into attentiveness, when achievements are measured not only by advancement but by connection, when impact matters more than visibility.
Motherhood, in its truest form, teaches that love does not need to announce itself. It is often quiet, strengthening and unseen. Psalm 139:13–14 speaks to this sacredness: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” From the very beginning, mothering has been holy ground, a gentle invitation to truth and love.
As the poem attributed to Robert Browning goes: “Motherhood: all love begins and ends there.” Perhaps, in this same spirit, what passes us by was never meant to be held on to. Not the conversations that leave a residue of hurt, nor the invitations that stir unease – certainly not the relationships that ask us to shrink or perform in order to belong. What passes can be allowed to pass.
The path toward love is quieter than we expect, truer than we fear, and already held in the faithful arms of God. We are, all of us, born of love.
Loving God, we thank You for the gift of life.
May Your eternal love open our hearts to the ordinary moments that are extraordinary in their blessings.
Lord Almighty, awaken our hearts to humility, so that when we are tempted to judge, Your wisdom may guide us toward compassion and grace.
Lord of mercy, bless all mothers in ways seen and unseen. Those who give birth, those hoping to and those whose love shelters, guides, mentors and steadies others.
Strengthen all who carry both joy and weariness, who hold responsibility alongside hope.
May we surrender to Your divine light and meet each dawn with renewal and hope.
Gentle Father, guide us to remain faithful to what is. Lead us toward You, the divine love that is quiet, true and enduring.
May our lives reflect Your tenderness, and may our presence be a place where others find warmth, comfort, dignity and rest.
Amen.
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