This weekend in Ireland and the UK we celebrate Mother’s Day (or Mothering Sunday) a day that calls us to reflect on the question “Who or what is a mother?”
A mother is the person who gave birth to me…the one who nourished, nurtured, loved, cared for and supported me throughout my life. She is the one who was present and available to me…always – the one who listened, who did not judge, who offered wise counsel and who set boundaries within which I could grow. Most of all she held together our family…keeping connected and keeping us all connected. She was the hub around which family life pivoted. She was the one who encouraged us to grow wings and fly…even if our direction was wrong – she offered the space to come home and begin again.
When I reflect on these words of my own experience of knowing my own mother I am drawn to my other “mother” – the Madre – Angela Merici.
Given that on reading her own words one can see and hear the motherly instincts shining through it is reasonable to suggest that Angela experienced her own mother in a similar to what I have described about my own mother. When she writes to us we are known as her daughters – that same familial relationship. There is closeness built up between herself and those of us who are drawn to follow in her footsteps. As Ursulines we are sisters of each other and daughters of the one mother – we know what it is to belong to the Ursuline family – we are connected to one other by this woman who in her own time was known as the Madre not just by members of the Company but by all who encountered her in their daily life.
Angela speaks of knowing each one – as an individual and as a collective group – just as any mother would speak of her offspring. She understands and sees the difference between each one, she knows each member of her family has different needs at different times and she allows for this reality. Angela speaks to us of always being there for us – “in our midst” – never straying too far away from us yet allowing us to grow, to change (albeit with prudence) and to develop according to the needs of our time. In many ways she gives us wings to fly – to be what God is calling us to be for the world of our time and place.
So as we celebrate Mother’s Day this year let us recall and rejoice in the gift of our own mother’s but also to give thanks for the gift of Angela Merici – the Madre!