Some stories need no comment. Here is the true story of a new mother, Mary Nordhal, recognizing who she was caring for…
My name is Mary, and this is my story. I’m a new Mom!
This is something I have dreamed of since I was ten. The challenge came when she was newborn. Everyone will tell you as you walk into the grocery store… are you ready for this, the sleepless nights?
Yes, I am! It’s a season of life… it’s fleeting, it will come and go. But when you are in the thick of it it’s a challenge!
Two hours… every two hours she’s waking, she’s crying, this and that. Four weeks into motherhood I read this book… it’s called Your Vocation of Love. And so I am flipping through the pages and it’s reminding me of how I can make motherhood a spiritual exercise.
One of the powerful things I read in that book is that our purpose in life is to know, love and serve God. I have been called to the vocation of motherhood. So that is my purpose. To know love and serve God as Mom.
So, when I was lying in bed and I heard Lilly crying at 2 AM I didn’t just hear Lilly crying, I heard God crying asking me to love him and to serve him. So as I walked into her room and her little arms were flailing about and she was crying, I comforted my Lord by comforting my daughter.
With every small act of saying yes, I am brought that much closer to him in motherhood.
Taking it a step further, when Mary traveled to help her cousin, at an instinctive level, Mary realized that in supporting Elizabeth she was supporting God.
Recognizing who I care for…
- When I look at the homeless person holding the cardboard sign … Here I am Lord!
- When I am in the presence of a person who gets under my skin … Here I am Lord!
- When I experience people who do not look or think like me? … Here I am Lord!
- When I… Here I am Lord!
Watch and listen to Mary as she tells her story
(Courtesy of the Eastern Province of the Congregation of the Mission and the Central Association of the Miraculous Meda)l
What a beautiful, moving, inspiring and faith-building reflection to wake up to on Christmas morning.
Helpless Lilly, ever lovely to the mother, is the sacrament of the poor Christ and brings his presence, while Mary Nordhal, the ever loving mother sacramentalizes and makes present the Lord who fulfills his commitment: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you.”
Thank you very much, John.
Thank you so much for this beautiful reflection.
When it comes to “family life” and “spirituality”, it seems to me that there is a lot of room for improvement, starting from my own life.
Not always we have people in our family with whom we can share our faith. So, they become our field of apostolate through our daily life, like it happens to me. No going to other parts of the world to bring Jesus’ message. My mission is right here, right now, every day.