Finding the Sacred in the Ordinary: Mother
The Lord has been sending me so many calls to remember Him. Lately, these calls have been coming to fruition through the demands of my toddler daughter, the cries of my newborn son, and the voice of my husband. Within these calls is the reminder that the Lord is truly present in those I am serving and in the moments in which I am pouring myself out. It is when I forget my Good Father and the salvific power of the Lord that I allow the noise to become a cacophony. The noise becomes all too much, and the anxiety feels overwhelming and powerful.
But when I remember the Lord? That is when the noise becomes a symphony of all the people I love.
This painting captures a moment in time that I have lived all too many times and know all too well. We can easily imagine that this mother is exhausted, pouring out all of herself for her child. She has already spent many sleepless nights and long days adjusting to this new life and learning how to be a mother. This is an ordinary act—a mother breastfeeding her child—yet within it lies the opportunity for the ordinary to become sacred.
“The secret of happiness is to love moment by moment and to thank God for all that He, in His goodness, sends to us day after day.” — St. Gianna Beretta Molla
Saint Gianna reminds us that ordinary moments are made sacred when we love. This love—for the other and for the moment—brings a greater happiness than we could ever create for ourselves. The Lord desires to bless our everyday moments and gives us the opportunity to notice Him within the ordinary. It is in this act of noticing and remembering the Lord that our hearts move from the human to the divine. In turning our gaze toward Our Lord and His many gifts, we are purified and sanctified.
We do not need to seek out moments of suffering or struggle, these will come to us naturally. What makes all the difference is what we do with the moments that are given to us.
The suffering and struggle we encounter can be either rejected or accepted. In rejecting them, we harden our hearts and turn away from the moment the Lord has given us. In accepting them, our hearts are softened and turned toward Him. This acceptance brings purification, sanctification, and the furthering of our holiness.
Our vocations are the very path by which we are led to holiness. All mothers—whether physical or spiritual—are given countless opportunities to accept or reject these daily moments. They meet us each day, completely ordinary and normal. The Lord desires our vocations to be lived out in the ordinary because that is where He dwells and works. Our God is present in every moment, always making the ordinary sacred. Let us remember Him and accept these moments, that we may become more like Him, living the sacred ordinarily.
