Reflection
Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb?
Even should she forget,
I will never forget you.
Isaiah 49:15
Mothers give the gift of life to others and when it appears exclaim, “It is good for you to exist”.Maternal love nourishes what it has brought into existence..and passionately wants the young to grow, to be fuilfilled and rises up against anything that will do them harm. The maternal love of the living God is characterized by these same elements. Like a mother, God gives life to the world, nourishes this precious and vulnerable life and desires the growth and flourishing of all. The maternal love of God is active to defend, to seek justice and to heal. It gives love whose return is not calculated.
Adapted from Quest for the Living God by Elizabeth Johnson
Prayer
With God is my safety and my glory,
God is the rock of my strength; my refuge is in God.
Trust in God at all times, O my people!
Pour out your hearts before God.
Psalm 62:8-9
Action
What is your image of God? Do you see God’s love reflected in maternal qualities?
Suggested Reading
Or suppose a woman has ten valuable silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and look in every corner of the house and sweep every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her because she has found her lost coin.
Luke 15:8,9
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.
Luke 13:34
he kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.
Matthew 13:33
The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.
Honoré de Balzac
A mother is one to whom you hurry when you are troubled.
Emily Dickinson