The Church, in her genius, begins the New Year with a celebration of motherhood; a celebration of
the heroic courage and humble wisdom of a young girl.
That young girl, as you probably guessed, is Mary, Mother of God, whom we celebrate on
January 1 of each year. Mary is not only the young girl who said yes to becoming the Mother
of God, an act that would have taken immense courage at a time when a claim to be God would
be an affront (to say the least) against the Roman emperor and punishable by brutal murder,
but she is also the young woman who, from the foot of the cross, heroically accompanied her
beloved Son as He was brutally murdered by the Romans. Despite the grief and suffering this
must have caused her, Mary, in that moment, said yes to another call from God, a call to
motherhood a second time. Christ, as He shed His blood for all of us from the Cross, declared
with dying breath: “Behold your mother” (Jn 19:27), effectively entrusting all of humanity to
Mary’s maternal care. Mary, in her humble wisdom, with heroic courage, and filled with grace
once again accepted her call from God and became the Spiritual Mother of all humanity.
As we enter this new year and make (and probably break) resolutions, let us also resolve to
celebrate and embrace our own mothers, whether through prayers for the souls of those who
have gone before us, or through added time and attention for those who are still with us.
In addition to our own mothers, let us also resolve to embrace those young girls and women
who may unexpectedly find themselves as mothers, who may be feeling alone and scared, and
who may need a place to turn for help.
Many generous donors have resolved to do just that by funding the Mother Teresa Fund with
the Catholic Community Foundation. This fund was established to provide financial support to
pregnant women in need. If you are part of a Parish or ministry that provides such support or
which would like to start providing such support to young mothers in need please reach out to
us at ccfesd.org or call 605.988.3788 to explore how we can partner with you in this effort.
Motherhood demands heroic acts of courage and constantly reminds us of our need for
humility, wisdom and grace. Mary, Mother of God and our spiritual mother, pray for us and for
all of humanity that we may be courageous, humble, wise and filled with grace.
Many generous donors have resolved to do just that by funding the Mother Teresa Fund
with the Catholic Community Foundation. This fund was established to provide financial
support to pregnant women and mothers in need. If you know of any young mothers in
need, or are part of a Parish or ministry that would like to start providing such support,
please reach out to us at ccfesd.org or call 605.988.3788 to explore how we can partner
with you in this effort.
By Cameo C. Anders, JD, MA