by Thom Chartier, Obl OSB
We each have a beginning, a place where life starts, a mother who sets us each on our life’s journey.
As I read the first reading from the Prophet Micah, “Now you are walled around with a wall; siege is laid against us,” I thought of my mother. Pregnant with me, with a five old little girl and an alcoholic husband whom she loved deeply. They were wealthy, living in Anchorage with all amenities that came with prominence. But soon after my birth, my parents divorced and my mother returned to Duluth, penniless, without a job or adequate shelter.
Was my father’s alcoholism the enemy that laid siege to their marriage? Whatever it was, she made the loving decision to place her two children into the care of the Benedictine Sisters at the St. James Orphanage. I wonder what that moment was like for my mother, as she delivered us into the arms of the Sisters? It must have been painful, sorrowful, even hopeless maybe, yet filled with relief knowing her children were safe. Oh, how she must have prayed for our well-being! Did she learn that money and power were of no use? Did my mother’s courage and belief echo Micah’s when he said, “And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; and he shall be the one of peace.” Did she begin to understand that true love is sacrifice? Did she begin to see the truths proclaimed in the Letter to the Hebrews, that Christ came into the world to save us from ourselves? That is the true love that sanctified us once and for all time, that never dies but is reborn every day all around us.
After five years in the orphanage, we were able to return to my mother’s care, though her trials and tribulations weren’t over. We were poor but very much happy, living on Duluth’s Central Hillside in a triplex. For our small family it was a wonderful time, because our mother made it that way. She often spoke about our dad but only in a positive way, never a sour word or disappointment about her situation. Shortly after our return, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She struggled physically and I’m sure emotionally over the course of her illness, but she focused on giving us a happy childhood. She died shortly after my 18th birthday.
As I said, we all have a beginning, a mother. When my mother learned that she was pregnant with me, it was like the passage in Luke, “For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to by the Lord.”
Did the Virgin Mother have similar thoughts when she learned she was pregnant? Thoughts of disbelief? Did she ask, Is it true? And now what? Was she overwhelmed with panic or with joy? And what was her espoused husband thinking? Oh, the faith in God they must have had! But still, a long hard road lay ahead. I like to think that they believed things would unveil according to God’s will and plan.
What are the walls in our lives that block us from hearing the good news? At moments of despair, struggling emotionally or physically, do we rely on God to impregnate us with the Holy Spirit? Do we sing our own “O Come Emmanuel! Rejoice, rejoice, O Israel”?
In our mother’s final note to my sister and me, she wrote, “Tommy knows where I want to be buried, don’t worry, everything will be fine.” I often think of these words. Did she learn through listening with the ear of her heart to God’s wisdom that God is always in control? The lesson God taught me, through my mother’s hard and holy life and as handed down through the ages, is that through Christ’s death, life is reborn and never dies.
In a few days we will commemorate the Messiah’s birth and give praise to the mother of the Son of Man. As Christ was dying on the cross he told us, in essence, “Don’t be afraid: everything will be fine.” It is our mystery of faith, that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you!
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
