Don't forget life is precious

Happy Mother’s Day to mothers. Today I would like to reflect with all of us about motherhood. Three mothers, I want to introduce to you. Together we meditate and appreciate this beauty of motherhood.

First, has to do with the church. The church is a mother, because of all of this. three mothers receive the same command from God. be fruitful and multiply. the church has been asked by Christ, go to all the world, proclaim to them and make disciples of all nations, teach them what I have taught you. The church, beginning with a small little group of 12, then a few more. Today, in the first reading you and I heard once again. how Paul and Barbara’s and those early apostles, struggling to multiply God's family. Last Easter vigil, you and I witnessed these men and women here, say yes to that invitation, becoming children, children of God, they belong to God's family now. that baptism over there, it's actually the womb of the church. from which they were born. so, my brothers and sisters, you are visible evidence of her fruitfulness. The church has only one vocation, to conceive life giving from on high, and deliver life into the world, and make it better. You and I are her children. That's why we call her the holy mother church.

The second mother, I would like to ask you to think about, is our lady. over here, a blessed mother. There won't be a church without Mary. Because at the beginning, that small group after Jesus died, they all scattered, they were afraid, they trapped themselves in a little room. Thank God, Mary was there. Thank God, Mary was there at the foot of the cross, standing strong in the face of evil, standing strong in the face of difficulty, standing strong with his disciples, and confirming them of his promise. that he will be with them forever to the end. she prayed with them; she took them in as her own children. The beloved disciple of our lord Jesus was there also at the foot of the cross. behold your mother, mother behold your son, we are her children. That's why during this month of May, we honor her in a special way. we offer her roses, we offer her our prayers, we offer her our rosaries. so, my dear brothers and sisters, our blessed mother is our mother. she would lead us to Christ.

A few years ago, I was in Saint Catherine. I have a friend over at the Queen of the World parish. About 60 years or so in their existence, they have this beautiful statue of our lady of the world. Now after 60 years, outdoors, it looks terrible, the paint, everything looks horrible. And yet, the statues have been known, where people came and prayed with her. Many pregnant mothers, bearing mothers, came to pay tribute. Because after praying with her, they received miracles. So, I came, and I saw them take her down, and replaced with the beautiful image of Our Lady. So, I asked the pastor, can I have her? Can I really have her? I wanted to make her beautiful. Without a bit, he said take her home. So, I put it in my truck, drove her home. And I asked a local artist. This young man has a great love for Mary. But he lived in a very difficult marital and family relationship. He brought her home. He stripped off every layer of paint. 60 years, maybe 10 different layers of paints. He spent two months there. For two months, he primes red her, painted her again. And I would check in occasionally and ask him when you are going to bring my mother here to the parish. And he says hold on father, one more month. It turns out he kept her in his home. He didn't want to give her to me. He wanted to keep there, and worship. And then together with the family, pray to her. He already made an altar for her, and the family gathers and pray every night. I finally came and said, come on, bring her over. What a beautiful magnificent statue, he painted her as a real human person. You can still see her, if you drive by the Saint Catherine parish office. If you drive by now, you would see her, and people would kneel, and pray in front of her almost every day. Here's what you and I should pay attention to. This same man, who had a problem with a little bit of drugs, has a problem with his family, never married in the church, gradually working on her. He came back to the church, prayed fervently. I helped him and his wife get married in the church. Three out of her four children are now in catholic schools. Every Thursday evening, they would gather with a group of Hispanic brothers and sisters, pray to our lady at church. Amazing, isn't it? When we are close to our blessed mother, she brings us closer to her son. She would help us become a little bit more holy, and less wrong, less sinful, each day. That is our mother, don't be afraid, coming to her

The third mothers have to do with you, mothers. I want to thank you on behalf of our community for your yes to life. The world tells us otherwise. We accept life. Perhaps you feel that longing in your heart, that voice in your heart. Life is precious and beautiful. You are not wrong. Because our Lord has said it from the beginning, he made life possible, he made life beautiful, he wanted you and I to cherish life, and not destroy life. Mothers, we thank you for that. It might be difficult, we mess you up sometimes, and we make you get upset sometimes. I remember my mom running, chasing after us all day long, yelling and screaming, because we have to obey her, we have messed up things, we didn't do our homework, we didn't do our chores, all that. Mothers are the most beautiful vocation. As mothers, you accepted life; you made life possible, you acted in love, as you responded to the heavenly father's calling. Remember when you say yes to life, and you happily celebrate life with us.

I want us to take one more step, thinking about the three mothers. The mother church, mother Mary, and you are as mothers. We all share one single shepherd. We call our Lord Jesus. Today, we honor him as a good shepherd. He said this clearly: I am a good shepherd, I know my sheep, and my sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. I'll give them eternal life, the life shall not perish, and no one could snatch you out of my hand. That's what our Lord has said. He is asking you and me to follow him, to listen to him, listen to his voice.

The blessed mother listened to him, the church listened to him, and you and I were asked to listen to him as well. My dear brothers and sisters, we share a common shepherd. Let’s together follow him, let's together share him, and let’s together conceive him and give him to the world. Let's do it together. Because the promise that he made that we shall have eternal life and no one could snatch you out, us out of his hand. The world would tell us otherwise, the world would tell us to listen to the voice of Satan. Separating family, redefining what it means to be human, what it means to be a man, what it means to be a woman, what it means to be married, what it means to have life. The world would tell us otherwise. My dear brothers and sisters accept life, accept Christ, and therefore we accept eternal life, that what we have, and that is what is calling. May God bless you, mothers, thanks to you; we don't forget life is precious.

不要忘記生命是寶貴的

祝所有的媽媽們母親節快樂。 今天，我要和大家一起來研討母親。讓我向你們介紹三位媽媽來欣賞母性之美。

我講的這三個媽媽都從天主得到同樣的命令 - “你們要生育繁殖，充滿大地”。第一個母親與天主教會有關。聖教會是我們的母親，基督要求聖教會到普天下去，向一切受造物宣傳福音，使萬民作門徒。今天的天主教會，就是從一小群 12人成長出來的。在讀經一中我們聽到，保羅、巴爾納伯和宗徒們，是如何的努力去倍增天主的家庭。復活節子夜彌撒中，我們也見證了許多男女，回應耶穌的邀請成為天主的孩子，進入天主的家庭。這個受洗池，就是教會孕育天主子女的子宮，新生命出生的地方。兄弟姐妹們，你們就是慈母教會碩果累累的證明。教會的唯一使命就是將天主賜予的生命，永恆的生命繁衍交付出去，使這個世界變得更美好。我們都是在教會中成為天主的孩子，這就是為什麼聖教會也被稱為慈母教會。

第二個母親，就是萬福的聖母媽媽。 沒有聖母瑪利亞就沒有天主教會。 耶穌被釘死後，祂那一小群門徒都逃散了，害怕的躲在一間小屋裡。 感謝天主，聖母也在那裡陪他們。 同樣的，聖母媽媽也在十字架下，面對著邪惡，面對著困難。她與耶穌的門徒們堅強的站在一起，證實耶穌永遠與他們同在。 她與門徒一起祈禱，把他們當作自己的孩子。 主耶穌心愛的門徒也在十字架腳下。 耶穌說： “看你的母親！母親，看你的兒子！” 。我們就是聖母的孩子。 所以在每年的五月，我們以一種特殊的方式來紀念聖母。 我們獻給她玫瑰，獻給她玫瑰經的祈禱。 親愛的兄弟姐妹們，萬福瑪麗亞就是我們的母親， 她帶領我們歸向基督。

幾年前，當我在聖凱瑟琳教堂工作時，我有位朋友在世界之后教堂工作。世界之后教堂建堂有60年左右。建堂之初就有一座很美麗的世界之后聖母像。當時這座戶外的聖母像，不管是油漆或是外觀，看起來都很糟糕。然而，這是一座有名的聖母像。有許多懷孕的媽媽，或是產期的媽媽，都來和她一起祈禱。因為在祈禱以後，許多人得到了奇蹟。我來到這個教堂，聽說堂區要用一個美麗的 Our Lady 的雕像來取代她。所以我就問世界之后的神父，是否可以讓我照管她，修復她。神父說：“沒問題，你帶她回去吧”。我把它放在卡車裡，帶回到我的堂區，找了一位當地的藝術家。這位年輕人非常愛聖母。但他有一個非常困難的婚姻和家庭關係。他帶聖母像回家，剝去了60年的油漆，花了兩個月的時間，給聖母媽媽漆上底漆，再重新畫外觀。在這期間，我偶爾會去看一下進度，問他什麼時候可以完成，讓聖母媽媽重回教堂。他總是說：神父請你再等一個月。原來他想把聖母媽媽留在家裡，不還給我了。他做了一個祭壇，一家人每晚都聚在一起和她祈禱，敬拜她。有一天，我終於向他說：來吧，把她帶回來。修復的聖母像看起來真是驚人的美妙。這位年輕人把聖母描繪得非常傳神，就像真人一樣。如果您開車經過聖凱瑟琳教堂，您可以看到她。幾乎每天都有人跪在她面前祈禱。

更重要的是這位年輕人改變了。這位年輕人有一點吸毒的問題。而他之前的婚姻也沒有受到天主的祝福。經過他為聖母媽媽工作一段時間後，他回到了天主的教會，熱切的祈禱，也來到神父的身邊。我幫助他和他的妻子取得在教會結婚的祝福。她有四個孩子，三個現在就讀於天主教學校。每個星期四晚上，他們都會與一群西班牙裔的兄弟姐妹聚集在教會，向 Our Lady 祈禱。天主是不是很神奇？當我們接近萬福的母親，她就會讓我們更接近她的兒子。每天都會幫助我們變得更加聖潔，少一點錯誤，少一點罪惡。萬福的母后就是我們的媽媽，不要害怕，來接近她。

第三位母親與在場的媽媽有關。媽媽們。 我要代表這個社會感謝您對生命的肯定。雖然這個部分世俗有些人反對，我們卻是肯定生命的。 或許妳體驗到心中渴望的聲音， 沒有錯，生命是美好和珍貴的。 主一開始就說，是祂創造了生命，使生命變得美好。祂要我們珍惜生命，而不是破壞生命。 母親們，我們感謝你。 做母親是很辛苦的。我們常常製造麻煩讓你心煩意亂。 我記得我媽媽整天都在跑著追我，大聲喊叫，要我們聽話。我們卻把家裡弄得髒亂，沒做功課，也沒幫助做家事，等等。 母親是最美的職業。 作為母親，你接受了新生命，你讓生命成為可能，你採取了愛的行動。你回應了天父的召喚。 當你對新生命說“是”的時候， 我們就在一起快樂地慶祝新生命。

讓我們更加仔細的來看這三位母親—慈母教會，萬福母親，和所有的母親。他們有一個共同點，他們共同屬於一個善牧，主耶穌基督。這個星期天是善牧主日。因為主耶穌清楚地說過：我是善牧，我認識我的羊，我的羊聽我的聲音，他們追隨我。我給他們永恆生命，沒有人能將我的羊從我手中奪走。我們的牧者要我們跟隨祂，順從祂，聽祂的聲音。

萬福的母親聽牧人的聲音，慈母教會聽祂的聲音，我們也聽祂的聲音。親愛的兄弟姐妹們，耶穌是我們的牧者。我們跟隨祂，分享祂，讓他孕育在我們心中，為祂作見證。祂承諾我們永生，沒有人可以將我們從祂手中奪走。但這個世俗卻要我們聽撒旦的聲音來分離家庭，重新定義人類，男人，女人，婚姻，和生命。讓我們接受生命，接受基督，接受永生。這就是我們所擁有的，這就是我們的使命。願天主保佑你們。母親們，感謝你們，我們切記生命是寶貴的。