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.

不要忘记生命是宝贵的

祝所有的妈妈们母亲节快乐。今天,我要和大家一起来研讨母亲。让我向你们介绍三位妈妈来欣赏母性之美。

我讲的这三个妈妈都从天主得到同样的命令 - “你们要生育繁殖,充满大地”。第一个母亲与天主教会有关。圣教会是我们的母亲,基督要求圣教会到普天下去,向一切受造物宣传福音,使万民作门徒。今天的天主教会,就是从一小群 12人成长出来的。在读经一中我们听到,保罗、巴尔纳伯和宗徒们,是如何的努力去倍增天主的家庭。复活节子夜弥撒中,我们也见证了许多男女,回应耶稣的邀请成为天主的孩子,进入天主的家庭。这个受洗池,就是教会孕育天主子女的子宫,新生命出生的地方。兄弟姐妹们,你们就是慈母教会硕果累累的证明。教会的唯一使命就是将天主赐予的生命,永恒的生命繁衍交付出去,使这个世界变得更美好。我们都是在教会中成为天主的孩子,这就是为什么圣教会也被称为慈母教会。

第二个母亲,就是万福的圣母妈妈。没有圣母玛利亚就没有天主教会。耶稣被钉死后,祂那一小群门徒都逃散了,害怕的躲在一间小屋里。感谢天主,圣母也在那里陪他们。同样的,圣母妈妈也在十字架下,面对着邪恶,面对着困难。她与耶稣的门徒们坚强的站在一起,证实耶稣永远与他们同在。她与门徒一起祈祷,把他们当作自己的孩子。主耶稣心爱的门徒也在十字架脚下。耶稣说: “看你的母亲!母亲,看你的儿子!” 。我们就是圣母的孩子。所以在每年的五月,我们以一种特殊的方式来纪念圣母。我们献给她玫瑰,献给她玫瑰经的祈祷。亲爱的兄弟姐妹们,万福玛丽亚就是我们的母亲, 她带领我们归向基督。

几年前,当我在圣凯瑟琳教堂工作时,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丽的世界之后圣母像。当时这座户外的圣母像,不管是油漆或是外观,看起来都很糟糕。然而,这是一座有名的圣母像。有许多怀孕的妈妈,或是产期的妈妈,都来和她一起祈祷。因为在祈祷以后,许多人得到了奇迹。我来到这个教堂,听说堂区要用一个美丽的 Our Lady 的雕像来取代她。所以我就问世界之后的神父,是否可以让我照管她,修复她。神父说:“没问题,你带她回去吧”。我把它放在卡车里,带回到我的堂区,找了一位当地的艺术家。这位年轻人非常爱圣母。但他有一个非常困难的婚姻和家庭关系。他带圣母像回家,剥去了60年的油漆,花了两个月的时间,给圣母妈妈漆上底漆,再重新画外观。在这期间,我偶尔会去看一下进度,问他什么时候可以完成,让圣母妈妈重回教堂。他总是说:神父请你再等一个月。原来他想把圣母妈妈留在家里,不还给我了。他做了一个祭坛,一家人每晚都聚在一起和她祈祷,敬拜她。有一天,我终于向他说:来吧,把她带回来。修复的圣母像看起来真是惊人的美妙。这位年轻人把圣母描绘得非常传神,就像真人一样。如果您开车经过圣凯瑟琳教堂,您可以看到她。几乎每天都有人跪在她面前祈祷。

更重要的是这位年轻人改变了。这位年轻人有一点吸毒的问题。而他之前的婚姻也没有受到天主的祝福。经过他为圣母妈妈工作一段时间后,他回到了天主的教会,热切的祈祷,也来到神父的身边。我帮助他和他的妻子取得在教会结婚的祝福。她有四个孩子,三个现在就读于天主教学校。每个星期四晚上,他们都会与一群西班牙裔的兄弟姐妹聚集在教会,向 Our Lady 祈祷。天主是不是很神奇?当我们接近万福的母亲,她就会让我们更接近她的儿子。每天都会帮助我们变得更加圣洁,少一点错误,少一点罪恶。万福的母后就是我们的妈妈,不要害怕,来接近她。

第三位母亲与在场的妈妈有关。妈妈们。我要代表这个社会感谢您对生命的肯定。虽然这个部分世俗有些人反对,我们却是肯定生命的。或许妳体验到心中渴望的声音, 没有错,生命是美好和珍贵的。主一开始就说,是祂创造了生命,使生命变得美好。祂要我们珍惜生命,而不是破坏生命。母亲们,我们感谢你。做母亲是很辛苦的。我们常常制造麻烦让你心烦意乱。我记得我妈妈整天都在跑着追我,大声喊叫,要我们听话。我们却把家里弄得脏乱,没做功课,也没帮助做家事,等等。母亲是最美的职业。作为母亲,你接受了新生命,你让生命成为可能,你采取了爱的行动。你回应了天父的召唤。当你对新生命说“是”的时候, 我们就在一起快乐地庆祝新生命。

让我们更加仔细的来看这三位母亲—慈母教会,万福母亲,和所有的母亲。他们有一个共同点,他们共同属于一个善牧,主耶稣基督。这个星期天是善牧主日。因为主耶稣清楚地说过:我是善牧,我认识我的羊,我的羊听我的声音,他们追随我。我给他们永恒生命,没有人能将我的羊从我手中夺走。我们的牧者要我们跟随祂,顺从祂,听祂的声音。

万福的母亲听牧人的声音,慈母教会听祂的声音,我们也听祂的声音。亲爱的兄弟姐妹们,耶稣是我们的牧者。我们跟随祂,分享祂,让他孕育在我们心中,为祂作见证。祂承诺我们永生,没有人可以将我们从祂手中夺走。但这个世俗却要我们听撒旦的声音来分离家庭,重新定义人类,男人,女人,婚姻,和生命。让我们接受生命,接受基督,接受永生。这就是我们所拥有的,这就是我们的使命。愿天主保佑你们。母亲们,感谢你们,我们切记生命是宝贵的。