Happy Mother's Day

Very few of us wear a corsage on Mother’s Day. When I was a child I remember going to church on this day and seeing a myriad of women and children wearing either a red or white flower. A red flower meant your mother was alive, a white flower meant your mother had died. My mother passed away years ago, but I still feel her presence whenever I follow in her footsteps and do what she would do: cook one of her recipes, go places that she and I frequented together, spend time with family, send thank-you notes or plant flowers in the spring. Ironically, I can sense my mother’s spirit now more than when she was alive.

Perhaps this is what Jesus was trying to get across to his disciples in today’s gospel, that he would continue to remain with them even after his death. Jesus assured them the presence of his Spirit, but only after his death and ascension to the Father. The disciples didn’t quite understand. They wanted his physical presence to remain close to them. But Jesus promised something greater. Once unbound by time or space, his Spirit could dwell not just with his disciples in a particular time and place, but with the entire human race until the end of time. This is why he said, “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father."

So whenever we follow in the footsteps of Jesus and do the works he would do: feed the hungry, care for the sick, show compassion, be merciful, or give of ourselves, we know the Spirit of Jesus is alive and well, working through and within us.