The Crux of Motherhood
The closest thing to the outpouring of love on the Crucifix is the outpouring of love from a mother.
Perhaps this was even foreshadowed when Jesus cried out, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were unwilling!” (Matthew 23:37)
“As a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,” is such a descriptive way to press His longing on us, and yet He also said, “So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:31) He used the imagery of the mother hen to convey His longing, but not her worth, for our worth far exceeds even an entire flock of sparrows. God in His goodness loves to use imagery to impress His love upon us. Words alone are not enough for Him to show His love. He wants us to hear it, picture it, see it…taste it.
So, Christ’s love, like that of the mother hen, can be compared to that of the mother. On the Cross, the last thing that God gave was every bit of Precious Blood and Water within Him. This brought forth our birth as Catholics and the chance of eternal life with Him in Heaven. When a baby is born, it is born to this life through the agony of the mother and in her last effort, it is born with the blood and water from her womb.
Because of His tenderness, He began to feed us with His Body at the Last Supper and we continue to feed from His Body. Then Jesus said unto them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. (John 6:53) After the suffering of childbirth, a mother can feed her baby from her own body. If she doesn’t, there will be no life in the child. Her body sustains the new life. Christ’s Body sustains our life and prepares us for life everlasting.
The Lord is the vine and we are the branches. Similarly we hear: “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your home, Your children like young olive plants around your table.” (Psalm 128:3) A mother will always have the physical memory of her child within her. Fetal maternal microchimerism is the scientific name for describing how fetal cells remain in a mother’s body sometimes even decades after a birth or miscarriage.
“No one has greater love than this,j to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13) A good mother lays her life down from the moment of conception on. She sacrifices her body, she suffers to give birth, she loses sleep, and empathizes with the child’s every pain and discomfort.
Yes, a mother’s love is the closest comparison to the outpouring of Love from the Cross, but here is the crux of motherhood—even this is nothing compared to the love of God for us.
His is the greatest love. His is the love with no beginning and no end. His love is the love that sometimes looks hopeless, messy, shameful, and broken, like it did on Golgotha on Good Friday—but nonetheless will always bring Light to the world. Not even an enclosed tomb guarded by soldiers could prevent His love from bursting forth! And it is His love that holds our precious little ones now and forever.