Our baby is almost ten months old. It always amazes me when they get to this age and suddenly go from being so tiny, so helpless—unable to sit or move or eat without their mothers—to suddenly sitting up without assistance, crawling everywhere, and eating everything off the floor. At the same time, our oldest is about to be fifteen. Equally, I look at her and am simply stunned that she has gone from a roly-poly, ever-so-serious baby to an almost-driving, getting-a-job, funny teenager who at least thinks she really does not need a mom.

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The demands of this time of motherhood are full, as anyone who has had teens and babies knows. Today’s readings are beautiful reflections on the gifts we also should ask Christ for, and, through St. Paul’s words, a reminder of Christ’s mercy.

Solomon responds to God, when asked what gift he would like, by asking for an understanding heart as he serves the Israelites (1 Kgs 3:9). (Can we just take a moment to appreciate that he calls them a people so vast they cannot be numbered or counted? (1 Kgs 3:8) I can’t be the only mother of a large family that sometimes feels like we are SO VAST that we are passing the ability to count ourselves, haha!) What a beautiful request Solomon made. As mothers, how much do we, too, need the gift of understanding? All the children we are gifted with cry out for it! From infancy through the teen years and into adulthood. But Solomon does not ask only for an understanding heart so that he can passively accept the wrongdoings of the Israelites, but rather, asks for an understanding heart to judge your people and distinguish right from wrong (1 Kgs 3:9).

But an understanding heart like Solomon’s is not an easy virtue to develop. It is so hard to offer understanding for the millionth middle-of-the-night wake-up or for the rude child. Our children need their mothers’ hearts ready to extend understanding and also to call them out of behavior antithetical to their nature, back into the life of Christ.

We need this gift of Solomon’s heart, being able to judge, while still extending mercy and simply understanding, to our children.

In her mercy, Holy Mother Church also gives these words, to follow up Solomon’s understanding heart, from St. Paul: Brothers and sisters, we know that all things work for good for those who love God (Rom 8:28).

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All things! Not just the biggest trials, but our small, everyday ones as mothers, too. Not just our trials, but also our shortcomings, and the myriad of moments we see our own lack of understanding and magnanimity towards our family, and fear that we have become wounds for our children. What a perfect reminder for us mothers today. When we fall short, he will work that for good. When trials afflict our children, families, and friends, these also he will work for good.

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May we all pray today that we can be understanding towards our families and rest in the reassurances that, whatever storms befall our families and whatever shortcomings in understanding we have, all these things will be worked for the good.