Motherhood Is a Christ-like Vocation!

This ministry is about YOU and for YOU, dear friend.

Maybe you are a new mother, holding a tiny baby in your arms; maybe you are a veteran mother of 12; perhaps you are an adoptive mother, a foster mother, a step-mother, a grandmother or a godmother. Whatever your particular situation, our ministry is here to tell you: Your vocation as a mother is oriented to Christ. Your vocation is fulfilled in Christ.

One of the signature traits of Christ is his total gift of self. As the ancient hymn in Philippians says:

Though [Christ Jesus] was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:6-11)

In this passage, Paul tells us that the Son of God emptied himself, taking on a form that was far inferior to who he really was–namely God. Instead he became human, which is a mark of humbling himself.

You, my dear mother and friend, also empty yourself as you nurture your children. You spend your energy until you have no more; then you spend energy that you did not have. Your eyes are bloodshot. Your back hurts. Your shoulders are a little hunched and your abdomen is no longer taut–and it is because you have a lifestyle of emptying yourself out, making a total gift of self for your child. You also humble yourself in motherhood. You stoop to tie shoes, wipe bottoms, read ABC’s. You spend endless hours driving, standing on sidelines, chopping and stirring and baking in the kitchen. You set aside the other things you could do in that moment, to be a loving presence to the child in your life–little or grown–whom you adore with a heart full of tenderness.

The exquisite magnificence of motherhood is in its power to engage in the strongest, purest, quasi-divine agape–self-giving love for another person. Would you not lay down your life for your child? (Jn 15:13) We know you would. That makes you, by virtue of your vocation as a mother, a sharer in the divine nature, a child of God.

In this self-gift we see a reflection of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the culmination of Christ’s total self-gift: “This is my body, which is given for you” (Lk 22:19). Not only did he become human in the Incarnation; not only did he suffer unjustly, even to the point of death on a cross for our sake; he even became the Lamb of God whose flesh we eat as a mark of the New Covenant.  Jesus gave himself unto death and offers himself in the Eucharist to us so that we can be united with God.

You too give to your child even in a bodily way. Perhaps you have conceived a child in your womb. Whether that child lived for only 2 weeks and then was miscarried or lived for 9 months and came to full term, you, my friend, nourished a little one with your own body and blood. Is that not eucharistic? Some mothers nurse their babies; is that not eucharistic? Whether physically or spiritually, we engage in a eucharistic style of motherhood as we give everything–every fiber of our being–to our children.

I know that you give a huge gift of self too. That is why you are here. You are depleted and exhausted, and you sometimes get discouraged. Your family is not always what you had imagined or hoped. At Mighty Is Her Call, we love you just the way you are–and we love your family just the way it is–and are here to support you. We are here to remind you that, no matter how things in your home are going today, God honors those who love with the love of Christ. He blesses those who live in the pattern of Christ. We know that as a mother, you are giving Christ-like love and you are living in his image.

We are here to help you encounter Christ, not only in your most reverend and holy moments (which are good too!) but in your very moments of depletion and self-emptying, since that is the mark of our humble Savior. We are “mothers helping mothers helping mothers,” encouraging each other to find Christ in the everyday life of a mother. Every blog post, every podcast episode, every social media message, every book or e-book, every talk at every retreat–both in-person and recorded and downloadable–will help to bring about a transformation in your life. Each one is aimed at ushering you into the presence of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Join our community; walk with us; we want to hear from you. May we find Christ in our vocation as mothers together.