For such a time as this…
Food for your journey…
LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Esther 4:12-16
When Mordecai heard Esther’s reply, he wrote back the following response: "Don’t fool yourself into thinking that, just because you are in the imperial palace, you will be the only Jewish person to escape. If you insist on remaining silent at this time, vindication and liberation will come to other people through another source, but both you and your family will surely die. Who’s to say-you may have come into the royal court for just this moment.”
So Esther sent a message to Mordecai: “Bring together all the Jewish people in Susa now and fast for three days. After that, I will go to the sovereign in defiance of law. If I die, I die."
Second Reading: Original Mother’s Day Proclamation by Julia Ward Howe
Arise, all women who have hearts, whether your baptism be that of water or of tears! Say firmly: “We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies, our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause.
“Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”
From the bosom of the devastated earth a voice goes up with our own. It says, “Disarm, disarm! The sword is not the balance of justice.” Blood does not wipe out dishonor nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plow and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each learning after his own time, the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.
In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed and held at some place deemed most convenient and at the earliest period consistent with its objects, to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.
My homily…
“Arise all women who have hearts~whether your baptism is of water or tears… let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them then solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace, each learning after his own time, the sacred impress, not of Caesar, but of God.”
I am struck by the incredible relevance of this proclamation from 1870 for our time. There is so much turbulence on a global scale. My heart broke the day I saw a mother in labor being carried from a bombed building in Ukraine. It broke for her and for all the mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons impacted by circumstances beyond their control. My heart breaks for the immigrants seeking asylum on the southern border of our country. Watching them clinging to river banks as men in tactical gear look on is heart-wrenching.
The war in Ukraine has been an impetus, a call to action for women across the globe. It’s as if the Spirit of the Holy One is connecting women everywhere and a call is going out. “Bring a revolution of Love. Fight Hate with Goodness. Walk with Hope.” When we invite the Spirit to live through us, this type of proclamation and wise action can happen. In living out our faith in this way, we actively participate in a Divine Dance of love, action, and reciprocity for all the world.
Shortly after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, women of all ages gathered in the ancient, timeless way they have always come together… in circles. In these circles, we talked about peace, hope, and a revolution of love. We strategized ways to support those who were helping the women and children on the border of Poland. Every woman matters. Every person matters. The feminine perspective matters and changes things in a positive way. Each woman can make a difference in the world. I think of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Workers Movement she started…actively helping asylum seekers on the US/Mexico Border along with Catholic Charities, which went in very early in this crisis.
One woman can do a little, or sometimes a lot, and many women joining together for a common purpose can co-create change on a global scale. I feel our ancestors, the mothers of our mothers, calling to us across time and space. It’s as if the mitochondrial DNA that originates with the First Woman connects all women at this moment in time. Women are weavers of change. I feel a weave happening in the quantum energetic realm that is reverberating around the Earth.
When women come together we are a force of Nature. We are a force for goodness. While we would rather be kind and gentle, we are absolutely fierce when necessary. Make no mistake, the mothers who are displaced across the world on the margins and borders carrying babes and holding the hands of their children are strong and courageous. Mothers waiting at the US-Mexico border, mothers protecting their children in Ethiopia, Syria, Myanmar, Sudan, and Ukraine are incredibly brave, not because they want to be but because they have to be brave. Mothers are protectors and while they may feel extreme sadness, they will persevere to save the lives of their children.
What if you are here on this Earth for just such a time as this? These words evoke thoughts of Esther and ancient texts. These words bring thoughts of all the women calling women into circles across the globe, the grandmothers, the elders, and the wise women calling one another together to make a difference for all living beings. I call to your heart. I call you to action. Unite with women and men across the world in a bond of love for the good of all. Let’s join hands and hearts and change the world. Begin with prayer just as those in Esther’s time, then do what you can within your circle of influence. Let’s reclaim the original meaning and purpose of Mother’s Day. Will you join me in a revolution of prayer, compassion, and love to co-create change? Will you join me in bringing hope to a world in need?
