Eucharistic Motherhood: There's Failure and Then There's Failure

Sunday, August 9, 2015

There's Failure and Then There's Failure

Some failure is just so good for our souls. Failing to pull it off perfectly, failing to make the impression we wanted, failing to secure the title or money or status or approval that we were longing for.
I've been begging God recently for the grace to not be prickly with people who have hurt me or let me down. I just want to be okay with shortcomings--my own, and other people's. I sometimes hold us all to such impossibly high standards! I love saying, "No problem!" even to big omissions.
But then there's failure--failing to find God, failing to give ourselves to God, failing to make time for God, failing to orient our lives around God. That is what I want to avoid at all costs.
These two kinds of failure are related: once we've given our lives to God and avoided the second kind of failure, we can enjoy the first kind of failure to an unlimited degree!

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About Me

Born in Texas, raised in NYC, I earned my Ph.D. in philosophy and married a gorgeous theology student who rides a motorcycle and looks like James Dean. We now have six kids, are based in Irving near the University of Dallas where my husband teaches theology and where I sometimes teach philosophy. We currently live in the Castelli Romani, just outside of Rome, Italy. In addition to teaching some semesters and raising our 6 wonderful children, I am studying theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. Passionate about the vocation of motherhood, I founded a Catholic mother's ministry, Mighty Is Her Call. Our retreats and blog can be explored here: https://mightyishercall.com.

My book, Motherhood: An Extraordinary Vocation was released August 2021.

What's Special about Motherhood?

Motherhood is patterned on the life of Christ, particularly the Eucharist, in a way that no other vocation is. Some mothers shed blood for their children in childbirth--just as Christ shed his blood for us, a gift we celebrate in the Eucharist. Some mothers nourish children with their own bodies--just as Christ nourishes us with his body in the Eucharist. Mothers give themselves up in countless ways for their children--just as Christ gave himself up for us: "This is my body, given up for you." Every aspect of our day, from feeding our children, to cleaning up their messes, to disciplining them, to listening attentively to them, to hugging them, to laughing with them, to cherishing them, reflects the ways Christ gives himself to us. Motherhood is a role fashioned in the image of Christ, more so than perhaps any other vocation. It is singularly close to and reflective of the Heart of Christ.