Eucharistic Motherhood: Offering it Up

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Offering it Up

Just since this past weekend, Sebastian's toddler terror has improved. Yesterday, we were with some friends and their children. As I held him, he screamed, directing me to go somewhere. I said, "I will not move until you say 'Please' in a nice voice." We stood their a long time. But he finally said, "peees" in a nice voice. YAY! Then I moved.
A few minutes later, a child asked him for the baby buggy Sebastian was pushing. I said, "Sebastian, in one minute, it is Oliver's turn. Please give it to him then." Sebastian looked at Oliver, and gave him the buggy. The moms all clapped. It was great!
Sebastian is one and a half. For me as a Mom, one and a half till two and a half is the hardest stage. The child has found their will, but does not have the language or the self-control to handle discipline and direction that older children respond to. So, it is a limbo time, in which both the child and I as the mom are frustrated.
As I stand on the precipice of a year of this trial, I have decided how I'm going to handle it: I'm going to offer it all up.
Offering up suffering: This is a Biblical idea in which we offer our sufferings as prayers: “If we are being afflicted, it is for your salvation and consolation” (2 Cor. 1:6). If we unify our sufferings with those of Christ, and if Christ's sufferings are powerful in bringing godly change, then so can ours be powerful prayers for healing and grace in the world (also see Colossians 1:24; Rom. 12:1).
I'm going to offer up Sebastian's toddler trials for this prized intention, that "All my kids grow up to be hard core Catholics." That phrase just popped into my mind yesterday, and I really like it. I am really moved by this idea, that they not just manage to remain Catholic, but that they give their lives for the faith in sincerely, complete ways. Hard core! Yes!
I would go through not just one more year, but TEN more years of toddler frustration, if only my children would emerge so solid in their faiths!!
Motherhood is so well suited to offering up sufferings and frustrations for holy intentions!! Help me, Lord, to offer more up!!

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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.