The second Sunday in May is celebrated as Mothers’ Day This prayer honours motherhood and all those whose influence and care for us is as a mother.
The response to each petition is: ‘Mother God we pray to you‘
For our own mothers, living and deceased …
For our grandmothers, sisters, aunts and all who have nurtured us over the years …
For mothers who continue to make sacrifices for the sake of their children…
For mothers who are taken for granted, forgotten or abandoned …
For mothers who are incarcerated, drug-addicted or prostituted …
For mothers of the disappeared …
For mothers who have lost children through sickness, suicide, violence and war …
For mothers in nursing homes …
For single mothers and divorced mothers …
For mothers who are homeless, battered or abused …
For mothers who are refugees and without a home or homeland …
For mothers of disabled and bullied children …
For mothers who are struggling with financial problems …
For mothers who are unable to care for or protect their children …
For our Mother Earth calling us to protect, cherish and heal her …
In gratitude for Mary, Mother of God whose life was centered on Jesus…
In gratitude for all who have given us love and support, security and hope …
Mother God, for all of these and for all we carry in our hearts, we ask your love and your blessing.
Amen
Download the entire Mothers’ Day Prayer – May 2023 (PDF)
El segundo domingo de mayo se celebra el Día de la Madre Esta oración honra la maternidad y a todas aquellas cuya influencia y cuidado para con nosotras es el de una madre.
La respuesta a cada petición es: ‘Madre Dios, te rogamos‘
Por nuestras propias madres, vivas y difuntas …
Por nuestras abuelas, hermanas, tías y todas las que nos han criado a lo largo de los años …
Por las madres que siguen haciendo sacrificios por el bien de sus hijos …
Por las madres a las que se da por sentadas, se olvida o se abandona …
Por las madres encarceladas, drogadictas o prostituidas …
Por las madres de los desaparecidos …
Para las madres que han perdido a sus hijos por enfermedad, suicidio, violencia o guerra …
Para las madres en residencias de ancianos …
Para madres solteras y divorciadas …
Para madres sin hogar, maltratadas o que sufren abusos …
Para madres refugiadas sin hogar ni patria …
Para madres de niños discapacitados o acosados …
Para madres con problemas económicos …
Por las madres que no pueden cuidar o proteger a sus hijos …
Por nuestra Madre Tierra, que nos llama a protegerla, cuidarla y curarla …
En gratitud por María, Madre de Dios, cuya vida se centró en Jesús …
En gratitud por todos los que nos han dado amor y apoyo, seguridad y esperanza …
Madre Dios, por todos ellos y por todos los que llevamos en nuestros corazones, te pedimos tu amor y tu bendición.
Amén
Descargar toda Reflexión para el Día de la Madre (PDF)
On Tuesday May 21 about thirty of us attended a grand celebration in the parish of Eucharist followed by a hot roast beef dinner. Sister Roisin Gannon represented the Presentation Sisters. Bishop Anthony Daniels surrounded by seven priests of the Grand Falls Diocese celebrated Eucharist in St. Anne’s Church with participation of the sisters and parishioners in readings, music and other moments in the liturgy. The church was sparkling and beautifully decorated with roses. A large banner hung in the church acknowledging the 150 years’ anniversary – Our Journey Together! At the end of Mass, a plaque was presented to the Congregation which will be placed in the church to commemorate the anniversary. In his homily Bishop Daniels connected the call and ministry of the sisters to that of the early disciples of Jesus and gratefully commended their life and ministry among the people of Conception Harbour and surrounding area.
In Canada Indigenous women and girls are targeted for violence more than any other group. More than 4000 Indigenous women and girls have gone missing or been murdered in the last 30 years – an appalling statistic! Canada’s National Inquiry into this tragic history called upon all governments – national, provincial, territorial and indigenous – to work together to build an effective and accountable National Action Plan to address this crisis. Indeed, there is an urgent need for all Canadians to make efforts to raise awareness of this Canada-wide tragedy and to do whatever we can to make Canada a country for all Canadians.
By this time, the Sisters had been in Newfoundland for almost a year, a year in which they devoted themselves to the visitation and care of the poor and the sick of the town, traversing the narrow streets and visiting the rude shacks in which many of the Irish Catholics lived. Forty-two pupils were enrolled when the school opened, and in the following year fifty-five students were in attendance.
Mary, the woman we know as Mother of God, was one like us, a person who lived each day and faced the joys and the challenges of each day. We meet her first in Scripture as a frightened adolescent who is being asked to do an almost impossible thing. The last time we meet her in Scripture she is an older woman, more confident perhaps, yet still being asked to do an almost impossible thing
In my home province of Newfoundland and Labrador, when anyone meets a stranger, the first questions are “What is your name and who are you called after?” and “Who are your parents?” The first page of our New Testament, the beginning words of the Gospel of Matthew, could well have been written by a Newfoundlander! In these words we find the answer to the same questions about Mary
At the Annunciation, a young woman whose name is Mary is visited by an angel who tells her that she is to bear a son who will be special in many ways. When Mary challenges the possibility of this ever happening, the angel’s reply is decisive, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you” (Lk 1:35). With this assurance, the young woman replies, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word” (Lk 1:38)
Mary’s response was immediate. She spoke the most words spoken by any woman in the New Testament. She used echoes of words spoken by the women of the Old Testament: Deborah, Miriam and Hannah. In this song, she passionately gave what the theologian Edward Schillebeeckx called “a toast to our God,” which we call the Magnificat.
In the days before Mary was to give birth, she and Joseph were forced to go to Bethlehem to be counted for the census. They had no choice in this matter. The late stages of Mary’s pregnancy and the difficult journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem did not matter to the political leadership of the day.
On another visit to the Temple to celebrate Passover when Jesus was twelve years old, Jesus remains behind and speaks with the teachers with authority, and then he says these mysterious words to his parents, “Did you not know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” This time the writer tells us that “His mother treasured all these things in her heart.”
The young Jewish peasant girl has become a confident woman, a teacher, a mentor and a commanding presence. She has grown into her calling to be a partner with God in the work of Incarnation and Redemption. Having given life to her son, she now calls him into his new life of public ministry, she remains with him to support and nurture him to the end, and she will remain when he is gone to support and nurture the church which continues his presence on earth.
“Spirituality is that which gives us the strength to go on for it is the assurance that God is in the struggle. Spirituality spells out our connectedness to God, our human roots, the rest of nature, one another and ourselves.” In this way in 1994 the Third World Theologians redefined spirituality and began our thinking on “right relationships.”
Let us reflect on Mary in right relationship with the environment. First we must speak to our emerging understanding of ecology, a new sense of how all creation has been created by God, is good and is interconnected. In the 13th century Meister Eckhart said, “Apprehend God in all things, for God is in all things. Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God. Every creature is a word of God.”
There are several beautiful passages in the Gospels in which we get an understanding of Mary’s sense of self. At the Annunciation, we see Mary’s poignant inner turmoil in the face of an awesome task being asked of her, “But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be” (Luke 1:29). She then asks outright the question, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34)
These women ancestors of Jesus suffer indignities and oppression, but live to reflect the face of God, the righteous One, the merciful One, the maternal One, the One who is found in the company of those who are marginalized, oppressed, suffering, poor and powerless. Jesus, the son of Mary, has indeed inherited the qualities of his foremothers.
The beautiful prayer of the Magnificat which Luke ascribes to Mary is a powerful description of Mary in right relationship with other people. While the first part of her psalm focuses on Mary in relationship with her God, the second part expresses Mary’s love for people. Mary rejoices in God her Saviour because God‘s mercy is from generation to generation.
Mary was first and foremost a Jewish woman, a practicing Jew who remained faithful to Judaism. She would have been aware of the Hebrew Scriptures, the sacred books she called Torah and we Christians call the Old Testament. She bears the name of the leader Miriam about whom God said in the book of Micah (6:4), “I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of slavery; and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam
Earth Day, celebrated annually on April 22, seeks to highlight and promote efforts dedicated to protecting our planet and its natural resources. The theme for this year’s Earth Day, Invest in our Planet focuses on engaging governments, institutions, businesses and citizens in the work of restoring the health of our planet. We are all too aware of today’s many environmental crises that negatively affect our planet and pose a serious risk to our health and our future – global warming, deforestation, widespread pollution, loss of biodiversity, endangered wildlife, shortages of clean water, etc.