Mother's Day

Although I spend most of my life in an oblivious daze, every now & then something catches my attention & I think, "Huh? That doesn't sound quite right?"

Plus, I've adopted "Find the'Find your Inner Goddess'" as a hobby, which sadly, is pretty easy these days, as many people have set aside sound doctrine to follow various New Age schemes. The U.S. Bishops just sent out a warning that Catholics must avoid Reiki (click here). Obviously, they wouldn't bother to comment if it hadn't already become a problem.

To wit: an article in our church bulletin talks about the background & meanings to be found in the verses of our Lenten entrance hymn. The last verse goes, "Strangers we by sin disperes. God our mother, quench our thirst. Thus is justice here rehearsed."

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So when it goes on to say, "Images of God as a mother to us come often in the scriptures...", I declared, "FYIG!" Maybe a bit harsh, but let's move on...

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You see, a quick check (yes, maybe too quick & too shallow for real scholarly work) of the Vatican's online concordance to the NAB reveals 395 uses of the word "Mother", both in the scriptural text itself & in the NAB footnotes. Only 3 of them even touch on this connection (if you know of more, please post a comment & let me know!), & only 1 of them use the metaphor - strictly speaking - of God "as" a mother. None of them can be constued as God "is" a mother.

Sirach 4:10; Isaiah 49:15; Isaiah 66:13. I leave them to you to look up & ponder.

The plentious reasons why God is properly called "Father", & conversely, is not called "Mother" are way to deep for this space. The best reason is easiest one: because Jesus did.