Thursday, January 03, 2008 Echaves: New Year thoughts By Lelani P. Echaves Thinking Aloud
IF only she could or would, Sister Consuelo Varela, ICM, of St. Theresa’s College would crucify me if she knows that my memory now is faint about the Church History lessons she taught. No squealing, please, anyone.
Blame not the teacher but the passing of years, and the disuse of knowledge. One thing is crystal-clear, though---that Roman Catholics do not quibble over whether the Blessed Mary was just the Mother of Jesus, or also the Mother of God. I certainly can remember Sister Consuelo (yes, you may tell her this) strongly emphasizing that Blessed Mary was both the Mother of Jesus Christ, and the Mother of God, and that non-belief in the latter caused the religious schisms.
There, my memory ends. It’s an amnesia that serves me well and on the dot. I don’t want to pick a fight with anyone, especially because I believe in freedom of religion.
I think of the Blessed Mary. After the last firecracker has exploded, after the merrymaking to ring in the new year and out the old, and after the last drop of wine has left our lips, let’s remember that we’re not just saying hello to the Year of the Earth Rat. Yesterday, Catholics all over celebrated the Blessed Mary’s basic dignity, the reason for all others---her Motherhood of God.
Contemplating motherhood brings mixed feelings…excitement, nervousness, anxiety, joy. Experiencing motherhood is overwhelming…the constant push-pull of emotions, the uncertainties, even the struggle between consistency and adaptability. The mood changes just happened; no one prepared future mothers for them. The hormonal imbalances just set in; we had to survive them. The appetite just went out of whack, and we consoled ourselves that this, too, would pass after the baby was born.
More than these bodily changes, we thought of the child within us, of our responsibility for its life and well-being, of the privilege to mold its future. How were we to chart it? What was the first step? Was there any complete reference book around? How many did we have to read before we felt ready enough to parent? And did we have the right books? What if we failed, despite the books? How similar were the authors’ children to ours? What did they forget to say? How to backtrack to remedy a mis-step? Was backtracking the answer?
But then again, there were our own mothers as refuge, they who had traveled our roads before, they who had not failed with us. The practical tips born of their own experiences helped greatly...the aciete de manzanilla for colic, coaxing the little one to burp, weaning time, the rudiments of toilet training, interpreting the baby’s many ways of crying, distinguishing when discipline was like rain to nurture rather than drown.
The Blessed Mary’s thoughts must’ve been more poignant. She knew her Son was born to save the world. He was going to suffer, to be crucified, to die. How frightening the thoughts while cuddling her newborn child. Only the Mother of God could’ve seen it all and borne her sufferings so well.
