(With apologies to the memory of Erma Bombeck.)
[Greetings, Church fans! Here is the text of the homily. As always, you may see it on our Facebook Page at your leisure. Blessings – Fr. Leo]
I did something for the first time the other day. I went to Fred Meyer and got a senior discount. I am officially middle aged. I kind of like it. Life is a little cheaper than it was a year or so ago.
One of the wistful things about getting older is that so much of what you grew up with is virtually unknown to the generations that come after you. That’s okay, I guess, but there are some things worth sharing. One of those things is wit and wisdom of one Erma Bombeck.
Erma Louise Bombeck was an American humorist who achieved great popularity in the second half of the 20th century for her newspaper column that depicted suburban home life.
Beginning in 1965 until her death in 1996, she published 4,000 newspaper articles. By the 1970’s, her twice weekly columns were read by thirty million readers in 900 newspapers of USA and Canada. Her 15 books were all bestsellers.
One of her finest pieces was entitled: “When God Created Mothers.” It originally ran on May 11, 1974, and appeared again in her book, Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession. I’d like to share it with you now.
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When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into His sixth day of “overtime” when the angel appeared and said. “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”
And God said, “Have you read the specs on this order?” She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moveable parts…all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up. A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair. And six pairs of hands.”
The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands…. no way.”
“It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” God remarked, “it’s the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.”
“That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel. God nodded, “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, ‘What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, ‘I understand and I love you’ without so much as uttering a word.”
“God,” said the angel touching his sleeve gently, “Get some rest, tomorrow….”
“I can’t,” said God, “I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick…can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger…and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower.”
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. “It’s too soft,” she sighed.
“But tough!” said God excitedly. “You can imagine what this mother can do or endure.”
“Can it think?”
“Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator.
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek.
“There’s a leak,” she pronounced. “I told You that You were trying to put too much into this model.”
“It’s not a leak,” said the Lord, “It’s a tear.”
“What’s it for?”
“It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride.”
“You are a genius, ” said the angel.
Somberly, God said, “I didn’t put it there.”
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In case you were wondering, yes, Erma Bombeck was Catholic, She joined the Church when before marrying her husband Bill in 1949 at the age of 22.
So, I read Erma Bombeck’s insights about mothers and motherhood. And then I look at today’s gospel. And I wonder…was there a similar conversation in heaven before God created the Blessed Virgin Mary. I can imagine the Archangel Gabriel walking by God’s workshop.
“Hey, Gabe!” the Lord said, “Can you come in here for a second? I want to show you something.”
“Sure, Lord,” Gabriel says, “What can I do for…oh…oh my! That is something special.”
“What do you think?” God asked.
“She’s beautiful. Like nothing I’ve ever seen. Is this the Mother of God project you’ve been working on?”
“Absolutely,” God replied. “She has all the features of the standard model, but I made one big modification. Can you spot it?
The Angel Gabriel looked intently at the model of the Mother of God. “It’s not obvious on the surface, you must have done something inside…Hello, what’s this? What have you done to her heart? It’s different somehow.”
“You’ve a sharp eye, Gabe,” God replied. “That, my fair herald of the heavenly hosts, is the Immaculate Heart!”
“Wow!” the angel replied.
God gushed on, “First, I applied a protective coating so that it is preserved from the stain of Original Sin and all other malware.”
“Impressive. That means she will have no barrier to perceive your will.”
“That’s just the beginning,” God said, “Remember, not only is she going to be the Mother of Christ, but also the Mother of the Church.” Her Immaculate Conception allows me to give her a limitless capacity to love. She can stream directly from Cloud in real time.”
“Unlimited capacity for love,” the angel mused. “that does make her worthy for the Incarnation program. But have you allowed enough tolerance for free will? You can’t over-program these things, you know. It puts them into an endless causal loop.”
“That’s the difficult part,” God said. “For the Incarnation program to work, her choice has to completely free. Love has no value if it is not free. Her acceptance has to be a free act of love.
“That’s risky,” Gabriel replied. “What if she refuses.”
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take,” God replied.
“I don’ know,” Gabriel said. “You’ll overload it. Look! It’s already torn.”
“It’s there on purpose,” God replied. “If she is going to love like I love, I can’t preserve her from the suffering that I’m going to go through. This is a heart united to mine in every way. It can’t be avoided.”
“Will she have any idea of this when you ask her?”
“Perhaps,” God replied.
“I don’t like it,” the angel said. “It’s too risky. She’ll need an infinite amount of help from the support desk.”
“Yes,” said God, “I suppose she will. That’s why I’m sending you.”
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You know, I wrote this little mediation, and I began to ask myself, “What is the difference between the Immaculate Heart, which was preserved from the stain of Original Sin, and the heart of every Christian, where the stain of Original Sin, indeed all sin, is wiped away in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ?
Do our hearts have any less capacity to love?
To create?
To forgive?
Leo the Great was right when he said, “Christian, remember your dignity.”
What a beautiful thing / that Almighty God in his loving plan, found a way to give us each a heart like hers.
God had a plan for the Blessed Virgin –
With all her heart, Mary said, “Yes” to God.”
Thus, the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us- and the world has never been the same.
Christian, God also has a plan for you.
Imagine what will happen when you say ‘Yes’ to God.
There is no limit to your capacity to love
to create,
to forgive.
Christian, do not be afraid. For you have found favor with God.
Beautiful ♥️♥️♥️ Thank you for this!