One film scene that has been forever fixed in my heart is from Mel Gibson’s The Passion. The part when Christ falls and the Blessed Mother rushes out to her Son to comfort him.  Immediately, there is a cut to when Jesus was a little baby boy and fell, and His loving mother ran out to hold His bruised body. 

“I’m here.”  Mary cries out.  Her face openly reveals the pain she feels on behalf of her Son. 

That scene makes me weep without fail. So much about motherhood, about womanhood, is encapsulated in those brief, beautiful moments. 

A mother is one who gives of herself, puts behind her selfishness –her needs– for her family. Every day she dies to herself for the good of another’s life. 

She holds the bruised bodies from her husband to baby and whispers, “it’s okay. I’ve got you. I’m here.” 

In her gentleness, a powerful strength surges forth, heals, rejuvenates, and gives life. 

That gentleness of a woman, of a mother, is perhaps one of the strongest things in the world. For that gentleness can look directly at all the pain and hurt of the world and say, “I’m here.”

 In some way, every woman is called to live out a maternal calling, even if she is not a mother.  She is called to love and give of herself. 

That call is so intimate and vulnerable; it would be easy to look at it and call it “weak.”  

Yet, remember, it was Esther, in her sweet tenderness, who swayed the bold king and saved her people.

It was the simple and pure-hearted Joan of Arc who, without killing one individual, led an army of brazen men to victory.

And it is our Blessed Mother, who is all goodness and purity, who will ultimately be the one to crush Satan’s head. 

 A woman.  Our gentle Mother. 

Our warped society seeks to confuse and manipulate our understanding of the maternal, “Women need more power. More roles of leadership. “

But women hold the most power, the most strength, a strength that can conquer and endure the worst pain and loss (think of the Pieta or our Mother of Sorrows) when they love; when they are virtuous; when they submit to their Heavenly Father. 

We place emphasis on our worldly accomplishments and forget the immense beauty of a woman, of a family, and that when all comes to pass, those wordly accomplishments will go away.  Those worldly accomplishments are meant to serve a family, not exist as an end in and of themselves. 

When everything comes to pass, the pure, selfless love of a mother, of a woman, will endure.   

Yet when the role of a woman is confused –misunderstood– all else frays. 

Women are the heart of society; they can bear life and as such have a special ability to nurture and empathize.  It is a priceless gift innately built into a woman’s body. That gift gives every woman in the world a tremendous role and responsibility to live as a mother in some sense.  Every woman is called to live out a life of selfless love, love that nurtures and brings forth fruit. And if she abdicates from that responsibility, society suffers. 

Even if we don’t readily admit this, we can see how this point had been captured as a universal truth throughout time.  A good example would be Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.  One woman sins, and suddenly you find yourself immersed in nearly 900 pages of woe and misery.  

If the novel was ADAM Karenina no one would bat an eye– just another to be expected dissolute Don Juan.

Yet, feminism has taught women to take offense to that.  I have to admit, I don’t understand why. In the grand scheme of things, it seems that, if anything, that would be more insulting to men than to women. 

 As the von Hildbrands once pointed out, if you want to kill something you shoot for the heart. When women are corrupted our society decays. 

It’s a ferocious call, to give so entirely of the heart, and it requires such great love and strength. Yet, it is a strength that isn’t placed on the external, rather it is internal strength.  

It is that strength that says “I’m here” and pours out love in the face of trial.

 It is the love that tenderly holds a bruised soul and whispers, “I’ve got you.”

In that, there is a courage that enables a woman to die to self for the good of others. 

Fulton Sheen says that “the perfection of all Motherhood is Mary.”  Christ gave Mary to us as our Mother, and just like in that scene from The Passion, she looks to us and knows our pain and says, “I’m here.”

We need so desperately to look to Mary.  Always. To pray to reflect her in all that we do.  She will bring us to her Son; she will always help us when we are stumbling.

She is our guiding light. Our Mother. And she will teach us how to love.