Weekend thought: Family should be the place where we feel secure

She noticed that her mother had several wisps of white hair sticking out in contrast to the rest of her brunette hair. She looked at her mother and asked inquisitively: “Why are some of your hairs white, mum?”

Her mother answered: “Well dear, every time that you do something wrong and make me cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.”

The little girl thought about this for a minute and then asked: “Mummy, why is it then that all of grandma’s hairs are white?”

This Sunday is Mothering Sunday or Mother’s Day when we say thank you to our mothers or remember them if they are no longer with us. The home foundation is so important in a child’s development. The care, the support and the love is so vital to the needs of the child.

The family should be the place where we feel secure, where love without condition is real and deep and which gives us a sense of worth. When within the family, there is this self-respect and the sense of security and personal worth, we’re equipped to go out into the world and play a positive role. A healthy family is always outgoing and outgiving.

So, this day brings to mind the Commandment “Honour your father and your mother”. It also brings to mind how even in his greatest hour of suffering Jesus thought of his mother and entrusted her to the care of St John with the words “There is your mother”.

As people of God, we have a Father who cares for each one of us. He sent Jesus so that we might have life. In this way, we belong to the family of God.