5th Day of Simbang Gabi 2019

A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:

For cutting the grass: Php 50

For cleaning up my room: Php 20

For taking out the garbage: Php 30

Total owed: Php 100

Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he had written on, and this is what she wrote:

For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me: No charge

For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you: No charge

For all the trying times, and all the tears that you’ve caused through the years: No charge

For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead: No charge

For the toys, food, clothes and even wiping your nose: No charge

Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is: No charge

When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you.” And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: “Paid in Full”.

This story tells us about a mother’s special kind of love. No words can explain what a mother’s love is. It is totally unselfish. It always thinks of her children. Nothing and nobody can take away a mother’s love for her children.

In our Gospel (Luke 1: 26-38), the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was chosen to be the mother of God’s only son Jesus. When Mary learned about this, she accepted it without fear of its consequences. During her time, a woman who became pregnant out of wedlock should be terrified about her plight. It was an accepted norm that children should be born within marriage. Thus, when found pregnant outside marriage, the woman would be forced to leave her home and her family. If she would leave home but had no way of supporting herself, then it would be possible that she would eventually end up as a prostitute. If she would stay, she would be stoned to death the moment people learned about her state.

But Mary was pregnant while betrothed to Joseph, could this mean she would spare her life? No. In ancient Judaism, betrothal was a temporary period between the covenant of marriage itself and the time of living together. Therefore, she was considered legally married to Joseph during such intervening period. The Jewish Law (halakha) forbids a man to continue living with an adulterous wife and he is obliged to divorce her. If found guilty of adultery, the wife would be stoned to death as a punishment. This would be the legal consequence that Mary would suffer when she accepted the call to become the mother of Jesus. Yet Mary accepted to become the mother of Jesus out of her love for God. Because God knew how Mary loved, so she was chosen to mother His only Son. Her love gave her the courage to face what other women of her time feared of –to be stoned to death either for getting pregnant out of wedlock or for being accused of adultery. Mary showed how great her love is as a mother and every mother would be wise to follow her example. She was so disposed to love unconditionally that when the angel appeared to her saying, “You will bear a son,” with deep love she replied, “Let it be done according to your word.”

Today’s Simbang gabi, we pray for all mothers to love God with all their heart and respond to God’s call favorably just like what Mary did. Children are gifts from God, and every mother should know how to love them no matter what the consequence is for having them. Without love, any woman would end her pregnancy in abortion or infanticide. Without love, any woman would not care for her unborn child; never would she bother to give the child proper medical check-ups. Worst, she would not avoid smoking, drinking liquors or any drugs which could have a harmful effect to the child. She would avoid the burden of motherhood or lone parenting. We thus pray today to God to bestow His grace to all mothers, to overshadow them with the Holy Spirit, so that they would not find their life with their children burdensome. May Mama Mary be their guide as a mother. Amen.