Mothers: Closer to Christ (Part 2)
>>> series continued from Mothers: Closer to Christ (Part 1)
Some Thoughts on Motherhood’s First 3 Crosses
“The Virgin Nursing the Child" by Pompeo Batoni, 1760-1780
It is within the sacred journey of motherhood that a mother comes to know Jesus most intimately. For motherhood is a thin veil wound tightly around the cross. The mysteries of His love soak its very fabric. Each rip, each protruding sliver, is a chance to be patterned in Christ.
Pregnancy is a mother’s first cross, first opportunity to unite herself to Christ by way of His Passion. From its earliest seconds, we are invited to embody the haunting words of Jesus at the Last Supper:
“This is my body which is given for you” (Luke 22:19)
For in pregnancy, we—like Christ—are called to give our very own flesh and blood for the sake of the stranger who is also our beloved child. We know that his or her only path to life is through our body, our sacrifice. We accept this cup, in love and trust, from His very hands.
Through the 40 sanctifying weeks of pregnancy, we are permitted many chances to imitate Christ. We find ourselves in the garden of uncertainty and waiting—if not also agony. We accept that our body may never be the same again, as it stretches and swells into a dome of hope and life, a shelter for the homeless. We bear each splinter, each thorn, each hidden humiliation and complication of the cross of pregnancy for the sake of our beloved stranger-child. We know what awaits us as we waddle-trudge up the steep, last weeks of pregnancy toward the Calvary of childbirth.
In labor, the second cross of motherhood, we suffer willingly for our child, as He did for us. Our body is splayed in pain. We cry out, we give up. The temple of our body reacts violently—tearing, shaking, splitting.
“And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Matthew 27:50-51)
But then, the crosses of pregnancy and childbirth yield their mystery. The pain, blood and agony concede to a new and profound glory. The fruit of our suffering, hidden for so long, breaks through. We cradle our beloved child—no longer a stranger—in our arms. New life has been borne of the cross. Our joy is complete.
Could there be a more perfect extension of the mystery of Christ's love? Would we not endure it all again for the sake of this one, precious life?
And even as we savor this moment, He prepares us for the next. We reach immediately for the third cross of motherhood: breastfeeding. In this most intimate and maternal imitation of Jesus and the Eucharist, we offer our body as the source of life for our child. Our heart and lips echo His words,
“Take, eat; this is my body” (Matthew 26:26)
We do everything we can to encourage our child to nurse, to eat. For months, even years, we continue to give up our body to nurture and sustain our child, even as we, ourselves, are cold, hungry, exhausted, distressed, vulnerable. We are stretched, like a thin skin, over the cross of motherhood. But we persist—for our child, for Him.
And over time, almost imperceptibly, our cross crumbles into bloom. Another mystery of maternity is revealed. Somewhere in the suffering we were transformed: motherhood hurts less.
For now there exists a sacred space—a pillowed nest between our arms and heart—to which our child chooses to return in search of warmth, food, rest, comfort, safety. And we find that this space, when occupied by our child, brings us a certain, inexplicable kind of joy.
As we wrap our arms around our child, do we not parallel His love? For does He not wish for our heads to fall in the exact same spot on His chest—just above His heart—that His arms may pull us in, too?
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
>>> this series continued in… Mothers: Closer to God (Part 3)
