For Our Mothers For all mothers, in whom we were fearfully and wonderfully made; who cradled us under their hearts; who suffered sickness, swollen feet, and our prenatal kicking; let us give thanks to the Lord. For Eve, the mother of us all, in whose womb all our human stories begin; the first mother to spill tears from a broken heart onto the soil of her child’s grave; let us give thanks to the Lord. For Mary, the mother of our Lord, who believed the word of God preached to her by an angel; from whose breasts the Creator himself was nourished; whose heart was pierced to see her Son die and leaped with joy to see him alive again; let us give thanks to the Lord. For stepmothers, who love and care for another woman’s child as her own; for grandmothers and great-grandmothers, who pass on wisdom and spoil little ones with prodigal grace; let us give thanks to the Lord. For all mothers, young and old, in whose bodies the astonishing miracle of human life has its genesis; without whom none of us would live; from whom many of us learned what sacrificial love truly is; let us give thanks to the Lord. Happy Mother’s Day! Thanks be to God for you all.

We say, “I can’t go on.” Jesus says, “I will hold you so you can.” We say, “But I don’t think I can even believe that.” Jesus says, “Even when you are faithless, I will be faithful to you.” We say, “But I feel so alone.” Jesus says, “I am Immanuel, God-with-you, God-never-leaving-your-side.” We say, “But what’s the point? My life is over.” Jesus says, “I am your life. And I am never over.” We say, “But look at what I’ve done. I’m dirty.” Jesus says, “Look at what I’ve done for you. I have taken your dirt and smeared it all over me. You are clean, I am filthy. See me dirty on the cross. See you clean beneath it.” We say, “Nobody wants me.” Jesus says, “I want you—desperately, lovingly, crazily, I want you.” All I want for Christmas is a God like that.