Flowers of Friendship
Thank you for the beautiful flowers, Julie!
Thank you for the Friendship of Motherhood.
M.A.P.S #5

A Mother's Prayer
Contributed by Julie S.
Passionist MIssionaries

I need Your help today.
I want to care for those you've sent into my life,
to help them grow in body, mind and spirit,
to help them develop the special gifts
you've given to them.

But also I want to free them
to follow their own paths
and bring their loving wisdom
to the world.

Help me to embrace them without clutching,
to support them without suffocating,
to correct them without crushing.

And help me to live joyfully and playfully
myself so they can see Your life in me
and find their way to you.
Amen.

A mother's gift is to give life.
But in the daily demands of feeding and forming,
cleaning and cautioning, tending and teaching,
her gift can get lost in the layers.

She needs to remember that her work begins with herself.
To be attentive to others, she must listen to her own heart.
To care for others, she must take time for herself.
To teach self-love to others, she must act lovingly
toward her own body and her time.

If she finds her own sparks,
she will fan them in those around her.
If she frees her own spirit,
she will help others soar.
If she focuses each moment by being wholly present,
she will point the way to holiness and to God.

And if she truly lives,
she will give real life to the world,
not only in her children's bodies,
but in their souls.