The Heart of A Mother
This Mother’s Day, May 14, we celebrate the beautiful and unparalleled bond between mothers and their children. The holiday is rooted in the early Christian festival “Mothering Sunday,” where the faithful would return to their “mother church” — the main church near their home — for a special service.
Our mother church, the global Unification movement led by our beloved True Parents, honors our Heavenly Parent and embraces all of God’s children. True Mother describes motherhood as “a flower called sacrifice” in her memoir, Mother of Peace (2020), where she defines how the mother builds the family, and the family builds the world. As we honor our mothers and the mother figures in our lives this Mother’s Day, let’s remember their critical role throughout human history. Below is an excerpt from Chapter 8 of Mother of Peace.
Excerpt:
"I love you." These are the sweetest words. They are the first words, because through love all life begins. But human beings can speak these words either responsibly or irresponsibly. God also gave animals the power to multiply through love. Animals search for a partner with whom to bear and raise offspring. But they differ from us in that for them, love is instinctual and they are not responsible to make moral decisions related to love. For human beings, in contrast to animals, love is accompanied by responsibility. Love practiced with moral responsibility is what we call "true love."
A husband and wife who believe in the sanctity of love and fulfill their responsibility accordingly are practicing true love. Through their love, God creates a nest of happiness. True love makes us true husbands and wives who, after giving birth to sons and daughters, grow to become true parents. The saying, "When one's home is harmonious, all goes well," is a truth of the highest value; it was true in the past, it is true today, and it will be true in the future. True love is the most important factor in creating a happy family...
When true parents, true spouses, and true children form a peaceful family, happiness follows naturally. Harmony is created when parents, children and grandchildren unite in heart. No matter what difficulties come, the parents' heart of love for their sons and daughters and the grandparents' heart of love for their grandchildren should never change…
Children of true filial piety are those who sacrifice for their parents just as their parents have sacrificed for them. Before striving to be a loyal patriot, each person must first become a filial child before his or her parents and a sibling who sacrifices for his or her brothers and sisters...
The family is the world's most important institution, and Heavenly Parent created it to be the environment of the greatest happiness and goodness... There is an old saying in the West, "Behind every great man is a great woman." It is true. The wife is necessary for the completion and perfection of the husband. Without his wife, a husband cannot be whole. A society in which womanhood does not complete and perfect manhood cannot give rise to a peaceful and just world. Women need to fulfill the mission of the wife as well as the mission of the mother. Both are essential to create a peaceful and just world.
You can share the gift of True Mother’s memoir this Mother’s Day available here.