Here’s a good question for us to consider on this Mother’s Day:

What would you say about a man who constantly criticizes his own mother?

What would you say about such a person?

If you’re a mother you’d probably say, "Thank God he’s not my son!"

But doesn’t this accurately describe the relationship some Catholics have with their holy Mother, the Church?

As those in the secular press will gleefully remind us, many Catholics today refer to the Church "hopelessly out-of-touch" and "old-fashioned." They rarely, if ever, say "Thank you" to God for the Church—the Church through which they’ve experienced the grace of salvation.

The man I described a few moments ago focused exclusively on his mother’s faults when he spoke to his friends about her. The Church, of course, doesn’t sin, because she’s the Body of Christ; but the sad fact is that over the years many of her members have sinned grievously. These sins are what some Catholics will focus on almost exclusively whenever the Church comes up in conversation, completely ignoring the love, the forgiveness and the other blessings they’ve received through her. Then they’ll go on to boast of their disobedience to her teachings with respect to artificial contraception and other matters of personal morality. Far from being embarrassed about these sins, they’re actually proud of them (as the fictitious man I described earlier was proud of the many ways he had disobeyed and defied his earthly mother).

And, let’s face it, the recent scandals involving some bad priests have only exacerbated the problem! If these baptized Catholics were somewhat negative before, they’re extremely negative now.

A loving child, needless to say, has a very different attitude toward his earthly mother (if she be a good mother). His attitude is more realistic, and consequently more positive. So too a good Catholic has a much more positive attitude toward his holy Mother, the Church.

Three words, I would say, summarize his attitude: honesty, love and prayer.

When it comes to Holy Mother Church, good Catholics are first of all honest. We admit—as the Holy Father has done in recent years—that some of our brothers and sisters in the family of God have committed terrible sins over the centuries. We don’t deny that fact; that is to say we don’t try to defend the indefensible. But if we’re going to be completely honest, then we also need to boldly assert a frequently ignored truth: that many more sons and daughters of the Church have done wonderful things over the last 2,000 years, motivated specifically by their Catholic faith.

I think, for example, of the goodness and charity of so many people right here in our own parish. Two weeks ago Fr. Maynard was here seeking sponsors for poor children in third world countries, and dozens of you responded. Our Monday night novena to St. Jude has raised enough money in recent years to build a whole village for the needy down in Haiti. Through our Gabriel Project some young mothers in Westerly have been helped (and are being helped) through very difficult pregnancies. These are just a few of the good things people in our community are doing because of their faith. Their Catholic Christianity is the primary motivator for their good works. And we’re just one parish out of thousands and thousands throughout the world! This is not to mention the extraordinary children produced by Mother Church over the centuries—people like St. Francis of Assisi and St. Therese of Lisieux, and, in our own day, Mother Teresa and John Paul II.

In today’s first reading we hear how the apostles and the Blessed Mother went to the upper room after the Ascension to pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit—the gift Jesus had promised to give them. This was the Church about to be born at Pentecost; in other words, this was the Church in utero. And, as we all know, once the Spirit descended upon these apostles, they went out in the name of Mother Church and healed the sick, expelled demons, preached the Gospel and brought the whole world the grace of salvation. All this good was done—and is still being done—in the name of our great spiritual Mother. So let’s be honest about all this, as well as about the sins of a few Judases over the years.

And let’s also be honest by admitting that most of the problems in the Church today—and throughout the centuries—have been rooted in disobedience! Sons and daughters of the Church—both clerical and lay—have not listened to their Mother and followed her instruction. For example, if the priests who caused these recent scandals had been living the way Holy Mother Church instructed them to live, they would not have committed these terribly evil acts.

This honesty of ours should have the practical effect of deepening our love for our spiritual Mother. The new Catechism reminds us that "outside the Church, there is no salvation." The Church is the Body of Christ here on earth, and Christ is the only source of salvation. Thus if a person is saved (even if he’s not a card-carrying Catholic), he’s saved through the grace that comes into the world from Christ through the Church. Is there any more valid reason for loving the Church? I can’t think of any!

Honest—love—now prayer:

Here on earth the Church always needs prayer, since its members haven’t been brought to perfection yet. This, interestingly enough, is the message contained in the prayer I will say after communion at today’s Mass. It caught my eye as I was preparing this homily. It reads as follows: "God our Savior, hear us, and through this holy mystery give us hope that the glory you have given Christ will be given to the Church, his body . . ."

And let’s remember, whenever we pray for the Church we’re doing what Jesus did; we’re following the example he gives us in today’s Gospel text from John 17. Here our Lord, on the night before he died, prays for his disciples. He says, "[Father] . . . I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because they are yours." Then a few lines later he adds these words: "I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word . . ."

That’s us! That’s the Church in 2002 and in every age.

A loving child says to his good earthly mother, "Mom, I know you’re not perfect, but I’m incredibly grateful to you for all you’ve done for me, and I love you dearly. And I also pray for you every day, because I want you to be perfect, as Jesus wants you to be perfect."