This Mother’s Day, give the gift of time

We are bombarded with commercialism telling us what extravagant gifts to buy for our mother on Mother’s Day, but it’s much simpler than that. Flowers or gifts to show appreciation for your mom are great, however, “I’ll bet you, if you could tally all the moms in the world, the thing they would like the most is time with their children. I don’t know that for a fact, but I’m speaking from my mommy heart. They look for the calls, the visits,” says Marge Fenelon, speaker, author, and regular contributor to Morning Air.

It’s no different from our Blessed Mother, who also desires our time and attention. Just as you call, send flowers, and visit your mother on Mother’s Day, we shouldn’t forget to do the same for our Mother Mary. Here are some ways to celebrate her this Sunday:

Learn more about her. Look up some of her various titles and learn more about her apparitions and messages. Memorize a new Marian hymn, prayer, or devotion. Read about her in scripture. Show her that you care by knowing her better.

Visit her. Find a Marian shrine in your area and spend time to go visit her there. If you don’t have a shrine near you, go to venerate her image at your local parish or in your home. (And if you don’t have a picture of your Blessed Mother in your home, it’s time to put one up!) While you’re there, give her the time and attention you would give to your own mother and speak with her.

Give her a call. “We have so many beautiful devotions in our Catholic faith, and I certainly don’t want to discount those in any way, but there’s nothing like a one-on-one with our Mother Mary,” said Fenelon. Pray a Rosary, Memorare, or Regina Caeli. Or, if you prefer, simply sit and talk—and listen—to your Blessed Mother. She desires a personal relationship with you and wants to lead you closer to her Son.

From all of us at Relevant Radio, Happy Mother’s Day! We offer our prayers for all mothers – including adoptive moms, birth moms, godmothers, aunts, grandmothers, women suffering from miscarriage or infertility, post-abortive moms, women religious, and all other mother figures in our lives! May God bless you and your important work!

Lindsey is a wife, mother, and contributing author at Relevant Radio. She holds a degree in Journalism and Advertising from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Lindsey enjoys writing, baking, and liturgical living with her young family.