Mothering Sunday

The relationship between mother and son is a complex one:

As a biologist I can't help liking this next video by Adam Cole:

Cole says his mom loved the song (though she loved the macaroni necklace he made her in kindergarten too), and his dad, who’s also a biologist, was very understanding:

“He knows that my love for him is not proportional to the biological effect he had on my genetics and development.”

Lyrics:
To make one me you just add
Half of mom and half of dad
That is what I once believed
But I know now that I was wrong
I got so much more from you mom
Than just half a set of genes
I got nutrients and transcription factors
and nearly everything that matters
plus my prenatal environment (transplacental inheritance)
mRNA, mitochondria,
That back in the day once belonged to ya (they're cytoplasmic)
and I just want to thank for supplying them

Just like two strands of DNA are spirally entwined
Your nature and your nurture are inspiringly combined
Scientists remind me and I find that it is true
Slightly more than half of everything I am is thanks to you

Mitochondria power my cells
and they have DNA as well
Transcription factors modulate transcription
And since theyre in the cytoplasm
The eggs the only one that has em
and sperm I guess they dont have much ambition

My sex determination gene means that Im a guy
From you I got my X chromosome, from Dad I got my Y
X has over a thousand genes, Y has less than 92
Thats why more than half of everything I am is thanks to you

I roomed in your womb for nine whole months and never paid the rent
Your glucocorticoids shaped my hypothalamic development
I took in your blood and sucked it dry of every nutrient (its gross but true)
Sometimes I wonder where the time went (where did it go)
Sometimes I wonder where it went

I know Ill never understand all you have done for me (Im not that smart)
But since you paid for college Ill get my B. S. degree (bachelor of science)
And I have learned its not BS but absolutely true
Slightly more than half of everything I am is thanks to you.

That bushy-bearded man who pops in toward the end of the next video with a few seconds of a lecture on inheritance is Stanford biology professor Robert Sapolsky.

and here the relationship of a son to his mother is expressed beautifully in extracts of the poem " Clearances"  by Seamus Heaney.

So what of the relationship of Jesus the son to Mary His mother ?

Click here for Ron Rolheiser' article On Mary Standing Under The Cross.

The theologian Constance Parvey draws special attention to the fact that Mary is seen as "a sharing woman seeking out Elizabeth to tell the news of her pregnancy; as being in the tradition of prophecy; neglected by her son in favour of his mission; and as a disciple journeying in partnership with Jesus along with other women and men. '

Then we witness her profound grief at the death of her child under the judgement of religious and political powers, her faithfulness to follow him to the tomb, and the divine gift bestowed upon her to be a witness of the resurrection of the "flesh of her flesh, the bone of her bone".' 

Here is no model of submission and subordination, but someone fully living out her partnership with God."

Mother of God: below an audio/visual presentation with art, pictures, and quotes :

                                                                Mary Did You Know ?

Mass readings and reflections for the Fourth Sunday of Lent ( Laetare Sunday and Mothering Sunday are here