Remembering Mothers

My mother Mary Cassar in a photo back in 1988

As we remember and celebrate Mothers Day, I look back to remember my own mother and two grandmothers. My paternal grandmother Maria Cassar died in 1950, aged 66, before I was born, and so I don’t remember her at all, but I do have a picture of her from the 1920s. My maternal grandmother Rosina Scicluna I remember pretty well as she died aged 89 in 1996 and spent a lot of time at her house, which was like my second home as a child. My own mother Mary passed away in 2010, just a day before her 81st birthday. May God give them all eternal rest in heaven.

Paternal grandmother Maria Cassar

I share a prayer I wrote and used at my Masses this weekend:

On this beautiful day when we remember all mothers, we pray for those still among us, that You Lord, may give them the strength and courage to continue the noble work of creating worthy citizens for our world and our church. May they find collaboration from their husbands, respect from their children and admiration from those who know them and work with them.

We pray also today for those mothers who have left us into eternal life, and are reaping the fruits of their labors and suffering they endured while still among us. Give them the eternal rest they deserve and may we remember them and what they created during their lifetime, and reward them for the many sacrifices they accomplished for all of us. And on their example may the mothers of today be role models for their children, as we ask your blessing on all mothers present, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Maternal grandmother Rosina Scicluna