Cecilia Galatolo
Every mother, even the most loving and dedicated to her children, goes through dark times, in which she feels the weight of her condition. She lives in a state perhaps ashamed and overwhelmed by thoughts she would not like to have.
It happens – sometimes – that one is not able to appreciate life as a mother.
Maybe there was a strong desire to have children to take care of: how many times we imagined playing with them, teaching them the difference between right and wrong, to explain why it’s good to say thank you and ask for forgiveness… to conquer their fears and overcome their failures, and then encourage them to continue on their journey?
But since the dream has come true, however, there has probably been no shortage of days in which we felt could no longer be spent with the family.
Discouragement, fatigue, external distractions often dry us up and prevent us from appreciating the great gift that has been given to us.
Who, then, more than a God who is love, and who lives with us all our sufferings and hardships, can help us again find enthusiasm, strength, and joy of giving life?
He can change our eyes when we can no longer look at the family with love.
He can give us the strength to start this difficult path again after every fall.
He revives us whenever the love for life dies out, that love which, as a wife and mother, we have accepted to travel.
I would then like to share with all the moms a letter written to God, a prayer of petition and thanksgiving, written to help me regain the joy of serving my children, when I am tired and I would just like to flee from my life.
Lord,
You see me, and you know me.
You know my strengths and weaknesses in character.
You know my temptations.
You know what impedes me from being a good mother.
You know my worries and my fears.
I ask to you, who are infinite love, to help me to love my children with
all of my being.
When I see them as a weight, help me to see them as precious gifts.
When I am bored with them, help me to find new ways to spend quality time with them.
When I am losing my patience, give me the calm necessary to do what is right.
When I don’t know how to appreciate their goals, their smiles, their sweetness, give me the light to look at them the way you look at them.
If I miss freedom, show me that they are worth the sacrifice.
If I feel alone, remind me that it is an honor to spend time together with the children.
If I am tempted to believe that there are other priorities in respect to that of being a mom, show me the great privilege and enormous responsibility that I have to watch over human lives.
If tiredness prevails, give me strength.
If the want to escape overcomes me, give me the joy to remain.
If I should want to scream, give me inner peace.
If I can’t wait for time to pass and that they’ve grown, give me the ability to appreciate every moment.
If I feel unable and not used to being a mom, make me the best mother that I can be for my children.
If I spend more time complaining that giving thanks, change me.
If I am overwhelmed and I no longer commit myself to rejoice for the lives of my children, give me a new joy, which can flourish in my face and in my gestures even when I am demotivated.
If anguish and sadness dwell in my heart, give me the ability to offer you those states of mind so that you can change them into hope and serenity.
If my children require more energy than I am able to give, be the strength I lack.
If my personal limits prevent me from doing my duties as a good mother, fill the void I leave in them with my failings.
If I cannot motivate, stimulate, or educate my children, as they deserve, correct me.
If I cannot appreciate the gift of my family, open my heart to fill it with gratitude.
If I do not know how to always be a teammate of my husband, remind me that in marriage we have become allies.
If the support between us dies and our gestures become mechanical, help us to rediscover our vocation as father and mother.
If we cannot face difficulties as a couple, renew in us the strength of the sacrament of marriage that has made us become one.
And then I tell you, thank you, Lord: because with motherhood you made me participate in creation.
Thank you because you trusted me and put precious human lives in my hands.
Thank you for giving me the ability to see my mistakes and start all over again.
Thank you for my family and for your presence among us.
