In years past, the matriarch was responsible for transmitting the faith as well as instilling discipline and moulding the minds of all the children under her authority. 

In modern times, there has been a shift away from this model. Now, both parents are at work and the matriarch - who may have been the grandmother of the children - now lives away from them, or may herself be at work.

Whose hand then is rocking the cradle? Who is exercising maternal care, governance and rule over our nation's children? And what about all the tenets of morality, codes of behaviour, wisdom and goodness that our grandmothers and great-grandmothers exemplified? Have they been eroded by the passage of time?

Today, society is witnessing the failure or inability of many mothers to discipline, guide, inspire and mould their children into the beings that Almighty God created them to be. 

Ecclesiasticus 3:2 states: “ The Lord honours the father above his children and upholds the rights of a mother over her sons .” Why do so many mothers not uphold their rights over their children? They mollycoddle, spoil, indulge, fail to correct and excuse their children's unacceptable behaviour and are often poor exemplars. Many are guilty of the abominable sin of parental delinquency. Our children reproduce the good and the bad that they witness in the home environment. 

How can the mother once more become the buttress, the strong foundation upon which the family is built?

Every mother needs to be clear about what she wants for her children and the importance of their contribution to society. She must understand what is acceptable behaviour and what is not in God's eyes. A thorough examination of conscience that seeks to find out how and where she is failing in the upbringing of her children has to form part of the practice of motherhood.

The true vine

Mothers must pray, above all, for God's wisdom and guidance. Jesus, the Son of God, expresses, in his own person the need to rely on him. He speaks to all mothers when he says in this Sunday's Gospel: “ I am the true vine - Make your home in me, as I make mine in you ” (John 15: 1-4). He gives a warning — “ cut off from me you can do nothing ” — but makes a great promise: “ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask what you will and you shall get it ” (John 15: 5, 7).

Christian families need to consider particular ways by which they might make the home truly Christian. Today, when alternatives to this lifestyle are made even more attractive, or the Christian support systems outside the home may be lacking, greater effort is needed in the home to maintain sound Christian principles. More has to be done in the home to counter the secularism and materialism rampant in our society.

Mother's Day calls all Christian mothers to be like Mary, to ponder within their hearts the revelations that the Heavenly Father has given them in the gift of their children. May they, with the fathers of their children, be courageous in shielding their offspring from those worldly powers that would seek to devour and destroy them. 

With the confidence that comes with remaining connected to “ the true vine ”, may they also be accepting of God's will for their children and unafraid to allow them to chart their own course in life, knowing that they have received and carry within them the greatest gift of all — the love of God.

Jean Boyce belongs to the parish of Holy Trinity, Arouca. She is the mother of four, two boys and two girls, and is a First Communion catechist. She is a former principal of St Finbar's Girls' RC, Arouca.