Introduction
Mothers are special gifts and deserve to be celebrated. Even though our Igbo women are always ready to play their roles in the family through service in the kitchen and otherwise, they remain highly respectable people. Husbands should not beat their wives. Let children never forget the intrinsic tie of relationship that existed between them and their mothers. May our mothers remain very respectable and honorable through their natural maternal cares and love to humanity, because a good mother has no duplicate and deserves to be celebrated for so many reasons which this simple paper has come to reveal.
In general mothers are lovely and have a great influence. In a great book titled ‘The Anatomy of Female Powers”, it was made clear that we all took after our mothers, not only by being their flesh and blood, but also through their motherly care. As a matter of fact, that book made it clear that the way we look, speak, walk and think at times are related to the nature of the motherly nurture we received from the time of our birth. Up till today, some people still believe that their nose shape, mouth shape, sitting posture etc, were reshaped for the better by their sweet mums. All these have caused uncontrollable love for mothers. I remember when we were in Primary Schools, it was noticeable that many fights arose whenever any child was insulted by just saying ‘ Your Mother’. Many middle school teachers know what I am saying even more than me. In short, deep love for mothers is an instinct.
Mothering Sunday is a day set apart to honour our mothers and motherhood. In a document titled “The History of Mother’s Day”, it was noted that the celebrations of Mother’s day started in the U.S by a woman called Anna Jarvis from the West Virginia. It stated as a celebration in honour of her mothers’ numerous hard work and determined spirit. In the same vein, Mother’s day or Mothering Sunday in the U.K and Ireland is a day to show love, gratitude, and appreciation to all wonderful mums no matter where they may be, through numerous acts of kindness and giving of gifts. At other places like Nigeria it connotes religious undertones and celebrations of the graces and virtues of motherhood.
In the Igbo Nigerian culture, mothers are highly respected. Once upon a time there was a disregard for educating women in formal schooling which would have marred womanhood in Igboland, but thank God it never succeeded. From times immemorial, Igbos do big ceremonies at burials of important people. It is evident that the burials of mothers are always considered one of the most difficult and the most ceremonious. Amongst other things it is expected to send a big cow to the mother’s birthplace to kick off those burial rituals. All these indicate and underline the importance of women in Igbo culture..
This work will not be complete if we refuse to mention women and the importance of marriage in Nigerian Igboland. Just like in the bible, marriage from the early times has been considered very important inside the Igbo world. Women cry a lot if they are not married. Their mothers cry too. The original Igbo culture doesn’t seem to have an enviable place for an unmarried girl or lady. The pressure is so high that I am even part of the group that would encourage an Igbo girl to make any possible and positive effort not to remain unmarried, unless if called to the religious life. In our culture women are most honourable as validly married mothers.
Be that as it may things have changed. We have many girls today who are not making enough effort to be in their husband’s place. Mothers should take note. In a day like this, our mothers are reminded to mentor young ladies and direct them in this regard. The earlier the better. Let young ladies know that married life is a mortal union, so it’s not going to be perfect. Let them manage and not be too fast to judge that love has waned or died. Let young married men also realize that their Angelic wife is a mortal angel and not really the one in heaven. May they know that imperfections may arise and this does not mean that their angel is no more what she used to be. Let our mothers always stand by the side of ladies who were not able to give birth as at when expected. I have personally noticed that many marital crises begin when this happens. Let our mother in-laws check on this and be more merciful.
Up till today, Nigeria remains with poverty related problems. Let young ladies never imagine that their divine gift of beauty is for buy and sale. No , our bodies remain sacred as the temples of the holy spirit. Let our honorable mothers win over so much challenged girls with love. You can imagine the great quantity of love which our Lord Jesus has for our flirting girls so much that He has warned that if we don’t take time that even harlots can enter the kingdom before us( Ref: Mathew. 21: 31). Therefore, on this day our good standing women can think about one or two families with these type of girls and win them back to Jesus through love, gifts and mentorship where it is possible. Totally sex arousing dressings could be discouraged by knowing what the problem is in the first place. By all means let poverty never push us to harlotry for whatever reason. This concerns both girls as well as young ladies whose husbands are no more. A well-endowed woman can go to heaven for intervening positively to avoid such lives that may drag us so low beyond our desires. Great mothers should continue to teach that our bodies are the temples of the holy spirit (Ref: 1 Corr. 6:19-20)
It has always occurred to me that God first desired the elevation and celebration of women by elevating Mary as the Most Blessed mother of God; because Jesus Christ is both Lord and God as the bible says. Based on this premise, I can now proudly say that the holy virgin Mary is a worthy model for all mothers. Indeed, our holy mother Mary is efficiently worthy to play this role for all mothers in the Christendom. In a book titled Pastoral Care for Women, Rev. Sr. Doreen Okolie revealed the reasons: “Mary is a woman of great worth. She is the mother of God.She lived like anyone of us. She struggled like any of us.During her earthly life, she was faced with the daily challenges of life filled with labours and the cares of the home like every mother.” Yet amid all these she remained exemplary and even became more dignified by doing her works well.
Let it be remarked immediately that mothers are made greater by their children. Our blessed mother Mary is what she is today because of the type of quality son she had. Likewise, all mothers should have to be mindful of the types of sons and daughters they produce. In general parents become greater through the quality of their children. Do we again need to remind mothers to be mindful of how they train their children, because the future of the family lies in their hands? Mothering Sunday is a day to remember that It is mothers that give birth to Bishops, Presidents of countries and heads ofvery important associations. Mothers give birth to Rev. Fathers, Knights, Ladies and doctors. May their efforts to bring up quality leaders with conscience and love never wane. On another note, childadoption remains a credible option for our unmarried ladies without children. We plead that adoption possibilities quench the worries of their weary hearts. During my “fidei donum” experience in Rome, Pope Francis, on a feast day of St Joseph conscientized all unmarried men and women to try to father or mother someone as the case may be.Thus they can contribute positively to the building and sustenance of humanity, to the greater glory of God.
Here in our Catholic Diocese of Aba, it is surprising how mothers contribute towards the feeding of their priests. They task themselves without minding anything to see that their priests are fed well. This happens in even the village Parishes where the inhabitants have little or nothing. We are grateful. Another surprise from the Christian Mothers is how they manage to win almost all the groups in contributing for the success of the Diocesan Cathedraticum. This has constantly repeated itself before my eyes and I am personally amazed. I have personally imagined that this kind of generosity could even be sufficient to send many of them to heaven as a result of the level of commitment. Kudos to all our Igbo mothers.
Conclusion
I conclude by saying that all children should respect their mothers. It is clear that many 21st century children don’t allow their mothers to know their way about especially when their way about is untraditional. Let children realize that they always have the support of their beloved mothers for every good and worthy venture they may like to undertake. It is here recommended that children remember their mas and grandmas at their old age. It is a source of blessing and right sense to do that. It is totally out of place to see someone bite the fingers that fed him or her. So mothers remain very dignified in our hearts and minds. Mothers are highly encouraged for every good work they do in the family and in the church. I totally agree with the fact that good mothers can make good thing multiply.
BY REV. FR. Dr EUGENE ALOZIE
Retrievable from the website: www.eugenicanthology.com
References
Chinweizu (1990). Anatomy of Female Power. Retrieved from www.goodreads.com, on 25/03/24
Oklie D. M. (2021). Pastoral Care of Women, Lagos: Marco Concepts Publishers
The History of Mothers’ Day (n.d). Retrieved from www.findmeaning.co.uk, on 23/3/24
The Holy Bible