Mothers Are Reclaiming Motherhood

By Mary Cassatt - The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH., Public Domain, Link

Curious about full-time mothers,  a journalist once interviewed me for an article on Mother’s Day, she asked me if I ever regretted not using my degree to pursue a career. I simply stared at her in shock for a few moments, my mind blank. “No,” I finally stuttered, “the thought never entered my mind.” It was then the journalist’s turn to stare at me in shock for a few minutes.

Even though my article merely shared a humorous peek into my hectic life, half of the ninety comments had to be deleted after publication. Many comments were angry, profane attacks. Obviously, a pro-life feminist stance strikes a raw nerve in society, a symptom of a decades-old battle between the pro-choice and pro-life camps. Ironically both sides fight for the equality and dignity of women.

 In the face of this dilemma, I wrote an anthology with four other Catholic women about the pain and joy of reclaiming a sense of dignity as a mother in today’s society called Love Rebel: Reclaiming Motherhood.

Though I often still cringe under disapproval from society, I understand my children saved me by compelling me to dive deeper into my spirit, discovering the power of eternal Love at my core. God’s Love stands strong against all opposition.

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One day when I was in a panic, worrying I was pregnant with my fifth, I sensed these words within about my call to be a mother.

This is your call

This is your vocation

This is your witness to the world.

Mothers Have a Vocation

I can honestly say  I am joyful because I answered a particular call to mother a large family. Many small experiences kept reinforcing the truth; God called each of our children into being with our cooperation. I stumbled blindly at times and then a burst of clarity would shine a light on my purpose as I lived out my calling as a mother of a large family.

Motherhood is a choice women should be free to make without feeling ostracized. Society is building a false narrative by looking down on a woman’s most sacred, natural role. Mothers can be feminists with a pro-life call, vocation, and witness to the world.

Copyright 2017 Melanie Jean Juneau