Mothers see Blessed Mother as role model

But she feels she has a lot in common with the mother of one son who lived in a simple home in Nazareth 2,000 years ago.

The Blessed Mother is "a great role model," said Mrs. Clement, the mother of six children, ranging in age from 11 months to 12 years. "She is so calm and peaceful."

Mrs. Clement's daily schedule is far from calm. It includes getting up at 6:30, serving breakfast, getting kids out the door for school and doing housework. When the children return from school, homework and story time run from 3 until dinner. The older four children are also on sport teams, which means more running around after dinner.

But Sunday is family day when "we go to Mass together and then have a big breakfast," said the parishioner of St. Catherine of Siena in Albany. "We do a lot as a family."

While Mrs. Clement and her husband Jerome both grew up in large families and are familiar with the hectic pace that accompanies it, there are times when Mrs. Clement needs guidance. That's when she turns to Our Lady.

Mrs. Clement describes herself as a composed person and said her husband has the ability to help her stay that way, but there are times she turns to the Blessed Mother for inspiration.

"In our home, we have spurts when I don't feel 100 percent calm," Mrs. Clement said. "Just thinking of her brings a calm to me."

She is most impressed with the way the Blessed Mother reacted when Jesus was missing (Luke 2:41-51).

"When Jesus was missing for three days, she was calm," Mrs. Clement said. "If she could do the things she could, I can do what I have to. We haven't met anything we couldn't handle."

Kim Kunkel, also a parishioner at St. Catherine's, sees Mary as "the perfect example for us today. She is a very strong yet gentle person. It's what we all want to be."

Mrs. Kunkel is founder of the parish's Women of Mary group. Mrs. Clement is also a member. The group meets every two months for Saturday morning Mass followed by breakfast and discussion.

While Mrs. Kunkel had a devotion to Mary prior to becoming a mother, having four children changed this devotion.

"Everything changed after becoming a mother," she said. "I think about how she was nine months pregnant and put on a donkey. Imagine having a baby in a barn. That was the first thing I thought of when I had my first."

When she and her husband moved across the country, she turned to the Blessed Mother for guidance. "She traveled to Egypt," she said. "We moved from Colorado to New York. We had all of these things to help us; she didn't."

Jane Wingle, the mother of three girls and a member of the Women of Mary group, is thankful for the conveniences of modern life that didn't exist in Mary's day. Caring for a sick child, Mrs. Wingle said, must have been a challenge because "in Mary's time, diseases must have been terribly frightening."

As Mrs. Wingle and her family learn to live with her middle daughter's medical condition, she has turned to the Blessed Mother for support.

"My middle child was diagnosed with epilepsy. She was home [from school] running a temperature when she started to have a seizure," Mrs. Wingle explained. "I said, `Mary help me.'"

She realized that being able to call 911, go to a hospital, and being able to give her daughter anticonvulsants are conveniences the Blessed Mother didn't have.

Besides turning to the Blessed Mother during trying times, Mrs. Wingle turns to Mary in ordinary times as well.

"She's a mother who understands when you make a mistake," Mrs. Wingle said. "I've always been very devoted to the Blessed Mother. She is kind of my advocate with God. Every time I pray [for her to intercede], my prayers are answered. Having my own children brought me closer to Mary. When you become a mother, you can understand more."

(For more information on the Women of Mary group, call St. Catherine of Siena parish at 489-3204 or Kim Kunkel at 459-6953.)

(10-01-98) [[In-content Ad]]