Today we celebrate the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. Scripture presents some very clear aspects of Mary and some that have confused readers. On this first day after celebrating Pentecost, we are retaken to the upper room where the disciples have gathered along with “some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.” Here we see Mary in her fidelity to her son’s mission, but some may ask, “Jesus had brothers?” No, the term brothers refer to extended family members and others close to Mary. We have also seen confusion about the relationship between Mary and Jesus. Some will quote the scripture verse where a child says to him, “Your mother is here, trying to see you,” and he answers, “Who is my mother?” Then, pointing to the people sitting around him, he says, “Those who hear the word of God and keep it are mother and brother and sister to me.” Is Jesus distancing himself from his mother here? No. He’s pointing out the fundamental link between them. Among all the people in the gospels, Mary is the preeminent example of the one who hears the word of God and keeps it. For this reason, more than because of biological motherhood, Jesus claims her as his mother. Giving birth to Christ is something more than biological. The love of a mother is the veil of a softer light between the heart and the heavenly Father. “Mother” is one word that cannot be defined in a single phrase. That one word embodies all the love a human being could offer. These beautiful thoughts on motherhood are appropriate today as the Church celebrates Mary, the Mother of the Church, the Mother of purity and chastity, the Mother who understands human suffering, and the preeminent Mother of the Poor. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is the mother of humanity.