"... Given Up for You."

I adeptly tucked my newborn into place at the back of the Church, cries of hunger easing along with my own stress levels, just in time for the elevation of the host. Score. Breastfeeding during the Consecration. Expert Catholic mom status = achieved. I was getting pretty good at this, and I loved it.

One short week later, we emerge from the family bathroom in the vestibule, both of us tousled, splashed, irritated, and messy. And I realize as we barge loudly back into the sanctuary, I am too late for the entire Communion line. Like Jesus is back in the tabernacle and everyone else is kneeling down in peace and quiet. Dang it. How could breastfeeding have totally made me miss my reception of the Eucharist? Catholic mom status? I guess I traded that card in for a season pass on the struggle-bus.

While simultaneously frustrating and funny, both of these experiences, and many more, have led me to a contemplation of motherhood and the Eucharist; what the two have in common, and what they can help us learn about each of them.

“Taste and see… this is My Body given up for you.”

While this well-known Eucharistic line takes on a unique perspective for the breastfeeding mom, Jesus’s words can resonate for all mothers. After all, moms have given up their very bodies for at least nine months to carry and nurture their little ones. And even after birth, the toll on a woman’s body continues: sleep deprivation, constant hormonal and bodily changes, not to mention the amount of spit-up that manages to get all over the place on a shockingly regular basis.

But I think there’s an even greater comparison to be drawn here. For at it’s heart, motherhood is all about self-gift and self-sacrifice.

All the nighttime hours spent awake, every poopy diaper changed, every disgusting load of laundry run, every life-lesson taught, every hard discipline given, every meal cooked, every prayer whispered. Most of these actions being performed in the hiddenness of a home, never to be seen or acknowledged for their worth. Sacrifice and self-gift are the daily make-up of a mom’s life.

Being a mom is hard. Because sacrifice and self-gift are hard things! But thankfully we are not alone.

A mom can find the perfect example of this attitude in the person of Jesus: His birth, life, death, Resurrection, and continual presence in the Eucharist. All a radical giving of self.

All of Christ’s life, words, and actions were oriented toward those around Him. He was always pouring out Himself into the people surrounding Him. He was always choosing to sacrifice and give of Himself for the sake of those He loved. Never seeking anything in return. Never doing it for the praise or recognition. Just giving and giving, whether it was received or not. And this wasn’t only how He acted in the Gospels, this is how His heart continues to work today!

Because, self-gift is love. And Jesus loves.

Aaaaaand so do moms.

So I’m not saying that moms are Jesus. And I’m not saying that cleaning up throw-up at two in the morning is equivalent to the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. And I’m also definitely not saying that you have to be a mom in order to participate in radical gift of self. We are all called to it, no matter our vocation or state in life. But what I am saying, is that in the day in and day out of mom life, moms are able to share a beautiful intimacy with Jesus and His radical gift of self.

Motherhood, if united with Jesus, albeit in my non-infallible lay opinion, offers a sure path to sainthood.

So whether breastfeeding allows me to deeply contemplate the Eucharist, or accidentally keeps me from receiving Him, He understands. He understands deeply.

He has given more for you than you’ve given to your kids.

He has given more out of love for you than you could possibly imagine.