It used to be the case that our culture primarily relegated women to the sphere of the kitchen.  In general, people   understood that a woman's place was in the home, raising children and caring for her family, and not so much in the workplace, pursuing a career.  This was confining for many women.  We recognize some achievements of the women's suffrage movement, for example, obtaining women's right to vote, to pursue labor opportunities, and to receive    benefits and the protection of their jobs, after giving birth.  However, on the flip side, many radical feminists have pushed the envelope so far, that many women today feel looked down upon, for bearing more than two (or at most three) children.  And staying at home to raise children is not often promoted in our culture, as an esteemed commitment.  As Christians, we must wholeheartedly   support women in the pursuit of their dreams, regarding education and employment.  Yet we must never underestimate the value of a mother nurturing the life of her children.
  The greatest human values in society are not productivity, power, utility and wealth, all of which may come with a great career.  No the most important values necessary for achieving the common good in any society, are: life, love and worship.  Without these foundational pieces, any   community, or nation, begins to rot from the inside out.  Multitudes of individuals, who survive (for example, are not aborted) in a diseased culture, experience inner turmoil, in large measure, the result of broken family relations and abuse.  And without God's grace, no individual will obtain the healing of his/her deepest wounds, while finding ultimate meaning in life.  Thus it is the case that a mother's task is the most important and weighty career that any mother could choose.  She is invited to be open to life, and to care for her children with love and tenderness.  She is the pillar of emotional support, fostering a family environment of love and communion.  She is profoundly responsible, with her spouse, for leading her children to an encounter with the Triune God.  It is our duty to support mothers in this cherished adventure, with encouragement and prayer.
   For those women who do not receive the gift of bearing children, there remains this spiritual quest of caring for lives (family, friends, neighbors), as a vessel of God's love.  This too, has profound meaning, and eternal consequences.  And for those who did not receive the gift of a loving mother, there remains this wondrous possibility: Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ, is also ordained by God to be our mother.  She can help us attain the healing we need, as a result of being hurt.  All good mothers, including Mary, are icons of the mothering of God: Who nurtures and gives meaning to life, supports families, and tenderly cares for children.  We address the first person of the Trinity as     Father, because this has been revealed to us, as a name as well as a metaphor, yet this does not negate the truth that all women are made in the image of God, and therefore in