“If there is such a thing as a charism of motherhood, my mom has that,” said Bishop Joseph Williams, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. A mother of nine, “she makes it look effortless and she’s joyful in it, and it’s such a gift,” he said.
Bishop Williams recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to discuss his earthly mother and the Blessed Mother in honor of Mother’s Day May 8.
He recalled one of his earliest memories with his mother — sitting in her lap after lunch following a half-day of kindergarten and listening to a song that includes the line, “So give yourself a little and then you’ll surely see how good life can be.”
“I think that’s maybe the earliest lesson that I’ve learned from my mom, of giving,” Bishop Williams said. “And then when we give more, life gets better, and she’s lived that.”
His mother, Mary Williams, went into labor a little more than two years after having the bishop’s brother Matthew, and less than 12 months after giving birth to his brother John.
“And she said ‘yes’ to life again,” Bishop Williams said. “And I’m just struck by the generosity in that. And how eucharistic.”
Bishop Williams, who was ordained a bishop Jan. 25 and continues to serve Holy Rosary and St. Stephen in Minneapolis, said the more he serves in a parish, the more he realizes that every time a wife and a mother says “yes to life,” they’re really saying “this is my body given for you.”
“It’s very eucharistic,” he said. “And as the Eucharist is, it’s very paschal. There’s a suffering, there’s a giving of themselves as the child literally feeds from their being.”
Through that, his mom taught him a lesson, Bishop Williams said, and taught it “by living it so well.”
“And I think all of our brothers and sisters would say that giving, that generosity that we’ve learned in our own vocations, is rooted in her ‘yes’ to God and to motherhood,” he said.
Bishop Williams said “so much courage” he has experienced in his ministry has come from the Blessed Mother and her role “as really a helper of all Christians, but in a special way of her priests.”
During the interview, Conley asks Bishop Williams about how the faithful can best engage with those who criticize the Catholic faith for not being “inclusive” of women in the priesthood or in other roles. To hear Bishop Williams’ response — and the full interview — listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts 9 p.m. May 6 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. May 7 and 2 p.m. May 8.
Bishop Williams also described an upcoming novena to the Holy Spirit for the Archdiocesan Synod May 27-June 4. To learn more, visit archspm.org/synod/pray.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Father David Blume, director of the Office of Vocations for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who discusses the World Day of Prayer for Vocations May 8; and Alan and Joanne Foley, founders of Early Catholic Family Life, who discuss grandparent ministry and how the faithful can honor grandmothers on Mother’s Day.
Listen to their interviews after they have aired:
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