Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”
~ From the original Mother’s Day Proclamation, 1870, by Julia Ward Howe (Click here to read it in its entirety.)
by Johnny Zokovitch
Director of Communications, Pax Christi USA
It was indeed my mother, Cathy Zokovitch, who first taught me of “charity, mercy and patience,” as well as planting the seeds that led me to embrace working for justice and peace in our world. I imagine that it is the same for many of you as well. So many of us within our movement started this journey of peacemaking because of the influence of our moms. For so many of us in Pax Christi USA, our journey to becoming peacemakers began with the witness of our mothers.
On this Mother’s Day, to all of those strong, brave women who shaped us into peacemakers and seekers of justice, I join others sons and daughters in saying thank you for your faithfulness and your leadership, and for being our first teachers in learning “the things that make for peace” (Luke 19:42).
Happy Mother’s Day!