The commandment to "Honor your father and mother" can be either the easiest or most difficult commandment that God gave to Moses.
Often our relationship with our mother is one that is cherished and fostered over the years.
On the other hand, sometimes we may try to deliberately avoid our mother, either because we have been wounded in the past, or because we have done something wrong that we believe would provoke her to anger.
Whatever our relationship with our mother may be, God calls us to honor her.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that this commandment is an important one to observe:
God has willed that, after him, we should honor our parents to whom we owe life and who have handed on to us the knowledge of God. We are obliged to honor and respect all those whom God, for our good, has vested with his authority.
Spiritual and temporal fruits
The Catechism also explains that whenever we honor our mother, we are granted spiritual fruits through our obedience to God's law:
Observing the fourth commandment brings its reward: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the LORD your God gives you." Respecting this commandment provides, along with spiritual fruits, temporal fruits of peace and prosperity. Conversely, failure to observe it brings great harm to communities and to individuals.
Its important to keep in mind that as we grow older and no longer live with our parents, we may not be required to obey them in all things, but we are always called to respect them:
As they grow up, children should continue to respect their parents. They should anticipate their wishes, willingly seek their advice, and accept their just admonitions. Obedience toward parents ceases with the emancipation of the children; not so respect, which is always owed to them. This respect has its roots in the fear of God, one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
No matter what kind of relationship we have with our mother, God still requires us to give her respect and honor.
Life can be difficult as a mother, and mothers don't always make the right decisions.
Through whatever trials life brings, we need to be supportive of our mother and love her with God's love.
