Nearly\nevery nation on earth designates one day of the year as Mother\u2019s Day, but a mother\u2019s\ninfluence continues every day from the moment her newborn gazes up into her\neyes. \u201cThe mother\u2019s image,\u201d observed David O. McKay, \u201cis the first that stamps\nitself on the unwritten page of the young child\u2019s mind. It is her caress that\nfirst awakens a sense of security; her kiss the first realization of affection;\nher sympathy and tenderness the first assurance that there is love in the\nworld.\u201d In the words of Ronald Reagan, \u201cMaternal love is the first tangible\nbond any human being knows. It is a tie at once physical, emotional,\npsychological, and mystical\u2026. It is a love that risks all, bears all, braves\nall,\u201d by one \u201cwho gives of her heart and soul and self for the good and the\nhappiness of her children.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And in\nthis selfless love is the hope of the world. Mary Ball Washington could have not\nsuspected how she was shaping the world as she shaped her son George, who would\nsay, \u201cAll I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the\nmoral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.\u201d Nancy Hanks\nLincoln could not have known the influence she would have through her son Abe,\nwho would reminisce, \u201cAll that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel\nMother.\u201d Nor could Nancy Elliott Edison have foreseen the gift she was giving\nto mankind in nurturing her son Tom, who would explain, \u201cMy mother was the\nmaking of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to\nlive for, someone I must not disappoint.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMothers,\u201d\ndeclared UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, \u201cplay a critical role in the family,\nwhich is a powerful force for social cohesion and integration. The mother-child\nrelationship is vital for the healthy development of children.\u201d George W.E.\nRussell went so far as to say, \u201cEverything depends on the mother,\u201d while George\nElliot wrote, \u201cMighty is the force of motherhood!\u201d So mighty that, as Archbishop\nBernardito Auza stated, \u201cHumanity owes its survival to the choice women make\nnot just to welcome children, but raise them to be virtuous and authentically human,\u201d\nfor \u201cwhile history books sing the victories of valiant emperors and warriors, all\nof civilization\u2026 owes an unpayable debt of gratitude to the less chronicled or\neven unknown contributions of women that have shaped civilizations, like the\nsilent but constant flow of deep waters that shape rivers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Archbishop also offered a warning: \u201cOur future is already mirrored in how we, as individuals and as a society, support mothers to raise strong and healthy families.\u201d It is a sobering call to action in light of the widespread devaluing of motherhood so prevalent in social media and in the incessant campaign in the United Nations where mothers are urged, regardless of economic necessity, to enter the workforce, while the treaty-monitoring CEDAW Committee denounces nations for promoting motherhood\u2014criticizing, for example, Belarus for \u201cthe reintroduction of such symbols as a Mothers\u2019 Day and a Mothers\u2019 Award\u2026 as encouraging women\u2019s traditional roles\u201d; Ireland for its \u201cemphasis on the role of women as mothers and caregivers\u201d; Georgia for \u201coveremphasiz[ing] the role of women as mothers\u201d; and the Czech Republic for \u201cover-protective measures for pregnancy and motherhood.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a stunning departure from the foundational principle memorialized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: \u201cMotherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.\u201d Uniting and equipping leaders to provide that special care and assistance is a top priority in our work at the International Organization of the Family, including our World Congress of Families events, our acclaimed international journal, our work with United Nations delegates and ambassadors, and our Worldwide Motherhood Initiative<\/a> offering a powerful film titled The Power of Mothers: Their Influence on the World<\/a>. Featuring interviews with experts such as Janice Crouse, Julie Beck, Christine Vollmer and others, it demonstrates that, as summarized by its producer, Shelly Locke, \u201cMothers are the most powerful influence for good on the earth today. Within their hands lies the very future of the world! Mothers of the world deserve our greatest respect, our protection, and our care.\u201d As we honor the world\u2019s mothers on this Mother\u2019s Day, we urge that they be no less remembered and cherished throughout the rest of the year, for every day is Mother\u2019s Day. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As we honor the world\u2019s mothers on this Mother\u2019s Day, we urge that they be no less remembered and cherished throughout the rest of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":15799,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"As we honor the world\u2019s mothers on this Mother\u2019s Day, we urge that they be no less remembered and cherished throughout the rest of the year.","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override":[{"single_blog_custom":"","sidebar":"","second_sidebar":"","share_position":"","share_float_style":"","post_date_format":"","post_date_format_custom":"","post_reading_time_wpm":"","zoom_button_out_step":"1","zoom_button_in_step":"1","number_popup_post":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"","single_post_gallery_size":""}],"trending_post_position":"","trending_post_label":""},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"695"},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[695],"tags":[3268,3270,3267],"class_list":["post-15630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-mothers-day","tag-motherhood","tag-mothers"],"yoast_head":"\n