One Sunday morning, a priest delivered his homily in about half the usual length of his homilies. He explained, “I regret to inform you that my dog, who is very fond of eating paper, ate the other half of my homily, which I’m not able to deliver to you this morning.” After mass, a visitor from another church shook the priest’s hand and said, “Father, if that dog of yours has any pups, I want to get one and give it to my pastor.”

You know, I never owned a dog, but I had fish, and as a little child, I liked water, but only shallow water. I was afraid of deep water until I learned how to swim back in the first grade. Until then, I’d always be on the shallow side of the pool, afraid to venture into deeper water. My friends would try to convince me to go into the deep water and said it was okay, but I stayed in the shallow side of the water, comfortable and feeling in control.

Unfortunately, some people stay on the shallow side of the pool called life, afraid to risk. Afraid to venture, to go into deep water. Afraid to trust God or themselves. Sometimes, we would get so busy with tasks as a way not to confront the deep waters called life. But in today’s gospel, the lord says to all of us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God, have faith also in me,” if at times we find it difficult to believe, for our lives are shrouded in suffering and mystery, and our lives do not always have answers. For example, the mother who sits at home alone and says, “Where are the children? They never call anymore.” The alcoholic who refuses help. The older person in a nursing home who may feel abandoned and ask, “Does anyone love me anymore?” Jesus comes to us as he came to the disciples and says, “I’m with you, trust me, and I love you.”

Helen Keller once said, “I have four things to learn. To think clearly without hurry or confusion, secondly, to love everybody sincerely, thirdly, to act in everything with the highest of motive,” and she said, “To trust in God without hesitation.” God became human that we might become divine, and a blessed and happy Mother’s Day to all.