Years ago, my mother laid down a dictum to her six children concerning Mother’s Day.  Don’t call or send flowers if we hadn’t been in touch regularly during the rest of the year.  Honoring her on Mother’s Day was fine but no big deal.  She wouldn’t be the slightest bit offended if we skipped Mother’s Day as long as we communicated regularly.  And she meant it. 

Since we all adore Mother, she wasn’t taking much of a risk.  We all stay in touch at least weekly AND do a little extra on Mother’s Day.  However Mother’s message illustrates a point in today’s Gospel about how we should live. 

It isn’t what we say about how much we love God or the show of devotion we put on that counts, it’s what we do and how we live every day.  These are the evidence by which we will be judged just like Mother is more impressed with regular emails than fancy flowers once a year. 

The evidence from deeds even applies to Jesus and how we know he is who he says he is. 

“The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.”

Show, don’t tell, as I continually admonish my writing students.  God and other people look for evidence, not just words. 
Fortunately, if we really love God, performing deeds that demonstrate this is a joy, not a chore, just as it’s fun to meet Mother’s expectation of regular communication.

During Lent as we think about amending our lives, it might be good to ask if we’re getting pleasure out of moving closer to God.  If not, what are we missing  – and why?