In Arshil Gorki’s painting “The Artist and His Mother,” we see something quite beautiful and strange. Gorki was a famous painter, known for bold colors and moving images. Yet he never finished one of his most personal works: the portrait of his own mother. He spent years adding layer upon layer of paint, trying to capture her gentle smile and the kindness in her eyes. Sometimes he’d scrape it all away and start again, always chasing that perfect moment of her warmth. But he never quite reached it before he died. The canvas remains forever unfinished—a silent proof that some loves are too deep to be fully captured in paint.

This reminds us of our mothers. No matter how long she lives, we cannot repay her kindness in full. From the first moment she holds us, she carries our hopes and dreams in her heart. She teaches us compassion by her example, shows us patience even on the hardest days, and prays for us when we cannot pray for ourselves. Her endless care shapes who we become, often in ways we only notice much later. A single lifetime—no matter how long—cannot contain the fullness of a mother’s love.

And our relationship with God is just like that: His love is so vast that one lifetime can’t grasp it all.

So on this Mother’s Day, let us bow with gratitude. Give thanks not only with words or flowers but with our actions. Let us show mercy to the hurting, patience to the impatient, and kindness to the lonely—just as she showed us. When we forgive others, we honor the love she poured into us. When we offer hope to those in despair, we reflect her gentle courage.

Let us also pray for those whose mothers have passed on. Their loss can feel like an empty canvas—unfinished and aching. Yet in our prayers we bring color back into that emptiness. We trust that God, our eternal Father, watches over every mother and child, weaving our lives into a grand masterpiece.

May we carry our mothers’ love in our hearts each day. May we cherish her lessons and pass them on. And may we never forget that every act of love, however small, completes the portrait of God’s family in the world.