To the men here who are married, do you remember how you proposed to your wives? Ladies, do you remember how you were proposed to? I’ve heard about some neat Catholic proposals: one guy took rappelling lessons, and on the day of the proposal, rappelled down the side of his fiancée’s building, got to her window, waved at her, and then held up the sign, “Will you marry me?” (I’m not sure how Catholic that is other than being crazy for the one you love.)

Another guy told me how a priest challenged him while in Confession to finally marry his girlfriend. He decided to bite the bullet: he bought the ring, and when the two went to daily Mass, afterwards he took her to the center of the aisle, in front of the tabernacle and got down on one knee. His wife later told me she was shocked because “it was so early in the morning and I had no time to get my face on!”

Finally, one friend told me how she was proposed to. After the Easter Vigil, her boyfriend had a big Easter egg with another Easter egg inside it, with the ring on the inside. He said he forgot something in the car, and then came back and washed her feet and said, “I want to lay down my life for you.” I think that’s a beautiful, very Catholic proposal.

We would probably all lay down our lives for our family, but we struggle to love them in daily life: to give them attention and time, to listen to them, to show them respect.

Jesus says today, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13). Jesus is challenging us to think about if we will lay down our lives for people and for whom and how. Would we die for Jesus? If so, then there’s no greater love for Him. If not, then we don’t love Him as much as we can. Would we sacrifice our life for those who hurt us, our enemies, those who take advantage of us, for example, at work or at school?

Being Mother’s Day today, it’s a beautiful thing to remember how our mothers sacrifice so much for their children and oftentimes lay down their lives in hidden ways. I heard a powerful story about a young boy who dreamed of being a priest. He looked up to the priests when he was young and loved God. But during his teenage years he fell away and became a wild man, a gangster, and a street fighter. It was only through the prayers of his mother that he came back. She prayed for him and never gave up on him even though, in his own words, he was on the road to hell. Soon after a powerful conversion experience and entering the seminary, his mother got sick. She got a rare disease that destroyed her organs and she had to be put on dialysis. She suffered for six years and offered up her sufferings to God, so that her husband would convert and all her six children would come back to the faith. She lost her independence, her sight, was in comas, and was anointed seven times. When her son said, “Ma, let’s pray for a miracle,” she said, “Son, I offered myself, I can’t take it back. I know that I’ll die and I’ll suffer, but God will raise me up on the last day, and the only thing that matters is that my children are there.” Her husband did come back and started going to daily Mass a year and a half before he died.

Many of us aren’t called to suffer in such a remarkable way, but God will call us to lay down our lives in ordinary ways. I think of mothers who give up being at home with their children because they have to work to make ends meet. They want to be with their children but can’t. I think of mothers who give up their careers for their children. In our society, raising children isn’t impressive. When people ask women, and sometimes men, “What do you do?” and they say, “I’m a stay-at-home mom (or dad),” no one’s impressed. Why? Because running a family doesn’t seem important and it requires, so it seems, no training, no degrees. I mean, who would put down on a resume: “1995-2015: Stay-at-home mother”? But anyone who thinks clearly and understands the importance and beauty of raising a child to be a virtuous, holy person knows that: 1) there’s no more important job in the world; 2) being a stay-at-home parent isn’t easy.

Have you seen this video about the world’s toughest job? A Boston agency posted this fake job listing online for a “Director of Operations” position at a company. The requirements were: degrees in medicine, finance and culinary arts, no vacations, with the work load going up during Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and other holidays, and you have to do it with a happy disposition. In the video, the interviewer says, “This job requires that you must be able to work standing up most or really all of the time… constantly on your feet, constantly bending over, constantly exerting yourself, a high level of stamina.” “That’s a lot,” says one woman, wincing a little at the prospect.

“For how many hours?”

“From 135 to unlimited hours per week, it’s basically 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

“I’m sure you’ll have a chance from time to time to maybe just sit down, yeah?”

“Oh, you mean like a break? No, there are no breaks available.”

“So, no lunch.”

“You can have lunch, but only when the associate is done eating their lunch.’”

Then we find out that this position is already held by billions of people: moms. Thank you, Moms.

It’s in the ordinary situations that God is calling us to be kind, faithful to our responsibilities, patient, listening, cheerful, and friendly to each other at church. When we love someone, we will want to do these little things for them. The best people in our lives are the ones who do these things. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.