The Church is not our mother, it is the fellowship of the saved. As such, the Church calls no one; but God calls all to himself through his Son by his Spirit, to Him.
That said, the Church can be said to be like a mother in some ways.
Should we equate The Catholic Church with The Church?
"That said, the Church can be said to be like a mother in some ways."
That's what we're saying. St. John notably uses the feminine "Lady Ecclesia" imagery when talking about the Church, just as the OT prophets spoke of "Daughter Zion," "Mother Jerusalem", the land Eretz Isreal being "espoused" to God and "flowing with milk and honey" (talk about obvious maternal imagery!"
That's also why God can't be "Our Mother" (feminists take note!) It's because God is Our Father. The Church, His spouse, is our "Mater Ecclesia."
"Should we equate The Catholic Church with The Church?"
(Ahem... Yes. But.)
This might seem like hair-splitting, but I pray you, stick with me here. The Catholic Catechism does not "equate" the Catholic Church with The Church, but says that the Church of Christ "subsists in" the Catholic Church.
It'll just take you 5 seconds to take a better look at that here in th Catechism.
What that means is that Christ's Church "continues" or "is still going on in" the Catholic Church, but does not exclude the dimension of the Church which is outside of the visible confines of Catholicism.
In other words, the dimensions could be seen as big as "all the baptized" or even "all the disciples of the Lord," and even "those whose faith is known Him alone." Which is why, for instance, the Catholic Church recognizes the Sacraments of Baptism and of Matrimony as valid in all Christian denominations, even if those denominations themselves don't see them as Sacraments.
These various denominations still contain "dimensions of the Church."
(I hope I am not too obscure>) >:o|
I'm trying to be B.A.S.I.C. !