Mothering Sunday

Exodus 2.1–10 Luke 2.33–35

Today, Mothering Sunday, we given thanks for the roles that mothers play. Not only do they nurture us as we grow but they provide for us, teach us, feed us and care for us in so many ways. Quite often the Church is referred to as the Mother Church. As with our natural mother the Church also nurtures us and teaches us as we grow. The Church also feeds us, not only with the Body and Blood of Jesus but with teaching through the reading of Scripture and through the preaching of sermons.

When we examine the role, the part, that mothers play in our lives, it is good to look at the recipient of that care. Quite naturally when we think mothers we think of children. Being a mother carries with it responsibility especially towards any children that may be a part of the family unit as the child will learn from its mother. Those lessons will be stored and called upon in a future relationship when that child has grown up and become a mother in their own right.

Those lessons learnt and stored away become a part of the mother. They are the inner thoughts sealed away yet which may be recalled when needed, maybe even when challenged. In the gospel reading Simeon was addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus, especially when he told her that the child, Jesus, would grow to be the one to challenge many in Israel. Jesus would be a sign that would be opposed, people would look at him and reject him.

Why? Jesus, the Son of God, can look into our very heart. Not just a quick skim over its surface, but into the very depths of our being. What he finds there is our true self, hidden away below any surface dressing that we might wish to try to cloak it with.

The inner thoughts of many will be revealed. In those hidden depths much of that which lay hidden will be brought to light. Jesus will examine our souls. He will see what we are really like. This ability to see within us is what can give rise to ill feeling among some, especially any who have not accepted Jesus into their lives.

I used to tell couples who were preparing to get married that it is no use, no good what-so-ever, standing before me in the ceremony, taking your vows to one another, with your fingers crossed behind your backs. God, the Father, is all knowing. Actually crossing your fingers, or just mentally imagining that you have done so, is no protection. The crossed fingers may be a physical manifestation of what you feel in your heart. Uncertainty, unsureness, are you doing the right thing, this is for life? Questions possibly racing through your mind. But, now you’ve done it. Vows said, rings exchanged. Fingers crossed or uncrossed, it is too late now.

The couple now start a new life together. The bride may well become a mother. She will pass on what she learnt from her own mother. Motherhood, passed on from person to person, bringing one bringing up a new generation, teaching, nurturing, etc. Motherhood is a base for life. The Church too is also such a base. As we listen to what our mothers teach us we also use today to give thanks to God for our mothers, for all that they do for us.

Collect for Mothering Sunday

God of compassion,

whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary,

shared the life of a home in Nazareth,

and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself:

strengthen us in our daily living

that in joy and in sorrow

we may know the power of your presence to bind together and to heal;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who is alive and reigns with you,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever.