This could very well be the oddest way any of us have spent Mothering Sunday. Now I’m not always in church because of my job as a nurse, but if I were working we’d celebrate on another day. For many of us it’s a time to celebrate, gather with our families, eat together, and for us Christians we celebrate as a community, often relaxing our Lenten restrictions a little bit. I don’t tend to drink alcohol in Lent but that Mother’s Day gin is something I look forward to!
What do celebration and gathering look like today? I’m luckier than many people in my age group- I still live with my mum! Or rather we live together, but even for us we’re celebrating apart as we avoid each other’s parts of the house in an effort to protect her as she’s in a high-risk category. We’ll be eating the same meal later but in separate rooms.
One thing we learn from today’s gospel (John 19.25b-27) is that family doesn’t always follow a traditional pattern. Jesus directs his mother Mary to form a new family unit with his beloved disciple, probably John himself. A mother-son bond is created between two people who aren’t related but who have been drawn together in the most remarkable circumstances.
So for us, looking to the gospel, our gathering and celebration are not going to follow a traditional pattern today. For some this will mean phone calls, for others skype where they can see each other. It’s possible that whole families may be gathering using online video conferencing. Some may simply be choosing to do the same thing at the same time, like watching a favourite film.
The hospital unit I work on treats patients with impaired immune systems and through this I’ve watched many patients share in family celebrations because of technology. I’ve seen father of the bride speeches delivered from hospital rooms, special anniversary meals, spouses on different continents connect with each other, important exam results shared, school performances watched, and wedding receptions attended via a laptop.
Technology is something many of us may take for granted, we may despise or adore it but maybe it’s only now that it’s ability to truly connect, for all the right reasons, is only just being fully appreciated. And this is what our churches are finding out.
Mothering Sunday is traditionally the time to return to your “mother church” or home parish, but the best definition I’ve found of mother church is depicting the Christian Church as a mother in its ability to nourish and protect. Hopefully this is how we can be mother church for you now.
We want to protect by closing our doors, as alien as that is to us, and we want to share good, factual information to support your continued protection whilst we can’t gather in person. We want to nurture by exploring ways of connecting and worshipping which work for as many people as possible, the way we’re doing this is still evolving.
A few days ago Pope Francis shared the following Message:
Tonight before falling asleep
think about when we will return to the street.
When we hug again,
when all the shopping together will seem like a party.
Let’s think about when the coffees will return to the bar,
the small talk, the photos close to each other.
We think about when it will be all a memory
but normalcy will seem an unexpected and beautiful gift.
We will love everything that has so far seemed futile to us.
Every second will be precious.
Swims at the sea, the sun until late,
sunsets, toasts, laughter.
We will go back to laughing together.
Strength and courage.
Until we can gather in person again, until we can hug our parents without fear, we will continue to be, as we have always been, Mother Church. To protect, to nurture, and to love as God loves. A different church, but one forever filled with hope. Amen.
"As truly as God is our father, so just as truly is God our mother. In our father, God Almighty, we have our being; in our merciful mother we are re-made and restored. Our fragmented lives are knit together and made perfect. And by giving and yielding ourselves, through grace, to the Holy Spirit we are made whole." ~ Julian of Norwich
Holy One, we gather in your presence to give you thanks and to celebrate the gift of your love; a love that supports, nurtures and challenges us in ways that strengthen and transform us. We offer you praise and thanksgiving for your unfailing presence in our lives and all of the blessings that you so generously offer us.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Today, as we celebrate Mother's Day, we give thanks for mothers the world over. We give thanks for all those who have nurtured and care for us, remembering especially, birth mothers, adoptive mothers, surrogate mothers, aunts, grandmothers, teachers, neighbours and all women who have shared their faith with us.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We pray, compassionate God, for those mothers who have been hurt, disillusioned, or disappointed in their role as mother. We pray for those who have been denied a longed for chance at motherhood, and for those whose years of mothering have been cut short by the loss of a child.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We lift up before you, O God, the members of our human family around the world—for those who are afflicted or suffering at this time—for those who need healing, for those who require bread or shelter, for those who live in violent homes and communities, for those who are grieving, and for those whose needs are known to you alone…
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
We remember before you the mothers we have lost who now rejoice in your kingdom. We pray for those who mourn them, whether the loss was recently or long ago. We pray for all who have died recently…
And those whose anniversaries fall this week…
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Holy Mother and Father of us all, touch us with your healing peace and gentle embrace that we may walk in your ways bringing dignity, justice and peace to all corners of your world. All of this we pray in the strong name of Jesus.
Amen.
from the World in Prayer website. http://www.worldinprayer.org/
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