Dear Friends,

 

On 6th March – Mothering Sunday - we shall remember and give thanks for our mothers – treating them, perhaps, to flowers, breakfast in bed, cards, or, for mothers no longer with us, calling to mind precious memories of love and care and happy times in the past.

For some, of course, this is a difficult day; some mother-child relationships are difficult, and bring pain to either or both sides; then there are those who, for various reasons, never became mothers, though they would have loved the opportunity. As so often happens, occasions of joy are tinged with sadness.

 

The origin of Mothering Sunday, however, was a celebration of ‘Mother Church’, whose task is to nurture and care for those entrusted to its care.

The Church has not always had a reputation for gentle mothering, and as with human families, relationships between ‘Mother Church’ and her children have sometimes been painful.  At many times the Church’s approach has resembled more that of an authoritarian father, and those who ‘failed’, for whatever reason, to live up to the required standards, felt that they were booted out and cut off for ever.  There are those who continue to say that the Church should toughen up its stance on, for example, gay clergy, or the re-marriage of divorcees, while others are grateful for a more compassionate approach which takes into account the frailty of human nature, and a more enlightened understanding of the way human beings operate.

 

The Church’s mothering role comes, however, from Jesus himself: as he drew near to Jerusalem shortly before his cruel execution there, he wept as he thought about the cruel, inhuman and hypocritical lives of many of its inhabitants, and cried out, ‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I longed to gather your children, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you refused!’

 

And the compassion of Jesus was an expression of the love of God, creator and sustainer of all life. The wise recluse of the 14th century, Julian of Norwich, thought it perfectly natural to describe God as our mother:

 

 

‘As truly as God if our Father, so truly is God our Mother…. This fair, lovely word, Mother, it is so sweet and so kindly in itself, that it cannot full truly be said of anyone or to anyone but of him and to him who is the very Mother of life and of all. To the property of Motherhood belong kind love, wisdom and knowing, and it is good…… A kind, loving mother knoweth and understandeth the needs of her child. She keeps it very tenderly, as the nature and condition of motherhood will; and ever as it groweth in age and stature, she changeth her working, but not her love.’

 

So we seek, as a church, to reflect that nurturing, compassionate love of God.

The recent successful and happy events of our Twelve Day Task-Force have, we hope, been an expression of our desire to reach out and include others into our welcoming community. We hope that you felt welcomed by your ‘mother-church’, and that you’ll remember that the care and understanding are always here when you need them.  May the Church in its wider sphere always be mindful of its calling to reflect the inclusive, maternal love of God in debating the challenging issues which face it at present….. Perhaps a vote for women bishops would be an appropriate symbol of our recognition of God as our Mother!

 

Meanwhile, come and join us as we celebrate Mothering Sunday, remembering in God’s presence the pleasures and the pains, the joys and sorrows, of motherhood; remembering our calling as Christians and as a church to be the life-givers, the nurturers, the carers, to those around us, and so to reflect the nature of God.

 

With love,

Rosey.