Yesterday (Sunday the 15th) we marked “Mothering Sunday” in the UK. While today’s celebration is basically indistinguishable from “Mother’s Day” in other countries, the roots of this particular celebration are quite different.
Mothering Sunday begain in the 16th century as a Christian tradition held on the fourth Sunday of Lent. On that day, people were encouraged to visit their “mother church,” the church where they had been baptized. This coincided with Laetare Sunday, the mid-point of Lent where Christians were allowed to break from their Lenten fast. As a result, it became known as a day of celebration and feasting. One of the texts for the day marked this particular joy of being with your church family:
“I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’”—Psalm 122:1 (NRSV)
Over the years the emphasis shifted to what we now consider “Mother’s Day,” but I love this idea of stopping in the middle of the Lenten fast to celebrate with the people who first nurtured you in the faith. It’s an acknowledgement that our Christian journey is not one we make on our own, that many hearts and voices have contributed to our understanding of what it means to walk with Jesus, and they are worthy of noting with gratitude to God.
In today’s world it isn’t always possible to visit our “mother church” in person, but it seems worthwhile to take time to sit in thankfulness for those who have been part of the great “cloud of witnesses” in our life. As we make our way to Jerusalem we remember those who made this journey before us and alongside us, and we give thanks to God for those who have demonstrated the beauty of faithfulness and devotion to Christ. Their lives of sacrifice and service, as today’s song declares, is a picture for us of the One whose cross and empty tomb await at the end of our Lenten journey.
How beautiful, how beautiful
How beautiful is the body of Christ
Read the rest of the lyrics here.
Questions for Reflection
1) As you think of those in your life over the years who have nurtured you in the faith, what names and faces come to your heart and mind? Spend some time sitting in prayerful gratitude to God for their witness in your life.
2) Take some time reflecting on these words from today’s song. What do they speak to you? What invitation do you see in them? How might God call you to inhabit them?
How beautiful when humble hearts give
The fruit of pure lives so that others may live3) Read and reflect on these verses. Let them lead you into prayerful worship and gratitude:
“Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”—Ephesians 4:15-16 (NLT)