Mothering Sunday

Happy Mothering Sunday. This Sunday is a reminder to find joy in the midst of austerity. Depending on who you ask, you will receive a plethora of names for this Sunday. It is often called The Fourth Sunday in Lent, Rose Sunday, Refreshment Sunday, Laetare Sunday, and Mothering Sunday. 

As we are reminded throughout the readings and propers within this week's liturgy, we are children of the promise, joined to Jerusalem. And so, in the 16th century, Mothering Sunday was less about mothers and more about returning to your mother church, the place where you come from, the place of your baptism. However, according to some historians, since everyone was going home to where their family resided, they would often bring food with them, as the food supply was low after the winter. They would take this time to visit their mothers and bring cake made with fine flour (where they think the word simnel comes from). Over time, the cake took on other symbolism related to Easter and the disciples, with eleven balls of marzipan or almond paste on the top of the cake, symbolizing the 12 disciples minus Judas.

We are halfway through Lent, and the rest of it will fly by. Catch your breath. Remember, this is a day to reflect on your baptism, to care for those who have nourished you in your faith, and to look to the hope you have in Christ given to you in the sacraments of the Church. And rejoice, rejoice in Christ and in our common life together.

A Sonnet by Malcolm Guite, “Mothering Sunday”:

At last, in spite of all, a recognition,
For those who loved and laboured for so long,
Who brought us, through that labour, to fruition
To flourish in the place where we belong.
A thanks to those who stayed and did the raising,
Who buckled down and did the work of two,
Whom governments have mocked instead of praising,
Who hid their heart-break and still struggled through,
The single mothers forced onto the edge
Whose work the world has overlooked, neglected,
Invisible to wealth and privilege,
But in whose lives the kingdom is reflected?
Now into Christ our mother church we bring them,
Who shares with them the birth-pangs of His Kingdom.