Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day in Canada began as “Mothering Sunday.” It was celebrated on the fourth Sunday in Lent. Originally seen as a time when the faithful would return to their “mother church”— the main church in the vicinity of their home—for a special service.  Over time the traditions Mothering Sunday morphed into a more secular holiday. Anna Jarvis, an American started Mother’s Day in 1908. Her original idea was a chance to “honour our mothers.” When the idea caught on florists and card companies began selling bouquets and cards aimed specifically at making money from the day. Anna later tried to stop Mother’s Day because it became so commercialized.

“Did you know? More phone calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other day of the year. These holiday chats with Mom often cause phone traffic to spike by as much as 37 percent.

”Today Mother’s Day is a special day to remember and thank our moms; typically our biological or adopted ones, maybe spiritual moms too or ourintellectual mother’s.
I want today to be a special day at our Church and for you. Yes, it may be that Mother’s Day has become too commercialized, but we don’t need to make it so in our own lives. Not everyone has positive memories of their mothers. But we can celebrate the moms in our midst. We can celebrate those who are our biological mothers, but also our spiritual mothers or our emotional mothers, our intellectual mothers. We can celebrate those mother’s who are still living or those who have a historical connection to us. What about celebrating Mary the mother of Jesus? When Mary gave birth to Jesus, angels announced to shepherds, who this child was going to be, “the Saviour of the world.” They came and worshipped him, and the Bible reminds us that, “Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Mary trusted the Lord and wondered what God was doing. She was a woman on the journey of life time. You’re on a journey too. Sometimes you feel close to Jesus, you’re reading your Bible, and praying. Your life may involve keeping the kids happy, healthy, fed, and well-behaved. You may be a single mom, or you may be a woman who is childless. You may be living in another stage of life, when times are really tough, and you feel like it’s all falling apart. Whether you’re the perfect mom who suffers from imposter syndrome, or having a hard day, you a person in need of grace. Jesus loves you. He loves you no matter what. Just like he loved his own mother and took care of her, even as He was on hanging on the cross. Jesus offers you his kindness, grace, and love, just like he did for His mother, Mary. And that’s something to celebrate.

Howard