Now am I just being a bit of a pedant here? Are the words 'Mothering' and 'Mother' not interchangeable?
The answer is actually a resounding 'NO'! The former speaks of something to do with Church and the later something to do with card manufacturers, florists, chocolatiers and proprietors of restaurants and eateries - and anyone else who seeks to make a bit of dosh by capitalising of the sloppy, slush (and guilt) filled goings on that today generally brings.
Today people will be panicking because they've forgotten to send that card that denies the truth that their Mother is generally out of sight, mind and everyday experience. Today is a day of obligation for many and like those who feel they must turn up at church on Christmas Eve because it's 'the right thing' - so too have the marketing men conferred upon us a guilt trip which can only be absolved by the seeding of pound notes and other bits of paper, garlanded by flowers , sweetened by chocolates and celebrated by a feats at an over priced restaurant!
But today exists because it is a day when, traditionally, people went back to the church in which they were baptised. It is about returning to their 'Mother Church' and it is 'Mother Church' that the 'Mothering' refers to.
Today was once one of the two main days in which those in service (butlers, maids, cooks and all the other 'below stairs' folk and the gardeners, ostlers, pages and the like too) were given the day off;the other being Boxing day (which is about being given a gift from the master in a box, not a punch-up).
Today, as the people went back to their Mother (which was invariably where the family home was) they would also visit the family home and it became a tradition to make a gift and perhaps collect flowers on the way to the family home for Mum, who would be cooking a family meal (because it was like a second Christmas) and this is where the giving of flowers bit which continues today originates.
But the readings today are all about Mum! The lectionary writers look for the word and once found the job is pretty much sorted. So what do we have before us today?
The birth of Samuel. If there's a birth then there has to be a mother, don't there precious?
Hannah is a woman of God who desired mohave a son and when she did she gave him away because she made a promise to God that she'd give him back. Having had a child lifted the apparent curse that others would have assumed was there, for in the Old Testament times being barren was more than just no having a child. Samuel coming into the world redeemed Hannah and enabled her to life her head up as one who knew God's blessing.
The 2 Corinthians reading is about consolation and this, I contend, is to be found in the Church, that is the living stones who we call believers, and so as we consider 'Mother Church' we need to remember that within the dry stones walls, living stones are to be found. Here's a reason to enter in to the building - to find love, acceptance, nurture, care and support. Works for m- and so the lectionary writers (the people who set the verses to be read) are now 2-0 up.
And the Gospel? Well they have to get Mary in to the frame somehow, after all she is the mother of Jesus! And they do and that's a cause for a smile and little else - well not unless we use it to consider how we regard, and care for, those who are widowed and alone (which of course Mary wasn't). But Mary has popped in to say hello and the duty visit on her behalf is made.
Just like so many who will do they duty bit today, make the telephone call they are dreading, rush to the card and flower services who deliver today to save those who forgot and tick the boxes.
But the reality for us is that we need to have a relationship that is honest and true with our mothers regardless of whether they are flesh and blood people who gave us birth (or brought us up - not all real mothers are biological) or bearing the name 'Church'.
Today we need to return to our Mother church to celebrate and remember our baptism - for baptism is what today is ultimately about - we go back to the place we were baptised to give thanks for that act of entry into the Church of Christ.
We go back and renew our commitment to being Christian.
We go back to proclaim ourselves as part of a community made up of living stones and to make this, once again, real for us and for those around us.
OR do we?
1 Samuel 1.20-28
In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked him of the Lord.’
The man Elkanah and all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, ‘As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and remain there for ever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time.’ Her husband Elkanah said to her, ‘Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only—may the Lord establish his word.’ So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him. When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. And she said, ‘Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.’
2 Corinthians 1.3-7
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are abundant for us, so also our consolation is abundant through Christ. If we are being afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation; if we are being consoled, it is for your consolation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we are also suffering. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our consolation.
John 19.25-27
And that is what the soldiers did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
The Collect
God of compassion,
whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary,
shared the life of a home in Nazareth,
and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself:
strengthen us in our daily living
that in joy and in sorrow
we may know the power of your presence
to bind together and to heal;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer
Loving God, as a mother feeds her children at the breast you feed us in this sacrament with the food and drink of eternal life: help us who have tasted your goodness to grow in grace within the household of faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Now this makes the collate and untested that appear to be even better than it was when my wife used to get breakfast in bed from the children :-)
