Feast or Lament?
Celebrating with joy.
This Sunday we will be celebrating Mothering Sunday. It is a very old feast and comes on Laetare Sunday – a time in Lent when we take a moment to remember that we are already an Easter People, that we have already been saved, that we have already seen the resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ.
We take a breath and view the hard work we have undertaken so far, before girding ourselves for the coming weeks of sacrifice and pain.
Even our liturgical colour shifts from deep, dark purple to the lighter and more joyful rose vestments.
It is important to enjoy the feasts when they come. It is tempting to see in a feast the pain that being joyful can cause.
There are many moments of lament and hardship in our liturgical calendar – when we remember the pain and hurt that we as a community and as individuals have suffered.
But, on days such as this Sunday we should lift our hearts heavenward and whatever our personal circumstances, whatever our particular pains and hurt we should ask God to help us find joy and hope in our lives.
That joy and hope can be hard to find for some on Mothering Sunday, especially when one doesn’t easily have a model of motherly love, or where that earthly model is no longer with us.
That gives us even more reason to cry out in joy for those gifts we have received.
For the women in our lives who have lifted us up, for the women in our lives who have cared for us, loved us, held our hands, smiled at us, taken us to church, held us before God in prayer.
Mothering Sunday is a day of celebration and of joy. Lift people up in that joy and love.
Fr. Matthew
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We have been asked to close the church for three days next week to enable the builders to replace a section of the power unit and for them to demolish the concrete stairs into the boiler room, which will create a great deal of noise. Church will be closed Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday and Fr. Matthew is taking the opportunity to have a few quiet days of rest.
With children back at the altar from this Sunday (14th), do come along and encourage them. There will be a special present and blessing for all mothers – offered by the children.
Don’t forget to consider setting up regular giving with the Parish Giving Scheme. Call 0333 002 1271 with your bank details to hand and quote our Parish Code – 230 623 503