The Americans invent all sorts of days to hang celebrations on –

Independence Day (July 4^th)

Thanksgiving – 4^th November

Flag Day – June 14^th (When in 1777 the Stars & Stripes was chosen as the American Flag)

Some a bit more obscure – Groundhog Day (Feb 2^nd) If a groundhog leaves its burrow on that day and can’t see its shadow – winter will soon end. If it can see its shadow it goes back into its burrow for another 6 weeks.  Another American invention is Mother’s Day which this year is May 10^th.  It is purely a celebration of Mothers and a time to give thanks for them.

Our own so-called Mother’s Day – today- is a bit more complicated than that.  It’s proper name, of course, is Mothering Sunday – and it is always on the 4^th Sunday of Lent – which, just to confuse things a bit further – is also called Refreshment Sunday.  The two titles are actually inter-connected

Refreshment Sunday is the point in mid-Lent when the fasting rules are relaxed.  So, if you gave up chocolate for Lent you could actually enjoy some today! 

The connection between Refreshment Sunday and Mothers goes back a long way.  It was the custom on this day for the boys and girls in service – working as servants in big houses – were given the day off.  They were expected to go home to their mothers and they often picked bunches of flowers on the way to show their mothers how much they loved them.  Sometimes they took a cake baked at the big house – which was made with a marzipan filling and was known as a Simnel Cake.  From that simple action today’s big commercial festival has grown.

But it’s even more complicated.  Two other Mothers are celebrated today.  One is linked with a Church festival in March called the Annunciation – the time when the Angel Gabriel visited a Jewish Maiden called Mary and told/ announced that she had been chosen by God to be the birth-mother of His Son, Jesus, who would save the world from sin and claim each of us by Love for his Father in heaven.  So it is usual on Mothering Sunday to remember Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Following me so far? !

Here’s a bit more.  The Third Mother we think of today is – ‘Mother Church’.  The Church is a bit like a mother – the place where we find the love and care of God.  Jesus invented the Church to be a body of people who live as Jesus taught us and gave those people the job of telling people about God’s love in Jesus Christ.  By being part of the Church we are open to God’s loved poured out for us – we call that God’s grace – and so, like the love of our Mothers, we are helped to grow into loving Christians who put God first in our lives.

So Mothering Sunday is about three things:

Our Mothers

Mary, Mother of Jesus   &

The Church who ‘mothers’ us.

All three are linked by two words – LOVE & CARE.  And each of the 3 has its own special present.

1. DAFFODILS 

These are tokens of love which we might give to our mother – or we might give chocolates or roses or scented soap – we might even have made our mother’s breakfast.  These are all lovely things and are about our appreciation for all that our mother’s do for us.  So often with people we love we can take them for granted – we expect them to do things for us – but we don’t always see that the reason they do those things is because they Love and Care for us – what they do for us isn’t something we always deserve and yet it is freely given.   Real Love just Loves – simple as that – and we ought to be grateful for it.  So on Mothering Sunday we can stop for a moment – give thanks for what our mother’s do and just for a while, not take that for granted.  Our little present is  our way of doing that.  Behind the present is the appreciation and the love we feel.

It’s always good to know that you are appreciated.

The Second present of Mothering Sunday is the one that Jesus gave to Mary.

2. THE CROSS.

Our little Gospel story this morning takes us to that moment when Jesus is Crucified – nailed to a big cross – and left there to die.  Mary was one of those who saw it happen and her heart was broken.  Now that doesn’t seem like a very nice present for Mary to have – but then we have to look at something of the meaning behind that Cross. 

It’s easy to see the Cross as something that happened to Jesus.  We know that cruel people made up false charges against Jesus which made Pilate, the Roman Governor of Israel at the time, have Jesus put to death.  We can read how that happened in the Gospels – but we also need to know that The Crucifixion wasn’t just something that happened to Jesus – He CHOSE for it to happen.  It was all part of the plan he made with His Father to show the world just how much God loves and cares for us. On the Cross Jesus defeated all those things in our lives and in the world which stop God’s love from reaching us and changing us into more loving, more giving and more Holy people.  So when Jesus chose to die on the Cross he was choosing the most daring way possible of showing us how much God wants to love us and to share our lives so that one day we shall share His life in Heaven.  So it really was a PRESENT – and it was given first to Mary, his Mother and to those who were with her at the foot of the Cross.

Which brings me to the 3^rd PRESENT.

3. THE GIFT OF EACH OTHER.

If you look above me at the big Cross you will see Jesus with Mary and his beloved disciple, John.  You will also see Mary Magdalene kneeling at the foot of the Cross which is unusual as she isn’t usually shown – and that makes our Crucifixion scene in St. John’s rather special.   But it’s John and Mary we need to think about. 

We’ve just heard what Jesus said to them from the Cross.  He saw them both there and saw how sad they were.  So he said some lovely words . He told Mary that John would now be her Son and he told John that Mary would now be his mother.  What he was saying was that they were now to love and care for each other –  But not only them.  Both John and Mary were part of his Church – they would be the first Christians who would be His Church – the People God not only loved but who He would get to show that love to others – to tell His Good News that Jesus really is the Saviour of the World – really is the person we need to get to know if we are to live our lives properly and lovingly.  We tell this Good News best when we show how much it means to us.

John and Mary are given to each other to show us how to give ourselves to others – all linked through love and care – for God and for one another.

(Get people to come out and be together). 

The way the Church shows people God’s love and care is through all of us showing love and care to each other and to those who are not yet part of God’s Church family.  

Love and Care are the real gifts of Mothering Sunday.  Love and Care stops us from taking each other for granted and it stops us taking God for granted.  Jesus paid the highest price possible to give us this Present.  WE need to be thankful to Him and the best way we can do that it to give him a present in return.

The FOURTH PRESENT of Mothering Sunday is the gift of  OURSELF – giving ourselves to God for Him to use in his great work of Loving and Caring for the World.