| Mothering Sunday - For all Mothers everywhere (furry ones included!) |  |
We are now just beyond the midpoint of Lent. The traditional practice of the Church at this stage is to have a “refreshment Sunday” or, to give it its Latin name, Laetare Sunday. Laetare is the exhortation to rejoice, which we hear in the entrance antiphon to Mass on the fourth Sunday of Lent, in the words drawn from Isaiah 66:10 – “Rejoice, Jerusalem”. Just as the people of Israel were called to rejoice in the consolation and hope that God alone could give, so we too have an invitation to do the same. Perhaps we feel something of the joyful hope of returning from a long experience of exile. After a long, hard, COVID winter we approach the light and hope not only of spring but of Easter, with its message that death will not prevail and that the love of God is renewed in our lives.
Our exile has also been one from our church at this time. Mothering Sunday is popularly known as “Mother’s Day”, but it was traditionally the time when people would visit their mother church. The COVID situation has prevented that from happening for the second year running. We look forward to being in church once again, God willing, from Palm Sunday onwards.
In liturgical terms, Laetare Sunday can be marked by rose-coloured altar frontals and vestments, which again symbolise Lenten joy. It is also customary to relax the Lenten rule around this time – maybe having a nice slice of cake or a G & T - reminding ourselves that Lent is not supposed to be a season of gloom but of spiritual growth. I pray you may find your spirits lifted on this Mothering Sunday as we give thanks to God and look to the future in joyful hope.
Father Richard
Our exile has also been one from our church at this time. Mothering Sunday is popularly known as “Mother’s Day”, but it was traditionally the time when people would visit their mother church. The COVID situation has prevented that from happening for the second year running. We look forward to being in church once again, God willing, from Palm Sunday onwards.
In liturgical terms, Laetare Sunday can be marked by rose-coloured altar frontals and vestments, which again symbolise Lenten joy. It is also customary to relax the Lenten rule around this time – maybe having a nice slice of cake or a G & T - reminding ourselves that Lent is not supposed to be a season of gloom but of spiritual growth. I pray you may find your spirits lifted on this Mothering Sunday as we give thanks to God and look to the future in joyful hope.
Father Richard
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