Fourth Sunday of Lent (Mothering Sunday)
“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.”
Overview
Fourth Sunday of Lent
On Mothering Sunday, we give thanks for our Mother the church; we celebrate those who have mothered us; and we also reflect on our calling to mother those in need.
To help us we are offered either the story of Moses or the story of Samuel. In each story there is a child in need of mothering but the stories also reflect on how taking on the job of mothering is a necessary part of our growth in faith and discipleship. Mothering is hard work but it is also a gift.
In 1 Samuel 1:20-28, Hannah (who is desperate to be a mother) hands her child over to Eli to raise. It is Eli who needs the lessons that motherhood can teach. Eli has done an appalling job at parenting both his own children and God’s people but here he is given another chance to learn and grow as Samuel learns and grows.
In the gospel, John 19:25-27, Jesus gives his mother, Mary, the task of mothering the church, a family defined not by blood or birth but by love. This is also our task: and, in the sometimes hard, sometimes frustrating work of creating, nurturing and loving, we discover that our understanding, mercy and compassion are expanded and that we are transformed more and more into the likeness of Christ.
FIRST READING
1 Samuel 1:20-28
In due time Hannah conceived and born 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 forever; 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.”
GOSPEL
John 19:25-27
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.
