Sermon: Cathedral Eucharist - Mothering Sunday

Preacher:

Date:

Sunday 15th March 2015

Service:

Cathedral Eucharist

Readings:

Luke 2: 33-35

Listen:

Download Recording (MP3, 2.3M)

Mary, a sword will pierce your own soul too’
Luke 2.35b

In nomine Patris…

Simeon spoke words of deep truth about the child Jesus, held in his mother’s arms, as she, and Joseph, presented him in the Temple at 40 days old. Of Jesus, destined for the rising and falling of many in Israel, Simeon said, ‘he will be a sign that will be opposed’ and to Mary, ‘and a sword will pierce your own soul too’ (Luke 2.34, 35).

Those deeply prophetic words take us from the birth of Jesus to his death on the cross. On 25^th March we will celebrate the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord to Mary, as we recall, nine months before Christmas, when, as we pray in the Eucharistic Prayer for that day, ‘by the power of your Holy Spirit the Virgin Mary conceived and bore the Word made flesh. From the warmth of her womb to the stillness of the grave he shared our life in human form’.

He shared our life in human form: he received his humanity through his mother, Mary, and divinity from the Holy Spirit. Mary gave birth to the one that some thought then, and some think now, was no more than the, ‘carpenter’s son from Nazareth’ (Matthew 13.55): and yet the one of whom we proclaim, with the Centurion at the foot of the cross: ‘Truly, this man was God’s son’ (Mark 15.39b).

The gospel for this Fourth Sunday of Lent, that we celebrate as Mothering Sunday, pulls no punches about the cost of motherhood. If nothing else, today the pains of mothers must be acknowledged and felt: the mothers of Syria weeping over their children; the mother weeping beside her child in a hospital bed in Sierra Leone; the mother whose child is condemned, abused or in prison. Although it can be over romanticised and commercialised, Mothering Sunday is never without pain, be it the pain of regret, of bad experience or of disappointment.

But, the Gospel of Life cannot leave us there. Today is only of merit if we see it within the great sweep of God’s saving works in Christ, the way in which he calls men, women and children into the mystery of his love and life and salvation. Mothering Sunday highlights for us the miracle of human birth and life, the sustaining, forming and teaching that each one of us depends upon. We are reminded that our life, our hope, our salvation is rooted in the love of God in Christ, known to us in the power of the Holy Spirit.

At a Cathedral we should be mindful too of the vocation of this place to be the Mother Church of the diocese in which we are set and serve. We have that role because here our chief pastor, our Bishop, has his seat, his cathedra. In this place we hear, and tell, the story of God’s love, hope and salvation.

Speaking of ‘Mother Church’ makes sense in that light, bringing new Christians to birth who grow mature in their faith. Bishop Andrew’s challenge to us, in our diocese, is to grow at every age and stage of life, and most urgently with young people.

Indeed Bishop Andrew reminded us, as his ministry began, that we all have a responsibility for the nurture and encouragement of all disciples, especially the young. So, you could say the Church, each of us, has a maternal role across the generations to support and encourage each other.

Of course we have to tread carefully. To suggest that a particular character or charism is ‘maternal’ or unique to a mother is problematic. Motherhood is not open to all women, for whatever reason, and it’s certainly not open to men! Identifying some qualities as unique to mothers can highlight the inadequacy of some mothers and mask the fact that parental love is something mothers and fathers, godparents, and brothers and sisters in Christ can, and should, all share.

So today is about modelling the way in which love is shown within the Church so that that love spills out into our daily lives, and colours our judgments, actions and choices in this new week. It’s about how we treat one another in families, workplaces and churches.

Today is about finding a way to love without judging, without making demands, without wanting to manipulate. It is about finding within ourselves a love that accepts, which forgives, which frees, love that is not a transaction.

The only source of that love is Jesus Christ: his love is shown to its full on the cross.

The image of the Mother of Sorrows at the foot of the cross is a powerful and harrowing one. Mary portrayed in art with eyes red and stinging, with no more tears left to shed. ‘The sword will pierce’: Simeon’s words are best rendered from the Greek, ‘and a sword will pierce your ownself too’. The sword will plunge to the very heart of who you are. Mary was losing her son and her identity as a mother.

Yet, there are two images we must always hold together: one is empty without the other. First the beautiful tenderness of Jesus Christ as a child nestled into his mother’s breast; and, second, the pity of Mary holding his broken, crucified body. These two images prompt us to consider loving by holding and loving by letting go.

In his poem ‘Walking Away’, the poet Cecil Day Lewis recalls the many things that his son had done over eighteen years and looks back to waving him off for his first day at school. The poem ends:

I have had worse partings, but none that so
Gnaws at my mind still.  Perhaps it is roughly
Saying what God alone could perfectly show –
How selfhood begins with a walking away,
And love is proved in the letting go.[1]

This child, Jesus, is destined for the rising and falling of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed…- and, Mary, a sword will pierce your own soul too
(Luke 2.35)