He also goes on to challenge us, as member of the body of Christ, to work for that Kingdom as we embrace young and old regardless of marital or parental status: Now into Christ our mother church we bring them, who shares with them the birth-pangs of His Kingdom.
Luke's Gospel narrative also presents us with a poignant and moving moment which addresses our human conidtion. It is one which reveals Mary the suffering mother who is forever alongside her son. His death is implicitly yet cryptically foretold from the start by Simeon.
We are perhaps familiar with the words of the Nunc Dimittis. Simeon faces his old age and death knowing that God's promise has been fufilled; he can now depart in peace. As he holds in his arms the infant who brings light, glory and revelation to his people, Israel, and to all nations. He recognises the universal scope of this redemptive love.
Yet he also foresaw the cost of this love for mother and son: This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed - and a sword will pierce your own soul too.
These ominous lines evoke the image of the pieta – the grieving mother cradling her adult child. The infant who'd been nursed at her breast and who'd settled sleepily in her lap, now lies lifeless. His adult body is bruised and pierced; in grief beyond words her she stays with him. Not only does that resonate painfully with our experience of loving and letting go, but it also reflects the depth of God’s love for us.
Pieta (Diptych)
Chris Gollon 2013
It is sobering reading for Mothering Sunday. It foreshadows Jesus' suffering and death; it expresses the cost of love which liberates us from our pride, selfishness and human tendency to get things wrong. Jesus bears the cost and restores our dignity that we may share his risen life.
We pray for God’s love and grace to be poured out on those with whom we share our lives, that in the power of the Spirit we may be formed into a new community. As human beings our parents and siblings shape us – family traits, particular gifts, a given set of relationships; there is also a letting go to explore and become who they are. Sometimes that will bring surprise and disappointment.
We have the capacity to grow through our failures; we are also challenged as we pursue our passions and embrace God’s purposes for us.
We hope for life in all its fullness; we pray for the fruits of the Spirit – in love, joy, patience, gentleness, generosity and self-control. Whatever we personally long for, give thanks for, or mourn the loss of, today is saying something profound to each one of us. In order to flourish we need the loving attention and encouragement of those with whom we live and worship and work.
We are to be mindful therefore of how we relate to one another – what we say, how we say it; what we are prepared to stand up for – or pass by. Together we learn, love and let go. Together we are freed from guilt and pain of our “if onlys”; together we delight in human flourishing and tenderness; together we bear heartache and joy. Together we face our isolation. To speak of “Mother Church” is a mothering Church. “Mother Church” means each one of us living as disciples with and for one another.
Jesus was God with us: in birth, in life and in death. His mother too will bear the suffering and pain in an intensely intimate way. Yet it is in his death on the cross, that love is most fully shown in self-lessness and self-giving. Only that generosity can bring forgiveness and healing and renewed hope. Indeed, there springs up for us new life.
The whole people of God, the Body of Christ, share this vocation to nurture fatih. We are, in our differences, members of one community – a place of mutual accountability; where our human capacity to forgive, to exercise patience, to show compassion are stretched by God’s grace. Jesus was able to show love without limits; his mother witnessed the cost of that. We are to demonstrate to the world the breadth and depth of that love: helping others to reach their potential; facing disappointment; showing compassion; offering encouragement; sharing wisdom.
The Church is a community defined by and shaped by God's love : sharing with one another the burdens of care and nurture, the joys and pressures of life. That is the essence of “mothering”.
Whatever our experience of mothers, whatever our disappointments and hopes for motherhood, we are embraced moment by moment by the generous and transforming love of God. Through us, that same love pours out into the world. We share the burdens, heart breaks, joys and hopes for transformation in all that we do and are. As individuals, and as a community, we all share the birth pangs of God’s Kingdom.
© 2015 Julie Gittoes
