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Dear friends,
Dr. Jeanne is back this week with part 2 of her blog that looks at what makes relationships successful.
This advice can apply to any kind of relationship, romantic, familial, work, or otherwise.
As we approach Mother's Day this Sunday, I'm reminded of the hard work of parental relationships, and how complicated they can get. The prayer we customarily say at the end of the Prayers of the People this Sunday reflects that:
O God, on this day of celebrating your love, we lift to you those who have given us life, those who have loved us, those who have blessed us, and those who have taught us, our mothers. May your blessing pour out upon the woman who gave us birth, and those beautiful, strong women of faith who have been mothers to us along our journey.
We praise you, O God, for your gift of motherly love, both gentle and fierce, both strong and humble, both kind and true. Where we have been so blessed, we give our grateful praise, for you have provided loving hands that have worked so hard in raising us, cared enough to correct us, blessed us in ways we cannot have fully known as children.
We call forth your compassion upon every mother who has unknowingly caused pain and suffering. And, so we lift to you our mothers, so imperfect, also so wounded by this world.
We bless our mothers this day, no matter what they have done or left undone. We do this because we believe in your healing, and we believe in your love and we believe that you love every mother, good or bad; and we stand together with all mothers in solidarity, for we all are in need of your grace. Where we have failed because we did not know better, help us to forgive ourselves. Where we have seen your face in any woman who has been to us a mother, in her face we have seen your light and your love and we give thanks—for where they have loved, they have kept your word and blessed us.
We lift to you the heart of every mother who has watched her child die of hunger, every mother who had been a victim of abuse, every woman who stands in protest against a world that massacres her children and renames them “collateral damage.” We lift to you the prayer of every mother who has ever loved and lost.
We lift to you our Mother Earth. We lift to you our Mother Church. We lift to you, O God, the heart of your Son’s blessed mother; and although we cannot fully express our gratitude, help each one of us to be your blessing of love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Adapted from a “Mother’s Day Prayer” Copyright 2008 Rev. Jane Sommers. All Rights Reserved.
I've always appreciated this prayer because of it's honesty about the human condition. It offers the full spectrum of people's emotions around their mothers, which can be complex.
Relationships are hard. They are, nevertheless, a key component of what it means to be created in the image of God.
Check out Dr. Jeanne's latest post as you reflect on your own relationships. It may just help you make them stronger and more successful.
Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday at 7:45 AM or 10:15 AM. Until then, keep the faith, St. Paul's!
God's blessings,
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