Community Connection ~ May 11, 2025: Happy Mothering Day!

You may have seen the sign outside Desert Mission today reading “Happy Mothering Day.” No, it wasn’t a typo! Mothering Day is a real day too, separate from Mother’s Day but with reciprocal connections that lend greater meaning to both days. And today, we invite you to incorporate both days into your own celebration.

“Mothering Sunday” has been observed in the Church of England since the Middle Ages. Held on the third Sunday of Lent, when the lectionary readings contain several references to mothers, it is traditional in the British Isles to go back to one’s “mother church” (where you were baptized) to attend services on Mothering Sunday. You can read more about its history here.

In 1913, as Mother’s Day began to gain momentum in the U.S., there was a movement in the British Isles, spearheaded by a woman named Constance Penswick Smith, to revive Mothering Sunday. Ironically, as it became popular again, it began to look more like it does in the U.S. - it became a more secular observance, and people even started calling it “Mother’s Day.”

But the beautiful thing about the blending of these two holidays is that, in recent years, the American version of Mother’s Day has also begun to take on aspects of Mothering Day, specifically in its broader definition of motherhood. Constance would be pleased! In fact, she outlined four categories of motherhood that should be honored on Mothering Day, and you can incorporate each of them into your Mother’s Day festivities:

   * “Our Church - Our Mother” - while it may be too late to attend services at the church where you were baptized (unless you were baptized at Desert Mission), you can still travel there in your mind! Reflect on your baptism, and if you either remember firsthand or were told about the day of your baptism, tell the story to someone today.

   * “Mothers of Earthly Home” - you may already be planning to honor the mothers and mother figures in your life. Consider sharing some Mothering Sunday treats with them, like Simnel cake (similar to marzipan) or mothering buns (plain buns with icing and sprinkles), or perhaps give them some violets, the traditional flower of Mothering Sunday.

   * “The Mother of Jesus” - reflect on Mary’s story today. There is even a Godly Play story about her, which we told in Sunday School today. You can watch it on YouTube!

   * “Gifts of Mother Earth” - say a prayer of thanks for these gifts, and give a gift back! It might be a small one like picking up a piece of trash or a bigger one like planting a tree or donating to a nature-related cause.  

We hope you have a very happy Mothering Day, and we’d love to hear all about it - you can connect with us on Facebook or Instagram and share all of the ways you are honoring motherhood today.