Service of the Word for Mothering Sunday

General

20.03.2020

Service of the Word for Mothering Sunday

Sunday March 22 – The Fourth Sunday in Lent

Welcome to the second week of Sunday Resources which have been prepared to cater for those who are unable to attend services at this time of Coronavirus concerns. This week sees the introduction of a sermon podcast and a livestream link. You can find below the text for a Mothering Sunday Service of the Word. The full text of Morning Prayer for the Fourth Sunday in Lent can be found here. There are links at the bottom to download a number of services including Urnaí na Maidine. There are also links to a number of other resources and to parish websites which have videos of their services.

Service of the Word – The FOURTH Sunday in Lent (MOTHERING SUNDAY)

A live stream of this service may be found on the Nun’s Cross, Killiskey Parish Facebook page from 11am on Sunday at https://www.facebook.com/KilliskeyParish/

Preparation

INVITATION TO WORSHIP

Praise God who loves us. Praise God who cares.

PRAISING AND THANKING GOD

We praise you, our God, for all mothers who have loved and laughed and laboured as they cared for their children. Blessed be God for ever.

We praise you, our God, for all mothers who have wept in sorrow and joy for their children. Blessed be God for ever.

We praise you, our God, for Jesus, born of a woman and nurtured in her love, and for Mary, a reminder of your patient, waiting love. Blessed be God for ever.

SENTENCE OF SCRIPTURE

As a mother comforts a child so will I comfort you, says the Lord.

Isaiah 66:13

INTRODUCTION

We thank God for mothers and carers around the world. It takes a very special love to care for a family. Today we’ll celebrate that love and thank God for his own perfect love for us all.

We’re not all mothers ourselves but we all have a mother, whether or not they are still with us, and we are all children of God. He is our loving Father but is also the one who remembers and comforts us as a mother comforts her child, and draws us close as a hen protects her chicks.

OPENING PRAYER

Dear Jesus,

We thank you for mothers and carers everywhere,

and for the special love they have for their children.

We thank you Jesus for your special care and comfort

and the perfect love you have for us all.

Help us all to show your love to those who care for us,

and to the people that we meet in our lives. Amen.

SORRY

We call to mind our sin, our failure to value the love of others and our failure to love as Christ has loved us.

Silence for reflection

Your love gives us life from the moment of conception. We fail to live as your children. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

You call us to do good.

We seek our own good. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.

You hear us when we cry for help.

We ignore the cries of others. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy.

May the Father of all mercies cleanse us from our sins, and restore us in his image to the praise and glory of his name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn of Praise: CH712 “Tell out, my soul”

Listen to and sing along with this hymn at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6ji4y9Q-K0

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord: unnumbered blessings, give my spirit voice; tender to me the promise of his word; in God my Saviour shall my heart rejoice.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his name: make known his might, the deeds his arm has done; his mercy sure, from age to age to same; his holy name, the Lord, the Mighty One.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might:

powers and dominions lay their glory by;

proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,

the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.

Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word: firm is his promise, and his mercy sure. Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord to children’s children and for evermore.

Timothy Dudley–Smith (b. 1926)

based on the Canticle ‘Magnificat’ (Luke 1: 46–55)

PRAYER OF MOTHERING SUNDAY

God of compassion, whose Son Jesus Christ, the child of Mary, shared the life of a home in Nazareth, and on the cross drew the whole human family to himself: Strengthen us in our daily living that in joy and in sorrow we may know the power of your presence to bind together and to heal; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Ministry of the Word

The First Reading: 1 Samuel 1: 20–28

The reading below may be read, or an audio version listened to at:

https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/1-samuel/1/

So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him.’

When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfil his vow, Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, ‘After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.’

‘Do what seems best to you,’ her husband Elkanah told her. ‘Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his word.’ So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.

After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three–year–old bull, an ephah of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, ‘Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he shall be given over to the Lord.’ And he worshipped the Lord there.

The Psalm: Psalm 127: 1–4

1 Unless the Lord builds the house,• those who build it labour in vain.

2 Unless the Lord keeps the city,• the guard keeps watch in vain.

3 It is in vain that you hasten to rise up early go so late to rest, eating the bread of toil,• for he gives his beloved sleep. 4 Children are a heritage from the Lord• and the fruit of the womb is his gift.

The Second Reading: Colossians 3: 12–17

The reading below may be read, or an audio version listened to at:

https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/colossians/3/

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Hymn: CH517 “Brother, sister, let me serve you” (vs 1–5)

Listen to and sing along with this hymn at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_ufwqwquqY

Brother, sister, let me serve you,

let me be as Christ to you.

Pray that I may have the grace to

let you be my servant, too.

We are pilgrims on a journey, and companions on the road; we are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.I will hold the Christ–light for you in the night–time of your fear; I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.I will weep when you are weeping; when you laugh I’ll laugh with you; I will share your joy and sorrow, till we’ve seen this journey through.

When we sing to God in heaven

we shall find such harmony,

born of all we’ve known together

of Christ’s love and agony.

Richard Gillard (b. 1953)

The Gospel: John 19: 25–27

The reading below may be read, or an audio version listened to at:

https://www.biblica.com/bible/niv/john/19/

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

COLLECT OF THE READINGS

God of mercies,

your only Son, while hanging on the cross,

appointed Mary, his mother,

to be his beloved disciple’s mother too.

May we follow her good example

and always care for others

for the sake of Jesus Christ our Saviour

through whose name we pray. Amen.

Response

THE APOSTLES’ CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Hymn of Faith: Thanks & Praise 52 “He’s got the whole world in his hands”(adapted)

Listen to and sing along with this hymn at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDBJNQiugnM

He’s got the whole world in his hands, he’s got the whole wide world in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got you and me, brother, in his hands,

he’s got you and me, sister, in his hands,

he’s got you and me, mother, in his hands,

he’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got you and me, mother, in his hands, he’s got you and me, father, in his hands, he’s got you and me, mother, in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got the little tiny babies in his hands, he’s got the little tiny babies in his hands, he’s got the little tiny babies in his hands, he’s got the whole world in his hands.

Anonymous

THANKS

We thank God for giving us others to share in our lives:

For parents, and the love which brought us to birth:

We praise you, O Lord;