This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day, and it’s a time for many of us toremember and give thanks for the wisdom and love that our mothers – or those persons who were mother figures to us – have offered and may still bestow. To that end, the flower shops are busy and the greeting card aisles are full. As well, for some of you, it will be a day when your children or grandchildren are expressing their thanks – by having you over for dinner, sending flowers, arranging a Zoom or FaceTime session,  or doing something else that’s meaningful. It can be a very special day.

At the same time, this can also be a challenging or even difficult occasion for others. We may acutely feel the absence of our mothers, because of death or because we can’t be with them. We may lament that our relationship with our mothers left, or leaves, something to be desired. Or, on this day the church also calls “Christian Family Sunday,” we may recognize that our relationship with some of our own children, or other family members, isn’t the way we might like it to be. These realities can be hard – and it can be easy to feel that we’ve somehow failed to measure upto certain ideals and have been unable to meet the mark.

Therefore, this week’s Scripture reading from John’s gospel is timely. For Jesus once again reminds us that love is neither naturalnor inevitable, and needs to be intentionally nurtured and shared in some tangible andpractical ways. Sometimes that happens, and sometimes it doesn’t. But itcan be important to remember, and celebrate, those moments when love does become real.Therefore, this can be a day to remember and give thanks for the “mothering” we have received. Perhaps it was from the woman who gave birth to you. Perhaps you recall a teacher who fed your mind, a grandmother in whom you could confide, or a neighbour who brought soup. Regardless of the source, it’s in the small, daily acts of holding each other that love is revealed and made real.

So, this weekend, may we all give thanks for the love of mothers, and other special women in our lives.