Easter 4 AND Mothers Day - Rector's Rambling for May 14, 2017

As a liturgical church, one with an inherited liturgy and calendar, The Episcopal Church keeps the second Sunday in May as whatever Sunday after Easter it is (Easter being a Feast Day that moves according to a lunar calendar).

In my last parish we had a few people from local protestant churches who attended our church on this day because we did not celebrate Mother’s Day as a liturgical holiday, with all hymns, readings, and the sermon based on the virtue of being a mother.  They were unmarried, or unable to have children, and appreciated that although we certainly acknowledged Mother’s Day, we were bound by the scheduled readings and ecclesiastical calendar for our worship and sermon theme.

Here at St. John’s, I hope we strike a happy medium with our wonderful Mother’s Day hymn, written by a former priest of this parish, and a hearty welcome and thanksgiving in prayer for mothers present and those who have gone on to eternal life.

But primarily we are today about the Fourth Sunday after Easter, with the emphasis on the Resurrection, and our looking forward to Jesus’ Ascension and the coming of the Holy Ghost.

In 11 days we begin our program of Thy Kingdom Come.  Please be sure you sign up on our Prayer Warrior board down in the undercroft, and sign up to promise to be present for at least one of the 6:00 PM Evening Prayer services out at our Prayer Wall from May 26 through June 3.

This will be a wonderful opportunity for us to pray that Jesus Christ may be known and loved by more and more people.  It is good for the community, the world, and even for us to be praying together for this wonderful thing, just as the disciples prayed together between Ascension and Pentecost for the gift of the Holy Ghost.