I lift up my eyes to the hills – from where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. — Psalm 121
For many of our friends and neighbors, Mother’s Day is not full of flowery, brunch-laden, gift-giving joy. The secular holiday instead stirs — for women and men — any number of hard, complex emotions for that remain difficult to process. And thus today we pray for all the women in our lives: Thanksgiving for those who in whatever ways provide maternal nurture, comfort for those whose spirits remain heavy, and healing for those whose wounds continue to fester.
For those women who have joined the saints in light and whom we miss dearly here on earth, we thank you, God, for the mothers of the past.
For every woman who is working today to put food on the table, we thank you for working moms.
For those women who have lost a child to death and must carry on, we thank you for spirits that are so strong.
For all the women who have desperately wanted to have children of their own but instead were called to mother others, we thank, Lord, for the mothers in spirit and deed.
For every woman who didn’t know her children, for every child who didn’t know his or her mother, we thank you for healing raw wounds.
We lift our voices in praise to you, O God, who loves us totally, completely, and without condition. Like a Mother who will not forsake her nursing child, like a Father who runs to welcome the prodigal home, You are faithful still.
In Christ, by the Spirit, amen!
Related reflection: How to Handle Mother’s Day When It Feels Hard
