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| Screen capture from video of a Russian soldier captured by Ukrainian forces. (YouTube) Source: The Times of Israel |
Mothering Sunday, now more commonly referred to, commercially, as Mothers' Day falls on 27 March in the United Kingdom this year. Other countries celebrate the event on different dates. In Ukraine it falls on Sunday, 8 May 2022. In Russia, Mother's Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of November by when many more mothers will have lost their sons in a phoney war.
The Times of Israel reports that Ukraine has "invited the worried mothers of Russian troops captured on the battlefield to come and collect their sons, in an apparent attempt to embarrass Moscow."
Sadly mother Church in Russia, in particular Patriarch Kirill has sided with his friend Vladimir Putin, turning his invasion of Ukraine into a holy war.
The Russian people have been deceived. Many more sons and daughters will be sacrificed in Putin's war, his so called 'special operation'.
On Mothering Sunday spare a thought for mothers in Ukraine and in Russia who are needlessly suffering while we celebrate.
Given increasing numbers of little innocents adopted by or gifted to same-sex married couples through surrogate arrangements, I have to wonder how long it might be before the LGBTQ+ theologians of the C-in-W come up with a new PC name for Mothering Sunday? Arrrrgh!
ReplyDeleteQueer Parenting Rainbow Sunday?
DeleteDoes this topic have to be dragged in every time, especially here where it detracts from AB's moving and thoughtful post?
ReplyDeleteThank you Baptist Trainfan, for your sound and well judged comment. AB refers to the Mothers' who have lost sons in Putin's war and are yet to lose sons. He also refers to Patriarch Kirill's sad response and shrill voice in this.
ReplyDeletePeople should be reflecting on this tragedy and the weakness of Russian Orthodoxy and pray for God's intervention.
Those who post comments solely to make a political point about LGBTQ+ issues need to be more generous with their love and fellowship.
On what exactly is there to "reflect"?
DeleteIt is patently obvious what has occurred, in no small part due to the cowardice of the appeasers in the West who did nothing effective against Vladolph Putin and his totalitarian fascists in 2014.
The BBC never misses an opportunity to promote their queering agenda or the LGBTQIA cause.
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-60839456
Why should those who object or don't accept the LGBT propaganda behave any differently?
Well said, Baptist Trainfan. John Chryssavgis, theological advisor to the Patriarch of Constantinople, had an excellent piece in America magazine detailing the unholy alliance between Putin and Patriarch Kirill. Kirill's minions have been touring Middle eastern churches handing out money as bribes to help subvert Constantinople. Archpriest Denis of Washington DC Orthodox Cathedral has published an open letter (Public Orthodoxy@fordham.edu) calling on Russian bishops to get off the fence and condemn Putin's crimes (cf yesterday's article in the Sunday Times about British orthodoxy's silence. However, beware: Patriarch Kirill sees Putin's war as a holy crusade against LGBT+ - once one has turned the gospel into a one issue 'moral' crusade it seems only a short step to bombing maternity hospitals in the name of religious purity.
DeleteHere's today's BBC LGBTQIA promotion.
Deletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60938023
Let's be clear that Mothering Sunday has nothing to do with Mother's Day which is a N American celebration
ReplyDeleteIt referred to the time when Young ladies in service came back home to visit their mothers , and bring flowers and objects of spring after being away from their mothers all year. They also backed Simnel cake
Cymro
Or baked it ...
ReplyDeleteIt is also associated with the minor propers of the day, which frequently refer to Jerusalem which viewed allegorically is the Church, mother of us all. The antiphon of the introit is:
ReplyDeleteRejoice ye with Jerusalem; and be ye glad for her all ye that delight in her: exult and sing for joy with her all ye that in sadness mourn for her, that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations.
Old Nick
I suspect (Llys Esgob and Baptise Trainfan) that there can be few AB contributors with more angst for losses of young soldiers and the grief of their mothers than me. I have a 'love and fellowship' for them in abundance; have witnessed their deaths and at military funerals consoled their mums. But back to the point and mine wasn't a flippant comment. When might Mothering Sunday fade out of the CinW almanac in the mist of LGBTQ+ correctness? And yes, politics does come into it.
ReplyDeleteMothering Sunday used to be a joyous packed-church Sunday event until only a few decades ago. This of course was in the time when there'd be Sunday Schools and vibrant Mothers' Union branches. But there was another celebrated feast too which would be so well attended: Whit Sunday. But then along came the Socialists and Trades Union lot led by Harold Wilson and by 1971, the Christian Whit Sunday was rebranded. Whit and Whit Monday became May Day or Labour Day and the first hymn to be sung would be "Keep The Red Flag Flying". It seemed to pass into Law without the church batting an eyelid ... or perhaps not noticing. No longer the Mother's Union banner but the TUC flag.
So let's not get to high-and-mighty LGBTQ+ defensive. Let's just see how this Mothering Sunday festival pans out as same-sex marriage creeps in deeper and deeper. We've already lost the meaning of Whit Sunday, Harvest Festivals are now celebrated with cans of TESCO beans not the crops and fruits of the parish and it remains my fear that in the not too distant future, Mothering Sunday will become Daddy-Daddy Day or Mummy-Mummy Sunday.
As for the leaders of the Russian Orthodox church? Well not much of substance has been uttered by ++Wales either. Something like offering up some vacant vicarages to refugees or diverting his special Bishop's pot of gold to humanatarian effort. I'm just surprised that he hasn't turned to his favourite costumers or milliner to commission himself a nice new set of vestments and mitre in Ukrainian blue and yellow.
'Love and fellowship' my hat!
👍
DeleteIt is relevant to discuss mothering Sunday alongside LGBT. The strident promoters of women's ordination seem blithely unaware of the Church they have so denigrated. They have created attractive job opportunities for themselves to the extent that the CinW is rapidly becoming predominantly female, and in its wake a home for lesbians. This will require a 'fresh look' at Mothering Sunday in order to show sympathy for them in the name of the hostage 'love'.
DeleteLW
Mothering Sunday was also a day to gather at the "Mother Church" of the diocese - the Cathedral. I also mentioned this morning a tradition of the congregation surrounding their church, hand in hand to surround it with their love. You can imagine the faces of the faces of the teachers in a primary school when I cheekily suggested that we should do that some years ago!
ReplyDeleteJust wondering what happened my post from yesterday afternoon?
ReplyDeleteNot received BT. Apparently some would be commentators have never succeeded in getting their comments through the system but I have been unable to resolve the problem.
Delete'Anonymous' comments without a pseudonym are not published but this does not apply here.
Ah, thanks. Basically I made the following points.
ReplyDelete1. That, as others have said, Mothering Sunday has little to do with mothers. Of course the "Mother Church" symbolism rather passes me by, as a non-episcopal congregationalist!
2. Churches seem to have bought into the secular idea of Mothers' Day and romanticised it. I have to say that the reading of the Annunciation, apparently read in some churches yesterday, seems appropriate; especially in the light of AB's initial post.
3. Mothering Sunday with its emphasis on The Ideal Family can be a huge and off-putting trial for many, including those who lost their mothers at an early age, experienced bad or abusive parenting, were sent for adoption, are estranged from their mothers, etc. Equally it works the other way for mothers who still mourn dead children, or for women who desperately wish to conceive but cannot.
4. IME experience over many years in ministry, Mothering Sunday is a dead loss in terms of "getting families to church". Too many families, and not just those with young children, go a-visting and celebrating that day, and decide that there's no harm i giving church a miss "because family is more important". I gave up organising Parade Services for Mothering Sunday (and Fathers' Day) long ago, as a complete waste of time. Attendance at my own church yesterday was almost the lowest of the year, although the clock change, the sunny weather and the Marathon (perhaps), Covid and holidays (definitely) were contributory factors!
"Mothering Sunday has little to do with mothers"?
DeleteJust as well you're a non-"episcopal congregationalist!".
In my Sunday school, the Rector taught us that Mothering Sunday was to give thanks for all those women who had survived the ordeal of childbirth, to remember those that had not, and to remind all the children who had lost their mothers (in whatever circumstances) that a woman had risked all to bring them into the world.
In the days of high mortality rates among mothers, Mothering Sunday was a far more significant occasion than it is nowadays with the NHS and modern scientific advances in all areas of medical practice.
The fact that so few people remember or know the origins of such Church festivals is in no small part due to the decline in the quality and number of clergy that even know the basics themselves!
that DON'T even know the basics
DeleteBT: Because some cars are defective, some foods are bad for you, some teachers are child abusers, some priests are wastrels, some doctors are money grabbing, some politicians argue for Marxism and the logic of some blog contributors is faulty does not mean all cars are bad, all food is to be avoided, all teachers are to be abolished, the whole priesthood is to be disbanded, the medical and political classes abolished and all blogs closed down. Surely what is good for the majority should be retained?
DeleteRob
Well said Ruth.
DeleteHere's a very sad reminder of how bad it was in the bad old days.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60919474
IME experience, any Sunday which is a 'dead loss' in terms of 'getting families to Church' usually has far more to do with the quality of the minister(ess) and their ministry than anything else.
DeleteThe parable concerning the removal of the log from one's own eye first comes to mind.
That is unjustified and - dare I say - rude.
Delete"Attendance at my own church yesterday was almost the lowest of the year...."
DeleteYour own words BT.
As for the clocks going forward an hour, sunny weather, Sunday morning exercise (golf, washing the car, walking the dog, mowing the lawn or even a 1/2 marathon) and holidays have always been distractions and competitors for people's time on a Sunday morning and are poor excuses for your own empty church.
You could have reminded your larger congregation on the previous Sunday of the clocks changing as they were leaving your church as well as publishing reminders in your parish magazine and weekly notes.
Likewise, a reminder that last Sunday was Mothering Sunday along with an (accurate) explanation of the (real) reasons for it being so special.
As for "holidays", is your area such a dump that holidaymakers only head out of it and none come in the opposite direction to visit?
For the most part, Covid is now a flimsy and threadbare excuse but you neglect to mention the fact that viruses don't like or flourish in sunlight and better weather.
Your list of excuses also failed to include shops opening on Sundays, the failure of the "Keep Sunday Special" campaign, Decimalisation and Brexit.
Your experience and opinions are no more or less valid than anyone else's.
If the cap fits, you know what to do.
From RB
DeleteBaptist Trainfan always expresses his views courteously and respectfully. It is a pity that not all contributors feel able to do likewise.
RB
"Mothering Sunday has little to do with mothers".
DeleteQuite apart from being utter codswallop, that statement was discourteous and disrespectful to all mothers who still hold Mothering Sunday dear.
I wrote what I did simply because my understanding has been that the historical basis of Mothering Sunday was about people returning to their baptismal(= Mother) church and that the emphasis on human mothers came later. But I stand to be corrected! And of course we reminded people about the clock change etc. The fact is that - as I've said - my experience over many years is that people have often prioritised family gatherings over church attendance on Mothering Sunday.
DeleteP.S. At least two families with children didn't attend because of positive Covid tests in their households.
DeleteSo in the space of three days BT, you've gone from
Delete"Of course the "Mother Church" symbolism rather passes me by as a non-episcopal congregationalist!"
to your understanding, historical basis and people returning to their baptismal Mother church.
It sounds to me as though you're making it up as you go along. Perhaps you should expect a phone call from Caiaphas with an invitation to attend St. Padarn's school of social work; you'll fit in nicely with the current plankers and there's a vacancy coming up in the Radyr Misery Area too.
I wasn't going to chivy in again, but thank you Ruth for your nostalgic reminding of how things were in them good old days when we had Sunday Schools and when Mothering Sunday was a celebration of 'mums'. An era when the vicar's sermon would be on the values our mums and their mums placed on life, the greatest value being love and decency.
ReplyDeleteOf course, that was the era when each diocese would have a parson appointed as Director for Moral Welfare. That role, like the C-in-W Diocesan Director for Education has long-gone. Instead, we now have Diocesan Safeguarding Officers which in a nutshell admits we've given up on teaching morality and decent family upbringing which suits the LGBTQ camp, and instead we've taken the easy route of risk-management or stable-door bolting. Clergy have given up on teaching the morality our mums and vicars of yore taught and now focus on Disclosure and Barring Notices, safety checks, morality-snooping. Moral Welfare doesn't come into it. Focus now is to ensure that undesirables with no morals don't embarrass the church in the Press.
In days when church-going was popular the C-in-W and its various diocese also acted as Adoption and Fostering agencies licensed by various local county councils to act for them. Hundreds of infants and toddlers were beautifully placed for adoption in caring, Christian 'mummy and daddy' homes. One wonders how many would be placed by the clergy of that period (up until the 1970s) to same-sex 'no-mummy' homes or indeed - in that era - how many Family Court judges would approve such adoption.
So, thanks again Ruth for the lovely reminder of a church now lost to the mothballs of memory, its celebrations of gifts like Mothers, of Harvest etc before this new unelected breed of policy makers came in to ruin it. I have to wonder how the divorced Bishop of Bangor and his adult children celebrated Mothers' Day with a new step-mummy by his side? With his 'trust me, I'm an Archbishop' grin I suppose?
When was the last time a Director for Moral Welfare existed in the Cult in Wales?
DeleteThe plankers wouldn't know the meaning of "Moral Welfare"!
🤣 🤣 🤣
The undesirables with no morals are running the Church as well as embarrassing it.
DeleteThe chocolate "two wives" teapot Randy Pandy, "I love all Tories" DodoJo, "I am the accuser" Caiaphas and the "Do you like my new Aga" Capon are the most obvious current examples.
Not forgetting Carl "I've not been shagging my chaplain" Cooper and Darth --Insidious of Llys Ego.
Certainly, Laughing Gas, up to the early 1980's. I'm sure the predominantly women-led policy makers supported by the LGBTQ+ lobby fully understand what 'moral welfare' is ... it simply suits their purpose not to promote it. Ditto C-in-W Directors of Education and their demise. How can they, today, visit Church VC Schools educating on decency and morals in fear of one little kid asking why his vicar is therefore married to another man vicar. How can they make babies Sir? Easier by far is to do a P+O Ferries on them, cancel their contracts, and bring in a new crew with new Gospel.
ReplyDeleteConfused.com!! +Bangor must be seething with deflated Mothers' Pride!
ReplyDeletehttps://anglicancommunion.org/structures/member-churches/member-church/diocese.aspx?church=wales&dio=swansea-brecon
Diocese: Swansea & Brecon
Information
Archbishop of Wales & Bishop of Swansea & Brecon
The Most Revd John Lomas
Address:
Ely Tower, Castle Square, Brecon, Powys, LD3 9DJ, Wales
Office:
+44 (0)1874 622 008
Fax:
+44 (0)1874 610 927
Email:
Click here for email
Address:
swanseaandbrecon.churchinwales.org.uk
No, Ad Clerum. Not new Gospel. Bring in a new crew by all means but with the old Gospel of love and truth that has stood so well for a thousand years or so and will stand forever.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, New Bloke, if you listen very carefully to the plankers of Wales you will discover that love is not the kind of love that the New Testament speaks of. That love is sacrificial. It is the love that drove Jesus to the cross even though he would not know whether anybody would respond to it. The Gospel of Love which the plankers refer to is sexual love, and they are obssessed with it. That kind of love never appears in the pages of the New Testament. As for truth, the plankers have adopted the Pontius Pilate approach - What is truth? Truth is not absolute in the plankers' eyes. It is totally relative. In order to achieve their aims, they have twisted the Truth for lies. You only have to listen to the Planker of St Asaph's statement at Governing Body last September on the issue of Orthodoxy. The man blatantly lied, and since the members of the Governing Body are theologically and historically inept, his lies achieved their goal. The teachings of Jesus were reduced to "one opinion among many". Pope Leo the Great said the difference between Christianity and other world religions is that we do not have a man who became a god. We have a God who became man. The teaching of Jesus is the teaching of God. Last September, the Governing Body and the Plankers reduced the Church in Wales to a cult, they evicted Jesus and his teaching, and it means that they have no right to claim that they are Christian. The word for them is antichristian. That they have rejected Christ's teaching means that they have no Gospel to proclaim. According to St Paul, the one that they busy proclaiming makes them anathema.
DeleteSeymour
Some good news and common sense at last.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/60934099
The BBC are busy promoting their favourite cause once more.
ReplyDeleteIt was news to me to discover there are now over 100 LGBTQIA organisations.
Almost as many as the number of "genders" the BBC claims exist.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60988210