Here’s
a responsive liturgy for Mother’s Day from Tom Trinidad.
Mother’s Day Liturgy
On
this day, we honour those who have mothered us and cared for us.
For
some, this will be a birth mother,
and
we may wish to express our grateful thanks.
We
pray that our lives may reflect the love they have shown us.
For
others, it will be the women who raised us,
who
were our mothers in childhood –
an
adopted mother, older sister, aunt, grandmother,
stepmother
or someone else.
We
may wish to express our thanks for those women
who
held us and fed us, who cared for us and kissed away our pain.
We
pray that our lives may reflect the love they have shown us.
We
pray for older mothers whose children are grown.
Grant
them joy and satisfaction in how their children’s lives unfold.
We
pray for those with adult children,
but
whose lives are still shaped by their children’s needs and cares.
Grant
them strength, patience and wisdom.
We
pray for new mothers experiencing changes they could not predict.
Grant
them rest and peace and confidence as the days unfold.
We
pray for pregnant women who will soon be mothers.
Grant
them patience and good counsel in the coming months.
We
pray for mothers who face the demands of single parenthood.
Grant
them strength and wisdom.
We
pray for mothers who enjoy financial abundance.
Grant
them time to share with their families.
We
pray for mothers who are raising their children in poverty.
Grant
them relief and justice.
We
pray for the challenge of blended families,
and
those who take on care of others children.
Grant
them patience and understanding and love.
We
pray for mothers who are separated from their children.
Grant
them faith and hope.
We
pray for mothers in marriages that are in crisis.
Grant
them support and insight.
We
pray for mothers who have lost children through illness,
or
death come too soon.
Grant
them comfort that their children are held in divine embrace.
We
pray for mothers in developing countries
who
die in childbirth due to inadequate maternal health care,
or
whose children die too young.
Grant
that generosity may abound,
that
money will be released for resources,
and
to attract skilled personnel who can support the women and children.
We
pray for mothers who have terminated pregnancies.
Grant
them healing and peace.
We
pray for mothers who gave up their children for adoption.
Grant
them peace and confidence
that
the children will be held in good care.
We
pray for adoptive mothers.
Grant
them joy and gratitude for the gift of life entrusted to them.
We
pray for girls and women who think about being mothers.
Grant
them wisdom and discernment.
We
pray for women who desperately want, or wanted, to be mothers.
Grant
them grace in their particular and often private sense of loss and grief.
We
pray for all women who have assumed the mother’s role in a child’s life.
Grant
them joy and the appreciation of others.
We
pray for those people present
who
are grieving the loss of their mother in the past year.
Grant
them comfort, and confidence
that
loving continues in how we live our lives.
All
are invited to come forward and light a candle for those who have mothered us
and/or for those who have particular concerns about individuals.
~ Written by Tom Trinidad and posted on Worship Helps.
It was revised slightly and included in "Beating on the
Chest of God: A Faith Journey through Infertility," published by The
Emerging Muse, 2014.
