Commons Church

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Mother's Day 2023

CALL TO WORSHIP
Psalm 47

MUSIC
Curated by Kevin Borst
Brooke Ligertwood - Banner
Mission House - Whole Heart
Passion - What He’s Done
Chris Tomlin - Holy Forever


MOTHER’S DAY PRAYER
Written by Yelena Pakhomova

Today is Mother’s Day, and as part of our worship, we will take an opportunity to reflect and pray together.

For some of us, this day carries joy.
For others, it brings up mixed feelings.
And probably for most of us, it comes with a lot of complexity around our personal experiences with motherhood and the social and cultural expectations connected to it.

So as we pray today, we want to honour all the different paths that lead to motherhood.
We recognize how foundational and yet limited the metaphor of mother is to our stories.
And we are grateful for the mother figures and spiritual mothers in our lives.
In her safe and nurturing love, Mother God has room for everything our stories hold.

Let us pray.

Our loving God,
as we name some of the mysteries and complexities of motherhood,
anchor us in your fierce and selfless love that always tells us:
you are good, you are enough.

As we pray for our mothers today,
those related by blood, and those who chose to be our mothers,
those who have nurtured us and witnessed the miracle of our becoming,
we give you thanks for their leadership, resilience, and strength,
and for how their love, however imperfect, has pointed us to the truth of your love.

But we also remember those for whom this day is challenging,
those who have lost their mothers,
who are distanced from their mothers,
and those in the process of finding healing.
We lift up those who have suffered in their journey of motherhood,
those who have lost a child,
those who ache and pray for a child,
those who wait and hope and discern what is next.
May your grace surround and guide them every step of the way.

Finally, we pray for all mothers who are discovering
what it means to be a mother in their current season of life:
those who care for babies and chase after toddlers,
those who navigate relationships with their adult children,
those who’ve welcomed new children into their life
through adoption, fostering, or blending of families,
those who mentor, teach and give of themselves.
May they know that their worth is not determined by how much they can offer,
may they not be afraid to dream and live a big life,
may they trust that in all they do, they are held by you,
and they are enough.

Amen.


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