MOTHERING SUNDAY

Today I presided at St. Augustine’s where we had a full church as Father Martin presided at the Parish Mass  at St. Lawrence, Upminster;  . At the beginning of the service the flags from the Uniformed Organisations were paraded and presented. Our Intercessions were led by the Brownies. I talked about the different names for this Sunday and then pointed out that we all had 3 mothers: our own Mums, Mother Mary and Mother Church. What linked these together was “love” – you couldn’t see “ love” but you knew it was there. I produced a stick with 2 coloured balls at each end; as you pulled one – one at the other end went up (or down) He then opened the stick into two pieces to show that the coloured balls were not linked.

At the Peace, flowers were blessed and distributed, or votive candles lit for those whose mothers had died. Leaflets detailing all the services for Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter were distributed and they included an invitation to the annual Easter Parish Breakfast on Easter Day. Cost for adults: £3,  £1 for children between 5 to 11, children under 5 free. Fruit Juice, Cereals, toast and marmalade, Boiled Eggs and Sausages, tea or coffee. All breakfasts must be pre-booked – no one will be served who hasn’t reserved a place. Having been to this for several years I can thoroughly recommend it.

We hope to hold a Flower Festival on 24th and 25th May as part of our Mission Week ; volunteers to arrange flowers or sponsor an arrangement are needed by NEXT SUNDAY when we are holding our Annual Vestry and Parochial Meeting..