Mothering

Our gospel reading for Mothering Sunday, John19. 25-27 bring us to the time that Jesus has been nailed to the cross and is in his last moments when he looks down and sees his mother standing next to the Apostle John. He must have seen the despair in their faces as they watched the life ebb away from him, the bleeding wounds, the agony in his face as he struggled to catch breath. In that moment, Jesus mothers his mother and 'favourite disciple' by making sure that they are cared for by each other. This encounter enables us to see that mothering is not purely a woman's domain. Mothering is in all of us, that capacity to care with compassion and love. We probably see it most vividly in the relationship between mother and child but we all have the potential to 'mother'.