Over the centuries, this Fourth Sunday in Lent has had a number of associations, and the BCP collect and lessons reflect some of these. Perhaps the oldest association was an Eastern celebration of the Holy Cross, which may be reflected in the Epistle choice mentioning Jerusalem. One popular name, "Refreshment Sunday," refers to the Gospel about feeding the five thousand. In traditional Roman rite use, this was also the Sunday known as "Rose Sunday" with rose rather than violet vestments.. Finally, in medieval England, this Sunday became known as "Mothering Sunday" because of visits and special offerings for the mother church of each diocese. In some parts of England, the mothering theme developed to allow servants, apprentices and students to visit their mothers on this day.
All of these tidbits can be interesting. In addition, the Epistle from Galatians 4 emphasizes divine promises, and the Gospel from John 6 points to Jesus' prophetic role. However, my thoughts keep returning to collect:
GRANT, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace may mercifully be relieved; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Although the mood of Lent lightens a bit today before we move on toward Passiontide, we must keep remembering the gravity of our sins and our great need for divine grace.
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