Mother’s Day is a national holiday celebrated in America each year on the second Sunday of May.
HOW MOTHER’S DAY BEGAN
It all started with Anna Jarvis, a native of Grafton, West Virginia, where she wanted her mother’s prayer of having a Memorial Mother’s Day to become a reality. Anna remembered witnessing her mother’s prayer at the closing of her Sunday school class, “I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will find a Memorial Mother’s Day commemorating her for the matchless service she renders to humanity in every field of life.” Anna never forgot her mother’s prayer that she repeated at a memorial service for her mother following her later death in 1905, then she vowed, “By the grace of God, you shall have that Mother’s Day.” Therefore, two years later, Anna began campaigning by letter-writing and public speaking and directed local, state, and national organizations and legislatures to have a national holiday to honor mothers for their role as domestic caregivers and devotion to their families. Anna and her supporters advocated a Mother’s Day to be celebrated on the second Sunday of May because it matched the day her mother died. Nearly all states in America celebrated Mother’s Day, resulting in President Woodrow Wilson signing a proclamation in 1914, making Mother’s Day a national holiday celebrated on the second Sunday of May each year. Anna’s mother’s prayer of having a holiday for mothers then came true.
As time passed, Mother’s Day became a commercial holiday when businesses sold flowers, cards, and candies for people to purchase as gifts for their mothers, much to Anna’s dismay. Displeased with this commercialism, Anna tried to campaign for legal cancellation of Mother’s Day in the United States, but her attempts failed (This information came from www.britannica.com/biography/Anna-Jarvis and www.history.com/topics/holidays/mothers-day). Mother’s Day became a holiday for our nation to honor our mothers. Since 1914, America has celebrated Mother’s Day, a holiday proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson, on the second Sunday of May each year. But if we have mothers who are a part of our everyday lives, should we honor our mothers every day instead of Mother’s Day?
We Christians must remember to follow God’s commandment to honor our mothers every day of our lives, not just on Mother’s Day, because God gave everybody a mother as a gift to give us birth. We who have mothers who are devoted to us and a part of our everyday lives should cherish our mothers daily. Unfortunately, not everybody has a mother living today, and my heart goes out to children grieving the loss of their mother through death, just as mothers grieving the loss of their children through death on Mother’s Day. Individuals, churches, and communities should also observe Mother’s Day to reach out to comfort and pray for grieving children and mothers by having prayer meetings or support groups.
A PRAYER FOR MOTHER’S DAY
Dear God, our Heavenly Father,
I lift the Mother’s Day holiday to You in prayer as a tribute to all mothers and their children in the United States in the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
On Mother’s Day, I pray that You will allow the holiday to be a ‘“Memorial Day for bereaved Mothers and Children” so grieving mothers and children can remember and cherish all the good times they had with them: mothers mourning the loss of their children and children for the loss of their mothers. I pray that You will give them peace and comfort as they grieve.
On Mother’s Day, I pray that You will allow the holiday to be a “Day of Peace and Reconciliation for Mothers and Children” to reconcile estranged relationships between mothers and children by granting them the spirit to make peace by setting aside all differences and forgiving all grievances they have made against each other. I pray that You will bring a fresh start to their relationship by bridging love, harmony, and unity. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen —Kenneth Sullivan.