Mother's Day on Pentecost?

What happens when an extra-early Easter and a fixed-date national holiday collide? Well, you might end up with Mother's Day on Pentecost, or Pentecost on Mother's Day, depending upon your perspective. For Christians, Pentecost is fifty days after the Resurrection, ten days after the Ascension. Mother's Day became an official national holiday in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a decree that the second Sunday of May be a day "for a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country." This year, the fiftieth day after the Resurrection and the second Sunday in May are on the same day -- May 11, 2008. So, which celebration takes precedence? The obvious answer would be Pentecost. Pentecost marks the coming of the Holy Spirit after the Ascension and is thought of as the "birthday" of the church. But who said that the obvious is easy? Mother's Day happens to be one of the Big Three: Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day. In fact, in some parts of the country, Mother's Day attendance surpasses that of Christmas or Easter!

Just as Easter 2008 was the earliest we will see for another century or so, this incidence of Pentecost on Mother's Day will not happen again soon. So join us on Sunday, May 11 as we observe the Day of Pentecost and celebrate Mother's Day!

Adapted from Mother's Day on Pentecost? by Safiyah Fosua. Copyright 2008 General Board of Discipleship, PO Box 34003, Nashville, TN 37203. Worship website: www.umcworship.org.