Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Mary Sumner, 1921

Hebrews 13:1–5 (NRSVCE)

1 Let mutual love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured.4 Let marriage be held in honor by all, and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled; for God will judge fornicators and adulterers. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”

Psalm 119:9–16 (NRSVCE)

With my whole heart I seek you;

9 How can young people keep their way pure?

By guarding it according to your word.

10 With my whole heart I seek you;

do not let me stray from your commandments.

With my whole heart I seek you;

11 I treasure your word in my heart,

so that I may not sin against you.

12 Blessed are you, O Lord;

teach me your statutes.

With my whole heart I seek you;

13 With my lips

I declare all the ordinances of your mouth.

14 I delight in the way of your decrees

as much as in all riches.

With my whole heart I seek you;

15 I will meditate on your precepts,

and fix my eyes on your ways.

16 I will delight in your statutes;

I will not forget your word.

With my whole heart I seek you;

Luke 11:9–13 (NRSVCE)

9 “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Mary Elizabeth Sumner (née Heywood) was born in 1828 at Swinton (4 miles northwest of Manchester). She was educated at home, learning three foreign languages and to sing well.

To complete her musical education, she travelled with her mother and elder sister to Rome where she met her future husband, George Henry Sumner, who was a relative of William Wilberforce.

In 1848, Mary and George, who was now a young curate, were married.

George went on to become Bishop of Guildford in 1888. Bishop George was of course actually a suffragon bishop in the diocise of Winchester which Guildford was still a part of at that time, before becoming its own diocese in 1927.

Mary and George had three children, Margaret, Louise, and George, with George the younger going on to become a well known artist, known by his middle name, Heywood, his mother’s maiden name.

In 1876, Mary called a meeting at which the Mothers' Union was founded, providing a forum in which to unite mothers of all classes in the aim of bringing up children in the Christian faith. Baptism and parental example were its two basic principles. At first a parochial organisation, it grew steadily into an international concern, encouraging the ideal of a Christian home.

Mary was president of the Mothers’ Union into her nineties and lived to lead the Mothers' Union to act in rebuilding the heart of Britain after the First World War. Mary died on this day in 1921. Mary and Bishop George, who lived until 1909, are buried together at Winchester Cathedral.

Faithful and loving God, who called Mary Sumner to strive    for the renewal of family life: give us the gift of your Holy Spirit, that through word, prayer, and deed,    your family may be strengthened and your people served.

The renewal of the family life. What that mean today? What might it mean for the renewal of the Church as a family?

Seek wisom from older, more experienced families. But younger have something to say too.

Babet’s Feast. 19th century Denmark.

Where do we seek wisdom?

Are we learning how to say sorry?

Are we striving to communicate better?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Mary Sumner prayer:

All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe, or the life I live. Amen.