This Sunday we celebrate Mother's Day and this year we celebrate Barbie at 50 years old. Barbie is an iconic female figure; she is a dizzy blonde who doesn't look a day over 16. She likes fun, fashion and friendship and, according to her garishly pink website - www.barbie.everythinggirl.com, thinks that 'girls should never attempt anything without lip gloss and the right accessories'. There are three Barbie dolls sold every second, and over a billion worldwide. The dolls are a product that package and sell a particular fantasy of how people should be. They create a warped sense of the "perfect" girl, distort people's view of femininity and oversimplify the process of being human. In the Gospel passage Mary watches Jesus die on the cross (John 19:25-27). She offers us a reality check, doing what no mother should ever have to do, which is to see her child die. As it happens, she would live to see her son rise again from the dead and offer a new life to the world. It is the grief of Mary rather than the glitz of Barbie that offers us a real hope.

Weekly reflections on the Gospel for the coming Sunday are available on request. They will come once a week and will never be more than 200 words. If you would like to receive these emails then please email the Parish Secretary