Real righteous reality

Sermon for the eleventh Sunday after Trinity

What's wrong with 

being a pharisee?

You don't extort money.

You don't commit adultery.

You act according to the law.

You are follow the religious practices. 

You fast like you're supposed to.

You give alms like you're supposed to.

Everything has been done

according to the very rules

that God has set down

for you to live your life by.

The Pharisee does nothing wrong.

But we know that's 

not the real issue here,

don't we?

[PAUSE]

St Luke tells us 

right from the start 

why Our Lord preaches 

this particular parable

"unto certain which trusted 

in themselves that they were 

righteous,

and despised others."

We can see exactly 

what's gone wrong,

can't we?

The Pharisee despises the Publican.

But that's not surprising

if you think about it.

A publican doesn't run a pub.

He'd be more popular 

with his community 

if he did.

No. 

This man is a tax-collector,

like Zacchaeus,

like St Matthew.

He is a tax collector,

collecting money 

for the Romans who oppress

Israel and Judaea.

Not only that,

he's charging more

and creaming the profits

off the top.

He extorts 

and he is unfaithful 

to his country and his God

- no better than an adulterer.

Is the Pharisee not justified

in his assessment 

that he is more faithful to God

than one who is not?

Is the Pharisee's sin

really that he despises

someone who is contributing 

to the ruin of God's nation?

[PAUSE]

And what of this Publican?

If we look at him

as he bows his head

and strikes his breastfeeding

and begs for mercy in his sinfulness,

isn't he agreeing with the Pharisee?

So why does he go home

justified

and the pharisee not?

Well,

we know why.

The Publican 

goes home a changed man 

like Zacchaeus,

like St Matthew.

He has been made right,

he has been justified.

Something about him

is different. 

He enters the temple

a sinner,

he leaves it righteous.

His prayer to God

is for him to be made righteous again.

He doesn't thank God

for himself

because what he knows of himself

is sin

against God and against his neighbours,

and he sees it

and he hates it.

And so, 

he does what only he can do.

He comes to God

bearing only his sin

and begging for healing in his soul.

And that's what he gets.

He is made righteous. 

Not just declared righteous, 

made righteous,

really righteous.

And what of the Pharisee?

What does He bring God?

[PAUSE]

All God is presented with 

is the Pharisee's opinion

of himself

in relation to others. 

The Pharisee offers God 

nothing of the reality of himself.

Yes, 

he keeps the law

and respects the prophets

and fasts and gives to charity

and does all the things 

that you are supposed to.

But he gives God

nothing of himself.

What does he want God for?

Clearly not for forgiveness!

A medal?

a reward?

a blue plaque on his house?

Is he asking God to receive his thanks?

Well, yes, 

thanks that he is more righteous 

than other people.

Why should God receive his thanks?

There's nothing real here

that the Pharisee is thankful for.

He's done the work.

He's not extorted.

He's not committed adultery.

He's fasted.

He's given tithes.

Where is God in his thanks?

It seems little more 

than lip service. 

The Pharisee wants nothing 

and so he receives it in abundance. 

He leaves the temple 

unchanged,

no better, no worse.

His heart empty

and his life its own reward.

[PAUSE]

Every Mass,

we come to God

with an opportunity 

to offer him ourselves 

as we really are.

And we come here,

not to be smug

and happy that we're 

better than others

but to bring to God

that brokenness 

that needs healing.

Of course,

we bring thanks,

thanks for what God is doing

thanks that we have not 

got what we have deserved,

thanks that God is willing to make us

right with Him

based on who we really are

not on how we think we are,

especially in relation to

other people.

[PAUSE]

The way that we should live life

is determined by God Himself

because He is what it means 

to be righteous.

God does good

because He is what it means

to be good.

The Publican knows this

which is why he can only

approach God 

in humility

not presuming on God's mercy

as a done deal,

but actively desiring it

and only expecting it

because that's how God is

and for no other reason.

The Pharisee's idea of goodness 

lies in his keeping of the Law

and forgetting Who gives that Law.

If God is what it means

to be righteous, 

then this means

righteousness is real 

something to be lived

and experienced

and grown.

Not a list of rules

and consequences. 

To be justified 

means more than 

"well, you're okay with me."

It means

being really infused

with God Himself. 

Justification 

isn't just something 

that is pronounced;

it isn't just a legal statement 

ratified by a judge;

it is something in us

that is planted and grows

and grows by how much 

we tend it

through engaging

actively

with Our God Who

gives Himself to us

in the Holy Eucharist. 

[PAUSE]

The Pharisee may do what is right

on paper

but it is the Publican 

who goes home

with God in his heart

rather than scrolls 

of parchment. 

We, too, can leave here

with parchment in our hearts

or God Himself.

It depends on what

of ourselves we truly offer God

in the sacrifice of the Mass

and why.

Anglican Catholic Vestments

 

What do Anglican Catholic clergy wear?

Night of the Living... Apostle?

Sermon preached at the Cathedral Church of St Augustine of Canterbury on the Feast of St Bartholomew

Horror films 

aren't what they used to be.

Once upon a time,

it was a classic battle

of good and evil 

where the evil 

was a vampire

Frankenstein's monster, 

a werewolf

or a zombie.

Yes, sometimes 

this battle between 

good and evil

was not so clear cut.

Is the Phantom of the Opera

truly evil

or is he the victim

of some psychological trauma?

These days,

horror films

seem to be more

about punishing the audience

for going to see them.

They are more gruesome

and much time is spent

in forcing the audience

to endure the evil acts

that the villain

is inflicting upon the innocent,

and then allowing 

the villain to triumph

over the innocent.

There is a strange fascination

that human beings can have

about the horrible things

we can do to each other.

Why?

[PAUSE]

When St Bartholomew 

is mentioned,

we easily remember that

he is a Martyr.

And what's the first question

we think of when we hear

that someone is a Martyr?

"How did they die?"

Do we really want to know?

No.

But yes.

But absolutely not!

But we sort of do!

behind our fingers,

with eyes half turned to watch

with a squint and a readiness

to turn our face away.

[PAUSE]

Cards on the table.

St Bartholomew

probably wasn't skinned alive.

Like many other martyrs,

it is likely that his death is dressed up

to make him appear more holy,

to present a faith so strong

that it won't bend under torture.

He is more likely to have been

beheaded or drowned.

His death doesn't need to be dressed up.

He faces death 

for his faith,

for his Christ,

for us.

Surely, what should concern us most

is that St Bartholomew would rather die

than renounce His Saviour, 

the Saviour that He spends

so much time with,

listening to His teaching,

seeing the miracle,

eating and drinking together 

enjoying each other's company.

St Bartholomew would rather

die for the truth

than live for a lie.

Indeed,

many Christians today

owe their faith and lives

to the Gospel 

St Bartholomew preaches

in Armenia and India. 

That should be all that concerns us.

But nonetheless, 

at the back of our minds

there is still that possibility 

that St Bartholomew is skinned alive.

And it niggles us.

[PAUSE]

Some of us

don't want to go there.

We want to push it aside,

not thinking about it,

because it disgusts us

frightens us,

appals us,

makes our skin crawl.

Others of us 

become fascinated

and even depict it

in ghoulish fashion in art

determined to confront

the squeamish 

with the gory details.

What's going on?

What's going on

is our inability to cope

with human suffering,

especially the suffering 

of one so obviously 

engaged in battle with Evil.

[PAUSE]

Those who turn from 

the death of St Bartholomew 

disturbed and sickened,

don't want to participate 

in his pain and suffering. 

It's too much for them,

because they experience the world 

with empathy

and recognising others' feelings.

Those who turn towards it

are fascinated by the truth,

while still yet being horrified by it,

but their need to know 

prevents them from looking away.

The fact is 

that we cannot handle fully

the suffering of others

and, when we can't do anything 

to stop that suffering,

we either run

or remain transfixed and helpless.

The fact is, 

we need both 

attitudes.

If we keep turning away

from the suffering of others

then we deny the reality

of that suffering.

It becomes

hypothetical,

and, because it's unpleasant,

we can be tempted 

to deny its existence.

If, however, we keep

fixating upon the suffering of others 

then we can again forget

that there is a human being suffering.

The fixation becomes clinical,

passionless,

and distracting from 

what matters.

Thus, the suffering of others

becomes a horror film to enjoy

and then walk away from. 

[PAUSE]

In both cases,

we separate 

the suffering

from the sufferer.

Our Lord Jesus Christ

shows that you cannot 

do that.

You cannot

separate the suffering 

from the sufferer.

When He appears

to St Bartholomew and the other Apostles 

He still bears the wounds of the Cross.

Our Lord's suffering means something. 

The Cross has become 

part of the Incarnation. 

Likewise,

the gruesome legend

of St Bartholomew 

points to his participation

in the agonies of Christ

however he meets his martyrdom.

But how he meets his martyrdom 

doesn't make him greater

or lesser than any other martyr.

Oh, be assured 

that whatever we suffer in this life

will be recompensed to us

by Almighty God.

But we cannot measure a martyr

by the cruelty inflicted on then

by human beings. 

The glory of the martyrs

is the same, one cross of Christ.

There is no greatest 

or least save only

in the judgement of God alone.

And yes,

yes, of course we should flinch

yes, of course we should turn our head,

yes, we should be disturbed

at the agony of others.

That's Love working in us.

It's our natural state 

of sympathy, empathy 

and compassion. 

Our reaction is human.

It is those who are inflicting the agony

who are denying their own humanity

because they can

separate the suffering 

from the sufferer.

Our duty is not to let

the agony of others

cause us to walk away

without seeking God in that agony.

For God is not the torturer.

He hears the cry 

of every drop of innocent blood spilled.

God ensures that 

every scar borne for Him

and His Children 

becomes a badge of honour

because He does not separate 

the suffering from the sufferer. 

He replaces pain with pleasure.

He replaces tears of sadness 

with tears of joy.

He replaces humiliation 

with exaltation.

All that is given up

for Him

is returned by Him in abundance,

but not to become the greatest

or the least,

not to create status

but solely because it is joyful

in the eyes of God

to restore that which has been

taken away for His sake

by the cruelty of Evil.

And, for us,

disturbed and traumatised 

by the Good Fridays of the saints

He gives us their Easter Days 

of Resurrection.

[PAUSE]

Life may be

a horror film at times, 

but it's a classic film

- one where, in the end

Good triumphs over Evil.

Modern horror films

truly depict 

the cruelty that hides

within us

but they often fail 

to show us of the truth 

that God is alive and with us

until our journey's end.

And, 

after all his suffering 

for His Master,

St Bartholomew 

walks away into the same

Sunrise of the

Eternal Divine light

that will envelope us

in our turn

when our time comes.

Anglican Catholic Vocations

Do you feel called to ministry? Might that ministry be in the Anglican Catholic Church Diocese of the United Kingdom?

Blessed battle banner bearer?

Sermon for the Sunday in the Octave of the Assumption of Our Lady 

A nervous young man,

enflamed with love,

turns to his beautiful girlfriend,

looks her lovingly in the eye,

and, barely concealing

the passion for her 

that causes

his heart to beat faster,

opens his mouth and says,

"Ee Luv,

yer like a big, frightening

formation of Sherman tanks!"

It kills the moment, rather,

don't you think?

Ladies, 

how often does your man

compare you to

military manoeuvres?

Do you take it 

as the complement 

intended?

Or is he saying,

"Yer a reet battleaxe,  Luv?" 

And yet,

in our most passionate book

of the Bible 

we hear the Great Lover

say of His Shunamite Bride,

"Who is she 

that looketh forth as the morning, 

fair as the moon, 

clear as the sun, 

and terrible 

as an army with banners?"

And whatever you think

of the failings

of Ancient Israelite courtship,

this verse is consistently applied

to Our Lady.

In our liturgy,

the Blessed Virgin,

Queen of Heaven,

full of grace 

is described as being

as terrible as an army 

with banners!

Our Lady the battleaxe?

[PAUSE]

Seeing Our Lady 

as a cosmic Nora Batty

is an image that belongs to our culture

not to the culture of Bronze Age Israel.

Imagine

a young man

beset by the turbulence of life

an uncertain future,

tormented by

the same demons

that beset us today.

Yes, the same demons

who try to turn us from God

with enticements to sin,

and despair,

demons that show us

that we are worth nothing

demons that makes us feel laughed at

ridiculous, 

hated.

Imagine that young man

surrounded by this army of misery

look up into the eyes

of his girlfriend

and see in those eyes,

love,

the love that makes Him

feel seen, appreciated and cared for,

the love that drives those demons away

howling and screaming. 

One woman

routing the Army of Darkness

with a kiss.

How terrible as an army with banners!

[PAUSE]

It is said that 

the Powers of Hell

fear Our Lady in the same way.

It's not that she possesses

a Divine Nature,

but rather that,

through her and in her

the Divine Nature of Our Lord Jesus

shines forth.

Our Lady is not our Redeemer

but she certainly plays a vital rôle 

in our Salvation 

just as much

as the person who dials 999

plays a vital rôle in saving the life

of a heart-attack victim.

All who know her,

who see her,

who talk to those that have met her

know that she is indeed without sin.

She needs Salvation nonetheless 

because no-one can be raised

from Earth to Heaven

without Christ.

No-one can participate 

in the Divine Nature

without the Divinity

of Christ taking on

our Humanity.

And Our Lady

participates in 

the Divine Nature of Christ

by saying "Yes!" 

to bearing Him from embryo to foetus to baby

bearing Him to infant, to boy, to teenager, to man

bearing Him to ministry and miracle

to suffering and crucifixion, 

bearing Him to death

and bearing Him

to resurrection.

The whole of His Holy Incarnation 

is borne in the person 

of one sinless virgin.

All of our Salvation

is borne in the person

of one sinless virgin.

And the demons know it.

And they tremble. 

At the sight 

of a lady, 

so little and gentle

the armies of darkness flee,

because of the Christ

Who shines in her.

Yes,

Our Lady is as terrible

as an army with banners

but an army

that fights for us,

formidable and strong 

and yet 

wins its battle 

with a kiss,

a gentle word,

a look of love and compassion,

a warmth that tells us in our misery,

"you are not forgotten."

This is why Our Lady 

is assumed into Heaven,

soul and body.

Where else should she be?

Should a Christian engage in mockery?

 

What is mockery for?

Future Tense?

Sermon for the eighth Sunday after Trinity

Do you know

that the world

was supposed to end in 2012?

That's according to 

an old Mayan calendar.

According to St Malachi

Pope Francis is supposed 

to be the last.

Nostradamus

predicts an apocalyptic event

in 1999.

And perhaps you remember 

Harold Camping

who very publicly

proclaims the end of the World.

When that doesn't happen

he says he's got his sums wrong

and gives another date.

When the world doesn't end

on that day either,

he says it is a spiritual apocalypse.

Prophets of doom

have an expiry date

when we know whether

they are truly foreseeing the future.

By the fruit of their prophecy

we will know them.

Until then, 

we might laugh off

a prediction about the end of the world

but still keep an eye 

on the calendar.

But we know that 

not all prophets are 

as easy to test.

The fruit of a prophet's testimony 

always lies in the future.

[PAUSE]

The future is the place

where all our work is tested

and sometimes waiting to see

the outcome of our labours

is uncomfortable. 

But it is the prophet of God

whose work will be 

most rigorously tested

in the passage of Time.

And that makes it 

uncomfortable for us 

because we cannot see 

whether this prophet is true 

or false

for the foreseeable future.

A prophet 

may do wonderful deeds now

but turn out to be

a damp squib.

For us with the benefit

of 20-20 hindsight

we can see clearly

that Our Lord's prophecy

is reliable 

and that He truly is

the Son of God.

When we think 

that His testimony 

is snuffed out on the cross,

He rises again

not only proving Himself 

to be the Son of God

but also proving the worth

of the Old Testament prophets

who said that He would.

He rises again

according to the Scriptures.

The prophets of the past

though dead

live again

and are proved to be truly 

the messengers of God

which is why we,

in their future,

venerate their prophecy

in our Bible.

Our Lord Jesus

in His resurrection 

binds up the past, present and future -

Jesus Christ

the same yesterday, 

today

and forever. 

[PAUSE]

This is important for us.

We are born in time,

haunted by the past

and worried about the future.

Around us are sheep

that have always looked like sheep

but who will be

unmasked by the future

as ravening wolves.

People and institutions

that we thought were good

may turn out to be far from good.

Do we have any way of knowing?

Is there anything

or anyone who can

give us confidence?

Such a one must be

the same yesterday, today

and forever.

[PAUSE]

We don't put our trust

in anyone but Christ.

Even the saints

receptive their trustworthiness 

through Christ.

Even Our Lady,

the Queen of Heaven

can only be a true saint

because of her son,

Our Lord.

The Church can only ever be

One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic

if it is true to the One Lord Jesus Christ,

separated from the World 

by His Holiness, 

according to the sane Catholic Faith

proclaimed everywhere

by His faithful Apostles

and their successors.

In order to see the future,

we Christians 

must hold onto the past,

but we only hold onto the past

in order to sanctify the future.

As Christians,

we embrace past, present and future

altogether. 

We might not see the future

but we can be confident 

in what is coming

by holding on to what

we have always been taught.

What we Christians see in the future

is the return of Christ,

the judgement of the world

by Him

and the exaltation of

all who believe in Him.

In the future,

we will see the union 

of all Christians 

because all Christians 

will gather at the feet of Christ.

For this reason 

we must see the sacraments 

as passports to the future.

Our priests aren't ordained 

just for now but for ever 

after the order of Melchisedek;

our bishops are consecrated

in order to keep the Apostolic line going

for our brothers and sisters yet to come. 

And the same is true 

of all Christians. 

Whatever we do,

we must do it for Christ and, 

in doing what we do for Christ,

we are doing it also

for our brothers and sisters yet to come:

the Christians who aren't yet born,

the Christians who will live

long after we are dead and gone,

the Christians we will only meet

at the Resurrection of the Dead.

[PAUSE]

We Christians aren't meant

to live just for now. 

Our behaviour shouldn't be

just for pleasures

that seem wonderful now

but are blown into oblivion

on the winds of Time.

Our lives are to be built on

the rock that is Christ

and this means

living faithfully to Him

despite what those winds of Time 

blow at us.

We must live

as if we are building something

that we would expect

to be permanent 

for God.

If we do,

then we should not find

the future a worry for us

but rather the arena

in which we will meet God

face to face.