Why we need to hold Church music to high standards.
Monday, January 26, 2026
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Conversion Contradicted
Sermon for the feast of the Conversion of St Paul
There are those
who read the bible
looking for any excuse
to find contradictions.
The story of St Paul's conversion
is mentioned three times
in the book of Acts
but they are not all the same.
The conversion is related
by St Luke as part of the narrative
in chapter 9
and then twice more
in chapters 22 and 26
as St Paul tells the story to others.
People tend to focus on
the fact that these accounts differ.
There is some inconsistency
about whether everyone ses the light
or hears the voice,
or whether everyone falls down.
If you read these accounts
for yourselves,
you might come away
not really knowing
how those travelling with St Paul
bear witness to what happened.
But does something happen,
or is it all in St Paul's head
- a result of a seizure,
or a stroke,
or an hallucination?
[PAUSE]
First,
we can be sure that
something is happening.
Before Damascus,
Saul is breathing out
fire and threatenings
against Christians.
In Damascus,
Saul becomes Paul
and seeks to serve
the One whom he persecutes.
In many ways,
the evidence of St Paul's ministry
speaks for itself.
You know his letters.
They are reasoned,
passionate,
compassionate,
intelligent,
spiritual
and full of the praise of God.
That's evidence enough
that something is happening
on the Road to Damascus.
Second,
those around St Paul,
are affected.
St Paul himself may not be
fully aware of what others are seeing
but then, he is rather more concerned
with the Voice calling him out
for persecuting the King of Heaven.
In the confusion,
some of the others may see the light
some may hear the voice,
some may understand the voice,
some may have fallen down.
It depends who you ask!
And in the confusion
not all may experience
exactly the same thing.
What matters
is that the event is about
one man's conversion,
one man's redemptiom
and one man's shame being turned
to his praise.
This is his experience
and that experience
can be supported
by those who were there
and by those who owe
their coming to faith
by the persecutor
turned apostle.
[PAUSE]
And the conversion
still has an affect on us,
twenty centuries later.
We have to reconcile
the persecutor with the apostle.
We have to reconcile the man
rejoicing in the death
of St Stephen
with the man rejoicing
in the strength of the Church
as the executioner
ends his life.
They are the same man.
And it shows why
we must love those
who persecute us.
We can't hate Saul,
because then we hate Paul.
How can we hate Paul
even when he is Saul?
To see him
before his conversion
is to see ourselves
before ours.
We have to start
somewhere.
The Christians that Saul kills
are those Christians
who welcome him into heaven
with cries of joy
and warmth and love.
That's how we need to be:
loving our enemies,
accepting persecution with joy!
This attitude makes us
contradictions in this world
but perfect sense in heaven.
This attitude
helps Sauls become Pauls
and allows Heaven to ring with joy
over each repentant sinner.
And if Sauls become Pauls
then the Christian faith
is enriched upon the earth
allowing
for more conversions
from contradictions.
Monday, January 19, 2026
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Witnessing Epiphany
Sermon preached at the Cathedral Church of St Augustine on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany
If the Wedding at Cana
is Our Lord's first miracle,
why is it only St John
who records it in his gospel?
Why is it not mentioned
by Matthew, Mark or Luke?
This is clearly
an important miracle -
so important
that we remember it
as the only miracle
Our Lord performs
at the Feast of the Epiphany -
and yet,
only John records it.
Why?
[PAUSE]
Let's look at this
from a slightly different angle.
Who is invited to this wedding?
Well,
first we are told
that the mother of Jesus is there.
It isn't Jesus first.
For this reason,
we could say that
perhaps
Our Lady was known
to the couple getting married.
This would make sense
as it is on the strength
of her invitation
that Our Lord is invited.
And because He is invited,
so are His disciples.
His disciples?
He has disciples
before He performs
miracles?
Which ones?
[PAUSE]
It's there in the Gospels.
St Matthew says that
before He starts ministering
in Galilee,
Our Lord already has
Peter, Andrew, James and John
with Him.
St Matthew won't become a disciple
until Our Lord's ministry
is well-established.
So we see a reason
why St Matthew
doesn't record the Wedding at Cana.
St Luke and St Mark
are not apostles,
so they aren't there either
and, while
they get their information
from St Peter and Our Lady
they clearly do not receive
the eyewitness testimony
of the Wedding at Cana.
But St John is there.
St John sees
and St John tells us.
St John
is an eyewitness
to the Wedding at Cana.
Who are the other witnesses
to the Epiphany?
[PAUSE]
Our Lady sees the Magi,
and she must be the one who tells
St Matthew.
St John Baptist
is a witness to the Baptism of Our Lord
and all the Gospel writers
mention it
though only
St John and St Luke
go into detail about it.
So,
of all the Gospel writers,
the only one
who has a direct link
to the Epiphany
is St John.
And this is quite remarkable.
[PAUSE]
St John sees Our Lord
as his best friend
and His True God.
While the other Gospel writers
are completwly faithful to their sources
such as St Peter, St Andrew
and Our Lady,
only St John's Gospel
Is written
in that space where
God and Man
can be seen to meet.
In St John's Gospel,
the Baptism of Our Lord
is immediately joined
with the Wedding at Cana.
Why?
Because what St John shows us
is the nature of the sacraments
which bind us to God.
The Baptism of Our Lord
is linked inextricably
with our baptism.
His presence at a wedding
sanctifies that wedding
giving grace to
our human relationships
and enriching our earthly life.
And, later on,
there is one more miracle
performed by Our Lord
that is so unique
that it is the only miracle
mentioned in all four gospels.
Just one.
The feeding of the 5000
which St John
directly links
with the Holy Eucharist.
[PAUSE]
Of course the other Gospels
are in their own ways
uniquely important
in telling us the same good news.
All four are equally authoritative
and give the truth about Our Saviour,
but each one has an emphasis
that gives us a view
of Who Our Lord Is.
[PAUSE]
Only St John tells us about Cana,
because St John
is the one who speaks
of his experience
in touching the Divine.
He shows us Cana
as something
which nourishes us
as we feel the sweet wine
trickling down our throats
and gladdening our hearts.
And He shows us
that this wine that Jesus gives us
is ours at our asking
for Eternity.
No disrespect
to the other Evangelists,
but only St John can show us that.
But what he shows us
is that we can believe
his testimony is true.
And his testimony
backs up
the testimony
of the other Evangelists.
Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John
aren't recording stories,
they are recording history
and they are recording truth
about Our Lord's Epiphany.
Not just the Epiphany
of Magi, Jordan and Cana,
but the full Epiphany
of the whole Incarnation
of God-made-Man.
This is the truth
and we believe it
and, as a result,
the gates of Heaven
are wide open for us
as we continue in the truth
of the same Epiphany of Christ.
Monday, January 12, 2026
Sunday, January 11, 2026
Revealing revelation
Sermon for the Sunday in the Octave of the Epiphany
What is the Epiphany?
What are we actually celebrating?
Some Churches will say
the visit of the Magi
to the Christ child.
Some Churches will say
the Baptism of the Lord
by St John Baptist.
Some Churches will say
the first miracle
at the wedding in Cana.
Some Churches will say
all three.
Who's right?
The answer is:
yes.
They are all right.
They all right
because in some sense
it doesn't matter.
That's not to say
that the Magi, the Jordan or the Wedding
are not important
nor are they irrelevant
but rather they are all the Epiphany
Each one is the Epiphany
single and entire of itself.
When He performs His miracles
- His works of wonder -
Our Lord asks the Pharisees,
"for which of these works do ye stone me?"
He might be asking us,
"which of these miracles is my epiphany?"
Or is the Cross the Epiphany?
Or the Resurrection?
[PAUSE]
When we celebrate the Epiphany,
we do have those three events
- Magi, Jordan, Wedding -
in our minds
and we have them in mind
because they are firsts:
the first time
Our Lord is recognised by gentiles,
the first sacrament;
is made available for us to receive
God's grace;
the first miracle Our Lord
performs.
That's why they are linked
with the Epiphany.
But for Bartimaeus,
the Epiphany is having
his eyes healed.
For St Mary Magdalene
the Epiphany
is having seven devils
cast from her.
For St Dismas,
the penitent thief,
the Epiphany
is recognising
Who is on the
next cross beside him.
These are their Epiphanies.
These are their
first encounters with Christ.
[PAUSE]
When we celebrate the Epiphany,
we are not technically celebrating
the events of Magi, Jordan or Wedding
in themselves.
We are celebrating
the fact that Christ is revealed
as God Imcarnate.
We are celebrating the fact
that Christ has revealed Himself
in some way to you.
We are celebrating
that thing, that event, that reason
why you have come to Church today.
[PAUSE]
Of course,
that thing, that event, that reason,
might be a death of a loved one,
or a longing for the pain to stop.
That's not what we are celebrating,
for there your have our codolences
and prayers.
What we are celebrating
is that something
which told you
that coming to Church might help you;
that something
has given you cause for hope
in your pain;
that something may dignify
your sorrow with a response
and show you that you,
in your grief,
you matter and are seen.
We are celebrating the fact
that God reveals Himself to us
by being Incarnate.
Every word He speaks,
every action He performs
is a revelation
- an epiphany -
that He is here
and that He is here for love of us
as individuals.
God so loves the world
that He sends His only begotten Son
into the world,
not to condemn the world
but to save it.
And this fact too
is a revelation of His purpose.
There is no hidden,
ulterior motive.
It is made clear for us.
[PAUSE]
So what shall we celebrate
at the Epiphany?
Celebrate the reason
why you're here.
Celebrate how Jesus
is making Himself known to you.
And celebrate in a way
that you may make this epiphany
known to all around you.
Monday, January 05, 2026
Anglican Catholicism: St Louis and the Formularies
How the Anglican Formularies and the Affirmation of St Louis are related.
Sunday, January 04, 2026
Branching out of Nazareth
Can St Matthew be wrong?
He says of Our Lord
that the prophets say,
"He shall be called a Nazarene."
Which prophets?
Bethlehem is prophesied
by Micah.
Egypt is mentioned by
Hosea.
But who mentions Nazareth?
Any ideas?
Neither have the scholars!
Where on earth
has St Matthew plucked this?
Is he misreading
the Old Testament prophets?
Is he referring to a prophet
that isn't in the Old Testament?
Or is his memory failing?
[PAUSE]
St Jerome tells us
to be fair.
He reminds us
that St Matthew doesn't
mention a specific prophet
or specific prophecy
but is rather
referring to a fact
borne out the combined
testimony of the prophets.
We're used to this.
The Holy Trinity
isn't mentioned
explicitly in the Bible.
But the doctrine is there
when you put the pieces together.
St Matthew isn't talking
about one prophet.
He's putting the pieces
of the prophets together.
]PAUSE]
You see Nazareth
sounds a lot like
Netser which is Aramaic
for branch.
Both Jeremiah
snd Isaiah refer
to Our Lord as being
a branch out of David's line.
So, this is one reason
why Our Lord
is called a Nazarene.
But there is another possibility
which goes along with that.
The Prophet Isaiah
says that the Messiah
will be despised and rejected,
of little account,
having no beauty.
Nazareth is famous
for being less glamorous
than Chatham docks
after the dockers
have spent New Year's Eve
at a dodgy curry house.
It does not have a good reputation.
Indeed, you remember that
St Nathanael asks,
"Can anything good
come out of Nazareth?"
This is in keeping
with a baby born in a stable
laid in a cattle trough
who will dine
with the prostitutes
and tax collectors
and die a cruel
and humiliating death
with thieves.
If Nazareth is the dunghill of Judaea,
then Our Lord's life of humility
shows that He is indeed called
a Nazarene.
And from dunghills,
branches can grow and flourish.
[PAUSE]
You see why
St Matthew cannot identify
a single prophet
because Our Lord's life and work
is encoded
in the entirety of the Old Testament.
We may see Him.
in poverty in Isaiah,
as a cuckold in Hosea,
as the blossoming rod of Aaron
as the Son of Man in Daniel
even, possibly,
as Melchizedek
or one of the visitors to Abraham.
Just like St Matthew
might struggle
to find explicit, specific references
to Our Lord in the Old Testament,
so we might struggle to see Him
explicitly and specifically,
not just in the Old Testament
but here and now.
While it is good
to have something concrete
to refer to,
Our Lord,
the Word of God,
is written on our hearts
more than just on the page.
Our life of prayer
is as much about
knowing His presence with us
as it is knowing what is
written about Him in the Bible.
Internal presence
and external book:
both are important.
And both are united
through the grace of the Sacrament,
because that's what sacraments do.
They nourish the soul
through physical means.
[PAUSE]
But we do have to remember
that in opening our hearts
to Christ,
we open our hearts
to a Nazarene,
the lowest of the low,
the one who challenges us
not to feel contempt.
Our Lord's humility
challenges us to be humble.
If we are wise,
we must learn to see ourselves
as Nazarenes
from which the branch of David
can grow
live and thrive.
That's not to say
that we are worthless,
because the Incarnation
says we are worth more
than we know.
It's more that
we should recognise
the cheapness of the World around
and trust God
to lead us to fruitful lives
which mean more than
the World will ever know.
Following Our Lord,
we too will branch
out of our Nazareth.
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