Anglican Catholicism and Church Unity

 

How can the Church be one?

Waiting for wine

Sermon for the second Sunday after the Epiphany

""What lovely wine!" 

says the steward,

"most people

give the good wine first 

and then give out

lesser quality wine

when everyone has 

had enough.

You've saved the best wine

for later."

Why does Jesus

go to the effort

of making a better wine

when most of the guests 

have drunk enough?

In fact,

why perform the miracle at all

if everyone has had enough

or has had too much

that they are dancing

to the Birdie Song.

Surely, 

His miracle 

isn't going to be 

appreciated?

[PAUSE]

Our Lord produces good wine.

We don't know the vintage.

We don't know 

which side of the vineyard

it comes from.

We don't know 

whether it has a nutty bouquet 

or a smoky aftertaste.

If Our Lord

Is trying to influence

a wine connoisseur,

we would know.

It's not the type of wine

that matters.

All we know 

is that it is good wine.

Wine that will

cause those

who have had enough

to be pleasantly surprised.

Wine that

gladdens the heart of men.

We know that

Our Lord does not perform miracles

for Himself.

Miracles are not for

showing off

or trying to convince 

the World of His identity

through acts of power.

Our Lord performs miracles privately 

and out of compassion

for the circumstances of others

and to show people

the goodness of His Kingdom.

He wants people

to rejoice at the wedding.

He wants to show 

God's approval for the marriage

by giving good things

that will enhance the wedding

and not be an ego-trip for Himself.

All the guests know

is that there is good wine

and the happiness grows, 

and the Bride and Groom

rejoice in a successful wedding

with a divine blessing 

upon their union

secretly bestowed.

[PAUSE]

Ultimately

we see God giving His children 

good things to enjoy.

There is nothing wrong

with rejoicing

as long as we make it possible

for everyone to share our joy.

God wants our happiness

and this is central

to what it means 

to love someone. 

We respond to God

by being grateful 

and by seeking 

the happiness of others.

Love always multiplies 

and never divides.

Anglican Catholicism and Orthodoxy

 

Why aren't Anglican Catholics Orthodox?

Finding yourself in the Mall

Sermon for the Sunday in the octave of Epiphany

Your relief is visible

when you hear the tannoy say:

"Please come to the reception desk;

your child has been found."

The panic of the last hour

frantically searching

for your child is over,

and all you need to do

is come to the reception desk

and pick them up.

Oh the relief!

But not every parent

in this situation 

finds this relief:

all too often,

there is bad news

and grief.

It's because of this 

distinct possibility that

your child is lost

that causes the panic,

the fear,

the cascade of 

a million unpleasant scenarios.

Having hope

almost makes the pain worse.

[PAUSE]

Even after twelve years,

Herod's wicked murder

of all those babies

rings in the memories

of Mary and Joseph

hunting frantically for Jesus.

He is not among

the crowds of unfamiliar faces

leaving Jerusalem for Nazareth.

He is not among the crowds

milling about in the streets of Jerusalem

nor the dark alleys,

nor in the places of buying and selling.

But then they hear the tannoy.

Voices declaring amazement

at some occurrence

in the midst of the temple.

Can He be where they left Him?

Indeed,

that's where Mary and Joseph

find Him.

Their relief is visible.

[PAUSE]

Children do this to you.

Even the Son of God

worries the life out of those

who are blessed by caring for Him.

To them

He is the most precious thing in the world.

To Him,

He is trying to become Himself.

This is the great challenge 

of parenting:

your precious child

isn't really yours.

They are their own people

and the greatest wrench

for the parent

is that their precious child

is not theirs to possess

but rather to get them to the place

where they can go

and live their own lives

away from their parents.

Jesus makes it clear that,

although He loves His Mother,

although He loves St Joseph,

He also loves His Father 

and must become 

the human being that He is

independently of those

who take care of Him.

Mary and Joseph 

must be prepared 

to let Him go.

Just as the Father 

has let us go.

[PAUSE]

Love never insists

on its own way.

It always respects the choices 

of the beloved.

In a few years' time

the precocious twelve year old

teaching the teachers

asking awkward questions 

while learning the Law

will speak of the Prodigal Son.

Just as the father

of the Prodigal Son

lets Him go and live his own life

independently from his family

so does God let us go

to live our own lives

independently of Him

in the hope 

that we may learn for ourselves

who we are and how God fits in with that.

He lets us go,

to His pain as the Cross proves.

But that Cross calls us,

like the tannoy,

back to God.

[PAUSE]

Good parents

are willing to bear the great pain

of letting their child go

despite the pain it causes.

But they work

to make sure that

their children are in the best position

to become who they are meant to be.

The loss of a child 

is perhaps one of the greatest pains

that a human being can endure

and it is a pain that God bears for us,

that God bears with us,

so that joy may come at

 Eternity's sunrise

when Heaven's morning breaks

upon us.

It is this loss that parents fear the most

and will do anything to prevent,

yet it is God's love to us

that gives us strength

to endure what we must endure

so that our children grow in love

as themselves,

and so that we grow in God's love

as ourselves.

The Ikon of Epiphany

 

What lies behind the Epiphany?

Bedazzled?

Sermon for the Vigil of the Epiphany 

When was the last time

you stayed up all night?

Did you see the sun rise?

There comes a point

when you look out 

across the night sky

that there is a definite 

change of colour.

The first glimmers of light

that come across the Horizon 

bring with them

a real sense that the night 

is nearly over.

These days,

because of the number

of street lights

there is always 

a perpetual glow 

on the Horizon. 

Near the cities,

we lose that gradual 

change from darkness

to light.

We also get a false sense 

of the dawn that's about

to rise upon our day.

Light pollution

is deceptive 

and robs us

of our awareness 

of the beauty of firstlight.

[PAUSE]

Here we are,

awaiting the Epiphany 

ready to see the dawn 

of the awareness

that God is made man

so that we can become

like Him.

But the world around us

is aglow with all kinds of light

making it difficult 

for us to see 

the dayspring from on high

dawning upon us.

Just as the world around us

fills our ears with chatter

and the Internet produces 

so much noise of competing ideas,

and vitriolic disagreement, 

so are the eyes of our souls

dazzled with the world's claim

on our attention

with false light.

Indeed,

it is the light that dazzles

precisely so that we 

are prevented from seeing the truth.

A dazzling light

is useless

because it stops us from seeing,

and that defeats its purpose.

As we gaze at a dawn

surrounded by the light

of streetlights

which focus us on the street below, 

we miss the emergence

of the greater day.

If we truly want to see the dawn

then we have to find somewhere remote

away from dazzling lights.

It means that 

we have to switch off

the light of the world.

But if we do that 

we find ourselves plunged into darkness.

And darkness makes us uncomfortable. 

But,

once our eyes have 

got used to the darkness,

then we can watch the true dawn arise.

[PAUSE]

This is why

the Church often makes

the day before major festivals

days of fasting.

This is why we fast before Mass. 

This is why Lent and Advent

are days of fasting and silence.

If we truly want to see

the Light of Christ 

dawn in our lives,

then we must darken

our lives and souls

from all that dazzles us,

distracts us

distorts us,

discombobulates us.

We can turn off the television 

unplug the router,

close the curtains, 

and pray in silence. 

[PAUSE]

And there in the silence

of our prayer

we see the dawn

as the Magi approach Bethlehem

as St John Baptist prepares

for a day baptising

and as a bride and groom

start to prepare for their wedding.

In the silence of our prayer

we watch the glow of God's revelation

of Himself 

to each one of us,

showing us

that He lives

that He loves us

and that He wants us

to know Him

and enter His Kingdom

where there is no darkness

nor dazzling but one equal light.