Liturgical accuracy in the Anglican Catholic Church

 

What happens if you miss a responsary at Matins?

Magic, mystery and the multitudes

Sermon for the fourth Sunday in Lent

So, how is he doing it?

Five small barley loaves,

Two small fish

Twelve baskets over

Five thousand fed.

What do we see?

Does Our Lord 

put the bread 

into a magic hat,

or a magic bag

and then produce more bread

like Tubbo the Clown produces

a coin 

from behind the ear

of a jelly-smeared urchin?

Or does he break some off

from a loaf

that never seems 

to get smaller?

Is one of the disciples

behind Our Lord

secretly handing Him

bread smuggled 

from the bags

of the multitudes around.

Just what are we seeing,

when we behold 

this miracle?

[PAUSE]

We know that magicians

like to reproduce miracles.

We even see that

in the plagues of Egypt

when Pharaoh's Court Sorcerors

replicate some of the plagues

that Moses instigates.

Don't they realise that

they are adding to 

Egypt's suffering?

 But magicians

are using

sleight of hand,

special props,

misdirection 

and our assumptions

about the situation

to deceive us.

And that's the key.

Magic is amusement by deception.

We try to figure out

how it is done

as well as being amazed.

But we know it's a trick.

We know the coin

hasn't appeared from 

the ear of the child

unless the child is in fact 

Dumbo the Elephant,

and Tubbo is wearing rubber gloves.

Is that what Our Lord is doing?

He isn't prancing about

In top hat and cloak

because He is not a showman.

He's not a trickster.

He does not deceive.

His concern

is what these five thousand 

will eat.

Perhaps He turns

the stones on the mountain

into bread?

[PAUSE]

And now we're back

to the beginning of Lent.

Man shall not live

by bread alone

but by every word

that proceeds

from the mouth of God.

We can be sure 

that Our Lord

is not contradicting Himself.

He is concerned only

that these people are fed,

body and soul.

Somehow,

he is multiplying the bread,

not by magic or deceit

but by some act of creation

that we cannot be privy to

by the fact that 

are created.

It's a mystery,

not lost to Time,

but above our concepts

of Time, Space, Matter and Reality.

It's not how Jesus does it,

it's why He does it that matters,

and that lies

entirely in His intention

not to gather followers

by impressing them

but to gather those who

hunger and thirst 

for righteousness

and feed them until they are 

fully satisfied

with Truth and not deceit.

All He asks of us

is to use the gift of faith

that He gives us

to receive salvation,

refreshment

and restoration.

Our salvation comes

out of the empty tomb,

not from behind our ear.

War of the Church Fathers?

 

What happens when the Church Fathers disagree?

Better the Devil you know?

Sermon preached at the Cathedral of St Augustine of Canterbury on the third Sunday in Lent

Do you know your devil?

We are often told,

"better the devil you know

than the devil you don't."

So do you know your devil?

[PAUSE]

We often have this image

that on our right shoulder

stands our guardian angel

who looks like

a small version of us

only prettier and cleaner

and without unsightly hairs,

dressed in white

with halo and wings

and a rather simpering smile

over its smug little face.

Whereas, 

on our left shoulder

stands our devil,

who looks like

a small version of us

only uglier and red-skinned

with furry legs, horns,

more unsightly hairs,

and a mischievous twinkle

in its malevolent yellow eyes.

Is that what your angel 

and devil look like?

If they do,

then be prepared for a shock.

Any devil

that tries to tempt you

will look more like 

the image that you have

of your angel...

at first.

But let's dispel a few rumours.

[PAUSE]

You do not have

a devil and an angel

sitting on your shoulders.

Your guardian angel does not

sit on your right shoulder.

It is beetling up and down

between you

and the Throne of Heaven,

defending you,

praying for you,

correcting your prayers,

trying to steer you

and warn you,

but by directing your attention

to what is good,

or revealing the bad,

and not by whispering

in your ear...

normally.

More importantly,

you have a conscience,

which is really what

that idea of

the angel on your shoulder

represents.

That conscience 

is directed towards God,

but because of our fallen nature

it needs to be informed

to be of use.

It can only direct you

in the paths of righteousness

as far as you are willing

to have taught it what is good.

You need to keep its user manual 

up to date,

install the latest updates

and recognise bad habits

the more you grow in faith in God.

We inform our conscience

by learning what is 

good, true, clean, holy, lovely

and ordered to a better 

life with God.

But why would your devil

look more like your angel?

There's a good reason

why it definitely

does not look

like a hornèd imp.

Well, we still have 

more rumours

to dispel.

[PAUSE]

You don't have a devil,

at least not in the sense

the Holy Scriptures mean.

You have a dark side of your mind

where all the negative ideas

you have about yourself lie.

This dark side has grown

from sins and bad habits,

and not always your sins

and bad habits.

From the Holy Scriptures,

however,

we understand that

it is possible

to be controlled by devils

- that is at the heart of what we call

demonic possession,

where the will is

completely enslaved

by the powers of darkness.

In these situations

those who are possessed 

cannot do otherwise.

We see, 

in the Bible

that devils can make us dumb

or make us super strong

and raving mad.

But that doesn't mean

that being dumb

or super strong

or having significant 

mental illness

is necessarily caused

by a devil.

But if your conscience

can be informed by

good habits and good practices,

it can be damaged by bad habits

and bad practices.

And that's what the devils want.

So,

they pose as angels

to persuade you

into bad habits

by making them

look good

or, at least,

inconsequential.

If they looked like imps

you wouldn't take them

seriously.

The devils' job

is to make sin look attractive,

desireable,

irresistable.

That way,

even if you break a bad habit,

you have to watch out

because if you go back to it,

you get seven devils

trying to tempt you.

The worst of it is that,

when you give in to temptation

and you feel sorry,

the devils then make you feel

that you are unforgivable.

They don't drop

the façade

of looking like angels.

Instead,

they make you look

like the hornèd imp,

they give you the red skin

and yellow eyes

and convince you

that you are the devil,

hell-bound

and hated by God.

That is the lie.

You don't have a devil.

You are tempted by them.

But you don't possess a devil

and a devil doesn't possess you,

God forbid.

So if there isn't a devil 

on your left shoulder

nor an angel on your right,

how do you deal with

all those conflicting ideas?

How do we separate

what seems good

but is bad

and what seems bad

but is actually good

from

what seems good

and is actually good?

[PAUSE]

Two things.

First, the goal of the Devil

is to separate you from God.

So, if you know Who God Is,

then you know 

when someone is trying

to separate you.from Him

by tempting you

into despising what is holy

and loving what is unholy.

The more you strive

to be holy,

the more you try to know God,

the more you will recognise

the devil that's tempting you.

Second, the Devil will try 

either to persuade you

that he is equal with God

or that he himself doesn't exist.

The Devil will try to dominate you.

And he's right,

he is stronger than you,

but he is not another god.

Indeed, 

Jesus is the strong man

who breaks into the Devil's home

to carry out those

who are enslaved to him

- that's us.

Our Lord is the strong man

who carries us out

of the Devil's clutches

because we are God's priceless treasure.

And if the Devil

should try to persuade you

that he doesn't exist

and that all the evil in the world

comes from you,

then remind him

that he must exist

because Our Lord's foot 

is crushing his head.

[PAUSE]

The more we get into good habits

the more will we recognise

when we are duped.

Our angel will guide us

if we ask it.

The Devil will flee from us

when we oppose him

with Christ at our head.

The Devil can

circle our head as much as he likes.

We just 

don't let him sit

on our shoulder.

The core beliefs of.an Anglican Catholic?

 

Are you really a miserable sinner?

The consequence of Us and Them

Sermon for the second Sunday in Lent

"She's not one of us!"

"Stay away!"

"She's got no part in our nation!"

This is what the Canaanite Woman hears.

Already even in the first century,

politics in the Middle East

is complicated

and emotive.

The people of Canaan

are worse than Samaritans.

Their practices are disgusting

and no faithful Israelite

has any dealings

with such low life.

And this woman is one of them.

Keep her away.

[PAUSE]

Yet,

still she calls out

to the One she believes

can free her daughter

of devils.

She knows how vile she is

in the eyes of the Jews.

The Master's disciples,

naturally urge that she be

sent away.

She is used to that.

She hears his voice,

"I am not sent,

but unto the lost sheep

of the house of Israel."

This is the response

everyone expects.

The disciples know

that Our Lord

is supremely faithful

to the Jewish law.

The Messiah

is prophesied

to fight for the salvation

of the people of Israel.

And He does!

He comes to Israel first

knowing that,

when they reject Him,

He is justified in 

reaching out to the gentiles.

There is no surprise.

And despite the fact

that she knows is

this Canaanite Woman

this most unclean of the unclean

still sees in the Christ

something worth fighting for.

something to pursue.

She doesn't know

she is a bit premature.

But then,

does she have a choice?

He is special;

He is a wonderworker;

He speaks the truth;

He is loyal to His nation.

And so she fights 

through the protests,

derision

and hatred,

and worships the God

she is not allowed to approach.

"Help me!"

The Christ stops

and bothers to speak to her,

"It is not meet 

to take the children's bread,

and to cast it to the dogs."

The Jewish people smile smugly

for the Christ has put her 

in her place.

He's not for the likes of her.

He's proud of His nation.

Not going to be sullied by 

associating with her.

[PAUSE]

Dogs?

It's the word He uses

but it is not the word

she expects to hear.

She is expecting

a different Greek word for dog

that has always been used

to describe her Canaanite people

as being unclean and impure.

But the word He uses,

He calls her a puppy, a pet dog

one of those animals

for which there is affection

Immediately,

she sees them snuffling

round the family 

at the table

being fed treats.

If this is what she is to Him

even these little dogs 

get a scrap of kindness.

"Truth, Lord,

yet the dogs eat of the crumbs

which fall from the master's table."

And something shifts.

Not in the Christ,

for He knows what He does.

"O woman,"

He says.

Already this is significant

for "O Woman" 

is how He addresses His mother

at the wedding in Cana.

"O Woman"

a term of respect

of acknowledgement

of seeing her

without the Nationalistic label

"O Woman,

great is thy faith!"

Her faith has crossed 

the divide caused by

tribalism

Nationalism

political jingoism.

It's a woman

talking to a man

- a man Who just happens

to be God.

Her faith in Him

is greater

than the derision

of those who hate her.

"Be it unto thee

even as thou wilt."

And a way away,

a devil screeches

as the barrier of hatred is lifted

removing his protection

from being evicted.

The woman

who has struck at 

the barrier

that separates her and God

has let the light of Christ

pour forth onto her daughter

freeing her from darkness.

Jesus knows her

and through this

knowing her faith

He shows up the pettiness

of those who cling to their

national identity

above the good of a human being.

As we know this

because this is recorded for us

in the Gospels,

not as an.example

of Jesus being rude or unkind

but of showing that His love

will not be constrained 

by anything man made.

Yes, He comes to save

the Jewish people first

because of His promises

to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He is faithful to them 

but they reject Him.

And so, 

as the prophets foretell,

He comes for the people

of Tyre, Sidon, Cairo, Athens

Antioch, Alexandria,

Rome, London and Faversham

with the same promise

of salvation.

[PAUSE]

The faith of this Canaanite woman

saves her daughter

but it also reaches out to us

and challenges us

to see our fellow man

in all whom we meet.

The End of the Anglican Catholic Church?

 

What does the future hold?