My, my, my!

 

Sermon for the installation of the Dean of the Cathedral Church of St Augustine of Canterbury

Welcome to MY Cathedral!
MY Church!
MY parish!

[PAUSE]

Understandably,
an air of worry has crossed your faces,
and a certain discomfort
has entered into your hearts.

This doesn’t bode well!

What have we let ourselves in for?

Has the Bishop
installed a lunatic
as Dean?

Are we in for
longer sermons?
more miserable hymns?
compulsory confession
of all sins?
hymn numbers which aren’t
central on the hymnboard?

But this is MY Cathedral,
MY Church,
MY Parish.

Let’s not be mistaking that.

But let us also remember
that language is more complicated
than first we think.

[PAUSE]

“My” is a pronoun,
and we know how much
pronouns cause trouble
in this day and age.

People talk of “MY pronouns.”

You remember that
pronouns stand for nouns.

They are supposed
to make our language easier.

We don’t say,

“The Archdeacon set fire
to the Archdeacon’s
Canterbury Cap
with the Archdeacon’s flame thrower.”

We say,

“The Archdeacon
set fire to his Canterbury Cap
with his flame thrower.”

“His,” there, is the pronoun
standing for the Archdeacon.

But we are dealing
with personal pronouns.

And personal pronouns
must reflect our relationships
with things.

“MY Church!
MY Cathedral!
MY Parish!”

Did you immediately think
that “MY” means ownership
or control?

Does the “his” in “his cathedral”
mean the same as “his”
in “his Canterbury Cap?”

[PAUSE]

Well, does “his” in “his mother”
mean the same as “his”
in “his Canterbury Cap”?

Clearly not!

We don’t own
our mothers.

The “his” in “his mother”
means something different.

It tells us of his relationship
with a particular woman.

We hear St Thomas declare,
“my Lord and my God!”
but that’s not the same “my”
in “my Canterbury Cap
and my flame thrower.”

That’s as far from
being an owner or controller
as you can get.

[PAUSE]

When St Thomas says,
“my Lord and my God,”
what does he mean?

He’s being very specific.

He’s not only recognising

Jesus to be truly Lord and God,
but he is also making clear
his own relationship to him.

In saying “my,”
St Thomas is submitting himself
to the truth
that Jesus is Lord and God
and is worshipping Him
as such.

St Thomas
seeks that relationship
that connection between
himself and the Lord God of all.

In saying “my,”
St Thomas commits himself
to this One God,
and recognises that
he is not his own self anymore.

Rather than seeking
to possess and control,
St Thomas is relinquishing
possession and control
of his own self
and returning them to God.

Rather than using “my”
to draw into his possession,
St Thomas is using “my”
to give of himself.

[PAUSE]

These days,
pronouns have
become controversial
because they are always seen
as something to be possessed
and something to control
how others speak
and even speak of us!

But we see that
pronouns aren’t always
about possession,
they point to relationships
and things we value.

Each one of us can say,
quite legitimately,
“MY Cathedral,
MY Church,
MY Parish,”
even with that emphasis!

But our meaning
is not how the world
would have it.

The Devil would have us
try to possess
rather than
to give of ourselves,
because possession
separates us from each other
and from God.

Giving of ourselves
does the opposite.

It forges relationships
that join us together
and secures our salvation in Christ
not as individuals
but as a Church.

To say, “MY Church” properly
is to announce our commitment
to bringing people to Christ
and joining ourselves to them
in order that they might be saved
with us.

To say, “MY Cathedral” properly
is to announce our commitment
to being Catholic
through submitting to the authority
of our Bishop
even as he submits himself
to the authority of the same Church
in her antiquity,
her universality
and her faith.

To say “MY parish” properly
means to commit ourselves
to the upkeep of our community
to accept responsibility
for the maintenance of this building
and of its worship,
and make it a place
in which we can welcome
anyone and everyone
who enters through that door.

[PAUSE]

Welcome to MY Cathedral!
MY Church!
MY Parish!

Welcome,
MY Father in God,
MY brothers and sisters.

You have MY prayers.