Articulating Christ's Body

Sermon for the Sunday in the Octave of Corpus Christi

"The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper

was not by Christ's ordinance

reserved,

carried about,

lifted up 

or worshipped."

Does that sound familiar?

And yet,

we do reserved the Body of Christ,

we do carry it about,

we do lift it up

and we worship Christ

in the Most Holy Sacrament. 

Are we being wrong?

Are we being idolatrous?

Are we blaspheming?

[PAUSE]

One reason why 

we Anglican Catholics 

do not regard 

the Thirty-Nine Articles

as being authoritative 

is because of their ambiguity.

They were designed to appease

polarising factions 

within the Church of England.

They were designed

to stop the struggle 

for the Soul of England

to be a war within the streets.

And that's why 

the Articles have 

a historical importance 

that has allowed 

Anglican Protestants 

to walk with Anglican Catholics 

until comparatively recently.

So they are necessarily ambiguous. 

And this Article 

about the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper,

which we Catholics 

commonly call the Mass,

is deliberately ambiguous. 

It's true to say

that Our Lord

at the Last Supper

does not tell His Disciples

to reserve His Body

nor to carry it about

nor to lift it up

nor to worship it.

Neither does He expressly 

forbid it

even though He knows full well

the tendency of human beings

to fall into Idolatry.

He remembers the Golden Calf incident 

all too clearly.

And He does not forbid 

the reservation,

the carrying around,

the lifting up

or the worship

of His Body.

Why not?

Why does He not forbid it?

[PAUSE]

There is three underlying factors

behind how we Catholics

treat the Sacrament of the Mass.

Simply, it's Faith, Hope and Love.

By our Faith in Christ

we believe that 

what we behold

in the Sacrament of the Altar 

really, truly and fully 

is the Body and Blood

of Christ.

It is what He promised:

His flesh and blood

so that we might have life within us.

By our Hope,

we believe that showing people 

the Body and Blood of Christ,

displaying our faith

that what seems to be 

a disc of unleavened bread

is truly the Body of Christ,

we may stir in the hearts

of people hungry for hope 

the truth of Christ's presence with us.

By our Love, 

we reserve that Sacrament 

so that those who are unable 

to come to Mass 

may partake of the Body of Christ

and we carry it

to those who are too sick

to receive it.

And we do not worship 

bread and wine

because we believe 

that they have been transformed 

into the true Body and Blood of Christ,

Body, Soul, Mind, Humanity and Divinity

all that pertains to

the Person of the Son.

And the Son is God

and God is to be worshipped 

for our benefit

not His.

[PAUSE]

No. Christ does not command

that we should take the Sacrament 

of His Supper

and reserve it,

carry it about,

lift it up

and worship it.

He does not command that

but He does give us Himself

to be present with us

and to be consumed by us

so that we might love God

and neighbour.

We reserve the Love of God 

for our neighbour to eat.

We carry about the Love of God 

to our neighbour in his frailty.

We lift up the Love of God

for our neighbour to see.

We worship the Love of God

for our neighbour to share.

This is why

we put the Consecrated Host

into a monstrance 

for people to see

and be blessed 

so that one day they might receive.

[PAUSE]

The Articles of Religion 

are not authoritative 

for us Anglican Catholics 

especially when they give the impression 

that what we do is not 

part of the Catholic Religion. 

We don't need to hold them now

because, we pray,

we know better than going to war

with Anglican Protestants

whom we love despite our separation.

Nonetheless,

the Real, Objective and Physical Presence 

of Our Lord in the Most Holy Sacrament 

should draw us closer to Christ

in faith, hope and love for our neighbour.

Food for thought?

Or food for prayer?

An Anglican Catholic Priest reacts to the vote to decriminalise abortion.

 

What this recent vote in parliament means for the human person.

News from the Anglican Catholic Church and the Anglican Church in America

 

Will the G3 become the G2?

From the top

Sermon for Trinity Sunday

We know that Jesus can speak Greek.

Greek in Israel for Jesus

is like English is for us.

It's a language 

that everyone knows

but often not well.

Indeed, 

some older people

who have taken up English

later in life sometimes struggle

to say what they mean.

And even now,

we hear that confusion

and it is a confusion

that still affects the way

that people translate

Holy Scripture from Greek 

to English.

St Nicodemus hears our Lord say

that we must be born anōthen

- that's the Greek word.

It's a word that describes

the garment taken from Our Lord 

at His Crucifixion:

that seamless garment

woven from the top.

So anōthen is a word 

that we could translate

as "from the top".

The trouble is

that there are two meanings

to the phrase "from the top".

[PAUSE]

It could mean,

afresh or again,

and this is what St Nicodemus hears.

St Nicodemus hears

Our Lord say

we must be "born again"

which is why he gets confused 

and thinks that his poor mother

is going to have to suffer 

a terrible fate.

But that's not what Jesus means.

He us using the other meaning 

of "from the top".

He is talking about

being born from above 

from Heaven,

by the power of God

This is why He talks about us

being born of water and the Spirit.

It's a clear indication 

of our need for Baptism.

It is through the waters of Baptism

that we are born from above

into the Kingdom of God

and thereby into Eternal life.

This birth from above

is not from this world.

It is a birth that lies beyond

our experience in life

and why it is given to us

as a Sacrament. 

We see the external water

and know that,

through the covenant with God 

we are born in the Holy Ghost.

Our Baptism is Baptism by the Holy Ghost.

And our birth in Him

can only be known

in this world

through the water in the font.

And what on Earth 

has all this to do 

with Trinity Sunday?

[PAUSE]

What on Earth?

Well, that's the point exactly.

If we are born from above,

then we are aware of things above

which have only pale shadows 

here on Earth.

And our God,

The Triune God,

The Three-in-One,

Father, Son and Holy Ghost

Whom Earth and Heaven adore,

is not a thing of the Earth.

He is not created -

His Incarnation took

our Human Nature 

into His Godhead

- He is not created.

And this means 

we cannot expect

to understand 

with minds of Earth

the Truth from above

that God is Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

We know it 

because He shows it to us

in the words of Scripture and the Fathers

and the rational intelligence 

that draws its Holy conclusions

from the words of Scripture and the Fathers.

We know it by His revelation,

not by looking at shamrocks

or ice-water-steam 

or one flame on three wicks.

They are imperfect illustrations 

and even the most complete

theological understanding 

by the greatest Doctors of the Church

is like straw

compared with the reality of God

that is revealed from the top down to us.

[PAUSE]

If the world gives us grief

because it does not understand 

the Holy Trinity,

that is not our problem 

because the world listens 

with ears of clay

to words born from on high.

Our task is to spread the news

of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

and to baptise as many of those

who believe 

so that they may be born

from the top.

A greater feast

Sermon for Whitsunday

"My Father is greater than I"

Those who hate Christianity 

love to trot out this verse.

"If the Father is greater than Jesus,"

they say,

"how can Jesus be God?"

The most obvious answer

is that Our Lord is speaking

of Himself as a man,

not in His Divinity. 

Because He does not think it

a prize to be equal in Divinity

with the Father

He humbles Himself

by being made Man,

thus giving a place

for His obedience to the Father

to show us how we must be

obedient to God.

But we human beings

are always thinking in terms

of greater and lesser,

better and worse.

That's the way our mind works.

We might say

that the Father is greater than the Son

because the Father begets the Son.

But the Father cannot be a Father

without the Son.

The relationship between 

Father and Son

reveals their identities

as two distinct persons

but a single God.

But today is Whitsun,

not Trinity Sunday.

Where's the Holy Ghost?

Shouldn't we be focussing on Him?

[PAUSE]

We see the Holy Ghost

sent from the Father 

in the Son's Name,

and yet He is often presented

as an instrument. 

Our Lady conceives by the Holy Ghost.

The Apostles speak in

foreign languages

through the Holy Ghost

Who falls upon them.

Our Sacraments bestow grace

through the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost is described as

the Spirit of God

or the Spirit of Jesus.

The Holy Ghost 

seems more like a pipeline

to the Father and the Son

rather than a distinct person

in Himself.

This won't do. 

It's not enough.

[PAUSE]

The Holy Ghost is a distinct person

from the Father and the Son.

Our Lord Himself

describes the Holy Ghost

proceeding from the Father.

But God is indivisible,

and not made of anything,

so how can anything 

proceed out of God

that is not God Himself?

This procession

shows the relationship

between the Holy Ghost

and the Father.

We sing "breathe on me,

Breath of God"

because that's the best

we little human beings

can understand what

proceeding means.

In this sense of procession

the Holy Ghost 

proceeds from the Father alone.

It is an analogy 

that shows us how

God the Holy Ghost

comes forth

from the Father

to be God in us,

in the same way 

that the Son

is begotten of the Father

to be God with us.

But if there is a relationship

with the Father

there must be 

a relationship with the Son.

And there is.

The Son is conceived by the Holy Ghost.

The Holy Ghost is breathed

upon the disciples 

through the Son.

The Word is carried on the Breath

and the Breath issues forth 

because of the Word.

The Holy Spirit 

is God.

It means that 

we worship Him,

we pray to Him,

we relate with Him.

Indeed,

we relate more with Him

than any other Person

of the Trinity.

Certainly,

we pray, "Our Father,"

and we pray, "Jesu, mercy!"

but our inner prayers

our cries of "Lord, help me!"

those fleeting flicks

of our attention to God

are present directly

to the Holy Ghost.

St Paul tells us

that every time 

we praise God

it is because the Holy Ghost

dwelling within us

gives us the ability

to praise God.

We speak through Him,

we learn through Him.

By His grace, 

He bestows Himself upon us

at our Baptism and Confirmation.

The priest says,

"the Lord be with you."

and we don't say,

the vacuous 

"and also with you,"

but rather

"and with thy spirit"

because we pray

that what our priests 

breathe out on us

is the Breath of God

in the sacraments 

they must distribute.

[PAUSE]

Our awareness of the Holy Ghost

must move away from thinking of Him

as being like spiritual petrol

which reinvigorates our faith,

but rather to recognise

His living in us.

We look upwards

to the Father. 

We look around us

to the Son.

So we must look within us

to the Holy Ghost,

and worship Him

accordingly.

Victims of the Anglican Catholic Church?

 

Why victimhood is not what it seems.

Told you so!

Sermon for the Sunday after Ascension 

It always seems

a bit odd to hear Our Lord's words

after we have witnessed

His Ascension into Heaven.

Indeed, 

what is most jarring

is that we have been hearing

his words

on the night before He dies.

And today,

the Sunday after Our Lord ascends,

we hear Him tell His disciples

that they will be killed 

for their witness to His truth.

And, having said that, 

He says,

"But these things have I told you,

that, when the time shall come,

ye may remember that 

I told you of them."

Does that mean

that during the oncoming tribulation 

that our beloved apostles endure,

the memory of this night

pops into their heads

with Jesus saying,

"told you so!"?

[PAUSE]

People who say,

"I told you so!"

are usually berating us

for not following their advice. 

"Told you so" comes with

an air of smugness

and satisfaction 

that misfortune has come upon us

because we haven't followed

someone's advice.

But we don't see that in Our Lord.

So why does He effectively say

"Told you so"

to those whom He loves

as they suffer for His sake?

Clearly He doesn't mean it like that.

Clearly, he wants them to remember 

that He has not forgotten them.

In a few hours, 

Our Lord will be dead

hanging on the cross

and it will be easy for 

the disciples to forget 

the promise of Resurrection

amid the sorrow and anguish.

[PAUSE]

But remembering 

is an activity that

we don't fully appreciate 

these days.

Remembering is not just

being able to recite your phone number

or a thousand digits of pi.

Remembering is

 literally a re-membering

- a putting back together

of an event.

For the disciples,

remembering Our Lord's words

is absolutely vital.

It is their calling,

their witness, 

their testimony of all

that Jesus says and does

in their sight.

In their persecution, 

they remember that

Our Lord told them so

and that His promises are true.

And they remember

that they have received 

the Holy Ghost,

Who proceeds from the Father

Who us sent by the Son

who comes to us

with strength - 

cum forte -

for us to use to proclaim 

the Word of God.

[PAUSE]

The night before Our Lord dies

is a night to remember, 

to piece back together,

and we do just that here in the Mass.

We are re-membering

what Our Lord told us to do.

And in re-membering 

the Last Supper

we are given the presence 

of Christ Himself 

in the Holy Sacrament

so that we, too,

like the Apostles,

may go out and tell the truth

about Christ.

And, as we increase in faith,

and see the work of God 

at our hands,

as we suffer our persecution, 

our temptation, 

our repentance,

our humiliation, 

our cross,

all for His sake, 

we will see Our Lord in His glory 

pointing to our place 

in His Kingdom

and saying,

"Told you so!"

Anglican Catholicism and Homosexuality

 

Where Anglican Catholicism stands on Homosexuality 

Asking for a beating

Sermon preached at the Cathedral Church of St Augustine of Canterbury on Rogation Sunday

Are you ready to get up

and beat the bounds, today?

Ready for a nice little walk 

around the parish?

Beating the bounds

occasionally happens today,

but not so much

and definitely not in its

traditional form.

Usually during

Rogationtide

or on Ascension Day,

the parish priest

is supposed to lead his people

to the edge of the parish 

and walk around it.

Along the way,

a group of boys,

usually choirboys or servers,

are supposed 

to beat the boundary stones

with green branches.

Often, rather than 

just beating 

the boundary stone,

it would be the boys

that were beaten

instead.

Perhaps that's something 

we could reinstate?

[PAUSE]

But why?

Why beat the boys?

The maim reason,

it appears,

is to ensure that

the next generation 

knows where 

the parish boundary is.

By beating the stones,

or beating the boys,

a clear memory of where

the parish ends

is reinforced.

This is important 

because it reinforces

the parish's legal identity

and the priest knows 

where his care ends

and the neighbouring priest's begins.

Beating the bounds

 establishes the neighbourhood.

But now you see the problem. 

Where is our boundary?

[PAUSE]

Parishes are supposed 

to share boundaries

so that there are no gaps

between where one parish stops

and another starts.

That way, 

the whole country 

can be sure 

that every community 

can find its Christian needs

met by the Church

through local priests.

If parishes have 

to cover the country,

where's our boundary?

Half of Kent?

More?

The Diocesan boundary

is the coastline of 

the British Isles!

How are we expected

to beat those bounds?

[PAUSE]

Our smallness

does sometimes seem

to be overwhelming. 

We have a big task to do

as Christians 

and so little time,

so few resources

to do it.

And we feel swamped.

We're not getting any younger

and the world is getting darker.

Let's just make sure

that we are honest 

with ourselves here,

about this.

We are small.

The task is great.

We feel swamped. 

What are we going to do?

[PAUSE]

Let's change the question

a little bit.

Instead of saying,

it's all too much,

let's say,

"this looks hard,

but what can we do?"

Let's not focus 

on our shortcomings

or on the size of the task.

Let's focus on

what we can do,

what we are doing,

what we're good at.

And make sure

that we do these things in Faith. 

[PAUSE]

We see the disciples

talking with Our Lord,

the night before He dies.

And there are only twelve.

One has gone off to betray the Christ.

The others will run away 

and say that they do not know

this Man from Nazareth.

Such failure!

Such fragility!

Such smallness!

And yet,

eleven come back

and see their Master

raised from the Dead.

And they understand. 

They see things clearly.

They know their mission.

Eleven in Christ

become the Church

because they have Faith.

And they now know what to ask for.

And how to ask.

No longer will they ask

to be the greatest

or to sit at the right hand

and left hand of Christ in glory.

Nor will they ask

not to avoid tribulation. 

They ask for blessing.

They ask for forgiveness 

for themselves 

and for their enemies.

They ask for the Truth to be known 

through them.

At their asking,

they receive the sacraments 

to give to the people of God

even as God Himself

fed multitudes with so little.

[PAUSE]

And we are so little.

It doesn't matter

for we trust that God knows

what He is doing,

and if we should find ourselves 

in tribulation,

we should not fear

because Christ has overcome the world. 

It is the World's influence

that tells us that 

because we are small

we are insignificant. 

Tell that to St Augustine 

who lands on these shores

and reinvigorates a Christianity 

that has been sidelined

following the end of

Roman occupation.

The disciples do what little they can

in Faith.

St Augustine does what little he can do

in Faith

We do what little we can do

in Faith. 

And in being faithful

we find ourselves praying 

in the Name of Jesus

and our prayers 

will be answered

- not in a worldly way,

but a Heavenly way.

[PAUSE]

Our bounds are too big

for us to beat, 

but in Christ 

there will be no limit 

to what will come

from what we truly do

in His Name..

Anglican Catholicism and self-righteousness

 

How do we eradicate self-righteousness in our society?

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Sermon for the fourth Sunday after Easter

Have you ever

been sent to

the headteachers office

for being naughty?

How did you feel?

Scared?

Ashamed?

Or 

Defiant and smug?

[PAUSE]

Most of us 

of a certain age 

dread even the thought 

of being sent to the head's office.

The mere threat 

Is enough

to ensure that we

behave ourselves. 

These days,

things seem different. 

Teachers, the police

the judge, even the King himself

are not people 

of whom we are afraid

or even respected.

What's gone wrong?

[PAUSE]

Our Lord says,

that the Holy Spirit

will reprove

- that means say what's wrong

- the World of sin, righteousness 

and judgement. 

The Holy Ghost 

will tell the world

why it is wrong

about what sin is,

what righteousness is

and what judgement is.

It is because 

the World is wrong

about sin, righteousness 

and judgement 

that being told 

that you've done wrong

is an affront to your dignity. 

We don't like being told

that we've got things wrong,

but now

instead of being ashamed,

we believe ourselves to be so right

that we can challenge

whoever thinks we're wrong

even God Himself. 

While going to the head's office

is supposed to be a sign

of a grave fault,

it is now a place to stand up

and say that it is the Head

that has it wrong

and you are being punished

unjustly.

[PAUSE]

The World has it 

wrong about Sin

because it doesn't believe 

Our Lord's teaching about 

what sin is.

Our Lord tells us that 

remarriage after divorce 

is adultery,

that even lasting is adultery.

But the World says

that divorce is no sin

and that pornography is okay.

Our Lord tells us 

to love our enemies

but the world likes

to put feuds on display

in the papers or on the telly.

Our Lord tells us to go the extra mile.

The World tells us to go the extra mile

and then demand payment. 

The World is wrong about what sin is.

[PAUSE]

The World lives by the rule

"do what you want 

as long as you don't hurt others."

And so the World 

teaches us to be self-righteous

because it refuses

to believe that Jesus

is the Son of God

and thus the true judge

of righteousness. 

Self-righteousness 

is in direct opposition 

to the Kingship of Jesus.

We are not the source

of the rule of what is good.

To do what we want

except hurting others

does not take into account 

that what we want will 

ultimately hurt others 

without our knowledge.

That hoarding wealth

is depriving others. 

That having a second house

lying empty 

is depriving someone

of somewhere to live.

That paying a woman

to bear a child

which will be taken away from.her

is putting a value

upon both motherhood

and the life of the baby.

And then there's Abortion

which the World says

doesn't hurt anyone

because it says 

that the human foetus 

is not really alive

and so the rule about 

not hurting people

doesn't apply.

Nowhere

does the World see 

that Righteousness 

is not a thing of the World 

but sits at the Right Hand

of God the Father.

The World has got it wrong

about what righteousness is.

[PAUSE]

And woe betide us,

if we should hurt people

by telling the truth.

How awful of us Christians

to be so mean

as to oppose the marriage

of two people

of the same sex!

How awful of us Christians 

to refuse to join in

Pride Month

or wear the rainbow!

The World refuses

to be judged.

It has been sent 

to the Head's office

in its state of 

self-righteousness smugness 

full of indignation

and fury

about being judged

by the One

Whose authority 

it rejects.

So the World tells people

that because Christians 

say what sin is

they must hate people.

The World wants to convince

people that the judgement of God

is to punish,

to condemn

to cast into Hell.

Instead of a God

who becomes Man

in order to bring back

all to God.

The judgement of the World

is to punish

and push God away

and, in so doing,

locking the doors of Hell

from the inside!

The judgement of God

is to put right,

renew, restore, realign, redeem

refresh, resurrect.

The Prince of this World

is judged and found lacking

bur refuses to accept 

the judgement that will put it right.

The World is wrong about judgement.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

[PAUSE]

We Christians are right

to believe in God 

and to accept His moral standards

and to live lives

which seek His righteousness first.

We cannot be self-righteous

because that way leads

to worldly thinking.

We must be humble

in matters of judgement 

and generous in believing

the best in people.

While we may be wrong at times 

as individuals, 

we must remember 

that Christ in His Holy Church

is not wrong

and will always draw us back.

[PAUSE]

Now that you've knocked

on the Head of the Church's door, 

what will happen when you go in?

Dressing up as Anglican Catholics

 

What does it mean to play "dress-up"?

Just a sec

 

Sermon for the third Sunday after Easter

A little while?

The word Our Lord uses 

is mikron.

 It's a moment, a passing thought, 

an insignificant length of time. 

Our Lord might as well have said, "just a sec!"

For the apostles, that "just a sec!" 

is three days of fear, worry, 

horror and despair: 

three days which will 

change them radically.

 Yet, for the rest of us,

 our suffering goes on for years. 

It's not a second; 

it's not a micro amount of time. 

It hurts and it lasts 

seemingly forever!

In the world around us, 

we still see the effects of pain and hurt

 ricocheting backwards and forwards 

as one person,

or one people, 

seek justice for the agony 

that they are feeling. 

They want the pain to stop, 

and pain is not something 

that goes away when the body heals. 

An injury can leave the body 

with a weakness, 

and then there are 

the mental, physical and spiritual scars 

which never seem to leave. 

And so, 

many seek retribution,

 to inflict pain and suffering 

on those whom they think 

caused their sorrow.

Don't the apostles 

have emotional trauma?

 They surely can't forget 

the betrayal on Thursday, 

the blood on Friday 

and the buried on Saturday. 

They surely cannot forget 

the eyes of God Himself 

dimming into death, 

even if those eyes are now 

once again

bright and bursting with 

Life and Truth and Love. 

And the Lord says, "just a sec!" 

Isn't that a dismissal 

of all that the disciples 

have gone through?

[PAUSE]

Many people call God 

to account for 

all the heartache, misfortune 

and injustice in the world. 

"Why would a good God permit evil," 

they say, 

sometimes with 

eyes filled with their own 

hurt and outrage,

sometimes with 

the sneer of cynicism 

and even hatred for God, 

sometimes with 

an air of dismissal for any belief 

that we hold dear.

"Just a sec!"

To answer why 

our God permits evil 

is beyond our understanding. 

To know the true answer to this 

would be to know the mind of God 

and our minds are too small 

and imperfect for that. 

We can only know 

the answer to this 

when we are perfect,

and we are not perfect now. 

And what would the answer do? 

Convince the atheists and cynics? 

No. 

Some people will never be convinced, 

but God loves them so much 

as to respect their free will 

to make that choice: 

but that choice is there, 

and it comes with 

pierced hands, 

pierced feet, 

pierced head, 

pierced side 

and scourged back. 

There are wounds 

on Our Lord that never go away.

[PAUSE]

Never go away? 

That seems strange. 

Just a second or two of sorrow 

and then joy?

 Even with those wounds? 

Even with all that agony 

on the cross: 

an agony that we choose 

to remind ourselves 

with the crucifix, 

this image of our Saviour bleeding and dying?

 If we keep a crucifix, 

are we not holding on 

to sorrow and pain and death?

Of course we are! 

The fact that Our Lord keeps 

His wounds for us 

even in Eternity as 

the Lamb-that-was-slain 

means that His pain for us 

means something. 

This means that our pain, 

the pains that we suffer here and now, 

mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, 

are all met in the cross. 

We see them nailed to the cross 

on our crucifix with Our God. 

Our Lord suffers pain

because we suffer pain. 

Our Lord suffers injustice 

because we suffer injustice. 

Our Lord suffers humiliation, 

because we suffer humiliation. 

Every sorrow that 

we go through in life 

is met in Jesus, the Man of Sorrows. 

He doesn't just meet them 

on this world 

passing from moment to moment, 

but He meets them in Heaven 

where there is only the Eternal Now. 

In saying "a little while," 

He is firmly consigning 

the pains and miseries of life 

to this passing world, 

nailing them there so that

 they do not define the lives of those 

who are suffering in Him. 

He tells us that 

our suffering matters enough 

for Him to suffer and live 

with the effects of our suffering, 

but that our suffering will end: 

it will not accompany us 

into Eternal bliss with Him. 

In that sense, 

to ask "why does a good God permit evil?"

 becomes meaningless 

because the evil passes away 

as we journey in our lives 

to become perfect in Christ 

- a perfection which is only reached 

through Christ. 

We have to endure sorrow, 

and some of us must 

endure it very sorely, 

but we see the crucifix 

and Our Lord on the cross 

knowing what we are going through 

by direct experience. 

He is not comparing His suffering 

with ours, 

but sharing in our suffering 

so that we might share in His joy. 

"Just a sec"?

While God is not comparing 

His suffering with ours, 

He is showing us a taste 

of the Eternity He is offering us. 

The crucifixion matters to Him 

but is a cause for joy to Him in Eternity

 because through it we are saved, 

not a cause of sorrow 

because of the agony He went through.

 Sorrow passes away, 

but joy is Eternal. 

And us? 

We have to allow our sorrow to pass away, 

or at least permit God to take it away 

when He will. 

Some sorrow is very hard 

to let go of, 

but God says clearly 

that it is not part of our perfection in Him. 

Yet, if we use our sorrow 

to direct us to joy in Christ, 

we have the means of letting it go 

through God's gift of hope.

This is why we glory 

in the cross of Christ,

 for by that cross, 

Christ has overcome the world. 

This is why we venerate Christ's cross 

and our own crosses that we bear. 

Alleluia!

Is the Anglican Catholic Church woke?

 

What does "woke" mean in the first place?

Crooks and Bishops

 

Sermon for the second Sunday after Easter

We’ve all felt threatened
when the bishop reaches out his hand
for his crosier.

That large wooden
shepherd’s hook looks
as if it could do some
mighty damage
and, often,
you may wonder legitimately
whether it is used for dragging
an errant dean
or archdeacon out of the pulpit
in the middle of
their very boring
“blah blah blah” sermons.

Of course,
you know that
the crosier is a symbol
for the pastoral office
of the bishop. 

It is a form of
the shepherd’s crook
used for
managing the sheep,
pulling them out of danger,
protecting them against predators 

and,
while not used for grabbing
and clonking hungry wolves
on the head,
it serves as a walking stick
to steady the shepherd
over hill and dale.

Today,
as we reflect upon
Christ the Good Shepherd,
we think of how appropriate it is
for bishops to carry the crosier.

They have to embody
the life of the good shepherd
and not that of the hireling.

The shepherd invests himself 
in the welfare of the sheep,

even lying down,
in front of the doorway
to the sheepfold
acting as a door
keeping sheep in
and dangers out.

Hirelings 
have no investment in the sheep
whatsoever.

Their only concern 
is that they get their pay
at the end of the day
and go home.

The Good Shepherd does not,
but lives his life
with the sheep in his care.

Only the shepherd 
needs the crosier
for he uses it 
to demonstrate 
his investment in the sheep.

The hireling
does not care if
a sheep gets injured
- there are others.

The hireling
does care if a wolf enters the scene
because he then scarpers
leaving the flock 
rather than confront the evil.

The hireling 
needs only a simple stick 
to steady himself,
but then, 
he wouldn't need to wander
in treacherous places
where he might fall down.

The hireling 
is not worthy of a crook.

The hireling 
is not worthy of a crosier.

[PAUSE]

We can be sure
that a bishop who wields
his crosier well
will grab us
when we go astray
through his sound learning
and concern for our spiritual growth. 

He will stand up
and clonk evil on the head
with the authority given to him
through the Apostles
by Our Lord Jesus Christ,
and he will use the strength
of the Good Shepherd
to steady himself
on the rough terrain of life. 

As Psalm 23 says of Christ,
“His rod and staff comfort me.”
and He has given that staff
to us in the crosier.

[PAUSE]

We must,

therefore ensure that 
we choose our bishops with care.

We will see their suitability
by what they invest 
of themselves in the Church.

We shall see them
in how they are prepared
to lay themselves down
for the sheep 
entrusted to them.

To them will be given 
the crosier

and this crosier is not given
by men
but by God
for the bishop to exercise
authority over the Church.

The crosier is passed down
from bishop to bishop
just as the authority is passed down
from bishop to bishop
beginning with the Holy Apostles
and their great commission 
to make disciples of all lands.

[PAUSE]

We pray for our bishops

in the onerous nature 
of what has been entrusted to them.

They may fall
like any one of us
but the good bishop
will pick himself up,
dust himself down
and start all over again
seeking the good of his flock.

The hireling will not.

If a hireling falls,
he will cover it up
pull rank 
and blame everyone else.

[PAUSE]

The hireling is a crook.
The bishop holds a crook.

That's the crucial difference.

Holy Hierarchy (Batman!)

 

Why hierarchy is good for the Church.

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.

Punching a hole in Easter

 

Why the Resurrection must change how we work.

Traumatic Joy

Sermon for the Day of Resurrection 

How can things

ever be the same again?

On Friday,

we watch That Man

in agony upon the cross

struggling to breath,

bleeding,

torn,

naked,

humiliated,

suffering a punishment 

that the Romans has designed

specifically 

to be the worst execution

imaginable. 

We watch

as His holy heart

gives out under the trauma

and He breathes His last

with that one last cry.

A cry of triumph!

A cry of triumph?

"IT IS FINISHED!"

[PAUSE]

It is finished.

He cries out

not of His life

but of the power of death.

He bursts through Death's door 

and having broken it open,

jumps through it,

plummeting into the darkness

but bringing, 

with His human nature,

the Eternal Light of Divinity.

And all we see

is His dead body,

the last drops 

of His precious blood 

dripping from His side

onto the ground.

For us,

there are tears, weeping,

confusion, despair.

How can things 

ever be the same again?

[PAUSE]

A broken heart,

crying bitterly in the garden,

remembers

all the gruesome agonies

inflicted on the One 

Whose crime was to love,

not carnally,

not condescendingly,

not possessively.

His one crime 

- to love so much

that death upon the cross

would not hold Him back

from telling the truth

that you matter.

You matter enough

not only to be created

not only to be valued

but enough to be saved

from the darkness within you

and brought face to face 

with your creator in Eternity.

And for this

His body is bruised

and abused

and torn and pierced.

And for this

the broken heart cries

in the garden

by the empty tomb.

[PAUSE]

"Mary."

It's the mention of her name

that brings her to her senses.

Just as her name was spoken

before the world began

to bring her into being,

so her name again brings her

into being once more

brings her back to the feet

of the One Who died for Love.

"My teacher!"

To see Him alive before her

what joy!

What joy indeed

but what confusion.

Friday happened.

The agony happened.

The crucifixion happened.

There in His hands.

There in His feet.

There in His side.

There is still the crucifixion.

It is not taken away.

not undone, 

not nullified.

How can Mary begin

to process this?

And yet,

all she sees 

is Him alive

so much more alive

than she has ever seen Him.

If crucifixion cannot break Him,

then what can?

But the crucifixion happened 

and

in His hands, feet and side,

that crucifixion will not be erased

for they are proof of love, 

badges of honour,

commitment to all those

who suffer agony in life. 

While He bears His wounds

we see our own wounds

inflicted upon us 

by the Darkness that 

wants to possess us

but cannot.

For while we suffer 

the trauma of living

and place all that trauma

into the wounds of Christ,

we reject any claim

that the Devil makes

on our lives.

We live,

each one of us

with the agonies

that Life inflicts on us

that others inflict on us

that we inflict on ourselves,

and,

intermingled with those agonise

there is the Resurrected Lord.

Joy in the midst of pain. 

Not happiness,

because happiness 

is a thing of chance 

and Earthly expectation.

But Joy 

- the knowledge that with our death

our suffering is given meaning

and worth.

Because we bear our cross

with Him

to the bitter end,

unlike Judas,

we shall be raised 

with Him.

In trauma there is Joy,

for trauma ends with 

the the shout of triumph

"IT IS FINISHED!"

before Death itself

is broken to pieces.

How can things 

ever be the same again?

The veiled ikon of humanity

 

Why the veiled ikons of Passiontide reveal the image of God in us.

A question for Palm Sunday 2025

As we listen to the Long Gospel, how is the labour of our lives reflected in the Passion of Our Lord? How is our hard work sanctified?

Anglican Catholic Passions

 

How dispassion done properly leads to compassion. 

Six of one and half a dozen of the other

Sermon for Passion Sunday

There are so many arguments 

going on these days, 

particularly on Social Media.

Everyone is convinced

that they are right

and they will not be

corrected by anyone.

If anything, 

online arguments 

make things worse.

[PAUSE]

What we see constantly 

is that whatever argument

someone gives,

their opponent will twist the words

or seek to invalidate them

by denying their value.

Online arguments 

are usually between people 

who are right

in their own eyes.

Worse still,

arguments like these 

between Christians

usually end up with the phrase,

"well, you're not really Christian then,

are you?"

Arguments between Christians

usually end up 

with one side grabbing Christ

and saying,

"look, we possess Him,

you are wrong and not really of Him."

And, rather than being grabbed,

Our Lord just passes through them, 

hides Himself 

and leaves the temple.

[PAUSE]

Here on Passion Sunday, 

we see Our Lord

facing a concerted argument

with the Pharisees

who are demanding 

His submission to their 

regulation of His ministry.

The Pharisees are always right:

they are supremely authoritative 

in the Law

and ensuring that others

are bound by that Law

despite breaking it themselves

with the excuse of 

their own self-justification.

They will not listen to Christ

because they are convinced 

that He cannot be Christ

because He does not agree with them.

To the outsider,

this looks like one of 

those online debates

with one group of authorities 

arguing with a maverick preacher.

As arguments go,

it looks like six of one

and half a dozen of the other.

Except that the maverick preacher

suddenly says something 

that the others find blasphemous 

and they try to stone Him.

But He disappears from view

and that's the end of the argument.

But the Church is always 

involved in arguments.

How can we be sure

that we aren't the Pharisees?

[PAUSE]

"He who that is of God

listens to God."

This must be the defining aspect

of any engagement that we have

as Christians in any debate.

The great Oecumenical Councils

look very much like

some of the online arguments. 

Passions run high,

there is shouting 

cursing, brawls, 

even, sad to say, murder.

We Christians cannot escape 

the fact the our founding councils

were not organised debates.

But it isn't the loud, angry debates themselves 

that have lasted.

It is the doctrine that has come forth

that has lasted 

and has been accepted 

by the Catholic Church

because the Church is of God 

and so it listens to God.

The fact that we know

that Christ is of the same substance 

as the Father

is because 

the Church listens to God.

It is after the noise of the debate

that the truth comes out

but only for those 

who are willing to challenge

their own position 

in the argument. 

It is only after the Resurrection 

that the self-righteous hypocrisy 

of the Pharisees is truly revealed.

They seek to win the debate

there and then

by playing the blasphemy card,

and picking up the stones.

The Church cannot seek

to win debates

when it seeks to win hearts

just as Christ seeks to win our hearts

and thus procure Our Salvation 

through His Cross.

The Church knows that

the same old arguments, 

the same old heresies

and the same old insults

will happen again and again.

But the Church, 

rather than seeking to end the debate

continues to listen to God

and pray for the Salvation of souls.

The true Church seeks not

the death of a sinner

because Her Master

seeks not the death of a sinner.

This is what marks the Church out

from other authorities:

its purpose must be Love:

leading people back to God

and giving them the nourishment 

of the Sacraments He instituted.

[PAUSE]

The Pharisees' debate 

ends definitively with the 

destruction of the temple.

But before then 

their argument is mortally wounded 

upon the Cross.

Their argument is self-serving

and ends in self-destruction.

Christ's argument is life-giving

and endures even death.

In an online debate 

listen not to the argument

but to what God is saying to you.

Arguments are usually 

six of one,

and half a dozen of the other.

But only Christ's teaching

preserved by the twelve apostles 

will be the Truth.

Why jobs don't come with emojis

 

What St Benedict has to say about hard work.

Where have all the women gone?

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

It's Mothering Sunday,

so where are all the mothers?

None are mentioned 

in the Gospel,

not even Our Lady.

Where have all the mothers gone?

[PAUSE]

Our Lord stands

before a great multitude

of five thousand men,

no mention of women.

Indeed, Our Lord says,

"Make the men 

sit down."

What?

Are the women to stand?

You can perhaps see why

some people see the Church

as being anti-women

if the Lord Himself 

doesn't refer to them.

It is possible 

that there were only

five thousand men there.

But,

more likely, 

it is Jewish practice 

to count only Jewish men 

of a certain age.

This is the same reason

why St Joseph

and Our Lady

go St Joseph's home

in Bethlehem

for the census.

But it seems pretty unfair.

Women don't seem to count.

And here,

on Mothering Sunday,

mothers seem to be 

completely forgotten 

in the Gospel

and even

by Our Lord.

Oh dear. 

It does seem

like our critics are right.

No women priests

means

perhaps the Catholic Church

is just a club for the boys

after all!

Where are the Mothers 

on Mothering Sunday?

[PAUSE]

To see what's going on here,

we need to look.

at where the feeding 

of the five thousand

plus women and children 

is going.

First of all,

we know well 

that Our Lord 

values the dignity

of women highly.

He teaches them

in the same way 

as He teaches the men.

He hears their own voice,

not through the voice of their husband.

He values their faith

above the dead faith

of the rulers of society.

He even makes sure

that the first witness

of His resurrection 

is a woman

whose testimony 

is believed by men

contrary to the tines.

There are women

throughout Our Lord's ministry

valued and saved and made glorious

- equal to men in salvation.

Equal but not interchangeable.

But that's beside the point.

[PAUSE]

Yes, only men are counted

by Jewish tradition but

counting men only

comes from 

the view here that the man

is the head of the family.

You have only to look

at the long lists of names

in the Book of Numbers

to see that in action.

But, 

in a sense,

they aren't counting men only,

they are counting families,

and there are no families

without mothers.

Our Lord feeds five thousand families

five thousand surnames,

five thousand groups of people 

belonging to each other,

united in this meal 

in Christ.

And with what did He feed them?

[PAUSE]

Following on

from this feeding of 

five thousand families

comes a most profound teaching.

After this miracle 

Our Lord goes on

to say that His flesh 

is meat indeed,

that His blood is drink indeed.

That this teaching

follows on immediately

after this miracle 

shows the intention

of Our Lord 

to give us the Holy Eucharist

- the sacrament that binds us

to each other 

by binding us to Christ.

And those who are bound to Christ

are the Church.

Mother Church.

[PAUSE]

In less than a week 

after we celebrate

the motherhood of Our Lady

at the visitation of the angel 

we see her begin 

the arduous journey 

of nurturing her son

with her own flesh and blood, 

for that is what mothers do

through the umbilical cord

before their baby is born.

Likewise Our Lord,

like a mother 

nourishes us

until we are born in Heaven

through death

and into life

through the umbilical cord

of our human nature

which He shares 

with us.

This is Mothering Sunday. 

[PAUSE]

Of course,

Mothering Sunday 

is not the same as 

Mothers' Day

but here the two are 

inextricably linked.

One cannot think 

about Mothering Sunday

without thinking of Mothers

and this brings us back

full circle. 

Where are the mothers in the Gospel?

They are here

and they are venerated,

and they are valued

and they are cherished

and, if they are not,

then that is a sin.

"Honour thy father

and thy mother."

The mothers in the Gospel

are here

because the miracle

of the feeding of 

the five thousand families

brings them here

in this Church of Christ. 

Christianity

perfects and fulfils 

the Old Testament.

Those mothers hidden by 

the old convention

of counting only 

the men of the house 

are made manifest

in Christ's own ministry

and shown to be 

as supremely valuable

as everyone else.

If you want to know

where the mothers are in the Gospel, 

look around you.

Announcing the fruit of Anglican Catholic labour

 

Why Our Lady is good for the Economy.

Walking backwards to the Devil?

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent

Would you know

the Devil if you met him?

Some of the witnesses

who see Jesus' cast out a demon

clearly don't.

"He casts out demons

by the power of Beelzebub!"

they say.

The strange thing is

that they are indeed

witnesses of the miracle.

They see the demon

expelled from the man.

They have heard this man

speak when, before, 

he couldn't. 

So they have seen the effect

but they reject the cause.

Rather than see the truth, 

they would prefer to believe

that the Devil,

the prince of demons

was the cause.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord points out the irony here.

If you can't tell whether

a demon has been expelled by God 

or by the Devil.

Then you can't tell 

whether any demon

has been expelled by God

or by the Devil.

So, all the "proper" exorcisms

that have been performed 

by the Jewish authorities 

of the day

cannot be said definitively 

to have been by God.

As Our Lord says,

those who say that

He drives out demons by the Devil

are denouncing their own 

authority. 

They cut off the branch

on which they sit.

But if they are wrong

and Our Lord casts out demons

through the Finger of God

- the Holy Ghost

- then they are witnesses 

to God's presence with them

and must repent.

[PAUSE]

Even today,

there are those

who are afflicted 

with the same tendency

to attribute to the Devil

that which comes from God.

There are those Christians who say,

"Unless you believe what I believe

then you are a worshipper of Satan!"

But wait!

If you cannot tell 

whether another's belief 

is truth from God or a lie from Satan

then you cannot tell whether

you yourself are a "worshipper of Satan".

True, we believe that 

what our Church teaches

is right

and therefore,

we must believe that

those who do not believe 

what we believe are wrong.

Being wrong is part 

of human fallenness

and therefore deserves

compassion and forgiveness,

not condemnation.

We do not tolerate 

the wrong doctrine

but we expel it by refusing to adopt it 

and by calling out heresy.

Those who accept heresy

indeed separate themselves 

from the Church,

but we always should seek

to keep the door of the Church open

for them to come back.

We certainly cannot say whether

a different group of Christians

are "worshippers of Satan"

unless we see Satan being worshipped.

If we want to know 

the fruits of the demonic,

they are listed by St Paul

in his letter to the Galatians.

"Now the works of the flesh 

are manifest, which are these; 

Adultery, fornication, 

uncleanness, lasciviousness, 

Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, 

variance, emulations, wrath, 

strife, seditions, heresies,

Envyings, murders, drunkenness, 

revellings, and such like: 

of the which I tell you before, 

as I have also told you in time past, 

that they which do such things 

shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Christians of every sort

commit these faults, 

some on a daily basis,

but that does not make their

faith null and void. 

It just makes them

in need of salvation

through Jesus 

the Perfector of Our Faith.

[PAUSE]

Being a sinner

is not automatic Devil-worship.

Being a sinner

is not automatic damnation.

Being a sinner

is being in need of salvation

through Jesus Christ

and this salvation

is a process which begins at Baptism

and ends with our standing

before the Judgement seat of God.

God does not desire 

the death of a sinner

but rather that He repent

and live.

In our lives of repentance 

we will encounter the Devil

and we will encounter Christ.

We will,

at times, 

confuse the two 

- that's the consequence 

of The Fall

- but with Christ

we ALWAYS have the opportunity 

to repent and be part of His Church.

And that's a mark of the Church

we should recognise. 

Christ gathers,

the Devil scatters.

Again, 

St Paul tells us 

what to look for:

"the fruit of the Spirit is 

love, joy, peace, 

longsuffering, gentleness, 

goodness, faith,

meekness, temperance: 

against such there is no law."

Rather than focussing

on turning away from the Devil,

we should be focusing 

on Christ.

By focusing on the Devil,

it is as if we are 

walking backwards

and we stumble over more obstacles 

that he puts in our path.

By focusing on Christ,

we necessarily turn 

from the Devil

onto the right path.

[PAUSE]

It doesn't matter 

where we are now

as long as we are 

committing ourselves 

to our salvation.

God sees us not as 

black with sin

but rather grey with sin,

still possessing 

the whiteness of His image 

that has not been 

obliterated

but rather clouded

by our separation from Him.

And throughout our lives

spent turning towards Him,

He will purge us with hyssop

and we shall be clean.

He shall wash us

and we shall be whiter than snow.

That is our focus,

our way forward,

by facing forwards to Him.

Anglican Catholicism and the Culture Wars

 How can Anglican Catholics fit in a society at war?

The Dog's Truth

Sermon for the second Sunday in Lent

Perhaps you remember 

the tale of Greyfriars Bobby,

the little dog 

who was so devoted to his master

that he refused to leave

his master's grave side.

Perhaps you remember

how the townsfolk

looked after him 

and cared for him

until the little dog himself died

at the age of 16

and was buried not too far

from his master.

Some people think this is a legend,

but the statue that stands 

in Bobby's memory

is there for a reason.

There must be some truth 

in that story for such

a memorial to have been erected.

There is truth in that story.

[PAUSE]

"There must be truth 

in that story,"

thinks the Canaanite woman

as she tends to her dying daughter.

"There must be truth

that He heals."

The Canaanite woman

holds to these two truths,

the truth that her daughter is dying,

and the truth that lies in

the people's tales

about Jesus healing people.

So she goes to the Master.

And she will not leave,

clinging to these two truths

with all her might.

And she cries out

again

and again

and again and again and again,

so much so that 

people get sick of her crying.

"Send her away.

Don't bother the Master!"

But she holds to

the two truths doggedly.

She will see the Master

and He will heal her daughter.

Finally 

she catches the eye of God.

And He speaks truth:

"It is not meet

to take the children's bread

and cast it to the dogs."

A harsh rebuke?

Does she go away

reminded of her status as 

an outcast from 

the Children of Israel?

No. 

She knows another truth:

she is not Jewish and He is

but she is human

and so is He.

If He is the Messiah,

then He is merciful.

If He is the Messiah

then there is a crumb of mercy

that can fall for her.

She still holds doggedly

to the truth 

that He can heal.

He is truly the Master 

and she worships Him.

"Truth, Lord:

and yet the dogs eat

of the crumbs which fall

from their master's table"

For with Lord there is mercy.

And with that mercy

comes Divine admiration. 

"O woman, 

great is thy faith:

be it unto thee

even as thou wilt."

Notice how,

He calls her "woman"

- a term of respect,

a term of recognition of status,

a term of admiration, 

not a term to be used

to address a dog.

How can a master admire a dog?

How can a town 

set up a statue 

to a little dog 

who clung on to the truth 

of his devotion 

to his master?

To see an insult

in comparing this woman

with a dog

is to miss the breakdown

of the barriers 

that separate 

the Children of Israel

from the children of men.

For Jesus Himself

is the Bread of the Children of Israel

and He gives Himself freely

to a woman

whom the Children of Israel

would call a dog.

And He does so

because she has faith -

the knowledge that 

there must be some truth

in the stories she hears 

about Jesus,

even if she doesn't know

the whole truth.

He gives Himself to

this "dog"

willingly, 

in admiration 

with mercy and love.

And, in receiving this bread

she becomes one 

of the first gentile members

of the Church.

[PAUSE]

For us,

this faithful woman disappears into history -

a story, many would say 

- but if a story, then a story 

in which there must be some truth.

Indeed,

a story in which there is The Truth

a true story!

and this Truth 

that even now 

she holds onto 

in a state of Eternal bliss,

we, too, hold onto,

doggedly.