Sermon for the 18th anniversary of Consecration of Bishop Damien Mead
Mitre, purple cassock,
rochet, chimere, pectoral cross.
All items of apparel
exclusive to a bishop.
Why on earth would anyone
long to wear them?
And yet some people do.
[PAUSE]
Look out on the street,
and you see people walking about.
They don't tend to stand out.
Coats and hats,
hoodies and jeans,
smart suits and scruffy tracksuits.
But a man
coming down the street
in a cope and mitre
seems rather odd.
Conspicuous,
attention-grabbing,
silly.
The dress of a bishop
is distinctive
and indicative of
an authority
that comes down
through the ages.
It has a place
and that place is the church.
Indeed, where the people
gather around their bishop,
there is the Catholic Church.
The office of a bishop
is attractive to Christians
for this reason.
But can we be sure
that when we see
a man dressed as a bishop
that we see the Catholic Church?
[PAUSE]
Of course not!
An actor can dress as a bishop,
that doesn't mean that
he has the authority of a bishop.
Anyone,
man or woman,
can dress as a bishop
but only those who are truly
consecrated by the Church
are truly bishops.
And some people
long to dress as bishops
for that sense of authority
because they hope people
will listen to them
and give them some sense of respect.
These people
dress as bishops for themselves.
They desire the appearance
of a bishop,
not the office of a bishop.
[PAUSE]
St Paul tells us
that to desire the office of a bishop
is a good thing.
To want to do
what bishops do
is something holy.
But not all are called
to do that.
Only those whom
God calls
and the Church recognises
in keeping with the authority
and teaching she has received
from Christ.
The first bishops
did not look like bishops
but they were bishops
setting the pattern for ours today.
The distinctive dress
of bishops may develop
over the ages,
but all bishops
possess the same,
unchanging authority.
There is only One
Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church,
united across Time and Space,
and the bishops
are an integral ingredient
of what it means for
the Church to be
Apostolic.
[PAUSE]
And we have a bishop,
and we are gathered
around that bishop
in order to do what the Church
has always done.
At the hands of our bishop,
we offer the Sacrifice of the Mass,
the same sacrifice
that the Church has always offered,
and we receive at His hands
the true Body and Blood
of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
This makes us members
of that One, Holy, Catholic
and Apostolic Church.
[PAUSE]
Of courss,
there will always be those
who say that
we are actors.
They will say that
our bishop is playing dress-up -
cosplaying.
They will say
that we are not really
doing what we think we're doing.
They will say
that we do not
really have bishops
because we changed
what bishops are.
But we haven't!
What do they think
we are doing?
Cosplay!
Okay, but why?
For what reason?
Why are you here today?
Why is our bishop here today?
We are here
in faith
to worship God in our Lord Jesus Christ
and offer the sacrifice of the Mass
according to the rites of Holy Church
and we intend
to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.
Just as we intend
to consecrate bishops
according to
the One, Holy, Catholic
and Apostolic Church
through the grace of God.
That is our intention.
It has always been our intention,
through 1054,
through 1534,
through 1992.
"Ah, you might intend it,
but it's not really happening,
is it?"
God will judge our intentions
and not men.
We will not force people
to receive from our bishops.
We will not insist
that people accept our authority.
For Love does not insist
on His own way.
Let those who don't believe us
go their way in peace.
But as many as will have faith
and accept the ministry
and authority of our bishop,
these will receive
the fulness of
the One, Holy,.Catholic
and Apostolic Church.
[PAUSE]
And to our bishop
who does the office of a bishop
rather than just
looking like a bishop.
Thank you.
And
Thank God.
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