Beyond the Walls

Sermon for the second Sunday after Trinity

Three invitations. Did you count them?

To the well-to-do people of the city;

To the socially disadvantaged 

people of the city 

living rough in the streets; 

To the socially disadvantaged people 

who live outside the city 

in hedges and by the side of roads.

The only people we know 

who don't go into the feast

are those who live comfortable lives

and know that they need nothing

from this feast.

Only those who hurt

those who struggle to live

those who know that they need healing

those who know that there is joy 

but not in how they are living

those who know that the feast

will be more than they could ever hope for,

these accept the invitation.

But it isn't three invitations, is it?

It's just the one,

just the one "come to the feast!"

offered to everyone.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord's parable is quite clear.

The city is Jerusalem 

and those inside are the Jewish people

- people whom God has always loved

- people whom He has called to the feast.

But those who are satisfied

with their own lives

reject Him,

and the invitation that He has written

in His own Blood.

So He turns to those 

who see Him as their hope

and they receive Him.

Here are Peter, James, John 

and the others

who know that they need healing,

who know that they need joy,

who know that they need salvation,

who are wounded by the world's

pitiless indifference

who hate the brokenness of

their souls

who are tired of the battle

to be good within them

with its constant losses

failures 

and degradation.

They accept the invitation

but it isn't enough.

The feast is not big enough yet.

There is still room.

And so the invitation passes

beyond the walls.

[PAUSE]

It finds those outside

the Jewish race,

who suffer the same woes

and torment

and it gives them hope.

They, too, can come into the city,

further up and further in,

to the palace of the feast giver,

the king of the Jews,

The Lord God Himself,

The Father

Whose invitation is the Word of Life

Christ Himself

and Who draws all people

through His Holy Spirit.

It is the Spirit that fires the hearts

of men to spread the Word,

this invitation to Life Eternal,

of Eternal Joy

of Eternal Satisfaction.

Those who refuse

live out their lives

with what they have always wanted,

but their hearts 

are where their treasure is

and they miss out on

Life Eternal

Eternal Joy

and Eternal Satisfaction.

They are left with

an Eternal Life of sorts 

but nothing beyond their thoughts;

an Eternity of indifference

shown to others and by others;

an Eternity of never being satisfied

but never knowing precisely why.

Those who refuse the invitation 

shall not enter into God's rest.

[PAUSE]

What we have to do is clear:

Say "yes!" to the invitation

and spend lives inviting others

in our thoughts, words and deeds.

At the moment, 

we stand beyond the walls

but we are invited nonetheless.

We must prepare ourselves

for the feast.

We must lives turning towards God

We must let others know that

they are invited too.

We have to wait for the city gates 

to be flung wide

to lift up their heads

and we shall enter in

with the King of Glory.

Flesh and Spirit

Sermon for the Sunday in the octave of Corpus Christi

In some of our Churches,

they use the Thanksgiving after Mass

from the 1549 Book of Common Prayer.

This prayer gives thanks

for being fed with

the spiritual food

of the Body and Blood 

of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

What does that mean?

Does it mean that

Our Lord is only present

spiritually in the

Consecrated Host 

and Chalice?

This presents us

with a bit of a problem.

Our Lord says to His Disciples 

"a spirit hath not flesh and bones." 

He also says,

"the bread that I will give 

is my flesh, 

which I will give for 

the life of the world."

If the Lord gives His flesh

for us to eat,

and spirits do not have flesh,

then the presence of Christ

at the Mass

cannot be a spiritual presence.

We know also,

that God is a spirit

and this means that 

the Divine Nature 

does not have a body.

But Jesus is God,

fully Divine,

fully Human,

He has no flesh in His Divine Nature

but in His Human Nature.

If He gives us His flesh to eat,

then He does so from His Human Nature.

But Our Lord's Divine Nature is inseparable from His Human Nature.

This means that

Our Lord is present 

in the Consecrated Host

fully in both His Humanity

and His Divinity,

Flesh and Blood.

So how can what 

we receive in the Mass

be spiritual food?

[PAUSE]

God is spirit and

we are to worship Him

in spirit and in truth.

If we are to worship Him in spirit,

then we are spiritual beings.

The food we receive is not 

a spiritual presence.

It is food for our spirit.

Remember that 

our flesh is at war with our spirit.

We human beings

are broken.

Our nature is fractured.

We are at war within ourselves.

Our Baptism changes that

because we are given

the gift of the Holy Spirit

to dwell with us and in us.

And, to make us more spiritual,

we take into ourselves

the very Flesh and Blood

of God Himself

so that our bodies

and spirits are fed.

[PAUSE]

God gives us Himself

so that we can become

like Him

and participate

in His Divine Nature.

This is why we are grateful

for His feeding us 

with the food that will

grow our spirits

so that we can be like Him.

It carries the responsibility

for using what we are given

to sanctify the world

through battling against

the flesh of the world

which wants us

to deny Christ and become

just corruptible children of dust.

The Mass shows the world

that it is still loved by God

and this love is in such plentiful supply

that it breaks the boundary

between what is Human

and what is Divine.

We need to show this Mass to the world.

And, in ourselves,

we are to lift up Christ

and carry Him about,

so that through us

and by Him

the world may be brought back to Him.

We have a lot to do.

Perhaps we need to gain strength

by eating what is truly good for us.

Anglican Catholic Mass immersion

 

Why the feast of Corpus Christi is vital for Christian living.

Living Trinity

Sermon for Trinity Sunday

At Mass, we come to God, 

and God comes to us 

at the meeting place of the altar.

We can point to His presence with us

and, in the same faith,

we are fixed in His gaze

until we have taken Him

into our bodies and souls,

our lives and our hearts

where He dwells 

and makes us more like Him.

But God is Trinity in Unity.

We are not.

How are we meant to become

like God?

We need to learn to live the Trinity.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord Jesus Christ 

becomes a man,

so that we might become 

like Him

and live our lives

as committed members

of the Orthodox and Catholic Church.

We are not to live lives that are Arian.

Arians believe that Jesus is created,

more than a man,

but not of the same substance of God.

If Arians become more like that,

they will never see God.

They will never know 

true salvation

which lies beyond

the universe of created things.

We are not Arians.

Being Arian says that

our life can only be lived

in Creation

and separate from God.

Being Arian

denies that

the end of our journey

is God.

We are to live lives

in the hope 

of our return

to the visible presence of God

and not as part of the backdrop 

of the universe.

[PAUSE]

We are not to live lives that are Apollinarian.

Apollinarians think that God 

doesn't become fully Human,

that He puts on a human costume.

A god in a human costume is 

not being true

either to himself

or to human beings.

God is the Truth

and He loves us,

so He can't pretend to be human.

He becomes human

in order to be true to us

and to join us to Him.

If we live Apollinarian lives

then we see God as remote

and not fullyy invested in what we do

or who we are.

If we live Apollinarian lives,

then we push God away from us,

not trusting Him to be fully on our side,

rather than inviting Him

in to our lives.

[PAUSE]

We are not to live Nestorian lives.

Nestorians think that 

you can separate Jesus the Man 

from Christ the God.

They say that Mary is 

only the mother of the human bit

of Jesus,

not His God bit.

The Nestorian life says that 

we can live human lives 

every day of the week

but we have to be Christian 

on a Sunday.

The Nestorian life says

we can keep God in 

a separate part of our lives

and can live out the rest 

without worrying about 

His involvement in the rest.

But we are to lead lives

Inseparably with God.

We recognise Our Lady

as the Mother of God

and see that God is truly present

in our Humanity

so that we lead lives

in order to be truly present

in His Divinity.

[PAUSE]

We are not to lead lives

in which we think that 

being God and being human 

are the same. 

While we cannot separate

Jesus' humanity and His divinity,

we cannot pretend that

 they are the same thing.

Jesus is human,

so He has every aspect

of being human.

Jesus is God,

so He has every aspect

of being God.

Jesus' human nature

lives co-operating with His 

divine nature.

We have to live lives

In which we too

co-operate with God,

neither seeing ourselves in charge

nor leaving everything

up to God.

Our will is saved

by choosing God.

We are saved through God's grace 

and co-operating

with that grace.

[PAUSE]

We are not to lead Ikonoclast lives.

Ikonoclasts believe 

that the image of God 

should not make us long to worship.

They do not believe 

that an ikon can be holy.

They cannot tell the difference

between an ikon and an idol.

Living the ikonoclast life

means not seeing God

as being really present

alongside His creation.

Ikonoclasts separate God

from His creation.

For them, 

a photograph of Our Lord

would not stir up 

any desire to worship Him.

They do not believe that 

venerating an ikon

means that the veneration

is meant for who is in the ikon,

just as the kissing of a picture

of your mother

is an expression of your love for her

not for the picture.

We are to live in a world of ikons

reflecting God in the world around,

relating creation back to God

acting on our worship of God

through acts of veneration

whenever we are aware of His presence.

We are to live in a world of ikons

and using them to learn

how to become aware

of His presence again.

[PAUSE]

We are to live lives 

which reflect 

the Father, Son and Holy Ghost

as being real, supreme 

and always with us,

always willing to associate with us,

always present 

to love us,

forgive us

have mercy on us,

draw us,

save us,

and bring us to Him.

We do believe in one God,

Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Filioque fisticuffs and Trinitarian tussles

 

Why the filioque issue does matter and why we need to engage with it.

Spiritual Takeover?

Sermon for Whitsunday

One of the more 

frightening afflictions mentioned

In the Gospels

is the possibility

of being possessed.

The idea that 

a devil has some control over you,

making you do things 

you don't want to do,

that it inhabits your life

at the very deepest part,

is truly terrifying!

We see the poor man

possessed by Legion

able to rip chains

and terrify the neighbours.

But we see him 

delivered by God

as the devils are cast out

into suicidal swine.

Being possessed 

is something that should 

and does worry us.

We do not want to be controlled

by anyone

or anything

other than ourselves.

But isn't this what happens

to the Apostles?

Do they not become possessed,

albeit with the Holy Ghost?

Is the Holy Ghost taking control

of people?

[PAUSE]

Some of us are afraid

of the Holy Ghost

for this reason.

They worry that 

the Holy Ghost 

will make them do things

that they really do not want to do.

They worry that He will

change their lives

in ways that 

they cannot bear thinking about.

The trouble is,

they are right.

[PAUSE]

Allowing the Holy Ghost

to enter your heart 

will change your life,

but He will honour where you are

in your faith.

Look at Moses.

He is frightened

of the task 

of telling Pharaoh

to let his people go.

God gives him powers

and even lets Aaron speak for him.

So Moses accepts and is transformed.

[PAUSE]

Our Lady accepts the gift

of the Holy Baby in her womb

and all is done unto her

according to the Angel's word.

The disciples aren't ready

for the Holy Ghost

until Our Lord ascends into Heaven.

At every stage, 

the Holy Ghost meets is where we are

but spurs us on.

We do not lose 

the freedom to choose.

The Lord says,

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

And then He says,

"and I will pray the Father

and He shall give you

another Comforter."

Our keeping of the commandments

comes before,

and separately from,

the giving of the Spirit.

That's not to say 

that we can work our way

into Heaven

by keeping of the commandments.

But rather we can work out 

our salvation

with the Holy Ghost

alongside us,

not controlling us,

so that our salvation is completed

and perfected

by His grace.

It also means that

when the Holy Ghost comes

He is not going to take us over

so that we can just sit back

and let Him do all the work.

While we may be His,

the Holy Ghost

will not possess us

and turn us into His puppets.

We are given 

the immense dignity

of our own free will.

God created that in us

He wants us to use it

and He wants to perfect it

by living alongside us.

That is what Paraclete means:

one who works alongside,

a side-kick almost!

[PAUSE]

But the Holy Ghost is dynamic

and, for love of us,

demands that we be dynamic too.

He may respect who we are,

even who we think we are,

but still He wants us

to become the person who He created

- the person we truly want to be.

Eventually, in Him,

the person that we think we are

becomes the person

that we really are.

[PAUSE]

We are not God's playthings

or Jesus' Holy Incarnation

makes no sense.

Although life in the Holy Ghost

can be intensely uncomfortable

at times,

that discomfort comes

from a world that is passing away

possessed by the spirits of

Apostasy, Apathy and Complacency. 

The Holy Ghost living with us 

means that

we are living alongside

Eternity itself.

The more we grow in love,

the more we want to say, "yes" 

to the Spirit

and the more we say, "yes"

to the Spirit

the more we grow in love.

Growth in Anglican Catholic Housegroups

 

How can a little church minister to the whole of the country?

Always nigh

Sermon for the Sunday after the Ascension

Repent! 

For the end of the world 

is nigh!

Heard that before?

The end of the world is nigh.

It's always nigh.

Worrying about the world

is something that

has plagued mankind

for centuries.

St Peter sees the end of the world

as being imminent in his time.

Even before him, 

many have worried 

about whether all things

will end in some catastrophe

in their time.

What is different from their time

and ours

is that we have a pretty good idea

of how the world might end

and what will cause it.

Unlike St Peter,

we can see the world

and what's happening.

We have good reasons 

to fear and worry

especially about our children

and our children's children.

There is a key difference

in how we see the end of the world

and how St Peter sees

the end of the world.

[PAUSE]

It seems that we look at

the end of the world

with fear and trembling.

We dread the horrors of the future

the pain and suffering

and the destruction

of all that is familiar.

St Peter has that future.

Rejection. Persecution. Crucifixion.

His Jewish heritage destroys itself

by hating him 

and throwing him out of the synagogue.

His stability of life in the fishing village

is taken away from him.

His life ends on a cross

upside down

in agony.

St Peter goes through

the end of the world

but he welcomes it.

We fear the end.

St Peter looks forward to it.

So do all the other saints.

They long for the end -

not because they want destruction -

but because they know

that what comes next

will exceed

any joy they can imagine.

[PAUSE]

As we stand 

and watch Our Lord

ascend,

body and soul,

into Heaven,

we are told that

He will come again

in the same manner.

We have nothing to fear.

But we do fear.

[PAUSE]

We fear because

we are still attached to earthly things

and earthly things will be destroyed

even our bodies.

God tells us not to cling to 

earthly things

but we do.

What do we do, then?

The key is holiness.

[PAUSE]

Holiness is about separation.

Whatever is separated

out for God is called holy.

God is holy because

He is separate from His Creation

and anything that is

separated for Him

shares His holiness.

And we are to share His holiness.

We have to be separated out,

set ourselves aside,

for God.

This is how St Peter

faces the end of his world,

trusting not in anything he has,

but that God has called Him out

into a better, more glorious world.

St Peter is holy, 

which is why he is called Saint.

Our lives, too,

must be set aside

from the purposes of the world

for the purposes of God.

We are always close

to the end of the world -

it could happen any minute -

but that's not a reason to be afraid,

or to give up

living for God.

Lives of prayer,

of devotion,

of seeking God in Creation,

of living the best lives we can

according to what is truly good,

of bearing our cross

as Christ bears His,

this is the path to holiness.

[PAUSE]

We are meant to be holy,

for God is holy. 

Not even the end of the world 

can stop us 

if we turn to Christ in love.

Ascending on the humdrum

 

Why monotony is the way to God.

Canonically Catholic

 

A reflection on St Vincent of Lérins' famous canon.

Asking for reality

Sermon for Rogation Sunday

What are you asking God for?

Our Lord tells us that 

whatever we ask the Father for 

in Jesus' name, 

He will grant us.

It sounds like 

a licence to print money,

but you know that it's not.

St Paul is in prison.

If God would give Paul

whatever he wanted,

then he might be free from prison.

If God gives us what we want,

then why is St Stephen stoned to death?

If God gives us what we want,

then why does He not take 

the cup of suffering from 

His Only Son,

even when His Only Son

begs Him 

to let the cup pass from Him?

[PAUSE]

We worship God 

and that means

not treating Him 

like a genie.

We may ask for 

the things that we want,

but we cannot expect 

our prayers to be answered

in the narrow prison

of our own desires.

We can expect 

our prayers to be answered.

We should expect 

our prayers to be answered,

but they will be answered in a way 

that makes us more real.

St James tells us

that it is not enough

to say the words.

We have to do the work.

Doing the work

makes what we believe

obvious.

Doing the work 

takes our faith from

the vague clouds

of fact and theory in our heads

and shows the world

that we do have faith in God.

We are not saved by faith alone,

because faith is never alone.

A faith that exists just in the mind

does nothing for the body.

And we are to be saved Body and Soul.

Faith is the gift of God.

Free will is the gift of God.

And free will makes 

what is in our mind

become real.

Faith and free will go together.

And Faith also comes with 

Hope and Charity.

And it is Our Lord present

in body and soul

Who saves us 

Body and Soul.

If Faith saves

then it never saves us alone.

[PAUSE]

Whatever we ask God for 

requires faith in God,

but faith must be worked out.

Faith is the paper on 

which God has written 

His covenant with us

in the blood of His Son.

That covenant needs working out.

We need to play our part.

And God will play His.

And what does God promise us 

in this Covenant?

[PAUSE]

He promises

our hearts' desire.

He promises 

the one thing 

that will give us true joy

more than cars 

or money

or health

or wine, women and song,

more than 

freedom from prison,

freedom from persecution,

freedom from a painful, miserable death,

He gives us the one thing.

Himself.

And, in order to give us Himself,

He makes us more real

than we can know,

so that we can

enjoy his presence

for Eternity.

[PAUSE]

But this means

seeing the things that we desire

as not being the things 

that will make us happy

but as being the things

which show us 

what we really need from God.

If we want a fast car

then we might really want

a sense of exhilaration

of fresh air

and speed. 

It's not really the car

we want, 

it's the experience that

having a car might 

give us.

If we ask Him,

God will give us

His Holy Spirit

to thrill us,

give us a blast of the clean air

from Eternity

and the sense of His power

rushing through Creation.

But this means 

that we must 

be prepared to go 

wherever the Holy Spirit

leads us.

If we want to be healthy

then we might really want 

a life free from pain.

But God can give us this life

through His Son

in our own resurrection

from the dead.

But this means we cannot

be satisfied with 

our own relief from pain

and must work to relieve

the pain of others.

Their pain must become

our own pain.

If we want the company

of a pretty woman or handsome man,

then we might have a longing

for the company of someone

who truly loves us

and whom we find able to love.

God loves us

and, if we ask Him,

He will show us His beauty

which will go beyond anything

created.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord Jesus Christ says that, 

if we ask,

we shall receive.

We can ask for the universe.

But we cannot be satisfied with that

because we can have

the Creator of the Universe

Himself.

What do you really, really want?

Nipping the nose of bad priests

 

Why St Dunstan's strictness is good for the Church.

Grace and favour

Sermon for the fourth Sunday after Easter

What is grace?

You hear a lot about grace 

in the Church, 

from the Gospels, 

in the sacraments 

and from the pulpit. 

Have you ever stopped 

to think about what 

grace actually is?

[PAUSE]

Tuesday's child is allegedly full of grace.

A good ballerina is graceful.

What does that mean?

Is it because she has 

complete control over her limbs?

Is it because she can

display the music in her body?

Or is it because we find 

her movements beautiful?

[PAUSE]

The Greek word 

we translate as grace 

can also mean favour. 

If something is graceful 

then it is favourable, pleasing, fitting.

Grace is not something

the ballerina possesses.

It's something we see in her,

something good.

[PAUSE]

The Angel tells Mary that 

she is full of grace.

Actually, he says something stronger 

In a single Greek word, 

Gabriel says 

not only that she is full of grace,

but that the act of filling her with grace

is complete, finished, done.

She is perfected in grace.

She has God's complete favour.

She is completely good!

This sounds very alien 

to ears two thousand years distant

and two thousand years sinful.

How is Mary good?

Only God is truly good.

So where good is, God must be.

"Hail Mary, full of grace,

the Lord is with thee!"

[PAUSE]

If God finds favour

in something He has created 

then He is present with it.

We now know that grace is 

nothing less than

the active presence of God.

Grace is a good gift,

and a perfect gift

that comes down to us 

from the Father of Lights.

It is something He wants us to have.

Mary has it 

because she chooses to receive it.

And we need to receive the gift, too.

Every sacrament the Church possesses

is a means of grace,

and gives the active presence of God

to all who receive it.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord enters the waters of the Jordan

to be baptized by St John.

His active presence in the water

means that the water in the font

is transformed into the same water

in which He bathes 

and washes away our sin,

and draws us into his family.

Our Lord breaks bread and says,

"This is My body".

This means that the bread is transformed

 into His body, and the wine, His blood.

And we are given His active presence

to nourish us

and prepare us for life's journey.

Our Lord blesses a marriage 

with His presence

and so sanctifies every marriage.

He is handled by His apostles,

and so gives them the power 

to bestow the Holy Ghost

for confirmation and ordination.

He is anointed with oil for His burial.

He forgives sins and tells His disciples to.

It is the active presence of Christ

in each of these actions

that make the sacraments 

not empty symbols,

but real displays of God's favour

and desire to be with us,

live with us,

love us,

forgive us,

heal us

and perfect us.

[PAUSE]

St James says:

"Every good gift 

and every perfect gift 

is from above, 

and cometh down 

from the Father of lights, 

with whom is no variableness, 

neither shadow of turning. 

Of his own will begat he us 

with the word of truth, 

that we should be 

a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."

God does not change and so

God's grace does not change.

The sacraments that we receive

are the same sacraments

that are received by 

St James,

St Paul

and anyone they give them to,

provided that 

we do not change how 

these sacraments operate.

God's grace begets us

with His Word of Truth

because 

Christ is the Word of Truth.

To be favoured by God

is to have Him with us

as we live our lives.

The Church is the means

by which every human being

may receive God's grace.

That is her purpose.

While we are with her,

we do receive God's grace

- grace which we can give

to those others

who dearly need to know

not only that they are lovable

not only that they are lovely

but they are also truly 

and completely

loved.

What should you expect of the Anglican Catholic Church, part the second

 

Addressing members of the Continuum, how do we reach the people who need us?

What can we expect of the Anglican Catholic Church?

 

What face does the ACC present to the world?

Mirror, Mirror on the wall...

Sermon for the third Sunday after Easter

What do you expect to see 

when a mirror is broken?

It depends 

how badly it's broken, 

doesn't it?

It might be completely broken, 

glass shards everywhere, 

but you will still see yourself

 in any single one of those shards.

What if it's just cracked?

Well, then something 

interesting happens.

 If you look at yourself in 

an uncracked piece, 

you will appear normally. 

But, if your reflection 

goes across a crack, 

or even a missing piece, 

then there will be distortion 

or even gaps in your reflection.

 It's only when there is 

a crack or a warp in the glass 

that your reflection looks odd 

and doesn't behave in the way 

that it should.

What a broken mirror doesn't do 

is show a reflection of anyone else

other than the person looking into it.

[PAUSE]

When something is broken, 

it does not behave in the way 

it's supposed to. 

If it's just cracked, 

then it may well work 

reasonably normally for a time 

until something widens that crack 

and bits break off. 

The same is true for us. 

We are broken because of Sin. 

There are cracks in our being 

and we do not work properly. 

Look at our wills. 

If there is a crack in our will 

then it causes a split in 

what we want to do. 

We can want to do good and, 

yet, 

at the same time 

want to be utterly selfish. 

St Paul recognises this fracture 

when he sees in himself that 

he doesn't do the good 

that he wants to do

and that which he doesn't want to do, 

he does.

This is why even the very best of us 

are confused by 

our own sinfulness. 

This is why the people 

whom we revere most 

fall and sin and disappoint us.

Essentially the problem comes 

when the reflection of God in our lives 

falls over our cracks 

which distort our view.

[PAUSE]

It's seems as if we have two wills, 

but we don't. 

One part hunts for the things of the Spirit, the other for the things of the World. 

Both bits of your will 

want the same thing 

- to be happy, 

but you are confused as to 

how to get there. 

But, the more we follow 

our lust for worldly things, 

the bigger the crack gets 

and the more the reflection distorts.

Whose reflection?

It isn't yours!

[PAUSE]

Each one of us is 

supposed to be a reflection of God. 

The more we sin, 

the more the crack 

in our being widens. 

When we confess and repent, 

the more we focus 

on the unblemished part 

of the reflection of God in us.

 What we cannot do 

is close and repair the crack. 

That needs God's creating Grace. 

The will of the Flesh pulls away 

from the will of the Spirit. 

So St Paul tells us to focus on 

that part of our will 

that seeks the spirit 

because we can still see God 

reflected in that bit, 

despite our fragmentation. 

The more people see 

God reflected in us, 

the more will they see 

how to be good 

and seek the things of God. 

The more we recognise 

the will of the Flesh and reject it, 

the more will we show up the world 

for being silly and foolish 

- not by violence, ridicule or shouting, 

but by simply being obedient 

and quiet for God.

[PAUSE]

God looks at you 

and sees Himself. 

That surely is a wonderful 

and frightening privilege. 

Rejoice and reflect Him 

as best you can 

for the world needs it!

Signal strength

 

How do we use the sign of the cross in our lives?

Firing the Synod

Sermon preached at the XXXth Synod of the Anglican Catholic Diocese of the United Kingdom

The planet Jupiter

is fascinating

for many reasons.

It is the largest planet

we know

in our Solar System.

The Great Red Storm

on its surface

is more than

twice the size of our planet.

It has the largest number of natural moons

that we know of

and a magnetic field that probably

helped shape our Solar System.

Its gravity is enough

to trap the larger rocks into its orbit

thereby saving planet Earth

a bit of a bashing.

However, the planet Jupiter is a failure.

Despite its vast size,

it hasn't enough gravity

to compress and combust

the gas that forms it.

Jupiter could have been another star,

but it failed to ignite. 

[PAUSE] 

Ten virgins,

all pure as the driven snow,

all chaste,

all demure,

all socially acceptable,

all preserved from stain.

Yet only five get to go into the wedding feast.

The other five failed to ignite

because they didn't have enough oil.

What do we see here?

The pattern should be familiar to you:

it is not the following of social rules

that gets you into Heaven.

It's not the impression of sanctity

or holiness that cause our Salvation.

It's more than that.

There may be something important lacking.

Something internal.

Jupiter lacks enough substance

so it cannot burn.

The Virgins lack oil in their lamps,

so they cannot shine their light.

Having the appearance of the right materials

is not enough for the fire to start.

What is lacking?

[PAUSE]

We remember today St Catherine of Siena.

She is a noted Doctor of the Church.

So what is her diagnosis of those

who cannot start a fire?

What does she say is lacking?

She says quite clearly,

"be who you are meant to be

and you will set the world on fire!" 

Is she right? 

Many would say, "yes!"

but for precisely

the wrong reason.

We know full well that the Church isn't

about being who you want to be.

That’s the mistake the World makes.

The person of the world says,

"I am who I say I am.

Accept it, or else!" 

Listen to that again.

"I am who I say I am!"

You can really hear the problem, can't you?

Only One can say,

"I am that I am!"

and He rules the Universe.

It precisely this reason that

Traditional Christian Religion

is not popular at the moment.

It is precisely this reason

that some Christians

are trying to change the Church

so that it will say,

"you are who you say you are

and God loves you for that."

That is, of course, unbiblical,

unfounded

and unmitigated rubbish!

[PAUSE]

God loves you for who you are

- this is true.

But loving you means

a burning desire for your good.

God loves you

so that you shine as the person

He created you to be.

He desires your good.

But what is your good?

Nothing less than your perfection in Him.

We are to be perfect even as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

The Church is about

you being who you are meant to be.

Who you are meant to be

is God's decision, not yours.

Only God gives meaning.

Now, God created you

but He also allows you the freedom

to shape your life as you see fit.

That is part of the glory of being human:

we get a say our own creation.

We are indeed free

to be whoever we think we are.

But, leaving God out

of our lives of self-creation

means we will never be

who we are meant to be.

We cannot be perfect without God. 

 

[PAUSE]

In trying to become who we want to be,

we do set the world on fire.

The fire we cause destroys.

We burn up the world around us.

We burn up our environment,

our community,

our family and friends

and even ourselves,

just to get our own way.

We want what we want and,

literally,

to Hell with the consequences!

Just to become the person

that we want to be,

we cut off our noses to spite our face

in glorious vindictiveness

against God Himself

Who tries to show us who we really are

in His love.

We would rather burn up than let God ignite us.

We would rather disintegrate

into the ash of our own making

rather than shine like stars for all eternity.

[PAUSE]

But we needn't destroy.

Look at the burning bush

– aflame with the glory of God,

burning with a fire that illuminates

the sight of Man

to see God once more.

But the bush is not consumed.

It does not burn away,

and Moses catches fire from it

and he does not burn away.

 His face shines so that

people cannot look at him

for he burns with God's fire

and yet he does not burn away.

That is what we are meant to be.

This is what the Church is for.

We are the lamp for the world

set upon the hill for all to see.

We are like Abba Lot.

[PAUSE]

The desert father, Abba Lot,

goes to see the elderly Abba Joseph

and says to him,

 “Abba, as far as I can I say my Little Office.

I fast a little.

I pray.

I meditate.

I live in peace and,

as far as I can,

I purify my thoughts.

What else am I to do?”

Abba Joseph, in his great age,

stands up,

stretches his hands towards heaven

and his fingers become like ten lamps of fire,

and he says to Abba Lot,

“If you will, you can become all flame.”

We have all the ingredients to burn:

we have the Catholic Faith,

a Catholic Bishop,

a Catholic Liturgy.

We have Bible, Altar, Font.

We have the Church Fathers,

the authority to remit sins,

the Holy Sacraments, 

the Word of God Himself!

We have everything we need to burn.

We just need to be

who we are meant to be.

We just need the humility

to accept who God means us to be.

We need to struggle and be prepared to struggle because of this discrepancy

between who we really are 

and who we want to be.

Like Jacob, we wrestle with God

over our own existence

until, out of love,

He puts our hips out of joint,

so that we might understand

and accept ourselves in Him.

And who are we meant to be?

 

[PAUSE]

We are the Anglican Catholic Church

and we are meant to be exactly that.

As a part of the wider Catholic Church,

we are meant to bear the Faith once delivered to the saints,

the Faith that applies

at all times, in all places and for everybody,

to the English-speaking and English-cultured people.

We are to help people struggle with Life,

in the midst of our own struggles with Life,

so that all might find God.

This is what we are meant to be

and this is how

we are to set the world ablaze.

We can only do so if we hold together

in the unity of the Holy Ghost,

living our lives alongside the saints,

 like St Catherine,

who only appear to have died

and whose lives still burn brightly with God.

We can only do so if we are humble before God and each other.

If we shame the world by laying aside

our own hobby-horses,

our own selfish desires,

 our own self-importance

in order to share the same

Communion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

and thus further the burning love of God

for mankind in a world

that is growing cold.

[PAUSE]

 

Do you know who God means you to be?

How will you set the world on fire?

The Anglican Catholic Family

 

Why relationships are key to the health of the Anglican Catholic Church.

O Felix Culpa!

Sermon for the Octave Sunday of Easter

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

With hindsight, you can look at an argument and see that it wasn't your fault.

With hindsight, you can look at your accident and see that it could have been worse.

With hindsight, you can see the unforeseen benefits to that pain you had.

[PAUSE]

Hindsight is a terrible thing.

With hindsight, you can see that that accident was entirely your fault.

With hindsight, you can see that things could have been done much better.

With hindsight, you can see that your efforts to help made things a lot worse.

Either way, with hindsight we get a different perspective of events that have occurred.

[PAUSE]

There is a notion called Felix Culpa - the happy fault or happy sin. The idea goes that, if Adam hadn't sinned in the first place, then we would never have seen how much God loves us. We can say that with hindsight. How does that make you feel, though?

Perhaps you think that if Adam hadn't sinned then God would have shown us how much He loves us in a less painful, less bloody way.

Perhaps you think that this makes human beings extra guilty for forcing God to take such terrible action to bring us back.

Perhaps you think that this is all God's fault for planting a tree that would cause so much pain that He only has Himself to blame, so the crucifixion is His own fault.

Hindsight does not solve "what if" problems.

[PAUSE]

What we have is human sin and human death, God's love and God's death, God's Resurrection and human resurrection. Those are the facts.

Because we sin, we die for the wages of sin is death - separation from God.

Because we die, Jesus dies to pay our ransom. 

Whom does He pay? 

Does He pay God? Is God a feudal lord who demands justice? Does He demand satisfaction? Where's the love in that? Where's the forgiveness?

Does He pay the Devil? Who gave him permission to rule us? Is God powerless? Or are we toys for God to share with the Devil?

Does He pay Death itself? Yes! For Death is an absence of Life and Sin is an absence of Good. Both sin and death are debts - they need resolution. God's death fills them and, in filling them, destroys them. It is like destroying a hole by filling it in. 

Sin is an absence of Good: only God can fill it for only God is perfect Goodness.

Death is an absence of Life: only God can fill it for only God is perfect Life.

Paying the ransom destroys the power of death and sin over us.

[PAUSE]

We look back at Good Friday and see that it may have been agony, but it was supreme victory. The whole life of Christ with us is the supreme victory.

Yes, we sinned, but we have been given more than we ever lost. We have been given God with us! 

O Felix Culpa, indeed!