Anglican Catholic Soundbites

 

Why we have to be careful about the language we use to bring Christ to the people and people to Christ.

Judging disciples

Sermon for the sixth Sunday after Trinity

"You Christians

are so judgemental!"

We hear that a lot,

but what does it mean?

We often find ourselves

in situations 

where the Christian life

runs contrary 

to the life of the world.

We have seen this 

in the public votes

in Parliament 

which have ruled

that there are circumstances 

in which it is lawful

to take the lives of innocent people.

We also live in an age

where profoundly 

destructive worldviews 

are being taught 

uncritically 

to those who are

learning how to live life.

And we Christians speak out

and get pilloried for doing so.

But we have to be careful

because people do not like to be judged.

Why not?

They think that

what they are doing

is good,

not harmful,

beneficial,

even beautiful.

And the basis for their judgement 

is that it "feels right" and

"isn't hurting anyone "

and "isn't trying to control people".

The basis of their sense of righteousness 

is themselves 

or it is the culture around them 

telling them that they are right.

Their righteousness 

is man-made,

not God-made.

Their righteousness 

will change with the times

and they will look back on the past

and declare it immoral

"by today's standards."

But "today's standards"

will be immoral by tomorrow's.

[PAUSE]

Our righteousness 

as disciples of Christ

has to exceed the righteousness 

of the Scribes and Pharisees 

of today.

Let's be clear,

there is no-one more 

educated in the Law

than the Pharisee. 

It's his job to know 

and to follow all the little bits and pieces

of the Divine law,

but his basis for the Law

is the law itself.

The Pharisees righteousness 

is based on a law

which is indeed God-given

but applied by a greater law

namely the Pharisee's

self-righteousness.

But doesn't the Church 

follow the Divine Law?

What makes the Church

any better than the Pharisees?

[PAUSE]

Our Lord shows us

that the law 

goes beyond the letter.

To.murder someone 

means more than 

sticking a knife into them.

We can commit murder

by calling someone a fool

and kill their place

in our hearts.

We can commit adultery

by looking lustfully at a women 

just as well as getting her

into bed.

The law of the Pharisee

is written on parchment. 

The law of God

is written on human hearts.

We've seen the effects

of applying the written law

inhumanely 

and the effects have been appalling.

If the written law 

has the capacity

to end the life of 

an innocent person 

then innocent people will die

and the world will think

that it has done a good thing.

And anyone who objects

will be regarded as

judgemental

and inhumanely

for allowing people's suffering 

to continue. 

[PAUSE]

This, of course,

ignores the sovereignty of God

and His ability

to turn our suffering into joy,

perhaps not in this life

but Eternally so.

All pain and suffering on earth

will end in time

and the heart that seeks

the righteousness of God

will find peace in Him.

Man does not have the capacity

to see the fulness of another's pain

nor the value that it possesses.

Man can only walk with those 

who suffer and tend

the wounds inflicted. 

Only God can reach the cause

of pain

because pain tells us

that something is wrong,

that there is a conflict 

between what is and what should be.

The righteousness of this world

seeks to numb that pain

by providing a distraction 

or a pleasure to distract

from sorrow

rather than addressing 

the actual cause.

[PAUSE]

It is only through Christ

that we can see true righteousness 

which will exceed the righteousness 

of Scribe and Pharisee 

because it is based

on Love

- not the sentimental feeling,

- not the legalised idea of compassion

- not the politically correct form of caring.

God is Love

and God is Righteousness. 

He is the basis of morality 

and if we make our judgements

based on His love,

then the World can call us judgemental

as much as it likes

but our judgement will be good

because it will pour the love of God

into the wounds of the suffering

and they will be healed in Him

eternally.

All age Anglican Catholicism

 

Why Anglican Catholicism is not  rooted in the 1950s

Baited breath?

Sermon for the fifth Sunday after Trinity 

What does He say

that draws people to Him?

What words does He use

that makes Him worth listening to?

What is it about Him

that makes crowds of people

gather around Him

to the extent

that He can only teach

by launching Himself 

out onto the Sea of Gennesareth

and using the natural acoustics

to magnify His words?

Our Lord is clearly 

a phenomenal teacher.

But then,

we must admit,

He does back up

His extraordinary claims

with miracles.

If Our Lord is

the great Fisher of Men

what is He using as bait?

[PAUSE]

It is interesting that

St Peter probably does not use bait

to catch the fish.

This is why he fishes at night.

The idea is that the fish

don't see the net as well

and swim into it unawares.

If this is the case

then we see why St Peter

thinks Our Lord's words

to cast the net in broad daylight

as odd and perhaps

even a bit exasperating.

The result: two ships full of fish!

Clearly something 

has drawn them to this place

where they can be caught. 

Just like the crowd.

Something has drawn them

to this place

where they can be caught

by God

in broad daylight.

Why broad daylight?

If you can see the net

then you can choose

to swim into it

or not.

Ironically, 

it is those who swim 

into Our Lord's net

who are saved.

Unlike St Peter,

Our Lord uses bait. 

He knows that there is something 

for which each of us

is truly longing.

It may not be something 

that we realise we long for.

It may be a longing 

which we mistake for another longing 

or one which we try to cover up

with something 

more accessible 

and immediately gratifying. 

Our Lord knows

what we truly long for

and He can supply it.

And this is something 

that we crave because 

we are created

and we look to our Creator

to make us whole again

from the wounds 

Caused by the battering 

that sin, the World and the Devil

inflict upon us.

Our Lord Himself is the bait.

He says,

"no man can come to Me, 

except the Father 

which hath sent Me draw him: 

and I will raise him up 

at the last day."

It is the Father 

that draws us,

and if we see Jesus

then we see the Father.

And it is Jesus

who will raise us 

from the depths of Death.

How?

Because in consuming His flesh

and drinking His blood

we become one

with Christ's humanity.

But it is the Divine nature of Christ 

that draws Him up from Death

into Heaven

to stand before the Father.

If we are one with Christ

then we are drawn up into Heaven

to stand before the Father.

We have been caught

and landed

like a prize carp

on the end of a line.

While the carp may be cooked

and eaten

we have been drawn to life

and joy.

This is what Salvation is.

And we need to fall for it,

hook, line and sinker.

Authentically Anglican Catholic!

 

What does it mean to say that a Church is authentic?

Oh, for crying out loud!

Sermon for the fourth Sunday after Trinity

How's your Greek?

A quick test.

What's the Greek 

for mercy?

You have no clue

until you remember

that you have sung

your "Kyrie eleison" today

and "Kyrie eleison" means

"Lord, have mercy!"

"Hooray!" you think 

"The Greek for mercy 

is eleeos!"

You're right...

but you're not right,

though you must be praised

for your reasoning there.

You're not right in the sense

that Our Lord isn't using

eleeos when He tells us

to be merciful

even as Our Heavenly Father

is merciful.

And now you're thinking,

"Oh, for crying out loud!"

And now you'd be nearer the mark.

[PAUSE]

We're often presented 

with trying to reconcile

the mercy of God

with the justice of God.

How can we be both

merciful and just

to a murderer that says,

in all sincerity,

"I'm sorry, please forgive me!"

We can't let him off,

but neither can we ignore 

his plea.

The Greek for mercy here

is oiktos,

and the "oi" bit

is a cry.

The mercy that is oiktos

should make us

cry "Oh!" to someone's predicament. 

Oiktos is the mercy 

that cries out in compassion

that recognises 

a human being in distress.

Oiktos causes us

to raise our eyes

from a list of misdemeanours 

and see a human being,

fallen and broken through life,

and yet failing and breaking others.

Oiktos is to see ourselves 

in another 

in all the pain and sorrow of life

and hold onto that.

Oiktos is having compassion

in the highest order.

But what of eleeos?

Why do we ask God 

"Kyrie eleison"?

[PAUSE]

Eleeos is active.

Eleeos has the sense

of pouring oil on troubled water.

Oiktos is what motivates eleeos.

The cry of "oh" and recognising

the distress and misery in another 

causes us to act with compassion.

Not by condemnation for sins, 

but by finding a way to be generous

without diminishing sin.

Our God is generous and merciful.

He fills the barrel of mercy and love 

and shakes it

and presses it down 

to make more room

for mercy and love.

God, the perfect judge

knows full well how to deal

with repentant murderers.

 

He even made one a saint!

Oiktos forces us

to see the human being 

behind even the most vile of crimes.

Criminals should receive 

our pity that their brokenness

should influence them

into committing their crimes. 

That doesn't excuse them.

They made their choice 

to commit crime 

and that must be addressed

proportionately,

fairly and fully

in law for the good of society.

But we must not ever,

for the love of God 

demonise a criminal

on account of the crime.

A criminal is a human being

and a human being

is the object of God's love.

Yet, we don't want to love him

because of his crime, 

so we turn him into a demon 

because that makes it easier for us

to cope with.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord 

is telling us 

not to take the easy path 

to judgement

and condemnation. 

He is telling us 

that we need to react

in mercy.

Yes, to hear the blood of Abel

crying from the ground

but also to hear the cry of Cain

fearing for his life 

in his land of banishment 

for murdering his brother.

As Christians

we are called to a life

knowing that we cannot 

judge or condemn a criminal

to Hell,

and that is a life of discomfort 

because we see sin,

and we see the sinner,

one we must hate

the other we must love

and yet separating the two

is far from easy.

We have to live in that tension.

We have to live 

concerned that sin is called out

for what it is

and yet seeing our very selves

in the face of the vilest offender.

We only love our neighbour 

insofar as we love 

the worst of humanity.

That's hard.

That's so hard.

It's hard to the extent

that we cry out "Oh!"

And then God hears "Oh"

and that stirs his oiktos

the mercy that hears the cry

of one troubled,

even scandalised by 

the Divine love even for the most wicked.

And He has mercy 

- eleeos -

on us because 

we will probably fail

to be merciful 

even as he is merciful.

Even if we fail,

we must never despair

of the mercy of God -

the mercy that hears a cry

and the mercy

that seeks to do something 

about it

- all for crying out loud.

How should Anglican Catholics stand up against inhumane powers?

 

Dare we render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's

It's just one...

Sermon for the third Sunday after Trinity

"Oh it's just one..."

"...just one biscuit 

that's been dropped 

on the floor."

"...just one page 

that's been torn."

"... just one person

who missed the bus."

"It's just one..." is a 

handy little phrase

that we like to use

so that we know 

we don't have to care anymore.

Just one thing 

is lost, broken or won't fit,

so we can put it aside

and worry about

the other things 

that aren't lost or broken

and which fit into our scheme 

nicely.

That surely seems reasonable.

We can't worry 

about every little thing.

If we do

then we will

burn ourselves out

with too much worry,

caring too much about

things we can't control,

sweating the small stuff.

If we worry about 

every little thing

then it hurts us,

we become exhausted

and fearful.

Some of us 

are like that

and they need reassurance 

and care

for a condition that 

afflicted their lives.

Indeed,

the people who worry

so much 

that it becomes 

a disorder

must themselves 

not be written off.

"It's just one

of those people

with OCD."

This makes for

an uncomfortable dilemma. 

Do we care about things

too much

or too little?

[PAUSE]

The Pharisees

care a lot about 

the observance 

of the Law.

They are rigorous

and will let neither

t be uncrossed

or i undotted.

But woe betide anyone

who does not observe the Law,

the sinners, 

the publicans,

the prostitutes, 

even

the leprosy,

the maimed,

the sick.

They are completely 

written off.

"Oh they're just sinners. 

Not worth the time of day."

Human beings

who have no worth?

Human beings

in their God-given complexity 

in their God-given dignity

that have no worth?

And the Pharisees 

are effectively saying,

"Jesus, don't corrupt yourself 

with these sinners.

Just associate yourself 

with us, instead."

These sinners 

have been completely written off.

They have no value.

There is no chance 

of forgiveness,

reconciliation 

or rehabilitation.

Once a sinner

always a sinner. 

Oh doesn't that 

sound utterly dismal?

[PAUSE]

Where the Pharisees 

write people off,

Our Lord seeks to 

write people on.

Anyone 

who comes to Him

will be heard,

will be healed, 

will be loved.

No exceptions.

"Ah," say the Pharisees, 

"you just said,

that it would be 

harmful to care too much

about things."

"Things," Pharisee? 

People aren't "things!"

While we simply 

cannot worry about

the needs of everyone,

we don't see people 

as things.

If Our Lord speaks 

of the joy of finding

a lost sheep,

or a coin,

then how much more joy

can there be

for finding 

just one lost human being?

That joy makes

the Universe rattle

with millions of angelic feet

dancing in jubilation 

on the head of a pin.

And that's just one human being.

Just one human being

returning to God

sets heaven ablaze

with delight.

Just one human being.

Just you.

If that's the joy 

you cause God

when you return to Him

then imagine 

the joy of so many other

people who repent.

There are infinities

too small to contain that joy.

[PAUSE]

It's very true

that we human beings

can care too much.

We can stress,

overwork 

and forget about ourselves 

in order to care for 

absolutely everyone.

We can sweat the small stuff.

But perhaps we just need

to look at what we are valuing.

Just as the Pharisees 

value the Law 

above the spiritual 

and physical needs

of those around them,

so can we value the wrong thing

in helping other people

to the extent 

that we burn ourselves out.

God gives us two commandments

and one is certainly,

"love thy neighbour 

as thyself.

But the first commandment

is to love the Lord our God

with all our heart and soul 

and mind and strength.

Love God before Man.

Why?

Because it is 

in loving God first

with all the faculties 

that He has given us

that we learn to love

our neighbours 

as part of our own being.

And this regulates us.

We cease to dismissal others 

as just one of the crowd

and we cease to dismiss ourselves 

as just one of the crowd too.

In our prayers,

we present ourselves to God

Who doesn't see our prayer

as just one among many

but values it

because He values us

as individuals

and refuses to turn us away.

He possesses every magnitude 

of infinity 

to care intimately 

and fully for

every single human being

in every aspect

of their lives.

And he will not let us go.

In our prayer,

we bring our tears, sorrows,

cries for forgiveness,

cries for justice,

our bitterness,

our grief,

our loneliness

our longing for someone 

to love us just as we are.

And God hears

each of these

and, in the invisible mystery 

of His action

finds us and

brings us home,

not writing us off,

but writing us on His Sacred Heart.

Anglican Catholicism and the Nicene Creed

 Why is the Nicene Creed so precious to the Anglican Catholic Church?

Clearly apostles

Sermon for the Feast of St Peter and St Paul

There is just 

so much noise.

A million voices

ricochet around us

spreading confusion 

and misinformation. 

We hear so much

that claims to be news

but isn't.  

It's fake news.

And that which is called

"fake news"

sometimes turns out

to be true.

And we don't know 

what to believe.

[PAUSE]

We don't know 

what to believe 

until we hear a voice

"Thou art the Christ,

the Son of the Living God."

A moment of clarity. 

The clouds of confusion part.

Not St John the Baptist.

Nor Elias. 

Nor Jeremiah.

Nor another prophet.

But the Christ!

Peter's words

might just be more words

among so many.

Just another statement 

of fake news.

What makes them different?

[PAUSE]

It's the truth!

If Our Lord tells us

that He will rise from the dead

and then does so.

If He preaches,

and then backs up His words

with miracles. 

If He touches the hearts of people

and inspires them to love

and go to their deaths for love, 

then He is telling the truth. 

His is the voice 

that we should believe.

And St Peter 

confirms that with his words.

In St Peter,

there is clarity 

a rock on which the Faith will grow.

Christ the chief cornerstone of the Church

and Peter the rock.

And to St Peter 

are given keys 

the authority to bind 

and loose sins.

That authority 

isn't given to St Peter alone 

for St John tells us

that it is given to all the Disciples

when the Lord 

breathes the Holy Ghost on them.

St Peter has the truth

as do the other apostles.

And as does St Paul.

[PAUSE]

St Paul,

the zealous Pharisee

is given the truth 

that blinds him for a while.

He is blinded to 

the cacophony of sights

which,

like the noise,

disrupt and confuse our lives.

The blindness of St Paul

helps him to be

refocused on the truth,

a truth which he once thought

unpalatable 

but now defends 

with his every breath,

with his every word.

And to him

is given authority 

to bind and loose sins

as he becomes 

one of the first bishops 

to receive episcopal consecration 

at the hands of the Apostles.

He is given the authority 

of the Truth

to cut through the swathes

of falsehood 

through the doctrine 

he has received through

the grace of Christ.

[PAUSE]

For us,

the noise is louder than ever.

False gospels are being preached.

The truth is supposedly 

being debunked.

The saints are still being 

contradicted

and even vilified.

For us, 

there is much confusion

and disharmony. 

But for us,

there is also truth

a truth which grounds our Faith.

Our Faith begins

when we say with St Peter

to the face of the man Jesus

"Thou art the Christ

the Son of the Living God."

That is where we put our trust.

That is where we ground 

our knowledge,

our belief, 

our faith.

And we grow 

by reading the first writte documents

of our faith

which are the letters of St Paul:

Gospel written before

the gospels.

This is how we cut through

all the noise.

We shut it out

and listen to the Holy Apostles 

for they speak with greater clarity

than the world can know 

and yet wants to prevent us

from knowing.

Jesus truly is the Christ

the Son of the Living God.

Why did the Anglican Catholics leave the Church of England?

 Contrary to what one commentator says, we show why we could not have stayed.

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.

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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..