St Mary and St Giles, Stony Stratford with All Saints, Calverton

Formal Merger of these Parishes as of 1st January 2012

2011-12-29T15:35:00.003Z

John Knight was Rector of Calverton from 1640 to 1661, and “during his incumbency the Chapelry of Stony Stratford was dissevered from the ancient Parish of Calverton.”

So reads the entry on the list of Rectors of Calverton in All Saints Church. Until this point in history Stony Stratford was divided along the High Street and the ancient Manorial Benefices of Calverton and Wolverton both built chapels to vie for the travellers along Watling Street. Both chapels were successful and there is a long history attached to both chapels and the ground upon which they were built. However, in the 17th Century it was decided by the Diocese to create a new parish of Stony Stratford and the later fire at the Chapelry of St Mary Magdalene was to lead to the rebuilding of St Giles and the enlargement of the Parish of Stony Stratford. In the 19th century Wolverton again built a Chapelry under the patronage of St Mary the Virgin in the south part of the growing town which at that point still remained with Wolverton Parish. This Chapelry subsequently became a parish in its own right, but then in 1967 following the fire at St Giles the Diocese after much debate decided to close St Mary the Virgin and restore St Giles while re-hallowing it under the patronage of “St Mary the Virgin & St Giles” - but the Parish Church quickly became known simply as “St Mary & St Giles.”

Time moves on and with the impending development within Calverton Parish what was once “dissevered” is now once again made whole. As from the 1st of January 2012 the individual parishes of Calverton, All Saints & Stony Stratford, St Mary & St Giles are integrated as one Ecclesiastical Parish with two Parish Churches and one Parochial Church Council. This parish, which is once again made whole, will be known as: “The Parish of Stony Stratford with Calverton.” The ancient Title of “Rector” will be preserved and that of “Vicar” cease. People often ask what the difference is between a Rector and Vicar, and in terms of the Freehold of the Benefice there is no difference. However, essentially the title “Rector” belongs to the original parishes that were created with the emergence of the Christian Faith. The title “Vicar” tended to be applied to those Incumbents who had parishes that had been carved out of ancient manorial Benefices (as locally) or where the parish had been founded by a monastery and a priest served there under the authority of the Abbot. The Scheme, to effect the merger of our Parishes as one, is so worded as to maintain the Freehold for the present Incumbent of these Parishes (namely myself). However, after I retire, leave or whatever the Freehold will disappear and the new Parish Priest will be on a system called “Common Tenure” as with all other parishes - effectively this is a form of licence rather than the Freehold.

Meetings will be held early in January to effect changes to Bank Accounts, and a little later to elect 2 Churchwardens for each Church and then to elect the new combined PCC. This clearly, will be a busy period and your prayers and encouragement would be much appreciated.

This “making whole” of our parishes is a time of opportunity for us all. For the last forty four years the two parishes have been linked and for the last fourteen held in plurality. Now, we can work together as one integrated and whole parish for the spread of the Gospel in what is a challenging time for us all as the parish population grows from approximately 8,000 to around 24,500 over the next ten years. In such a situation we need each other, but more importantly we need the grace of God to be with us as we grow together and as we reach out together in His name.

It would be very easy just to see this merger as a way of reducing meetings and paperwork. While it does do that it is not the prime reason. The prime reason is to free us to engage in mission and to pool our resources. We face change to geographical landscape of our united parish that we can barely imagine at this stage, but we also face the change and challenge that comes with new people. The ancient Parish of Calverton built a Chapel to welcome new people (both visitors and those who stayed) and that Chapel which grew into a Parish Church continues to see that as a huge part of its mission (as it always has done - encouraged by its outstanding Incumbents). So the two parishes have a history of seeing Worship and Mission at the centre of their life. This must continue to be so. Over the next ten years and possibly more, many, many new people (families and individuals) will come among us. They must continue to find within us the warmth of Christian love within the firm foundation of the Faith of the Church. I rediscovered something written by St Benedict recently: “Love without dogma is empty. Dogma without love is cruel.” He was, of course, echoing many other spiritual writers who have said similar things, but in world that at times seems devoid of a spiritual compass people do need parish churches where the faith is taught and believed, but also where there is love and forgiveness. Our formerly dissevered parishes have always had a tradition of firm faith and pastoral sensitivity and this must continue to be so.

Please pray for our Parish and for the Churchwardens, Treasurers, Secretaries and I as we deal with all the practical matters that the merger entails. But also pray for each other that every one of us will be firm in faith, hope and love.

The ‘actual participation’ of the laity in the liturgy:

2011-09-12T14:27:00.002+01:00

Occasionally I find myself having to say “Amen” at the end of prayers and in particular the Blessing as the People seem to think they shouldn’t say it without the priest leading them. In reality “Amen” is the People’s response as it means “So be it” - in other words the people are giving their assent to what the priest (or Bishop) has prayed for. The ‘Great Amen’ at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer is the most important example of when the People should say it and the priest shouldn’t. The priest has offered the prayer on behalf of the People and they signify their acceptance of what he has offered on their behalf by assenting to it with a heartfelt “Amen.” It is incongruous for the priest to say "Amen" as a response to what he has already prayed, and in doing so he would be usurping the People's actual participation.

Another important point to note is that the Eucharistic Prayer is prayed by the priest alone - it is a serious abuse for the people to join in the priest's parts of the Eucharistic Prayer, as they may only be said by a validly ordained priest. It is also an abuse of the people nearby who are trying to listen attentively and prayerfully. Some may ask “What then are we supposed to do?” The answer to which is to join in the people’s parts with sincere prayerfulness and devotion, and to listen attentively and prayerfully during the priest’s parts; and to say or sing the ‘Great Amen’ at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer with heartfelt conviction and thankfulness that Christ is now present with us under the veils of bread and wine upon the altar.

Consecration Messages

2011-07-09T13:05:00.000+01:00

Archbishop of Canterbury

2011-07-09T13:04:00.000+01:00

More on the Consecrations of the Bishops of Ebbsfleet & Richborough....

2011-06-23T00:42:00.001+01:00

If you follow this link you will see some excellent photographs:

http://grahamhoward.jalbum.net/Photo_Gallery/The%20Bishops%20of%20Ebbsfleet%20and%20Richborough/index.html

The Consecration of our new Bishop....

2011-06-18T17:09:00.002+01:00

The Rev’d Dr Jonathan Baker is now the 4th Bishop of Ebbsfleet following a most memorable and inspiring Liturgy of Consecration at Southwark Cathedral when along with Fr Norman Banks he was consecrated Bishop in the Church of God. As the Liturgy started just after 11:00am the Cathedral was packed to standing room only and more continued to arrive. The turn out by the clergy was quite remarkable but the numbers of laity participating was truly humbling.

Parry’s anthem “I was glad” lifted the roof somewhat as the Archbishop and co-consecrating Bishop’s entered the Cathedral; The Provincial Registrar read the Royal Mandate requesting the Archbishop to ordain these two men to the Sees of Ebbsfleet & Richborough; Fr Baker’s young daughter read the first Lection beautifully; you could have heard a pin drop as the two men were consecrated and the final hymn “Ladye of Walsingham” lifted the roof even more.

A reception at Lambeth Palace followed and the Archbishop had been clearly moved by the numbers of people who had attended the Cathedral. Then back to Southwark to the Glazier’s Hall for another reception. The day was not over yet though for the two newly consecrated Bishops as we all journeyed to St Alban’s, Holborn where one of the largest London churches, with its most striking and moving mural on the east wall, was packed to see Bishop Jonathan celebrate Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and Bishop Norman lead the meditation and prayers during it. At the start of this service the hymn “Come down, O love divine” almost exploded forth in what can only be described as a real outpouring of thanksgiving to God for the ‘gift and sign’ of two new Bishops to care for the Priests and People of the Sees of Ebbsfleet & Richborough. Pastoral Staffs were presented to the Bishops along with Pectoral Crosses and then another reception took place. A long, but glorious day.

The See of Ebbsfleet

2011-06-10T17:39:00.000+01:00

Volkswagen: The Making of "The Force" Commercial

2011-05-23T16:48:00.000+01:00

and there's more...

The Force: Volkswagen Commercial

2011-05-23T16:46:00.001+01:00

For all you Star Trek fans...!

New Bishops of Ebbsfleet & Richborough….

2011-05-05T07:17:00.000+01:00

It was announced this morning on the Downing Street website that the Queen has agreed to the appointment of Fr Jonathan Baker SSC, Principal of Pusey House, as the next Bishop of Ebbsfleet, and Fr Norman Banks SSC, Vicar of Walsingham, as the next Bishop of Richborough. Deo gratias. The Archbishop of Canterbury will be holding a press conference at Lambeth Palace with the Bishops-elect at 11:00am this morning.

Both will be consecrated at Southwark Cathedral on Thursday 16^th June. I think the time is usually 11:00am. At some time later that day the Bishop will preside at Benediction and a reception will be held – further details will be announced as soon as possible.

Good Friday Homily AD 2011....

2011-04-22T12:23:00.001+01:00

“As many were astonished at him – his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance………”

On Good Friday (or God’s Friday) we naturally and rightly face the Cross; the instrument of torture and death whereby our Saviour won our redemption at so great a cost. We contemplate the image of the crucified, we walk with him in his final journey; we honour the wounds he bore for us. We “gaze upon those glorious scars” – glorious now but then so torn and lacerated. We, in the words of the hymn, “turn not from his grief’s away.”

The image of the crucified is placed before us today as we gather together to mourn his suffering and death which in a very real sense is also to mourn for our own sinful state which was the cause of such suffering. The hymns and music of Passiontide and Holy Week draw us closer into the mystery of Christ’s suffering and death, and often lead to a profound emotional and spiritual reaction within us.

It can seem that the events of last night and the events of today are simply about us being present, wanting not to forget the cost of our salvation, wanting not to turn from his grief’s away and with our Lady wanting to stand at the foot of the cross weeping.

Yet, I want to suggest that the image we so often have of this day, right as it is, can be altered to give us another perspective. One of the Gospel texts beloved of evangelical preachers is “Sir, we would see Jesus” John 12:21. Apparently, that text is carved into the top of the pulpit in Oak Hill Theological College Chapel. But how do we see Jesus? Do we see him today hanging on the cross and mourn for our sins and failings? Do we see him suffering and dying and gain strength for the difficult road he has called us to tread? Do we see him being nailed to the cross and contemplate all those who suffer in our world today? Well, yes, I hope we see that and much more for the depth of the mystery is such that it is unfathomable.

However, I want to suggest to you this year that there is a perspective that we easily miss. It’s understandable that we should miss it, as fixed as we are upon that image of Christ Crucified. The perspective I am talking of we can never physically see ourselves for we are in the wrong position. If we are to see the perspective I am referring to we would need the eyes of another. I refer of course to the eyes of Jesus himself, for it is his perspective that we so easily miss.

We talk of him humbly bearing all the pain, of his being like a lamb dumb before its shearer; we talk of him being fixed on fulfilling his Father’s will and of his love for us driving him on to Calvary to win our salvation. We talk of his pain and humiliation, his agony and death. But do we ever think about what he saw while he was hanging on the Cross?

Well, we know he was facing the Holy City of Jerusalem, the city of Peace; and that he was facing his Father’s House: the Temple. We also know that he could see the pinnacle of the Temple where the Devil had taken him in a vision during his temptation in the wilderness. We know he could see the fortress Antonia where the occupying Roman forces were stationed.

It was spring and so we know that the ground was a riot of colour and sweet scented plants: olives, cyclamens, wild daffodils, irises, fennel, poppies, daisies and red anemones; and in the air he may have seen swallows darting hither and thither. He could see the surrounding countryside: the high place of Gibeon where Solomon prayed for wisdom; Mount Scopus where Alexander the Great quailed before the majesty of the High Priest; he could see the Mount of Olives and the Kidron Valley; and he could see Mount Zion – the place of the Upper Room where the very night before he had shared his Last Supper with his Apostles. Spring is the season in which the weather is very changeable in the Holy Land. One day can be glorious and then it can snow the next, or be one of stifling heat. Up from the south-west can come the ‘Khamsin’ – a hot, depressing wind. Such is the topography and nature which Christ could have seen at such a time of the year.

But our Lord also saw human nature in all in various forms. He saw friends, amongst which there were those who were secretly so or openly so. There were no doubt many sympathisers, but in all likelihood these were cowed into silence, although among them were almost certainly strangers to the city who must have been shocked at what they saw. Then he saw those who were indifferent – what’s one more crucifixion when you’ve seen hundreds? He saw the inquisitive, almost ghoulish types who enjoy human suffering, rather like those old wood cuts of people knitting at the foot of the gallows. And of course he saw and heard the scoffers – those who, now that Jesus is helplessly nailed to the Cross, are finally brave enough to hurl insults; and he also sees those who had been determined to do away with him – not only the Roman soldiers, but also among them many dignitaries and members of the Jewish aristocracy demeaning themselves by gloating at what they were achieving? And all these types of people are seen by our Lord amidst the turbulent mob that line the streets and gather at the foot of Calvary.

Also amongst those that the Lord sees are the countless numbers of pilgrims coming into the Holy City for the Passover and they look at what is happening. Some look at him with pity in their eyes, others cannot be bothered to spare him a look, and in others he sees contempt. Jesus also sees those going about their business with carts laden with goods entering or leaving the city pulled by oxen; working men cursing and bemoaning their lot because yet another crucifixion is drawing a crowd that is hampering their journey.

And amongst this vast throng of people gathered outside the Gate of Ephraim and those trying to get in or out of it are those who he recognises as those he has healed, delivered or forgiven. He sees those he has taught, encouraged and admonished. In the eyes of some of these he sees distress at what he is going through, in others he sees betrayal and cowardice.

And then he sees his loved ones: “By the cross of Jesus stood his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.” A little further away he can see another group of friends and other women who had followed him from Galilee. He sees John the Apostle to whom he bequeaths his Mother who is to become the Mother of the Church as he also bequeaths John to her.

But then as he looks around surely he notices something else: the absence of the Twelve, except for John; and especially the absence of Peter, the first to recognise him as the Christ – indeed the very person responsible for the name we give our Saviour: Jesus Christ. These then are among the missing – those Christ misses as he gazes from the cross…. including, of course, the one who was lost: Judas.

And as his life ebbs away he prays for those he sees, “Father, forgive them…..” As his life ebbs away he may even have seen his tomb as it was near the place where he was crucified. As he says “It is consummated” he sees Hades in which are Adam and Eve, and the souls of all those held captive by Satan, whom he is about to take by the hand and rescue saying, “Awake, O sleeper and arise from the dead and Christ shall give you life.” Finally, as he breathes his last he sees Hades emptied of its prisoners, as he leads captivity captive in through the gates of heaven thrown wide open.

However, there are some he saw that I have not mentioned….. indeed, you may be surprised to learn who they were. They are a mixed bag of people, some are full of pride, some are simple souls, some are making a mess of their lives, and others are doing very nicely. Some are poor and some are quite well off. Some know their need of God and others go through the motions. Amongst them are those that are fearful, those that are grieving, those that are sick or lonely, and those that are joyful and glad. And where does our Lord see them from the Cross,…………..sat here before him today.

For Christ not only sees those physically present beneath the Cross, but also all those for whom he is dying down through the ages…., and amongst them are….yes, you and I….for he died for us too, died for the guilty to lead us to God. His gaze from the Cross also rests on each one of us, for yes, we look on him and bewail our sinful nature knowing that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). That gaze is one of compassion and love: “Father, forgive them….” We rightly contemplate his suffering and death on the cross which achieved our salvation, but through his eyes we see and understand far more.

Pastoral Letter from Bishop Mark Horsham, Bishop John Plymouth, and Bishop Lindsay Urwin OGS....

2011-04-18T00:33:00.005+01:00

From: The Bishops acting as PEVs in the Province of Canterbury.

To: Those Parishes who look to us for Oversight.

Holy Week 2011

Dear brothers and sisters,

By the time you read this we will have seen and prayed with very many of you at the various chrism masses throughout the Province. It was a real privilege to be with you as your priests renewed what is the reliable and certain gift of priesthood in these very uncertain times. Be assured of our prayers for you as you all prepare to renew your own baptismal promises at the Paschal celebration. Thank you for your willingness to persevere each in your own ministry. May God who has most surely put the desire to renew these promises into your heart, give you the grace and courage to keep them.

Though the uncertainties and difficulties that beset us can weigh us down, this is the season in which we allow the Risen One to lift us up. So often in the healing miracles of Jesus, he says to the one bowed down by some infirmity or another, ‘Rise up’ reminding us that all the miracles during his ministry were a sort of foretaste or earnest of the resurrection, which is His by right, and ours by grace.

The Church exists to raise people up, and becomes Christ’s helping hand to lift the fallen and point them toward the ultimate gift of eternity. We all know how difficult it is to look in to the future, and we cannot know what is to happen to us, even each day, however much we think our time is planned. We don’t know how things are going to develop for us as catholic Anglicans, and some of that future is not in our own hands, but we are people who know the reality of the resurrection and where we are heading. We must allow the ultimate future to inform our attitude of heart to the steps we must take now.

We are committed, along with other bishops of our tradition to the formation of a Society to continue the fight for what we believe to be the true and proper way. A legal Constitution for the Society is in process, and it is great that in various places up and down the country local groups are beginning to form, in the hope that we shall be able to convince the Church of the goodness of the idea. Alongside this it has been good for the three of us to have had the opportunity to engage with some of the bishops who do not agree with us, but who are your diocesans. While the voting on legislation before the Synod draws ever closer, there is we believe among at least some of those bishops, a desire for a new conversation in a new spirit of listening. That’s important, because a Society, however set up, must be taken seriously by the wider Church if it is to have a future.

It will be a wonderful thing for us to lay down this temporary responsibility when the new bishops of Richborough and Ebbsfleet are in post. It will be a joy to have them among the College of Bishops, and they will have our total support and encouragement as they get to know what it means to be a bishop in the Church of God, and have their particular care for our constituency. Pray for them and welcome them!

With our very best wishes and prayers for you all in this Holy Season,

+Mark Horsham +John Plymouth +Lindsay Urwin OGS

The Spirit of Negativity....

2011-04-18T00:26:00.003+01:00

On that first Palm Sunday huge crowds welcomed Jesus with great rejoicing. The people were overcome with joy and they shouted their praises as loud as they could; throwing their clothes in front of the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem and tearing palm branches from the trees to wave in jubilation.

Meanwhile, in the background there is back-biting and bitterness as things are not going according to how others would wish. Whispered conversations and plans are made to forestall this threat to positions of power and influence. Secret meetings are made to discuss Christ behind his back, and plots are hatched to hijack his agenda and impose their own….. thus it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be….

Unfortunately Christians are not immune to this problem and can easily succumb to the spirit of negativity unless they are vigilant. Something wonderful happens in parish life and then the negative person tries to raise a problem or cause a distraction to the general rejoicing. Even when such a person expresses gratitude you know that there is always a “but” coming. The spirit of negativity is, of course, the devil’s plaything as it prevents us from doing what we should be doing as we are always dealing with the problems caused by this spirit of negativity. So engaging in worship, mission and pastoral care is interfered with, as is any planning for the needs of future generations for the spirit of negativity is solely concerned with its own wants and desires. So any new endeavour or initiative is deemed not acceptable and any old reason is dragged up as an objection to its implementation. The spirit of negativity is totally self-absorbed, but often wears a mask of concern for charitable giving when it wants to stop money being spent locally on an endeavour it disagrees with. This carping spirit will cheerfully malign the reputation of others for its own ends too, it will make scurrilous suggestions and most of all loves to spread its tentacles of negativity in the hope that it can draw others into its web of deceit. When others have more sense than to fall for its blandishments this spirit stays where it is, self-righteously thinking it has a duty to prevent others from not realising that there is much to be negative about. Eventually it gets to the stage where it sees itself as the voice of conscience and mistakes people’s silence as agreement with it. Its end is much worse than its beginning as it runs the risk of declaring that which is good to be bad - which is the sin against the Holy Spirit.

In reality the spirit of negativity is the work of the devil. He will woo you to believe him, question your positives, deny their validity, lead you to follow him, and try to make you his slave. But Christ died and rose again in this Holy Week to set us free and give us a new vision, a new heart and, of course give us the Holy Spirit who is the very opposite of negativity as he leads us out of the darkness of ignorance and unbelief into the light of Christ where the world of the past is gone and God is making everything new.

Praying the Rosary on Good Friday....

2011-04-11T14:30:00.004+01:00

Imagine what might happen if every Catholic Christian in the world would pray a Rosary on the same day, and for those of a more protest-ant disposition please remember that John Wesley was never without his Rosary. There is a wonderful example in October of 1573, when Europe was saved from the invasion of the mighty Turkish fleet, by the praying of the Rosary by all Christians!

So, on Good Friday, let us all pray a Rosary for peace in the world and the return of moral values into our communities. If possible, please pray your Rosary between Noon and 3:00pm.

Please let others know of this initiative. E-mail this message to every Christian you know of and ask them to pass it along to every Christian on their lists. The Rosary has long been known as a most effective forms of prayer and prayed on one of the most Holy Days of the Christian year by countless people is a powerful endeavour.

New Parish Hall....

2011-03-21T17:11:00.001Z

See Rattee and Kett's website for photographs of our new Parish Hall:

http://www.ratteeandkett.co.uk/Ecclesiastical/St-Mary---St-Giles-Church,-Stony-Stratford/

In all things lawful and honest….

2011-02-12T14:48:00.001Z

I have always thought that this is a somewhat of a ‘have your cake and eat it’ phrase. It comes from the oath of Canonical Obedience made to a Bishop at ordinations and institutions/licencing in the Church of England. Many a priest says it in quite a telling way looking directly into the bishop’s eyes as he does so! It is a double-edged sword as some of what is unlawful in the Church of England may actually be theologically and morally sound; and conversely some of what is lawful can considered theologically and morally unsound.

The General Synod has, in the past week, agreed that there is no legal impediment to a divorced and remarried priest becoming a Bishop. You will note from that the absence of any mention of theological or moral impediments, of which there are many. Our Lord’s teaching on divorce and remarriage (Mark 10:1-12 - as is that contained in today’s Gospel Reading) is quite clear as is the Apostolic teaching on the marriage of the clergy: “Now a bishop must be above reproach…..the husband of but one wife…” (1 Tim 3:2). The phrase ‘the husband of but one wife” cannot be made to mean to mean ‘not a polygamist’ as polygamy was virtually unknown amongst the Greek and Roman communities to which Paul was writing. In Greek there is no word for husband and the text in Greek Mias gunaikos andra would be literally translated as ‘a man of one woman.’

In response to the Apostle Paul’s teaching the Orthodox Churches (which permit a married man to be ordained) uphold the practice that if his wife predeceases him a priest (or Deacon) should remain celibate and abstinent for the remainder of his life. The same principle is observed in the Roman Catholic Church with regard to married Deacons. The General Synod may see fit to declare that there is no legal impediment to a divorced and remarried priest being consecrated bishop, but it seems yet once more to have chosen to close it’s mind to the Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church of which it claims to be a part.

Priestesses in the Church? by C.S. Lewis (1948)....

2011-01-30T23:28:00.002Z

"I should like balls infinitely better," said Caroline Bingley, "if they were carried on in a different manner ... It would surely be much more rational if conversation instead of dancing made the order of the day."
"Much more rational, I dare say," replied her brother, "but it would not be near so much like a Ball."

We are told that the lady was silenced: yet it could be maintained that Jane Austen has not allowed Bingley to put forward the full strength of his position. He ought to have replied with a distinguo. In one sense, conversation is more rational, for conversation may exercise the reason alone, dancing does not. But there is nothing irrational in exercising other powers than our reason. On certain occasions and for certain purposes the real irrationality is with those who will not do so. The man who would try to break a horse or write a poem or beget a child by pure syllogizing would be an irrational man; though at the same time syllogizing is in itself a more rational activity than the activities demanded by these achievements. It is rational not to reason, or not to limit oneself to reason, in the wrong place; and the more rational a man is the better he knows this.

These remarks are not intended as a contribution to the criticism of Pride and Prejudice. They came into my head when I heard that the Church of England was being advised to declare women capable of Priests' Orders. I am, indeed, informed that such a proposal is very unlikely to be seriously considered by the authorities. To take such a revolutionary step at the present moment, to cut ourselves off from the Christian past and to widen the divisions between ourselves and other Churches by establishing an order of priestesses in our midst, would be an almost wanton degree of imprudence. And the Church of England herself would be torn in shreds by the operation. My concern with the proposal is of a more theoretical kind. The question involves something even deeper than a revolution in order.

I have every respect for those who wish women to be priestesses. I think they are sincere and pious and sensible people. Indeed, in a way they are too sensible. That is where my dissent from them resembles Bingley's dissent from his sister. I am tempted to say that the proposed arrangement would make us much more rational "but not near so much like a Church".

For at first sight all the rationality (in Caroline Bingley's sense) is on the side of the innovators. We are short of priests. We have discovered in one profession after another that women can do very well all sorts of things which were once supposed to be in the power of men alone. No one among those who dislike the proposal is maintaining that women are less capable than men of piety, zeal, learning and whatever else seems necessary for the pastoral office. What, then, except prejudice begotten by tradition, forbids us to draw on the huge reserves which could pour into the priesthood if women were here, as in so many other professions, put on the same footing as men? And against this flood of common sense, the opposers (many of them women) can produce at first nothing but an inarticulate distaste, a sense of discomfort which they themselves find it hard to analyse.

That this reaction does not spring from any contempt for women is, I think, plain from history. The Middle Ages carried their reverence for one Woman to a point at which the charge could be plausibly made that the Blessed Virgin became in their eyes almost "a fourth Person of the Trinity". But never, so far as I know, in all those ages was anything remotely resembling a sacerdotal office attributed to her. All salvation depends on the decision which she made in the words Ecce ancilla; she is united in nine months' inconceivable intimacy with the eternal Word; she stands at the foot of the cross. But she is absent both from the Last Supper and from the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. Such is the record of Scripture. Nor can you daff it aside by saying that local and temporary conditions condemned women to silence and private life. There were female preachers. One man had four daughters who all "prophesied", i.e. preached. There were prophetesses even in Old Testament times. Prophetesses, not priestesses.

At this point the common sensible reformer is apt to ask why, if women can preach, they cannot do all the rest of a priest's work. This question deepens the discomfort of my side. We begin to feel that what really divides us from our opponents is a difference between the meaning which they and we give to the word "priest". The more they speak (and speak truly) about the competence of women in administration, their tact and sympathy as advisers, their national talent for "visiting", the more we feel that the central thing is being forgotten. To us a priest is primarily a representative, a double representative, who represents us to God and God to us. Our very eyes teach us this in church. Sometimes the priest turns his back on us and faces the East - he speaks to God for us: sometimes he faces us and speaks to us for God. We have no objection to a woman doing the first: the whole difficulty is about the second. But why? Why should a woman not in this sense represent God? Certainly not because she is necessarily, or even probably, less holy or less charitable or stupider than a man. In that sense she may be as "God-like" as a man; and a given women much more so than a given man. The sense in which she cannot represent God will perhaps be plainer if we look at the thing the other way round.

Suppose the reformer stops saying that a good woman may be like God and begins saying that God is like a good woman. Suppose he says that we might just as well pray to "Our Mother which art in heaven" as to "Our Father". Suppose he suggests that the Incarnation might just as well have taken a female as a male form, and the Second Person of the Trinity be as well called the Daughter as the Son. Suppose, finally, that the mystical marriage were reversed, that the Church were the Bridegroom and Christ the Bride. All this, as it seems to me, is involved in the claim that a woman can represent God as a priest does.

Now it is surely the case that if all these supposals were ever carried into effect we should be embarked on a different religion. Goddesses have, of course, been worshipped: many religions have had priestesses. But they are religions quite different in character from Christianity. Common sense, disregarding the discomfort, or even the horror, which the idea of turning all our theological language into the feminine gender arouses in most Christians, will ask "Why not? Since God is in fact not a biological being and has no sex, what can it matter whether we say He or She, Father or Mother, Son or Daughter?"

But Christians think that God Himself has taught us how to speak of Him. To say that it does not matter is to say either that all the masculine imagery is not inspired, is merely human in origin, or else that, though inspired, it is quite arbitrary and unessential. And this is surely intolerable: or, if tolerable, it is an argument not in favour of Christian priestesses but against Christianity. It is also surely based on a shallow view of imagery. Without drawing upon religion, we know from our poetical experience that image and apprehension cleave closer together than common sense is here prepared to admit; that a child who has been taught to pray to a Mother in Heaven would have a religious life radically different from that of a Christian child. And as image and apprehension are in an organic unity, so, for a Christian, are human body and human soul.

The innovators are really implying that sex is something superficial, irrelevant to the spiritual life. To say that men and women are equally eligible for a certain profession is to say that for the purposes of that profession their sex is irrelevant. We are, within that context, treating both as neuters.

As the State grows more like a hive or an ant-hill it needs an increasing number of workers who can be treated as neuters. This may be inevitable for our secular life. But in our Christian life we must return to reality. There we are not homogeneous units, but different and complementary organs of a mystical body. Lady Nunburnholme has claimed that the equality of men and women is a Christian principle. I do not remember the text in scripture nor the Fathers, nor Hooker, nor the Prayer Book which asserts it; but that is not here my point. The point is that unless "equal" means "interchangeable", equality makes nothing for the priesthood of women. And the kind of equality which implies that the equals are interchangeable (like counters or identical machines) is, among humans, a legal fiction. It may be a useful legal fiction. But in church we turn our back on fictions. One of the ends for which sex was created was to symbolize to us the hidden things of God. One of the functions of human marriage is to express the nature of the union between Christ and the Church. We have no authority to take the living and semitive figures which God has painted on the canvas of our nature and shift them about as if they were mere geometrical figures.

This is what common sense will call "mystical". Exactly. The Church claims to be the bearer of a revelation. If that claim is false then we want not to make priestesses but to abolish priests. If it is true, then we should expect to find in the Church an element which unbelievers will call irrational and which believers will call supra-rational. There ought to be something in it opaque to our reason though not contrary to it - as the facts of sex and sense on the natural level are opaque. And that is the real issue. The Church of England can remain a church only if she retains this opaque element. If we abandon that, if we retain only what can be justified by standards of prudence and convenience at the bar of enlightened common sense, then we exchange revelation for that old wraith Natural Religion.

It is painful, being a man, to have to assert the privilege, or the burden, which Christianity lays upon my own sex. I am crushingly aware how inadequate most of us are, in our actual and historical individualities, to fill the place prepared for us. But it is an old saying in the army that you salute the uniform not the wearer. Only one wearing the masculine uniform can (provisionally, and till the Parousia) represent the Lord to the Church: for we are all, corporately and individually, feminine to Him. We men may often make very bad priests. That is because we are insufficiently masculine. It is no cure to call in those who are not masculine at all. A given man may make a very bad husband; you cannot mend matters by trying to reverse the roles. He may make a bad male partner in a dance. The cure for that is that men should more diligently attend dancing classes; not that the ballroom should henceforward ignore distinctions of sex and treat all dancers as neuter. That would, of course, be eminently sensible, civilized, and enlightened, but, once more, "not near so much like a Ball".

And this parallel between the Church and the Ball is not so fanciful as some would think. The Church ought to be more like a Ball than it is like a factory or a political party. Or, to speak more strictly, they are at the circumference and the Church at the Centre and the Ball comes in between. The factory and the political party are artificial creations - "a breath can make them as a breath has made". In them we are not dealing with human beings in their concrete entirety only with "hands" or voters. I am not of course using "artificial" in any derogatory sense. Such artifices are necessary: but because they are our artifices we are free to shuffle, scrap and experiment as we please. But the Ball exists to stylize something which is natural and which concerns human beings in their entirety - namely, courtship. We cannot shuffle or tamper so much. With the Church, we are farther in: for there we are dealing with male and female not merely as facts of nature but as the live and awful shadows of realities utterly beyond our control and largely beyond our direct knowledge. Or rather, we are not dealing with them but (as we shall soon learn if we meddle) they are dealing with us.

A Message from the Vice-Chairman of the Council of Priests....

2011-01-28T19:42:00.000Z

The events of Saturday 15th of January when our former Bishop was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest along with the former Bishops of Fulham and Richborough will have stirred within many of us mixed emotions. Personally, I have lost two Incumbents that I have worked with to “Aunty” and former curates more recently, and such events are always a challenge to us on so many levels.

It is a truth that the Church of England does seem determined to embrace an all too secular agenda at times and that this does cause considerable anxiety for many clergy and many of the Faithful. However, there are Bishops and Priests in the Church of England who remain convinced that Anglo-Catholics still have a valued ministry to exercise, even if this is simply to remind the Church of England that it is part of the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church” and that it has no authority to change doctrines of faith and morals, nor to change the historic three-fold order of Bishop, Priest and Deacon.

Many of those who will be leaving us maintain that Bishops and Priests should, after the example of the Good Shepherd, lead their sheep to safe pasture elsewhere, and the move to the Ordinariate is an example of this. Yet, many sheep are left behind and still need shepherds. The image of the shepherd leading his sheep to safe pasture is one image that our Lord spoke of in relation to shepherds and sheep, but there are other important images that he uses. The Lord also talked of the shepherd as the door of the sheepfold, where the shepherd, having driven the sheep into the fold, would literally lay down his life across the gap in the fence or wall to prevent the wolf from entering and harming the sheep, and of course, the Church herself reminds us in the Preface set for Feasts of Apostles that Christ is “the eternal Shepherd who never leaves his flock untended.” Priests should always recall that it is Christ’s eternal priesthood that their Ministerial Priesthood is derived from. I cannot speak for others, but it seems to me that the undoubted attraction of firmer foundations and calmer shores ought not to detract from this sacrificial calling, whatever shore or foundation one finds oneself upon.

In all of us there is the temptation to want those calmer shores and firmer foundations after all surely that is what we have striven to achieve during the past nineteen years. Recently I anointed the dying knowing I was likely to hear of another departure the next day; and subsequently at the Requiem Mass we had nearly 300 folk in church and 150 Communicants I was forcefully reminded of the sacrificial nature of the priestly vocation and of the people’s need for priests who are prepared to serve in difficult and trying situations. I am also minded of Bishop Edward King and the words above his lintel in the Palace door at Lincoln: Pascite gregem (Feed my sheep). But, oh yes, that weekend was still difficult.... the pain of separation, the pain of being left; the longing for calmer shores and firmer foundations...... and yet the awareness of God’s grace, and the knowledge that at present he is perhaps calling some to remain and serve his people.

And meanwhile life continues for those of us within the See of Ebbsfleet. Fr Martyn Neale, from the Richborough Council of Priests, and I met with the Archbishop in December to discuss the appointment of new Bishops of Ebbsfleet and Richborough. While much of that meeting must remain confidential, all involved found it to be a profitable meeting and the Archbishop is clearly determined to appoint new Bishops. The process to achieve that has been put in place and will begin very soon. I am aware of all many of rumours floating around and those that have reached me so far are clearly based upon conjecture rather than fact. At present the pattern that the Archbishop outlined to Fr Neal and I is running to schedule.

In the meantime the Archbishop of Canterbury has kindly provided three Bishops to care for us during the Episcopal Vacancy and they will be writing to us soon and have arranged a series of Chrism Masses throughout the Province of Canterbury. We are very grateful to them for taking on these extra responsibilities on our behalf as each of them have considerable burdens within their own roles. The Chrism Masses this year are as follows:

Thursday 14th April 12:00 Noon

at St Mary & St Giles, Stony Stratford

Bishop Mark Sowerby

Friday 15th April 7:30pm

at St Aidan’s New Parks, Leicester

Bishop Lindsay Urwin

Saturday 16th April at 11:00am

Winchester Cathedral

Bishop Mark Sowerby

Monday in Holy Week 18th April 7:00pm

at All Saints, Clifton

Bishop John Ford

Monday in Holy Week 18th April 11:00am (time to be confirmed)

at Chelmsford Cathedral

Bishop Lindsay Urwin

Tuesday in Holy Week 19th April 11:00am

at St James, Wednesbury

Bishop Lindsay Urwin

Wednesday in Holy Week 20th April 7:00pm

at St Peter Plymouth

Bishop John Ford

Wednesday in Holy Week at 12:00 noon

in the Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham

Bishop Lindsay Urwin

I hope that all of our priests and deacons will be able to be present at a Chrism Mass this year, and that they will be wholeheartedly supported by the presence of many of the Faithful.

I have received a number of enquiries about The Society, under the Patronage of St Wilfrid and St Hilda. There is a little more information now on its web site and I understand that more information will be coming soon. The Bishops involved in this initiative have written a Pastoral Letter and I am sure that this will be disseminated widely.

A number of parishes are, understandably, concerned as to whether they will get able to get a new Parish Priest and there have been a trickle of enquiries from parishes as to what help is available from the See of Ebbsfleet to guide them through the process while there is no Bishop. Similarly, some clergy are looking for moves and are beginning to make enquiries. The Ebbsfleet Office is still maintained three days each week and enquiries can be made with me through it. I will be happy to advise priests and parishes where possible.

Lent is much later this year and Easter is one day short of being as late as it can be. With its theme of entering the wilderness, penitence and self-denial Lent is a time of spiritual growth for all Christians. This year the long period between the Baptism of the Lord and the beginning of Lent gives us the opportunity to properly prepare for Lent without it suddenly being upon us before we know it. Perhaps during the next five and a half weeks we could all give serious consideration to what our pattern of Christian discipleship ought to be this Lent. The theme of entering the wilderness is a good thing to consider, for our Lord entered the wilderness willingly in order that he could be prepared for his ministry, passion and death. All of us, whatever our future holds, will be entering upon Lent very soon; so let us prepare for it so that whatever shores or foundations we will be set upon we may keep our eyes fixed on Christ, the author and finisher of our faith.

Fr Ross Northing SSC

Vice Chairman of the Ebbsfleet Council of Priests

St Thomas Aquinas,

January 28th AD 2011

Chrism Masses AD 2011

2011-01-21T21:09:00.003Z

Thursday 14th April 12:00 Noon
at St Mary & St Giles, Stony Stratford
Bishop Mark Sowerby

Friday 15th April 7:30pm
at St Aidan’s New Parks, Leicester
Bishop Lindsay Urwin

Saturday 16th April at 11:00am
Winchester Cathedral
Bishop Mark Sowerby

Monday in Holy Week 18th April 7:00pm
at All Saints, Clifton
Bishop John Ford

Monday in Holy Week 18th April 11:00am (time to be confirmed)
at Chelmsford Cathedral
Bishop Lindsay Urwin

Tuesday in Holy Week 19th April 11:00am
at St James, Wednesbury
Bishop Lindsay Urwin

Wednesday in Holy Week 20th April 7:00pm
at St Peter Plymouth
Bishop John Ford

Wednesday in Holy Week at 12:00 noon
in the Shrine of our Lady of Walsingham
Bishop Lindsay Urwin

The parting of friends?

2011-01-15T12:54:00.003Z

The Holy Father's vision of a new ecumenical venture has begun today with the Ordination's to the priesthood within the Roman Catholic Church of the former Anglican Bishops, John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton. Fr Keith Newton has been named by the Holy Father as the first Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham which is under the patronage of Blessed John Henry Newman.

The Holy See has issued the following Press Statement:

In accordance with the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus of Pope Benedict XVI (November 4, 2009) and after careful consultation with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has today erected a Personal Ordinariate within the territory of England and Wales for those groups of Anglican clergy and faithful who have expressed their desire to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church. The Decree of Erection specifies that the Ordinariate will be known as the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and will be placed under the patronage of Blessed John Henry Newman.

A Personal Ordinariate is a canonical structure that provides for corporate reunion in such a way that allows former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of their distinctive Anglican patrimony. With this structure, the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus seeks to balance on the one hand the concern to preserve the worthy Anglican liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions and, on the other hand, the concern that these groups and their clergy will be fully integrated into the Catholic Church.

For doctrinal reasons the Church does not, in any circumstances, allow the ordination of married men as Bishops. However, the Apostolic Constitution does provide, under certain conditions, for the ordination as Catholic priests of former Anglican married clergy. Today at Westminster Cathedral in London, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, ordained to the Catholic priesthood three former Anglican Bishops: Reverend Andrew Burnham, Reverend Keith Newton, and Reverend John Broadhurst.

Also today Pope Benedict XVI has nominated Reverend Keith Newton as the first Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Together with Reverend Burnham and Reverend Broadhurst, Reverend Newton will oversee the catechetical preparation of the first groups of Anglicans in England and Wales who will be received into the Catholic Church together with their pastors at Easter, and to accompany the clergy preparing for ordination to the Catholic priesthood around Pentecost.

The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church. The initiative leading to the publication of the Apostolic Constitution and the erection of this Personal Ordinariate came from a number of different groups of Anglicans who have declared that they share the common Catholic faith as it is expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and accept the Petrine ministry as something Christ willed for the Church. For them, the time has now come to express this implicit unity in the visible form of full communion.

This is a joyous occasion for many who long for a greater union between Catholics and Anglicans. Unfortunately, there are those who will decry it and it was sad to read this morning that one priest contemplating a move into the Ordinariate had received hate mail from someone professing to be an Anglican. Such forms of communication are hardly demonstrative of truly Christian behaviour.

Many will leave the Church of England for the Ordinariate with a significant measure of gratitude for what it has given them and will take with them the zeal for Orthodox Faith and Morals, good Liturgy and excellent Pastoral Care for which they have striven over many years in the church of their Baptism. Their leaving is similar to what Blessed John Henry Newman described as a "parting of friends" and yet I hope that it is not so much a parting as a continuation of that spiritual pilgrimage upon which all who truly hold and practice the Catholic Faith are on until they all "become one."

The Church of England's General Synod now faces a significant dilemma. It could proceed post haste with the former Synod's regrettable refusal to allow any future for traditionalists which had real substance and longevity believing that traditionalists should just clear off. If it decided to do this then it would further drive priests and people into the Ordinariate; and spark a spiritual battle with those of a Conservative Evangelical position with whom they will be left. The other option is to be generous and allow the formation of a structure that gives Traditionalists the jurisdiction that they need for a continuing place within the church of their Baptism. However, if it does this it will be recognising and admitting that the alterations it has made to the nature of the three-fold Order of Bishop, Priest and Deacon are legitimately not accepted by many. It seemed in the last General Synod as if the usual Church of England practice of fudge was being replaced by "having your cake and eating it." In reality either approach is unsatisfactory to one party or another - and it would seem that there is no solution that will please everyone.

However, if the Church of England is serious about wanting to keep traditionalists within its fold it will need to demonstrate that they are truly part of it and not simply an awkward bunch to be tolerated. The good of the Church of England lies not in adopting "having your cake and eating it" but in, as it has in the past, coping with a less than perfect ecclesial life.

Having said all that today's events also cause a significant dilemma for traditionalists. For years we have prayed for unity with that greater part of the Catholic Church - the rock from which we were hewn by the, at best, unwise actions of Henry VIII. Now, it seems, there is a chance at unity with Peter for groups of Anglicans. It may not be the corporate unity for which we prayed; but when does the Almighty always give us what we prayed for in exactly the way we expected? If traditionalists stay within the Church of England (and many will for good pastoral reasons) without a secure, significant structure in place, how will they be able to live the Catholic life?

The game is not over yet for Traditionalists within the Church of England, but the next two years are going to be very interesting for former and remaining Anglicans. The challenge facing the three founding priests of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is to form a viable set of groups living the Catholic Life while, hopefully, remaining friends with those they have left behind. Those who remain behind face two years of uncertainty as they seek to secure an ecclesial future in which the Catholic Life can be lived within the Church of England; but even if this endeavour is successful it cannot be without the possibility of a truly ecumenical dimension that has a vision for unity and truth.

I hope that today's historic event is not so much about parting with its connotations of 'goodbye', but really about 'Auf Wiedersehen', which surely is the more truly ecumenical, and dare I say it Christian, attitude?

Our prayers today are for Fr's Keith, Andrew and John... for those who will follow... and those who will continue to be for the time being, or longer, in less calmer shores while seeking to maintain the gate of the sheepfold.

Hymn for Evening Prayer 1 of the Baptism of the Lord....

2011-01-09T00:25:00.002Z

When Jesus comes to be baptized,
He leaves the hidden years behind,
The years of safety and of peace.
To bear the sins of all mankind.

The Spirit of the Lord comes down,
Anoints the Christ to suffering,
To preach the word, to free the bound,
And to the mourner, comfort bring.

He will not quench the dying flame,
And what is bruised he will not break,
But heal the wound injustice dealt,
And out of death his triumph make.

Our everlasting Father, praise,
With Christ, his well-beloved Son,
Who with the Spirit reigns serene,
Untroubled Trinity in One.

A Social Network Christmas

2010-12-21T22:36:00.000Z

THE DIGITAL STORY OF THE NATIVITY

2010-12-15T16:05:00.000Z

Advent II

2010-12-05T20:59:00.004Z

“Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight”

School buses are pretty dismal things, aren’t they? Fifty-odd children herded into a confined space, some tired, some hyperactive, and made to try and behave themselves for as long as it takes to get them to their destination, be it home, or a school trip – in fact, almost anywhere more interesting than the bus itself. When I think back to my daily journey to and from school, I wonder how the drivers managed to avoid throttling every single one of us, or finding a precipice (not an easy thing to do in Oxfordshire) and taking all of us horrible little creatures to the bottom of it. And, of course, there were the occasions when the thing wouldn’t start, or people were late, or we got lost or stuck or otherwise delayed. And then the chorus would begin from the back seats, where the really monstrous children would sit (I always try to sit at the back of buses now, to make up for lost time) of “why are we waiting”, sung, I seem to recall, to the tune of O Come All Ye Faithful. In another sense, “why are we waiting?” is a legitimate question to ask in Advent, the Church’s season of watching and waiting.

Well, as our readings tell us, we’re waiting for the coming of Christ. We’re following the signs promised by the prophets. We’re waiting with Our Blessed Lady as the child grows in her womb; and we’re praying that, as He lives in her, he may come and live in us. We’re waiting for the birth of the infant in Bethlehem, and praying for the simple sincerity shown by shepherds in adoring Him, the Lord of Time and Eternity, heaven and earth in little space. But we’re also waiting for his second coming in glory to judge the living and the dead. Today’s readings invite us to prepare for that second coming, and so we hear, in the words of Isaiah, that the day will come when the root of Jesse shall stand as an ensign, as a signal to the peoples. And we hear too the words of John the Baptist, quoting Isaiah, saying “prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight”.

Now, it’s very easy to prepare for something if we know when it’s going to happen, and it’s fine to wait if we know why we’re waiting. But we simply do not know when Christ is coming again. If we knew when it was going to be, we would not long for it as eagerly as we do. As Our Lord Himself said to His disciples: “about that hour no one knows, neither the angels nor the Son. It is not for you to know times or moments”. If we knew when it was going to be, we might be tempted into thinking that the Lord of Time and Eternity was Himself ruled by time. The prophets of Israel spoke their words not knowing the day or the hour of the coming of the Messiah, hoping that they would see it, but aware of the possibility that they might not. They called the children of Israel to faith, to penitence, to repentance, to be ever-prepared, to watch and pray. And we know thow difficult that can be: even when Christ Himself was on earth, there were those even among the ones closest to Him who could not watch one brief hour, in Gethsemane.

The victory over sin and evil is being won in us even now, by God’s grace and through the Sacraments, especially through the Mass and through Confession. But it will not finally be over until Christ comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead. He will judge me, and He will judge you, and He will judge all of us, and we shall answer for ourselves ‘at the dreadful day of judgement when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed’. As the Dies Irae, the sequence for use at Requiems, puts it, “Lo! the book, exactly worded, wherein all hath been recorded: thence shall judgment be awarded”. Judgement isn’t a light matter, and it certainly isn’t something to be ignored or sidelined. Judgement is not the province of doom-mongers, of whom we see fewer and fewer these days: the grey men with their raincoats and sandwich-boards, announcing “repent, for the end of the world is nigh”. It’s preached consistently by the Prophets and by Our Saviour, and we’re very wrong if we imagine it won’t happen to us. An exhibition of Ancient Egyptian artefacts at the British Museum which is on at the moment shows their view of judgement: to pass the ultimate test the dead person had to survive having their heart weighed by the jackal-headed god Anubis. If they were found wanting the offending organ was fed to the Destroyer, a kind of cross between a jackal, a hyena and a wild boar. Certainly not a creature one would want to encounter while walking the dog. But various magic spells and incantations could be used, it was thought, to get round this inconvenience. The heart could be bribed with sorcery not to tell its secrets. No such option is open to us.

Judgement is, simply, the other side of the coin which has justice written on it. If we believe in divine justice, we have to believe in divine judgement. And, by the same token, we have to watch, pray, and prepare ourselves to meet it. The baby in the manger who is sweet and light and lovely, to whom we sing carols, doesn’t remain a baby, and our faith is not frozen in the stable, or on the cross, or even at the Resurrection. These are signs, and they point the way to what is to come. And, in doing so, they bid us watch and pray for that coming.

But how are we to watch, and how are we to pray? Preparing the way of the Lord calls us out of where we are. It calls us to leave our comforts behind us – and even the things dearest to us. As we hear later on in Matthew’s Gospel, in Chapter 19, Jesus says to someone “’Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” The Kingdom of God is not proclaimed by being passive: all of these commands – wait, watch, pray, prepare the way – are active, they are things we must do, and not things we can simply allow to happen around us.

In coming to the Sacraments, we actually do something active. At Advent, the Church’s New Year, we can make holy resolutions. We can try to fit a weekday mass into our timetables, making time to come and meet the Lord in his house and on his altar more often than we do. As a priest-friend of mine often remarked, Christ hung on the cross for three hours for us – the least we can do is grant him half an hour of our time. Or, if we can’t get to Mass, we can resolve to say our prayers every day, on waking and on going to bed. We can take up some spiritual reading, or examine our consciences, or pray the Rosary, or do any one of the myriad things Christ offers us through His Church.

We have a command to-day in the Gospel to prepare the way of the Lord and to make his paths straight. Our response should be not, “must I?” but “how must I?”. Why are we waiting? Because Christ has told us to.

A Message from the Vice-Chairman of the Ebbsfleet Council of Priests....

2010-11-25T16:05:00.000Z

The Resignation of Bishop Andrew

I have expected that I would have to write this letter for some time now, but the writing of it is no easier for the passing of time. While many of us have been able to glean Bishop Andrew’s intentions from his public comments and statements, the actual announcement of his resignation on Monday 8th November still was an emotional moment for many people.

Bishop Andrew’s final Pastoral Letter to us all is available on the Ebbsfleet website and has been widely reproduced in parish publications. In it he is able to finally speak from the heart and relate to us his personal journey in making this decision. The Bishop has long predicted that there would be three responses to the continuing crises in the Anglican world and that each of them has their own integrity. There will be those who will take a solo journey into another Communion; there will be groups of people forming a caravan to do so together; and there will be those who decide, like the Non-Jurors, to remain and witness to the ‘faith once delivered to the saints’ within the Church of England. Bishop Andrew and others have decided to form that second group to which they see others joining as time goes on. Some have already taken the first route, including some faithful brethren known to us personally. Others are hoping that the General Synod will come to its senses and agree to a negotiated settlement with those who wish to remain “obedient” (as the Archbishop of Canterbury expresses it) to Scripture and the Tradition of the Church.

It is to assist that final group that I have been, for reasons beyond me, elected by the Ebbsfleet Council of Priests as its Vice-Chairman during the Episcopal vacancy with, as Bishop Andrew puts it, “the express approval of the Archbishop.” The Archbishop stated on the same day that the announcement of the resignations was made that he would be appointing new Bishops of Ebbsfleet and Richborough, and the Bishop of London has said that he will appoint a new Bishop of Fulham. On the Wednesday after the resignation was announced an appointment was made for me to see the Archbishop of Canterbury next month at Lambeth Palace so that we can discuss the future needs of the See of Ebbsfleet and in order that I can convey to the Archbishop the views of the Council of Priests as to the type of man we would like to see as our next Bishop. Needless to say that discussion will need to remain private, but I would value your prayers as I prepare for this important meeting and for the Council of Priests itself which will continue to meet as usual during the Episcopal vacancy.

During the vacancy the work of the Gospel must continue; we must continue to be faithful in public worship and private prayer, continue to avail ourselves of the Sacraments of the Church and pray that we may be faithful witnesses of Christ. There could so easily arise among us temptation to sink into an ‘us & them’ mentality which seeks to be negative about those who are leaving or those who are staying. If there must be a parting then let us remain friends. In our parishes let us continue to be faithful and in the Ebbsfleet Apostolic District let us get on with ‘business as usual.’ We have the announcement by the Archbishop that we will have another Bishop of Ebbsfleet and if we are to continue as a strong viable constituency then the structures already in place will need to be supported by prayer and maintained financially as in the past. Please continue to use the Ebbsfleet Monthly Cycle of Prayer at Mass and at home for this helps to forge our common life. Each year we encourage our parishes to donate a minimum of £100 - £250 depending on the wealth or size of the parish. That will usually give the Bishop a budget of around £12,000 in the Mission Fund per year with which he can lead us in mission, and just consider what it has achieved so far with the Parish Evangelism Weekends and Youth Initiatives to name but two. Wouldn’t it be good to have that fund replenished so that our next Bishop can help us to grow in faith, hope and love?

This weekend, throughout Holy Mother Church, we begin a new liturgical year with the Season of Advent. While Advent has a penitential aspect to it, and despite its themes of Death, Judgement, Heaven and Hell, it is primarily the Season of Hope. The early Christians lived in expectation of Christ’s return; for them his return was not something to be feared, but welcomed. The past with its reassurances as well as its problems they knew would be swept away, but they still lived in Advent Hope. As we await news of who will take the solo journey, join the caravan or for news of whom the Archbishop will appoint we all surely are tempted to look back, and yet God our heavenly Father points us forward. Whether this will lead us into another Communion or into a new future with a new Bishop, with all the uncertainty that still remains about our common life in the Church of England, we are called to be a People of Hope.

In the meantime we must thank Bishop Andrew for all he has done for our parishes and in helping us to forge a common life. He has not only been our Bishop but a constant and faithful friend who lovingly encouraged us and yet was not afraid to challenge us where necessary. As he begins the next phase of his Pilgrimage we also pray that God may continue to bless him and all who seek Christ’s will for their futures while seeking to remain totally committed and obedient to the ‘faith once delivered to the saints.’

Fr Ross Northing SSC
24th November AD 2010

Yet again....

2010-11-09T08:13:00.003Z

Yesterday I was sent a link to a scurrilous little diatribe in the rag that rejoices in the title of the Guardian - though what it is guarding besides its own sense of libertarian self-importance is beyond me.

This little diatribe was a rant about traditionalists in the Church of England and the resignation of the Bishops of Ebbsfleet, Richborough and Fulham. The subtext seemed to be: "the rest of them should clear off as well;" as if somehow the majority votes of the previous General Synod equate with ecclesial and theological truth.

Even more worrying was the failure to distinguish between "The Church" and the Church of England. But then self-importance is so rife these days.

Very annoying and scandalous was the cheap attempt (once more from this author) to link the theological and ecclesial convictions of traditionalists with Racism. Strange that, as many of the Anglo-Catholics I know have multi-racial congregations. The author perhaps knows this, but like all shoddy journalists never will let truth stand in the way of a good attempt to besmirch the character of those he disagrees with.

Then there was an appeal to progressive Roman Catholics he had talked to. Well, dear, we can all do that.

In the end I found it all rather tedious and sad, poorly argued and, having just come in from ministering to someone terminally ill, I wondered when the author last spent anytime on planet earth rather than planet blog.

Regeneration Project Update....

2010-10-08T08:25:00.004+01:00

Well, doesn't time fly when you're waiting for Planning & Conservation Officers? What was due to open (namely the new hall) on the 3rd of September will not now open until the 27th November. Having said that, the Planning and Conservation Team Leader that came out on Monday of this week was very, very helpful in making sure that we dealt with all the remaining conditions attached to the Planning Consent. This should have been sorted out by the Council's Officers by the 19th August, but we have had to wait and even delay putting the tiles on the roof.

Still, during this period some useful work has taken place in the interior, especially in the older area where the roof has been retained. The new boiler room, toilets, vestry and storerooms have been plastered and this week the new boiler arrived and it is possibly a quarter or at most only one third of the size of the beast that was taken out. Technology has moved on so much since the last boiler was installed. From the photographs below you can see the newboiler and the pipework for the existing church heating and the pipes for the new hall. No prizes for guessing which ones are for which part of our building! It is looking hopeful that the heating in the church will be up and running by the end of next week.

The roof tiles have now arrived and hopefully they will be fitted next week. The stone facing is ready to be delivered and work should start on that very soon. Once the tiles are on the roof the plasterer can return to do the hall and then everything will begin to happen quite quickly in comparison to what has gone before at least!

Parish Lecture on the Life and Teaching of Blessed John Henry Newman....

2010-09-23T15:38:00.004+01:00

Heart Speaks Unto Heart:

An Introduction to the Life and Teaching of
Blessed John Henry Newman

Monday, 4th October at 7.30pm
at St Mary & St Giles Church

Our Assistant Curate, Fr Daniel Lloyd, will be leading an evening of catechesis and reflection on the 'Life and Teaching of Blessed John Henry Newman.'

All are very welcome to this event which we hope will enable us to have the confidence to correct some of the misrepresentations that have been prevalent, and allowed to develop, leading up to and including the Holy Father's State Visit.

Regeneration Project News....

2010-09-22T12:58:00.002+01:00

Not a few people have asked why I haven't been reporting on the development of our new hall. The short answer is: delays in satisfying Conservation Planning Officers with regard to roof tiles and the stone facing. The whole story is a saga and in order to do my soul little damage is perhaps best kept off the blogosphere! Suffice to say that there huge questions that need asking about the Planning Regulations in this country and how power is in the hands of just one individual!

So the roof tiles are not yet in place and this has meant that the hall cannot be plastered, wich has delayed all the other internal fittings being installed. Similarly the stone facing has been delayed. The whole project will be virtually three months behind schedule when complete. Is "dischuffed" too strong a word?

However, the plasterers have been able now to complete their work in the eastern half of the building works and this means that the heating and plumbing engineers can begin to install the boiler and the rest of the plumbing so that we will have heating available in church within a few weeks.

The Architect, Builders met with us on Monday of last week and I can report that apart from the mortar thickness and distressing of the stone the only other outstanding matter from the Conservation Planning Officer’s list of conditions is the chimney stack. Apparently he has found an old photograph showing a top course of stone that was much more decorative on the original chimney stack before it was taken down to be capped off. Our architect is concerned that if that were to be replicated it would not last very long before the northern aspect and weather led to it wearing away.

I can also report that the roof tiles could be with us within the next two weeks which is earlier than anticipated and providing the matter of the thickness of the mortar joints and distressing of the stone facing has been resolved then the stone facing works may begin shortly. So within a month we should see some significant progress.

Once the roof tiles are affixed the hall itself will be plastered and when that is dry the fitting of internal woodwork, electrics and the kitchen unit can take place.

There is little point including pictures of drying plaster!

Straight Talking....

2010-09-18T22:15:00.003+01:00

Address by Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk
Chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations to the Annual Nicean Club Dinner (Lambeth Palace, 9 September 2010)

Your Grace, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests,

At the outset, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to His Grace Archbishop Rowan Williams for inviting me to address the members of the Nicean Club. Your Grace, we highly value your personal contribution to inter-Christian dialogue and your commitment to keep the Anglican Communion unified. We know your love of the Russian Orthodox Church, of its saints and great theologians, of its spiritual tradition. We assure you of our continual support and prayers.

We also highly appreciate the work of the Nicean Club which aims to strengthen relations and to stimulate beneficial co-operation between the churches of the Anglican Communion and other Christian confessions.

The name of the Club – Nicean – takes us back to that blessed era when Christians throughout the world, both in the East and in the West, were united. At the same time, however, that was a period of bitter struggle with heresies and many church schisms. Thanks to the unanimity both of the Western and Eastern Fathers in understanding Church teaching and in standing together with steadfast faith, the Universal Church at its Council in 325 renounced and condemned a heresy that undermined the very foundations of Christian doctrine. At the same time the Church was able to formulate that faith in the Holy Trinity which has survived throughout subsequent centuries. Archbishop Rowan Williams, in his Arius: Heresy and Tradition, has provided us with a profound analysis of Arianism from historical, theological and philosophical perspectives. He describes Arianism as an ‘archetypal Christian deviation’, which tends to rise again and again under various names.
In 325, the Christian Church, which had latterly emerged from a three-century-long period of persecution, proved itself to be strong and mature enough to discern in Arianism a dangerous digression from Orthodox doctrine. By adopting the Nicean Creed the Church did not introduce anything new to her teaching but rather formulated with clarity what she had believed in from the very beginning of her existence. Subsequent Ecumenical Councils continued to clarify church truth without introducing anything fundamentally new to that confession of faith which sprouted from Christ himself and from his apostles.

Why do the Churches, both East and West, still remember the Fathers of the Nicean and later Ecumenical Councils with such gratitude? Why are the great theologians of the past, the opponents of heresy, revered in the East as ‘great universal teachers and saints’ and in the West as ‘Doctors of the Church’? Because throughout the ages the Church believed it to be her principal task to safeguard the truth. Her foremost heroes were those confessors of the faith who asserted Orthodox doctrine and countered heresies in the face of new trends and theological and political innovations.
Almost 1700 years have elapsed since the Council of Nicaea, but the criteria that were used by the Church to distinguish truth from heresy have not changed. And the notion of church truth remains as relevant today as it did seventeen centuries ago. Today the notion of heresy, while present in church vocabulary, is manifestly absent from the vocabulary of contemporary politically-correct theology – a theology that prefers to refer to “pluralism” and to speak of admissible and legitimate differences.

Indeed, St Paul himself wrote that ‘there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval’ (1 Cor. 11:19). But what kind of differences was he referring to? Certainly not those which concerned the essence of faith, of church order, or of Christian morals. For, in these matters, there is only one truth and any deviation from it is none other than heresy.

At the time of the Council of Nicaea, the Church was united in East and West. But at the present time, there is a multitude of communities each of which claims to be a church even though approaches to doctrinal, ecclesiological and ethical issues among them often differ radically.

Nowadays it is increasingly difficult to speak of ‘Christianity’ as a unified scale of spiritual and moral values, universally adopted by all Christians. It is more appropriate, rather, to speak of ‘Christianities’, that is, different versions of Christianity espoused by diverse communities.

All current versions of Christianity can be very conditionally divided into two major groups – traditional and liberal. The abyss that exists today divides not so much the Orthodox from the Catholics or the Catholics from the Protestants as it does the ‘traditionalists’ from the ‘liberals’. Some Christian leaders, for example, tell us that marriage between a man and a woman is no longer the only way of building a Christian family: there are other models and the Church should become appropriately ‘inclusive’ to recognize alternative behavioural standards and give them official blessing. Some try to persuade us that human life is no longer an absolute value; that it can be terminated in a mother’s womb or that one can terminate one’s life at will. Christian ‘traditionalists’ are being asked to reconsider their views under the slogan of keeping abreast with modernity.

Regrettably, it has to be admitted that the Orthodox Church and many in the Anglican Church have today found themselves on the opposite sides of the abyss that divides traditional Christians from Christians of liberal trend. Certainly, inside the Anglican Community there remain many “traditionalists”, especially in the South and the East, but the liberal trend is also quite noticeable, especially in the West and in the North. Protests against liberalism continue to be heard among Anglicans, as at the 2nd All African Bishops’ Conference held in late August. The Conference’s final document stated in particular, ‘We affirm the Biblical standard of the family as having marriage between a man and a woman as its foundation. One of the purposes of marriage is procreation of children some of whom grow to become the leaders of tomorrow’.
Among the vivid indications of disagreement within the Anglican Community (I am reluctant to say ‘schism’) is the fact that almost 200 Anglican bishops refused to attend the 2008 Lambeth Conference. I was there as an observer from the Russian Orthodox Church and could see various manifestations of deep and painful differences among the Anglicans.

Today the Orthodox-Anglican Dialogue itself has come under threat. It is especially lamentable because this dialogue has had a long and rich history, beginning with the numerous talks at various levels held between Orthodox and Anglicans from the 17th century. In the 19th century, after the Anglicans founded the bishoprics of Jerusalem in 1841 and Gibraltar in 1842, meetings took place and relations were established between representatives of the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in America and the Orthodox Church. The first official message came in a letter of Archbishop Howley of Canterbury (1828-1848) to the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1840, assuring Orthodox hierarchs that the Anglicans would never engage themselves in proselytism and calling for co-operation in a spirit of Christian love.

In 1868, the first Lambeth Conference was held. Acting on behalf of Archbishop Tait of Canterbury, this Conference sent a message, written in a spirit of Christian love and friendship, to the patriarchs and bishops of the Orthodox Church. That same year, at the request of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Patriarch Gregory VI of Constantinople permitted the Orthodox clergy to administer the rite of burial to Anglicans if a priest of the Church of England were not available.

The second such agreement was made in 1874 when Patriarch Joachim II of Constantinople gave permission to the Orthodox clergy to baptize and marry Anglicans. These agreements were exceptional developments in the history of relations between the Churches of East and West.

Between 1874 and 1875, representatives of the Orthodox Church, Anglicans and Old Catholics met for the first time at the Bonn Conferences to discuss issues such as the Filioque, the authority of the Ecumenical Councils and the validity of Anglican priesthood. In 1898, Bishop Wordsworth of Salisbury, in pursuance of a resolution of the 4th Lambeth Conference in 1887 on the need to intensify relations with the Orthodox Church and to set up a special committee for it, visited Patriarch Constantine V of Constantinople and other hierarchs. Patriarch Constantine appointed a special commission for studying the Anglican confession. In the years that followed, Frederick Temple and Constantine V initiated regular correspondence.

At the 1930 Lambeth Conference, after the Anglicans essentially agreed to the Orthodox affirmation that communion in the Sacraments should be preceded by unity in doctrine, it was decided to set up an Anglican-Orthodox Joint Doctrinal Commission, which included representatives of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Church of England. The commission began working in 1931. The 1948 Lambeth Conference gave unanimous support to the further development of relations with the Orthodox.
After World War II, dialogue between our Churches was resumed in 1965. The modern stage in the Anglican-Orthodox Dialogue was opened by a visit of Archbishop Michael Ramsey to Patriarch Athenagoras (Spirou) of Constantinople in 1962. The heads of the two Churches came to an agreement on the need to restore the Joint Theological Commission for studying the doctrinal differences which blocked progress towards unity that had begun in the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries.

In November 1964, the 3rd Pan-Orthodox Conference on Rhodes discussed, among other things, relations with Western Churches. The question of establishing relations with Canterbury did not raise any difficulties. It was unanimously agreed that ‘an inter-Orthodox theological commission be established immediately, consisting of theological experts from each Orthodox Church’. After preliminary meetings and talks, a dialogue began in 1976. A regular session of the dialogue completed its work only a few days ago.

We are concerned about the fate of this dialogue. We appreciate the proposal Archbishop Rowan Williams made this year to exclude from the dialogue those Anglican churches which failed to observe the moratorium on the ordination of open homosexuals. But we regard this proposal as not quite sufficient to save the dialogue from an approaching collapse. The dialogue is doomed to closure if the unrestrained liberalization of Christian values continues in many communities of the Anglican world.

We are equally concerned about the fate of bilateral relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of England. Contacts between the Russian Church and the Anglican Church began as far back as the 19th century. In 1912, the Sacred Governing Synod adopted the statute of a Society of Zealots of Unity between the Eastern Orthodox and the Anglican Churches. In 1914, a Synodal Commission was established for considering interrelations with the Anglican Church. In May 1922, when Patriarch Tikhon was imprisoned, Archbishop Randall Davidson of Canterbury protested to the Soviet government against the persecution of the Church. The archbishop raised this matter twice in the parliament and urged the British government to apply pressure on the Soviet authorities (Kerson’s Note).

The relations between the Russian Church and the Church of England were strengthened by the visit of the Archbishop Cyril Garbett of York to Moscow in 1943. After the end of World War II relations between our Churches intensified and contacts became regular.

The first difficulties in relation to the Church of England emerged in 1992 when its General Synod agreed to ordain women to the priesthood. The Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church came out with an official statement expressing regret and concern over this decision as contradicting the tradition of the Early Church.

One might ask why our Church should have concerned itself at all with this matter? By the early 90s the Protestant world had already ordained many women pastors and even women bishops. But the unique point here was that the Anglican Community had long sought rapprochement with the Orthodox Church. Many Orthodox Christians recognized the existence of apostolic continuity in Anglicanism. From the 19th century, Anglican members of the Association of Eastern Churches sought ‘mutual recognition’ with the Orthodox Church and its members believed that ‘both Churches preserved the apostolic continuity and true faith in the Saviour and should accept each other in the full communion of prayers and sacraments’.

Much has changed since. The introduction of the female priesthood in the Church of England was followed by discussions on the female episcopate. In response to the positive decision made by the Church of England’s General Synod on this issue, the Department for External Church Relations published a new statement saying that this decision ‘has considerably complicated dialogue with the Anglicans for Orthodox Christians’ and ‘has taken Anglicanism farther away from the Orthodox Church and contributed to further division in Christendom as a whole’.

We have studied the preparatory documents for the decision on female episcopate and were struck by the conviction expressed in them that even if the female episcopate were introduced, ecumenical contacts with the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox Churches would not come to an end. What made the authors of these documents so certain? There was a second controversial statement. The same document argued that despite a possible cooling down in relations with Catholics and Orthodox, the Church of England would strengthen and broaden its relations with the Methodist Church and the Lutheran Churches in Norway and Sweden. In other words, the introduction of the female episcopate ‘will bring both gains and losses’. The question arises: Is not the cost of these losses too high? I can say with certainty that the introduction of the female episcopate excludes even a theoretical possibility for the Orthodox to recognize the apostolic continuity of the Anglican hierarchy.

We are also extremely concerned and disappointed by other processes that are manifesting themselves in churches of the Anglican Communion. Some Protestant and Anglican churches have repudiated basic Christian moral values by giving a public blessing to same-sex unions and ordaining homosexuals as priests and bishops. Many Protestant and Anglican communities refuse to preach Christian moral values in secular society and prefer to adjust to worldly standards.

Our Church must sever its relations with those churches and communities that trample on the principles of Christian ethics and traditional morals. Here we uphold a firm stand based on Holy Scripture.

In 2003, the Russian Orthodox Church had to suspend contact with the Episcopal Church in the USA due to the fact that this Church consecrated a self-acclaimed homosexual, Jim Robertson, as bishop. The Department for External Church Relations made a special statement deploring this fact as anti-Christian and blasphemous. Moreover, the Holy Synod of our Church decided to suspend the work of the Joint Coordinating Committee for Cooperation between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Episcopal Church in the USA, which had worked very successfully for many years. The situation was aggravated when a woman bishop was installed as head of the Episcopal Church in the USA in 2006 and a lesbian was placed on the bishop’s chair of Los Angeles in 2010.

Similar reasons were behind the rupture of our relations with the Church of Sweden in 2005 when this Church made a decision to bless same-sex “marriages”. And recently the lesbian Eva Brunne has become the “bishop” of Stockholm.

What can these churches say to their faithful and to secular society? What kind of light do they shine upon the world (cf. Mt. 5:14)? What is their ‘salt’? I am afraid the words of Christ can be applied to them: If the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men (Mt. 5:13).

We are aware of the arguments used by proponents of the above-mentioned liberal innovations. Tradition is no authority for them. They believe that to make the words of Holy Scripture applicable to modernity they have to be ‘actualized’, that is, reviewed and interpreted in an appropriate, ‘modern’ spirit. Holy Tradition is understood as an opportunity for the Church to be continually reformed and renewed and to think critically.

The Orthodox, however, have a different understanding of Holy Tradition. It is aptly expressed in the words of Vladimir Lossky: ‘Tradition is the life of the Holy Spirit in the Church – the life giving to every member of the Body of Christ the ability to hear, accept and know the Truth in its inherent shining, not in the natural light of human reason’.

It is impossible to pass silently by the liberalism and relativism which have become so characteristic of today’s Anglican theology. From the time of Archbishop Michael Ramsay of Canterbury, the Church of England saw the emergence of so-called modernism which rejected the very foundations of Christianity as a God-revealed religion. Among its most eloquent representatives was the Anglican Bishop of Woolwich, Dr. I. A. T. Robinson, the author of the sensational book Honest to God. The Bishop of Woolwich’s worldview can be described as ‘Christian atheism’. Indeed, he rejected the existence of a personal God, of the Creator of the world and of Providence. He also denied the existence of the spiritual world in general and of the future life in particular. It should be admitted that these views provoked protests on the part of some Anglican bishops, led by Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury.

It is appropriate to recall here the words of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia at the Bishops’ Conference in February 2010. Concerning the liberal novelties introduced by some Protestant communities, he stated: ‘What has happened reveals only too clearly a fundamental difference between Orthodoxy and Protestantism. The principal problem lying at the basis of this difference is that Orthodoxy safeguards the norm of apostolic faith and order as fixed in the Holy Tradition of the Church and sees as its task to actualize this norm continually for the fulfilment of pastoral and missionary tasks. On the other hand, in Protestantism the same task allows for a theological development that can remodel this same norm. Clearly, the search for doctrinal consensus, as was the case with regard to Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry in the multilateral dialogue initiated by the World Council of Churches, has lost its meaning precisely because any consensus may come under threat or may be destroyed by innovation or interpretation that will challenge the very meaning of these agreements’.

Regrettably, what His Holiness the Patriarch says about Protestantism can be applied equally to many Anglican communities. In the 19th and 20th centuries, Orthodox communities discussed seriously the recognition of Anglican priesthood based on its recognized apostolic continuity. Now we are very far from this. And the gap between the liberal Anglicans and the Orthodox keeps growing.

One of the priorities in the work of the Russian Church today is to bear witness to the eternal significance of Christian spiritual and moral values in the life of modern society. In 2000 our Church already made a considerable contribution to the systematization of Orthodox tradition in this area by adopting a Basic Social Concept and, in 2008, a Basic Teaching on Human Dignity, Freedom and Rights. Today the Church is engaged in major work to compile a Catechesis which will give a clear exposition of Christian doctrine, on the one hand, and will respond to the burning problems of today on the other.

We are not alone in our concern for the preservation of Christian values. Liberal tendencies in Protestant and Anglican communities present a challenge to those Christians and churches that have remained faithful to Gospel principles in doctrine, church order and morality. Certainly, we seek and find allies in opposing the destruction of the very essence of Christianity. One of the major tasks in our inter-Christian work today is to unite the efforts of Christians for building a system of solidarity on the basis of Gospel morality in Europe and throughout the world. Our positions are shared by the Roman Catholic Church, with which we have held numerous meetings and conferences. Together we are considering the possibility of establishing an Orthodox-Catholic alliance in Europe for defending the traditional values of Christianity. The primary aim of this alliance would be to restore a Christian soul to Europe. We should be engaged in common defense of Christian values against secularism and relativism.

Today, European countries as never before need to reinforce moral education, since its absence leads to dire consequences such as accelerating extremism, a decline in the birth rate, environmental pollution and violence. The principles of moral responsibility and of freedom should be consistently implemented in all spheres of human life – politics, economics, education, science, culture and the mass media.

We should not remain silent and look with indifference at a world that is gradually deteriorating. Rather, we should proclaim Christian morality and teach it openly not only in our churches, but also in public spaces including secular schools, universities and in the arena of the mass media. We do not presume to impose our views on anybody but we wish that our voice be heard by those who want to hear it. Unfortunately, we cannot convert the whole world to God, but we should at least make people think about the meaning of life and the existence of absolute spiritual and moral values. We are obliged to bear witness to the true faith always and everywhere so that at least some may be saved (1 Cor. 9:22).

Summing up, I wish to assert that today we have new divisions in Christendom, not only theological but also ethical. Regrettably, many Christian communities, which once maintained fraternal relations with the Orthodox Church for many years and were in dialogue with it, have shown themselves to be incapable or unwilling to assume obligations stemming from our dialogue. We accompany our reactions to these developments with assurances of respect for the right of all churches and communities to make decisions which they deem to be necessary. Yet, at the same time, we state with sadness that neither the official dialogue nor the most valuable relations and contacts in the past have kept some of our Anglican brothers and sisters from steps which have taken them even farther away from our common Christian Church Tradition.

On behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church I would like to stress that we continue to be fully committed to the dialogue with the Anglican Church and will do our utmost to keep this dialogue going. We do not betray our commitment to the dialogue. However, we feel that many of our Anglican brothers and sisters betray our common witness by departing from traditional Christian values and replacing them by contemporary secular standards. I very much hope that the official position of the Anglican Church on theological, ecclesiological and moral issues will be in tune with the tradition of the Ancient Undivided Church and that the Anglican leadership will not surrender to the pressure coming from liberals.

Our faithful cherish the memory of the visit made by the Church of England’s delegation led by Archbishop Cyril Garbett to Moscow in 1943. Then Patriarch Sergiy, who had been enthroned a few days earlier, remarked, ‘The English have come defying the dangers of travelling at a time of war and the entire insidiousness of the enemy’. Addressing himself to Archbishop Garbett, he said, ‘The old archbishop teaches us by his example to forget one’s own interests and conveniences and one’s own life when the truth of Christ and the welfare of our neighbours… call us to serve higher values’.

Today, too, we do not abandon Christian love for our Anglican brothers and sisters. We do not abandon the hope that they, who once defied every danger during the hard years of war, will share with us that trust in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which rests on the solid foundation of the faith of holy apostles, the Fathers of the Nicean Council and the tradition of the Undivided Church.

Papal Visit: Day One

2010-09-16T22:40:00.003+01:00

From Pope Benedict XVI's sermon at the mass in Scotland today:

The evangelization of culture is all the more important in our times, when a “dictatorship of relativism” threatens to obscure the unchanging truth about man’s nature, his destiny and his ultimate good. There are some who now seek to exclude religious belief from public discourse, to privatize it or even to paint it as a threat to equality and liberty. Yet religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect, leading us to look upon every person as a brother or sister.

For this reason I appeal in particular to you, the lay faithful, in accordance with your baptismal calling and mission, not only to be examples of faith in public, but also to put the case for the promotion of faith’s wisdom and vision in the public forum.

Society today needs clear voices which propose our right to live, not in a jungle of self-destructive and arbitrary freedoms, but in a society which works for the true welfare of its citizens and offers them guidance and protection in the face of their weakness and fragility.

Do not be afraid to take up this service to your brothers and sisters, and to the future of your beloved nation.

A Message from the Holy Father to all the People of the United Kingdom....

2010-09-08T16:17:00.003+01:00

As part of his general audience today, Pope Benedict XVI sent the following message to the people of the United Kingdom, in preparation for his State Visit fropm 16th - 19th September:

"I am very much looking forward to my visit to the United Kingdom in a week's time and I send heartfelt greetings to all the people of Great Britain . I am aware that a vast amount of work has gone into the preparations for the visit, not only by the Catholic community but by the Government, the local authorities in Scotland, London and Birmingham, the communications media and the security services, and I want to say how much I appreciate the efforts that have been made to ensure that the various events planned will be truly joyful celebrations. Above all I thank the countless people who have been praying for the success of the visit and for a great outpouring of God's grace upon the Church and the people of your nation.

"It will be a particular joy for me to beatify the Venerable John Henry Newman in Birmingham on Sunday 19 September. This truly great Englishman lived an exemplary priestly life and through his extensive writings made a lasting contribution to Church and society both in his native land and in many other parts of the world. It is my hope and prayer that more and more people will benefit from his gentle wisdom and be inspired by his example of integrity and holiness of life.

"I look forward to meeting representatives of the many different religious and cultural traditions that make up the British population, as well as civil and political leaders. I am most grateful to Her Majesty the Queen and to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury for receiving me, and I look forward to meeting them. While I regret that there are many places and people I shall not have the opportunity to visit, I want you to know that you are all remembered in my prayers. God bless the people of the United Kingdom !"

From the Pew Sheet...

2010-09-06T17:21:00.003+01:00

A few months ago, I had the privilege of visiting Cardinal Newman’s rooms at the Birmingham Oratory. As well as his academic library and his private chapel, they contain his private collection of books, to be kept at hand when he was thinking and writing, or simply to be read for pleasure. As well as works on philosophy, liturgy and travel, there are also novels, including most of the output of Anthony Trollope. And, even to the end of his life, he had by his side works by his Anglican friends John Keble and Dr Pusey.

As well as conscience, which we thought about last week, “development” is another of Newman’s key ideas. True and valid theological doctrines don’t change, they develop. We can distinguish between what is legitimate and faithful, and what is corruption: a teaching needs to keep the same principles, to point to what is going to happen in what has already happened, and to protect what has gone before. It needs to be strong, gathering other ideas to itself and reviving knowledge and practices which may have been forgotten, and to be part of existing Christian teaching and practice.

Many things which are not legitimate and faithful developments can seemingly be ‘justified’ by using Newman’s theory, but they always fall down somewhere or skate over difficult patches. He says the Church “moves as a whole,” as a communion rather than an ideology, and has “no right rudely to wipe out the history of centuries...” If “a grave dogmatic question was being treated merely as a move in ecclesiastical politics”, that was a very serious matter.

All of Newman’s work is concerned with investigating the “historical faith”: but even if something happens which is apparently unfaithful, for faithful Christians “remedies spring up naturally in the Church, as in nature, if we wait for them”. But what is important is development, not change: even 45 years after he came to the conclusion that he could no longer remain in the Church of England, he had the theological works of his Anglican friends and colleagues by his side. In his life, as in his thought, we see development, not change.

A thought on the impending Papal Visit....

2010-08-28T14:25:00.004+01:00

On September 16th Pope Benedict XVI will travel from Rome to Edinburgh to begin his State Visit to Scotland and England and will be greeted by Her Majesty The Queen at Holyrood Palace. This will be a truly historic and spiritual moment. The late Holy Father, John Paul II, made a Pastoral Visit to England but this will be the first ever State Visit by a Pope. Many of us can recall the hope that the visit of John Paul II gave to those of us who longed for a healing of the breach made at the Henrician Schism in England. To see the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury kneeling together in prayer in Canterbury Cathedral was a sign of much prayed for and longed for possible reconciliation.

Unfortunately that hope has been shattered by the persistent and determined taking of unorthodox decisions by the General Synod of the Church of England and the actions of individual Provinces of the Anglican “Communion.” And yet this visit once again fills many of us with hope. Yet there will be certain elements that will decry this State Visit and among them will be some extreme protest-ants who continue to peddle bigotry and hatred toward Roman Catholic Christians. So why should this visit be a source of hope?

It is a sign of hope in no small part because one thing the Holy Father will come to do is to beatify John Henry, Cardinal Newman whose holiness and learning both as an Anglican and Roman Catholic Priest is renowned, especially his teaching on ‘Conscience.’ We live in an age where there has been a continued onslaught which has weakened our hard-fought for right to obey our conscience. In part it seems likely that the Holy Father will remind us of this and a timely reminder it will be. Please pray for him.

“We may silence it, disobey it, and refuse to use it, but it remains. Conscience is the voice of God within us, alerting us to God’s presence with us.”
Cardinal Newman

From this week's pew sheet...

2010-08-15T20:19:00.002+01:00

Assumpta est Maria! Mary has been taken up into heaven, and the choirs of angels rejoice! Our Lady's Assumption is a cause of joy for us all. The Church says that "Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory". Note that there is no definitive ruling on whether we are to believe that Our Lady died or not. The CofE affirmed, in the document Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ, that the Assumption, "understood within the biblical pattern of the economy of hope and grace, can be said to be consonant with the teaching of the Scriptures and the ancient common traditions".

At the Last Supper, Our Blessed Lord tells his disciples "when I go and prepare a place for you, I wll come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also" (John 14:3). Our Lady, who is the shining example to the whole human race of what we can be, completes that example in her Assumption. When she says 'yes' to God, she can do so completely freely because of her Immaculate Conception. While Mary was free from Original Sin, we are born with it, and freed from it only through Baptism, meaning that we still feel its effects. We and Mary experience temptation: though she does not have the lingering effects of a tendency to sin, that temptation is no less real.

Everything received by Mary is promised to us. A virtuous person - someone who, by prayer and grace, comes to form the habit of acting rightly - gets close to how Our Lady's life was lived: freedom is being used properly. So, because grace beats guilt and love beats evil, if we follow Our Lord's teachimg, truth and example, we too may come to enter heavenly glory, and the angels will rejoice with us and for us! Assumpta est Maria, and with her the promise for us all!

Here is a Kyrie by Palestrina, from his Mass Assumpta est Maria:

It's rather lovely, in my opinion. If you listen to the music here, you can hear how some of the musical themes in the Kyrie are based on strains from the Motet in the second piece. This was common practice in Palestrina's time.

St.Bernard of Clairvaux....

2010-08-13T06:00:00.001+01:00

"We should seek to become reservoirs rather than canals. For a canal just allows the water to flow through it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, then it can communicate without loss to itself. In the church today, we have many canals but few reservoirs."

(St.Bernard of Clairvaux - 12th century)

Some of this week's saints

2010-08-09T16:05:00.002+01:00

The following is taken from this week's pew sheet:

This week, the Church commemorates two saints of the twentieth century. S. Teresia Benedicta of the Cross (9^th Aug.), born Edith Stein, was a Jewish convert and a gifted philosopher, who translated Newman’s Anglican writings; she became a Carmelite nun at 42. She campaigned against Nazism, but after the arrest of all Jewish converts was ordered, she was taken to Auschwitz and sent to the gas chambers. At her canonization, Pope John Paul II declared that "as a Catholic during Nazi persecution, [she] remained faithful to the crucified Lord Jesus Christ and, as a Jew, to her people in loving faithfulness".

S. Maximilian Kolbe (14^th Aug.) was a Franciscan who sheltered refugees at his friary, among them 2,000 Jews, and condemned Nazism as opposed to religious belief, the sanctity of life, and morality. He too was arrested and taken to Auschwitz. One day, a man from his barrack was thought to have escaped (he had in fact died in an accident in another part of the camp). The deputy commander ordered that ten men be starved to death as punishment. One of them cried out in fear of what would happen to his family if he were killed; Fr Kolbe asked to take his place. He was put in a starvation cell and was eventually killed by lethal injection. The man whose place he took survived to attend Fr Kolbe’s canonization.

They remind us, firstly, that in the early Church, there was only one rule, or canon, by which Christians lived: the Canon of Martyrdom, which requires us to defend our faith to the extent that we are prepared to die for love of Him Who died for love of us. Secondly, that the saints are anything but unreal plaster statues. They are ordinary people who are prepared to deny themselves and take up their cross; who allow their lives to be changed by Truth; who practise their faith wherever they have to; who will die for love of Our Blessed Lord and His Bride, the Church.

May SS Teresia and Maximilian pray for us, that we may have the courage to bear witness to the Gospel in the world, wherever we are and whatever our circumstances.

The Transfiguration of the Lord.... "It is good, Lord, for us to be hear...."

2010-08-06T15:19:00.004+01:00

Peter, James and John went up the mountain with Christ and he was transfigured before them.

"It is good, Lord, for us to be hear."

Perhaps the picture below may be fruitful in meditation and contemplation.

Building of the new Hall and Vestry wing....

2010-08-06T14:25:00.016+01:00

Progress has slipped somewhat of late. I was warned by those who had experience of builders that the completion date given can be subject to “slippage”, but there have been some days when work has not been happening that we have been promised. The result is that I have fired a rocket off (metaphorically!!) and given the builders a completion date of 28th September at the latest as Bishop Andrew is coming on the 29th to Bless it.

During the past week the type of roof tiles have been approved by the Planning Officer - this matter has been a major cause of the delay, and would you believe even though all the tiles will be fired from the same batch of clay he now wants to see samples of the ridge and corner-ridge tiles. He also wants to see a "browner" version of the stone facing so that he can make sure we have got the colour right. One person commented to me that it was like living in the Third Reich!

As you will see, from the photo's below, the roofing “felt” and initial batons have been affixed to the roof. “Felt” is technically the wrong term as what has been used is a new material that allows air to flow through it, but not moisture. It is much lighter than traditional roofing felt and yet it is also reinforced thus making it stronger. Now that the type of tiles has been approved they can be ordered and once they arrive the remaining batons will be affixed and then the addition of the tiles will finish the roof structure. Once that has taken place the scaffolding will come down and the stone facing will be affixed to the block-work.

There was also a problem with the type of windows that the Building Regulations Officer was required to insist on. Essentially there was a conflict between the regulations that are currently required on new buildings with regard to double glazing and the Planning Officers’ guidelines for listed buildings and conservation. The glazing visible from the street has to be leaded lights as the rest of the church, but to do this and have a second panel of glass on the interior to form a double glazed unit would have led to condensation between the two. At the time of going to print it looks as if this is resolved in favour of single-glazed leaded light units. This makes the manufacture of the windows much easier and less expensive and solves the problem that double glazed units would have led to.

The carpenter has been preparing for the plasterer to arrive and the electrician has been on site starting the “first fit.” The heating engineers have been on site preparing for the installation of the heating system and boiler for the new hall and vestry wing, and the reconnection of the existing church heating system.

The Conversion of England and the Future of Traditionalist Anglicans....

2010-08-04T14:18:00.005+01:00

Despite the protestations of the liberal majority in the General Synod those Anglicans that seek to be faithful to Holy Scripture and the Tradition of The Church are facing marginalisation and terminal care at best, and many see themselves as being driven out.

Fifteen orthodox Bishops have asked us to pray about the future, so concerned are they about the future of orthodox witness to the Gospel in the future. We must face the reality that some are now openly voicing, which is that there are those who seem determined to forge a new religion on the back of Anglicanism. Make no mistake: the Second Person of the Holy Trinity is under attack as never before, and His Gospel is already being re-written to conform with secular-liberal thinking.

There needs to be a future, somewhere, for Traditionalist Anglicans so that they can continue, with other faithful Christians, the urgent task of the Conversion of England. This is why the Bishops are asking us to pray.

Therefore on Thursday 26th August from 5:00pm until just before the start of the 7:30pm Mass this Thursday there will be a period of Eucharistic Adoration with the intention being "The Conversion of England and the Future of Traditionalist Anglicans." You may not be able to stay for the whole three hours (including Mass) but do try to come and pray for awhile in the Sacramental Presence of Christ for His Church and His People.

All are welcome to join us. If you are travelling along any of the major trunk roads nearby do try and join us too.

St John Mary Vianney....

2010-08-04T12:07:00.003+01:00

As Fr Daniel reminded us earlier: today is the Feast of St John Mary Vianney, Priest. Given the holiday season I am always uncertain as to whether anyone will be present to hear Mass and answer it on this Feast Day. However, there was a congregation this morning so there is a sense of satisfaction that his observance has been kept and his prayers have been sought.

On this day I can guarantee that I get a few folk assure me of their prayers.... and not a few have intimated that they hope I will continue to keep the wolves wearing mitres from the door of the sheepfold - a thing that will be easier said than done in a couple of years time. But in the meantime we continue seeking to be faithful to the Lord and his people. May St John Mary Vianney continue to pray for us all....

S. John Vianney, pray for us!

2010-08-04T07:30:00.000+01:00

Today is the feast of S. John Vianney (Jean-Marie-Baptiste Vianney, Curé d'Ars), who died in 1859 and was canonized in 1925. He is especially known as a dedicated parish priest and confessor, and miracles are associated with his priestly ministry and with his intercession. On one occasion, he consecrated his parish of Ars to Our Lady Conceived without Sin, and around the neck of her image he hung a heart, which contained the names of all his parishioners, written on a white ribbon. May his example and intercession encourage ever more and more to avail themselves of sacramental confession.

Here is his Prayer to Jesus:

I love You, O my God, and my only desire is to love You until the last breath of my life.
I love You, O my infinitely lovable God,

and I would rather die loving You, than live without loving You.

I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask is to love You eternally.

My God, if my tongue cannot say in every moment that I love You,

I want my heart to repeat it to You as often as I draw breath.

2010-08-03T23:37:00.001+01:00

Singing Nuns

2010-08-03T15:08:00.004+01:00

Today is the obit of Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, one of the finest sopranos of the last century. Click on her name to find out more.

We kept Santa Feria at mass this lunchtime, although The Times's "Saint of the Day" is given as S. Waltheof of Melrose. I wonder which calendar they use? The Catholic General Calendar of 1954 had 3rd August as "The Invention (ie the Finding of the Relics of) S. Stephen, Protomartyr. Being "House-trained", the clergy of this parish naturally have a great devotion to S. Stephen, and perhaps we should campaign for its restoration as a landmark in the life of the Universal Church. Alas, by 1962, the day had gone, and 3rd August was a Feria.

Neither Common Worship [sic] nor the Calendar of The Episcopal Church (tm) provides anything for today, although the former does offer Mary Sumner (Matron, Founder of the Mothers' Union, Niece-in-law of the last Archbishop of Canterbury to wear a wig) and William Booth (Confessor, Founder, The Salvation Army) later in the month.

Anyhow, back to Dame Elisabeth. Here is a recording of her:

She is singing an excerpt from Johann Strauss II's Casanova. As the title suggests, this is an operetta about love, intrigue and whatnot; here, Laura is trapped in a convent against her will. In the background, the nuns are asking Our Lady's prayers and, eventually, Laura and the nuns are united in their prayer. It is a musical account of wise discernment by the proper religious authority, and concludes with the offering of roses to Our Lord's Mother. What's not to like, as they say?

Translation below:

Nun's chorus:
Oh Madonna, hear our plea,
Guard our path with heaven's protection.
We in prayer now bend our knee,
Grant us mercy, Holy Marie !

Laura:
O Marie, set me free
From these cloistered walls and veil.
Pity me, let me see
Him who'll come to rescue me.
To our altar high
Roses I bring nigh,
Thanks and greetings there for you.
Make my plea come true.

Nuns and Laura together:
Laura:
You, O loved one, come, help me,
From here save me, I ask of thee.
Hear my prayer, before too late,
Oh, help me, Maria !

Nuns:
O Marie, blessed be,
Lift away her convent veil
Your mercy show, on her bestow
Her wish with pious prayer to you.

Laura:
Look to our altar high
Roses I bring nigh
Grateful thanks I give to you
Make my plea come true.

Every SINGLE Tear!

2010-07-29T01:19:00.003+01:00

In this modern, apparently much more civilised, world there are many, many people who are in fact deserted, downtrodden and seemingly forgotten. Though there is one to whom they are not forgotten, are precious and who will not desert them should they turn to Him.

The music may not be everyones taste in ecclesiastical circles but the message is the same "Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Belloc's Birthday Ballade

2010-07-27T07:30:00.000+01:00

Today is the 140th birthday of the Catholic writer Hilaire Belloc. Amongst many fine works, his Cautionary Tales for Children are gleefully gruesome. He was also (briefly) a Liberal MP. When asked by a heckler at a public meeting whether he was a 'Papist', Belloc replied, withdrawing his rosary from his pocket: "Sir, so far as possible I hear Mass each day and I go to my knees and tell these beads each night. If that offends you, then I pray God may spare me the indignity of representing you in Parliament". He won the election.

One of Belloc's most affecting pieces is the Ballade of Illegal Ornaments, written following the sort of liturgical contretemps with which students of the Catholic movement in the Church of England are very familiar. Here it is, illustrated with a picture of a Female Figure with a Child, from St Mary and St Giles.

"...the controversy was ended by His Lordship, who wrote to the Incumbent ordering him to remove from the Church all Illegal Ornaments at once, and especially a Female Figure with a Child"

When that the Eternal deigned to look
on us poor folk to make us free
he chose a Maiden, whom He took
from Nazareth in Galilee;
since when the Islands of the Sea,
the Field, the City, and the Wild
proclaim aloud triumphantly
A Female Figure with a Child.

These Mysteries profoundly shook
the Reverend Doctor Leigh, D.D.,
who therefore stuck into a Nook
(or Niche) of his Incumbency
an Image filled with majesty
to represent the Undefiled,
the Universal Mother— She—
A Female Figure with a Child.

III

His Bishop, having read a book
which proved as plain as plain could be
that all the Mutts had been mistook
who talked about a Trinity
Wrote off at once to Doctor Leigh
in manner very far from mild,
and said: “Remove them instantly!
A Female Figure with a Child!”

Envoi

Prince Jesus, in mine Agony,
permit me, broken and defiled,
through blurred and glazing eyes to see
A Female Figure with a Child.

16th Sunday of the Year, AD2010

2010-07-18T16:08:00.004+01:00

“Martha was distracted with much serving” (Luke 10.40)

Every so often, we come across a passage in the Gospels which seems to strike us as not quite right. How many of us on listening to the parable of the Prodigal Son, have thought, didn’t the elder brother have something of a point when he wondered why the fatted calf was prepared for his sibling, who had “devoured their father’s living with harlots”, when he had always done what was asked of him and never received so much as a kid-goat that he “might make merry with his friends”? As an elder brother myself, I can certainly vouch for that. And the same is, I suspect, true of the account proposed for our reflection today, namely the story of Christ at the house of Martha and Mary.

There are two reactions: either we think that it’s obvious that Mary has chosen the better portion, since she is listening rapt at the feet of our Saviour; or, we want to take up the cudgels on behalf of Martha, who is having to do all the work while everyone else gets to listen to Jesus, despite the fact that they’ll want supper afterwards, and who else is going to lay the table, and what about opening the wine, never mind warming the plates, and where’s the little wedge of cardboard that goes under the table-leg, and so on, and so on. Rudyard Kipling gave voice to this sense of unfairness in his poem Sons of Martha, putting it like this:

The Sons of Mary seldom bother,
for they have inherited that good part;

But the Sons of Martha favour their Mother
of the careful soul and the troubled heart.

And because she lost her temper once,
and because she was rude to the Lord her Guest,

Her Sons must wait upon Mary's Sons,
world without end, reprieve, or rest.

But the point that S. Luke makes, and indeed a point that our readings for today make when taken together, is not that it is wrong to worry about hospitality and material things. We have heard in two of our readings the accounts of two separate divine visitations. In both, the Lord is welcomed, but the outcomes are very different. When Abraham is visited by the Lord at the oaks of Mamre, it is entirely proper that he runs from his tent, despite the heat of the day, and puts himself, his wife, his staff and his goods at the disposal of his visitors. He, like Martha, whose name means “the Mistress”, is in charge of the household, and performs those tasks of selection and direction which are his to perform. The problem with Martha is in her distraction: as the Authorized Version has it, she was “cumbered about much serving”. Instead of achieving a proper balance between what she was doing and how she was to do it, she had strayed into form at the expense of content, into doing at the expense of being. Mary, having Our Lord in her midst, and sitting at his feet, had recognized that listening to his word is – or should be – the most important thing in our lives.

If we want to say, as the hymn puts it, “come, risen Lord, and deign to be our guest”, the story of Mary and Martha serves to remind us that there is a proper balance between being and doing which we have to achieve in order fully and worthily to receive our risen Lord. And Martha does eventually learn, and so there is hope for all of us! When she again encounters Jesus after the death of her brother Lazarus, as John’s Gospel tells us, yes, it is she who goes out first to meet him while Mary stays at home, telling him “If you had been here, my brother would not have died”; and yes, she engages him in this, somewhat forthright, conversation. But despite all this, it is to her alone that Our Lord speaks those words which have touched and will touch so many of us: I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And after this, she goes and tells her sister Mary that ‘the Teacher is here and is calling for you’”. John underlines that she says this, perhaps uncharacteristically, “quietly”.

Mary and Martha are often used as examples of the contemplative and active sides of Christian life respectively: that is, Mary is like those who are called to the religious life of prayer and contemplation, and Martha like those who are called to be Christians in the world of work, of activity, of apostolate. But as in all things there needs to be balance. Perhaps paradoxically, it’s in a monastic context, in the Rule of St Benedict, where this combination of action and contemplation is made explicit: in Chapter 35, which is On the Weekly Servers in the Kitchen, Benedict writes

Let the brethren serve one another, and let no one be excused from the kitchen service except by reason of sickness or occupation in some important work. For this service brings increase of reward and of charity. But let helpers be provided for the weak ones, that they may not be distressed by this work; and indeed let everyone have help, as required by the size of the community or the circumstances of the locality.

But there is another aspect which I want to bring to our attention. Those of us who prepare ourselves to make our confession according to old-fashioned books like The Manual of Catholic Devotion will know that “have I been distracted at Mass” is one of the questions we are to ask ourselves. Martha was “distracted with much serving”, and there are all kinds of things which can distract us at Mass, both in the sung festivity of Solemn Mass on a Sunday, and also in the quieter, more reflective atmosphere of a weekday Low Mass. External observations and internal thoughts put just as much ‘white noise’ between us and Our Lord as the clatter of pots and pans.

So what can we do about it? Fallible and weak human beings that we are, the achievement of perfect concentration on these Sacred Mysteries is not something given to us all all of the time, and nor should we expect it to be. But what we can do is to try to focus our attention on a part of the Mass, and really try to pray along with it. In that moment, we can make Christ the centre of our lives and perhaps see, in that fleeting minute, how the whole of our lives ought to be.

One of the privileges I have as a deacon is to assist the priest at the offertory. As part of that, I prepare the chalice with the wine to be consecrated. The wine is poured in, and a drop of water is added, while I say quietly “by the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share our humanity”.

Here, I think, and this is especially true at a said Mass, is one of those moments where we can work at that active contemplation. We know that throughout the Scriptures, and especially in Revelation, water represents the peoples of the earth. So, in mingling water with wine, we have a representation of the union between the faithful and Christ our Head. Then, at the offertory, our sacrifices, as weak and frail as they are, are united with the sacrifice of Christ in the Mass; they blend with the wine and are consecrated with it, and so we receive a share of the Sacrifice of Calvary in which the Precious Blood and Water of Life pour forth inexhaustibly for our redemption.

July is traditionally designated the ‘Month of the Precious Blood’. So, what better time could there be than to apply our minds to this great mystery and to this great task. This is only one way in which we can add our drop of water to the wine of Christ’s sacrifice. In this way, we can come to be released from those worldly cares which can obscure our concentration on Our Lord and ultimately, as the Gospel teaches us S. Martha did, we can come to realize that a life of true sacrifice is a life of true joy, and a life of true service is a life of perfect freedom.

First Post and some more Photos

2010-07-09T21:51:00.003+01:00

It's a great pleasure to be able to launch my first post as a writer for this blog. My first week in the parish has been busy but joyful, and it has been very good mental gymnastics trying to remember everyone's names. Forget Sudoku and cryptic crosswords - becoming an assistant curate will keep your brain active...

Thanks to the indefatigable activities of my esteemed colleague James Bradley, who is writing for S. John's Sevenoaks's blog, there are some more photographs available of the ordination. Go to his flickr page to see more. There are also some snaps of another colleague, Fr Michael Childs, now assistant curate of Swinton, in the diocese of Sheffield.

NB Thanks to Fr James Wilkinson and to ACS for the High Mass set and concelebration chasubles respectively, and to S. Stephen's House for the pontifical dalmatic.

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet flanked by the churchwardens of the parishes.

Concelebrants.

Prostration during the Litany of the Saints.

The Vesting: on the left, Fr Ross, and on the right, Fr D. Lloyd senior.

View across the nave while Fr Dexter Bracey and I prepare the altar.

During the Canon.

Ordination of Daniel Lloyd as Deacon in the Church of God....

2010-07-03T19:10:00.021+01:00

This morning at 11:00am as the Church bell struck Stony Stratford Parish Church was approached by a Procession across the Market Square in which Servers led Daniel Lloyd (accompanied by the Archdeacon and Area Director of Ordinands, fifteen Concelebrants, four Churchwardens, a Deacon, the Bishop and a Church Army Sister acting as Bishop's Chaplain) to, what the Bishop referred to in his Homily, as his demotion from the priesthood of all believers to that of slave.

Ninety minutes of worship later the newly ordained Deacon was led back across the Market Square in the parish in which he is to serve. There followed a reception in the church in which the usual speeches and presentations were made - including a presentation of a bicycle so that Fr Daniel can get around the parish!

It was a splendid occasion with many visitors from far and wide - and some surprising sights were not to be missed, e.g. Stephen Parkinson with a glass of orange juice!

Further reports on the building of new Hall....

2010-07-02T11:36:00.017+01:00

As you will see from the photographs below the block work has been in the process of being constructed , although there was a hold-up one day for three hours when a Building Regulations Inspector wanted the damp membrane put in such a position that damp would have entered the building. Mercifully, he was eventually persuaded of the error he had made................!!

The gas supply has been repositioned to enter the new hall in line with the position of the new boiler room. While the gas supply was being re-routed the block work was held up as scaffolding is needed on site and gas engineers will not work on site if there is scaffolding in situ. So while the gas work was taking place the builders started to erect the interior walls to form the new vestry, toilets, storerooms and boiler room.

Over the last few weeks the building of the block work has proceeding apace and the lintels for the windows and doorways are now in situ.

I have been asked about the finish to the new building and can assure everyone that it will be stone clad. Each of the spaces for windows will have the same style as the high street end of the building with stone reveals to both window apertures and doors. At some point shortly the planning officers will return to the site to approve the choice of stone finishing and the roof tiles. The stone work to create the door and window frames is being carved in Messrs Rattee & Ketts workshop and will arrive on site rather like a jigsaw puzzle to be put together and affixed in situ.

As of 2nd July the builders have completed the block work. This means that external and internal walls are now complete (except for the stone facing). Next week the steel girders will be put in situ and on Wednesday (7th) the roof trusses are due to arrive and roofing will start shortly thereafter. The stone work which will finish the exterior appearance of the building will not be affixed until the roof is finished and the scaffolding has been removed. This is in order that the stone is not damaged by workmen ferrying things up and down ladders or by the taking down of the scaffolding.

Once the roof is on and the building is watertight the first internal fixing can take place—that is all the wiring and pipe-work etc that will be situated behind the plasterwork. I am told by the site foreman, Mr Geoff Quinsee, that once the plasterwork is done the building will look very dark and smaller internally and this will be the case until the decoration takes place when it will look bigger again. I took a visitor into the site this week and he remarked that the hall looked small from Church Street, but in reality was a ‘Tardis’!

Ordination of Daniel Lloyd as Deacon in the Church of God....

2010-07-02T08:08:00.002+01:00

Tomorrow, the Feast of St Thomas the Apostle sees the Ordination of Daniel Lloyd as Deacon in the Church of God at 11:00am in St Mary & St Giles by Andrew, Bishop of Ebbsfleet.

This week has seen much activity as we prepare for tomorrow and what we hope will be a splendid day for us all, especially for Daniel and his wife, Alex. Please pray for them both and for the Parish as we, once more, prepare to have an Assistant Curate with us.

"Servant Song" by Donna Marie McGargill....

2010-06-27T23:33:00.001+01:00

Propers for Blessed John Henry Newman, Priest....

2010-06-23T08:34:00.002+01:00

BLESSED JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST

From the Common of Pastors: For One Pastor

COLLECT

O God, who bestowed on the Priest Blessed John Henry Newman
the grace to follow your kindly light and find peace in your Church;
graciously grant that, through his intercession and example,
we may be led out of shadows and images
into the fulness of your truth.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Divine Office:

BLESSED JOHN HENRY NEWMAN, PRIEST

Born in London in 1801, he was for over twenty years an Anglican clergyman and Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. His studies of the early Church led him progressively towards Catholicism, and in 1845 he embraced “the one true fold of the Redeemer”. In 1847 he was ordained priest and went on to found the Oratory of St Philip Neri in England. He was a prolific and influential writer on a variety of subjects. In 1879 he was created Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. Praised for his humility, unstinting care of souls and contributions to the intellectual life of the Church, he died in Birmingham on 11 August 1890.

From the Common of Pastors, with the psalms of the day.

Office of Readings

SECOND READING

From the writings of Blessed John Henry Newman, Priest

(Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Chapter V: Position of My Mind since 1845, London 1864, pp. 238-239, 250-251)

It was like coming into port after a rough sea.

From the time that I became a Catholic, of course I have no further history of my religious opinions to narrate. In saying this, I do not mean to say that my mind has been idle, or that I have given up thinking on theological subjects; but that I have had no variations to record, and have had no anxiety of heart whatever. I have been in perfect peace and contentment; I never have had one doubt. I was not conscious to myself, on my conversion, of any change, intellectual or moral, wrought in my mind. I was not conscious of firmer faith in the fundamental truths of Revelation, or of more self-command; I had not more fervour; but it was like coming into port after a rough sea; and my happiness on that score remains to this day without interruption.

Nor had I any trouble about receiving those additional articles, which are not found in the Anglican Creed. Some of them I believed already, but not any one of them was a trial to me. I made a profession of them upon my reception with the greatest ease, and I have the same ease in believing them now. I am far of course from denying that every article of the Christian Creed, whether as held by Catholics or by Protestants, is beset with intellectual difficulties; and it is simple fact, that, for myself, I cannot answer those difficulties. Many persons are very sensitive of the difficulties of Religion; I am as sensitive of them as any one; but I have never been able to see a connexion between apprehending those difficulties, however keenly, and multiplying them to any extent, and on the other hand doubting the doctrines to which they are attached. Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt, as I understand the subject; difficulty and doubt are incommensurate. There of course may be difficulties in the evidence; but I am speaking of difficulties intrinsic to the doctrines themselves, or to their relations with each other. A man may be annoyed that he cannot work out a mathematical problem, of which the answer is or is not given to him, without doubting that it admits of an answer, or that a certain particular answer is the true one. Of all points of faith, the being of a God is, to my own apprehension, encompassed with most difficulty, and yet borne in upon our minds with most power.

People say that the doctrine of Transubstantiation is difficult to believe; I did not believe the doctrine till I was a Catholic. I had no difficulty in believing it, as soon as I believed that the Catholic Roman Church was the oracle of God, and that she had declared this doctrine to be part of the original revelation. It is difficult, impossible, to imagine, I grant;—but how is it difficult to believe? …

I believe the whole revealed dogma as taught by the Apostles, as committed by the Apostles to the Church, and as declared by the Church to me. I receive it, as it is infallibly interpreted by the authority to whom it is thus committed, and (implicitly) as it shall be, in like manner, further interpreted by that same authority till the end of time. I submit, moreover, to the universally received traditions of the Church, in which lies the matter of those new dogmatic definitions which are from time to time made, and which in all times are the clothing and the illustration of the Catholic dogma as already defined. And I submit myself to those other decisions of the Holy See, theological or not, through the organs which it has itself appointed, which, waiving the question of their infallibility, on the lowest ground come to me with a claim to be accepted and obeyed. Also, I consider that, gradually and in the course of ages, Catholic inquiry has taken certain definite shapes, and has thrown itself into the form of a science, with a method and a phraseology of its own, under the intellectual handling of great minds, such as St Athanasius, St Augustine, and St Thomas; and I feel no temptation at all to break in pieces the great legacy of thought thus committed to us for these latter days.

RESPONSORY Ephesians 3:7, 10; John 16:13

R. Of this Gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace which was given me by the working of his power,* that through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known.

V. When the Spirit of Truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

R. That through the Church the manifold wisdom of God might be made known.

PRAYER

O God, who bestowed on the Priest Blessed John Henry Newman the grace to follow your kindly light and find peace in your Church; graciously grant that, through his intercession and example, we may be led out of shadows and images into the fulness of your truth. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

ROME REPORTS TV News Agency - The oldest portraits of Sts. Andrew, John and Paul discovered

2010-06-23T08:28:00.001+01:00

ROME REPORTS TV News Agency - The oldest portraits of Sts. Andrew, John and Paul discovered

Archbishops' Proposed Amendments on women in the episcopate....

2010-06-21T12:27:00.003+01:00

The Archbishops of Canterbury & York have today issued a Statement "General Synod Draft Legislation: Women in the Episcopate" which can be seen at:

http://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/2909

Forward in Faith has issed a brief Statement warmly welcoming the Archibishops' Proposed Amendments to the Draft Legislation before the General Synod in July, which can be seen at:

http://www.forwardinfaith.com/artman/publish/article_509.shtml

There are those who are rushing to comment on this and certain elements would seem to be pursuing a path that will hardly leave to a "parting of friends" as exemplified by Newman and Pusey.

The full details of these amendments have yet to be released and the Gadarene rush to opine would seem precipitous at best. We should pray for the Archbishops and be thankful to them for trying at least to find a way out of the logjam.

Different paths.... different footprints....

2010-06-18T20:12:00.001+01:00

Papal Visit....

2010-06-07T23:26:00.003+01:00

There is much angst amongst 'certain elements' regarding the Papal Visit this September and yet all Christians concerned with Mission and Evangelisation should be pleased that this holy and learned Pope is going to visit our land.

We live in times where we have had deliberate and concerted efforts on the part of those 'certain elements' to remove the Christian Faith from public life and we have even seen Ministers of the Crown state that the UK is a secular nation seemingly forgetting that the Monarch they serve swore to uphold the Christian Faith at her Coronation.

This Papal Visit as well as being a 'State Visit' will also be a Mission to Scotland and England. The Christian Faith will for four days take centre stage in the news. There will undoubtedly be those who wish to protest against this Visit, many for spurious reasons, but no right-thinking person would wish to suppress peaceful and polite dissent. Yet this Visit will allow a much wider audience to hear the Gospel of Christ from a such a learned and renowned Teacher of The Faith, and therefore it should be welcomed by all Christians.

The following promotional video is worth watching:

New Hall - Recent Works....

2010-06-04T23:58:00.012+01:00

As I reported last time there have been one or two hold ups to the building of our new hall. However, his week has seen some significant progress culminating with today's casting of the slab. As from Monday building work proper can begin and we will really begin to notice work taking place. Just prior to the concrete arriving this morning we placed inside steel mesh artifacts to mark this as an ecclesial building. The images above show the works that have taken place over the past two weeks to form the shuttering, the steel mesh and finally the casting of the slab today.

Juggernaut approaching....

2010-05-27T11:36:00.003+01:00

As reaaders may have read elsewhere on the Blogosphere the Episcopal (Anglican) Church in the USA has yet again ignored the Archbishop of Canterbury's pleading that they do nothing that would further break the bonds of unity. In the past this has led to the consecration of a man who had left his wife for another man and which consecration took place while he was in an openly homosexual relationship, and last week the consecration of a woman in an openly lesbian relationship took place.

These two events have broken the communion of the Anglican Communion to a degree that many of us can only be confused and scandalised by.

To make matters worse last week's "consecration" included as part of its opening ceremonies pagan rituals, ancestor worship, various non-Christian 'religious' dancing groups and references to Mother Earth. These can be seen by following the following link:

http://www.standfirminfaith.com/?/sf/page/26102

If you let the video run and then the next section will load automatically.

For a very good informative analysis of this tragedy visit:

http://gkupsidedown.blogspot.com/2010/05/mary-glasspool-ordained-as-episcopagan.html

As many of you know I have long warned that, in England, we often only a few years behind the USA and it has to be said that the excesses of the Episcopal Church in the USA have already begun to influence our own Church of England. What you will see in this video has nothing to do with the
Christian Faith and is demonstrative of what St Gregory sent St Augustine to this land to save us from, namely: pagan worship.

Of digging, archaeologists and beginning to lay the foundation....

2010-05-23T22:09:00.009+01:00

A few folk have sent messages wanting to know progress on the new hall. Here are a few pictures which show the digging out of the old foundations (including the old coal boiler house beneath the demolished part of the building - this was covered over in the 1960's).

We are a couple of weeks behind schedule and this is due to archaeologists being on site and the Building Regulations Officer wanting the footings deeper than planned by our architect and agreed by Planning Officers. However, thankfully the extra cost of the deeper footings has been offset by the fact that the Building Regulations Officer is more than happy that the churchyards existing drains can cope with the new building's requirements. That means we haven't got to dig out into the road which will save us a tidy sum.

Looking at these photographs it would seem that the Hall we are building is really small, but when I stood at the other end where the door into the hall will be from the church it gives a much larger perspective. The builders tell me that when the raft foundation is laid next week we shall think it quite large, then when the walls go up it looks big outside but small inside, then when the plasterwork goes on inside it looks even smaller, but then when it is decorated it will look much bigger. In metric the hall will be 10.1 by 6.3 metres, and in proper measurements that is roughly 36 x 22 foot.

The next series of photographs at the end of this week should show the gradual building of the raft foundation which has several layers to it. There will be an L-shaped trench for the new heating pipes to connect the existing church system up to the new boiler and eventually we will get to the point where the underfloor heating system is laid and the final layer put on. Then the building starts - and I am promised quite dramatic progress.

The remaining part of the building at the east end that has not been demolished is to be retained and incorporated into the new building. That part is 1891 by the local architect Swinfen-Harris and the style on the exterior of that is to be replicated on the new part.

Statements issued by Anglican Mainstream and others....

2010-05-16T23:41:00.001+01:00

Statement from Anglican Mainstream following the consecration of Mary Glasspool as Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles, USA
www.anglican-mainstream.net

In her letter to the Primates, the Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church (TEC) Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, confirmed that the consecration of the openly gay Mary Glasspool is not a random event but comes from the settled mind of her church. Sadly, this shows that TEC has now explicitly decided to walk apart from most of the rest of the Communion.

Since that decision by TEC has to be respected, it should result in three consequences. First, TEC withdrawing, or being excluded from the Anglican Communion's representative bodies. Second, a way must be found to enable those orthodox Anglicans who remain within TEC to continue in fellowship with the Churches of the worldwide Communion. Third, the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) should now be recognized an authentic Anglican Church within the Communion.

Dr Philip Giddings, Convenor,

Canon Dr Chris Sugden Executive Secretary, Anglican Mainstream

Demolition in progress....

2010-05-08T19:10:00.009+01:00

Well... the work has begun after ten years of talking about the vision, of drawing up plans, obtaining Planning Consent and Faculties, and of talking about the plans to the wider parish.

The fencing goes up, the scaffolding goes up, the portaloo arrives, some of the stained glass windows are boarded over for protection and not a murmur is heard from anyone walking past. The the roof tiles start coming off and it starts: "What are you doing?" "Who said you could do that?" By the end of the first week the demolition men had decided to fence the questions in typical fashion: "Oh, don't you know? This is just the first phase. The church is next as the foundations have been crumbling for years. We replacing it with a portacabin." It seems that some souls actually believed them.

But here are a few pictures of the demolition of our former vestry wing in progress. The last picture shows the demolition of the building almost complete as the far section is being kept and incorporated into the new building. On Monday the archaeologist arrives as the footings are dug for the foundations. Once she is satisfied the raft foundation can be laid, and once that is dry building can commence.

Fear....

2010-05-08T18:24:00.010+01:00

So the Revision Committee on women in the Episcopate (or at least that portion of the Committee that cannot accept Catholic Faith and Order) has published its Report.

Of course, there has been consultation. However, we all know that in all likelihood, that consultation exercise like all others is but a milksop to disguise the fact that those in the positions of influence have already made their minds up.

Now we have to acknowledge that within the Church of England Traditionalists are in a minority and that the majority (the Progressives) want this innovation to be introduced and want it to succeed. What I cannot understand though is why the Progressives would want to be rid of Christians with whom they disagree on what the Progressives themselves keep telling us is 'a second degree issue.' If indeed it is a 'second degree issue' why can there not be a compromise that keeps Traditionalists within the Church of England?

Why also are 'certain elements' determined to portray Traditionalists as being akin to racists or anti-Semite's? The simplistic thinking behind such unintelligent remarks is that Traditionalists are anti-women and therefore misogynists - but how come the ladies in the priesthood who complain about their treatment at the hands of men all work with men who are supposedly in favour of their 'ministry?' For the past 16 years traditionalist parishes have not been persecuting women as, by and large, they have kept themselves to themselves - so who is mistreating them? At a meeting of Area/Rural Deans and Lay Chairs of Deanery Synods following the debacle that was the General Synod of July 2008 there was complaint after complaint about traditionalists and their parishes and yet the Area Dean and Lay Chair here in Milton Keynes did not recognise what they were talking about as their experience of Traditionalist Parishes and Clergy was nothing like what they were hearing. In virtually every case those complaints were from Area Deans and Lay Chairs who did not have a Traditionalist Parish within their Deaneries. Which tells us a lot about being labelled and vilified. If women are being mistreated - then at whose hands are they being mistreated? Could it be at the hands and through the mouths of those who, while publicly advocating their cause, cannot cope with the strain of having to do so in the vain hope of preferment?

If the Progressives are so convinced of their arguments why are they so afraid of a minority of Christians in the Church of England? If we are forced out, that is unChurched, who will they then blame when the ladies complain of being mistreated. Will the next minority please look out!

If the General Synod passes the Revision Committees Report without significant amendment/s that will maintain Traditionalist Parishes and Clergy within the Church of England then the consequences are dire, and not only for the Traditionalists.

Anglicanorum Coetibus Conference - Audio Files....

2010-04-26T12:57:00.001+01:00

Readers may listen to the addresses of the Anglicanorum Coetibus Conference held at Pusey House, Oxford last Saturday by following this link: http://www.theanglocatholic.com/2010/04/anglicanorum-coetibus-conference-presentations/

Pensions....

2010-04-24T18:28:00.004+01:00

My brother priest Fr David Elliot has been writing about Clergy Pensions on his blog: http://htreading.blogspot.com/

It is often said that clergy must accept that everyone is having to face reduced pensions, but with respect they are not all starting from such a low base, and clergy actually face increased costs and outgoings in retirement what with the loss of the guarantee to house us after retirement - on that basis one understood that the Pension would be lower. In any case the argument is a red herring for surely the Church of all organisations should be looking after its servants and in so doing setting an example for other Pension Funds to follow.

I don't mind sharing with the readers of this blog my response to the so called "consultation" from the Pensions' Board:

"I think these are a series of reprehensible proposals. On entering ministry in the Church of England as a Lay Worker I was told not to worry about pension and housing in retirement as I would be looked after. On that basis I understood that while my stipend was lower that what I could have expected had I continued in secular employment I did not need to worry about not having enough to live on in retirement.

I was subsequently ordained and within a year we were told that the Pensions Board could no longer guarantee to house us upon retirement. About five years ago now the age at which I would need to retire to gain the maximum pension allowed under the scheme was increased and now you propose to increase it again while claiming that monies for the pension scheme are not available.

I find it scandalous that the Church of England can be so cavalier in its attitude towards its servants. It has plenty of money for grandiose schemes such as "Fresh Expressions" - in 2006 the Church Commissioners gave £70 Million Pounds in addition to what it normally gives the Church of England for this "scheme" - that would have been put to better use in so many other ways. Although from what I read of the administration of OUR pension scheme I fear it would have been similarly badly invested.

At the age of 52 I have little chance of being able to recoup the loses to my pension and lump sum that you are robbing me of, as there are not enough years to be paying in adequate sums into a Stakeholder Pension.

If the House of Clergy and Bishops in the General Synod vote in favour of these proposals then they should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves; for the Bishops will certainly have lost the confidence of those they ordained and are supposed to be "Fathers in God" to; and the House of Clergy will prove that they are a craven bunch who exist in the vain hope of preferment.

The remedy lies in the Church Commissioners investing properly in pensions and giving a lead to the nation in the care it affords the Church of England’s servants; and with the Pensions Board who if they cannot manage the assets and investments more prudently and successfully should resign."

Anglican Patrimony....

2010-04-24T18:12:00.002+01:00

This is one of those terms that has vexed people of faith ever since the Holy Father issued his Apostolic Constitution "Anglicanorum Coetibus."

"What is Anglican Patrimony?" many ask. Today at Pusey House a substantial number of people (and grey heads were certainly not overwhelming the total) gathered to hear Professor Eamon Duffy speak on "Anglican Patrimony: A Catholic historian's perspective"; Canon Robin Ward spoke on "The Anglican Tradition of Moral Theology"; Fr Philip North CMP spoke on "The Church of England: Parochial and Pastoral"; and Fr David Ackerman spoke on "Canon Law: A comparative study."

Lively questions followed each Lecture and we certainly came away thinking more deeply about what is distinctive about our Patrimony and what might be exportable. However, I was left wondering whether what Anglo-Catholics regard as distinctive about Anglican Patrimony certainly in terms of pastoral care and mission would be fairly indistinguishable outside of these Islands within the Roman Catholic Church? But of course, this day was extremely valuable for making us all ask questions like that of ourselves.

There is the possibility of another day to consider other subjects... I hope that comes to fruition, and if you couldn't come to this one... do try and come to the next one.

Major Developments....

2010-04-19T23:18:00.003+01:00

Of late I have not been blogging much.... it has basically been down to priorities and pressure of work. Throughout Lent despite the best efforts to deflect people's attention from Christ and Holy Mother Church by 'certain elements' in the national media at Stony Stratford we have seen quite remarkable numbers at Mass throughout Lent, Holy Week and Easter.

Perhaps Oscar Wilde was correct when he said something along the lines of 'the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.' Of course, it is also said that there is no such thing as bad publicity and the very sloppy accusations being bandied about by certain elements and apparent reputable journalists may be rebounding against them. But whatever the aim of such 'elements' has been the effect seems to have been the opposite to what they have tried to claim. Easter Day saw out highest attendance at Mass for many years and what was interesting was the very high number of non-Communicants and the large number of new faces that we are seeing more regularly. Now I have to be careful here because the downside could be that the Deanery will want the Parish Share to go up!!

And there is so much happening at St Mary & St Giles over the next few months: we have the Ordination of Daniel Lloyd to the Diaconate to look forward to on the 3rd July; the wonderful Solemnities and Feasts of Eastertide and the early part of the resumption of Ordinary Time; some excellent musical recitals and concerts; and today saw the commencement of the building of our new Church Hall which will adjoin the Parish Church.

This morning in what seemed like co-ordinated waves Messrs Rattee and Kett from Cambridge arrived at the Parish Church. The foreman arrived before anyone else, followed by electricians and plumbers to decommission the boiler and the gas and electric supply to the current vestry wing (which will be partially demolished, extended and rebuilt to form a new hall and ancillary rooms). They were followed by a delivery of wooden posts and panels to protect the parish church interior from dust where the present vestry wing adjoins it. Then came the workmen's kit for their mess room including a refrigerator and a microwave! Then a van rolled up with the safety fencing to prevent the public from gaining access to the building site and finally came the workmen's portaloo - by which time they probably needed it! And while all this was going on the Divine Office was said, Mass was celebrated and then our Parents and Toddler Group met in church. The Town Council Clerk kindly provided the workmen with maps of the town showing all the car parks so the 'parking monitors' don't give them tickets, and had got so excited earlier that he had emailed all the Town Councillors to inform them that the work had at last started. People stopped and stared in the street presumably wondering what was happening and whether the church was being demolished, but so far no phone calls or emails to ask what is going on - so the publicity machine must have worked quite well.

Tomorrow sees the arrival of the scaffolding in preparation for the commencement of the partial demolition on Wednesday.

At the top of this blog post there are two pictures one of the Servers processing past the present Vestry Wing and the other of the Architect's drawing of the new hall building. Watch this space as regular updates will follow.

Lobbying Political Candidates....

2010-04-07T18:39:00.003+01:00

A national Christian Initiative that we could all surely sign is the 'Westminster 2010 Declaation of Christian Conscience' : http://www.westminster2010.org.uk/

A more local initiative by the Local Ecumencial Partnership is a husting in each of constituencies covering Milton Keynes. Details are as follows:

Panel A
MK North Tuesday 27th April 7.30 pm at St. Andrews Church , Parklands, Great Linford MK14 5AU with

Mark Lancaster Con

Andrew Pakes Lab Coop

Jill Hope Lib Dem

Alan Francis Green

Michael Phillips UKIP

and:

Panel B
MK South on Sunday 25th April 7.30 pm at Christ the King, Frithwood Crescent, Kents Hill MK7 6HQ with

Phyllis Starkey Lab

Iain Stewart Con

Peter Jones Lib Dem

Suzanne Nti Christian Peoples

Phillip Pinto UKIP

Katrina Deacon Green

The meetings will be chaired by Mary Cotes . If you would like to put a question to either panel please submit it to the Mission Partnership Office in writing either by e-mail or letter and indicating which panel it is intended for by Monday 19th April. Everyone is welcome to come along to these meetings.

Penny Warburton
Mission Partnership
Christian Foundation
The Square Aylesbury Street
Wolverton
MK12 5HX
E-mail: missionpartnership@talktalk.net

Of the past week and Regeneration Project News....

2010-04-04T23:33:00.003+01:00

Blog posts have been impossible during Holy Week due to the amount of parish commitments and I have only just uploaded the final reflections on the Stations of the Cross. Our Sacristan was ill and this has led to a greater appreciation of all that he does on our behalf. Needless to say after lunch today I was comatose!!!

Holy Week and Easter has been very well attended at St Mary & St Giles and as usual we oberserved a very full Holy Week and Easter which was not spolit despite the best efforts of the television and newspaper campaigns with their now not so hidden agenda of trying to break the Church so that they can enjoy their own predilictions without anyone to remind them of that little three letter word beginning with "S." On the BBC early this morning I was unsuprised to see two commentators that had been lined up to spout the agreed line that the problems the church faced with child abuse should also lead to the Satte refusing the Church an opt out on "equality matters." I notice that St Peter's Square in Rome was as packed as usual, the Churches and Cathedrals of Ireland and of churches throughout the world still had many people attending Mass while apparently last Sunday Mr Tachell's motley crew could only muster 30 odd folk.

Now in writing all that no one should be under any illusion that the sexual abuse of children by priests, religious and lay workers is nothing less than totally abhorrent, but like many I am sick and tired of "certain elements" trying to run with a story of their own making on the back of such a terrible thing to happen to young people. It is also most interesting that only one denomination is being targetted - none have run with the story of an Anglican priest in Wales who was jailed last week, which makes talk of "lost all credibility" all the more regrettable. In reality "certain elements" will not be happy until they have the scapegoat they want: that is, the person they have loathed from the moment he was elected to office.

Back to the Liturgy:

As usual a very high turn out on Good Friday with over 120 at the Liturgy and this morning there were over 260 at the Parish Mass, Renewal of Baptismal Promises and Blessing of the Easter Garden. After Mass the children enjoyed an Easter Egg hunt and the older "young" people had their own in the churchyard.

I was able to announce this morning that last Wednesday I had a site meeting with Messrs Rattee & Kett (our Contractors) and our Architect regarding the building of the new hall. The Churchwardens and I have agreed that work will start on the building of the new hall on April 19th – assuming all goes well and we have no hold ups we have a projected completion date of September 3rd 2010.

In preparation for this copies of the Faculty have been sent to our Architect, Julian Limentani, and to the Contractors; and I have completed the first section of our Insurer’s Building Works Form and sent it on to the Architect for completion as this will make sure that we are completely covered for the duration of the works. Once the extension is completed the Church shall, in all probability, have to be reassessed for insurance value and premium purposes. But we shall finally have the hall attached to the Parish Church which is what we all desired for many years. I shall be posting regular updates on the building of the new hall as it develops.

Homilies on the Stations of the Cross AD 2010 - Good Friday....

2010-04-04T23:26:00.005+01:00

Today we reflect upon the last three Stations, or incidents, that occurred on this final phase of the journey that Jesus undertook on our behalf.

XII. Jesus dies on the Cross

Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun's light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, and said, "Certainly this man was innocent!"

Here in this Station we see breath leaving the body of Christ as he breathes his last. We see his flesh grow pale and lifeless as he actually dies. It may seem strange to say that he “actually dies”, but his actual death upon the Cross is important to Christians as some try to explain the resurrection by saying that he only appeared to die on the Cross. But the Scriptures are all quite clear that he actually died.

A darkness that could almost be felt was over all the land for three hours indicating that something of supreme importance is taking place. Cloud covered the mountain when Moses spoke with God and cloud covered Mount Tabor when Jesus was transfigured. But this is real darkness, not simply cloud cover and this serves to place a new emphasis on the rupture in the curtain of the Temple. The curtain was placed before the Holy of holies and only the High Priest could enter this sacred windowless, dark place once a year. It was here that God’s People met with God and where they came to know him. That curtain is now torn and light shines in to the Holy of holies for the focus has shifted to the life of Christ, for it is in that life that God is now known.

And that life has been completely poured out for all mankind as he breathes his last. The final act of Christ on the Cross is a real last breathing out in which he completely pours himself out for mankind. He empties himself on our behalf. At his incarnation he had “emptied himself, taking the form of a servant” now he empties himself completely so that his life is completely spent on achieving our salvation.

At this Station may we come to learn the danger of pride and learn to let go our selfishness. May we come to learn how to serve one another and the world with Christ, sharing in his mission of redemption.

XIII. The Body of Jesus is taken down from the Cross

Luke 24:50 Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathe'a. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, 51 who had not consented to their purpose and deed, and he was looking for the kingdom of God. 52 This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; 56 then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Here in this Station we see good and holy people expressing their love and respect for the Body of the one who was their whole life. Corpus Christi – the Body of Christ – is taken down from the Cross and is placed in his mother’s arms. But look at the care shown in these few verses of Scripture. Joseph of Arimathea has to “ask” for the Body of Jesus. In so doing he risked his life for, from what we know of Pilate’s temperament, he was not a man known for his even temperament. Joseph took the body down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid it in a new tomb. We see that the Body of Jesus was treated with respect, love and devotion. Indeed, the women spent the next day preparing spices in preparation for completing the burial rites.

Contrast this behaviour with how people’s bodies are treated today even when they are alive never mind dead. A society which does not afford the living respect can hardly be expected to show respect to the dead. A society which defines life simply by beauty, productivity, celebrity or notoriety lives only for the present, and has little concept of the real value of human life.

If the Body of Jesus, our Lord and God was treated with such respect when dead, rather than being simply disposed of then why do we mistreat our own bodies and laud the so called, and sometimes extreme, “cosmetic surgery” that so many disfigure themselves with in our present age? We live in a society where scant respect is shown for the dead and so human life when alive is cheapened and degraded. Human life is devalued, considered expendable and measured in terms of productivity, usefulness and acquiescence to current thinking.

At this Station may we learn to respect our own bodies, to value the lives of others simply for who they are not for what they are, or how beautiful they are, or for how much money they create or their usefulness in term of productivity.

At this Station we also pray for those who tend the bodies of their loved ones, especially those who tend the bodies of their children. The piercing sword that is particular to Mary is similarly experienced by those to hold the bodies of their children in their arms. We also pray for those who are denied Christian Funeral Rites; for those whose families deny then Requiem Masses or their stated funeral wishes.

XIV. The Body of Jesus is placed in the Sepulchre

Luke 24:53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud, and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb, where no one had ever yet been laid. 54 It was the day of Preparation, and the sabbath was beginning. 55 The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid; 56 then they returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

Here in this station we think we see the final earthly part of this journey as the Body of Jesus is taken into the tomb, laid within it and the stone is rolled over the entrance leaving it to lie in peace. Then begins the journey of the women and the apostles into hiding for fear of the authorities.

Fear dominates the next 36 hours, with hiding away in the Upper Room, and of visiting the tomb very early in the morning – in other words when it is still dark, so that the authorities would not be able to see them enough to identify them later.

Fear cripples us as Christians. Fear prevents us from speaking out, from seeking to be a positive influence on our society and yet we can learn from this Station that even when all seems without life and is buried away; then life has a way of bursting through. For at this station the Lord is not simply resting he is still continuing his journey. In the Creed we say “he descended into hell” and by this we mean that Christ goes into hell and demands the souls of the damned and brings them out of the dungeon into his marvellous light.

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead and Christ will give you life”

May the Lord, at this station lift us out of the torpor that prevents us from serving him faithfully; and may be learn at this station that in Christ, even though all may seem a failure and lost - it is never so. For even in the midst of death Christ is awaking the sleeper Adam from death and bringing him to salvation.

When all seems lost and futile all who look to the tomb of Christ live in hope – hope of forgiveness, hope of reconciliation, hope of future peace and blessings, and hope of eternal life – for in this tomb the Son of God conquered death by defeating death with itself.

At this Station we pray for the faithful departed, for those whom we love but see no longer; and we pray for each other, that we may be more effectively found in the Lord’s vineyard serving him where-ever he may be – even if it be in places we would rather he not take us, for when we commit ourselves to his service we find true peace of heart.

This Station may seem like the end of the journey but in reality it is only the beginning of a new and more wonderful journey in which Our Lord comes to us in an even more intimate way through the Holy Spirit and the Sacraments of the Church. He does this to call us to share in this new journey in which he calls others to join him and which continues his missio redemptoris.

Homilies on the Stations of the Cross AD 2010 - Passion (Palm) Sunday....

2010-04-04T23:03:00.002+01:00

This week we reflect upon the eleventh Station, or incident, that occurred on this final phase of the journey that Jesus undertook on our behalf.

In an age that longs to believe it is far more advanced technologically, intellectually and morally than previous ages, it is a salutary thing to note that the present day trend of the culture of blame does little to support the idea that we have advanced at all. Our first two readings point to the suffering silence of Christ – his humility and obedience to his Father’s will, but behind it lays the all too human trait of wanting to make someone suffer, to want to get rid of someone even if it means making up lies to do so. The ninth commandment “Thou shalt not bear false witness” reminds us of our calling to resist this all too human failing.

The culture of blame leads to an almost irrational clamour to have someone hauled over the coals, humiliated, stripped of their job or position and cast into a state of ignominy and disgrace in order that they pay for the crimes that someone else has committed. The thinking seems to be that in a modern world every bad thing can be prevented and that therefore someone has failed at the highest level and must pay. In reality this achieves nothing and usually incredibly talented people are dismissed and are replaced with mediocre grey people who rarely achieve anything. I wonder how Winston Churchill and Lloyd George would measure up to the Thought Police that run our newspapers and television journalism? And who I wonder inspects the life of the editors and journalists to make sure that people in glass houses don’t throw stones?

Is today’s culture of blame any better than the blame and shame that was heaped upon our Lord? The High Priest had prophesied (not knowing what he was saying) that it was right that one man should die for the people, and so an innocent man, Jesus of Nazareth, as the victim of false witness (for the truth must never stand in the way of expediency or for that matter a good story), is taken out amid catcalls, jeering and insult; having been flogged and humiliated – when he had done nothing deserving of death. In silence and humility Jesus bears all this for us that the world may be redeemed, and in so doing also identifies with innocent victims everywhere.

XI. Jesus is nailed to the Cross

Luke 23:33 And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left. 34 And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar, 37 and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" 38 There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews." 39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42 And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

Here in this Station we see hammers raised and nails tearing through flesh and sinew, the agony expressed in sounds any moral person would never wish to hear. We see the transverse beam raised and locked into position on the upright beam and finally the same sight and sounds are heard again as the feet are nailed to the cross. And then there is the gasping for breath as the shock takes hold and all remains quiet for some time, but then Jesus speaks. One of the criminals crucified with Jesus rails against him, blaming Jesus for his predicament. It may be the human default temptation for any man in this position to seek to blame someone else. However, the other criminal recognises something even more important – he sees the immense cruelty and injustice that is being perpetrated on an innocent man and somehow amidst it all he finds the faith to ask Jesus those sublime words, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”...... the prayer of a dying man. But if those words are sublime then they were surely inspired by hearing Jesus forgive his enemies from the Cross.... “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” The faith of this condemned criminal leads to his own redemption on his Cross as he hears even more sublime words: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Those who encourage the culture of blame would be enraged by these words. They clamour for revenge, for punishment, for a scapegoat or fall-guy; but Christ comes to forgive and at this Station, as he forgives a condemned man, we should all think of those we have unjustly condemned..... we should pray for them...... and for ourselves that we might let go of bitterness and hatred......... let go of our pride and desire to see someone pay...... and learn the lesson of forgiveness that Christ gives us from the Cross. In his railing against his sentence being carried out and at Jesus not doing anything to get him out of this predicament the unrepentant criminal finds no peace of mind or soul at all. It is the thief that responds to the message of forgiveness that finds redemption.

At this station may we learn to be forgiving... may we learn to defend the innocent.... and learn to resist the temptation to join the clamour to find a scapegoat.... for in embracing Christ’s way we will find peace of mind and soul, and experience the same joy that the repentant thief also discovered in paradise.

Priceless moments 2....

2010-03-29T13:11:00.003+01:00

February's priceless moment was as a result of an answerphone message - March's happened during my Homily this morning at Mass.

I was making a link between the disingenuous behaviour of Judas in the Gospel Reading set for today and that of Mr Tatchell yesterday. Up piped one of our ladies: "He's just a pain in the backside." To which, of course, there is no answer......... but I hope the Lord has a sense of humour as we all fell about laughing.

Hidden Agenda's part 2....

2010-03-28T15:18:00.002+01:00

I understand that a motley crew were to be found out side Westminster Cathedral this lunchtime at what they deemed "Protest the Pope," as they were concerned to campaign against the Pope's visit to England and Scotland.

This protest was organised, to quote their appointed spokesperson, Mr Tatchell, whose impartiality when it comes to matters of faith is of course well known, because: "He failed to ensure that priests who raped and sexually abused young people were reported to the police. This is why he is not welcome in the UK and why we object to him being honoured with a state visit in September, especially a state visit that is being funded by the taxpayer."

Of course this spokesperson is entitled to his opinion, but I am not sure that it has any foundation of substance. I am never quite sure why mis-informed people rush to express their opinion in such condemnatory terms. Sometimes it is best to keep one's opinions to one's self - it saves having to apologise later. But then give that amongst the motley crew's supporters are:

•British Humanist Association
•Central London Humanist Group
•Council of ex-Muslims of Britain
•Gay & Lesbian Humanist Association
•International Humanist and Ethical Union
•National Secular Society
•North London Humanists
•One Law for All
•OutRage!
•Southall Black Sisters
•Women Against Fundamentalism

it is doubtful that an apology will be forthcoming. After all this would just simply appear to be rank anti-faith, anti-Catholic prejudice riding on the back of the most appalling scandal to affect The Church.

Hidden agendas....

2010-03-26T08:30:00.004Z

I awoke this morning to the news that the troops of Midian are prowling around once more. Their substantive accusation seems to be that a letter wasn't answered by a now elderly gentleman, but this in their terms translates into the sensationalism of "cover-up."

This is the message they wish to convince the populace of. However, the actual truth (rather than the wild accusations) of much of it will be hard to convey, and even harder for people to believe such are the sensationalist TV News headlines. It seems to me that irresponsible journalism does not concern itself with truth but has joined forces with the conspiracy theorists who see secret or hidden truths everywhere.

The other worrying trend is the culture of blame that is so prevalent today; and so we see the clarion call and great clamour for someone in authority to take the wrap. The trouble is that when they have acheived this and the person they are hounding is forced from office or done away with then they are still not satisfied; rather like the people mocking and cursing Christ on the Cross who, when they had finally seen Christ die, left the scene of the crucifixion "sorrowfully."

Of course, the real story, or rather the real motives, behind this morning's headlines is that certain elements having gained political power or positions in the media are determined to push through their own immoral agenda and to do this they pick on that part of the opposition that will not sue in a court of law nor physically retaliate. The trouble is these certain elements need to be careful, because if they acheive their long desired aim of smashing this part of their opposition they could rue the day, for what may follow could be far more devastating than their worst nightmare.

Change and decay....

2010-03-24T19:03:00.003Z

I have been reading of some of the more and more abhorrent horrors that are happening in ECUSA these days. One priestess, the Rev. Carter Hayward, has this to say about 'reproductive health':

"Abortion would be a sacrament if women were in charge. Abortion should be a sacrament even today. I suspect that for many women today, and for their spouses, lovers, families and communities, abortion is celebrated as such, an occasion of deep and serious and sacred meaning."

A wiser person observed that "Abortion is one thing and one thing only: Child Sacrifice, to the god of convenience."

Regeneration Project News....

2010-03-24T15:16:00.005Z

Last year I blogged profusely about the first major phase of our Regeneration Project, which was the restoration of the Parish Church at Stony Stratford in preparation for the building of a new hall and vestry wing. Over the past year a lot of preparation/desk bound work has taken place to bring this to fruition. At times this has been very frustrating and the last year's work has only been made possible by the ten years that preceded it. The palaver one has to go through to get Planning Consent, Faculties and Building Regulations has to be seen to be believed. However, all those consents are now in place and we have now reached the stage of having received Informal Tenders on our former hall, and of having appointed contractors for the building of the new hall/vestry. Once the monies have been received we will be ready to start demolition and building.

Below is the Report published in this week's Mass Sheet:

At 12:00 noon on Monday the Informal Tenders received on the former Parish Hall will be opened by our agent in the presence of independent witnesses. At some point in the afternoon Fr Ross will be contacted and will be informed fully of the offers that have been received. He will be advised as to which is the “best offer.” He will not be allowed to divulge any information other than to discuss the situation with the Churchwardens in the strictest confidence.

The reason for this apparent cloak of secrecy is that various checks have to be made as to the identity of the person making the “best offer” and those which bring independent assurances that the monies are available and that it is a genuine offer. Furthermore, this prevents “horse-trading” where the person making the “best offer” discovers the difference between him/herself and the one immediately below and then tries to lower the offer to just over the second highest.

Under normal conditions the person making the “best offer” would be expected to exchange contracts within six weeks of the offer being formally accepted and to complete the sale two weeks afterwards. If, however, the best offer is from a cash buyer then matters can proceed faster. I must therefore beg your patience during this period. As soon as I am able to say something publicly I will, but only at the Parish Mass so that all hear the news at the same time.

At the PCC Meeting on Thursday evening the tenders for the new hall adjoining the church were considered and I am pleased to be able to announce that Messrs Rattee and Kett’s tender has been accepted. This is the company that completed the Restoration works in side the Parish Church in January of last year. When I announce the amount we have received for the former Parish Hall I will also announce the amount we are paying for the new hall. This is also because we don’t want someone reducing their offer in line with how much we need to spend on the new hall.

Here is the architect's drawing of the new hall/vestry wing to be built adjoining the Parish Church:

Homilies on the Stations of the Cross AD 2010 - The Fifth Sunday of Lent

2010-03-24T14:45:00.005Z

This week we reflect upon the ninth and tenth Stations, or incidents, that occurred on this final phase of the journey that Jesus undertook on our behalf.

The encounter in today’s Gospel concerns one between Jesus and a man who is dead as well as his grieving sisters. It is often the case that we concentrate in Homilies on this Gospel passage on the persons of Mary and Martha, but quite clearly this is also a very dramatic encounter that Lazarus has with the Lord. Mary and Martha are trapped in their grief with seemingly no hope; while the body of Lazarus is trapped in the tomb and, because Jesus had not yet opened the gates of Heaven for the righteous, Lazarus' soul would have been resting in Sheol, the Place of the Sleeping, where all souls waited prior to Jesus' Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. Then, when Jesus descended to hell He brought the righteous back with Him.

It is also interesting to note that Lazarus came forth from the tomb wearing his burial wrappings, indicating that he would die again, whereas Jesus arose without them, signifying that He would live forevermore.

IX. Jesus falls for the third time

Psalm 22:12 Many bulls encompass me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax, it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; thou dost lay me in the dust of death.

This third fall of Jesus has often been likened to the fall from grace of those who reach old-age. Here our Lord and Master lies once more in the dust having collapsed as he almost reaches Calvary. Once more the ground rushes up before his eyes and with every ligament, muscle and bone being once more wrenched he crashes to the ground, to lie helpless until dragged to his feet once more. Yet gain he is taken by force, compelled to go forward..... having no choice in the matter.

We are all used to that portrayal of the cantankerous elderly Victor Meldrew, and for many people this is a very vivid and real portrayal of the exasperation that being elderly can bring. The body is not as strong as it was and yet the mind and soul still feels as young as that of a 16 year old. The values of the world all around seem to change and yet there isn’t the physical energy to engage with trying to solve the world’s problems.

Even worse is the attitude of those in middle-age who regard the elderly as a nuisance. Compare that attitude to the elderly with that of children who so often treasure the wisdom of their grandparents.

It is symptomatic of a culture of death that it fails to see value in old age. It is symptomatic of a culture of death that it sees progressive illness as weakness and incapacity as simply a waiting station for death. The culture of death in our society is growing stronger and the progressive emphasis on human life only being worthwhile while it is productive, young, good-looking, energetic and exciting is adding to the degrading of human life in later years.

Even now we see Doctors and Health Care Managers being compelled by budget considerations to limit the medical care available to certain groups. It is not unknown that we hear reports of the elderly being refused a place on a GP’s register because of the cost to the Surgery’s budget.

Oscar Wilde’s condemnation of one group of politicians as “knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing” pervades far more of political, civil and social life today than he probably foresaw.

So often the elderly are dragged from pillar to post, made to feel a nuisance, compelled to leave their homes and go into residential care; where they say to the likes of me, “You don’t know the half of what goes on in here.” While there are exceptions too many of our residential homes for the elderly are like prisons. Pray God that we never get to the stage of hearing so called relatives say: “Go on, you’re becoming a burden, don’t you think you should take the pill?”

Anyone at any age can fall from grace, and the elderly are not immune from the sins that affect us all, but sometimes like children they are led into sin and they are treated appallingly.

At this Station we should pray for the elderly and those that care for them.... that the elderly may always have love shown them; we should pray that their lives would always be valued and respected; and pray that those who care for them would be given grace to always show love and compassion.

X. Jesus is stripped of his garments

Psalm 22:18 they divide my garments among them, and for my raiment they cast lots.

Job 1: 21 And Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return; the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

At this station we are brought face to face with the beginning of the end in all its swift terror. Jesus garments having been put back on him after his being scourged would, by now, have become congealed with the drying blood on his flesh. There is no reason to think that the Roman Soldiers would have taken great care when removing them – in reality they would have pulled them off him as quickly as possible, thus tearing open once more every wound in his already atrociously bruised and lacerated body. One can only begin to imagine the agony that this treatment caused. As many of us know the swift ripping off of a bandage by a nurse can be bad enough, but that trifle must pale into insignificance when compared to this moment in Christ’s last few hours before his death on the Cross.

His eyes would have become convulsed in agony along with the rest of his body.......... this was the beginning of the end....... and in the midst of this excruciating agony was the knowledge that worse pain was to come.

It is also common in reflections at this Station to think of the humiliation that nakedness brings along with the jeering of the mob. As we have seen all the way along his Way of the Cross there are those whose eyes flash with contempt and scorn. So often nakedness is seen as shameful and this was no different in ancient times. The Roman practice of stripping a person before crucifixion was designed to strip away all dignity and to leave a person open to ridicule as well as pain. The intention was to destroy both mind and body – to crush the spirit of a person and break them completely. Killing them wasn’t enough they wanted them to despair... which is the very opposite of hope.

Is our world any different today......... do we treat people any better. How often do we see people’s lives exposed to intense scrutiny in the newspapers and other forms of media? Indeed, how often do we see journalists not letting truth stand in the way of a good story? And how often do we avidly read every miniscule detail and enjoy sharing what we have read or heard with friends and neighbours? How often do we look down on those we consider weaker than ourselves? How often do we self-righteously condemn those with problems? How often do we notice the speck in someone else’s eye and conveniently ignore the plank in our own?

At this station as well as praying for those who are weak and helpless, who are frail and vulnerable; we should also pray for ourselves......... for at this Station more than any other surely the word’s of Jesus ring so true: (Luke 7:1) "Judge not, that you be not judged. (2) For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.

Curates' Day....

2010-03-17T19:39:00.004Z

I have spent the day along with other Training Incumbents at St Stephen's House, Oxford with our prospective Assistant Curates. This day, now known as "Incumbents' Day," will for many of us remain affectionately known as "Fathers' Day."

After the morning session contemplating the world of expectations, realistic and unrealistic we all moved into Bodley's splendid conventual church for a Mass which showed the glories of Anglican Patrimony at its best.

After lunch together we then spent the afternoon with our prospective colleagues with their Course Tutor and Group Tutors considering their continuing formation in its widest sense.

It was good to see Daniel and his wife, Alexandra, once again and to spend the day thinking ahead somewhat to the delights of his Ordination and the prospect of a new era in our parish life as Daniel and Alex prepare to join us.

Bishop Andrew's Prayer Request for the Papal Visit....

2010-03-17T19:15:00.002Z

The Bishop of Ebbsfleet commends to us the following prayer as Christian counterbalance to the secularists’ petition against the Pope's Visit. The Bishop commends this prayer as "a joyful, non-political prayer that all our parishes could join in" and as one whereby we "approach the God of truth and love to make this visit a sign of the Kingdom."

Official Preparation Prayer

God of truth and love,
your Son, Jesus Christ, stands as the light
to all who seek you with a sincere heart.
As we strive with your grace
to be faithful in word and deed,
may we reflect the kindly light of Christ
and offer a witness of hope and peace to all.
We pray for Pope Benedict
and look forward with joy
to his forthcoming visit to our countries.
May he be a witness to the unity and hope
which is your will for all people.
We make our prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
___

Our Lady, Mother of the Church — pray for us.
St Andrew — pray for us.
St George — pray for us.
St David — pray for us.

Announcement of the Papal Visit....

2010-03-16T17:01:00.002Z

Anglicans in England and Scotland should surely rejoice that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, is to visit England and Scotland from September 16th - 19th this year.

This will be a time of renewal for many Christians even though "certain elements" seem determined to protest vehemently. The agenda of such people is not based in the quest for spiritual enlightenment, but rather in seeking to silence truth in the cause of furthering their own crusade to destroy the Church and refashion society in their own image. This is, of course, nothing new; for the Church has always been persecuted, as the Gospel message of the Lord Jesus Christ has never been universally popular as it stands counter-cultural in every age.

It behoves all Christians to pray for the success of this Visit, that it will be a time of renewal for all Christians.

More about the Visit can be found at: http://thepapalvisit.org.uk/

Homilies on the Stations of the Cross AD 2010 - The Fourth Sunday of Lent....

2010-03-16T16:50:00.004Z

This week we reflect upon the seventh and eighth Stations, or incidents, that occurred on this final phase of the journey that Jesus undertook on our behalf.

The encounter in today’s Gospel concerns one between Jesus and a man born blind. Essentially this is not a story about a man born in sin as the religious leaders of the day state, but one about a man coming to faith and into an intense encounter with the Lord. Despite all that is thrown at him and the persecution he faces the man born blind now having gained sight also gains spiritual sight to recognise Jesus as Lord and Saviour. In these two Stations we also are faced with spiritual truth, the truth of our all to human condition and of our need to come to accept that we have to see Jesus for who he really is and not what we imagine him, or want him to be.

VII. Jesus falls for the second time

Psalm 39:7 "And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in thee. 8 Deliver me from all my transgressions. Make me not the scorn of the fool! 9 I am dumb, I do not open my mouth; for it is thou who hast done it. 10 Remove thy stroke from me; I am spent by the blows of thy hand. 11 When thou dost chasten man with rebukes for sin, thou dost consume like a moth what is dear to him; surely every man is a mere breath! 12 "Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears! For I am thy passing guest, a sojourner, like all my fathers. 13 Look away from me, that I may know gladness, before I depart and be no more!"

This second fall of Jesus has often been likened to the fall from grace of those who reach middle-age. All that youthful optimism has gone; and the temptation comes to be jaundiced about life and cynical about the things of the Spirit. The lure of the world and its blandishments seem exciting in comparison to the spiritual life.

But of course, our Holy Redeemer has committed no sin and yet once more he lies in the dust. He who is without sin falls in order to teach us to rise once more. And that rising from sin and walking by faith once more is what so many fail to do as they begin to mature in years. The sense of shame at having fallen from grace is such that for many they foolishly think that there can never be forgiveness or they worry and fret about confessing their sins thinking that the priest will look down on them when in reality he will think them incredibly brave to have come to confession.

In these meditations I have often made mention of the eyes of Jesus and the eyes of the other participants in each station. In this station it may be that the eyes of Jesus were once more filling with blood from the wounds in his head from the crown of thorns. Did he stumble because he could not see properly or was it because of fatigue, or was it both? What his eyes would have seen is the ground rising up to meet his face, but what he may have heard was the jeering and mockery of the crowds in the streets. In the eyes of those who were watching, while some will have looked on with pity there would have been others that flashed with contempt.

When we fall from grace in middle-age we are all too aware of the gossip that leads to our embarrassment and the temptation is to want to hide. I once knew someone who was sacked from her place of employment. Yes, she had done wrong, but her sense of shame and humiliation was such that for years she would only venture out, even in high summer, wearing a large overcoat, a very full headscarf and sun-glasses. What a penalty she inflicted on herself. Some years after the event of her dismissal she phoned me to ask if, a couple of years before, I had recognised her. Apparently, she had passed me in the street and thought that I had looked at her and ignored her – her seeing me had added to her embarrassment. As it happened I could not recall the event, nor could I recall ever seeing her. She agreed to meet me and listening to her and her husband I realised the terrible price that some in middle-age pay for their foolishness and how much they need to hear the words of forgiveness.

So at this station let us pray for all those who fall from grace in adult life that they may never despair but seek the assurance of Christ’s forgiveness, and know that the Lord at this station prays for them that, like him, they would have strength to rise and carry on.

VIII. Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem

Luke 23:27 And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. 28 But Jesus turning to them said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For behold, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!' 30 Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us'; and to the hills, 'Cover us.' 31 For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

We begin our thoughts at this station with a conundrum: were these simply kindly women who were showing pity and compassion or were they professional mourners?

Biblical scholars are divided on this issue, but I raise it with you for this conundrum has implications for our spiritual life. If these women were professional mourners then what they were doing was shallow and false. In the ancient world it was not unknown for there to be professional mourners who wailed at the passing of a life whether it was of some notable person or even of someone who was on their way to execution. The spiritual life can sometimes be reduced to going through the motions and it can be that our walk with Christ can seem remote and at times false. It is at these times that Christ is calling to us all the more earnestly. These women raise the death wail over Jesus, but he responds by raising the death wail over their city. He calls to us earnestly with pleading in his eyes; for if we maintain a distance from him; of we maintain an aloof sort of discipleship then we are at risk of falling away altogether.

But, on the other hand, these may have been disciples of Jesus who had followed and were wailing very bravely to express their complete and utter disapproval of the death sentence having been passed on Jesus. Rather than having eyes which are dull with the disinterestedness of the professional mourner they have eyes which are filled with compassion and a sense of injustice, and he in turn with eyes filled with compassion gives them a forewarning of the destruction that is to occur in Jerusalem some 37 years later.

There is also another lesson for us to learn at this station and that is that it is important for us to mourn over the right things. Whether these women were acting out of genuine pity or not there is a truth that they had missed: “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” So do we mourn about the right things, do we bewail our own misfortune while forgetting the misfortune of others? Do we fail to grieve over our sins and failings and yet gloat over the sins and failings of others? Do we grieve over our own sins and failings thinking that our tears and own efforts prove our penitence and earn our forgiveness forgetting that in the words of a well-known hymn: “Not the labours of my hands can fulfil thy law’s demands; could my zeal no respite know, could my tears for ever flow, all for sin could not atone: thou must save, and thou alone.”

The eyes of Jesus at this station shine bright with compassion on these women for He earnestly desires that they do not lose hold of eternal life.

At this station let us pray that we may be granted a right judgement in all things and that we may always acknowledge that Christ is our strength, and Christ is our right; and that lifting up our eyes to seek his face we may lay hold on life that it may be a our joy and crown eternally.

Fresh Expressions of Clergy Chapter....

2010-03-09T22:45:00.002Z

The above sculpted image of Christ used in Palm Sunday Processions in southern Germany is one of the many delights on show at the V&A Museum's Medieval and Renaissance Galleries.

As part of our regular cycle of Chapter Meetings the Ebbsfleet Clergy in Bucks held its Chapter today in the V&A Museum. We met for coffee and muffins in the Cafe and then spent a good couple of hours exploring the newly refurbished Medieval and Renaissance Galleries. Seeing such beautiful ecclesiastical art in display cases always leaves a feeling of sadness that the original intention behind their creation has been lost, but, having said that, the newly refurbished galleries are well worth a visit.

Following a splendid lunch at a little Italian Restaurant in Old Compton Street two of us made a pilgrimage to "Forbidden Planet" before returning home.

Homilies on the Stations of the Cross AD 2010 - The Third Sunday of Lent....

2010-03-07T22:30:00.005Z

This week we reflect upon the fifth and sixth Stations, or incidents, that occurred on this final phase of the journey that Jesus undertook on our behalf.

Throughout his ministry in Palestine our Lord encountered people. These encounters revealed much about Jesus himself, but also about the people he spoke to and helped. Today’s first reading and the Gospel deal with an ostensible need for water, but through this need both the ancient Israelites and the Samaritan Woman find themselves encountering the Living God. But these are also accounts about the God who comes forth and in so doing encounters wayward people who are in need of his reconciling love. As St Paul says in the second reading “But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

On the Way of the Cross Jesus encounters a number of people. In all of these encounters he continues to reach out to his people, even though they may not realise it at first. Both the encounters we look at today are ones where ostensibly it would appear that individuals are doing things for Jesus, but in so doing they find themselves blessed and brought into an encounter with God that has far reaching consequences.

V. Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus carry the Cross

Luke 23:26 And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyre'ne, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus.
Mark 15:21 And they compelled a passer-by, Simon of Cyre'ne, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.

They “seized one Simon of Cyrene.” “Seized” – in other words he had no choice, he was compelled to do as the Roman soldiers required. They did not want to fail in their duty to crucify Jesus for they were charged to crucify him alive not dead. So rather than see him die from exhaustion on the way they compel a stranger to carry the cross behind Jesus. Why did they choose Simon, we might think? In all probability they chose him because he was a foreigner – he was from Cyrene and was therefore black. In all probability we see racial prejudice at work here.

We thought at the last Station of the compassionate exchange as the eyes of Jesus and his Mother met. What might have been the look in the eyes of Simon? Was there anger and resentment at being picked on? Did his eyes look into the eyes of Jesus and if so what did they see there? If Jesus saw the anger and resentment in Simon’s eyes then something did happen to cause a great change in Simon’s life. What evidence is there for saying this? Consider the text from St Mark’s account again: St Mark records that Simon was “the father of Alexander and Rufus.” Why is that detail there? St Mark is saying to his first hearers “You can check the truth of this out – ask Alexander and Rufus.” From this we discover that they were both Christians and well known to the Christian Community to which Mark was writing. Who told Alexander and Rufus about Jesus, if not their father Simon? Indeed a great exchange must have taken place between Jesus and Simon. It may well have been a silent exchange, but it had profound consequences for Simon and his family – for faith came to them.

Anger and resentment can often melt away even in the most hardened people by a compassionate attitude from another. In life we often encounter people who display anger and resentment – can we learn from the silence of this encounter to show them compassion? In life we also have our own periods of resentment and anger – can we learn from looking into the face of the Crucified to let faith flood into our lives in such a way that it overflows to members of our family and beyond. For it seems to have flooded through Simon, through his sons and into other encounters.

Pray for those filled with anger and resentment. Bring your own anger and resentment to Christ and let him melt it with the warmth of his love and compassion. In so doing we find ourselves truly blessed and also become a blessing to others.

VI. Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

Luke 6:34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. 37 "Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

There are many stories about Veronica from ancient times. Some say she is the woman who had the issue of blood who had been healed when she touched the hem of Jesus garment. Other stories say that she was the wife of Zacchaeus. Many today would say that this is a fictitious introduction into the Stations of the Cross because it is not included in the Gospel accounts, and that the clue to this is in the name Veronica which means “True Image.” However, the story is quite ancient and there is a picture of this incident in the ancient Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and there is another ancient story that says that her name was not Veronica but actually Sheraphia, the wife of an influential member of the Sanhedrin. In this story it is said that she had long been a secret follower of Jesus and her unheard of approach to this condemned man on the way of the cross was permitted by the soldiers only because of the exalted rank of her husband who stared at his wife with amazement. The story goes that the kindly woman wipes the face of the Master with a veil on which the image of his features was later found almost perfectly preserved in the dried blood.

In this encounter we yet again see compassion, but we also see bravery. If the story of Veronica actually being the wife of a member of the Sanhedrin is true then she showed extraordinary bravery as her husband was presumably one of those who wanted Jesus dead. Presumably the veil was her own and so she risked bringing further shame on herself and her husband by removing it to minister to Christ. She was taking a huge risk in doing this, but her compassion and pity moved her to action. She was also at risk from being brutally knocked aside by the Roman soldiers or of being imprisoned. But take a risk she did.

Veronica’s eyes are filled with pity and compassion. Perhaps in her rush to offer this small, but profound, act of comfort to a man whose blood trickling into his eyes was probably adding to his stumbling, she wasn’t able to see directly into his eyes, but if she did she would surely have seen a depth of gratitude that we can only begin to imagine. Here is a small act of kindness shown to God incarnate, but the image of his countenance imprinted upon the veil she used was, if ancient stories are true, to give healing to those who were suffering when they gazed upon the Holy Countenance.

In one sense it doesn’t matter if this story is true or not – for this is about the importance of acts of charity and kindness and of how Christ leaves his impression upon those acts when they are done in his name. But as well as the exhortation to follow the example of Veronica in showing compassion and kindness there is also another lesson for us and that is of showing bravery in order to do good even if it means risking our freedom. History is littered with examples of those who have taken action to serve the persecuted and condemned in the face of opposition from those in authority and even members of their own families.

If she was a secret follower of Jesus and even if the other stories are true that it was either the woman with the issue of blood or Zacchaeus’ wife then this woman felt compelled to show some act of compassion for the Master who had simply gone around teaching and doing good. And therein lies our motivation for showing kindness and compassion even in the face of opposition. As St Paul puts it: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). Veronica was able to help Jesus because she had been ministered to by him in some way – such was her devotion to him. We too are able to help others through the grace that has been ministered to us by Christ and in serving others we are serving Christ as Mother Theresa of Calcutta demonstrated to us.

St MICHAEL, the Archangel....

2010-03-05T11:26:00.002Z

Michael the archangel, whose name in Hebrew means "Who is like God?" is revered as the leader of the angelic army who will conquer Satan and his armies of demons, and is considered the defender of the Church. He is often shown wearing armour, in the act of slaying the great Dragon of the Apocalypse [Satan] in Revelation 12:7-9.

After Pope Leo XIII finished saying Mass on October 13, 1884, he collapsed into what is allegedly a mystical ecstasy. He had been shown a vision of evil spirits who had been released from Hell and their efforts to destroy the Church. But in the midst of the horror the archangel St. Michael appeared and cast Satan and his legions into the abyss of hell. Soon afterwards Pope Leo XIII composed the following prayer to Saint Michael, which is the original version:

ORIGINAL PRAYER TO ST. MICHAEL the Archangel

O Glorious Archangel St. Michael,
Prince of the heavenly host,
be our defence in the terrible warfare
which we carry on against principalities and powers,
against the rulers of this world of darkness,
and spirits of evil.

Come to the aid of man, whom God created immortal,
made in His own image and likeness,
and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.
Fight this day the battle of the Lord,
together with the holy angels,
as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host,
who were powerless to resist Thee,
nor was there place for them any longer in heaven.
That cruel, that ancient serpent,
who is called the devil or Satan,
who seduces the whole world,
was cast into the abyss with his angels.

Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men
has taken courage.
Transformed into an angel of light,
he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits,
invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God
and of His Christ,
to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition
souls destined for the crown of eternal glory.
This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood,
the venom of his malice on men;
his depraved mind, corrupt heart,
his spirit of lying, impiety, blasphemy,
his pestilential breath of impurity
and of every vice and iniquity.
These most crafty enemies
have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness
the Church,
the Spouse of the Immaculate Lamb,
and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions.
In the Holy Place itself,
where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter
and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world,
they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety,
with the iniquitous design
that when the Pastor has been struck,
the sheep may be scattered.

Arise then, O invincible Prince,
bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits
to the people of God,
and give them the victory.
They venerate Thee as their protector and patron;
in Thee, Holy Church glories as her defence
against the malicious power of hell;
to Thee has God entrusted the souls of men
to be established in heavenly beatitude.
Oh, pray to the God of peace
that He may put Satan under our feet,
so far conquered
that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity
and harm the Church.
Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High,
so that they may quickly conciliate the mercies of the Lord;
and beating down the dragon,
the ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan,
do Thou again make him captive in the abyss,
that he may no longer seduce the nations.
Amen.

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered, hostile powers.
R. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the root of David.
V. Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord
R. As we have hoped in Thee.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

LET US PRAY

God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy name, and we humbly implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin Immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel St. Michael, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen.

----------------------------------------------

"May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle of which we are told in the Letter to the Ephesians: 'Draw strength from the Lord and from His mighty power' (Ephesians 6:10). It is this same battle to which The Book of Revelation [Apocalypse] refers, recalling before our eyes the image of Saint Michael the Archangel (cf. Revelation 12:7). Pope Leo XIII certainly had a very vivid vision of this scene when, at the end of the last century, he introduced a special prayer to Saint Michael throughout the Church. Even if this prayer is no longer recited at the end of every Mass, I ask everyone to remember it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world." - Pope John Paul II

Homilies on the Stations of the Cross AD 2010 : The Second Sunday of Lent....

2010-02-28T12:49:00.006Z

This week we reflect upon the third and fourth Stations, or incidents, that occurred on this final phase of the journey that Jesus undertook on our behalf.

The Assyrians said of the Israelites, “Their God is a God of the hills, not of the valleys.” Today’s Scripture Readings show that the glory of God is revealed in darkness, for the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. In the Scriptures we contemplate the revelation of the glory of God as seen by Abram and as revealed in the Transfiguration of Christ. Yes, the Transfiguration may have been on top of a hill, but it is when the hill is shrouded in cloud and darkness that the glory of Jesus is revealed. God is at work in the dark places of human life as well as the more sublime and this we see demonstrated very well in the Way of the Cross as Jesus goes along this way of suffering to his death which leads eventually not to failure, but to triumph.

III. Jesus falls for the first time

Psalm 25:1 To thee, O LORD, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in thee I trust, let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. 3 Yea, let none that wait for thee be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 4 Make me to know thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. 5 Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art the God of my salvation; for thee I wait all the day long. 6 Be mindful of thy mercy, O LORD, and of thy steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth, or my transgressions; according to thy steadfast love remember me, for thy goodness' sake, O LORD! 8 Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. 10 All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. 11 For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Ever since Station’s of the Cross has been celebrated this first fall of Jesus on the Way of the Cross has been frequently associated with the sins of our youth. And who among us cannot look back without sometimes flinching at the memories and the ensuing embarrassment and shame at the actions and attitudes of our formative years? As Jesus falls the whole weight of that transverse beam of the cross comes crashing down upon him, pinning him to the ground in the mire and dust, and that is where our memories so often pin us. Our guilt lies open in the sight of God and we are fearful that we will never arise, but “with the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption.”

The sins of youth are part and parcel of being human and growing up – for which of us is without sin? If there is anyone here who cannot look back on their past without shame and embarrassment then perhaps we ought to mount them on a wall, put a candle either side of them and bow down and worship them. But of course none of us fits the bill. Thankfully, the Lord in his mercy offers us forgiveness, but have we learnt to be merciful ourselves? All too often later life so many people conveniently forget the sins and transgressions of their youth and treat young people as if they are worse than they were when they were young. And so the young are pilloried and all too often they have no adults that will actually sit and listen to them. There are plenty of people ready to accuse them, to shout at them and dismiss them as troublemakers, but not so many who will listen and act as worthy spiritual guides.

As our Lord makes his way through the crowded, narrow streets, which are teeming with people on this eve of the Passover, he is the subject of the ghoulish fascination of the crowd, he is the subject of catcalls and jeers, he becomes the victim of the crowd – the one they have pulled down from the pedestal they made for him. For it seems that human nature is such that it loves to adulate people and then to see them fall and to revel in all the gory details of the mess people have made of their lives. This is why our Lord was always cautious about crowds of people and often withdrew to a lonely place. He knew that the crowd is fickle. Brave individuals may stand alongside and offer support, but the overwhelming majority abandon all human compassion and gleefully join in the mocking and the ridicule. Just look at the way people’s marriages are torn apart by, and in, the Newspapers and on Television and at how so many avidly read gossip magazines and so-called biographies where people capitalise on their own transgressions.

This first fall of Jesus is a reminder to us that we should forgive as we have been forgiven. Our prayer at this Station should be with King David: “Remember not the sins of my youth, or my transgressions; according to thy steadfast love remember me, for thy goodness' sake, O LORD!” and if we ask the Lord not to remember the sins of our youth then did we not also ought to ask him for the grace to be merciful even as he is merciful and to be given grace to help the young discover his mercy and love?

IV. Jesus Meets His Blessed Mother

Luke 2:34 and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed."

At this Station we naturally think of Mary the Mother of the Lord and the anguish that must have been particular to her at this moment. She had, all those years ago, received the Archangel Gabriel and accepted the calling to be the God-bearer (The Theotokos, the Mother of God – as the Church would later define her). She had heard the Archangel declare that she was full of grace, and announce that the Son she was to give birth to would be “The Son of the Most High....he will reign over the House of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

Yet now all she could see was a bruised, lacerated and exhausted Son on the way to his ignominious death. And yet in this encounter as well as the grief that is naturally Mary’s there would also have been the intense grief that Christ would have at seeing His Mother so distraught and the pain that was particular to her at that moment – the sword that was piercing her own soul.

This meeting is about the distress of two sets of eyes that lock together in helplessness – for neither could do anything for the other............and yet perhaps this very meeting was the cause of mutual strengthening. At the beginning she had accepted the will of God and had said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Even then she had soon known suffering and fear as Joseph agonised over what to do, and now she was seeing the fulfilment of that strange prophecy uttered by the elderly priest Simeon in the Temple all those years ago.

At this Station we naturally think of Mary and by extension pray for all parents of those who are accused and condemned, for so often they too find themselves sharing in the ignominy of their children’s actions. We pray also for the parents who sit at the side of the bed of dying children, of those who see their children falsely accused, and of those whose children are missing or abducted. And we also pray for children who are separated from their parents, for the children who are the innocent victims of their parents inability to act civilly towards each other after separation, for the children who are treated as little more than bargaining chips between mother and father, and the children who are the victims of horrific abuse whether it be at home, in other places where trust would normally be expected, or in situations of abduction. There are those that say that the Scriptures are silent on the sexual abuse of children, but the Lord had one very strong admonition for those who take advantage of the young and lead them astray: “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung round his neck and he were cast into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.” Luke 17:2

The pain that is particular to this meeting is to be seen in the meeting of two pairs of eyes, for the eyes are the window of the soul. Those eyes as well as sharing pain would also have shared love. God grant that we be given grace to share love and compassion even when life is painful and seemingly without hope. For there is always hope, even in the midst of darkness and death there is always hope, for the light of God shines forth and banishes the darkness.