Fringe Benefits

Closing homily of the Sion Community Mission at the Tamworth Catholic Parishes, for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B.

Are you ready to be the feet of Jesus?

I’ve been thinking about feet a lot this week. There’s a beautiful painting in Sacred Heart Church, which depicts the woman in today’s Gospel touching the fringe of Jesus’ cloak. And yes, you can see the fringe and you can see the woman’s hand… but mostly in the picture, what you see are toes and sandals.

It’s easy to take feet for granted. I did, until I walked the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela one sweltering summer. I was quickly afflicted with so many blisters that I couldn’t stand up for a day. But unable to stand, I couldn’t even take a shower, nor climb a ladder to the top bunk… so I spent a miserable day curled up in a bottom bunk without even the room to sit up to read my Bible!

We’ve had a miserable year, haven’t we, without the space to do all the ordinary things we’re used to doing? But now we can start getting back on the road. When I continued my pilgrimage, I had to make sure my feet would be able to keep going all the way to the end of the journey. St Paul had a similar message for the people of Corinth. As Christians, we are called to give generously. But we must also give sustainably, because the church’s work on earth will never be done; Jesus said the poor would always be with us, and so those of us who have the strength to volunteer and the finances to spare will always be called upon to keep doing that. St Paul calls us to balanced, generous and sustainable giving.

So how do we make our giving sustainable? We can’t keep giving money unless we have income. But it’s good, at least once a year, to look at our means and, after prayer, decide what proportion to give to the Church and to other charities. What we give may go down in lean times, as it goes up in times of plenty. There’s no fixed rule for us as followers of Jesus, but it’s a helpful guide to know that in the Hebrew Bible, the Jewish people were commanded to give 10% of their income as a tithe to bless the work of God, which is worship of the Almighty and service to the poor.

We can’t keep giving of ourselves unless we rest. So it’s great to volunteer, but we must always be mindful of the balance of our family life, our workplace, and what we can give sustainably in generous service.

And there’s one more thing we need – something which is easy to miss.

Here’s the original version of the painting, which is in a chapel in Magdala in the Holy Land. The artist has painted a pulse of light where the woman touches the garment of Jesus; he wants us to know that power went out of Jesus at that moment. At first it seems that this is not present on the version painted for Tamworth. But no! Look more closely! There is a certain paleness where the woman’s hand touches the Lord’s garment. But more than that, the light is also found in her fingers and in her hand – the power has gone from Jesus and into her.

This parish has a Vision Statement. The parish of St John is “to be a flourishing faith community, with all Parishioners engaged in transforming lives through discipleship and service.” But flourishing comes from nourishing – nothing grows sustainably unless it is fed and watered. We can only be people who transform lives through discipleship and service by returning to the true source of love: Jesus Christ, who feeds us with his Body and Blood as Holy Communion, and the Holy Spirit entrusted to us through Baptism and Confirmation, as a fountain of living water.

During this mission week, we members of Sion Community have offered you a taste of many different ways of praying – and from within the gifts of this parish you have also been offered a variety of Prayer Stations and Friday’s Emmaus Walk. Not every way of praying suits every person, but I hope each one of you has found, this week, something to help you make a deeper and stronger connection with God. The woman with the deep need for healing reached out to touch the fringe of Jesus. She almost missed her opportunity – but when she feared that Jesus would move on to tend to someone else, she pushed through the crowd and reached out in faith. Don’t let this mission move on without taking hold of what you need from Our Lord.

Yes, the woman in need reached out to him, too, and touched his fringe. This parish exists to serve people on the fringe, to make it as easy as possible for people in need to access the help which God wishes to give them, through you. It’s not always easy to ask for help; people often feel shame when they do so. So notice what Jesus does – he could have let the woman, now healed, walk away unnoticed, but instead he picks her out as an example of faith. This must have been both embarrassing and affirming for her! In the same way we can’t guarantee secrecy to those who come to use the Community Shop or other parish activities, but we can honour the dignity of each human being who comes to us in need.

Our mission theme has been, “My Light and My Hope.” For us as believers, Jesus Christ is our light and our hope, our reason for pushing through the darkness. For many people in Tamworth, you will be their light and their hope. Your flourishing depends on your nourishing.

Will you pray for God’s help every day?

Will you be nourished Holy Communion every weekend?

Will you be the feet of Jesus, standing in the heart of Tamworth?

May the Lord who has begun the good work in you bring it to completion! Amen!

Healing Today

Homily during the Sion Community Mission at the Tamworth Catholic Parishes, for Friday of the 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Year 1.

“If you want to you, can cure me!”

“Of course I want to!”  said Jesus. At least he said it to a leper on that day reported in Matthew’s Gospel. But in our hearts two questions arise: first of all, does Jesus want to heal me? Secondly, if he does, when is he going to do it?

God’s timing is perfect, but not always convenient. Elsewhere in the gospels we read of a man who was paralysed for 38 years before Jesus healed him. In the Acts of the Apostles, we hear how Peter & John use God’s healing power to raise up a paralysed man who is sat begging by the gate of the temple and has been there for many years; we might conclude that Jesus himself had walked past that man on many occasions without curing him. Our first reading tells how Sarah had suffered barrenness into her old age and eventually she receives a miracle, but not without first enduring decades of shame.

I’ve heard many stories of God’s healing power working instantly. But I’ve never seen it happen with my own eyes; and the one time that I did witness an instant result upon giving someone the sacrament of the sick – you might have heard me tell the story on the video that we produced for the parish – a girl said her back pain cleared up instantly, but of course there was no visible miracle to confirm that.

I’ve also heard many stories of God’s healing power working over the course of time. Most dramatically in South Wales there was a woman who attended a healing service one evening, and the next morning she woke up to discover that her colostomy bag had fallen off during the night and her digestive system was miraculously restored. In my own life there was a year when I suffered sciatica so bad that I couldn’t take more than five or six steps without sitting down. A friend prayed with me on a Tuesday and said that he sensed that God would do something soon; that was Holy Week, and on Saturday night, in fact while I was singing the great Exsultet hymn of Easter praises, God intervened; but I only realised it when I sat down again and realised I was pain-free!

So there are three things I’d like to share with you this evening. The first is that Jesus has the power to heal and indeed does desire to heal us. Secondly, He is Lord and he chooses the time; we all wish to be healed right now, without delay, but experience tells us that God takes time, sometimes by guiding us to the right doctors and sometimes by letting a miracle unfold over the course of hours or even days.

The third thing I know is if we don’t ask, we don’t get. In today’s Gospel, the leper had to cry out and express his desire. I can’t make any promises about what God’s power will do in the next hours of the next days because the Lord has not spoken to me about His plans. I do know that God spoke through the apostle James to say that when someone is sick, we should call for the priests of the church and they would lay on hands and anoint them with oil; when we do this, the sins of the sick person will be forgiven, and God’s healing power will raise them up. 

We have to do things a little differently in these strange Covid times, so the “laying on of hands“ will be by myself and the other priests stretching our hands over the congregation, and then the actual anointing will be done with a cotton bud. God’s healing power is not restricted by distance or the lack of physical touch; we are still doing, in a safe way what God asks us to do: bless the sick with oil and invoke his healing power. God wants to bless us this evening; but like the leper in the gospel we have to ask. So look deep into your heart right now; ask what you want from God in this moment; and most importantly, check whether you are ready to ask. 

Patronised?

Homily during the Sion Community Mission at the Tamworth Catholic Parishes, for the Solemity of St John the Baptist.

What does it mean to have a patron?

Imagine, for a moment, that this parish invited a member of the Royal Family to be its patron – and then your patron was going to visit the parish in person! What would you do?

Well, if you picked Prince William, he’s interested in football, so you might get the top team from the local school to turn out in their kit.

Or if you picked Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, she’s into horses… and quite a few members of the parish own farms or studs so you might organise an exhibition of livestock and equipment.

But you don’t have a member of the Royal Family – you have a saint, a person who lives in heaven close to God. And by celebrating a Patron Saint’s Feast, you are in effect inviting St John the Baptist to come and visit this parish today! True, he’s not going to come and wander around the parish in bodily form – but his presence here is no less real. So what would John the Baptist be interested in seeing?

I suppose you could show him the Baptism Register. Actually, I don’t think he’d be interested in a list of names. What John would be interested in, is changed lives. So if you show him how many babies have been baptised here, he would nod politely. But if you tell him how those children are being trained to change lives, he would sit up and take notice! 

From the day of his birth, John challenged people to do things differently. No-one in his family was called John, and the locals questioned his mother’s decision. His father, Zechariah, had been struck speechless some months earlier for refusing to believe his wife when she said a miracle would make her pregnant in her old age. But now Zechariah made it clear that the child was indeed to be named John – a name which means “Gift from God”.

In his adult life, John dared people to take a step which was challenging but not impossible. Tax collectors, stop taking bribes! Roman soldiers, keep the peace and treat people fairly! Everybody, use the resources you have to help people who have no food or clothing! If you are willing to start doing this, let me wash you in the River Jordan!

John the Baptist also came as a herald, pointing to someone greater. While John is the “Gift of God”, Jesus is the “Salvation of God”. Jesus is the one who makes it possible for us to enter heaven. Only by following Jesus will our eternal life be secure!

When I was a parish priest, I was always interested to hear the reasons why adult converts wished to be baptised or received into the Church. It was rare that the convert had made an intellectual journey or received a spiritual experience which had connected them directly with Jesus. Usually they had met some nice Catholics who had helped them in their hour of need, and now the convert wanted to be part of who they were. In these cases I would say: “I’m glad you’ve made some nice Catholics. Sooner or later you will meet some horrible Catholics, and if you can tell me why you will want to remain a member of this church when you do, I’ll know you’re ready to join!”

This week I’ve met members who have joined this church as adults and those who have sponsored them on their journey; I am truly grateful for everyone who joins the Catholic Church and those who help them on the way. But all of us, whether we formally joined as children or as adults, can make a fresh decision today to be followers of Jesus and to live out his call to serve the poor. As we invite our patron saint to inspect us, we can stand before him and state, in our heart, the reasons why we choose to follow Jesus and live out his commands. In fact, I’d like to offer you a moment in silence to do that, right now.

…

We are not on our own. We have a host of angels and saints supporting us in our Christian life. So let us not fail to call upon them.

Holy Mother of God

St Zechariah – pray for us

St Elizabeth – pray for us

St John the Baptist  – pray for us

St Editha

All holy saints of God – pray for us

All our guardian angels  – pray for us

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit!

Not Going Down

Opening homily of the Sion Community Mission at the Tamworth Catholic Parishes, for the 12th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B.

Master! Do you not care? We are going down!

This was the cry of the apostles in today’s gospel. It could also be the cry of members of any parish today. Just like the first apostles, we have heard the call of Jesus Christ. Just like the first apostles, we have set out on a journey to do the things that he has asked us to do. This church exists so that we can gather and celebrate Eucharist; Our Lord Jesus took bread and wine blessed it, and said “Do this in memory of me”. Every Catholic Church is built around an altar where we can do just that. Beyond the walls of this building, “The Heart of Tamworth” project exists so we can live out his great command to love one another.

Those first apostles also had a mission. Jesus invited them to work with him to proclaim the good news that God was close to us, and even gave them power to heal the sick and drive out evil spirits. Why were the apostles in a boat on this particular evening? Jesus himself had set a direction for them. “We’re all going to go there”, he said, “and continue the work.” So the apostles knew where they had to go and they thought they knew how they were going to get there. And then, an unexpected storm!

Well that’s hardly fair, is it? You’re working for the God of the universe, the God who created nature in the first place, and now Nature itself is throwing an obstacle in your way. Not only that; it’s a scary obstacle. Bear in mind that several of the apostles were seasoned fisherman… this must have been a heavy storm indeed for them to get scared! When they fix their eyes on the problems surrounding them, what do they do? They start doubting God’s goodness; they start doubting the instructions that Jesus has given them; and they lose confidence. They start asking, “Jesus are you with us? Jesus do you care?”

Now, what did Our Lord want them to do that evening? They already knew their destination; they knew the direction of travel. They might not be able to make any headway against the strong winds, but the sailors among them would know how to take in the sails and batten down the hatches. Then they could sing a sea shanty and keep their spirits warm until the storm passed. But instead they panicked! “Master do you not care? We are going down!”

Well in fact they didn’t go down; they lived to tell the tale. And perhaps once they woke Jesus up, they regretted it, because yes, he calmed the storm, but he also challenged them about the weakness of their faith.

Our very short first reading comes from the book of Job, a book about a man beset by every possible misfortune; a good man who doesn’t blame God but does ask why. What we heard just now doesn’t really give an answer; God behaves rather like a parent saying “Because I say so.” That’s probably the most frustrating answer going; but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. Sometimes we just have to accept that someone knows best, and it’s not me.

So here we are, in this parish, in this extraordinary year. In common with people around the world we have lived through a season of fear and of restrictions; in common with the rest of England we are now able to do more than we’ve been able to do for some months, though things are not exactly back to normal. And here’s the thing: Jesus has been in the boat with us all along. The question is: have we faithfully carried on following his instructions, doing what we can to worship God, love our neighbour when possible, and battening down the hatches to ride out the most difficult patches when we can’t? Or have we given our energy to doubt and despair? 

This week of mission provides an opportunity for us to cry out to our Lord Jesus. If you have experienced despair then you might need to use that same prayer, “Master do you not care?” Or perhaps we haven’t reached that extreme. Then we might just need to speak to the Lord honestly and say: “You know what, Lord? This has been a really difficult year and I do trust that we are still doing your work but it would be nice to taste the goodness of your presence. I’d just like a little reassurance that we are still doing the right thing in the right place at the right time.”

So that’s why, ahead of us is a week of prayer, a week to encounter follow Jesus in many different ways; a week to take time to ask for his reassurance that we’re on the right journey. I hope you’ll be able to come to many, if not all, the daily prayer experiences which the Sion Community mission team will be offering; but if you’re not able to come, I do invite you to take a moment for God in your own homes. And prayer doesn’t have to be about formal words from a prayerbook; it can be words that come from the heart. If you’ve had a difficult year, tell Jesus about it. He knows already but he likes to hear it from you in your own words. And if what you need then is a little reassurance, then ask him to speak to your heart in that very moment.

When I looked at your website, I was struck by a motto under the “Heart of Tamworth”. C. S. Lewis wrote that “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” Today, we are here. We have been in the storm, and we might need to rediscover the presence of Jesus, not because we lack faith, but because we all need a little reassurance from time to time. So let us start here, go forward into the week to come, and cry out, “Master, you do care! We do have faith! But draw close to us and encourage us in our journey!”

Standing for Salvation

Homily during the Sion Community Mission at the Tamworth Catholic Parishes, for Tuesday of the 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Year 1.

What do you have to do to be saved? That is, to make it into heaven? Let’s hear some views from the congregation!

…

Strangely enough, there isn’t one simple answer to this question. The famous bible passage about the sheep and the goats makes it sound like the only thing that matters is to be kind to people in need; and if you don’t know about Jesus then yes, that’s enough to get you into heaven.

If we do know the message of Jesus, then we know that God invites us to get baptised, confess any serious sins we commit after baptism, and to receive the bread of life as holy communion in order to enter eternal life. But sometimes even that isn’t enough! Today’s gospel to us is that the one who is saved is the one who stands firm in time of trial!

So what kind of trial could come our way? Eleazer, an observant Jew, was challenged to eat pigs’ flesh. For Jews and for Muslims, they strictly avoid pork believing it is a commandment that God has given them. For us as Christians we believe God has declared all food as clean – which is a relief in the home of the Tamworth pig, and especially since fr sub made the mission team bacon rolls for tea!

Sometimes we hear terrible stories of Christians who are executed by hardline militants, such as the 21 Egyptian workers massacred by Isis in Libya, or the seven monks in Algeria who were executed in their own monastery. Although these events are tragic for the relatives who are left behind, we are consoled by the knowledge that anyone who is killed for their faith in Jesus Christ enters heaven in glory as a martyr, just as Saint John Fisher and Saint Thomas More did today.

Both the saints we celebrate today, and the patron of this church, Saint John the Baptist, died for standing up to powerful rulers who did not agree with God’s laws about marriage. John the Baptist told King Herod he was forbidden from marrying his brother’s wife. Saint John Fisher and Saint Thomas More disagreed with King Henry the Eighth‘s decision to divorce his wife and therefore remove himself from the authority of the Pope, declaring himself head of the Christian church in England. Today’s saints died because they were required to make a declaration that they supported the king, but found that they couldn’t.

We, too, might find ourselves in a difficult position with the church’s teaching on various sexual matters. How should I respond when a close friend who is divorced announces that they are going to get married? What do we do when a member of our extended family declares that they going to marry a person of the same sex? Jesus didn’t actually say very much about sexual relations, but he did say two things that were very clear. First he pointed to the beginning of the book of Genesis which said that God’s plan was clearly for a man and a woman to form the unbreakable bond which we call marriage. The second thing he made clear is resisting lust was very important to him; Jesus taught us to resist sexual urges, not to follow them.

These might not seem to be the most important aspects of following Jesus, and I daresay they’re not. But just as in the days of King Henry the eighth so in this day and age which chooses to celebrate diverse sexuality, we might find ourselves put on the spot, forced to say whether we agree or disagree with the values of our age. And it’s in such times that we remember that Jesus said the one who stands firm will be saved. Should we find ourselves put on the spot we need to be ready. So you might need to ask tonight, do I accept what the church teaches about marriage? Do I believe that this was important to Jesus? Do I believe that whether I go to heaven depends on whether I stand up for the teaching of Jesus, if I’m put on the spot? These are not easy questions! Yet today’s feast and the name of this church both celebrate saints who stood up for exactly this teaching and entered heaven because of it.

Pope Francis famously said, “who am I to judge?” about various kinds of relationship; and indeed we don’t judge in the sense that we don’t punish other people for the choices they make in life. But neither Pope Francis nor Our Lord himself would say that it’s right to enter a relationship which goes against gods law. So the question I’d like you to take away this evening, it’s not whether Fr Gareth thinks that certain relationships are right or wrong; nor whether the Catholic Church thinks certain relationships are right or wrong. The question I’d like you to take away is whether our Lord Jesus Christ thinks that certain relationships are right or wrong, and whether that is going to matter when you come before him at the end of your life as your judge? But you know what Jesus said don’t rely on hearsay; you actually have to pick up the Bible and read his own words!

Who will go to heaven? The one who stands firm will be saved. So I hope hou dont get put on the spot. But in case you do, it’s important to work out where Jesus would like you to stand!