Set Apart

Homily at Our Lady of the Valleys for the Solemnity of All Saints.

I’d like to start with the story of Donny and Dougie, two brothers who, over the course of many years, cheated, swindled, robbed and generally stole from everyone that they ever did business with. They weren’t churchgoers, but when Dougie died unexpectedly, Donny went to his parish priest with a strange offer. A very large sum of money was offered to the parish, as long as the priest would conduct the funeral and declare that Dougie was a saint.

The parish priest was deeply troubled by the request. Only the pope can declare someone a saint, Dougie was an unlikely candidate. But it was a very poor church and the building desperately needed repairs. And the priest was rather afraid of what Donny would do if he didn’t comply.

On the day of the funeral, after communion, the priest started telling Dougie’s story. “As you all know, the departed was an awful individual who robbed, cheated, swindled and stole from everyone he ever did business with. But, compared to his brother, he was – a Saint!”

We use the word ‘saint’ in many different ways. The word comes to us from Latin through French, and most Romance languages have some version of santo. It basically means, holy, which is the word for anything which is set apart from daily use and dedicated to God. Those French roots are sometimes seen in names where holy things are called “saint” – you might come across colleges or Anglican Churches being called Saint Cross.

That same general meaning of holiness applies to the Archangels – we speak of St Gabriel, St Michael and St Raphael. These angelic beings are “holy” by their very nature, made to be heavenly servants of the most high God. But despite what you might see in the movies, human beings never become angels and angels never become human. That little cartoon of a human soul popping out of its expiring body with wings and a harp is just that, a cartoon. You won’t get those when you go to heaven – though you might get a halo.

When St Paul wrote to the Christian believers in the towns he had evangelised, he greeted the “saints” in Corinth or wherever it was. To be a Christian in those days you indeed had to set yourelf apart, belonging to the risky underground movement called the Way of the Lord Jesus, and risking death if you got caught. This is why the Book of Revelation spotlighted the martyrs who had been through persecution. It also reflected the understanding of the church that when we get baptised we are therefore joined to Jesus and become a new creation in Christ, a holy person, a saint.

As the Catholic Church evolved, however, the word became used in a narrower sense – an exemplary Christian who had lived a good life and who we believe is now in heaven with God. A formal process of canonization developed. When people believe a person is worthy of consideration, they can petition the Vatican and the candidate is known as a “Servant of God”. The Vatican checks that there are no red flags in the candidate’s lifestyle and declares the person “Venerable”. But then the candidate has to demonstrate their heavenly status by obtaining a miracle from God in answer to people’s prayers. Without a miracle, the person cannot be beatified – given the title Blessed – unless they were martyred. Such a person is known as a beatus or if female, beata. And a blessed can only be named in official church services in their home country, not worldwide. To go global – to be promoted to the rank of saint – a further miracle is needed. A few saints who wrote extensively on Christian life can additionally be given the title doctor of the Church.

What about the rest of us? The danger of having these lofty role models is we’re tempted to imagine three kinds of afterlife – Hell for really bad people, a few extraordinary Saints, and then the rest of us. But that’s not what we find in the Bible or the teaching of the Catholic Church. We have only two final destinations on offer – heaven or hell. We will become saints, or we will be damned. It is the many, many souls who don’t stand out as role models but who quietly lived Godly lives that we are celebrating today.

Fortunately, becoming a saint doesn’t depend on us. It’s by putting our trust in Jesus and repenting of our sins that we qualify for heaven. We might feel a little daunted by the long list of blessed are you statements. Do we need to tick them all off to make it into heaven? No. And even the most famous of the saints probably tick two or three of thse boxes, not all of them!

So what’s the secret of becoming a saint? We are already God’s children, but we’re not perfect yet. Ask God to show you the one thing you need to do next, and embrace it. With each action, we either turn our face towards heaven, or else we turn away. If you want to be a saint, you don’t have to make it all the way to heaven on your own. You just have to be facing towards God when he comes looking for you.

Maybe you’ll never be one of those big role models. Maybe you won’t tick off more than one or two of those “blessed are yous”. It’s not easy to become a saint, but remember! The reward is eternal life. Set your face towards heaven, and you can be numbered among the multitude of holy people that we celebrate today. For with God’s grace, compared to the person you were yesterday, you can surely become – a saint!

The “crime brothers” story is widely circulated, but I adapted this version.

Up and Across

Homily to the Sunday Mass congregation at Craig Lodge Family House of Prayer, 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A.

This homily begins with a picture of the gates of heaven hanging from the rather low ceiling of the chapel.

“Which is the greatest commandment of the Law?” When a person asks a question like this, I think what they’re really asking is, “What’s the one thing I have to do to get to heaven?” So perhaps the children here today can help me find a way to get to heaven?

First of all, let’s try walking horizontally – I mean walking across the floor level. So children, just try walking around the chapel. Is that helping you reach heaven? No, we can’t get there. It’s too high up.

OK, going sideways didn’t help, so let’s try going up. Maybe we can climb this wall? (Invite a child to stand on a chair against the wall.) Can we reach heaven from up here? No, it’s still to far across.

So what could we do to get to heaven? (Allow suggestions.) I think we need to go up and across. Maybe we can built a ramp. Now, we’ll need to use a bit of imagination because this is a chapel, not a construction site, but we could imagine this small stool getting us up to a big chair is a bit like a ramp. Now can we reach heaven? YES!

Jesus was asked for one commandment, but he gave us two. That’s because to get to heaven we need to go up, and across. Every time we look at a crucifix, we see two beams. One goes up, the other goes across. The vertical beam reminds us to stretch out our hands to heaven, to show our love to God. The horizontal beam reminds us to reach out to other people, to show love to our neighbour.

The world is full of kind people – and not-so-kind people. Most religions have some version of “be kind to other people”. Jesus even said that being kind can be enough to get us to heaven, because he is hidden in the poor people we are serving. But if just being kind does get us to heaven, it’s because Jesus has to reach down and lift us up – it’s not the path he has set out for us.

It’s easy to think of ways we can love other people. But sometimes we get a bit confused about what it means to love God. If we truly love God, it will also motivate us to show love for other people. But what kind of things can we do to show love directly to God? (Invite children for answers. I’m hoping they will suggest: saying prayers, singing hymns, going to Mass, taking communion, lighting a candle in church, taking time to read God’ Word.)

I’d also like to say something this morning about the big meeting which has been taking place in Rome this month, the Synod. Last night they released the official report. I know many people were feeling a bit afraid of what might happen – that people might ask for changes in the Church which don’t line up very well with the teaching of Jesus. But I’ve looked at the report and it’s OK. Nothing is going to change immediately. The Synod doesn’t have the power to do that. Rather their job was to write a report and say: “Here are some things the Church needs to think about.” So they did.

Now we have 11 months to think before the final Synod meeting in 2024. Questions on the table include understanding better how the role of deaconesses in the early church was similar or different to deacons, and how leadership in the Church relates to ordained ministry. We know that priests and bishops have to be male because they represent Christ the Bridegroom at the Last Supper. But does that mean that a priest leading a Vatican department automatically has to become an Archbishop, or that only ordained ministers can make executive decisions in the Church? When God gives leadership gifts to women and to lay men, how are these meant to be used?

The big idea in the report is the idea of synodality itself. This means no big decisions should be made without listening to everyone. And here again it’s important to remember that the Church herself goes up and across. We don’t need to be afraid, and I’ll show you why.

There are some people in the Church who like to stay exactly where we are. We feel safe, we’ve been doing things this way for hundreds or even thousands of years, so why change? (Invite a small child to stand on a chair as a sign of staying exactly where we are.) I’m going to put the crucifix here at the base of the chair to remind us that the Church is built on Jesus and the things he said and did, but has grown upwards in its culture over the years. For instance, in the first thousand years, no Catholics said the rosary – it hadn’t been invented yet! But they did call upon our Blessed Mother in other ways.

There are other members of the church whose hearts go out to people on the margins. Pope Francis keeps telling us we need to go outwards, to go across, to people who feel like they are outsiders. And sometimes new Catholics join the church because they see the outreach work, but they haven’t yet fallen in love with Jesus at the centre. So some of us are going out, and others are slowly coming in from the outside. (Invite a middle-sized child to stand some way from the chair and crucifix.)

Now, what happens when we get everyone in the same room and try to listen to all the points of view? Some will be pulling up, to keep our traditions unchanging. Others will be pulling across, to make sure the Church doesn’t needlessly exclude anyone. But look what happens when we pull in both of those directions? (Get both children to pull my hand at the same time.) It keeps us going back to Christ at the centre, and it means any change in the Church will be very slow.

When God truly wants us to change, we will be graced by the Holy Spirit, who pulls us in the direction of heaven. (Children, you may need to move when I tug – and I pull up diagnonally towards heaven.) Look! Those of us who have gone too far up, will be brought closer to Christ, who is at our roots, and moved outwards towards others. Those of us still at the fringes will be brought closer to Christ at the centre!

The Mass, and the Crucifix, are where the horizontal and the vertical meet. Reach up to God in worship. Reach out to your neighbours in distress. Do both these things, and you will find the pathway to heaven.

Unworthy But Worth It

Homily to members of a Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of St Paul, preached Friday of the 28th Week of Ordinary Time at St Barbara’s, near the port of Lavrion in Greece

Do you ever feel like you don’t belong? They call it imposter syndrome. Maybe you’re a highly skilled professional or a departmental manager at work, but you quake when your pastor asks you to do something for your parish? Or maybe you’re a Brit on pilgrimage with a large group of Americans! It’s easy to feel like at imposter. And at one level, your instinct is correct. None of us belong here. We’re not worthy.

Even the bishop on pilgrimage with us today is not worthy! If you were with him at Mass in his own diocese, and no other priest concelebrated, he would have to say, “We pray for Francis, our Pope, and me, your unworthy servant.”

I once heard of an Archbishop who had an assistant bishop, let’s say the assistant was named John. Celebrating Mass, the Archbishop would pray for “Francis, our Pope, me, your unworthy servant, and John, my unworthy servant!”

Now it’s bad form to insult a congregation the first time you get to preach to them, but I do have to say: not one of you is worthy. I heard you say so at Mass yesterday! “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you…”

In fact, there are only 5 worthy people in this place today. At an ordination of a priest or deacon, the bishop will ask he he was been found to be worthy. The representative of the seminary or parish will declare that after due examination the candidate for ordination has been “found worthy” and everyone cries out “Thanks be to God!” 

But isn’t that ridiculous? If not one of us is worthy to receive the Eucharist, still less can any of us worthily minister at the altar!

But of course, “worthy” has multiple meanings. The first is whether we deserve it. And the answer is, of course, no. None of us deserve Jesus. He gives himself to us out of love.

The second meaning is “qualified”. When we ask if a candidate for Holy Orders is worthy, we are asking if he has what it takes. Is it worth entrusting this task to this guy?

And there’s a third meaning, too. What a thing is “worth” can also mean what you’re willing to pay for it. Remember that when haggling in the markets we will visit!

So what are we worth? More than many sparrows! Each and every one of us is worth nothing less than the blood of Jesus! For God so loved the world that he sent Jesus to die for our sins, and the Lord would have died to save even one of us!

Brothers and sisters, if you ever feel like an impostor, you are correct. But don’t let that stop you responding to the call of Jesus.

God chose Abraham not for what he had already done, but for how he could respond to God’s calling.

You are members of the body of Christ on earth. You belong to the church. Not because of anything you have done – but just as God chose Abraham, so God chooses you.

God not only chose Abraham. He chose Moses, who was a murderer, to lead his people to freedom. And he chose Paul, who at least condoned the murder of Stephen, to preach Christ to the nations.

Brothers and sisters, I’ve enjoyed hearing about your home situations, your parishes. You might have said something like, “I don’t do much in my parish, I’ve only been there 5 years.” But, friends, even on day one, you belong! You have been made worthy by the blood of the Lamb. 

To quote the great St John Henry Newman, God has chosen you for some definite purpose. He has work for you in your parish which he will not entrust to anyone else. You are indeed an imposter, for God has imposed his calling on you. The only question is, will you do what Abraham did, step out in faith, and receive all the blessings which God has in store?

If your pastor has asked you to undertake some task you are free to do, then don’t let unworthiness stop you. Of all the unworthy people he could have asked, he has chosen you. So get on with it!

High Expectations

Homily at St Dyfrig’s for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A.

God has high expectations, and has entrusted us with fulfilling them!

Why does Jesus tell a story about a vineyard? He is speaking of Israel, God’s chosen people. The servants who kept coming looking for fruit were the prophets of the Old Testament. If you know your Scriptures, you will know that the prophets generally came with one of two messages. Some spoke about religion, and warned the people not to worship idols but to stay faithful to Jewish rituals. Others came warning about the need to treat fairly the people who were poor and powerless. But if you know your history you will know that many kings in Israel and Judah tolerated idols. Some even took part in idol worship. King Ahab and his wife Jezebel conspired to falsely accuse an innocent man called Naboth just so the king could acquire the man’s vineyard. But Israel was God’s own vineyard, and God was not pleased.

Then, after centuries of prophets, Jesus came. Look at the patience of God, responding with love, not anger! Who knows what would have happened if the Jewish nation had accepted Jesus as the true Messiah? But instead, Our Lord founded the Church, the new Israel. Instead of being born into the Jewish nation, now the way to be part of God’s new vineyard was to be baptised into the Church. And the high expectations God had of Israel? God now has those same high expectations on us as followers of Jesus.

God expects that we will be known as people of sexual integrity. If we are free to date, we must be known as people who make it clear we will wait until marriage for intimacy. If we are surrounded by people who speak negatively about women or promote pornography, we must take a stand that these things are not acceptable. If we know someone who has become pregnant in difficult circumstances, we must support them not to abort their baby. Of the Christians in the ancient Roman Empire, it was said “They did not expose their children!” – that is, they did not abandon unwanted children to die in the wilderness. Of us today it must be said “They defended human life!” The late Scottish Cardinal, Thomas Winning, established a fund to help mothers who could not otherwise afford to keep their babies. There is help available if you know where to look.

God expects also that we will be known as people of spiritual integrity. Exercise and well-being are good, but so often these days they are mixed up with ideas from Eastern religions. As soon as someone starts talking about an exercise or therapy doing something for our spiritual energy, know that there is a line we cannot cross. If we are in need of spiritual healing we turn to Jesus and the Church. We do not seek the power of qi, of prana, or bioenergy. Our vineyard is not one for reiki, reflexology, or yoga. Yes, we can practice mindfulness, but above all stay mindful of Jesus, the one who can bring us a peace which comes from outside ourselves; this is why St Paul today reminds us of the importance of prayer. The world must see that we are faithful to Jesus, and turn only to Him in time of need.

“The owner planted a vineyard, leased it to tenants and went abroad.” Yes, God has entrusted us in this generation with the care of His Church! But the owner will return. There will be a day of judgement And for that, God looks to us for fruit. For those of us who have come to this place to study, fruit will look like us being diligent and generous students. We will work hard, help our fellow-students who are struggling, and use the gifts God has given us to make the world a better place. We will shape our weekends around our Sunday worship, coming here to take part joyfully in Mass and then resting from our labour on the Lord’s Day. For those of us who are rooted in this place for the longer term, we can do more to build up our community of faith. And today we have two great fruits to celebrate.

One is the fruit of Heather asking today to take the next step on her journey into Christ’s Church. This did not happen by accident. It is the fruit of someone speaking with Heather about his Catholic faith, and challenging her to think about Jesus until she had no choice but to take the Catholic faith seriously. Each of us can do this. God looks to each of us for the fruit of new members joining the Church. We are all ambassadors for Christ. And if you have not yet received the Sacrament of Confirmation, consider whether you should ask for this in the year ahead.

The other fruit we celebrate today is the witness of a long and faithful relationship. This weekend, Roy and Anne Elson mark 60 years of married life. Over their lifetime, the Western world has radically changed its approach to marriage. The Christian principle which pledges “’til death do us part” has been replaced with the worldly wisdom of easy access to divorce. But the fruit that God seeks is the fruit of chaste dating, slowly building trust, and then making vows to God which really do mean you will keep working on your relationship for better, for worse, in sickness and in health. There is good evidence that couples build stronger and lasting marriages if they do not share a home or a bed until their wedding day. Today we have before us the witness of a relationship which has indeed stood the test of time.

Today I set out high expectations. But fear not! Our God is a God of second chances as well as high standards. He is quick to forgive those who turn to Him with sincere hearts. God has work for you to do. Start today!

Fruit

Homily at the Rhondda Parishes for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A.

Where’s the fruit? Last week’s Gospel made it clear that God expects each of us to work for His Kingdom. Now we hear that God expects fruit – the fruit of new members working in his vineyard.

In my training for the priesthood, I spent some months in Aberdare and got involved networking with the other Christian churches and chapels in town. Time and time again I heard the same story – a great chapel had been built in the time of the Welsh Revival but the congregation had grown smaller and smaller, and now the Sunday worship was just half a dozen people meeting in the vestry – or the chapel had been sold or fallen into ruin.

We now see our Catholic congeregations growing smaller and smaller, and if we do not bear fruit, the same thing could happen to us.

Many of us have tried our very best to bring up children and grandchildren in the faith. We’ve had them baptised, sent them to Catholic Schools and First Communion Classes and – with a few honourable exceptions – where are they now?

Friends, we’re suffering from climate change. I don’t mean the kind creating worrying warming in the world around us. I mean the kind which began in the 1960s and resulted in generations of young people who wouldn’t trust the authority of their elders. Before then, it was enough to show someone how to be a faithful Catholic, and they would stick with the church. But younger generations need to know why.

We weren’t prepared for that. We haven’t been trained for that. Suddenly, it was no longer enough to show someone how to be Catholic – we had to learn how to introduce them to Jesus so they could fall in love with him. And that brings challenges to us. Am I here at Mass today because I’ve fallen in love with Jesus and want to give him worship and honour? Or am I here because I’m worried that God will be angry and bar me from heaven if I don’t put in my Sunday duty?

Putting in our Sunday duty isn’t enough. Putting something into the Foodbank isn’t enough. The tenants in the vineyard showed up for work. But God was still angry because all they had produced was sour grapes.

Friends, I have good news, but it’s also hard news. The good news is that we can respond to our changing climate and find different ways to encourage people to come and be faithful to the Catholic Church. The hard news is that it requires change, and change is never easy.

First, consider the soil. What would it be like for a new person coming to join us at this Mass? If you spotted someone you didn’t recognise, would you say hello and welcome? When it comes to the sign of peace at Mass, whose hand do you shake first? The person you’ve sat next to for forty years? Or the person you’ve never seen before? I am giving you permission that if you see a stranger sitting near you, at the sign of peace you can say to them not only “Peace be with you” but “Welcome to our parish”.

These small things make a big difference. Done well, they produce great fruit. The alternative is sour grapes. A small thing, like being made to feel unwelcome at the sign of peace, could be enough for a person to never come to the same church again. It’s good to have an atmosphere of prayer and calm when we walk into Church and prepare ourselves for Mass. Church is first and foremost the place where we meet with God. But it’s also the place where we meet with one another. Our Welsh word eglwys comes from the Greek ekklesia, and both mean “the community”. This is why I want to create a couple of minutes at the start of each Mass when, having had a chance to prepare ourselves silently, we can turn and greet each other with more than a ritual “peace be with you”. And to make sure we don’t lose the prayerfulness of the moment, we can even ask one another if there’s something we can pray for, even say a prayer for them in that very moment.

Next, consider the seed. Growing grapes from seed is harder than simply planting cuttings. For the last 200 years we’ve been a church of cuttings transplanted to Wales – labourers from Ireland, cafe owners from Italy, wartime refugees from Poland, nurses from Kerala and the Philippines. It’s not so easy to grow foreign vines in a different climate. We need to sow the seed which is right for our current times. And above all this requires a willingness to speak about our faith.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve encouraged each of us to invite someone to come to Discovering Christ. The course is now up and running, and I appreciate that not everyone is free on a Monday afternoon – in the future we’ll need to try it on an evening or a weekend. But today what I am asking, is this: how did we respond to the suggestion of inviting someone?

I’m guessing that most of us didn’t.

For many of us, the very thought of speaking about our faith seemed scary.

For some of us, perhaps we thought about someone we might invite, but worried about how they might react, so we chose not to.

For a few of us, perhaps we did invite someone, but they said no.

As you leave Mass today, I would love to hear your story of what happened when you tried to invite someone. Do stop and tell me. I will be really encouraged to hear that you gave it a go. That in itself is one of the fruits that God is looking for.

So ask yourself today: Am I bearing fruit? The fruit of making this church grow? And if not, what needs to change in me?