The Three Graces

Homily to members and friends of Sion Community at the Ark of the Covenant (Coventry) on 13 January 2024.

Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church! We are part of something bigger than ourselves. And I want to sum that up with three graces. The first of which, is,

Bless these sinners as they eat their dinners!

We are part of the worldwide Catholic Church, which continues the mission of today’s Gospel. Jesus eats with sinners. Pope Francis’ constant message to us is, get close to sinners! Get alongside sinners! Eat dinners with sinners!

Of course, we are all sinners, constantly called to repentance. But not all sinners are equal.

There are some who claim to be followers of Jesus but insist on lifestyles which contradict His teaching. When Scripture speaks of expelling the immoral member of a community, as St Paul does in his writings, it’s this. If someone who claims to be a disciple insists on proclaiming that it’s OK for a follower of Jesus to choose abortion, or to have sex outside marriage, or embrace weapons of mass destruction, then the church has no choice but to first correct, and then excommunicate.

As evangelists, our mission is not to seek people who claim to be disciples but misrepresent Christ. Our mission is to those who are not yet disciples. Our mission is not to judge sinners, but to proclaim the Gospel to them. And this is at the heart of the very controversial document which the Holy See issued a week before Christmas.

There has been a lot of noisy publicity about whether the Catholic Church is now blessing gay relationships. But when you hear the word ‘blessing’, don’t think ‘wedding’, think ‘prayer ministry’. When someone comes to us for prayer ministry, we may gently challenge sin in their life, but we don’t say “I can’t pray with you because you’re a sinner.” The Catholic Church can never bless sinful behaviour, but if we stop blessing sinful people, we will have no-one left to bless.

Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church! We are part of something bigger than ourselves. And our second grace today is:

Bless us, Oh Lord, and these thy gifts, which we are about to receive, from thy bounty.

Usually the gifts we refer to would be the food upon the table, but today I am speaking of charisms, and the fruits of charisms, because we are part of the worldwide charismatic renewal. In England and Wales there is a group of prophetic intercessors, whose words are discerned and circulated through Charis. One of those words was about how God would use people who have shameful pasts to minister glorious futures – which of course is a fruit of having dinners with sinners. Another of those words was about the call to be noisy, to offer God unrestrained praise.

Today’s default First Reading was about Saul being anointed as king when he was looking for donkeys. We can all be donkeys and make a noise for Jesus. But I chose one of the special readings for a Mass of Our Lady (1 Chronicles 15:3-4,15-16,16:1-2), because we are beginning a new year here at the Ark of the Covenant. The Community of Israel chose its musicians and worship leaders and set them to rejoice as the Ark of God was set in place. The people of Israel, we are told, offered holocausts before God, and communion sacrifices. What’s the difference? In a communion sacrifice, the worshipper eats part of what is offered as a sign of union with God. In a holocaust, the offering is totally consumed by fire. Sometimes, when we come to worship, we might enjoy a profound sense of union with God. But other times we may have no consolation of God’s presence. In those moments we can offer a holocaust, a total gift of praise, keeping nothing back for ourselves. We can all choose to magnify the Lord, as Blessed Mary did, by an act of will. We praise God because of who God is, not because of how we are feeling.

We read that when King David had finished offering holocausts and communion sacrifices, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. So that brings us to our third grace, which is from Psalm 128:

May the LORD bless you from Zion; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you live to see your children’s children.

Another word circulated by Charis called upon us not to be dismayed or encouraged by numbers, but simply to plant seeds for the Holy Spirit. Our ‘children’s children’ here represent the future members who will be invited to join Sion Community by the people we will attract to Sion Community in the coming years. This is the fruit of what living out our morning offering: when we tell of the beauty of Sion to the next generation, it is what they will see of our beauty which will bear fruit in the children’s children.

So: Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church! We are part of something bigger than ourselves. We are part of a church led by Pope Francis, so we will be misunderstood as we proclaim the Gospel to sinners. We are part of Catholic Charismatic Renewal, so we should be encouraged by the words shared, and make a joyful noise to the Lord. We are here today as members and friends of Sion Community, called by God to share the Gospel in our changing world. Whether you are experiencing profound communion with God today, or only able to make a total holocaust of yourself, we have a day before us which will begin with Communion with God and lead to communion with one another. So for what we are about to receive, may the Lord make us truly thankful. Praise God! Halleluia! Praise God!

Starwards! A New Hope!

Homily to members of Sion Community for the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year A.

“Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive for God in Christ Jesus.”

Consider this: what does it mean to consider?

Scripture invites us to think differently: “Be transformed by renewing of your mind!”

We are also counselled to consider other people to be “better” than ourselves.

Does that mean they are better than us? No, for they are counselled to consider us the better person. But it creates a respectful attitude of mind.

Good consideration is the antidote to false identity. Because as followers of Jesus, members of his body living in this fallen world, each one of us must hold together two truths. 

I have sinned!

and… 

In Christ I am dead to sin!

We may suffer temptation to spin our identity out of the worst thing we ever did

I once told a lie. So I am a liar!

I once stole a pencil. So I am a thief!

Saul approved of the death of Stephen so Saul is a murderer.

It’s clear that St Paul himself grappled with these questions of identity. He famously gives a long list of people identified by their defining sin in I Cor 6:9:

“Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers… will not inherit the kingdom of God!”

And only a few verses after his message today about considering oneself to be dead to sin, he will cry out: “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. … Nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.”

What does it mean for sin within us? In part, that’s about an affliction which comes from the outside, which is why deliverance ministries like Unboundhave their place in the church. But in part it’s about the struggle we all face to tame the instincts of our fallen flesh. What’s important is that I am what I choose, not what I desire.

Your sin is not your identity!

No !

The devil is the accuser.

He will take your worst failing and offer it back to you as the defining feature of your very being! 

He is a liar! 

It’s different for him. Being a Liar is his identity! Being an angel, the choice he made to turn from God did radically corrupt his nature forever. He is a liar through and through.

Not so for us! We are creatures of spirit and flesh, and as long as there is breath in our body we have the opportunity to turn to Christ and repent. What Jesus says to us is this. “I will take your sin. I will add it to my burden that I bore on the cross for all mankind. In return. I give you my Grace and a share in my identity. You are a member of my body. Choose Life. Choose me. Choose my desires for you, not the desires of your fallen flesh.”

So here is a paradox. Scripture tells us that even the just man sins seven times a day … we know that in all likelihood we will commit more sins before we end up in heaven. Yet  each time we go to confession we are invited to say the same form of words which goes something like this. “Lord, by the help of your grace I will not sin again.”

Once, as a fairly new Catholic, and trying to be honest with my Confessor, I said, say “With the help with your grace, I will try not to sin again.” The Confessor corrected me: “You know, he said, You must believe that with God’s help, with God’s grace, it is possible to live a life without sin. This is what you’re putting your hope in God for.”

Now I’m going to let you into a secret. I only saw the film Star Wars for the first time a few years ago if I’d seen it when I was much younger, I would probably at that point remembered Yoda’s words to Luke: “Do, or do not. There is no try.” And Luke did.

This doesn’t mean that Jesus is inviting us to a kind of wishful thinking, which is not grounded in reality. When it comes to identity, we do need to hold up a mirror to reality. It is good to see the gifts and talents which we have been given, and they do form part of who we are. For those of us taking part in Called and Gifted we will find positive things that we can build into a sense of who we are.

But when it comes to sin, take a moment to remember who God is. The God, who loves you is your Saviour. He has not rejected you. There He goes, lifting your load. Again.

In this life, he will always forgive your sins, when you come to him with a contrite heart. So when you know you have sinned, you are not a sinner. You are a saint in the making, struggling to overcome the sin which dwells within you. But while your feet are on earth, raise your head to the heavens. Consider yourself to be dead to sin, and live in Jesus Christ. This is the future reality of which we can be certain, and those future truths which we are certain of are what we call hope.

If we are to be purified and become the best version of ourselves, then our true identity is the person we will be when we are dead to sin.

Good news people! The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this! Word!

Right now, it’s quite hard being dead to sin. I still seem to be trying to die to sin every day, but that doesn’t make me a sinner. I am a saint in progress, reaching out my hands and trusting the fullness of who I am will be completed by the grace of Jesus on the day he calls me to himself.

Until then I will cast my eyes to heaven, and not to the mirror, to tell me who I am.

Consider yourselves dead to sin.

The very word “consider” possibly comes from a root meaning “with the stars”. So look to heaven! Look starwards, and hold on to this new hope! Consider yourself dead to sin and alive in Jesus Christ because that is who you are!

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The First Amendment

Homily to theASCENT participants at Brentwood for the 31st Sunday of Year C.

When I first became aware of news and politics – we’re talking 40 years ago – it seemed that if a politician resigned in disgrace, he – it was usually a he – disappeared from public life and wasn’t heard of again.

About 20 years ago, it felt like things had shifted. Now a politician who had resigned in disgrace might be re-appointed to a senior position a couple of years later.

And now? I can think of one politician who, having resigned in disgrace, got the very same job back within a week!

So I want to ask you a question: should politicians be given second chances?

Yes?

No?

It depends…

I think it depends. It seems that these days, getting found out by the media is a public disgrace and your resignation or dismissal is a slap on the wrist. Then because you’ve had your punishment, you can come back. I’m not sure that’s OK. It’s like being sin-binned in a sports match, which is factored into the tactics of the game.

But what if the person is genuinely sorry and is willing to learn from their mistake? Would I rather have a public official who’s made a mistake, owned up, and is sincerely trying to do batter, or a new replacement who hasn’t yet fouled up in public?

There’s a danger we treat the confessional the same way. We endure the shame of outing our sins to a priest – embarrassing or what? – and we get absolution. Then we’re out of the sin bin and back on the field of play, ready to foul up again. But if we do confession the right way, we’re not just confessing our sins – the Church says we also need a firm purpose of amendment.

What’s that? In simple language, it means I’ve decided to do things differently. And the proof I really have made that decision is that I can actually tell you how!

Take Zacchaeus. As a Jewish tax collector collaborating with the Roman authorities, he was something between a mob enforcer and a bailiff for Government debts. He was a pariah – not a piraña though just as dangerous – a pariah. Toxic. But not too toxic for Jesus.

The outsider finds himself inside, and in the emotion of the moment he makes a big promise. He would not only pay back anyone he’d cheated but also give generously to the poor. Did he do it? The Bible doesn’t tell us – but we do know Jesus took him at his word.

In that moment, Zacchaeus had a firm purpose of amendment. He had a plan for what he was going to do. As disciples of Jesus, we need to do the same. I’ve been a priest hearing confessions for more than 15 years now, so I want to share with you some help to do things differently to address three of the most common sins I hear.

PRAYER

First, what to do if you know you’re not faithful to prayer? Let me introduce you to the 4 Ps.

Plan to pray. If you don’t, you won’t.

Prioritise prayer. If you don’t pray first, you won’t pray.

Progress your prayer life. Don’t be over ambitious. Start with a short time of prayer and build up over time to doing more each day.

Partner with someone – someone you can meet with to pray, or a friend to hold you accountable.

ANGER

Next, what should you do if you find yourself getting angry with people?

There are two ways forward here. The first is if you’re getting angry with other people’s behaviour. Is it possible to get them to change?

One wrong way about it is to get in a shouting match when you’re in the heat of your anger.

Another wrong way is to bluntly tell them what you want them to do differently. Do that often enough and it’s called nagging!

So what can you do? In Sion Community, our members learn about something called Brave Communication.

What does that mean? It means, if someone’s behaviour is driving you mad, you wait until there’s a calm, quiet moment between the two of you and then ask if you can share something with them. Then say “I feel like this when you do that.” If the other person cares about you, they’ll want to change. But they need to find the right way to change.

Do you like being nagged?

Do you find it easy to change your own bad habits?

No? So be gentle when you’re waiting for someone else to change theirs.

But sometimes we get angry about other things, where a conversation with someone won’t change the problem. In these cases we might need to look at anger management. You can search online for help, but make sure you find a trustworthy site. The NHS has one – or if you don’t want to trust a Government site, the American Mayo Clinic also has great resources online, as does the mental health charity, Mind.

IMPURITY

Finally, what can you do if your main problem is that you keep looking at impure things?

First of all, although that’s embarrassing, know you’re not alone. There’s a really useful website out there, run by Christians, called the Naked Truth Project. Earlier this year they held a conference for church leaders. 24% of the people taking part had viewed impure images in the past month – that’s church leaders. Being a mature follower of Jesus doesn’t mean you’re free from the struggle against lust. That doesn’t mean it’s OK. But it does mean your sins of impurity haven’t made you the worst, unreformable, Christian in the church.

When you get caught into impurity, it’s easy to fall into one of two traps. One trap is to say “I’ve sinned so I’ll just carry on being impure.” The other trap is to despair and say “I’m the worst Christian, I deserve shame and condemnation.” No, avoid both traps. Instead of going down the path of sin or self-condemnation, kick out the thought. You might even say to yourself out loud, “That’s not who I am. That’s not what I choose to think.” Whatever impurity is playing on your mind, you don’t have to be defined by those. At times you may have to kick out those thoughts 10 times in the course of five minutes. That’s OK. Keep kicking!

Naked Truth offer two resources worth knowing about.

One is a free online course of five video-based sessions, called CTRL ALT DELETE. Anyone with an internet link can watch these.

The other is the chance to take part in an online support group for 8 sessions with a facilitator and 6 people of the same sex struggling with similar issues – the project is called CLICK TO KICK. There’s no cost, though they hope you could make a £10 donation. But for legal reasons, they can only offer these groups to people aged 18 and over. I don’t have time to read out the testimonies of people who’ve found hope and freedom through the course, so you should check them out yourself!

Whatever sin we’re trying to deal with, if it’s a sin we keep falling back into time and again, we can feel like we’ve lost the right to be helped, because we’re unworthy of God’s forgiveness. And part of that is true. You are not worthy. 

But that’s OK!

It’s not about worthiness. Zacchaeus wasn’t worthy of what Jesus did for him. That’s the whole point! Jesus reaches out to us in our unworthiness, because he loves us – and the stories of Jesus having dinner with tax collectors or stopping an adulteress from being stoned are there precisely to remind us it’s not about us – it’s about Him.

We’re not alone. I want to leave you with the prayer that St Paul, with his companions Silas and Timothy, prayed for the new Christians in Thessaloniki:

God chose you, and we keep praying that God will make you worthy of being his people. We pray for God’s power to help you do all the good things you hope to do and your faith makes you want to do. Then, because of the undeserved grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, you will bring honor to the name of our Lord Jesus, and he will bring honour to you.

2 Thess 1:11-12 CEV

We may or may not give a second chance to our politicians, but Jesus will always offer a second chance to you. All you have to do is choose to change!

Captain of the Red Team

Homily at the Unbound Team Day at Sion Community for Evangelism, 13 March 2022

When I was 10 years old, I entered the top class in primary school. My school had four House Teams, and each was headed by a top year pupil. The form teacher explained there were four vacancies for House Team Captains, and set out what would be needed if anyone wished to volunteer for this role. Many hands went up, but at first, mine did not. Then the teacher explained the difficulties of the role, the sacrifices which needed to be made, the tasks to be done, and the example to be set. Many hands went down at that moment; but mine went up.

The task was going to be difficult and challenging – ah, so here was a task which might be worth taking on. And so I became captain of the Red Team.

To be a Christian is to take on a way of life which is challenging. Part of the challenge comes from misunderstandings within our own church. In St Paul’s day, the biggest headache was conflict about foods which should or shouldn’t be eaten – does a follower of Jesus have to follow Jewish kosher food laws? Or at the other extreme, if a Christian is offered some meat which a pagan neighbour has dedicated in a ritual to some Roman god, must the Christian refuse? The simple Christian answer is that “All food is good, as long as grace is said for it.” That indeed sets a precedent that as Christians we can adopt practices which have their roots in other cultures, even other religions, as long as there’s nothing which explicitly invokes a false god or expresses ideas contrary to Christian faith.

But if St Paul were writing a letter today, I don’t think he’d be concerned about food. Who would be the Enemies of the Cross of Christ today? It would be anyone who claims to be a Christian, but refuses to put Christ, or His Cross, at the centre. And let’s face it, it’s tough being both a follower of Jesus, and a member of the Catholic Church as it exists in the West today. I’m not talking about the baggage of heavy-handed leadership, or the abuse scandals which have rocked secular and religious organisations alike. I’m talking about a much more insidious problem. Do we belong to an organisation which loves and serves Jesus, or do we belong to a club of people who like to meet together in their own building and do familiar things? In the West, it seems to me that most of the people who worship in a Catholic parish are people who love their community, cherish the building where they meet for Mass, but haven’t yet had that deep inner conversion which allows them to say: “What is most important to me is that I am a follower of Jesus.”

Jesus is the true Captain of the Red Team. If we follow him, there will be blood, sweat and tears. During Lent, we turn repeatedly to meditate on the Way of the Cross. It is Christ’s own suffering which has the power to save the world, and the suffering is properly his. Yet Jesus loves us enough to share His suffering with us, are we not members of his own body?

There’s a famous line in scripture which says that God allows us to face troubles in the world so that we can help others who have experienced the same troubles. Whenever I read that I find myself thinking that if only God could stop the trouble in the world, I would not need to have troubles, because there would be no one else in need of my compassion. But that is fanciful thinking. For as long as the human race has been recording history, there have been wars, natural disasters, and personal tragedies – and there always will be, until Christ comes again. History does not give us the choice of believing in a God who will protect us from all harm. The only kind of God left, which we could sensibly believe in, must exist alongside the suffering of this world. In Jesus we see God’s response to pain and suffering – not avoiding it but entering into it and drawing every last ounce of good from what seems tragic and painful. 

So yes, there will be days when we too will cry out, “Who will save me from this wretched body?” We cry partly because within our flesh is concupiscence, that terrible tendency to sin which we have to learn to fight against, which Lent challenges us to face anew. But we cry out also because our bodies are limited; they age, they start going wrong, and can be easily damaged by external events. God has a plan to deal with this: Body 2.0 is waiting for you in the Resurrection. But for this human lifetime we have only these wretched bodies, together with a promise that God will one day transfigure them. The trailer for this coming epic feature, which never ends, has been shown to us in the Transfiguration on Mont Tabor!

There is another wonderful promise in Scripture, that God turns all things to the good for those who love Christ Jesus. I once went on a Christian Communications school where we were asked to choose a favourite passage of scripture and boil that down to the shortest possible text message. I chose that verse, and my end product was: ALL WELL 4 XTNS.

I think mother Julian of Norwich had an insight into the same thing when she wrote with confidence that “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” But the journey to that place of wellness is none other than the Way of the Cross. Those who suggest that religion should offer a way of life in this world which is free of pain and suffering, are the enemies of the Cross of Christ. We know there will be pain, but even so, let us follow the Captain of the Red Team as he carries his Cross, for he is the only one who can lead us all the way to heaven.

Incomparable

Homily to members of Sion Community at a Regional Day in the SENT Chapel, 5 March 2022.

Do away with the yoke, the angry fist, the wicked word.

Today’s first reading contains many words of advice for us to keep a good Lent, but I am going to focus on the opening verse, which is more than enough for us to meditate on.

You have heard it said, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.” But I say to you, “Do not be equally yoked with another believer!”

It is a terrible thing to be caught up in the yoke of believing you have to be the same as another disciple of Jesus!

Let me give you an example. In today’s Gospel, Levi the tax collector has a great conversion, and throws a party! Many other tax collectors come and dine with Jesus.

What Levi did was a wonderful and terrible thing.

Levi’s party was a wonderful thing, because it was an expression of his joy and repentance. He wanted to bring the people he knew to meet Jesus too. It was an act of love and generosity. What a party!

Levi’s party was a terrible thing, because imagine being one of the other tax collectors among the guests? Perhaps you are moved by the words of Jesus, too. Perhaps your heart is feeling nudged across the oh-so-difficult threshold of “openness to change”. You know you are going to have to find a new profession. You know you too will need to return the illicit profits which have lined your own pockets. But now you face an additional burden. Levi has set a precedent. Now you will have to throw a lavish party, too! You clench your fist. You feel your anger flowing through your veins. How dare this reckless colleague set the bar so high for you!

Or not.

These are wicked words, false words whispered to us by that lower part of our fallen nature which tries to drag us back into the comparison game, telling us we’re no good unless we can keep up with our rivals and role models. These are lies. Throw off the yoke of false equivalence!

If you see someone else do a good deed, that person has done so out of their own resources, their personal relationship with the Lord, and perhaps also some element of personal vanity – since we are all still on the journey to perfection, we are all capable of doing truly good deeds for truly mixed motives. You are under no obligation to do the same thing, even if you have similar means. Throw off the false yoke of obligation!

And if you are about to do a good deed, and you pause because you fear that someone else will feel impossibly challenged to match your generosity, do not pause for too long.

Our Lenten journey leads to the Passion of Christ, a Passion triggered by an act of reckless generosity. A grateful sinner anointed Our Lord with pure nard, and Judas took umbrage at what he thought was a waste of resources. But Jesus affirmed that the woman had done a beautiful thing, something that would be told forevermore in memory of her. It is the spirit of Judas which whispers the wicked words, “Do not do this beautiful thing for God!”

I cannot promise you that your good deeds will not trigger bad consequences. In one way, though she could not have foreseen the horror of it, the woman’s actions led directly to Christ’s crucifixion. But there is no guilt attached to her; on the contrary, the Lord himself declares her to have done a good and beautiful thing. We too must do beautiful things for Jesus, without worrying unduly about the unforeseen consequences. Is it not written that God will turn all things to good for those who love Christ Jesus?

A young soldier called Iñigo found himself confined to bed with little to read but the lives of the saints. He found himself asking, “What if I did the things that St Dominic did? Or St Francis?” But he neither embraced a life of radical Franciscan poverty nor became an itinerant preacher in the Dominican mould. No, he became St Ignatius of Loyola, with his own unique story to tell.

So when wicked words come into your head, insinuating that you are not the equal of a good person who provokes your anger, renounce these words and open your clenched fist. Lift your hand to Jesus and yoke yourself to him, and not to any imperfect saint on earth. He will not condemn you for failing to be someone else! Yoke yourself to him and do only what He is asking you do. You cannot please all the people all the time. You cannot even please some people any of the time. Do not be equally yoked with another believer! But choose to please the one Person who matters, and that will be enough for Lent, for a lifetime, and for everlasting life!

Anointed Enemies

Homily at the Sion Community, for our Family Day on the Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C.

Sometimes, Our Lord Jesus speaks so clearly there is no need of elaboration.

We are to love our enemies, and here is how to do it.

So this afternoon I ask you, “Do you desire to love your enemies?”

If you already regard your enemies with a compassion which flows sweetly from your hearts, you have no need of a sermon from me today; simply go, and pour out your love.

Sometimes this happens, and the world takes notice. Earlier this week, Dr Adam Towler produced an extraordinary statement which was read in court. Dr Towler had been stabbed multiple times by a stranger who knocked on his door with wild accusations, and yet as his attacker was being sentenced, he sent this message: “Sometimes I would feel bad that I had this great freedom but you didn’t – I wondered if you had just made a mistake, albeit a big one, or been unlucky.” Neither we nor the trial judge know what motivated the victim to make such an extraordinary statement, but the judge commented: “If it is the consequence of intellect, I admire it. If it is the consequence of faith, I envy it.”

Whether or not it comes naturally to us to love our enemies, this is a choice we are all free to make. And Our Lord spells out clearly how to do it. We are not to get caught up in the game of “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Rather we are to play the game of “I’ll scratch your back because your back is itching and I am in the right place to help.”

“But if I don’t play that game, I’ll lose out!” – I hear you cry. And yes, maybe in the short term you will. But in the long term – you will be a winner, because we have an Ultimate Judge who sees all and is looking for compassionate, generous hearts.

The Bible calls King David a “man after God’s own heart”. While Saul was King, he and David were at best, frenemies. The King’s son, Jonathan, was David’s closest friend. David was married to one of King Saul’s daughters, and was made commander of Israel’s armies. But Saul was jealous of David, especially when the people started crying “Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”

More than that, the prophet Samuel had anointed David with oil and said one day, after Saul, David would be king. If you were David, wouldn’t you be tempted to stage a coup or allow one of your bodyguards to stab Saul in the back? But David lived by a simple principle. God had also chosen and anointed Saul to be king. David would not raise his hand against the Lord’s anointed.

Today’s first reading is one example of David’s restraint. Another story in the Bible tells how David was hiding in a cave, and Saul came into that very cave to use the bathroom! Instead of using his sword to stab Saul, David cut off the corner of his cloak. A few moments after Saul had returned to his troops, to continue the hunt for David, the man they are looking for steps out with the piece of fabric and declared that he had no intention of harming the King. Saul and his troops went home, embarrassed. When David eventually does become King, it is because Saul and Jonathan have fallen in battle against enemies from outside Israel.

David has an important lesson to teach us, because he knows that although God is with him, God had also chosen Saul, with all his flaws, to be anointed king. We too must recognise this when our enemies are also part of God’s plan.

“Enemy” is a strong word. Maybe we don’t have enemies in the sense of people who are seeking to harm us or undermine us. Perhaps we only have rivals at work. But I’m sure we can all think of people who are obstacles to our Church being the kind of church we want it to be.

We’ve gathered here for a Family Day because I’m guessing you don’t have a day like this in the parish where you normally worship. And if you’re a Catholic in love with Jesus and wanting to follow him, how often do the priest and the parishioners of your regular parish feel like enemies, or at least obstacles?

Maybe your parish priest is all about helping the practical needs of the poor and needy, but doesn’t seem to want to tell them about Jesus.

Or maybe your parish priest seems to care most about vestments and Latin and producing ceremonies which are very elaborate but don’t feel like they connect with you or many of the people in the parish.

Maybe there are parishioners, even stewards, in your parish who seem hostile to families with small children and go “shush” or direct you to the back row when you come in.

Or maybe you’ve tried to get the Parish Council to think about how to invite people in your town to become followers of Jesus, but all they seem interested in is how to arrange another jumble sale to raise funds to fix the church roof.

Yes, our churches are full of enemies. But these too are the Lord’s anointed!

Your parish priest, for all his failings, has been discerned by the Church as fit for ministry and invested with divine authority to forgive sins and celebrate the Eucharist.

The members of your parish have been called by Jesus to be members of his Church. I hesitate to say that they have all been granted the gift of faith; but they at least have a sense of belonging which opens the door to be challenged to know and serve Jesus.

Do not raise your hand against the Lord’s anointed!

When Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, he is not asking anyone to be a doormat or a willing victim. Rather, he wants us to give our oppressors a chance to think again! In the Middle East, the left hand was considered unclean. Turning the other cheek might provoke an angry person to strike with the left hand and so publicly embarrass them for carrying out a taboo action. How can you embarrass your enemy with kindness? Maybe the last thing you think your parish needs is a cake sale, but by donating the most lavish cake you might find yourself in a position of influence next time an event is organised – or perhaps you could even decorate your cake with a message of Christian faith!

Now I can’t promise you that your acts of love will get instant results.  David attended court and played the harp to soothe Saul, but still sometimes Saul lashed out in anger. I once shared a house with a man who had a bad temper. We weren’t getting along very well, so I decided to make a peace-offering. He loved eating melon for breakfast, so when he went away for a week’s holiday, I made sure there was fresh melon in the fridge for his return. This did not have the desired effect. My gift was rewarded with a small explosion of anger – “That’s not the sort of melon I like, but now I have to eat it!” Truly, no good deed goes unpunished!

So I’d like to invite you now to pick an enemy. Maybe a member of your family. Perhaps someone at work or at school. Or it could be a member of your usual parish. Think of one thing you could do which would really help or support them. Your mission for this week is to go out and act with love – because that is a choice we can always make. At best, you will transform an enemy into a friend – but at worst you will have obeyed Our Lord’s command.

Our acts of love may not touch the heart of our enemies, but they will always touch the heart of God. When the prophet Samuel was sent to anoint David as king, he was the smallest and least impressive of the eight sons of Jesse. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature… For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Yes, we human beings often miss what is going on in the heart of a person. Our Ultimate Judge always notices. Sometimes, other judges notice too. Loving enemies is a choice we can all make. Yes, we will have unguarded moments which our frustrations get the better of us, but we can all make the choice to do kind acts for which we expect to receive no earthly reward. We are called to display so much love for our enemies that even a respected judge would envy our faith.

Troublemakers (Righteous Pests)

Homily at the Sion Community D Weekend, for the Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C.

Are you a troublemaker? And if not, why not?

Moses was a troublemaker – just ask Pharaoh! The Prophet Jeremiah was called to speak words from God which would make many enemies. St Paul, who wrote the beautiful meditation on love we’ve just heard, also wrote this:

I’ve worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death’s door time after time. I’ve been flogged five times with the Jews’ thirty-nine lashes, beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. … I’ve been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. 

Why? Because Paul was a troublemaker. And in today’s Gospel, Jesus makes so much trouble that his listeners, who had only just been marvelling at his wisdom, decide to throw him off a cliff. (Spoiler alert: they don’t.)

Anyone who chooses to follow Jesus will, sooner or later, be called to be a troublemaker. This is one of the reasons we are offered the Holy Spirit in Confirmation, so we can make holy trouble when it serves God’s purposes. And today I want to offer you four tips on how to be a righteous pest.

Tip one – put on your pants.

Ok, in Bible language Jeremiah is told to “gird up his loins” but in means the same thing. Get dressed for action, physically and spiritually. Make sure you look decent, that there’s nothing people can blame in your behaviour. If you’re going to challenge other people about doing the right thing, you need to be setting a good example. If you’re gonna be a righteous pest, you need to be a righteous pest.

Tip two – get ready to deal with proud people.

Maybe you’ve heard the legend of the emperor who was fooled into believing he had a set of invisible clothes. It took a small child to be brave enought to call out “the emperor has no clothes”. Jesus could have impressed his audience when he preached in his home synagogue, but he reminds them of times when God didn’t bless the Jews and did bless foreigners. Why did he feel he needed to preach such a tough message when he was just getting going? There’s no room in the Kingdom of Heaven for people who think they are important – only for people who are willing to serve others, even foreigners.

Tip three – get ready for battle.

When you take God’s work seriously, you will meet resistance. The prophet Jeremiah was warned that he would make many enemies, but God would make him tough enough to cope. Blessed Laura Vicuña, who lived in Chile at the start of the 20th Century, died at the tender of age of 13 – but during that time, she annoyed the girls at her school by making no secret of her sense of calling to be a nun, and was beaten by her mother’s lover when she objected to her mother living in a sinful relationship. She died of tuberculosis, but it’s likely that the beatings left her more vulnerable. She offered God the sacrifice of her life in return for her mother’s conversion.

Pope Francis, preaching in May 2013, noted that everyone who follows Jesus will enjoy many good things but will also face persecution. Like Jesus, our only road to holiness leads to the Cross. The Pope warned that “when a Christian has no difficulties in life – when everything is fine, everything is beautiful – something is wrong.” If we have truly encountered Jesus, something “goes deep within and changes us. And the spirit of the world does not tolerate it, will not tolerate it, and therefore, there is persecution.”

Tip four – do it with love.

If you’re going to be a righteous pest, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. The wrong way is to take any delight in having an opportunity to confront someone – the right way is to put the other person front and centre.

You don’t have to follow Jesus to be a troublemaker. There are lots of good troublemakers out there who don’t share our Christian faith – campaigning about climate change, political prisoners, world peace and a myriad of other good causes. We can get alongside them to make trouble, as long as we do so with love. But there’s also a special kind of trouble which only Christians can make. We can also ask the eternal questions: do you believe in life after death? Do you know the only One who can admit you to heaven if you put your trust in him?

The Israelites were given a powerful example of God’s power to save when they were taken through the Red Sea and provided with manna from heaven. But for those who came afterwards, they did not witness God’s mighty deeds, only the memory passed down by their people. In the same way, we must pass the memory of Jesus. But we’re all at different stages on our journey.

If you don’t know in your heart that Jesus is alive and able to save you, ask Him to reveal himself to you today.

If you’ve already in that place where you know that He is alive but you don’t yet know what he is calling you to do, simply pray the dangerous prayer, “Here I am Lord, use me as you will.”

And if you do know he is asking you to make holy trouble, but you need more courage to step out and do it, there are two things you can do. First, ask the Lord to give you a small challenge which will help you build up your trust in him. And secondly, find some other discipels who can make holy trouble with you. 

It is in this spirit in which I ask you to reflect on today’s Gospel and ask yourself: “Am I a troublemaker?” If you’re not, don’t worry, it’s never too late to begin!

Transcribed, Transliterated and Translated

Homily for the Trustees of Sion Community for Evangelism, 23 January 2022

Today is a day of unexpected discoveries.

When Jesus stood up to read in the synagogue, no-one was expecting to witness the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy.

When Ezra stood up with the Book of the Law, things were slightly different. A community which cherished God’s law had returned to their ancient place of worship and created a great celebration of the Word of God.

Yet Ezra’s act reminds me of another scene in the Hebrew Bible: during the reign of King Josiah, the High Priest Hilkiah discovered a lost copy of the “Book of the Law” and brought it to the King. When this was read aloud, it had a profound effect: the King forbade the idolatry common at that time and returned Judah to observing God’s law faithfully.

Now the Bible scholars do ponder what book it was that Hilkiah found. Was it the entire Torah? Was it the Book of Deuteronomy? Was this in fact the time in Jewish history when scribes first wrote the Book of Deuteronomy? Or was it a now-lost book which the priests of the time wrote and hid so it could be ‘discovered’ and have just such an effect?

Does it in fact matter whether a text is ancient or newly-written, as long as it contains God’s truth?

St Luke set out to create a new text, an ordered account of the things Jesus said and did. He was not the first to write about Jesus, and most likely had access to a copy of Mark, but he also did his own research. I wonder what unexpected discoveries he made?

And so to today. Today, the Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, has been designated by Pope Francis as the Sunday of the Word of God. Here we are, the members and trustees of Sion Community, kerygmatic evangelists. What can I possibly say to you, that you haven’t heard before, about the value and power of the Word of God, and how we might celebrate it and commiunicate it more effectively? I sat with the scriptures for today, but found no fresh manna. So I did what any desperate preacher might do. I turned to Google… and that’s when I started making fresh discoveries. Not about Scripture, but about the Sunday of the Word of God.

First, I discovered that today now has an official logo. It’s based on an icon of the disciples on the Road to Emmaus. The logo was unveiled two years ago by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, who took time to unpack its rich symbolism.

See the resurrected Christ holding in his left hand a scroll, which is “the sacred Scripture that found its fulfillment in his person.” By his side are two disciples: Clopas and his wife, Mary. Scripture only names Clopas, but the Archbishop chooses to identify the other, not unreasonably, as Mary the wife of Clopas. They both fix their gaze on Christ while Clopas holds a stick to indicate “a pilgrimage. Mary is holding one hand upward and with her other hand seems to be touching the Lord, reaffirming that he has fulfilled the ancient promises and is the living Word that must be proclaimed to the world. Clopas’ free hand is pointing the road ahead, which all disciples are called to take in order to bring the Good News to everyone.

There is a star overhead symbolizing evangelization and the “permanent light” that guides their journey and shows them the way. The feet of all three are depicted as being in motion, representing that the proclamation of the Risen Christ cannot be accomplished by “tired or lazy disciples” but only by those who are “dynamic” and ready to find new ways to speak so that sacred Scripture may become the living guide of the life of the church and its people.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella

Second, I discovered that today Pope Francis plans to institute lectors and catechists in Rome. It was only last year that the ministry of lector was opened to women, marking its proper identity as a lay ministry rather than a mark of clerical status. Also last year, Pope Francis created an entirely now formal ministry of the instituted catechist. We will see, in due course, how the Church hierarchy in this country chooses to recognises suitable laity and appoint them to these ministries.

Thirdly, I discovered that our bishops have prepared a document especially for today, the 2022 celebration of the Sunday of the Word of God. It runs to 97 pages… and I discovered it at 9 o’clock this morning! Which means we have discovered, not for the first time, that our church organisation is less than brilliant at communicating its own resources to its own people. But still better than the organisation of Hilkiah, who seemed to be running a Jewish Temple without any knowledge of the Law of God!

What does this document contain? There are templates for lectio divina exercises whcih can be done at any time. There is an invitation for families to have their own celebration, today, of today’s readings. And there is an invitation to make today’s liturgy more solemn with an enthronement of the Lectionary. Now this is a dangerous symbol! We know that the Word of God is a person, not a book – though we give great honour to the book which tells the Good News of this person. Yes, it is permitted to enthrone the written word of God, even to give a solemn blessing by making the sign of the Cross with a copy of the Scriptures; but a word transcribed in ink only becomes effective when it is transliterated into human hearts and translated into human actions.

We are invited to make today a solemn day when the Word of God should be celebrated, studied, and transmitted. I will, now, share with you a final discovery – a throne prepared for the written Word of God on this occassion – but this is merely a celebration. It is up to each one of us to study the Word and spread the Word, not only today but in every day of the year to come. Do this, and you will make your own discoveries – of the hidden manna you will find within the Word, and its power to transform the lives of those with whom you will share it.

What is Going to Happen To Us?

Homily at Sion Community’s FaithLift Day, for the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time. 

What is going to happen to us?

People through the ages have worried about this question, in different ways.

What is going to happen to the human race?

What sort of future will be there for our nieces and nephews, our grandsons and granddaughters?

What about me? Will I live to a ripe old age?

In seeking answers, human beings have turned to sourcerers and scientists, soothsayers and sages.

Our Church wisely warns us against trusting any kind of fortune telling or giving it power over our lives. If it works at all, it works because an ungodly spirit comes behind it, and Scripture makes clear that the Devil is a liar, mixing just enough truth to seduce us.

Science can make some predictions about what is inevitable, and others which depend on our behaviour. In a few billion years, our Sun will run out of nuclear fuel, swell up and engulf planet Earth. Politicians have just spent two weeks considering the scientists’ best estimates of how human pollution will change our homeworld over the next fifty years; we have made some progress but many promises have not yet been kept, and others may be too little, too late, for the most vulnerable nations on earth. And perhaps science has given us a false sense of security in the richer nations of our world, that we are in control of our personal fate; we’ve just lived through two extraordinary years which have reminded us that even with science, we are still vulnerable to Mother Nature.

God has also chosen to reveal something to us about what is to come. In the Creed we will say shortly in this Mass, we will declare “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” The prophet Daniel received a vision of the last judgment – and note it is not just the good who are raised to new life. Every person who has ever lived is raised into a restored body, and then the good will shine while the wicked live with eternal shame. Jesus chose to tell his followers of a dramatic Second Coming when the skies would be transformed and the Son of Man would return.

Many have speculated about what this could mean. Is it a prophecy of a nuclear war, a climate catastrophe or a rogue asteroid smiting the earth from space? Or is it a divine intervention which need not be explained by science, because the things of God are beyond the mind of man? Speculating about how, or when, is pointless. Jesus gives this as a warning to be ready at any time.

There’s a story about a saint, perhaps it was Saint Francis, who was busy sweeping the floor of his churchyard, when a rumour spread around the town that Jesus was going to come back in one hour. Some of the villagers rushed to confession. Others went to make peace with their enemies. Still others sank to their knees to spend the last hour of their lives in deep prayer. But Saint Francis? He just carried on sweeping the floor, comfortable in the knowledge that he was already living his life in the way the Lord expected.

We must beware of the temptation to follow mystics and visionaries who claim to know more. Some of them may truly have received prophecies about what is yet to come, but everything must be tested against Scripture and the teaching of the Church. There is a book you should read if you want to know what is yet to come – and that book is the Catechism of the Catholic Church! Paragraphs 668–679 deal with the Second Coming of Jesus. Paragraphs 1038–1050 are about the last judgment of humanity. There is more than you might expect in there, about what God has revealed about the future. So if you are minded to pay attention to other visions or prophecies, start by taking time to understand what the Church teaches, and test everything against that.

Jesus revealed something about the End – which is, of course, a new Beginning – not so that we should worry, but that we should hope. Hope is, in fact, the spiritual gift of believing in the goodness which is yet to come. In the end, all shall be well – and if all is not well, then it’s not yet the end.

On this weekend of Remembrance, we recall that just over 100 years ago, Britain was at war with Germany and her allies. That war was won, but more conflict followed. Eighty years ago, during the Second World War, British civil servants had to prepare for the worst. What if Britain suffered a heavy Nazi bombardment? A series of advisory posters was prepared, but never used. Today, we find ourselves faced with the uncertainty of climate change and coronavirus. A few years ago those posters were rediscovered, and have been reproduced on everything from T-shirts to mugs. The words of wisdom? “Keep Calm and Carry On.”

In fiction, The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy offered similar advice in an even more pithy form: the words “Don’t Panic!” – written in big friendly letters on the front cover.

But in truth, the only advice we need is found hundreds of times in the pages of the Bible. “Do not be afraid.” Why did Jesus reveal to us something about the End Times? For the same reason that he revealed all other things on God’s heart. I will leave you with his own words from John 16:33:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Rebuilding Sion

Homily to members of Sion Community at the first Community Regional Day in the SENT Chapel, 25 September 2021.

Walk about Zion, go around it, count its towers, consider well its ramparts, … that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever! (Psalm 48:12-14)

Brothers and sisters, it is good to be in this place, this familiar place, this homely place. Some of us haven’t been here for a while. In our minds we are thinking, “Yes, we know what Sion is like.”

Let us recognise here a strong temptation to do exactly what we have done before, to rebuild the old. This might well be what the man with the measuring line was sent to do. If you’ve been following the Mass readings in the last two days, you’ll know we’ve been in the time of rebuilding the Jewish Temple. Perhaps the measuring man needed to know the size of the old walls to rebuild them exactly where they were. 

And God says NO.

Be open! Be vulnerable to new people and new ways of doing things! I will be your protection!

Scary! And thrilling!

My brothers and sisters, do not be surprised at this message, for it is one the Lord has been preparing us for over recent years.

In this chapel, you see the beautiful image of the praising girl above our musicians, reflecting our prophetic word that we have been given a voice – both to preach the Gospel and to praise God – and so we must use it.

On the other side, there is our tent-peg image. Make wider your tent, that nations may stream in from left and from right! And next to the tent peg is a screen. There used to be a projector screen there; now there is a TV. We might look at the screen and think, “Oh, that’s for the words so we can praise God with one voice.” That’s partly true. But the screen can do more than this. The screen can also connect us to people beyond the walls of this building. In a prophetic way, the tent-peg now sits next to our window on the wider world!

I think we may also see a prophetic sign in what is happening with our Covenant Steering Group. It started with three core members on it. One, Peter, is here at SENT. Another, Alice, will speak to us from the Ark. The third, Karen, will catch up from home as she recovers from surgery. Likewise there are three Associate Members. Clare Spiller is here with us. Fran Baines will speak from the Ark. John Martin will also speak to us remotely, either from the Ark or from home – we’ll find out this afternoon. The future has arrived. We are bigger than this beloved building!

Another prophetic word, perhaps more familiar to the Core Members, was given at a December retreat a few years ago, about a painful time of being watered and re-centred as a potter works a pot. This afternoon, we will reflect in more detail on the new shape of the precious vessel which is Sion Community. This requires courage, that we may let go of the old beauty, and embrace the new. But this is always what the followers of Jesus are called to do.

Cardinal Newman reminded us that to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.

Some nameless wag has noted us that change is inevitable, except from a machine machine.

Jesus proclaimed: Change! God’s Kingdom is close to you! Rejoice, in this good news!

Jesus called for METANOIA. Yes, that word includes repentance from those sins which are always sins. But it also includes the call to turn from God’s will for the previous stage of our journey to embrace God’s will for the next. Even the 12 apostles were reluctant to embrace change. Jesus prophecied his death and resurrection. They didn’t want to hear it! But that was the only way God’s purpose could be fulfilled, and in the fullness of time they came to understand.

Change may be exciting. Change may be scary. But change is always God’s way, that we may journey with him from glory to glory. Only through change can His power working in us do more than we can ever expect and imagine. As Marianna said in her prophecy about the pot, the change would be painful, but make us something quite beautiful, if we embrace it.

I do not believe it is a coincidence that the liturgy gives us this reading on the first day we can gather in this way. In this reading, our beloved Lord promises to dwell in the heart of Sion, and we are called to rejoice. Let us trust in the wall of fire, which is the Power of the Holy Spirit, and pray for the great numbers who will join us in times to come! So glory be to Him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen! (Eph 3:20-21)