Who’s In Charge?

Homily at Our Lady of the Valleys for Christmas 2023.

Who’s in charge around here?

At Christmas time, we often look back at the year ending, and it seems to me the big question of 2023 might be, “Who’s in charge?”

Maybe you saw the Oppenheimer movie this summer. The story of the atom bomb is the story of America saying “We don’t want the Enemy in charge, so we need to build this terrible weapon before they do.” But I think the movie director also wanted you to think about the project director – who was blocked from becoming a Cabinet minister by the US Congress – and made a political movie about who’s really in charge.

Here in Britain we’ve had the same Prime Minister for more than a year, after a turbulent time of change, but by next Christmas we will have had an election which will force all of us to ask, “Who do I want to be in charge?” We have the privilege of living in a democracy so please choose to consider the question and use your vote prayerfully.

Maybe you saw the Barbie movie this summer. I think that director wanted you to ask, wouldn’t the world be so much better if more women were in charge?

But now we’ve just heard the comfortable Christmas story celebrated again, a story where the director – God, in this case – is asking you, “Wouldn’t the world be so much better if this Baby were in charge?”

For the child we celebrate today is the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords, the gentle king who does not impose his ways on us but invites us to open our hearts to him. That a woman should have a baby is not an unusual story. That a Virgin should bear a child is more remarkable. That the child should grow up to be violently executed and yet appear very much alive on the third day is a remarkable claim indeed. But is it Barbie or Oppenheimer? Is it a fantasy of how the world could be different, or a historical account of a seismic event which reshaped human history?

I was thinking of another movie a couple of months ago. I took a short cruise to Ephesus, the place where the Virgin Mary lived out her latter years. When I was at the front of the ship I did what any movie fan would do – I did the Titanic pose. You know the one where the Jack character played by Leonardo di Caprio pretends he’s flying and calls out, “I’m the King of the World!”?

Well, I’m not the King of the World. But the Baby whose birth we celebrate today is. He is a gentle king who does not impose his reign but asks us to vote for him with each word and action that we take.

When Titanic was in the cinema, so many people watched it again and again, because who doesn’t want to dream about a love story like that? And we celebrate Christmas again and again because our hearts hear the same message of hope. And it’s true. Christmas is a story of love and hope. God loved us so much that he sent Baby Jesus to do what was needed to open the gates of heaven. At this time of year we focus on doing good deeds, Christmas cheer, peace and goodwill to all people. But in the New Year, we’ll go back to normal – unless we choose not to. Instead we could continue to ask the question, “Who’s in charge around here?”

When we ask, “Is God in charge of the world?” we will surely think of the worst things that happen in our world. I’m sure you’re as horrified as I am at the human tragedy unfolding in Gaza, following the abhorrent attack on Israel in October. Lives continue to be lost on the border of Ukraine and Russia too. But if we dare to ask what God is doing about these dark situations, we will find God confronting us about our own willingness to make peace with our enemies. Maybe we can do little about these far-distant conflicts, but we can choose to bring peace to some of the unresolved tensions in our own life, in situations which require us to ask forgiveness, drop a grudge, or eat humble pie. Our willingness, or not, to do these things leads to another question.

“Is Jesus in charge of my life?”

Does Jesus ask more of me than simply being kind to the other people I meet, and making peace with my enemies? If the baby we celebrate today is also the Judge we will meet on the day we draw our last breath, surely it’s important to know on what he is going to judge us?

For that reason I’d like to invite you to try out a little course we’re running called Following Christ. For seven weeks you get a chance to think about these deep questions of life, in good company. It launches in January in Treforest, but you can also join by Zoom. Just as the birth of Jesus was the beginning of something new for Mary and Joseph, so drawing close to Jesus can be a new beginning for each one of us. 

Who’s in charge around here? For now, you are. You are the captain of your soul, unless you’ve already given it to Jesus. But one day you will meet your Maker. The answers you seek are found not in a nuclear weapon or the battle of the sexes, but in the true King of the World, the baby whose birth we celebrate this night/day. As a Christmas gift to you, I offer you eternal life. Will you give your life to the Baby of Bethlehem, trusting that he will give you so much more in return? When you are ready to learn his ways, come and follow him. And a Happy Christmas to you all.

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!

Heaven’s Unexpected Kiss

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Our story today begins with an unexpected kiss.

If you’re going to do that, make sure it isn’t an unwanted kiss. In the movies, boy kisses girl and after a moment of hesitation she decides to let him in. In real life, as we’ve seen playing out with the Spanish football team, it can result in an ugly row. But today’s homily is not a sermon on human relationships and how “no” always means no, and about resisting saying “yes” unless you really mean yes. Today’s homily is about the relationship between God and each one of us.

“You have seduced me Lord, and I have let myself be seduced.”

The prophet Jeremiah has had such an extreme, overwhelming experience of God’s love that he must reach for the strong language of a passionate relationship, to explain his sense of calling. But this is not an exclusive gift for the prophet. If we open our hearts to God, if we give permission to the Holy Spirit to fill the deepest, darkest corners of our being with the light which only God can give, each one of us can have a powerful experience of God’s personal love for us.

But we are afraid to let go and let God. If I were to let God into my heart, what would He find? My sin. My shame. My sorrow. How could God love a person like me?

Yet this is the amazing claim of the Gospel – anyone might give their lives for a really good person, but Jesus Christ died for us while we were still sinners.

There is no greater example for us than St Peter, chosen by Jesus to lead his apostles, yet subject to temptation at every turn. On the night of crucifixion, Peter would deny Jesus three times. Today, mere moments after being affirmed for hearing the Father’s voice, Peter yields to Satan and protests that God’s plans cannot possibly involve suffering.

But God’s plans do involve suffering. For Jesus, they led to His Passion on Mount Calvary. For us, they require us to “pick up our cross” each day.

To journey with God, you must think God’s way, not in a worldly way. God’s way is the way of forgiving people who don’t deserve it; the way of resisting temptations to intimacy in relationships outside marriage; the way of helping others not because of what we might receive from them, but because of what we will receive from God. The world will regard us as foolish; the Lord will regard us as holy. When our minds are made new, after the pattern of Christ, our thoughts will be on how we can serve others and love God. We must think God’s way, act God’s way and love God’s way. We must live lives shaped not by what other people will think of us, but by what God will think of us. To help with this, the Holy Spirit, with all His gifts, longs to dwell in our hearts. We are not alone!

It is for our consolation on this challenging journey that He will seduce us, so our hearts cannot rest until they rest in Him. St Rose of Lima, whose feast fell last month, was a mystic who heard Christ speak clearly to her in these words:

“Grace comes after tribulation… the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase… Take care not to stray and be deceived. This is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross [you] can find no road to climb to heaven.”

Last week, perhaps you were able to cry with Peter, “Yes! You are the Christ!” – this week you may be standing with Peter as one who has fallen and failed on the road to Calvary again and again. Last week Peter was commissioned as Pope; today, his fallibility is clear for all to see. What makes him a saint is his willingness to get up again … in the long run, he perseveres; all he can do is pick himself up, and offer himself once again to Jesus. And here we see the amazing love of God made visible in Jesus – for the Lord keeps calling Peter. The Risen Christ, speaking privately with Peter on the shores of Galilee, will send him once again to be the rock of his brethren.

We have an Enemy, whose weapon is despair. Time and time again we are tempted to look in the mirror and see only our faults, our failures, our darkened heart. Who am I that Christ could love me, invite me to be his friend, make me a saint? It is so easy to give in to such temptation. Jesus will never force us – but, until He comes again, He will never cease inviting us to choose Him. He longs to see us fall at His feet again, remove the tar, make our hearts pure again.

It is God alone who chooses when to greet us with heaven’s unexpected kiss, and here, like the girl in the movies, we do face a moment of decision. Do we accept God’s love, or do we resist it? If you allow God into your life, he will not rest until he has made a saint of you. He will lead you, as he led Jesus, on the Royal Road of the Cross, the only true stairway to paradise. “Will you come with me on this road to heaven?” asks the One who loves you. The decision is yours.

CALLBACK – remarks at the end of Mass

Sometimes we come to know God’s love in the privacy of our own prayer time. For many of us, the pace of life picks up in September. Perhaps this week our challenge is to make space for God, to spend ten minutes sitting with Jesus alone and asking that we may know His love, His forgiveness, his tender touch.

Sometimes we come to know God’s love when others sit with us and pray with us. This is why our Discovering Christ Course, launching this month, will lead us to a retreat day where we can receive this kind of prayer. If you’ve never had a personal experience of sensing God’s love for you, I would strongly encourage you to take part. Of course no-one can guarantee when and how God’s love will break forth into our lives, but the more we turn to God and seek His presence, the more chances we have to see God drawing close to us.

DISCOVERING CHRIST

What on earth am I here for?

Does Christian faith make sense in the 21st Century?
Seven talks – each starting with a free meal – presented by the Catholic Church.

It helps to book in advance so we can prepare the right food:

MONDAYS at 12.30 – 3 pm, 25 Sep – 13 Nov (no session 30 Oct)

– Monday talks at All Hallows’ Hall, Miskin tinyurl.com/DC23-miskin

– Monday talks at the Cwm Farm Shop in Treorchy tinyurl.com/DC23-treorchy

THURSDAYS at 6.30 – 9 pm, 28 Sep – 18 Nov (no session 2 Nov)

 – Thursday talks at the Pick & Shovel (near St Dyfrig’s) tinyurl.com/DC23-treforest

Walk-ins welcome too. Bring a friend!

I’m a Believer!

Homily for Trinity Sunday, Year A

I’m a believer! I’m a believer! I’m a believer!

If you’re older than me, you’ll link those words with a hit by the Monkees in the 1960s. If you’re a bit younger, you’ll be thinking of Smash Mouth’s soundtrack to the first Shrek movie. Either way, the song has something to teach us about faith.

It’s a song about a man feeling jaded about love. He asks whether love really happens outside fairy-tales. In his experience, loving seems to mean putting a lot of effort in, and getting little in return. But then he sees a particular woman – and he is smitten! In that moment he becomes a believer!

Our Christian faith is a love story which sometimes seems too good to be true. It claims that the God of the Universe is madly in love with each one of us – and why wouldn’t he be? After all, he created us according to his design! True, part of his plan was allowing us the freedom to mess up. But our God persistently, unshakeably, keeps loving us even when it seems we don’t deserve it. Because of our sins, we cannot deserve Heaven. But God our Father, slow to anger and rich in kindness, so loved the world that he sent His Own Son to do what was needed to pardon our sins and open for us the way to heaven.

Now, are these just words? Or are they the most amazing truth in the history of the human race?

Jesus spoke them in a conversation with a Jewish leader called Nicodemus, a man torn between hope and doubt. His hope was that Jesus was the long-awaited Saviour sent from heaven. His doubts were that he couldn’t quite see how the things Jesus said and did matched his understanding of the Jewish Bible. Nicodemus saw something attractive, something compelling, in Jesus – so much so that he risked his own reputation by going to meet this controversial rabbi, choosing night-time for a clandestine meeting.

Every love story is different. Sometimes you hear of a couple who are smitten with love at first sight. Other times romance is slow burning, when a girl grows up to marry the boy next door. But either way, if you ask the couple how they know they are in love, they can’t give you a mathematical formula or a forensic sample. They just know – and they know that they know that they know.

It’s the same thing with our faith. We can know facts about Jesus, about God the Father, about the Holy Spirit. We can approach the idea that God is a Trinity as a riddle to be solved. But that’s not how love works. Rather, Jesus draws us in by attraction. Nicodemus did not sign up that night to become the Lord’s newest disciple. But his attraction to Jesus grew and grew over the next year or two, until on that good and terrible weekend, when the Lord’s Body was taken down from the Cross, Nicodemus outed himself as a believer by bringing spices to embalm Christ’s body.

A believer doesn’t need to have all the answers – he or she only needs to know that something genuine and good is there at the heart of a relationship. Something similar happens in our spiritual growth. There comes a time when we ask what this Catholic business is all about. Is it a comfortable gathering in a building we have history in, surrounded by familiar faces we call friends? Or is it about falling in love with Jesus so deeply that when He asks us to get out of our comfort zone and try things we’ve never imagined, we surprise ourselves by being willing to do just that?

Saying yes to Jesus is a risk. Pope Benedict once said: “If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful?”

I was once afraid of saying “yes” to God. What would my parents think? What would it do to my career? But you know what? It worked out OK.

To come back to our song, the believer is suddenly smitten by his true love and can no longer doubt that love is real. But he’s known days when he’s looked for sunshine and gotten only rain. That’s also true in our Christian life. We are not promised sunshine every day. So to cope with rainy days we need the gift of faith – and for that you might need to ask Jesus some questions.

Jesus, is it true that you love me? Is it true that you died for me? Is it true that you are walking beside me today and every day to teach me, give me strength and free me from my burdens?

The gift of faith is when you know that you know that you know Jesus is real and loves you. You can’t make it happen, but you can ask God for that gift.

Today is Trinity Sunday. We believe in One God. We also believe that God is three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I’ve studied that for my theology degree. But deep down, I believe it because Jesus says it is so, and I trust Him. I don’t need to know how it works. I just trust that it does work, and God is good, even on my rainy days.

I’m a believer! I’m a believer! I’m a believer!

What about you?

The Body Beautiful

Homily for the Solemnity of the Ascension, Year A

We believe in the Resurrection of the Body.

We recite these words in every Creed, but have you ever stopped to wonder what they mean?

We’re not declaring here that we believe Jesus was resurrected – we’ve already asserted that on the third day he rose again and ascended into heaven. This one’s about us.

God has a plan for your body.

God’s ultimate plan is Body 2.0. When Jesus returns from heaven – as the angels promised he would on the day he Ascended – this world will be transformed. Then anyone alive will be given a body like Jesus, and anyone who has already died, whether in purgatory, heaven, or hell, will be raised in a perfect body. Those who accept God’s mercy will be happy with Jesus for ever – in bodies like his, which can be as old or as young, as solid or as fluid, as you need to be.

But God’s plan for us right now is Body 1.0. You might not think much of the body God’s given you, but it’s one of the things God loves about you. Since your creation, your body has reflected something of God’s image. Since your Baptism, God’s spirit has been dwelling in it. Since your First Communion, Jesus himself has kept entering your body to bring His graces to your very being. Have no doubt that God loves your body. It’s His gift to you.

That said, some of us have undoubtedly wonky bodies. It’s all very well claiming your body is God’s perfect gift to you, but what if someone’s born with a disability than can never be fixed? In such cases, as in all stories of human difficulty, the Bible assuresChristians of two things: God has permitted this, and God will bring good out of it.

Nick Vujicic is a man who knows a thing or two about accepting his body. He was born without arms or legs, but that hasn’t stopped him from living a full and happy life. He’s a motivational speaker, an author, and a husband and father. Nick says that he used to be ashamed of his body. He would hide it away and try to make himself look like everyone else. But then he realized that he didn’t need to change. His body has taught him to be strong, to be resilient, and to never give up. Nowadays he travels the world, sharing his story of hope and inspiration fuelled by his Christian faith: a life without limbs can still be a life without limits!

Or there’s Ashley Graham – a Christian well-known in the modelling industry. Some would call her “plus size” but she says she’s just “my size” – and she gave a TED talkchallenging the fashion industry to “change the way the world sees beauty”.

Nick goes as far as to say his disability is a gift from God. It takes a lot of faith to see things that way. When we’re faced with something which seems wrong with our bodies – whether from birth or from some later decline – we have to work out whether we need to ask God for the grace to accept it, or to use the best efforts of medical science, as well as prayer, in the hope of changing things.

Fixing things seems reasonable, but what about trying to swap one good thing for another? Or what about using technology to enhance ourselves? Body modders want to upgrade to Body 1.5 by using surgery or medication to try to improve who they are.

Here we need to go very carefully. Are we really seeking a change for the better? Or are we believing lies that we’re not good enough as we are? Remember, that the media chooses the most beautiful people to start with, and then photoshops them, and that’s the diet of images we’re all living on. We can’t all look like that – even the supermodels don’t look that good in real life. If we start chasing an impossible dream, we’ll never be happy. Instead, can we be happy that our bodies are good enough for God?

If you’ve ever visited the Anglican shrine in Walsingham, you may have seen the Chapel of the Ascension – with Our Lord’s two feet disappearing through the ceiling. Jesus didn’t need to do that – he could have disappeared in an instant as he did at Emmaus. But he chose to do this so we could know that the human body is something so wonderful that God wants it in heaven. What Our Father has done for Jesus, Our Father will do for us. Next time you look in the mirror, remember that a beautiful image of our beautiful Saviour is looking back at you.

So today, on this great feast of the Ascension, let’s celebrate the gift of our body, made in God’s image. Let’s resist the lies and impossible ambitions presented by the world around us. Instead, let St Paul’s prayer be realised in us. May we be wise enough toperceive what God has revealed. May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, what rich glories he has promised the saints will inherit and how infinitely great is the power that he has exercised for us believers.Why not give thanks, right now, for the gift of your body? And may the Lord who loves your body sustain you in this world and raise you to Christlike glory in the world to come.

Food Handling for Churches

For all the years I’ve been a priest, I’ve never got round to looking at proper food handling… until now. Having just taken a Level 2 Food Hygience certificate, I won’t claim to be an expert, but treat the following notes as a summary of information you should verify elsewhere, and this may prove a useful guide.

For All Food

In many cases, churches will only be handling ready-to-eat food. For this you will need to be aware of the universal principles for handling food safely. Further down you will find additional guidance for food to be served hot, and then preparing food from raw ingredients. But initially let’s assume the simple case where everything is ready to eat, coming either from cold storage or a sterile sealed container.

The Preparation Area

Your place for preparing food should have surfaces (worktops, walls, floors) which are hard-wearing and easy to clean, and with a ceiling in good condition (no flaking). Before and after a food preparation session, clean the worktop. A robust method of cleaning is this:

• Remove large debris.
• Use hot water & detergent to degrease
• Rinse with very hot (>82°C) water
• Use disinfectant or sanitiser to kill any remaining microbes
• Rinse with hot water
• Air dry or use paper towels

Depending on how the workspace is treated by other users, consider whether you need to clean chopping boards, utensils and crockery before use.

Check for signs of pests (droppings, gnawing) and clean surfaces where it’s indicated pests may have been. If you have windows which open, ensure they have insect screens.

Food waste should be stored outside the food preparation area.

If you intend to maintain a simple hygiene reigeme by forbidding raw food in the preparation area, make this policy clear.

Deicde how to handle allergens – will there be a designated place for them, or will you exclude them as an operating policy?

The Personnel

No-one who is sick, particularly with diarrhoea, vomiting or a fever, should handle public food for at least 48 hours after their symptoms end.

Food handlers should remove watches, jewellery, false nails and anything else which could fall into food. Long hair should be tied back or covered.

Disposable gloves and blue plasters should be provided to cover sores and wounds on hands. Hand should be washed (and gloves changed) every time there is a trigger: a seneze, touching something dirty, moving from one raw or allergenic foodstuff to another. Proper handwashing technique should be observed.

Storing Food

Food in sealed, sterilised packets may be stored at ambient temperature in a cool, dry, well-ventilated room. To avoid pests, the lowest shelf should be at least 15cm above floor level. The storage room should also be inspected for pests on a regular basis, and the inspection documented.

Chilled food should be kept in a fridge maintained between +1°C and +5°C. If the temperature rises above 8°C the food should be considered spoiled and disposed of. Regular, documented, checks of the fridge temperature are legally required to verify that the food has been kept safely.

Frozen food should be kept in a freezer maintained between -18°C and -25°C. Regular, documented checks of the freezer temperature are needed to verify that the food has been kept safely. ‘Freezer burn’ may discolour exposed parts of frozen products but this does not affect safety to eat. Airtight bags are advisable for any foodstuffs likely to remain frozen for more than two months – supermarket wrapping is likely to be permeable to air. Torn packaging of a frozen item may be made good by adding cling wrapping over the tear. As with fridges, regular temperature checks are required.

Bread is an exception to the usual storage rules and may safely be stored at ambient temperatures until it visibly spoils.

All stored food must be checked and rotated so that items with the earliest Use By or Best Before dates are used first; food past a “use by” date must be discarded, while a quality check may find that food is still palatable after a “best before”.

If some contents from a sealed packet of food are not to be used immediately they must be stored chilled; consider possible ways of ensuring the food is cooled below +8°C as soon as possible, such as chilling the packet before opening or using an ice bath for surplus contents.

Preparing and Serving Food

Adopt a “clean as you go” approach – clean worksurfaces, and replace or clean utensils, after each distinct foodstuff is handled. Any disinfectants that are used in the kitchen need to meet BS EN standards and be designated as “food safe”. 

If your production process includes any known allergens, they should be introduced to the process at the latest possible moment; if possible use a physically separate part of the kitchen for dealing with them. Use a separate board and utensils if available, otherwise clean equipment thoroughly before and after handling allergens. Cleaning with hot soapy water – but NOT simply wiping – is defence against cross-contact of allergens with other food. Remember that cutlery, crockery and cleaning cloths can carry allergens if not treated with detergent. All products containing allergens must be clearly labelled with the relevant ingredients emphasised.

The “danger zone” for microbes to multiply in food is between 8°C and 60°C. Remember that in warmer weather, food will spoil faster. Ideally food for public collection should be in a chilled cabinet at or below 8°C. Food placed out at room temperature must be discarded after 4 hours (and best practice is to discard after 2 hours). Food removed from a fridge should ideally be eaten or cooked within 30 minutes.

Reheating and Cooking

Best practice is that hot food should be presented to the public in ‘hot holding’ – a hot service cabinet, bain marie pan or soup kettle maintained at 63°C or above. It is permissible to put hot items on a buffet table in ambient temperature but only for 2 hours; then they must be thrown away or reheated to ‘steaming’ temperature and then maintained in hot holding.

Reheating

Food which has previously been cooked (or contains ingredients previously cooked) must be heated to 75°C for at least 30 seconds. (In Scotland, there is a legal requirement to cook to 82°C.) Further, this temperature must be attained within 2 hours of the start of cooking, and verified with a temperature probe. You can only reheat food for public use once. This also applies to ‘sterile’ goods such as tinned or powdered soup which must be heated to such temperatures before being placed in a pre-heated soup kettle.

Cooking

If you are cooking from scratch, you will likely be handling “raw” ingredients – uncooked meat and unwashed vegetables. These should be stored and handled separately from sterilised and cooked products, and care taken to avoid cross-contamination via hands or utensils. If you have only one fridge, raw items should be stored on shelves below cooked items. Holding at 63°C can be sufficient for food to be cooked safely (the first cooking cycle doesn’t need to be as high as 75°C) but check what constitutes “enough” holding time for the food you are preparing.

If a cooked product is to be served or stored cold, it must be chilled quickly (such as in an ice bath or cold pan), but it should be allowed to reach 8°C or lower before being placed into a fridge or cold serving cabinet. It can help to divide the warm food into smaller portions.

Particular hazards to note:

• For any meat cooked from raw, ensure the juices run clear and it is not too pink inside;
• Products made of rolled minced meat must be thoroughly cooked through;
• Rice can be safely reheated but only once, and test that it has been cooked thoroughly;
• Raw egg should not be used in recipes for public service (such as home made mayonnaise).

Working Safely

Every food-handling business needs to identify the hazards involved in what it intends to do and put in place both safe working practices and checks to ensure that these hazards have been avoided. Government advice and guidance in keeping a diary (safety log) is available online.

Angels and Demons

Last Sunday, St Paul listed some of the categories of angels, and in the previous Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” So what do we actually know about angels?

Not a lot.

As Christians, we trust the revelation found in the Bible. As Catholic Christians we trust the teaching of the Catholic Church. Beyond that, all is speculation. Some of it is speculation we may piously believe, but we don’t have solid grounds to insist that it must be true.

The Hebrew Bible speaks of “angels” in various passages and also gives specific labels to two kinds. Isaiah has a vision of winged seraphs (or seraphim – Hebrew words become plurals by adding -im). Cherubim appear three times: set at the gates of Eden after Adam and Eve were expelled; as the winged creatures adorning the divine design of the Ark of the Covenant; and in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel.

St Paul (or a writer in his tradition) offers us two lists of various kinds of angelic being: Eph 1:21 mentions “principalities, powers, virtues and dominions”. Col 1:16 adds “thrones” in its list of four but doesn’t mention “virtues” from the Ephesians list. I Thess 4:15, and also Jude, mention Archangels (which could be translated as “chief” angels). If we allow that “Angels” are also a specific kind, and not just the generic name, that gives us nine distinct names for kinds of spirit creatures.

And that’s it. That’s all Scripture gives us to go on. We can make some assumption based on the names used by Ephesians and Colossians, but that’s all they can be: assumptions. We can assert on the basis of the Bible that there are nine “choirs of angels” but when St Thomas Aquinas grouped them into three distinct groups of three, this was nothing more than theolgical speculation.

Three Archangels are named in the Bible: Michael (in Daniel & Revelation), Gabriel (Daniel again, and in Luke) and Raphael (in Tobit). We are neither commanded, nor invited, to ask to know the name of any other angel. That doesn’t stop an angel choosing to speak to us unbidden to reveal their name or function – but for a strong warning about why we should not ask, read this cautionary tale from Kristina Cooper, originally published in the September 2002 edition of Goodnews magazine. Any claim that saying a certain prayer will guarantee you to learn your angel’s name is a serious lapse into superstition.

The Catholic Church acknowledges that angels, beings of pure spirit, exist, and that they were created by God “before” everything else (this could mean before the material universe, of which the flow of time, as we know it, is a physical property). The angels have intelligence and free will; many of them fell from grace. Jesus spoke clearly in Luke 10:18 about Satan’s fall from heaven, and Rev 12:7-9 indicates that both “Satan and his angels” fell. The belief that a third of all the angels turned away from God is speculation based on the Dragon in Revelation casting a third of all the stars to heaven. This could be a poetic way of saying a third of all angels fell, but other interpretations are possible.

The prince of the fallen angels is variously referred to as “the old serpent“, as Lucifer (the light bringer, in Isaiah), the Devil (diabolos meaning Accuser or Slanderer in Greek), and as Satan (the Enemy or Adversary) in Job. Malevolent spirits in general are mentioned by the Bible as demons (some translations: devils); as “unclean spirits” or as “evil spirits”. Some cause specific afflictions: Scripture mentions spirits of deception (I Tim 4:1); weakness (Lk 13:11); speechlessness (Mk 9:17); and divination (Acts 16:16).

Beyond this, all is speculation. The devil is the “father of lies” so any reports of juicy details from the utterings of people undergoing exorcism may or may not be true, and cannot be taken as proof of anything. Do prayerfully ask your Guardian Angel for help and protection, but don’t expect your angel to communicate with you. Do make use of the Prayer to St Michael. Above all, don’t be afraid of evil spirits, but rejoice that your name is written in heaven! If you are baptised, Jesus has given you “power to tread underfoot the whole strength of the enemy.”

Mary Kathleen Dove RIP

Funeral Homily for Mary Dove, 1936-2021, St Joseph’s, Rustington.

Where is Mary Dove? Her body is here, but dare we hope that her spirit lives on beyond the memories we treasure in our hearts?

On a day like today, we gather to honour someone we have loved and lost. We gather in our diversity of beliefs. We may believe that there is an afterlife, or that there isn’t. We may or may not believe that the actions of the living can help those who have passed to make their final journey. Our first reading, from the Book of Daniel, recalls his belief – hundreds of years before the time of Jesus – that a day will come when all who died will be raised to eternal life by the God of Abraham. Each of us is entitled to our own belief – but I am here to honour what Mary Dove believed, and she was a Catholic, of Catholic stock.

Mary’s maiden name was Arrowsmith, and there are Arrowsmiths here today. Perhaps the most famous bearer of that name was St Edmund Arrowsmith, a priest who ministered in Lancashire in the 17th Century, when Catholicism was outlawed in England, and who paid with his life for what he believed.

St Edmund often did, in hiding, what I am about to do today. He celebrated the Mass, the Christian Eucharist, the re-presenting of what Jesus Christ did at the last supper. The night before Jesus was taken and executed, he shared a final meal with his friends. He took bread and wine, and declared them to be his own body and blood. He commanded his followers to “do this, take and eat” in his memory.

From the earliest days of the Christian church, followers of Jesus believed that a particular celebration of Mass could dedicated as a prayer to help the final journey of someone who had died. This is why a normal part of a Catholic funeral is to celebrate the Last Supper. And it was at that supper that Jesus spoke the words we have just heard read aloud: “There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I am going now to prepare a place for you.”

Words of hope. Words of comfort. The very words we want to hear when our hearts are aching for someone we have loved and lost. But dare we hope that they are true in the most fundamental way? The Christian faith holds that three days after this meal, Jesus Christ appeared, risen from the dead, after having been tortured and executed on the cross. If Jesus really did return from the dead, we have every reason to hope that his promise is true, that he has prepared a room in heaven not only for Mary but for each one of us – and that it is the most meaningful thing in the world to follow his instructions and celebrate this Supper anew.

We also read that on that night, Christ said: “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Our hearts are troubled, because Mary was suddenly taken from our midst, and are only a little consoled that we had a few days to say our goodbyes. But Mary believed there was reason to hope in a life beyond this life, in a God who can wipe away every tear and gladden our hearts even in times of sorrow. If you dare to trust in the God whom Mary trusted, in that silent place where you think your private thoughts, share your saddened heart with God and ask for a share of the gladness which only God can give.

The word Eucharist – the technical name for the Last Supper – comes from the Greek word for “thank you”. Jesus took bread and wine and gave thanks to God, whom he called Father. His last free act on earth was an act of thanksgiving.

After her unexpected fall, Mary Dove lived for a few more days but was only able to speak briefly. Among her last words were one sentence – “goodbye and thank you”. To whom was Mary giving thanks? To those who had gathered around her bed to show their love, for sure – but perhaps also to God. At any rate, like Christ’s, her last voluntary act on earth was an act of thanksgiving. And the word “goodbye”, such a common word in our everyday speech, has a deeper meaning – for it is nothing less than a shortening of “God be with you – God b’with ye – Goodbye.”

From our side of the veil between heaven and earth, we can echo those last words, goodbye and thank you, Mary Dove. We might dare to hope that on the other side, she is hearing the voice of Christ, “Hello and thank you Mary Dove, thank you for your love and service as a wife, as a mother, as a nurse, as a person who cared. Enter into eternal life.” So thank you Mary Dove, rest in peace, and God be with you until we meet again.

The Hesitant Disciple

Imagine that you are one of the Eight Disciples.

You are not Peter, James or John – you were not there on the mountain of Transfiguration to see Jesus glow with divine light.

But you are one of those Jesus sent out to heal the sick and drive out demons, and proclaim that the Kingdom of God is close at hand.

Jesus has taught you to pray “Our Father” and you know that heaven has declared Jesus is the Beloved Son – with Him the Father is well pleased.

You have lived through the agony of the crucifixion – though you fled from the foot of the Cross – and you have known the joy of meeting the Risen Lord. You were there at the Last Supper when Jesus declared bread and wine to be his own Body and Blood. Now, you sense that things are shifting. This is not just another appearance of the Risen Lord. Some of those around you are awestruck and are bowing down, actually offering worship to Jesus! But you are a good Jew. You know that there is only One God, and you must never worship a creature. If you bow down with the others, you are declaring that Jesus is God, even though Jesus speaks of God as his Father…

Do you stand tall? Do you bow down? Do you make that final surrender of saying that Jesus is actually God in human form?

You are one of the first to ask the same question that followers of Jesus will ask for centuries to come: is Jesus actually God, or only the unique Son of God? Deep debates in the fourth century resulted in the Creed we now say at Mass: Jesus is True God from True God, of one being or ‘consubstantial’ with the Father.

Perhaps for us as 21st Century Catholics, Adoration – worshipping Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament – is so normal for us that “Should I honour Jesus as God?” is not even a question we would ask. But for a Jew in the first century, or an Arian in the fourth, it was a real stumbling block! If Jesus is Son of the Father, doesn’t that mean that in some meaningful way, he is lesser than the Father?

When Queen Elizabeth of England dies, her successor, presumably Prince Charles, will become King. He will hold exactly the same authority that she held before him. Right now, Prince Charles has authority to carry out certain duties on her behalf. He can bestow honours and knighthoods – but under her authority. Of course it’s possible, if unlikely, that while still alive, she could abdicate. If that happened, the new King would hold the authority which once belonged to the Queen, even though she is still living. So exactly the same authority is passed on by death or abdication – but a lesser authority by delegation.

St Paul wrote to the Roman Christians that we, the children of God, are “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ”. It’s a wonderful and terrible thing to know that there is an inheritance waiting for you. Do you wish your benefactor to die, so you can receive and enjoy your inheritance? The Prodigal Son did just that, by demanding his inheritance from his living father! The grumpy elder brother was then reassured by the Father “Everything I have is yours!” The younger son is also given the Ring of Authority when he returns home. Imagine what would have happened next in that household when the Father, Son and Elder Brother all tried to spend money or command servants, each following their own different agendas? This is why, in any human organisation, the best we can do is have one central authority structure, which can then delegate budgets or a limited set of responsibilities, to particular members.

You hear Jesus speak: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.” Given by whom? By the God whom Jesus called Father, the author of all creation. Does this mean the Father has abdicated? No indeed! Does that make it a lesser authority? No – it is ALL authority, as surely as if the Father had abdicated, even though it is given, it is not less in status! But such a sharing of authority is only possible because Jesus is always of one mind with the Father.

In his divinity, Jesus always wants what the Father wants! In his humanity, he always chooses to align his human will with that perfect vision of what the Father is doing. It is only because of this perfect alignment that the Son can share total authority without the Father relinquishing it. We are co-heirs with Christ – but we are heirs only so far as we are yoked with Christ and willing to walk with him. St Paul said that our spirit and the Holy Spirit bear a united witness – but this can only happen if my human spirit is surrendered entirely to the Holy Spirit.

Jesus IS consubstantial with the Father, and always has been. By your baptism, you are a co-heir with Christ, and when you enter heaven you will experience this in its fullness. But why wait for heaven? If only our human spirit could be perfectly aligned with the Holy Spirit, we would make heaven present on earth as powerfully as Jesus himself did. But like the Eleven of old, we are hesitant disciples. There are doubts within us.

Imagine that you are one of the Eight Disciples. Will you worship Jesus as God? Will you surrender to the Holy Spirit? This is more than saying “come and release your gifts in me”. This is saying, Spirit of God, command me! May I do nothing but the will of God! Now you are ready to go and make disciples, teaching others to do the same. And know that Christ is with you!

Thresholds and Foundations

Sherry Weddell famously introduced the Catholic world to the ‘thresholds of discipleship’ in her seminal work, Forming Intentional Disciples. But Sherry makes no secret of the fact that the thresholds were not her own invention, but the discovery of two evangelical Christians, Don Everts and Doug Schaupp. I have now had the opportunity to read their book, I Once Was Lost, and reflect on what further insights they bring to the great task of making disciples. Page numbers cited ^{like this} refer to the 2008 paperback edition. The publishers also offer relevant online resources.

Both Everts and Schaupp are university campus ministers in the USA, Everts working in Colorado and Schaupp in California.¹² From the start of the 1990s they sensed a cultural shift: postmodern youth were no longer willing to accept claims about Jesus and Christianity made by authority figures; they now required authentic witnesses.¹⁵ After working with more than 2000 young people making the journey into Christian faith, they noticed a very predictable pattern of conversion, represented by the thresholds; despite taking time to debate possible counterexamples, Everts and Schaupp find that the thresholds continue to be a reliable description of the path of conversion. At the end of the book¹¹⁴ they offer a suggestion by Shannon Lamb that the pathway to a marriage could be used as analogy to committment to Christ, and I use that framework here. They also note that there are five stages in the growth of the grain used by Jesus in the parable of the sower: seed, stalk, head, full grain, ripe.²¹ Yet Jesus also spoke of the growth of grain as mysterious and unpredictable!^18-19

Attraction (Trust)

We can only share the Gospel effectively in a relationship of trust – and the sad reality is that not everyone will come to trust us. We can work on being more open by learning not to defend our own viewpoint, become condescending or argue back; we must beware the temptaton to avoid other people or become so tender that we bruise easily.^34-35

The book concludes by returning to the beginning: an evangelist must have a servant heart and must lovingly care for the people they come into relationship with. Only in a trusting relationship, earned by loving service, does it become possible to discern where an individual might be along the journey to Christ.^133-134

Flirting with Jesus (Curiosity)

Non-Christians pass through different levels of curiosity. First comes awareness – they realise these is such a thing as Christians. Second comes engagement – a willingness to spend time with the Christians they trust, hearing what they have to say. The highest level is exchange – entering into dialogue and being willing to share their own opinons.^52-53 We may note that evangelistic courses such as Alpha create the space precisely where people can share their own opinions.

There was a time when it was said, “Just behave kindly to people, and eventually they will ask you to give an account of what motivates you – then you can witness.” This no longer seems to work in the postmodern generation – Christians can easily get stuck in the box of being “kind people” whose kindness needs no further explanation. To get unstuck, we may need to be provocative. Use parables and seek to break out of conventional “either/or” scenarios. You may need to think out loud: “I wonder how many people around here think of spiritual things? I wonder how many people here pray?”^56-60

Surviving the First Row (Openness to Change)

It is possible to create an event designed to promote openness. Think of the participants not as seekers but as skeptics or cynics. Such an event should not have overt worship music or prayer, but the arts may be used to communicate encounter with God; topical movies and stories can also be used. There should be clear leadership which presents something about who the real Jesus is, but this event shouldn’t have an altar call – the participants won’t be ready for it.^79-80

Dating with a Purpose (Seeking)

A Seeker, in threshold language, is a person who is specifically asking questions about Jesus. This goes beyond general questions about God – a Seeker has heard the Christian claim that Jesus is our Teacher, God incarnate, and wishes to investigate this further. A true Seeker asks these questions with urgency, willing to pay the price which comes with a hard answer.^86-88 Seekers can be appropriately exposed to the practices of believers: worship, Bible Study, prayer, church socials and service projects.⁸⁵ But in service projects, there needs to be an explicit presentation of the Gospel; we cannot expect participants will join the dots for themselve and link the teaching of Jesus to the volunteers’ motivation.¹⁰¹

A possible format for a Seeker Group is a GIG: Group Investigating God. Consider offering a scripure passage (Gospels seem to work best) on a printed sheet where the investigator can highlight, circle, etc. Take 5 inutes to work on the sheet on your own, and then share what you highlighted.⁹³ It is good to set out clear rules and expectations in a Seeker Group, such as:

• You must grow!
• Be curious; ask questions.
• Share honestly.
• Take risks.
• Listen to others.

Seekers are likely to ask the question about why God allows suffering. The best response is generally not abstract philosophy but a personal testimony of how you have experienced God’s presence the midst of your own suffering. You may also find citing C. S. Lewis useful.⁹¹

An event aimed at true Seekers can appropriately include an Altar Call. But discernment is needed with each person who responds by coming forward. Who has actually committed their life to Jesus, and thereby crossed the fifth threshold? Who is simply declaring that they are interested in Jesus and want to know more, signalling that they are at the fourth?⁸⁵

The Wedding (Intentional Discipleship)

Will you follow Jesus? No groom would get away with pledging to love his wife four days a week and trying to be there for her in hard times – he has to go all-in. There can be an urgency about challenging a Seeker to cross the line and make a committment before their questioning heart cools down. The challenge must be clear – not dressed up in obscuring church language, but not over-simmplified either. The challenge is not to “say a sinner’s prayer”. The challenge is to become a follower of Jesus, to seek His will and live by His commandments.¹¹²

Like the third threshold, this one can be surrounded by intense spiritual warfare. Potential converts may be gripped by a ‘fear of change’ which requires specific ministry.¹¹¹

Surviving the Honeymoon

Following the key moment of making a personal commitment to Christ, there’s often a honeymoon period of around three weeks, followed by a deep spiritual attack. It is good for a discipler to intensively mentor a new Christian with 2-3 contacts a week for the first 6-8 weeks or so. The discipler should make it clear that such intensity is useful (in case it feels heavy) but does not set the pattern for the long term relationship (lest the new Christian expect enduring regular contact).^126-129

In the early days after committing to Christ, the new convert will have many emotions to process and may wonder if they made an authentic decision. After these days, the discipler will need to help the new Christian form a good habit of regular prayer, Bible reading, witnessing when appropriate, serving others and taking their place in a worshipping community. Towards the end of the honeymoon, the discipler should ensure that the new Christian has a stable relationship with believers who will support their onward journey in that fellowship.

Catholics may note some similarity with the Mystagogia period from initiation at the Easter Vigil to the time around Pentecost seven weeks later. Insofar as there is a real change in the new Catholic’s life – access to the sacraments – and the cessation of a discipleship group (the RCIA fellowship) then attention to the new member is important. But we must also recognise that the sacraments of initiation celebrate publicly a decision to be a disciple of Christ which may have been made interiorly some months earlier – not fitting neatly with the date of Easter. It is equally important to offer spiritual mentorship at the time of personal conversion to Christ.