Fr Paul writes

From the Vicarage Dec 06 / Jan 07

2006-12-13T21:37:00.000Z

The weeks leading up to Christmas have seen our town take on an unwelcome notoriety. No-one who lives in Ipswich can have been left unaffected by the disappearance and tragic deaths of five young women. The ensuing high-profile police investigation and media coverage have left us all with the uncomfortable awareness of evil in our midst. It has been brought home to us all with irresistible force that not only is a serial killer at large, but that tens of women work the streets of our red light district each night and so many of them have arrived there after tragic lives of neglect, abuse and addiction.

In the face of this, local Christian leaders issued a joint statement. They expressed sadness at the tragic loss of life and sympathy for those affected by it or having to investigate it. The churches, it promised, are there as a resource for our troubled community – they are open for prayer and their Christmass services will comprise spells of quiet for people to pray about and reflect on the tragedy. But they went on to make a strong connection between the killings and the message of Christmass; they asked us ‘to remember those who are pushed to the edges of society and are therefore particularly vulnerable,’ and then reminded us that such people ‘were among the first to recognise the Messiah.’ Christmass does indeed tell of God’s love for all. The gospels show how this love was often embraced by those on the fringes of society. One such ‘working girl’ was a witness to the resurrection and one of our greatest saints!

But the relevance of Christmass should not be confined to drawing parallels between Jesus’ first disciples and the ‘vulnerable’ of today. Instead this feast reveals a central doctrine of our faith, the Incarnation. In the birth of Jesus in the stable at Bethlehem God became man. This event is quite simply the greatest act of love and humility ever! And in touching the human with the divine God invested all human life with divine value and divine possibilities. In other words, Christmass means that each person is to be valued as an image of God and one who has been invited to share God’s own life.

This conviction should inform our response to the debates which are already starting. What lessons are there to be learned? Should prostitution be legalised? Christians must resist the moral bankruptcy that would accept an underclass whose only value is to gratify others. And we must not be naïve enough to think that prostitution can be separated from drug-abuse, crime and misery. These thoughts are an affront to the mystery of Christmass and an unworthy memorial to five young lives so tragically snuffed out.

Fr P

26th Sunday - 1 Oct - Jealousy

2006-09-15T08:35:00.000Z

St Barts is going to have a parade service on 1st October and celebrate Harvest.

Fr P

However for those wishing to look up readings of the normal cycle please see the 26th Sunday reference below>

READINGS:

Numbers 11: 25-29
Psalm 18
James 5: 1-6
Mark 9: 38-48

Jealousy is a word that crops up in the scriptures more than once, but not always in the negative way in which we naturally use it. God is jealous; he loves his people and demands that he should be the only God they worship. Human jealousy is altogether different and it knows no bounds, even showing itself in the arena of faith. The disciples are jealous of a man who works miracles but not with them. The young men in the OT reading are jealous of those who prophesy through the Holy Spirit. Such feelings belong to the world below. And so St James warns us of focusing all our energies on that world and not investing in the one to come. For those who live without a care for the life to come a judgement lies in store.

25th Sunday - 24 Sept - The ungodly oppose the godly

2006-09-15T08:33:00.000Z

Readings

Wisdom 2 : 12 17-29 "Let us condemn the godly"
Psalm 53(54)
James 3:16-4
Mark 9:30-37

24th Sunday - 17 Sept - The Suffering Servant

2006-09-15T08:29:00.000Z

READINGS:

Isaiah 50: 5-9
Psalm 114
James 2: 14-18
Mark 8: 27-35

The suffering servant

The songs of the Suffering Servant can be found in the Second Isaiah and come from a period in the history of Israel when the people were in exile. They are songs of dereliction but not of despair. The prophet looks for his redemption in God. It is easy and natural to want to evade the difficulties of following Christ. But he warns Peter in the gospel that recognising him and the Christ the Son of God is only to go so far. We also have to accept God’s will. For Peter this meant seeing his Master walk the way of the cross. For all disciples it means walking that way ourselves. This means different things for all of us; but in every case God guarantees to stand by us as our helper and strength.

Fr P

23rd Sunday 10th Sept - The deaf hear

2006-08-30T20:24:00.000Z

READINGS:

Isaiah 35: 4-7
Psalm 145
James 2: 1-5
Mark 7: 31-37

The deaf hear!

We all need encouragement and reassurance. In a way the miracles of Jesus were just that—signs of the coming of God’s reign and a call to trust. In the gospel next week a deaf man is healed. The crowd respond by hailing Jesus as the one who has ‘done all things well’. Isaiah sees such acts as the sign that salvation has dawned and that we should take courage. Sometimes this courage will involve a departure from the prejudices of society or even our own hang-ups.

St Paul identifies snobbery as something quite contrary to the gospel and traces how it leads to the making of false judgements. As Jesus’ generosity and power are manifest in miracles, so our discipleship shows itself in a people free from prejudice and fear.

Fr P

Sunday 27th Aug - Choose the Lord!

2006-08-18T20:12:00.000Z

READINGS:

Joshua 24: 1-2. 15-18 Psalm 33

Eph 5: 21-32

John 6: 60-69

Choose the Lord! In the OT reading Joshua invites the people to count their blessings and, more importantly the one who blesses them. They have been delivered from their enemies by the Lord. But it is now up to them to decide whom they should worship.

As more and more people reject Jesus in the gospel, the Apostles themselves are faced with a similar predicament. Peter echoes the words of Joshua as he pledges himself to Jesus. But whilst Joshua saw God saving the people from their worldly enemies, Peter recognises Jesus as his saviour, the one who has the ‘words of eternal life’. The implications of Jesus’ Lordship are examined in the NT reading. Christ should be obeyed but he also loved his church in a way similar to the love of Christian marriage.

Fr P

Sunday 20 August - Live for the Lord!

2006-08-11T20:33:00.000Z

READINGS:

Proverbs 9: 1-6;
Ps 33;
Ephesians 5: 15-20
John 6: 51-58

Live for the Lord!

Christian initiation (Baptism and Conformation) involves making a decision for God. This is to reject the values of the world the as well as well as to embrace God. It is no accident that the gospel reading next week, which is about the Eucharist, begins with a division between people: those who choose to live for Jesus eat the bread of life and receive the pledge of immortality; those who reject Jesus do not.

St Paul writes to us about persevering in that choice. We are to live worthy lives and lives full of praise. In this perseverance we have the Holy Spirit to comfort us and help us avoid all unworthy escapisms. The book of Proverbs likens both wisdom and foolishness to a dining experience. But only the bread of wisdom leads to life.

Fr P

Sunday 13 August – 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

2006-08-04T08:41:00.000Z

READINGS:
1 Kings 19: 4-8;
Ps 33;
Ephesians 4: 30-5: 2;John 6: 4-51

The call to eternal life. To come to Jesus, we first have to be ‘drawn’ to him by God the Father. Jesus tells us that this is a two-step process; first we have to be taught and learn from him; and then we have eat the bread from heaven. To believe is to have eternal life. And to eat the bread from heaven is to receive a pledge that we will arrive there at the end of our earthly pilgrimage.

In these two ways the Eucharist is food for the journey—we are taught and fed, as Elijah was, so that the journey of life might not be too great for us. Since spiritual sustenance is about this life as well as the next, St Paul points out to the Ephesians that certain fruits are expected from the Eucharistic Community, so as not to grieve the Holy Spirit, especially love and forgiveness.

Fr P

Sunday 6 Aug 2006 - The Transfiguration

2006-08-02T07:44:00.000Z

READINGS:
Daniel 7: 9-10. 13-14; Ps 96;
2 Peter 1: 16-19;Mark 9: 2-10

Who is Jesus? This question is asked in so many different ways in the gospels. St Peter writes to us of his experience at the Transfiguration; for him this episode was a an apprehension of Jesus' majesty, a fulfilment of the prophets and a hope for the future.

It vindicated his faith, his hope and his preaching. The gospel shows Peter relishing the moment of Jesus' appearance in glory and wanting to make it permanent. And in Isaiah we hear of the angelic Son of Man figure (a title Jesus takes for himself and for his return in glory).

All of this points to the importance of awe, wonder and adoration in the spiritual lives of Christians. We so naturally ask God things, even thank him, but adoring him seems rather less in fashion today!

July 2006 - Post football - but it was worth the climb !

2006-07-13T19:45:00.000Z

Zinedine Zidane is the most talented footballer of his generation. This year’s World Cup final was to be a fitting finale to his career; the best footballer aimed to lead his team to the game’s highest prize. Instead, he departed in disgrace. A red card for a moment of madness allowed the surrounding press to capture his lonely walk to the dressing room past a trophy that he was now destined never to lift again. It all seemed such a waste, such an anticlimax. It makes you wonder if one can have flair in this life without faults. And the next day’s back pages ran stories about the career of a ‘flawed genius’.

If Zidane aimed to be lifting the World Cup this summer, what aims did we each cherish? Few of us have the potential (the genius) of a Zidane or a Beckham. Each one of us, though, has within them very many gifts and opportunities. To bring even a fraction of these to their fulfilment we need to aim to. In his very famous writing about love (1 Corinthians 13) S Paul exhorts us to be ambitious even in the spiritual sphere, to aim for the high gifts that God can offer, the ‘more excellent way’.

Of course, the press love to pull down an icon like Zidane. It seems to sell papers when criticism or humiliation are offered rather than praise. A little flirtation with honesty, though, will confront each of us with the reality that we all fail in our aims. This realisation can lead to indolence and cynicism; we will only fail, so why try in the first place? And so it takes grit to climb to our feet after a fall.

Christianity offers us a vital insight into the human condition of failure. The faith teaches us that we are all made with the highest potential. Human beings are singled out from the rest of the created order as reflecting the nature of God himself. This calling makes it vital that we never stop trying to do our best. But our faith also teaches us that we are sinners, a fallen people. From Adam and Eve onwards human beings have rejected God’s will and distorted his image within them. Effort might bring progress but it can never bring perfection. If Zinedine Zidane is flawed that is only something he shares with the rest of humanity.

The significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection is that it puts us back on the road to perfection. No matter how we might fail on earth we will always be forgiven. And more than that, we know that finally we will be with Jesus and like Jesus in heaven. The only genius without flaw is Jesus himself. And Christianity is ‘good news’ because Jesus longs to share that perfection with each of us, to forgive and strengthen us and in the end bring us to the perfect place of heaven.

Fr P

Football or not to Football ?

2006-06-15T17:31:00.000Z

The World Cup is here !!!!!

Whether you love football or loathe it, one of your abiding memories of this year’s World Cup is likely to be the flags. The cross of St George seems to be flying just about everywhere you look – car aerials, bedroom windows, offices. In some countries this would be the case without ‘world cup fever’. Any English visitor to America, for example, can’t help but be struck by the presence of the flag. It flies in classrooms and offices, in churches of all affiliations as well as from cars and private homes. The State flag is also to be seen in abundance.

This all makes you wonder why we are so different. Why do we go all out for Rule Britannia for one sporting event, yet seem so reticent about our national identity the rest of the time? Should we be more upfront, prouder of who we are, the rest of the time?

The scriptures have much to say about outward statements. In the Old Testament the people of Israel are God’s very own possession, the chosen nation, a people set apart. With the privileges went certain paraphernalia. There was a cultic system, a massive machinery of religious observances. The human temptation, of course, was to do the outward part of religion whilst ignoring its rather more challenging interior. In other words, people would go the temple and obey the rules on what to do when, but fail to take seriously God’s call to a change of heart.

Outward religion without a true sense of its inner worth was never condoned by the Lord. On the contrary, he spoke through the prophets about his hatred of ‘iniquity and solemn assembly’ and how he could not abide the sacrifices of hypocrites. Jesus himself stood very much in this prophetic tradition; he criticised the religious leaders of the day for imposing all sorts of burdensome rules on people whilst living evil lives.

Christianity itself marked a turn away from the cultic religion of Israel out of which it grew. No more were people to pay for their sins through observing the Torah. Instead the price of sin has been paid by Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection. This makes it possible for us to have friendship with God just because we believe in Jesus. Even so, we all know the temptation to satisfy ourselves with only a shell of Christianity, to pretend that things are fine as long as they look that way to other people.

In the same way, to fly the Cross of St George must be a good thing if it reflects a healthy national pride. But I cannot quite dispel the fear that the flag-flying of 2006 is little more that support for a team rather than a nation. Most worrying of all is the knowledge that for a minority using our flag is a statement of jingoism or downright racism.

Does this make it wrong to fly the flag? Certainly not. We fly the flag of St George from our mast at St Bart’s all year round. But perhaps therein lies an important difference. If our homes and cars were to be sporting the flag day by day, as in America, it might be a reminder not just of how we differ from others but what we have to bring to them. A right national pride doesn’t rejoice in or cling to what divides people; instead it is rightly proud of a heritage which it longs to share. So perhaps the best result we can hope for in this year’s world cup is a restored and healthy national pride, expressed in flag-flying the whole year round.

Fr P

Easter Vigil

2006-03-24T23:12:00.000Z

For a change, my letter to you this month is an invitation. In fact, it’s a double invitation!

Before you’re invited, though, let me ask you a question. Which is the most important service of the church’s year? It’s not the Christmass Midnight Mass. Nor the Sunday Mass of Pentecost. Nor is it even Easter Morning. It is the Easter Vigil.

On Holy Saturday the Church watches and prepares for the Resurrection of the Lord. At risk of sounding a kill-joy, I would suggest that this evening is not one for being out on the town! Instead, come to the Easter Vigil. Gather outside the church around the fire. As the incense nails are pressed into the candle, think back to Jesus’ pains on Good Friday. Then, as the candle is lighted, hear the first words of Easter – Christ our Light. Follow his Light into the darkened church for the great Easter Proclamation, an ancient hymn celebrating God’s saving dealings with the human race, dealings which point to and are fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Then we sit and hear about God’s saving acts as recorded in the Old Testament. The central reading is the story of the Exodus, when the people of Israel are delivered from slavery in Egypt by passing through the sea. This points to our salvation through the waters of baptism which is to be celebrated in the next part of the service.

We then go to the font to bless the waters of baptism and renew our promises and re-state our faith. As we celebrate Jesus passing from death to life, so we celebrate our own. Easter is about Jesus’ resurrection and our baptism! Finally, the church is fully bathed in light and we gather around the altar for the first and greatest Eucharist of Easter.

So where’s the invitation? The invitation is to come and try it. The invitation is also to drinks at the Vicarage afterwards. This isn’t really a bribe because (to coin a good church phrase) I’ve always done it like this! It will be a white wine and no shoes party in deference to the acres of cream carpet in the Vicarage…so check your socks!

Fr P