From homily on 30th May 2007 at Robin Hood Crematorium
Romans 8:31-end
When someone close to us dies we become aware of the importance of our relationships. Death brings about separation and loss, but the love that we have for one another remains, and continues to be important to us.
Ultimately all love comes from God, who is love. We know that ???? had a strong belief in God. In the reading that we had earlier we heard St Paul affirm that nothing in creation can separate us from the love of God. He said, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I don’t know about you, but I find this tremendously reassuring. What ever disasters come (including death) I can continue to trust in the love of God. I can continue to believe that he wants my good, and works for my good. And I can try to love other people as God loves me, and, if by God’s grace I manage that a little, then that love starts to take on the supernatural and eternal qualities of God’s love for me.
So as we go away from this place, let us feel confident that we have entrusted ??? to God’s great mercy. Let us feel confident that the true love that we have shared is something that will remain. Let us allow the love of God to penetrate and sustain all our relationships so that when we in our due turn come to die, something of enduring value will remain.
30 May 2007
13 May 2007
Admission to Holy Communion - part 1 (text)
Sermon - 13/05/07 – Easter 6 – Year C
Admission of Young People to Communion – preached at St Alphege 9.15am
Readings: Acts 16:9-16 Revelation 21:10,22-27 John 14:23-29
Sermon delivered without notes so text is approximate.
As Fr Patrick was saying earlier, today is a very exciting day because we are about to admit, I think it is 23, children and young people to Holy Communion. Today they start receiving Jesus, present in the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist.
They have all been baptised, Prudence was baptised just last week.
They have all attended a course so help then understand the Eucharist and to make the most of the gifts they receive.
They all come from families that are committed to supporting them in their faith and in their attendance at the Eucharist.
So now a question: Why do we want admit young people to Holy Communion?
Many answers are possible.
For me, I remember the start of the first epistle of John. It says something like, “What we have seen and heard we share with you, so that you may join with us in the life that we share with the Father and with Jesus Christ…so our joy may be complete.”
Because when we receive Holy Communion, Christ shares his life with us. We receive his body and blood; his very life. And this is very good for us. It draws us into communion with him; into the life that he shares with the Father, and as we all start to share in that life, it draws us into communion with one another. If we think of life as a spiritual journey, a journey that starts here on earth and continues and we draw closer to God, and finally ends in heaven where we share in the life of God in a much fuller and more complete way, then Holy Communion is the food for the journey. It nurtures us in the shared life of heaven. It nourishes us, giving us strength for our holy journey. It keeps our souls healthy and our spirits full of the life of Christ. And we all know that we need that, living in the very secularised world that we live in.
But, a word of caution.
In past years we have received young people into communion, and they have received with us and it has been wonderful, but then after a few months they have stopped coming. We don’t see them and they start to miss our on all the benefits that the Eucharist brings.
Well this is very sad. It’s a bit like passing your driving test and then never bothering to drive. And I don’t think it is that people make a conscious decision not to come. I think rather they have busy lives, full of many good things and these grow and take over and squeeze out the most important thing, the source of all life. So how do we avoid this trap. The answer is to build a habit of coming to the Eucharist, build a discipline. Each of us, and especially the new communicants, need to work out how often we want to come; perhaps once a week, perhaps twice a month. It is important that we are realistic, but once we have made that choice, then let’s commit to it and build it into a habit. That we can prevent the many good things in life from squeezing out the one thing that is essential.
I was listening to the radio recently and I heard some good news. Apparently as a nation we are doing better in the battle against heart disease. There are several reasons for this, but one of them is diet. Apparently, as a nation we are eating better and this is helping us to be healthy.
Perhaps you are familiar with this symbol [image - "five a day" logo]. This was a campaign that the NHS launched a few years ago to get us to eat more fruit and veg; “five a day”. Well it seems that this has been very successful. We are eating more fruit and veg and we are healthier. I was discussing this with Fr Patrick [whose idea this was!] and we were saying that if a campaign like this can improve the heath of our early bodies, which we have for perhaps 70 or 80 years, how much more important it is to improve our spiritual heath, and the life of our souls, which are promised eternal life? Perhaps we need a campaign like this [image - “just receive more”]. “Just receive more – Holy Communion”.
So let’s finish with this image in our minds. Let’s work out how often we can come to communion and then let’s make a commitment, and keep to it, so that it becomes a habit. And let’s use that habit to support us in our spiritual lives and to draw ourselves into the shared life of God. In this way we can be nourished and strengthened on our holy journeys towards heaven. Amen.
Admission of Young People to Communion – preached at St Alphege 9.15am
Readings: Acts 16:9-16 Revelation 21:10,22-27 John 14:23-29
Sermon delivered without notes so text is approximate.
As Fr Patrick was saying earlier, today is a very exciting day because we are about to admit, I think it is 23, children and young people to Holy Communion. Today they start receiving Jesus, present in the consecrated bread and wine of the Eucharist.
They have all been baptised, Prudence was baptised just last week.
They have all attended a course so help then understand the Eucharist and to make the most of the gifts they receive.
They all come from families that are committed to supporting them in their faith and in their attendance at the Eucharist.
So now a question: Why do we want admit young people to Holy Communion?
Many answers are possible.
For me, I remember the start of the first epistle of John. It says something like, “What we have seen and heard we share with you, so that you may join with us in the life that we share with the Father and with Jesus Christ…so our joy may be complete.”
Because when we receive Holy Communion, Christ shares his life with us. We receive his body and blood; his very life. And this is very good for us. It draws us into communion with him; into the life that he shares with the Father, and as we all start to share in that life, it draws us into communion with one another. If we think of life as a spiritual journey, a journey that starts here on earth and continues and we draw closer to God, and finally ends in heaven where we share in the life of God in a much fuller and more complete way, then Holy Communion is the food for the journey. It nurtures us in the shared life of heaven. It nourishes us, giving us strength for our holy journey. It keeps our souls healthy and our spirits full of the life of Christ. And we all know that we need that, living in the very secularised world that we live in.
But, a word of caution.
In past years we have received young people into communion, and they have received with us and it has been wonderful, but then after a few months they have stopped coming. We don’t see them and they start to miss our on all the benefits that the Eucharist brings.
Well this is very sad. It’s a bit like passing your driving test and then never bothering to drive. And I don’t think it is that people make a conscious decision not to come. I think rather they have busy lives, full of many good things and these grow and take over and squeeze out the most important thing, the source of all life. So how do we avoid this trap. The answer is to build a habit of coming to the Eucharist, build a discipline. Each of us, and especially the new communicants, need to work out how often we want to come; perhaps once a week, perhaps twice a month. It is important that we are realistic, but once we have made that choice, then let’s commit to it and build it into a habit. That we can prevent the many good things in life from squeezing out the one thing that is essential.
I was listening to the radio recently and I heard some good news. Apparently as a nation we are doing better in the battle against heart disease. There are several reasons for this, but one of them is diet. Apparently, as a nation we are eating better and this is helping us to be healthy.
Perhaps you are familiar with this symbol [image - "five a day" logo]. This was a campaign that the NHS launched a few years ago to get us to eat more fruit and veg; “five a day”. Well it seems that this has been very successful. We are eating more fruit and veg and we are healthier. I was discussing this with Fr Patrick [whose idea this was!] and we were saying that if a campaign like this can improve the heath of our early bodies, which we have for perhaps 70 or 80 years, how much more important it is to improve our spiritual heath, and the life of our souls, which are promised eternal life? Perhaps we need a campaign like this [image - “just receive more”]. “Just receive more – Holy Communion”.
So let’s finish with this image in our minds. Let’s work out how often we can come to communion and then let’s make a commitment, and keep to it, so that it becomes a habit. And let’s use that habit to support us in our spiritual lives and to draw ourselves into the shared life of God. In this way we can be nourished and strengthened on our holy journeys towards heaven. Amen.
06 May 2007
Mutual Love
Thought for Pew Slip - Easter 5 – Year C – 6th May 2007
Readings: Acts 11:1-18 Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:31-35
Our first reading, from Acts, reminds us that the message of Christ is for all peoples. The call to follow Christ stretches out to everyone, irrespective of their birth and their circumstances.
Our second reading from Revelation tells that at the end of time God will renew the whole of his creation. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. People will dwell with God himself and there will be no more death, or crying, or pain anymore.
In our gospel reading we hear Jesus speaking at the last supper. He gives the disciples the New Commandment; “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” He explains that it is through our love for one another that people will recognise us as disciples of Christ.
So mutual love is central in our witness to Christ! Even very great acts, done without love, count for nothing (c.f. 1Cor 13:1-3). As we think about Going for Growth and the quality of our Christian witness, let’s remember that we can’t “love one another” on our own. Let’s think about the other Christians who we love and who love us, and let’s renew our commitment to loving in the way that Jesus has loved us.
Readings: Acts 11:1-18 Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:31-35
Our first reading, from Acts, reminds us that the message of Christ is for all peoples. The call to follow Christ stretches out to everyone, irrespective of their birth and their circumstances.
Our second reading from Revelation tells that at the end of time God will renew the whole of his creation. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. People will dwell with God himself and there will be no more death, or crying, or pain anymore.
In our gospel reading we hear Jesus speaking at the last supper. He gives the disciples the New Commandment; “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” He explains that it is through our love for one another that people will recognise us as disciples of Christ.
So mutual love is central in our witness to Christ! Even very great acts, done without love, count for nothing (c.f. 1Cor 13:1-3). As we think about Going for Growth and the quality of our Christian witness, let’s remember that we can’t “love one another” on our own. Let’s think about the other Christians who we love and who love us, and let’s renew our commitment to loving in the way that Jesus has loved us.
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