Readings this week
Song of Songs 2:8-13, Ps 45:1-2,6-9, James 1:17-27, Mark 7:1-8, 13-23
10am Combined Mass @ St John's: Concelebrated by: Mother Moira Evers and Father Chaplain Soma
Preacher: Mother Moira Evers
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety: Mother Moira's Sermon, Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Song of Songs 2:8-13 – Springtime rhapsody
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 – Ode for a royal wedding
James 1:17-27 – Hearing and doing the word
Mark 7:1-8, 14-23 – The tradition of the elders
He is the Way.
Follow him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.
This piece written by the Anglo-American poet W.H Auden shortly after the conclusion of the Second World War, formed the basis of the addresses we received by prominent American academic and writer, Fr Roger Ferlo at the silent retreat I attended last weekend.
This poem, and the way in which Fr Roger unpacked it provoked for me much thought, reflection and prayer as I was challenged in my perceptions of where I might expect to find God in my life.
The theme of the retreat was, “The Land of Unlikeness: Ministry in an Anxious Age.” The concept of this “Land of Unlikeness” that we were to explore throughout the retreat emerged from three particular sources. The first was St Augustine, who wrote in his Confessions, “I found myself to be a long way from thee in a region of unlikeness.” The second came from the ancient philosopher Plotinus who described in his work entitled Enneads, the fate of men and women who had become, “…dwellers in the place of Unlikeness, where, fallen from all our resemblance to the Divine, we lie in gloom and mud.” And lastly, as mentioned above, W.H Auden who wrote, “Follow him through the land of Unlikeness,” and, “Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety.”
In his first address Fr Roger spoke about the difference between fear and anxiety. He spoke in the context of his experience of the terrorist attacks upon New York City in 2001 and their aftermath. Feelings of fear, he said, most often have an object as opposed to anxiety, which seems more open-ended and, unlike fear, irresolvable. Fear, he said, is like a labyrinth in that we can see an end to the path upon which we are traversing. Whereas anxiety is more like a maze, full of dead ends and trick turns … it’s far easier to get lost in a maze than it is in a labyrinth. Anxiety speaks of a wilderness of sorts, a wilderness of the soul where what was once comfortable now feels like a looming threat. When anxiety rules God can seem remote as our moral landscape shifts and turns and lays prey to lurking agents of evil.
BUT Fr Roger went on to say (and this was a “BIG BUT”), if we would allow him, Jesus could blaze his way through the wilderness of our anxiety. In the maze that is our anxiety, Jesus is our map, our compass and our steady companion. As Christians, Fr Roger said, we are called to follow Jesus wherever he leads, and more often than not, that will be to the Region, the Place, the Land of Unlikeness, for the Way of Jesus is the Way of the Cross.
After this first session on Friday afternoon we were all sent away with a series of scripture references to reflect upon. The passage that I sat with came from Mark and told the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. As I sat and prayed with this piece of Scripture I found myself focussing entirely on Jesus’ emerging from the wilderness after his 40 days of what I saw as a kind of captivity. I viewed his release from the wilderness as something positive, something liberating and something that I must achieve for myself … escape from the wild beasts, from the chaos and the uncertainty and the danger that for me represented the wilderness.
This view of mine was to be seriously challenged the next day at our second session with Fr Roger who concentrated on the second stanza of Auden’s poem:
He is the Truth.
Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
A question that Fr Roger had us ponder was, “What is the city that Auden refers to in this stanza?”
There has been a tradition in Christianity, and I suspect there still is, that life on earth is viewed as an exile of sorts. We are mere visitors here, sojourners in an earthly city that bends us and breaks us and gives us no end of tears and frustration. Our escape from the hard slog that is life comes at life’s end when, we hope, we will make our way to that heavenly city where every tear will be wiped away. While not denying the hope we have in one day being enfolded in God’s divine embrace, Fr Roger, stated quite clearly that Christians can not use religious life as a form of escape from anxiety, rather our decision to follow Christ is an invitation to enter into the Kingdom of Anxiety. Christianity is not an exit from this Kingdom … it is our point of entry. Should we fear this? No, because God has pitched his tent in this Kingdom of Anxiety. In the midst of this earthly city God’s compassionate presence can be felt. In the midst of this earthly city, God, who through Jesus Christ, took all of life’s muck upon himself and transformed it, redeems sin and sorrow.
After this address I was given an entirely new perception of wilderness and my place in it. The day before my focus was on escaping from the wilderness. This day I knew that as a Christian I should not be seeking to emerge from the wilderness rather I should be seeking to immerse myself within it. If God has pitched his tent in the Kingdom of Anxiety, in the Land of Unlikeness (and we know in our heart of hearts that he has, we know from the history of salvation as it is revealed in Holy Scripture), if God has pitched his tent in the Kingdom of Anxiety, then I should be looking to pitch my tent next to His, rather than pulling up my tent pegs and running away. On this second day of the retreat I recognised my invitation to take up residence in the Kingdom of Anxiety, to re-enter that city that has expected my return for many years.
If God has pitched his tent in this city, immersing Himself in the sin and the sorrow of this place, redeeming it, transforming it by his compassionate presence … then so must I and so must you. By virtue of our baptism into the life and death of Jesus Christ we have been invited to make our entrance into, not our exit from, this city.
As a parish we find ourselves in the midst of this Kingdom of Anxiety. Our congregations are not growing as we might hope, we are without the resources both human and financial to maintain our Churches, we are struggling to pay our bills, we are heavily reliant upon the support of the diocese to pay our clergy stipends and to keep us viable as a parish. We know first hand what it is like to live in the Kingdom of Anxiety. What then is our response? Do we ignore what’s happening around us? Do we deny the reality of our situation? Do we hope that someone else will fix our problems? Are we seeking to make our exit from this city, this Kingdom of Anxiety?
We have an invitation now that we must respond to, an invitation to look upon that which we fear most and, instead of mindlessly resisting our fears or denying them or being defeated by them, we are being invited by the Holy One, to think outside the square, to make painful decisions, to redeem and transform our fears, to immerse ourselves, like Jesus did, in the wilderness that we now find ourselves in, to make our entrance into that great city, to seek God and his purposes for us as a parish in the Kingdom of Anxiety.
He is the Way.
Follow him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 – Ode for a royal wedding
James 1:17-27 – Hearing and doing the word
Mark 7:1-8, 14-23 – The tradition of the elders
He is the Way.
Follow him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.
This piece written by the Anglo-American poet W.H Auden shortly after the conclusion of the Second World War, formed the basis of the addresses we received by prominent American academic and writer, Fr Roger Ferlo at the silent retreat I attended last weekend.
This poem, and the way in which Fr Roger unpacked it provoked for me much thought, reflection and prayer as I was challenged in my perceptions of where I might expect to find God in my life.
The theme of the retreat was, “The Land of Unlikeness: Ministry in an Anxious Age.” The concept of this “Land of Unlikeness” that we were to explore throughout the retreat emerged from three particular sources. The first was St Augustine, who wrote in his Confessions, “I found myself to be a long way from thee in a region of unlikeness.” The second came from the ancient philosopher Plotinus who described in his work entitled Enneads, the fate of men and women who had become, “…dwellers in the place of Unlikeness, where, fallen from all our resemblance to the Divine, we lie in gloom and mud.” And lastly, as mentioned above, W.H Auden who wrote, “Follow him through the land of Unlikeness,” and, “Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety.”
In his first address Fr Roger spoke about the difference between fear and anxiety. He spoke in the context of his experience of the terrorist attacks upon New York City in 2001 and their aftermath. Feelings of fear, he said, most often have an object as opposed to anxiety, which seems more open-ended and, unlike fear, irresolvable. Fear, he said, is like a labyrinth in that we can see an end to the path upon which we are traversing. Whereas anxiety is more like a maze, full of dead ends and trick turns … it’s far easier to get lost in a maze than it is in a labyrinth. Anxiety speaks of a wilderness of sorts, a wilderness of the soul where what was once comfortable now feels like a looming threat. When anxiety rules God can seem remote as our moral landscape shifts and turns and lays prey to lurking agents of evil.
BUT Fr Roger went on to say (and this was a “BIG BUT”), if we would allow him, Jesus could blaze his way through the wilderness of our anxiety. In the maze that is our anxiety, Jesus is our map, our compass and our steady companion. As Christians, Fr Roger said, we are called to follow Jesus wherever he leads, and more often than not, that will be to the Region, the Place, the Land of Unlikeness, for the Way of Jesus is the Way of the Cross.
After this first session on Friday afternoon we were all sent away with a series of scripture references to reflect upon. The passage that I sat with came from Mark and told the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. As I sat and prayed with this piece of Scripture I found myself focussing entirely on Jesus’ emerging from the wilderness after his 40 days of what I saw as a kind of captivity. I viewed his release from the wilderness as something positive, something liberating and something that I must achieve for myself … escape from the wild beasts, from the chaos and the uncertainty and the danger that for me represented the wilderness.
This view of mine was to be seriously challenged the next day at our second session with Fr Roger who concentrated on the second stanza of Auden’s poem:
He is the Truth.
Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
A question that Fr Roger had us ponder was, “What is the city that Auden refers to in this stanza?”
There has been a tradition in Christianity, and I suspect there still is, that life on earth is viewed as an exile of sorts. We are mere visitors here, sojourners in an earthly city that bends us and breaks us and gives us no end of tears and frustration. Our escape from the hard slog that is life comes at life’s end when, we hope, we will make our way to that heavenly city where every tear will be wiped away. While not denying the hope we have in one day being enfolded in God’s divine embrace, Fr Roger, stated quite clearly that Christians can not use religious life as a form of escape from anxiety, rather our decision to follow Christ is an invitation to enter into the Kingdom of Anxiety. Christianity is not an exit from this Kingdom … it is our point of entry. Should we fear this? No, because God has pitched his tent in this Kingdom of Anxiety. In the midst of this earthly city God’s compassionate presence can be felt. In the midst of this earthly city, God, who through Jesus Christ, took all of life’s muck upon himself and transformed it, redeems sin and sorrow.
After this address I was given an entirely new perception of wilderness and my place in it. The day before my focus was on escaping from the wilderness. This day I knew that as a Christian I should not be seeking to emerge from the wilderness rather I should be seeking to immerse myself within it. If God has pitched his tent in the Kingdom of Anxiety, in the Land of Unlikeness (and we know in our heart of hearts that he has, we know from the history of salvation as it is revealed in Holy Scripture), if God has pitched his tent in the Kingdom of Anxiety, then I should be looking to pitch my tent next to His, rather than pulling up my tent pegs and running away. On this second day of the retreat I recognised my invitation to take up residence in the Kingdom of Anxiety, to re-enter that city that has expected my return for many years.
If God has pitched his tent in this city, immersing Himself in the sin and the sorrow of this place, redeeming it, transforming it by his compassionate presence … then so must I and so must you. By virtue of our baptism into the life and death of Jesus Christ we have been invited to make our entrance into, not our exit from, this city.
As a parish we find ourselves in the midst of this Kingdom of Anxiety. Our congregations are not growing as we might hope, we are without the resources both human and financial to maintain our Churches, we are struggling to pay our bills, we are heavily reliant upon the support of the diocese to pay our clergy stipends and to keep us viable as a parish. We know first hand what it is like to live in the Kingdom of Anxiety. What then is our response? Do we ignore what’s happening around us? Do we deny the reality of our situation? Do we hope that someone else will fix our problems? Are we seeking to make our exit from this city, this Kingdom of Anxiety?
We have an invitation now that we must respond to, an invitation to look upon that which we fear most and, instead of mindlessly resisting our fears or denying them or being defeated by them, we are being invited by the Holy One, to think outside the square, to make painful decisions, to redeem and transform our fears, to immerse ourselves, like Jesus did, in the wilderness that we now find ourselves in, to make our entrance into that great city, to seek God and his purposes for us as a parish in the Kingdom of Anxiety.
He is the Way.
Follow him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST - 23 August 2009
Readings this week
1 Kings 8:1,6,10-11,22-30,41-43, Psalm 84 , Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69
8am Mass @ St George's
Celebrant and Preacher: Fr Fred Dearnley
9:30am Mass @ St John's
Celebrant and preacher: Fr Fred Dearnley
9.30am Mass @ All Saints
Celebrant and preacher: Fr Chaplain Soma
1 Kings 8:1,6,10-11,22-30,41-43, Psalm 84 , Ephesians 6:10-20, John 6:56-69
8am Mass @ St George's
Celebrant and Preacher: Fr Fred Dearnley
9:30am Mass @ St John's
Celebrant and preacher: Fr Fred Dearnley
9.30am Mass @ All Saints
Celebrant and preacher: Fr Chaplain Soma
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Old Time Tea Dance
On Saturday August 15 the Anglican Parish of Footscray hosted an "old time tea dance" to raise some much needed funds. The live jazz band, ably led by Ronnie Trigg, provided just the right atmosphere for all gathered to strut their stuff. Mentoring in the fine art of the Fox Trot, Evening Three Step, the Pride of Erin and the Progressive Barn Dance was provided by Val and Noel, a couple of veterans of the tea dance circuit. Melbourne's "Lady of Jazz," Pippa Wilson, made a much anticipated guest appearance and wowed all present with some great blues/jazz numbers. There were raffles and door prizes to be won and a good 'ol fashioned afternoon tea to be enjoyed and all in the historic ambiance of St John's Blue Stone Hall. Mother Moira was even seen to be trying a few dance moves herself but balked at the the "Nutbush" which, she says, is a dance only for those who are co-ordinated, which definitely counts her out! Lucky she has skills in other areas .... much thanks and appreciation goes to all who made this such a fun afternoon ... watch this space for more social events which are all done for ... the greater glory of God (AMDG)!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Be imitator's of God - Mother Moira's sermon Pentecost 10 9.8.09
Texts:
1. 2 Samuel 18:5-9,14,31-33 – The defeat and death of Absalom
2. Psalm 130 – Waiting for divine redemption
3. Ephesians 4:25-5:2 – Rules for the new life
4. John 6:35, 41-51 – The bread from heaven
Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
When St Paul wrote his letter to the Ephesians, he was counselling a community to set aside previous lifestyle choices that had been self-centred, insular and (ultimately) destructive for a new life as Disciples of Christ marked by the Spirit and in imitation of God.
The Ephesians had willingly come to Christ. They acknowledged Jesus as the Saviour of the world and as the source of all physical, mental and spiritual knowledge and activity. Now, St Paul says to the Ephesians, you must practice what you preach. If you declare yourselves to be members of Christ’s body, a new people and children of God, then you must show by your actions who you really are. He says:
· Put away falsehood.
· Speak the truth.
· Do not let the sun go down on your anger.
· Labour and work honestly with your hands.
· Share with the needy.
· Let no evil talk come out of your mouths rather let your words give grace to those who hear.
· Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God.
· Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice.
· Be kind to one another and tender hearted
· Forgive one another.
· Be imitators of God.
· Live in love.
St Paul knows well that the only way for a community to maintain unity is, quite simply, by being kind to one another. Being authentically kind, however, requires integrity and strength of character and the willingness to put to death all of those little cruelties, in thought, word and action, that can result in a community tearing itself apart.
Kindness involves sacrifice. Christians, of course, should not be fearful of the concept of sacrifice for it lies at the very heart of our faith and our belief in Jesus who, “loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (5:2)”
We should not fear sacrifice because, as with Christ’s ultimate act of kindness, his sacrifice on the cross, we will experience transformation and new life. Remember, we look through and beyond the tortured corpse of the crucified Jesus, to the glorious body of the risen Christ.
As it was for the Ephesians it is for us now, following Christ means being committed to a life of sacrifice, to a life long process of dying and rising, of being open to change and transformation.
There can be no other way for the Christian. We are and always will be a pilgrim people taking up our cross daily and following the Christ who had nowhere to lay his head. As Jesus travelled from Galilee to Jerusalem he was constantly faced with and challenged by unpredictability and change, because that’s what life is like on a journey. You never really can predict what each new day will bring. There are so many things that are out of our control.
Jesus travelled lightly and because he was open to the possibility of change he was not constrained by anything, he was free to respond fully and wholeheartedly to the challenges, which God threw at him.
As surely as God challenged Jesus, he will challenge us. When we become complacent and cosy in our faith, God will throw something across our predictable paths to force us to change direction or look at something in a new way. Like Jesus, like the Ephesians, we have to learn to live provisionally; we have to be prepared to sacrifice some things that we cherish, to let go of past certainties, to respond to the new whenever and however that might appear.
This is no easy task. Living provisionally can be stressful. Sacrificing things that we cherish, letting go of the past is painful and upsetting and yet that is the life to which we have always been called as Christians. When we were baptised, we made a vow to turn to Christ. Obeying Christ’s call to follow him will involve dying – at the end of our life’s journey and in all of those lesser deaths along the way. But our faith tells us that death will always bring new growth.
As a parish, we are experiencing a death of sorts at the moment. All of those past certainties, reflected in the large and ornate Churches we built, in the overflowing Sunday schools, in the pews that were filled, all of those past certainties seem to be decaying. The state of our buildings, perhaps, is symbolic of this.
How are we going to respond to this present crisis. Will we throw up our hands in despair? Will we slink off into a corner and sulk? Will we tear each other apart as one or the other of our three Churches seeks some form of ascendancy? Or will we see in our current situation a loving challenge from God to change direction, to allow some things to die in order to encourage new growth, to look at our parish life and the way in which we proclaim the gospel in fresh ways?
In all that us faces us though we must remember that we are the Body of Christ. We are called to unity of purpose. We are called to be kind to one another, tender hearted and forgiving. But above all, we are called to, “be imitators of God” and to, “live in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
In the name of God Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost - 9 August 2009
Readings this week
2 Samuel 18:5-9,14,31-33, Psalm 130, Ephesians 4:25-5:2, John 6:35,41-51
8am Mass @ St George's
Celebrant and Preacher: Fr Chaplain Soma
2 Samuel 18:5-9,14,31-33, Psalm 130, Ephesians 4:25-5:2, John 6:35,41-51
8am Mass @ St George's
Celebrant and Preacher: Fr Chaplain Soma
9:30am Mass @ St John's
Celebrant and preacher: Mtr Moira Evers
9.30am Mass @ All Saints
Celebrant and preacher: Fr Chaplain Soma
Celebrant and preacher: Fr Chaplain Soma
Saturday, August 1, 2009
United we stand, divided we fall! Mother Moira's sermon Penetcost 9, 2.8.09
Texts:
1. 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a – Nathan condemns David
2. Psalm 51:1-12 – Prayer for cleansing and pardon
3. Ephesians 4:1-16 – Unity in the Body of Christ
4. John 6:24-35 – the bread from heaven
We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about … but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ …
Today in these living words from Holy Scripture St Paul challenges all those who dare to confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour to put aside childish ways, to put aside the petulance and churlishness, the tears and the tantrums, the brattish self-centredness that can all to often dominate the lives of adults, (particularly adults under stress) … he challenges us to put aside such childish behaviour for the maturity, the measure of the full stature of Christ that has been endowed to us by virtue of our baptism and membership of the Christian family.
In Ephesians, Paul emphasises the central place of Christ in the plan of God and in the life of the Christian believer. Jesus is the one on whom the Father has set his seal. Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus satisfies our hunger and quenches our thirst. All that is required of us is faith, the belief that this is indeed so.
Faith never comes easy. There are many things that can whittle away a person’s faith. The early Christian communities to whom St Paul wrote were constantly battling with issues of faith and belief, which is why Paul pleads with the Ephesians, “You must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.” Rather, he exhorts this community to, “grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.”
While acknowledging the variety of gifts possessed by members of the Christian community, Paul pleads for unity of faith, unity of belief, unity of vision, unity of purpose, unity of mission. United, the Christian community will stand, divided the Christian community will struggle and perhaps fall.
Today, we are being reminded of our need to, “lead a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called.” Today, we are being reminded of our duty to build up the body of Christ, with its many and varied members, through our unity of faith in the Son of God, in Jesus Christ. If we fail in this task the consequences could be quite drastic.
I was at the football yesterday watching the Doggies, third on the ladder, playing Fremantle who are currently second last. In the third quarter I saw for myself what can happen when there is a lack of unity amongst members of a team. Fremantle came out after half time with unity of purpose and a hunger for the ball. The Doggies came out, I think, a little bit cocky. Perhaps they were thinking they had the game all sewn up? Their complacency was obvious and Fremantle took advantage, firing off several goals in quick succession. The Dogs were struggling. They had become like children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind. They seemed to be working as individuals and it looked as if, for a short while anyway, that they had forgotten about the drills, the set plays, the rehearsed strategies … all those sure things, those foundational beliefs, that lend strength to a team.
As we know, in football and in other team sports, each player has a distinct role, but no one player is bigger than the team. When all the individual players remember that their combined roles give strength to the team, then the team will experience a greater rate of success.
We are members of a team. We are members of the Body of Christ. Christ is the head, and depending on the gifts given to us we are the fingers or toes, the hands or feet, the ears or eyes or nose or teeth or tongue or muscles or tendons, or cells or vessels. We are one or the other of those fantastically unique and essential parts that must work together in unity for the greater good of the whole. As all of us would know, when one or the other of these parts fail, the body fails also.
We know that bodies need to be kept healthy. A body that stands still, that doesn’t exercise becomes fat and moribund, slow and sluggish. A body needs to move, to exercise, to keep alert, to be aware of the health and vitality of its different members. A body needs to be fed and to be nurtured, to be rested and respected if it is to achieve all that it is capable of.
As the Body of Christ in this place I don’t believe that we are achieving all that we are capable of.
What has happened to our body? Perhaps we might be suffering through lack of exercise (are we keeping abreast with what is happening in the Church, in fresh ideas and ways of doing things, do we read, study, enquire, discuss, participate in groups or programmes). Perhaps we might be suffering through complacency (someone else will support us, will bale us out, will make the hard decisions for us, I’ve done my bit for the Church, it’s no longer my problem). Perhaps we are experiencing some form of denial (it’s not really that bad … things will get better we just have to sit tight and stick to the things we’ve always done). Perhaps we are suffering because of an inability or maybe an unwillingness to ingest the right sort of nutrients and our body is tired and worn out as a result (how often do we pray, do we meditate, read our scriptures, come along to Mass other than on a Sunday?) Are we listening to our head? Remember our head is Christ. What is Christ saying to us now in our present circumstances? When we look around at our buildings in a state of decay, what is Christ saying to us? When we bemoan our empty pews, what is Christ saying to us? When we become stressed over our financial circumstances, what is Christ saying to us? Are we prepared to listen? Are we going to behave like children tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind? Or are we going to behave like mature adults, using our gifts (whatever they may be) to equip the saints for ministry in the 21st century and to build up the body of Christ here and now?
As members of the Body of Christ our task, until the day we die, is to love, to be humble, to be gentle, to be patient and to be peaceful. But above all, as members of the Body of Christ we are called to unity. We must pull together as a team. While the world around us is tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, when the certainties of the past crumble and disintegrate before our very eyes there is one thing that we can rely upon, that is, our common purpose as Christians, which we will find in our belief in one Spirit, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
This is the belief that we have to share with all of those people beyond these Church doors. This belief is the foundation upon which we must seek to re-build our body here in this place.
In the name of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST - 2 August 2009
Readings this week
2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a, Psalm 51:1-12 , Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:24-35
8am Mass @ St George's
Celebrant and Preacher: Mtr Moira Evers
2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a, Psalm 51:1-12 , Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:24-35
8am Mass @ St George's
Celebrant and Preacher: Mtr Moira Evers
9:30am Mass @ St John's
Celebrant and preacher: Mtr Moira Evers
9.30am Mass @ All Saints
Celebrant and preacher: Fr Chaplain Soma
Celebrant and preacher: Fr Chaplain Soma
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