Making saints the Anglican Catholic way

 

How does a person become a saint in the Anglican Catholic Church?

Sorry, my video got cut off.

I meant to add:

God bless you in your progress to sainthood. May you always bear witness to Almighty God.

And God bless you that you may join all your favourite saints in the glory of God.

And please pray for me

Ovine Comparisons

Sermon for the second Sunday after Easter

Analogies and metaphors 

can only go so far.

Our Lord describes us

as His sheep.

To our ears,

that makes us sound

like dumb animals.

Perhaps we object to that

as it hurts our dignity

as human beings.

But if we compare ourselves 

with God

we are not even sheep.

What is a pot 

compared with the potter?

Or the stick man

idly doodled onto the page

of an exercise book

compared with the bored

schoolboy trying to cope

with learning 

the politics of World War I?

To be compared as a sheep

with the Divine Master 

is a compliment.

But if we are concerned 

about being compared with sheep

in the first place 

then we're missing the point.

[PAUSE]

To compare two things

puts them in opposition.

We look at two things

to see which is bigger,

which is worth more money,

which is prettier,

which smells worse.

The moment we try that with God 

then the comparisons 

stop making any sense.

Which is redder:

the post box,

or the colour red?

Which is brighter:

the sun,

or light itself?

Which is more holy 

the saints,

or God Himself?

[PAUSE]

We are always so ready

to compare ourselves with others

that frequently we miss the point.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd 

we are His sheep,

not of the fold

of the inheritance of Israel

but of the gentile fold 

that Jesus has taken to Himself.

Yes,  the metaphor 

compares us with sheep

but the point is clear:

God is with us.

He isn't against us.

He is not comparing Himself with us.

He is not setting Himself up

in opposition to us.

If Jesus is using 

the metaphor of the sheep 

to make the point

that He is greater than us

then He would have to deny 

the fact that He has a human nature

like us.

To reinforce His difference from us

would be to despise His Incarnation 

and that would defeat the whole object

of why He became flesh for us.

If humans are sheep

then He would be a sheep as well.

In saying that He is the shepherd 

Jesus is not exalting Himself over us.

Quite the reverse.

He is saying that He is with us.

He is on our side.

He has our backs,

won't let us go,

will fight for us

will die for us 

will lead us into the ecstasy

of Heaven itself

all because He loves us

and enjoys 

to be around us.

[PAUSE]

However we appear

in Our Lord's parables

we can trust 

that He means us

in the best possible way

in order to bring us to our perfection 

and happiness 

which can only happen 

when He is in our midst.

Announcing Time's Tapestry

 

Why transferring the Feast of the Annunciation reminds us of the promise of Eternity.

Proceedings from Easter

Sermon for Low Sunday

The Lord breathes

on the Apostles

and then says,

"Receive the Holy Ghost."

But don't they receive

the Holy Ghost

on the day of Pentecost?

What's going on?

[PAUSE]

The first thing to note

is that the Holy Ghost

is proceeding from the Son.

But the Son is not the source

of the Holy Ghost.

Jesus is the means 

by which the Holy Ghost

proceeds to us.

The scripture here 

is very clear.

The Spirit proceeds

from the Father as the source

of all being and yet

through the Son

and upon the apostles.

Why should this be important

to us?

Does it matter how 

the Persons of the Trinity

relate to one another?

Does it matter how

the Holy Ghost shows Himself to us?

[PAUSE]

What do we see?

The Lord Jesus breathes

the Holy Ghost

into the Apostles

and He gives them authority

to bind and loose sins.

This authority

is not just some certificate,

not some rubber stamp,

or ID card that says

"Licence to forgive sins."

This authority

is the Holy Ghost Himself.

It shows us

that when the Apostles forgive sins

in the name of

the Father, Son and Holy Ghost,

they really are forgiven

that the relationship

between God and those who repent

is healing and strengthening.

This authority has its source 

in God the Father

because God the Father

is the source of all things good.

This authority proceeds through

God the Son,

because the Incarnation

of Jesus Christ was expressly

for the purpose of redeeming souls

and the forgiveness of sins.

So we see that the Holy Ghost

proceeds from the Father

through the Son

to us 

for the purpose

of freeing us from our sins.

[PAUSE]

The Apostles clearly receive

the Holy Ghost here

and here He begins His work

of transforming

Disciple to Apostle.

When that transformation is complete

then the Holy Ghost

makes His presence visible

fifty days after Easter.

But that is another story.

The meaning of Resurrection

 Why Resurrection is not reanimation.

The business of standing and staring

Sermon for the Feast of the Resurrection

We've been minding

our own business

this Lent

trying to understand

how the things

we busy ourselves with

fit with our Faith.

We've been asking,

"Is our everyday faith the Faith?"

[PAUSE]

But today is not like everyday.

Today,

we stand at the door of the tomb

staring in

looking at the folded graveclothes

and the napkin lying by itself

trying to make sense

of what has happened.

And we are not alone.

For many people 

stand by us gazing into

the tomb

but they are very busy indeed

asking what has happened,

arguing and debating,

looking for clues and evidence

looking for a lack of clues

and evidence.

Many people busy themselves

with trying to deconstruct

the tomb

to show it's all a myth

an illusion

a folly of history.

Other people busy themselves

today

showing that the empty tomb

that we gaze into

is a historical fact.

Yes!

Yes it is a historical fact.

But we don't always need

to have to prove that it is.

We don't always need to argue

with those who rubbish 

the Resurrection.

Sometimes,

we just need to stand and stare

into the empty tomb

and allow our spirit

to busy itself

drinking in the Truth

basking in the Light

that ruptures this world's 

business of transaction

and competition

of evidence and matter.

The difference is

that the world will still 

stand and stare into the empty tomb

and try and make it fit

with its interpretation

that the dead do not rise.

But we, 

above the chatter of those

who seek to explain what they see 

before then,

we hear the invitation

to stop standing and staring;

we hear the invitation

to turn around

and listen to the angels

tell us that HE IS RISEN!

The world is deaf to that,

but we need not be,

we must not be.

Because we know 

that sometimes

our business is not doing,

sometimes 

our business is just 

to stand still 

and look up into the face

of the Risen Lord

and that's all we need to be doing.

We don't need to be

agonising about fasting,

we don't need to be 

calculating our alms,

we don't need to be 

finding the right prayer

in the Prayerbook.

Sometimes,

we just need

to stand still,

see Him with us,

and unite our everyday faith

with the Faith of Today,

the Faith of Easter Day

with the words

"My Lord and My God."

This is the day 

that the Lord hath made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Holy Week 2024: Pushing back the Annunciation

 

Why pushing back the Annunciation reminds us of the point of the suffering of Jesus Christ.