4th Sunday of the Year

He gives orders even to unclean spirits and they obey him!

I think mental illness has always scared people. How many horror stories there are about insane murderers and killers. In years gone by the insane were locked away, and their shrieks and cries in the Bethlehem hospital in London even led to the coining of the word ‘Bedlam’. Even in our own, so enlightened days, there is some shame in mental illness and fear of those who are schizophrenic or bipolar, or just, as people would say ‘nutters’.

And yet, we are told, mental illness is extremely common. Most people, at some time in their lives, suffer from Stress, or irrational anxiety, or depression. Many people at the end their lives suffer from mild or acute dementia. And most of us, probably all us, know someone who had a more severe mental illness.

Nowadays we treat all but the most severe in the community - or we say we do. There is no Bedlam Hospital today. Unlike the Victorians who it away, for us Community care is everything. It was the same in Jesus’ day. Mental illness was poorly understood. They thought these were demons, unclean spirits, possessions. But in doing this they recognised that the person is not the illness. They feared the illness, but loved the person who was afflicted. They were all someone’s son, or daughter, husband or wife. They didn’t tell the mentally ill that they should pull themselves together. All too often we do that. And lock the mentally ill away not in hospitals, but in prisons. Let us not suppose that we are so very much better than they were.

And Jesus, when he meets these people, he heals them. He speaks sharply to the illness, but treats the afflicted with compassion. He does not avoid them, or shuns them, but he stand before them, with confidence, with authority. This is a new teaching because it brings hope to those who were losing hope. It proclaims healing to those who did not known they could be healed. Jesus casts out fear, because he teaches that true healing is not just of body, but is of body and soul. He comes to save all who dwell in darkness, of pain, of sin, of suffering.

This is the miracle. A real miracle. A healing that takes us out of the blind alleys of human fear and misunderstanding. Here is a teaching that is new.

25th January 2009 - Conversion of St Paul

People have occasionally thought I would be good at quizzes, perhaps because I know a lot of useless and irrelevant information. Unfortunately, the few occasions when I have taken part in a public quiz have not lived up to this expectation. Many years ago, for example, when I was still at school, I took part in a quiz between Church youth groups. I was asked the question “Who was the first missionary to set foot outside his own country?”. I hadn’t got a clue. What did I know of missionaries at the time? The person sitting next to me whispered in my ear. He was of course saying “St Paul”, but it wasn't very clear and I wasn’t at all sure what he said but I gave it my best shot: “Jim Ball” I confidently pronounced. I don’t remember whether the audience was filled with shock or hilarity - but either would have been appropriate.

In fact now, I’m not quite sure whether this was really a fair question nor whether ‘St Paul’ is even the right answer, but as we call Paul ‘apostle to the Gentiles’ - the missionary more than any other who took the Gospel to the non-Jewish world - I suppose it is reasonable. However, my ignorance then probably reflects the ignorance of many Christians now about St Paul. If I were to ask you what you know about him, my guess would be that you would be able to note down just a few points.

Most Christians probably know that he underwent a great conversion. They may also say that before the conversion he was Saul but afterwards became Paul. Some may say that at his conversion Jesus spoke to him and he fell off his horse. A few may know that he wrote a lot of letters. Some may know that was beheaded in Rome. Mostly correct - but not quite. There are four accounts of his conversion in the New Testament - not one mentions a horse! Nowhere does it mention that he changed his name, because he didn’t - Saul was the name he used mainly amongst Jews and Paul the name he was called by those who spoke Greek.

But even what we get right only begins to tell the story. The conversion story is a tremendous one - but of course it is only the beginning. Conversion is one thing - what you make of it is another. AS Jesus said ‘By After his conversion, Paul travelled extensively through the Roman empire, preaching in synagogues and market places, setting up networks of small Christian communities, moving on rapidly to the next town, keeping in touch with these new Churches by letters of such eloquence and beauty that the Churches read them again and again. In his letters he did not repeat the parables of Christ, and gave few references to his words, but explained carefully the meaning of Him who came as the promised One for the Jews but also the Saviour of all humanity. He dealt with controversies in the young Churches; he encouraged and he reprimanded; he inspired by philosophy and poetry.

And we take him so much for granted that even though we hear his words at almost every Mass we celebrate, we rarely give him the significance which is his due: yet it is he who took the Gospel out of his own country, he who founded so many Christian Churches, he who expounded and clarified this new faith.

We have Pope Benedict to thank for this Year of St Paul - may it help us to deepen our understanding of his teaching, strengthen our faith, and like him, Go Out to the Whole World and Proclaim the Good News.

Second Sunday of the Year : 18th January 2009

Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher –’where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day.

Jesus, where do you live?

It might seem to us an odd question. Why would that matter? And yet, where we live is very important to us. Home sweet home, we say, and There’s no place like home. A home is more than a house or a flat or a few rooms in building.

In the news last weekend was a shocking story about a man who returned home with his small daughter to discover that the locks had been changed and the house had been repossessed by the building society. Shocking enough, but even more so as he was not in arrears with his mortgage and it was not his building society who had repossessed the house.

There was a happy ending to this tale - but we are only too aware that in other places the story does not turn out quite so well. The loss of property is one thing - but to lose a home, that it so much worse.

Home is where the heart is, we also say, and it is the heart that turns bricks and mortar into a place of safety, of comfort, of peace. It is a refuge from the troubles of the world, a place where we gather hope and strength. And our home says much about the sort of people we are, what we care about, what matters to us.

So where does Jesus live? And why does it matter?

At his birth he was homeless - or was he? Matthew tells us that he was born in a stable because there was no place in the Inn. In St Luke’s Gospel we read Jesus’ words ‘The birds of the air have nests and the foxes have holes, but Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

Yet John tells us that ‘The Word became flesh, and dwelt amongst us’. He made his home amongst us. His home. The world is his home. It is here where his heart his. These are the people he loves. He lives not in some remote or far away place, but right in our midst. He is with us. And like the disciples, he calls us too.

Second Sunday of the Year : 18th January 2009

Jesus turned round, saw them following and said, ‘What do you want?’ They answered, ‘Rabbi,’ – which means Teacher –’where do you live?’ ‘Come and see’ he replied; so they went and saw where he lived, and stayed with him the rest of that day.

Jesus, where do you live?

It might seem to us an odd question. Why would that matter? And yet, where we live is very important to us. Home sweet home, we say, and There’s no place like home. A home is more than a house or a flat or a few rooms in building.

In the news last weekend was a shocking story about a man who returned home with his small daughter to discover that the locks had been changed and the house had been repossessed by the building society. Shocking enough, but even more so as he was not in arrears with his mortgage and it was not his building society who had repossessed the house.

There was a happy ending to this tale - but we are only too aware that in other places the story does not turn out quite so well. The loss of property is one thing - but to lose a home, that it so much worse.

Home is where the heart is, we also say, and it is the heart that turns bricks and mortar into a place of safety, of comfort, of peace. It is a refuge from the troubles of the world, a place where we gather hope and strength. And our home says much about the sort of people we are, what we care about, what matters to us.

So where does Jesus live? And why does it matter?

At his birth he was homeless - or was he? Matthew tells us that he was born in a stable because there was no place in the Inn. In St Luke’s Gospel we read Jesus’ words ‘The birds of the air have nests and the foxes have holes, but Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’

Yet John tells us that ‘The Word became flesh, and dwelt amongst us’. He made his home amongst us. His home. The world is his home. It is here where his heart his. These are the people he loves. He lives not in some remote or far away place, but right in our midst. He is with us. And like the disciples, he calls us too.

The Epiphnay of the Lord

Now we are in January. The name ‘January’ refers to the old roman god ‘Janus’ who stands at the door of year looking forward and back. It is a time when we reflect on the past year and look forward to the coming year. This year, for many people in our city and throughout the world is a moment of foreboding, as we wonder how the financial situation will affect our lives. Will it be a new year of prosperity, or of hardship?

The new year begins also with the feast of the Epiphany. Let’s concentrate on this - because it will give some purpose to our reflection as we begin this year.

Everyone knows that the day celebrated the coming of the wise men, the kings, the magi, to the child Jesus. It is the celebration of a long and hard journey, which ends with the revelation of Truth himself.

When the magi arrive they find an ordinary house and an ordinary family - not so different from ours - and the house is blessed by their arrival, and their worship, and their gifts: the splendour of gold for a king, the luxury of frankincense for worship and the tenderness of myrrh for burial. The gifts express both hope and anxiety for the future.

And - now here’s the strange thing - that ordinary house is actually blessed not by the visitors, but by the one they visit. The blessing is received not by the the host, but by the guests. The real gifts are received not by the family, but by those who give. The Truth is revealed not to those who receive the message, but to those who carry it.

In a way this visit of the wise men is a model of all human worship of God, and indeed a model of what it means to have faith. We praise and bless him, yet we are the ones who receive his blessing. We bring gifts to offer to him - yet we are the ones who receive the gifts of his grace. The host receives us into his presence, yet it we who receive the host.

At the end of mass today there will be the traditional blessing of chalk which we shall use to bless our houses. The number of the year indicates a prayer for God’s blessing as this year begins. The letters C M B refer to the three travellers who visited the holy house – Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar – but also are the initials of the latin words “Christus mansionem benedicat.” “May Christ bless the house.”

As we begin a new year let us bring all our hopes and anxieties to him. In a way these are our gifts - Gold for hope, Myrhh for our worries, Frankincense for our prayer. We cannot forsee or predict what will happen. But we can bring our hopes and concerns before him, and he will give us strength.

May Christ bless our houses, our homes, our families, and our lives, now and for ever.