What I said for Corpus Christi


The Thursday following Trinity Sunday is kept as the feast of Corpus Christi in the Anglican Church. This year we kept it on the following Sunday. Here’s what I said.

1 Corinthians 11.23-26; John 6.51-58

By 1965 Bob Dylan was recognized as one of the leaders of the folk music revival in America. Songs like The Times They Are a-Changin’ led to him being called “The spokesman of a generation”. And then he went and did something that alienated many of his fans. On July 25th 1965, appearing at the Newport Folk Festival, a bastion of traditional and authentic folk music. Sandwiched between two traditional performers, he made the spontaneous decision to appear not with his usual acoustic guitar but with an electric guitar and backed by a fully amplified band. There is film footage of his performance. Within a few bars of his first song you can hear the cheers – and you can also hear the booing. Continue reading →

What I said for the Feast of the Holy Trinity


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Last Sunday was the feast of the Holy Trinity – usually called Trinity Sunday. As those who preach regularly will know it’s not exactly a favourite Sunday for preaching! Here is my sermon.

Isaiah 40.12-17, 27-end; 2 Corinthians 13.11-end; Matthew 28.16-20

How many persons in the Trinity?

Before you answer that, let me tell you a story. It’s not my own story, it’s a story from Donagh O’Shea, a member of the Irish Dominicans.

I want to pass on to you (he says) an insight I received years ago in a small church in Rome: the preacher was a tiny vivid Italian with flashing eyes, and a chasuble and gestures that were both far too big for him. He was preaching in a church beside the Tiber, on Trinity Sunday He told of his earlier years in a parish near Naples. In those days, he said, the days ofhisyouthful enthusiasm, he had begun to wonder if the people in his country parish remembered any-thing of Christian doctrine. They were good people, he said, but he wondered how much they knew of the faith. There was only one way to find out: he had to ask them. So he would ask them, out of the blue, in the middle of a conversation or:when he met one on the road: “Franco, how many Sacraments are there?” or “Cristina, tell me, what are the precepts of the Church?” One day, he said, he was talking with Gianni, a very poor farmer with a large family and hard put to it to feed them. “By the way, Gianni,” he said, “can you tell me how many persons there are in the Trinity?” “Persons in the Trinity!” said Gianni with amazement; “l don’t know. Four, five, ten. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I don’t have to feed them!” Continue reading →

What I said last Sunday for the Feast of Pentecost


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Last Sunday was, of course, the Feast of Pentecost. Here’s what I said in my sermon.

Acts 1.1-13; John 20.19-23

There’s not much that’s more annoying than a flat car battery.

You know what it’s like! The last time you used the car there was nothing wrong. Then you go out to go somewhere – and it’s always when you’re going somewhere important and are in a hurry – and the car won’t start. These days, with electronic central locking, you are forewarned because the remote control key won’t unlock the car. And you get that sinking feeling. And yet, having had to use the key the old-fashioned way and actually put it in the lock, you get in and even though you now know you have a flat battery you still try and start the car. You know it’s not going to work but you try anyway. No power! And you’re not going anywhere. And the worst thing is you know that it’s almost certainly your fault. Either you’ve left headlights on though that’s increasingly difficult these days. Or you’ve left the interior light on. Or – as I managed to do recently – you’ve left the boot slightly ajar so that the boot light had not gone out! Continue reading →

Together@10 – June 1st


This coming Sunday (June 1st) we have our monthly all-age mass Together@10 at – no prizes for guessing – 10am. This month our theme is The Glorified Son and we’ll be thinking about what ‘Glory’ is and how we share in it.

What I said this Sunday – Easter 6


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John 14.15-21

“I should never have switched from scotch to martinis.” The final words of Humphrey Bogart just before he died at the age of 57.

Famous last words. Some clearly thought them through. Some tried to be amusing at the last. Others simply didn’t know what to say. And yet if you’re famous you can guarantee that your final words will live, and be repeated, long after you are gone. And one of the problems of being famous is that you are often expected to leave behind you something inspirational. Karl Marx, as he neared death, was asked by his housekeeper who was the only person with him, for some profound and meaningful last thoughts. “Go away!” he shouted at her, “Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough!” and she fled from the room to leave him to pass away in silence. And yet last words can often be deeply moving and inspiring. Continue reading →

What I said this Sunday – Easter 4


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This Sunday was Good Shepherd Sunday. Here’s what I said.

John 10.1-10

A question for you.
When is a door not a door?
When it’s ajar!

No – it’s not funny is it? That’s one of those jokes that was around when I was a child. I didn’t understand it and never found it funny in the slightest. As I got older and the penny dropped and I realised why it was supposed to be funny, it still wasn’t funny!

People who heard Jesus’ teaching may well have seen the joke. After all, when he told people not to worry about taking a speck out of someone else’s eye because they had a whopping great plank sticking out of their own eye, and they should sort that out first, people would have seen the joke. Continue reading →

Good Friday Reflections – 6 Sermon at the Good Friday Liturgy


Here’s the sermon given by Mother Anne-Marie at our Good Friday Liturgy. This service followed on at 2pm from the series of sermons, hymns and reflections that began at 12 noon. It includes the reading of the whole of the Passion from Saint John’s Gospel.

John 18.1-19.42

In the talks that preceded this liturgy, we have, with the help of Paula Gooder’s book “Journey to the Empty Tomb”, looked at some of the biblical passages about the last week of Jesus’ life and some of the characters that emerge from the text. We saw how some of those closest to Jesus failed him – notably Judas and Peter; and how some people, totally unknown, emerged to help him or affirm who he was – Simon of Cyrene and the Centurion. Continue reading →

Good Friday Reflections – 5 The Empty Tomb



Mark 16.1-8

Talk by Mother Anne-Marie

The Empty Tomb

If you have been here since 12 noon, you will know that in the four previous talks, as well as looking at some interesting points in the gospel texts, we have focused on certain disciples or sympathizers of Jesus. We have looked at the Palm Sunday crowd, at Judas Iscariot, at Peter, at Simon of Cyrene and the Centurion. So far we have been very male orientated, even though the Palm Sunday crowd would have had women in it. Continue reading →

Good Friday Reflections – 4 The Crucifixion


Matthew 27.32-37, 45-54

Talk by Mother Anne-Marie

The Crucifixion

In this talk I am going to introduce immediately the two disciples (and they are disciples with a question mark) to whom I want to draw our attention. They are both mentioned in the reading we have just heard – Simon of Cyrene and the Centurion.

Simon of Cyrene is an intriguing and somewhat mysterious figure. He appears from nowhere – seemingly commandeered into service – and then he disappears again from the story. Continue reading →

Good Friday Reflections – 3 Gethsemane and the Trials


Mark 14.26-34

Talk by Mother Anne-Marie

Gethsemane and the trials

In our mind’s eye Gethsemane is a garden, but neither Mark nor Matthew who give us the name Gethsemane mention a garden. John says Jesus went to a garden but does not say it is Gethsemane. In the tradition we have combined the two and it has become the Garden of Gethsemane. Continue reading →