Sunday 7th June at 7:30pm in St Mary & St Giles

VIVANT playing live.

Mark Prescott, on Violin, & Clive Williams, on Melodeon, play a selection of French waltzes and mazurkas, English songs and hymn tunes in a relaxed yet very tight style with harmonies and rhythms interwoven and explored to create haunting melodies

Entrance Free - Retiring Collection in aid of the Church Restoration Fund

Piano and Trumpet Recital at St Mary & St Giles....

Ian Facer and Julia Benham play trumpet and piano

in St Mary & St Giles Church, Stony Stratford – “what an acoustic!”

on Wednesday 10th June at 12:45. Free entry.

Eat your sandwiches while they entertain you. Teas provided.
Retiring collection in aid of the Church Restoration Fund.

Programme to include Whodunnit? by Kelly

(based on Poirot – where you can try to work out the guilty party!)

Also music by Goedike, Kuffner and others.

Ian lives in Bedfordshire and is in demand as a player and teacher and, when he isn't performing solo recitals he plays regularly with orchestras in London and Cambridgeshire.

Julia continues to teach piano and perform as a ‘cellist in various orchestras. As a gifted soprano, Julia sang in the Dream of Gerontius in the Royal Albert Hall in 2007. Her sympathetic accompanying skills are often in demand and she regularly accompanies Ian in their popular recitals.
ianfacer.co.uk

Homily for 3rd Sunday of Easter at Stony Stratford....

Four Journeys from Jerusalem

After this morning’s Parish Mass the Annual Parochial Church Meeting will take place and as has been my practice from time to time I intend this morning’s homily to also be my Chairman’s Address.

First of all want to thank everyone who contributes to the life of our Parish Church. There are many people who engage in practical work on behalf of the parish and I am sure that with me you are very grateful to them all for all that they do for us. Every year I run the risk of missing groups or individuals out and so, with one exception, this year I want to simply say “thank you” to everyone for all they do. The one exception is Larry who will not be seeking re-election as Churchwarden – an Office he has served diligently in for seven years, and I am sure that you all would wish to join me in expressing our gratitude to him for his loyal and devoted service.

A Chairman’s address often turns into a sort of “State of the Nation” address, but this morning’s Gospel reading albeit the shorter form of the Emmaus Road story commands my attention as it always does due to its profound exposition of the meaning and structure of the Mass. It also describes the journey to faith in the Risen Lord and is a metaphor for our own spiritual journeys.
The imagery of journeys and travelling figure significantly in the Scriptures and the Christian Life has often been seen in the same light. Interestingly, journeys from Jerusalem have very significant meanings if we consider them carefully.

Firstly, there is the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem which leads to the Word made flesh where we are to become an adorer with the magi (Matthew 2:8-11). This is the road of the worshipper who comes to Christ and kneels at his feet bringing a gift: the gift of one’s self to be put to use in his vineyard.

Secondly, there is the road from Jerusalem to Jericho which leads to a man waylaid by robbers upon whose wounds we are to pour the oil of compassion after the example of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). This is the road of Christian Service where the worshipper having travelled the first road comes to see that he must not only believe and worship, but also serve.

Thirdly, there is the road from Jerusalem, which leads us astray into an alien land where we squander our youth and innocence, and eventually become a prodigal son who returns to the house of the father (Luke 15:1-32). This is the road that leads us astray – leads out of that which is true and permanent, and into what is false and fleeting. This is where we discover that we cannot save ourselves and that we are proud and arrogant in our false belief that we don’t need our heavenly Father. It is only when we come to admit that we need God and cannot save ourselves that we come to our senses and have the courage to return confessing our sins and need of reconciliation with God.

Fourthly, the road we hear of in today’s Gospel from Jerusalem, the City of Peace, to Emmaus, seven miles up the road, frees our downcast spirits from all our shattered illusions, and helps us to recognise the Lord not where we were hoping he would be, which is often in the material and mundane, but where he truly is, “in the breaking of the bread”(Luke 24:13-35). This is road of maturing in the faith. A crisis has rocked us and we are once again at a loss as to know what the answer is, but as we walk along we become aware of the truth being with us, but it is only when we come to Mass with hearts on fire and inspired by the love of Christ that our eyes are opened and we recognize Truth – that is Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

The problem with us human beings is that all too often we try to miss out on some of these roads and others (like that to an alien land) we think of as being acceptable because we think that God “will not mind” or that he will excuse us anyway. So some of us don’t even set out very often on the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem because we don’t think it matters if we miss the celebration of Mass. In-habitual worship has become a national disease and has made us weak. Brother priests up and down the land tell me that they are very impressed at our worshipping numbers, but when we compare them to the number on our Electoral Roll (203) we see that on most Sundays 25% of us aren’t here – of those some are housebound and receive Holy Communion at home, but it means that on average one fifth of us who could be present are not. Is that good? No it isn’t. The road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem is one that we should tread frequently and at least on Sundays and giving God time in the week is also a good thing to do.

The road from Jerusalem to Jericho is one we should all walk in the manner of the Good Samaritan. The world is a place where souls are in peril and where people are in need. But do we care that souls are in peril or that people are in need. There are many, even in our own parish, who fall into these categories, and I would like us all to reflect on how we may serve Christ in them and to ask ourselves what we could do to help them. And by “we” I do not mean the Vicar or the Churchwardens or other volunteers, but all of us including you. Each of us is called to serve Christ as well as worship him.

From time to time each one of us journey along our own road from Jerusalem to an alien land. It is the journey of sin and disobedience where we find ourselves lost and alienated from Christ and his Church. It is at these times when we need to have courage to return, to seek reconciliation and peace. We need to acknowledge our need of God; and the Sacrament of Reconciliation is there for all to unburden themselves and discover the loving mercy of God who runs to greet the Prodigal Son. Sadly, some do not consider the seriousness of sin and abandonment of the Truth Faith. St Augustine of Hippo warned that those in the Church who tell people who are sinning that they can continue in sin are not only leaving someone in sin and their soul in peril, but doing the same to themselves. The Church cannot condone departure from Christian Truth and Sacramental Faith – when it does it is in error and we are seeing the fruits of this in what remains of the Anglican Church throughout the world. In our own land the Church of England is facing similar consequences and over the next five years will be faced with a choice of continuing as part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church or of ceasing to be part of it. As in the USA it appears that there are those who can command a majority who want to force Orthodox believers out – but if that happens what remains will be a parody of Christian Truth and Sacramental Life. While this is true of the Church of England as a body it is also true of us a individuals – we cannot seek to separate Truth and Unity for they are inextricably linked together. Denial of the Faith and seeking to bring into the Church the culture of the day (what the Lord would call “the world”) will not lead to renewal in the church but its continued decay as it will have effectively wished God dead as did the younger son when he asked for his inheritance and the right to do with it as he pleased; having said that there is a warning for those who are orthodox, in the person of the Older Son. The Older Son had to learn that forgiveness and reconciliation are always given to those who come to their senses and return to the True Faith.

The road to Emmaus is one where we journey in company with the Lord. We may not always recognise him, but he will always be with us explaining the Scriptures to us and making our hearts burn within us. This is the journey of Christian discipleship and one that ultimately leads us to the Lord’s Supper: the Mass; where in union with each other we come into communion with the Lord and where we are prepared for the heavenly banquet prepared for us from the foundation of the world. This is where Truth and Unity are completely one. Truth is explained and received on the journey – note that “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” – in other words the truth, and then Jesus – he who is Truth itself – reveals himself fully to them as he breaks bread, that is celebrates Mass. The two men then return to Jerusalem to the Upper Room and to the Eleven – to the Upper Room where that first Mass had been celebrated, that is: the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church where they have the Faith confirmed by the Apostles: “The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon” – the Church is one and no denomination can exchange truth for anything less.

We live in an aggressively secular society where people are treated as mere commodities, where people of Christian Faith are routinely held up to ridicule, and where Pilate’s cynical question “What is Truth?” is on the lips of many of our political leaders, opinion makers in the media and shamefully on many in the Church.

It is always easy to outline the problems facing us but the answer is never palatable, but it lies in the right response to these four journeys from Jerusalem. In this parish, despite all the worries over raising the Parish Share and the frustrations with seeking to further our Regeneration Project, may each one of us not be afraid to continue our journey with Christ who is the Way, the Truth and the Life and without whom no-one can come to the Father.



N.B. I intend to reflect more on these four journeys in future posts on this Blog.

Deeply disturbed....

A woman who removed her elderly mother from a care home amid worries over her health was shocked to see police and social workers on her doorstep with a battering ram ready to snatch her back. Rosalind Figg was concerned about the treatment her elderly mother was receiving and took her home to look after her personally. But social workers in Coventry disagreed with her actions and used a little-known power to take her back. They obtained an emergency warrant from magistrates under the Mental Health Act on the grounds that a "person believed to be suffering from a mental disorder is being ill treated and neglected". Two days later they turned up at Mrs Figg's Keresley home with police in tow as back up. Mrs Figg was forced to hand over her distraught 86-year-old mother Betty who was wheeled to a car with a blanket over her head and returned to Butts Croft House. A police spokesman said: "Police were asked to assist social services to remove an elderly woman to a place of safety. "A warrant was granted and an enforcer was taken in order to gain access to the property if needed. The enforcer was not used."


I surely am not the only priest who, while admittedly not knowing all the facts in this case, find it deeply disturbing. Like many priests I have visited some of my flock in a number of parishes now who have been in Residential and Nursing Homes that I would not wish to see either one of my loved ones or myself in. I have also seen the distress of relatives at the lack of basic hygiene and care that is afforded to some in hospital and Residential Care. Even more worrying is the fact that a Funeral Director said to me when I expressed the view that a particular Residential Home was OK, "But, Father, you don't see it at night - we do, and we judge a home by what we see when we go to pick up a body and that is often at night."

It is not appropriate to give specific examples, but from my point of view there are deeply disturbing points in this case.

Ransom x Adidas

This is a dope look.

Bibles....

The parishes have been getting used to the Revised Standard Version 2nd Catholic Edition since the New Year and it is certainly proving to be a much richer translation than the 1966 Jerusalem Bible - though it must be admitted that it has served the English speaking members of the Church well for over forty years.

We have given people the opportunity to buy copies at a reduced cost of £12 each (normal price is about £25 now with the exchange rate going against us - but still a very good reduction). Family Publications based in Oxford kindly give us this reduction if we order at least 100 copies.

41 people ordered their own copy and 60 copies each year will go to those pupils leaving our Church Aided Junior School. When the Bibles were delivered this morning I mentioned that 60 were going to school leavers this summer and his response was "Well, Father, that's very good - far better than some of the rubbish they will be getting!"

"Most shocking report from TEC in years".....

From the Bishop of Chester

To the Church of England Newspaper April 9, 2009

"Sir,Of all the reports emanating from The Episcopal Church in recent years, I consider that concerning the appointment of Katharine Ragsdale as Dean of Episcopal Divinity School in Massachusetts (April 3) to be the most shocking. That a promoter of abortion on demand, who describes abortionists as engaged in 'holy work', might be given such a senior position must call in question any possibility of normal relations with the province concerned.If any right-thinking Christian has doubted the potential need for a new province in North America, they should ponder your astonishing report."

The Rt Rev Peter Forster, Bishop of Chester

Toronto!

Tomorrow and Sunday I'll be at the Toronto Comicon Fan Appreciation Event. If you're in the area come by and say hello!

UPDATE: My flight isn't until Saturday morning so I don't know what time I'll get there... but it's safe to say I probably won't be at the show when it opens. I'm coming straight from the airport and will get there as soon as possible!

Rollin...

SHPE-NYC Technology Series

Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to see a behind-the-scene FIOS presentation brought to you by the SHPE-NYC Technology Series.


Join us for an intriguing presentation and a personalized tour with Verizon Communications and learn firsthand how fiber-optic communication systems have revolutionized the telecommunications industry and played a major role in the advent of the information age.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009
6:00pm – 9:00pm

Verizon Corporation Headquarters
140 West Street
New York City
(between Barclay St & Vesey St)

RSVP to rsvp@shpe-nyc.org

3 Is A Magic Number

Space Is The Place

A few weeks ago we noticed this in the obituaries,


The Times London Thurs. March 26 2009

After just reading Jim Keith's book Mind Control and UFOs: "Casebook on Alternative 3" a few weeks before I was intregued, that the Times photo of Tim Briton's focused on his role in Alternative 3. Perhaps that's the only photo they could find... But considering he was a long standing member of Parliament, Journalist and Broadcaster, you would think they could find another image of him besides his role in a rare 70's TV spoof...

Alternative 3:
"Intended as an April Fools presentation for Anglia TV, and presented as an episode of the non-Fiction Science Report, but because of a a problem in scheduling it is said, was presented on June 2oth 1977." - *Jim Keith


Alternative 3
Full Length Episode

"In 1977, the normally conservative television program "Science Report" broadcast the most shocking investigative story ever shown on British television: an international conspiracy of monumental proportions with the codename "Alternative 3". These statements were among the startling allegations: The rich elite of the world have initiated a secret program of space migration to escape the environmental pollution and over population destroying the earth; Top space scientists from around the world are being abducted to provide personnel for the space bases; Citizens are being kidnapped and subjected to mind control to serve as slave labor at the secret space colonies; A secret joint USA-Russian space program has established bases on the moon and Mars; UFOs are actually secret government aircraft with capabilities far beyond what we are being told. Since its initial airing, the startling claims of "Alternative 3" have been debated and decried as a hoax, while others claim that there is truth to this terrifying plan of our secret rulers! Keith delves into the bizarre story of Alternative 3, including mind control programs, underground bases not only on the Earth but also on the Moon and Mars, the real origin of the UFO problem, the mysterious deaths of Marconi Electronics employees in Britain during the 1980s, the Russian-American superpower arms race of the 50s, 60s and 70s as a massive hoax, more." - Intro to Jim Keith's book*


Mind Control and UFOs: "Casebook on Alternative 3 by Jim Keith

*Jim Keith- Mind Control and UFOs: "Casebook on Alternative 3"
Adventures Unlimited Press
www.adventuresunlimitedpress.com

Shucks One New Characters

Tin Foil Hat - Paronoia Bunny

The Kools Skool's Shucks One has been having a go at some Characters, here are a few new ones.


Lucky Humans Foot

Puerto Freakin' Rican - Latinos Unidos!!!

Gangsters of the Groove

"Whats The Name of This Nation!!!"

B-Boy Document

Bronx River

God-Head-Zilla

Ommmmm-en-Hotep

"Universal Mind Control?"

Hip Hop & Freemasonry: Culture Creation & The Shape of Things To Come - 1/8

Hip Hop & Freemasonry: Culture Creation & The Shape of Things To Come - 2/8

Hip Hop & Freemasonry: Culture Creation & The Shape of Things To Come - 3/8

Hip Hop & Freemasonry: Culture Creation & The Shape of Things To Come - 4/8

Hip Hop & Freemasonry: Culture Creation & The Shape of Things To Come - 5/8

Hip Hop & Freemasonry: Culture Creation & The Shape of Things To Come - 6/8

Hip Hop & Freemasonry: Culture Creation & The Shape of Things To Come - 7/8

Hip Hop & Freemasonry: Culture Creation & The Shape of Things To Come - 8/8

Film made by The Human Condition Forum:

Alan Watt's website: www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com

The Devolution of the Sacred Feminine

From positive women...


to this....


Devolution of the Sacred Feminine Part 2.1
http://lenonhonorfilms.com


Still from Nelly's Tip Drill video
What does this have to do with Hip-Hop Culture? How did traditional organized crime "cash cows" (Stripping and Drug Distribution) become the only expression of the music?
"Who let the dogs in?!!!" Rap-pop will eat itself, or our young...

Spem in alium update....

ST. MARY & ST. GILES CHURCH, STONY STRATFORD

ALL AROUND SOUND
To include the
TALLIS 40 PART MOTET ‘Spem in Alium’

Saturday 6 June 2009

7.30pm

The exciting 40 part Motet is the principal item in a concert of choral music and instrumental gems such as the Bach Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Handel’s Zadok the Priest and Parry’s I Was Glad. Invited singers from local choirs will be taking part in this rarely performed piece conducted by James Wharton. Exciting because the singers are divided into 8 choirs who are going to perform in the gallery thus surrounding the audience with glorious sound.
Vouchers cost £10.00 with £8.00 concessions and accompanied under 16’s £1.00 and can be purchased from jandaievans@yahoo.com, by phoning 01908 561984 or from Odell’s Ironmongers shop in Stony Stratford.
All proceeds from the concert will be devoted to the Church’s Willis Pipe Organ Refurbishment Fund


The singers are from The Parish Singers, Quorum, Milton Keynes Chorale, Milton Keynes Youth Choir and Andante.
Each singer has a line of music to themselves and are grouped in 8 small ‘spem choirs; one choir will start singing, followed by another further around the gallery, then another until all choirs are singing. Then, after a climax and a dramatic pause the direction reverses until all the choirs are again singing and the audience is enveloped in music from all directions as the glorious unforgettable finale develops.
Vivant will play music for violin and melodeon and The Deadwood Quartet – a recorder trio with continuo. Organ solos will be by James Wharton and Andrew Storer.

Details of the Willis 3 Manual organ and the organ appeal can be found at
www.smsg-organ-appeal.co.uk

______ends____
For further information about this Press Release please contact David Scrutton on 01908 568036 or david@scrutton.co.uk

Holy Week ....

A very busy week has kept me from the blogosphere. Any readers having looked at our programme for Holy Week will have seen just how much was going on. Bishop Andrew asked the Faithful to be just that in Holy Week and we have had good numbers at all the Masses and Devotions this week.

Mass attendance and that at Stations of the Cross was well up this year and the Maria Desolata Stations on Good Friday evening saw over a 100% increase.

Just before the Triduum Sacrum began there was a phone call from a priest in a non-parochial context to ask what time Mass was and would I be stripping the altars? To which I replied that I would be and that I would be washing the feet of 12 parishioners. "You wash feet?" was the rather amazed response. Yes we do - its what priesthood is all about.

A goodly number of people observed the Watch and were coming and going until midnight.

The Good Friday Liturgy was very well attended and the Veneration of the Cross was as beautiful as always with the Reproaches sung by the choir.

The Easter Vigil this evening was a really joyous celebration, with all seven Old Testament Readings; bells rung throughout the Gloria which was introduced with a fanfare on the organ; the Blessing of the Font and the Renewal of the Baptismal Promises, the Liturgy of the Eucharist and the joy of having the Blessed Sacrament replaced in the Tabernacle once more.

Ignorance is not bliss it is dangerous....

I see that our former Prime Minister is opining that the Pope needs to change his teaching.

Besides displaying his theological ignorance for all to read he also shows a woeful ignorance concerning the position of the Pope whose role from ancient times has been to uphold the Faith once delivered to the saints. He simply hasn't the authority to change the nature of the Church's moral teaching. And as for our erstwhile political leader thinking that this would be the right and popular thing to do - he really does need to grow up. A look across the pond at ECUSA imploding and gradually disappearing leaving only an increasing number of bishops behind should be a wake-up call to any one with any sense.

And, of course, on top of all this there is the issue of whether he is an obedient son of the Church or whether he sees it as his role to guide it himself - presumably in the same way as he led this country which now finds that the legacy left it has no substance to it at all. Rather like the Emperor there were many queuing up to compliment him on his new clothes - but now many are admitting that there were none at all, but not because a young boy pointed the obvious out for many, many were deluded. No, they now admit that there were no clothes, because they are seeing their own being taken off their very backs to pay for grandiose schemes and vague ideas, diversity officers and all manner of advisers and other none jobs.

Cultural Canvas Fund Raiser

Lord Relay by Shucks One

Some of us painted at an Art charity event last week. It was for Cultural Canvas Thailand, we gave away art work & prints for a raffle which raised £800 for art materials for poor Thai kids.


Inky Mole


Rabodiga


Ink Fetish


Balrog


Motel


Tizer One

Special thanks to Solo One
www.culturalcanvas.com

A-YO

"I network on myspace real late, hoping my apple will make me another Bill Gates"

Another classic? I hope so. Saukrates on the hook.

Joga Bonita

Passion (Palm) Sunday in Stony Stratford....

A glorious spring morning meant that this year's Procession was able to proceed. Last year's was rained off - the first time for 60 years I am told. This year we were delighted to have the Bishop of Ebbsfleet with us to Celebrate and Preach - obviously, he brought the weather with him! At the Vicarage afterwards he had to weather a storm though - in the shape of a five month old Cocker Spaniel who took a real shine to him - glad to know she has good taste.


Each year we gather in the London Road Car Park for the Blessing of Palms, the Palm Gospel and the Procession to Church. We process along London Road, into the High Street before turning into Church Street. Our very own St Mary & St Giles Church Band lead the singing of "All glory laud and honour" - as Bishop Andrew pointed out: "an ancient Latin hymn sung to a German tune in English."


As the Bishop entered the Nave of the Parish Church the "Fr Willis" Organ leads the congregation as they sing "Ride on, ride on in majesty." The Collect, Readings and Passion followed and Bishop Andrew encouraged us to remain faithful during this most Holy of Weeks. The Mass followed the customary pattern after the Profession of Faith and the Prayer of the Faithful.


Here are a few photo's of the Procession courtesy of Ray Rowlson:

Green Girl

(click image to enlarge)
Just for fun I did a very quick copy of a Jack Faragasso painting. The original has a great painterly quality I wanted to try to emulate digitally. I also love the unexpected color choices. It reminds me of something Harley Brown says - that if you get the values right, the eye will accept the unlikeliest colors.

What's my Nationality? POLO-RICAN

SHPE-NYC Member Updates

SHPE-NYC Member Updates

April SHPE-NYC Upcoming Events
· April 21, 2009 – Technology Series Event – Verizon FIOS
· April 24, 2009 – Salsa Workshop
· April 25, 2009 – New York Cares Outreach Event
----------------------------------------------

SHPE Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) Registration – Deadline Extended to April 9th 2009

Do you believe you have executive potential? Do you believe you encompass the fundamentals of a great executive? The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) can empower you to pursue that potential. We proudly present the fourth annual Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) hosted by Hewlett Packard. SHPE’s ELI is one of the few executive leadership development programs designed for Hispanic Engineers. SHPE has made a commitment to increase the number of high-level Hispanic executives in corporate America. This means YOU. Visit http://oneshpe.shpe.org/wps/portal/eli for additional information.

This notification serves as a reminder.
New Application Deadline is: April 9th, 2009.
Building Green Expo and Workshops 2009 - www.bldggreenexpo.com
Date: Thursday April 23, 2009
Time: 9am - 5pm
Place: 7 World Trade Center, NYC

----------------------------------------------

Building Green Expo and Workshops 2009
Details:
· Building Green Expo and Workshops is an innovative event that complements NYS Green Building Initiatives on energy efficiency and environmental sustainability. This event will provide networking and educational opportunities for Developers, General Contractors, Construction Managers, Architects, Engineers, Trade Contractors, Suppliers, Government Agencies and various Vendors related to Building Green Initiatives. The event closes with an Open forum discussion in which a panel of experts will answer questions from attendees.

· The workshop topics are: Sustainable Project Management: How to approach a sustainable project; LEED v2.2 vs. v3.0, what you need to know?; What is the Green Globes Rating System?; and Energy Incentive Programs: Which can be applied to your project?

· If you are interested in attending this event RSVP to yajaira.arvelo@gmail.com . The first 15 members to RSVP will be able to attend the expo at no cost and a 15% discount to attend the workshops.

· Interested in being a student volunteers for the event? The hours for the volunteers are from 8-5pm (morning or afternoon shifts). Volunteers have free access to the conference (the portion of the day that they are not working). Send your contact info requesting to volunteer to info@bldggreenexpo.com

Volunteers needed - Manhattan Bridges High School Career Day speakersYou’re invited to Manhattan Bridges High School (MBHS) first Career Day – An opportunity for students to meet working professionals and learn about different careers. Manhattan Bridges High School (MBHS) opened its doors five years ago as a small school for recently arrived Spanish-speaking students. In 2007, MBHS was ranked the number one public school in New York City in academic progress. MBHS exceeds City and nationwide high school graduation rates for Latino students, with a graduation rate of 83% in 2008. This year, MBHS is becoming one of 500 career academies throughout the U.S. in the National Academy Foundation (NAF) network.

Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Time: 9:30 AM to 1:15 PM
Place: 525 West 50th Street - New York, NY 10019

See attachment for more details

This Week's Homily....

Lenten Homilies AD 2009 – The Scriptures

5th Sunday of Lent – The New Testament

In this the final homily of this series on the Scriptures we consider the New Testament. All the books that have been written about the New Testament and on the Life and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot possibly be encapsulated in a Sunday morning Homily, but a little information will, I hope, light our way.

As with the Old Testament there are a variety of literary styles within the New Testament. There is history in the Gospels and in the Acts of the Apostles, there are Letters and there is the Apocalypse – also called the Book of Revelation.

This morning’s Homily will attempt to be a small guide to some of the aims and objectives of the writers who the Church believes wrote as they were guided by the Holy Spirit.

The first and most important thing to understand about the New Testament is that the various writers are concerned first and foremost to teach us about Jesus. The Lord is at the heart of the New Testament – without him it would not exist.

So how did it come about? St Peter, St Paul and the other apostles began their public ministries following on from the events of Pentecost. As we know at first this was confined to the Jewish people, but then two events brought about a very radical change. Firstly, the conversion of Saul, who becomes St Paul, on the Damascus road, and, secondly, St Peter’s vision at Joppa (Jaffa) of the sheet with the unclean animals and God telling him to “rise, kill and eat” along with the Lord’s instruction to him to go to the house of the Roman Centurion Cornelius where he sees the faith of Gentiles who believe in Jesus and when he prays for them he sees the Holy Spirit come upon them as he had on the Apostles at Pentecost. This leads Peter to report to the Church at Jerusalem on what he had experienced and the Church Council in Jerusalem declares: “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance unto life.” Following on from this Barnabas and others begin preaching to Gentiles in Antioch and Paul is invited to join them such is the response. Paul and Peter in differing ways then have an apostleship among the Gentiles.

The inclusion of the Gentiles was a huge step for these Jewish men to take on board, but they clearly saw this as the will of God. So the Apostles journeyed with people to help them and they spread abroad the stories of Jesus and what he had taught and about his Birth, Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension. In every place they visited they founded communities of believers and appointed bishops to lead them. The formation of the New Testament has its roots in these events.

As the Apostles travelled and taught people about Jesus naturally, there developed a desire for more information and knowledge about Jesus Christ who they had accepted as the Saviour. The life and teaching of Jesus formed the basis of their message, but this was informed by a greater understanding following the Ascension and Pentecost as the Apostles realised just what all they had seen and heard meant in terms of the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah, and most especially about Jesus human and divine nature. This developed into what we would call an “oral tradition.”

However, as time went on there was a need to write all this down for wider dissemination. This enabled the apostles to make sure that what was being taught about Jesus was what actually happened and not myths and invented stories. There were plenty of such strange things being said about Jesus and these were later to develop into a more organised system known as “Gnosticism” which led to deeply divisive developments in the 6th century. So one of the primary purposes of the Gospels and the Letters (or Epistles), was to ensure that the truth about Jesus was disseminated by eye-witnesses to what Jesus had taught and achieved (Luke 1:2) as opposed those who were not eye-witnesses and who were peddling strange myths and tales. Some of the authors were quite open about this, e.g. St Luke talks of writing “an orderly account.... that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed” (1:3-4). The rows in the church in Corinth and the false teaching that takes place in Galatia are examples of Paul’s determination that the truth of the Gospel should not be perverted by false teachers and that these Christian communities should not be led astray. In 2 Peter we read “So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of this (in all probability this means the Second Coming of Christ) as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.”

Now this is a very general overview of the New Testament and I intend later in the year to give you some teaching on each of the four Gospels and at another time some teaching on the Epistles. However, I do want to say a few words about the Book of Revelation this morning before considering it more thoroughly later in the year, because in many ways this has become a book that has been most misused by many groups and individuals to teach all manner of strange things. Firstly, it is not full of condemnation of the Roman Catholic Church and does not show us that the Pope is the anti-Christ as some extreme protest-ants falsely claim. In reality it appears to have been written to the persecuted Church in Rome which was suffering horribly under the persecution led by successive Roman Emperors’. If you want to know more then read a good introduction to the Book and many clergy, myself included, would recommend “The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth” by The Rev’d Doctor Scott Hahn, published by Darton, Longman and Todd. Fr Hahn also shows us that the key to understanding the book is the Mass.

The New Testament is the record of the how God finally reveals himself completely in Christ to the peoples of the world and of the beginnings of the Church. It is the record of how God became incarnate, of how he stepped into time to achieve reconciliation with his people who had become separated from him, and of how he then included us Gentiles in that renewed People of God. The pages of the New Testament, like those of the Old, do not disguise the poor and sometimes appalling response of the People of God, but through it all we see that God loves us and longs for us to come to know him the only true God, to know the redemption that he offers us through his Son, and the continued sanctification he longs to bring about in our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit.

As we read our Bibles let us always recall that ultimately these pages are written that we may come to know Jesus and the reason for his incarnation.