Clergy Blogs
Thursday 3rd October
Dear All,
Bible Reading: Jesus said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 16:15
Reflection: There is a surge in interest in spiritual formation, ancient paths and prayer rituals, Celtic Christianity here is an extract from the article on the first missionaries to the British Isles, entitled How the British Isles were evangelised by Dr Richard Roberts. For those who are interested the whole article is attached at the end of the extract:
Today, despite the increasing secularisation of our society, we take for granted that Christianity is embedded in significant parts of our culture and establishment – from the Royal Family and Lords Spiritual, to the basis of our moral code and laws. But what are the origins of Christianity in Britain?
The Romans were the first to bring the good news of Jesus to British shores. But initially, Christianity was regarded with suspicion and, in the third century, the first British Christian martyr, St Alban, was put to death by Roman soldiers, possibly for sheltering a priest fleeing persecution. This was followed by the deaths of two martyrs in the fourth century at Caerleon, Wales. In 312 AD, the emperor Constantine claimed to have been converted and in 313, an edict was issued proclaiming tolerance for all religions. Eventually, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, including Britain. But while Christianity dominated the private and public life of wealthier Romano-British citizens (genetically Britons but culturally Roman), paganism retained a foothold in the more rural areas, where Druids offered sacrifices to Celtic deities at springs and other sacred sites.
By the 390s, Roman legions had begun to withdraw from Britain and Angles, Jutes and Saxons took advantage of the power vacuum. In central and southern Britain, Anglo-Saxon paganism was very much on the resurgence. This was a time of upheaval for the peoples in Britain, with the Church gradually becoming confined to the western fringes such as Wales, Cornwall and Strathclyde in the north-west. These regions, along with Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and parts of France, spoke various Celtic languages and, because of sea trading, the Celts were in much closer contact with one another than we might have thought…
When speaking about ‘the Celtic Church’ we should remember that we are dealing with Christians who spoke several different Celtic languages and whose churches and monasteries spanned many centuries – there was certainly never one monolithic Celtic Church.
Celtic Christians emphasised God’s presence in the natural world and especially the ‘thin places’ where the reality of the unseen realm seems more easily discernible. Another feature, particularly of Irish monasticism, is that it relied heavily on a tribal system of organisation. Hence churches and monasteries such as Iona favoured local leadership of abbots and abbesses, with less emphasis on the more centralised system of bishops and archbishops that was prominent elsewhere. It could be that such localism even today is key to the Church’s mission in the UK.
There is, however, a danger that this notion of ‘Celtic Christianity’ can become a projection of our desire to create a fictional, idealised Church to which we aspire. Myths abound, such as the idea that it was a non-authoritarian and free-flowing Church, when in reality, Celtic monasteries were very strongly hierarchical. In addition, although there is evidence that Celtic evangelists adopted pagan sites and ‘Christianised’ them, they certainly did not blend Christianity with paganism. There is no doubt that they sought clear conversion from other belief systems to make disciples for Jesus.
Theirs was a commitment to radical obedience, including the idea of peregrination, and the missional effectiveness of Celtic monks and nuns was founded upon rigorous rhythms of prayer, reciting the Psalms and various forms of self-denial, as well as sacrificial hospitality, generosity and the painstaking learning and copying out of scripture. Such practices, which many are re-emphasising today, resulted in the sort of personal spiritual formation and resilience required for effective mission – both then and now.
Photos:
The spread of Christianity was reliant upon small monasteries, such as this one in County Kerry, Ireland
Glendalough Monastery in County Wicklow, Ireland was established in the sixth century
Worship through music:
Here I am Lord (I the Lord of sea and sky) words and music (1979) by Daniel L. Schutte recorded (2021)by Ruth and Joy Everingham. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UA2fMeXEKLA
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 26th September
Dear All,
Bible Reading: Jesus said to the people:
‘What description can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the market-place:
‘“We played the pipes for you, and you wouldn’t dance;
we sang dirges, and you wouldn’t cry.”
‘For John the Baptist comes, not eating bread, not drinking wine, and you say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her children.’
Luke 7: 31-35
Thought Provoking Art:
Reflection: The reading begins with the question: “What description can I find for the people of this generation?” I wonder—what would Jesus say about our generation today? Do we, even as Christians, really recognise Christ’s presence around us? We probably mostly fall short. Perhaps it is because we’ve lost the ability to notice Christ in the world around us: in the homeless person on the street, in the unexpected call from an old friend, in the beauty of a sunset, in music... It’s very easy to dismiss these moments as random events, but we could choose to see them as signs of Jesus’s presence with us, around us, and within us.
Often, it is in the small, everyday occurrences that we catch glimpses of Jesus and realise His personal involvement in our lives. But in so we can recognise Him in these moments, we need to practise opening our hearts and minds to Him. Is my heart open enough to see Jesus in the beauty of the sunset? Is it compassionate enough to see Him in the homeless person I pass by? Is my heart patient enough to see Christ in the person I struggle to get along with? When we actively seek Jesus in the world around us, our hearts will notice His presence and open up to His presence.
When we come to see Christ in everyone, we’ll naturally treat others with greater kindness, respect, and humanity. This is especially true for the most vulnerable among us, like the homeless.
The L.A.-based graffiti artist ‘Skid Robot,’ is a powerful example of this is, he brings a sense of dignity to homeless individuals by painting their dreams around them. In collaborating with them, he offers not only unique artwork but also a moment of joy and recognition, reminding them—and us—of their inherent worth. The artist talks to the homeless, asks what they would ideally have in their home, and then sprays their dreams around them. It is a very small gesture, but nevertheless one that is rather beautiful.
This reflection is based on one in Christian Art, inspired by Skid Robot’s Street Art in Downtown L.A.
Worship through music: Beauty for Brokenness (God of the Poor) written (1993) and sung by Graham Kendrick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kVHKuldZyw
and while on the theme of harvest… popular in our schools this year… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rTXCnoLRzA
I wish you could hear our schools sing it! SOO much better than any YouTube recordings!!
God bless,
Jane 🙏
Thursday 19th September
Dear All,
Bible Reading: Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the nether world is devotion;
its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love,
nor floods sweep it away.
Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love,
he would be roundly mocked. Song of Songs 8:6-7
This Tuesday was the day when we remember Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1098 – 17 September 1179). She was a German Benedictine abbess and polymath active as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and as a medical writer, pastor and Christian. She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony, as well as the most recorded in modern history. From 1136 she was abbess of her convent in Disibodenberg, she founded two monasteries, wrote theological, botanical, and medicinal works, as well as letters, hymns, and antiphons for the liturgy. She also wrote poems, and supervised miniature illuminations in the Rupertsberg manuscript of her first work, Scivias. There are more surviving chants by Hildegard than by any other composer from the entire Middle Ages! She is one of the few known composers to have written both the music and the words. Amongst a myriad of other works she wrote the Ordo Virtutum, is an early example of liturgical drama and arguably the oldest surviving morality play.
For Reflection: three quotes from Hildegard of Bingen:
We cannot live in a world that is not our own, in a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.
Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars.
Gaze at the beauty of earth’s greenings.
Now, think.
What delight God gives to humankind
with all these things .
All nature is at the disposal of humankind.
We are to work with it. For
without we cannot survive.
Don't let yourself forget that God's grace rewards not only those who never slip, but also those who bend and fall. So sing! The song of rejoicing softens hard hearts. It makes tears of godly sorrow flow from them. Singing summons the Holy Spirit. Happy praises offered in simplicity and love lead the faithful to complete harmony, without discord. Don't stop singing.
Prayer:
O God, by whose grace your servant Hildegard, kindled with the Fire of your love, became a burning and shining light in your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Worship through music: Hildegard of Bingen: De Spiritu Sancto (Holy Spirit, The Quickener Of Life) sung by St. Stanislav Girls’ Choir of the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium led by conductor Helena Fojkar Zupančič. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYzPR0nwcmY
If you’d like to hear more: Hildegard von Bingen Celestial Hierarchy - Sequentia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sieHX3tPeRw&list=PLoGfYr_kmygAAaSm6Vk4-inILJf_wekdj
God Bless,
Jane 🙏