Good Day my Friends,
Thank you for coming back for part 2.
Firstly let me apologise for my Wednesday video. I didn’t check my memory banks, and of course it was not Andrew Lloyd Weber who wrote Godspell, and thus ‘Day by Day’, but it was Stephen Schwartz. 1971. So, a reminder never to take anything I say for granted.
On Tuesday I told you a little of the story of my road to Ordination, and apologies if it seemed all about me.
Today I want to try and unpack a little of what a priest is.
Of course you all know, but sometimes it is good to reflect on these things. Often non church friends think I do very different things than I actually do.
In the Order of Service for the Ordination of Priests the Bishop says:
Priests are called to be servants and shepherds among the people to whom they are sent. With their Bishop and fellow-ministers, they are to proclaim the word of the Lord and to watch for the signs of God’s new creation. They are to be messengers, watchmen and stewards of the Lord; they are to teach and to admonish, to feed and provide for his family, to search for his children in the wilderness of this world’s temptations, and to guide them through its confusions, that they may be saved through Christ for ever. Formed by the word, they are to call their hearers to repentance and to declare in Christ’s name the absolution and forgiveness of their sins.
With all God’s people, they are to tell the story of God’s love. They are to baptize new disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to walk with them in the way of Christ, nurturing them in the faith. They are to unfold the Scriptures, to preach the word in season and out of season, and to declare the mighty acts of God. They are to preside at the Lord’s table and lead his people in worship, offering with them a spiritual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. They are to bless the people in God’s name. They are to resist evil, support the weak, defend the poor, and intercede for all in need. They are to minister to the sick and prepare the dying for their death. Guided by the Spirit, they are to discern and foster the gifts of all God’s people, that the whole Church may be built up in unity and faith.
It is very clear this is not about anyone’s individual skills, abilities (thank God) or personality, but rather it is to do with exercising the authority with which we are called to act.
The opening sentence sets it our. We are called to be servants and shepherds, not masters with followers. We minister where we are sent, not where we choose to go.
Our role is to proclaim the word of God, not our own ideas or particular theory or political (with both a big and small p) stance. It is not about what we think, it is about what Scripture teaches us.
We are called to watch for signs of growth, or of God’s New creation. It is to do with what God does, not what we do. Like we learned on Sunday, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.
We a messengers, and I like that, because it reminds me of angels, but we never forget whose message it is.
We are to teach, and again I love that! I enjoy it too, because I had such great teachers throughout my life. But we are also to admonish! I am not so good at that, as for me, even though we base our thinking on the teaching of Jesus, I find it hard to see things in black and white. There is always another side to every story and every action. I just try to take us back to the Gospels.
I love the bit about searching for God’s children in the wilderness of the temptations of the world. This is why I like so many of my fellow clergy spend so much of our time not just with our congregations.
Guiding folk through their confusions- it is such a lovely thought. But so many times my help has just added another layer of confusion! Thankfully we are surrounded with people with proper wisdom.
But then comes what I think of as the deeply Priestly bits. To call folk to repentance and declare in Christ’s name the absolution and forgiveness of their sins.
This is so much not about the person of the priest. It is not Marcus who forgives or absolves, it is not Jim who takes that sin away. It is not Rodney who has the ability to make you clean. It is The Priest, Called by God, Ordained by the Bishop, and given authority to speak, proclaim, absolve and forgive in the name of Christ. This is about big stuff, and I want to really stress that this is never about us. It is all about Jesus.
The next line reminds us that we are doing all of this in conjunction with our church members – With all God’s people they are to tell the story of God’s love. So that includes you my friends. Together we find ways to tell the Story f God’s love.
We baptize, and walk alongside those on their spiritual journey, and again this is something we all share in, and it is such a joy. The high points in any priest’s life are when people come to faith. We are immensely blessed whenever it happens.
More preaching and teaching, which means more joy. But then the really big stuff.
The priest is called to preside at the Lord’s Table. To Celebrate the Eucharist.
Christians have found no better thing to do in 2000 years, than to obey what Jesus commanded us to do, and break bread together.
This sacrament of the Eucharist, and the celebration of it is, I believe about the most important thing we do. It is that incredible moment when, because of the authority invested in us, and not remotely because of us personally, we do this thing, so that the faithful can recognise Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
That is why we wear vestments. To cloak our personality. It is not Marcus, or Jim or Rodney who Consecrates the Bread and Wine. It is the Priest who speaks in the name of Christ.
On the day of my Ordination to the priesthood, I was given authority to Celebrate the Eucharist, and so, on that very same day I celebrated my First Mass. It is what most priests do. It is glorious, and so humbling because all eyes are on you – but it is not about you. I have to say though, that all clergy I know feel very blessed having been given this authority.
The next thing we are permitted to do is to Bless! Up until then we are not allowed to hear confession, we are not allowed to Celebrate the Eucharist, and we are not allowed to Bless – which means we could not take weddings, because they include a Blessing!
So the other beautiful thing that happens at a First Mass, is that the newly ordained priest, often individually, Blesses the members of his or her congregation.
This is such an honour for the priest, and again is a humbling experience as we remind ourselves it is conferring God’s Blessing, not our own!
At the moment, because of Covid restrictions, we are not allowed to Lay Hands on folk as we impart a Blessing. I am having an Anniversary Celebration of the Eucharist on June 29th at 5pm at La Fustera, and of course you are very welcome to attend. I had hoped to be able to individually Bless each and every one of you, but that is not currently possible – but I have written a Special Blessing to impart to you all in one go. I am really looking forward to that.
The Priest is also commanded to resist evil, support the week, defend the poor and intercede for all. Again all of that is not confined to the clergy, but we are called to say our prayers. It is what we do, and our ministry would fall apart if we didn’t base it and ground it in prayer.
The final section has two major points. We prepare the dying for that moment when they wing their way to heaven. This is about the Glory of God, and our worship and ministry help us give a foretaste of the kingdom. But we are also called to discern and foster gifts that the Kingdom may grow, and that is the point of my last two letters.
there may be folk who read these, or there may be people who you know, who you feel may have a calling to some kind of ministry. Be it full time within the church, or some vocation elsewhere. It is our shared role to help discern and foster the God given gifts that people have, because often people can not see them in themselves.
I would never have got ordained if people I trusted hadn’t said to me ‘Are you going to be ordained?’ It was way to scary an idea for me to think of for myself.
So, if there is someone who you feel is called to exercise some sort of ministry, or some particular vocation, there is no better time than now to share your thoughts with them.
Bless you, Bless you, Bless you
Fr Marcus
PS – I shall not be producing letters or video this coming week, but will resume the week after.