Power of the cross

The recently consecrated bishop parked his car outside the old downtown church, paused for a moment as though reconsidering his next move, and then briskly climbed the four steps onto the simple but sunny verandah.

On a bench near the front door sat a grey haired priest, seemingly in silent meditation. The bishop approached him diffidently, carefully studying his heavily lined features, clasped hands and closed eyes as though establishing his identity.

Then he spoke softly: "Father, may I sit with you a while?" The old man looked up at the unfamiliar features and pectoral cross, his tired but keen eyes puzzled but polite. He smiled and motioned to the bishop to sit beside him.

"Forgive my intrusion," the bishop said. "But I have a story I must tell you." The old man nodded quietly and waited.

The bishop began: Quite some time ago now a small group of rather boisterous young louts, fresh from an afternoon's drinking session, were walking past a little church. One of them drew the attention of his companiopns to a notice on the door, listing times of confession.

Amid raucous laughter, he suggested: "Why don't we have a bit of fun. Let's make a list of the worst sins we can think of and then draw lots as to who should go in and confess them. It'll be a lark seeing how the poor old priest reacts."

"I've got a better plan," jeered a companion. "Seeing it's your bright idea, why don't you put your money where your mouth is. I bet you 20 dollars you don't have the guts to do it."

The young man tensed a bit but rose to the challenge. "Right," he said, "let's get working on the sin sheet."

It wasn't long before the young man emerged from the church beaming, brandishing a slip of paper. "Well Ive won the bet," he said. "Here's proof I've been to confession."

"What's that?" asked his companions. "It's my penance, handed to me by the priest himself." "What did he say?" the others asked. "He didn't say anything, just handed me the slip."

"Well," said one, "have you done your penance?" "Don't be silly. I don't go for that nonsense," he replied. 2Then I don't pay you your 20 dollars" said his challenger. No penance, no confession. He was adamant.

Seeing they were unyielding, the young man went back into the church, reading the priest's note as he went.

"Kneel before the crucifix at the altar and repeat ten tuimes: All this you did for me and I don't give a damn."

"That's no hassle." he thought, making his way to the chancel. He reached the crucifix and knelt down. His eyes took in the nailed hands and feet and the infinite sadness in the eyes. Then they moved to the text below: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do".

He began his penance: "All this you did for me and I don't give a damn. All this you did for me and I don't give a damn. All this you did for me and I don't..."

About half an hour later his friends, impatient, went in to the church to find out what he was up to. They found him at the altar rail sobbing profusely.

"Well, that's the story," said the bishop. "Except for two things. I was that young man and you were the priest."

Confession is good for the soul

As James Brewer lay in hospital after suffering a stroke, he knew he must 'cleanse his soul' if he was to meet his maker with a clear conscience.

The factory worker from Oklahoma had been arrested on suspicionof shooting dead a man in a jealous rage in 1977 but skipped bail. In a final effort to do the right thing, he had polic summoned to his bedside, where they claim he confessed.

But Mr Brewer, 58, made a full recovery and has now been charged with the murder of Jimmy Carroll, the neighbour he suspected of trying to seduce his wife, and faces the death penalty if convicted.

Mr Brewer, and his wife, Dorothy, have lived undetected in Oklahoma for 32 years after fleeing Tennessee where he is alleged to have shot his rival twice outside a petrol station.

The couple built a new life and became pillars of their local church before Mr Brewer fell ill. Their pastor, the Rev Lawrence Guest, said: 'They've been in their own prison for the last 30 years. I think they've done their time.'

Man of the World: Man of God

St Augustine of Hippo

St Augustine is one of our greatest saints. He is a model of conversion for Christians of all ages, but his witness speaks in a special way to men and women today.

Prior to his conversion, St Augustine was steeped in a lifestyle which did not bring him the kind of joy, peace and happiness he craved. Living with his mistress who bore him a child, he was in every sense ‘a man of the world’. Nevertheless, he had all his life been on a quest for truth and was deeply attracted to the person of Jesus. In the spiritual and literary masterpiece we know as his Confessions St Augustine writes that prior to his conversion he never stopped trying to find out ‘where we come from, where we are going and how we can find the true life’. His life is an eloquent witness to the patience of God and the ongoing (indeed life-long) process of conversion.

In his public preaching after his ordination as a priest St Augustine had to wrestle with translating his profound and complex thought into language that could be understood by ordinary people. This required a conversion, a change of thinking, which he undertook humbly and obediently. Indeed, as a bishop, having earlier in his life written copiously on many subjects of the day, he had to correct and change his precious works. Again this was a process of conversion which he embraced by God’s grace. For St Augustine the gospel of Christ is fundamentally rooted in knowing that God is love and that we are loved by God. Serving Christ then becomes essentially a question of returning God’s love through acts of charity, with special attention to the material and spiritual needs of others. The Church exists to educate people in love and bring them to spiritual maturity.

Pope Benedict wrote his doctoral thesis on St Augustine and said that for this great saint: ‘The church was not a simple organization of collective events nor, on the contrary, the sum of individuals who live a private religiosity but a community of people who believe in the God of Jesus Christ and who commit themselves to implement in the world the commandment of charity which he left them.’

‘Lord Jesus, I commit myself to a process of ongoing conversion.
May your love transform and melt away any hardness or resistance to your work in my life.’

Lent's final days

The entire week between Palm Sunday and Holy Saturday is included in Holy Week, and some church traditions have daily services during the week. However, usually only Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday are times of special observance in most churches.

From Monday to Thursday we can live our Lenten promises with particular intensity until on Thursday evening we begin the great Triduum.

Daily Eucharistic worship is common with more readings of the Passion narratives.

A good confession in Holy Week is recommended. The Sacrament of Reconciliation helps in closure of Lent and preparation for Easter. We are called in Christ to pass from our sins to new life.

His Forgiveness and mine

Luke 13.1-9
1There were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2He asked them, ‘Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? 3No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. 4Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them - do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.’
6Then he told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. 7So he said to the gardener, “See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?” 8He replied, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. 9If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.”’

Today's Dulverton Sermon

If we update the events used by the Galileans to elicit the response "Unless you repent you will all perish as they did" from the lips of Jesus twice within five verses we might think of the attack on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001 and the Asian Tsunami in 2005. They were similar tragedies on global scale, news of which travelled around the world in seconds.

Undoubtedly such events can be interpreted as punishment for sin. In today's gospel Jesus is rejecting that kind of thinking "Do you suppose these were greater sinners than others?" he asks and answers his own question with "They were not, I tell you". However he does urge all to take personal responsibility for their lives. He pointedly reminds us that we are all sinners in need of repentance and forgiveness in the context of God's love and mercy. It is a reminder to us all that Lent is a penitential season, that being reconciled to God and neighbour is the best preparation for Easter.

I started my ministry in South Wales in the late 50s and early 60s where I had a colleague who moved on to become Methodist minister at Aberfan where at 9.15 a.m. on Friday 21st October 1966 a waste tip slid down a mountain into the village and engulfing Pantglas Junior School. The children had just returned to their classes after assembly when the tide of waste hit them. One hundred and sixteen children dies, and five of their teachers. The following Sunday, 23rd October, a preacher (not my former colleague) stood up to preach in a local church and took as his text the verse of scripture I am highlighting from today's gospel. I am told that he claimed that what had happened to the children of Aberfan and their teachers was a warning from God, the same warning that he gave when the tower of Siloam collapsed "Unless you repent you will all perish as they did". It was a sermon in the direct evangelical tradition I have heard used at many a funeral where, in effect, the preacher says "It could be your turn next. It could happen today. Are you ready to meet your Maker?" It is not a preaching style with which I feel comfortable. It feels more like the abuse of a captive congregation than the seizing of an evangelistic opportunity. Nevertheless we cannot, and shouldn't want to, escape or avoid the form in which our Lord himself presented the gospel "Repent.The Kingdom of God is near." Least of all in Lent.

The Parish Lent Course, at St Martin's on Wednesday mornings and St Saviour's on Thursday mornings, has "Reconciliation" as its theme using the Parable of the Prodigal Son as its scriptural base. The details are on our notice board outside this chapel. Fr Tony, the parish priest, writes: "Christianity is unique among world faiths in giving such a high priority to reconciliation and forgiveness. Forgiveness is a central component of true love. The Cross of our Lord powerfully reminds us of this truth....Those who find it easiest to forgive are those who know themselves to have been forgiven....The Sacrament of Reconciliation provides a personal encounter with the risen Christ, who assures us of God's forgiveness and provides that new beginning and new life Easter promises".

Lord, against you, and you alone have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. You are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Cleanse me and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.

The New Confessional

At this year's Edinburgh fringe Oliver Mann created a play from blogs - ten to be exact. The result "Bloggers: Real Internet Diaries" is created from the blogs of a mother of three who discusses her nymphomania, Eva an agoraphobic who works for a sex chat line, a young man in the throes of a break up with his girl friend etc. The play's producer, Simon Raven, a blogger himself believes that blogging is a contemporary version of confession "Previously, one would confess one's sins to the local wiseman or priest. These days you confess to the community at large in the blogosphere". Feedback comes from other bloggers.

The differences, as well as the similarities, are important.
Christian confession is never simply person to person but also person to God. Repenting before the God who hears, loves, and forgives is all important. With blogging there is no joy of absolution. "Go in peace your sins are forgiven".