The Supremacy of Christ

On Tuesday I'll be leading the Bible study again. The group has one  member who is a very new Christian ( at the age of 82), and very recently baptised, so we will be looking at just one passage rather than taking a topic through the Bible so that he doesn't have to be embarassed when he is last to look up a passage or needs help. This time we will be looking at Colossians 1 v 15 onwards  - the supremacy of Christ . I t is one of those grand passages which sounds really well when read aloud,  but sometimes we need  to contemplate just a tiny section and take in what it really means for us.

Yesterday I was told quite vehermently that religion is the biggest cause of division in the world and how the person concerned wanted no more to do with it. And in one sense he is of course correct. The passage however takes a very opposite view  - "He is before all things , and in him all things hold together." It is about relationships and priorities. If there is no real relationship with God, but only 'religion' i.e practice which is just because of custom  - in this person's life because he was married to a Chrisitan and went along to church with her , but never really engaged with the experience or with God, then it is meaningless for him.

I wish it were otherwise and pray that one day it will be  

For those who do have the blessing of such a relationship we need to live out the truths in this short passage. We must believe that Christ is the image of the invisible God  - that is he who has the authority and power, that it is his blood that makes peace  - not in worldly terms , but peace with God, holding on to the good news of the gospel - the glorious riches of the mystery which is Christ in us.

The wind in our sails

The winds of grace are blowing, but it is you who must raise your sails.
~Rabindranath Tagore

BBC radio has been full of  Tagore recently, for it is 150 years since his birth. Also I am doing research on Brick Lane, the largest Bengali community outside Asia, so his name came up there too. As he was a Hindu perhaps his perception of grace was somewhat different from mine, but the imagery and concept are still valid. 

These words  made me search the  song book for a hymn that was elusive, on the edge of my memory.

Jesus be the centre, be my source , be my light , Jesus

Jesus, be the centre, be my hope, be my song, Jesus .

Be the fire in my heart , be the wind in these sails;

Be the reason that I live, Jesus.

Be my vision , be my  path, be my guide, Jesus.

It is a beautiful hymn, but it only covers half of what Tagore said.

We are asking the Christ of Colossians 1 v 15-20 to be so much , to do so much , for us, but the hymn writer  asks little of us, whereas Tagore says  that we must raise the sails. We must put the effort in, we must act in reponse to the wind, the breath of God in our lives.   We can feel the Spirit, we know when it is present, but too often perhaps we sit back and enjoy the experience –unlike the disciples in Acts 2 and on throughout the history of the Church. 

 Any  relationship must be two way if it is to work , and this applies just as much to our relationship with our God.

You could say the winds tell a boat where to go, although  the boatman does have some say in the matter if he puts the effort in  – and they give it the power needed – power that the boatman develops and  learns to use .  Where do we need to go next? What is the wind of God whispering in our inner being?    

Catholic communities

http://www.newsy.com/videos/catholics-push-to-allow-women-in-the-clergy/

Please note that, although I applaud this community, some of the accompanying commentary is inaccurate. I tsays for instance that women have always been denied the priesthood within Catholocism, but the opposite evidence is out there. Look it up on http://www.womenpriests.org/index.asp. The more Catholics are aware of the truth about this subject the more accepting they will be of a new way to use all the resources that God has given instead of only half of them  

Critical mass

John Huson , co-chair of the American Catholic Council,  said recently that the women's priests movements is growing  so big that at some point soon it will reach critical mass and then great gains will be made. Great gains for who? Certainly not just the individual women concerned , but for the cause of Christ in the world - even basic logic tells me that that must be in the will of God. I recently attended a beautiful service , an inclusive one - yes , all the priests were men, but on this occasion it didn't matter . We were one in Christ. But I know that next day each one of them would return to the tasks of trying to do too much with too few resources  in terms of their own time and energy. Some of them are looking after three parishes - that is three masses on a Sunday plus all the rest  - three lots of parish meetings, socials, accounts and all the rest. I have seen a priest near here so overwhelmed by sheer numbers that he was handing out the bread as fast as a magician deals cards., and that was midweek. Yes there are those who help  but the church is wasting so much of what God has given by banning women from so many roles within it.

"In each one  and through each one may your will be done. " - a family prayer from Coleg Trefeca.

Salvation

If I was not so sure of my salvation I would be confused when a priest announces 'Let us pray that partaking in this Eucharist will bring us closer to our salvation.' If the Eucharist is truly a memorial feast for Christians, which is my understanding,  then they are saved already. At some point in their lives  they have accepted Christ as their Saviour.  That's the theory. Yet in a recent conversation I was reminded of the young man, 3 weeks before  the date of his ordination, who interrupted the doctrine class  to ask 'Can I say something?' He went on to explain that, though for 5 generations, members of his family had entered the priesthood, and , though he had always gone to church, he believed that only on that particular  Tuesday morning had he come to salvation  - come to have a real, living faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Saviour. Others too admitted that they had only with maturity had come into a real relationship with the Saviour and accepted the truth of John 3 v 16 in a personal way.  You don't become a car by living in a garage  and nor do you become a Christian just by visiting a church.  

Lord may our true salvation come out of your sacrificial love for us and our response in faith.

I am no longer my own, but Yours;

Put me to what You will,

Rank with with whom You will;

Put me to doing

Put me to suffering ;

Let me be employed for You

Or laid aside for You;

Exalted forYou

Or brought low by You.

Let me be full, let me be empty;

Let me have all things,

Let me have nothing.

I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

You are mine, and I am Yours.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

Let it be ratifed in heaven.

Amen

I believe this prayer comes from the Methodist tradition, possibly even from John Wesley himself. It isn't an easy one to pray. I know which parts I stumble on and you will have yours. But God has done so much for us - how can we respond except in a whole hearted way.

On another subject  - I went to mass today , only to find, as did many others , that it had already taken place. The priest had had to go off to another diocise so moved the mass forward by 2 hours. It was announced in the parish newsletter , but only on Saturday evening. I'm not blaming the person concerned . These things happen and he has three parishes to cover. But this incident is  closely  linked to the lack of priests - the news letter from a nearby parish lists activities that are beingcancelled  - the reason given is 'due to the shortage of priests,' I heard an elderly priest  in his seventies on Saturday explaining where he now works   - covering an area that was previously 4 parishes and is now one. The seminary in Durham has closed. How much longer can this situation when there is an obvious solution?

Pilgrimage

Yesterday I had one of those 'Once in your life you must do this experiences. I went on pilgrimage to the shrine at Walsingham , Norfolk. People have been going to Walsingham to pray for 950 years. We were going in thanksgiving that my daughter is well again after her body decided to reject her liver back in February. Only now are the blood results coming back as normal. You may think  pilgrimage is something people did back in medieval times, but if you'd seen how crowded the chapels were, yet always with room for one more, you'd change your mind. All kinds of people - those who make the journey annually and first timers like the young mother of three, recently widowed, and yet happy to be with God's people.

I didn't really know what to expect , but even if I had known I got even more. The companions were great - especially those whose faith just shone out of them, not least  John , bishop of Hallam. I felt part of the great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews. There were lots of conversations, but also time for silence. Just before I left for home I attended mass. Several priests and a deacon were holding the chalices. I went towards one I've never seen before and, from his words, I know he somehow recognised the priest in me. It was an amazing moment of real blessing - I felt accepted and verifed. As Isaiah says 'No ear has heard, no eye has seen any god but you act like this.

Why the title? There is more than one answer. I was ordained as a Salvation Army officer many years ago. Now in what some would consider to be my later years I have, to my surprise, even shock, become involved in the Women Priests for the Catholic Church movement without ever intending to. You may not have even realised that there was such a movement, but belive me there is , and  the movement is growing under the direction of the Holy Spirit. there will be those who say 'No way' and they have a right to their opinions , but so do I and people like me. They will tell  you that women have never been priests and deacons  - but there have . See all the authentic documents at Women Priests for the Catholic Church.  Even the Portuguese CArdinal has come out recently and said that theologically there is nothing against it  - although to be fair to him he did add tha tnow was not the time. There are those who quote verses about women being silent in church  - verses many believe were inserted late in the second century. How do such critics cope with  other verses which state that in Christ there is neither male nor female? Criticism when it does come tends to be from those who would agree that male preists are called by God. All I know is that God called me too - and this  is something that others  can see in me.