St Wilfrid & Presentation, Haywards Heath Our Lady’s Birthday 8.9.21

 

WHY MAGNIFY MARY? We do so firstly because GOD HONOURS HER. How sad to see Christian disagreement about Mary! That despite Luke’s Gospel saying ‘all generations will call [Mary] blessed’ Luke 1:48. It's biblical to magnify Mary because God himself honoured her in making her Mother of his only Son Jesus Christ, God with us. Honour though is less than worship.

Secondly we magnify Mary because JESUS LOVES HER. You can’t love Jesus without loving his Mother. The idea that magnifying Mary diminishes Jesus misses the point. Jesus and Mary aren’t in competition. Jesus is our Saviour. Mary’s love and prayer draws attention to our Saviour as it did especially on Good Friday when Jesus said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” John 19:26-27.  She can be our Mother too! ‘Shall we not love thee, Mother dear, whom Jesus loved so well?’

Thirdly THE SPIRIT FILLS HER. Art over the centuries has attempted to capture the radiance of God-bearer Mary. As the Archangel promised; ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God’ Luke 1:35. It is a widely held view, expressed in the Church of England Prayer Book, that the Holy Spirit kept Mary ‘a pure Virgin’ freeing her from sin to be fitting instrument of bringing our Saviour to birth. There’s no better reason for magnifying Mary! 

Fourthly we magnify Mary because THE CREED ACCLAIMS HER. Week by week we honour Mary as we profess ‘the only Son of God… for us and for our salvation… came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man’. Salvation came into the world through the unique partnership of God and Mary. Though the choice of Mary is God’s and her cooperation is inspired by God it remains an astonishing truth that without that cooperation the cosmos would not be redeemed! ‘Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women!’.

A fifth quality of Mary is: HER PERFECT OBEDIENCE. In her ‘Yes’ to God given to Gabriel and confirmed in the hardships she bore Mary models to us an unselfish obedience. Simeon prophesied her heart would be ‘pierced with a sword’ in Luke 2:35 and we see this fulfilled in Mary’s presence at the foot of the Cross, obediently following her Son in his sufferings. She is model Christian, one with us, exemplifying obedience to God in sorrow and in joy. At Cana she gives advice to the servants we take for ourselves: ‘Do whatever [Jesus] tells you!’ John 2:5. 

Why magnify Mary? Sixthly, in my scheme, for HER PERFECT PRAYER. Who on earth or in heaven pleads for us as effectively as the Mother of Jesus? She above all knows what Jesus wants. ‘There is one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus’ we read in 1 Timothy 2:5. Jesus made clear Christians gain a share in that unique mediation so that ‘anything we ask in his name he will give to us’ John 14:13. The only qualification we have as his intercessors is close abiding in him, a quality few would question when it comes to Mary. Invoking her prayer undoubtedly furthers God’s will. 

We magnify Mary seventhly on account of HER PROPHETIC ROLE.  Over the Christian centuries apparitions of the Virgin Mary have been welcomed including the one at Walsingham to Richeldis in 1061. These apparitions have come with prophetic messages calling for repentance and deeper trust in God in the face of hardship and persecution as well as indifference towards him. Miracles associated with these apparitions amplify Mary’s thanksgiving to God recorded in our Gospel: ‘the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.’ Luke 1:49 On this commemoration of her birth Mary is our prophet inviting the Lord to do such great things among as we look forward with Fr Edward Pritchett to a new partnership of priests and people in our churches.

My last reason for magnifying Mary is SHE’S NORMAL.  It’s you and I who’re not as we’re meant to be, not Mary! If trust, obedience and Holy Spirit empowerment flow from Mary’s purity our own distrust, disobedience and spiritual apathy flow from our impurity. Visions of the Virgin Mary show her normality in an infectious display of warmth, joy and radiance. Such displays as at Walsingham draw pilgrims in their thousands to humble themselves before God whose norm is humility, as stated by Mary in today’s Gospel: ‘He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly’. Luke 1:52 

May such God-given humility, warmth, joy and radiance be ours on this feast of Mary, Mother of the Lord, and flow out from our Churches to the community we serve! 

St Mary the Virgin, Buxted Patronal 12.8.18 Why magnify Mary?

Having time for conversation in a queue can be rewarding. As Fr John and I were talking in a queue at the Cathedral for the Holy Oils before Easter we saw we’d a connection with my helping out at Father Wagner’s Church of St Bartholomew, Brighton and his manning Wagner’s former Retreat here at Buxted. I live in retirement nearby in Haywards Heath, former diocesan Mission & Renewal adviser, and, until last year, Rector of Horsted Keynes. Being Priest Associate of England’s Nazareth, the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham restored by our former Curate, Fr Hope Patten gives me another link.

So here I am, then, thanks to Fr John’s opportunism, privileged to speak almost a century on from Hope Patten’s Curacy at this ‘Nazareth of the South’. My subject on our Patronal Festival will be ‘Why magnify Mary?’ and what I share is built from an eight post blog I’m launching on Wednesday, the Festival of the Assumption. This is my salute for Our Lady’s Feast on social media, a daily posting of Marian images and commentary over the Octave on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Why magnify Mary?

We do so firstly because God honours her. How sad to see Christian disagreement about Mary! That despite today’s Gospel saying ‘all generations will call [Mary] blessed’ Luke 1:48. Its biblical to magnify Mary because God himself honoured her in making her Mother of his only Son Jesus Christ, God with us. Honour though is less than worship.

Secondly we magnify Mary because Jesus loves her. You can’t love Jesus without loving his Mother. The idea that magnifying Mary diminishes Jesus misses the point. Jesus and Mary aren’t in competition. Jesus is our Saviour. Mary’s love and prayer draws attention to our Saviour as it did especially on Good Friday when Jesus said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” John 19:26-27.  She can be our Mother too! ‘Shall we not love thee, Mother dear, whom Jesus loved so well?’

Thirdly The Spirit fills her Art over centuries attempts to capture the radiance of God-bearer Mary. As the Archangel promised; ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God’ Luke 1:35. It is a widely held view, expressed in the Church of England Prayer Book, that the Holy Spirit kept Mary ‘a pure Virgin’ freeing her from sin to be fitting instrument of bringing our Saviour to birth. There’s no better reason for magnifying Mary!

Fourthly we magnify Mary because The Creed acclaims her. Week by week we honour Mary as we profess ‘the only Son of God… for us and for our salvation… came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man’. Salvation came into the world through the unique partnership of God and Mary. Though the choice of Mary is God’s and her cooperation is inspired by God it remains an astonishing truth that without that cooperation the cosmos would not be redeemed! ‘Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women!’.

I was singing those words last Sunday in the Angelus after High Mass at St Bartholomew's before which I mentioned my visit to Buxted and that I’d bring good wishes from everyone there, which I do now - and hope I can reciprocate. Like you they go on pilgrimage to Walsingham, share a link with the Shrine restorer, Brighton bred Alfred Hope Patten and have pride in the Church of England’s catholic heritage.

We forget sometimes that the Catechism defines the Church of England as ‘the ancient church of this land, catholic and reformed’. When new priests are installed they swear to uphold the faith uniquely revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds, which faith the Church is called upon to proclaim afresh in each generation.

In sharing about the dignity of Mary I’m building on the work of recovery and renewal in full Christian faith Frs Wagner, Roe and Hope Patten were about, as well as Fr Lewis Hollowood whose funeral I conducted 11 years ago at St Richard, Haywards Heath where I still attend daily Eucharist.

I think of Fr Lewis, very brave in suffering a lot of isolation in his last years, as, I recall a fifth quality of Mary: Her perfect obedience In her ‘Yes’ to God given to Gabriel and confirmed in the hardships she bore Mary models to us an unselfish obedience. Simeon prophesied her heart would be ‘pierced with a sword’ in Luke 2:35 and we see this fulfilled in Mary’s presence at the foot of the Cross, obediently following her Son in his sufferings. She is model Christian, one with us, exemplifying obedience to God in sorrow and in joy. At Cana she gives advice to the servants we take for ourselves: ‘Do whatever [Jesus] tells you!’ John 2:5. Fr John was telling me about how St Mary’s is caught up into that obedience, into doing what Jesus tells you to do, through the funding that’s come from Tesco’s for the community garden helping us open the church every more to the community. May God who gave us that leading give us grace to complete it!

Why magnify Mary? Sixthly, in my scheme, for Her perfect prayer. Who on earth or in heaven pleads for us as effectively as the Mother of Jesus? She above all knows what Jesus wants. ‘There is one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus’ we read in 1 Timothy 2:5. Jesus made clear Christians gain a share in that unique mediation so that ‘anything we ask in his name he will give to us’ John 14:13. The only qualification we have as his intercessors is close abiding in him, a quality few would question of Mary. Invoking her prayer undoubtedly furthers God’s will. Our association with that prayer at Buxted and Hadlow Down over the last century has brought blessings to many. The power of prayer is a great resource for us - what better means to shake our community from indifference to God and awaken folk from spiritual apathy?

We magnify Mary in Buxted seventhly on account of Her prophetic role.  Over the Christian centuries apparitions of the Virgin Mary have been welcomed including the one at Walsingham to Richeldis in 1061. These apparitions have come with prophetic messages calling for repentance and deeper trust in God in the face of hardship and persecution as well as indifference towards him. Miracles associated with these apparitions amplify Mary’s thanksgiving to God recorded in our Gospel: ‘the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.’ Luke 1:49 On this Patronal Feast Mary is our prophet inviting the Lord to do such great things among us in the coming year as we recommit to sacrificial prayer and seek his possibilities for our villages.

My last reason for magnifying Mary is She’s normal.  It’s you and I who’re not as we’re meant to be, not Mary! If trust, obedience and Holy Spirit empowerment flow from Mary’s purity our own distrust, disobedience and spiritual apathy flow from our impurity. Visions of the Virgin Mary show her normality in an infectious display of warmth, joy and radiance. Such displays as at Walsingham draw pilgrims in their thousands to humble themselves before God whose norm is humility, as stated by Mary in today’s Gospel: ‘He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly’. Luke 1:52

May such God-given humility, warmth, joy and radiance be ours on this feast of Mary, Mother of the Lord, and flow out from this Church to the community we serve!

Blessed Virgin Mary (transferred) 18th August 2013

I used to smoke thirty cigarettes a day.

When I was ordained priest thirty six years ago I struggled to stop knowing it was a bad example to the kids in my youth group.

The parish had an annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. That was a great time of growth in fellowship with God and one another as we exchanged for a weekend our grimy mining village for the Norfolk countryside.

I know people from St Giles have been on pilgrimage to Walsingham and I wouldn’t hesitate to encourage anyone of you in that venture.

I will always remember kneeling in the Shrine before the statue of Our Lady and saying ‘You have Jesus ear more than I – I’m going to stop the cigarettes - will you ask him to take away the withdrawal symptoms? 

She did. He did and I’ve not smoked cigarettes even since.

It’s the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary and I want you to be more aware of the power of her intercession, which is why I tell my tale.

I need to go deeper for you. Why did I pray to Mary and not directly to Jesus, you might ask?

It’s all a matter of obedience.

What do I mean? I mean that I try and live by obedience as Christianity is about obedience, Jesus and Mary are both about obedience, and so is the Church.

I pray because I’ve been taught to pray, by my parents and by the Church. In that sense I don’t make up my own religion but go with the flow of things. At one point I came to recognise from holy people I knew that in praying as a Christian I never prayed alone and that the Mother of Jesus joins my prayers with all the Saints in heaven. I came to see the dead are not dead in Christianity but alive and present.

If a Christian believer is, as the letter to the Ephesians puts it, seated with Christ in the heavenly places we don’t sit alone. The saints are also seated with Christ and when we pray we take a seat with them – and right next to Christ in my mind’s eye, in the eye of the church through the centuries, is his Mother.

As the seventeenth century Anglican Bishop Thomas Ken wrote in his hymn on Mary’s entry to heaven:

Heaven with transcendent joys her entrance graced,

next to his throne her Son his Mother placed;

and here below, now she’s of heaven possess,

all generations are to call her blest.

This is a poetic image of what some call the Assumption, Mary lifted up, following Jesus, to share his throne. The image is true to the destiny of every believer which is, as St Paul teaches, to be seated with Christ in the heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6)

I believe there’s going to be plenty of space on that throne but if anyone gets to sit closest to Jesus it’ll be Mary.

When we love Jesus we’re drawn to love those who love him and his Mother is chief of them.

The Bible portrays her as humble yet confident in God, persevering in prayer, rejoicing in the Holy Spirit. Her Feast today is a reminder of the glory to come for all believers, of which she has privileged foretaste.

Mary herself prophesies her glory and ours in the passage we just sang and read called the Magnificat: My soul magnifies the Lord…for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed…he has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.

Christianity’s all a matter of obedience which we see both from Jesus and from his Mother, who did not fail to obey the invitation sent through Gabriel, the incident depicted in our Lady Chapel window.

Why did I pray to Mary and not directly to Jesus?

The answer is: its not either-or but both-and, although in my case its heavily weighted towards Jesus. It’s a bit like why do I ask people to pray for me, or why do we invite a group to pray for St Giles on a Saturday morning. Our prayer as individual Christians is interwoven both with earthly and heavenly collaborators. There are times, most times, when we pray directly to God and other times when we know we need to ask others to pray with us.

Why? So that we achieve an agreement in prayer that God has promised especially to honour. ‘Where two or three are agreed in my name it will be done for them’ Our Lord says in Matthew 18v19.

Incidentally I see my call to St Giles as linked to a post card Bishop Lindsay Urwin sent me 5 years ago from Walsingham where he is now Shrine Administrator. The card asked me to consider offering myself for service here. As I was thinking about this sermon Bishop Martin sent me a similar card with encouraging words after last month’s confirmation – here it is – and it of the same statue I knelt before 35 years ago when I stopped smoking.

The Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham is as old as this Church.

In 1054 the Lady Richeldis was invited by a vision of Mary to build a representation of the Holy House of Nazareth and invite pilgrims to  come and seek healing, as I did from my addiction. To go with that flow of pilgrims through the ages has always been part of my Christian obedience, as Walsingham is the main shrine to Mary in this land.  

Why are Shrines like Walsingham so important? Because God has caused them through his Saints and because they uphold the validity of prayer and are evidenced by the formation of holy people. Walsingham to me is associated with holiness and fun. My memories are of parishioners finding courage to making their first confession or to seek healing as well as of great evenings in the Bull pub by the Shrine.

Pilgrimage is about getting away from it all to find yourself, and any one of us here is free to make a pilgrimage, to book a few days at the Shrine where we all have a friend who’ll book us in, namely Bishop Lindsay Urwin formerly of Horsham. I was thinking about him when I noted that it is 10 years since he as our Bishop blessed our Aumbry to effect perpetual Reservation of the Blessed Sacrament in 2003 since when that flame of presence has burned day and night in St Giles.

Mary said he has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly. Yes the cult of the Virgin Mary has needed reformation at times but in love for Jesus we’ll always be drawn, however we express it to love those who love him of whom his Mother is chief.

Obedient, humble yet confident in God, persevering in prayer, rejoicing in the Holy Spirit she is, and her Feast today is, a reminder of the glory to come for all believers, of which she has privileged foretaste.

Shall we not love thee, Mother dear, whom Jesus loves so well? And to his glory year by year thy joy and honour tell?