Today, on the feast of St. Michael and All Angels, we read one of the two passages in the Bible that mentions St. Michael and some angels. He is in heaven, at war with the dragon, and he fights with his angels. But this isn’t the feast of St. Michael and Some Angels, or St. Michael and His Angels. It is the feast of St. Michael and All Angels. The dragon has his angels too. Are we celebrating those as well?
The first thing that I notice about The Outraged Christ is that it is made of wood.
A human body portrayed with wood in such a raw manner puts me in mind of the creation narrative in Genesis 1.
The thing about temptation is: it’s quite tempting.
Which actually, given the way I tend to think about temptation, is a bit of a surprise.
This year, the RNLI celebrates its bicentenary. Since its formation, the charity has saved over 144,000 lives at sea. In 2022, they saved 389. Still, millennia after the the composition of today’s Bible readings, and after our recent eras of massive growth in maritime technology, and health and safety, the sea is a mighty adversary to be feared. An agent of chaos which cares not as it indiscriminately claims the lives of sailors, refugees, and holidaymakers.
When I’m at weddings, I often find myself sat with a critical eye.
I think to myself, “Oh, I wouldn’t dress the bridesmaids like that.
It was a hot summer’s day back in 2018. An empty water bottle sat on the desk in front of me, its contents were now dripping down my brow and back as sweat.
Tonight, we are gathered in order to remember. We are gathered to remember 390 people whom we know to have died this year, and countless others who have suffered and died at the hands of violent individuals and cultures. We remember them tonight in a mass, the very centre of memory in our Christian tradition, a people who remember Jesus who suffered, died, and rose again.
The Hebrew word for saint is קדש, in Greek, ἁγιος, and in Latin sanctus. When these words appear in the Bible we usually translate them “holy”, so a saint is really just a holy person.
I was very pleased when Charlie picked the second service of Thomas the Apostle, not least because the gospel reading features my name, but because it’s a story that I know very well and one that’s important to me. Indeed, this is the story that my mother named me after, so I’m really pleased to get to share with you some of the content of this wonderful story.
Last night, I was speaking to my friend about this sermon and about the ascension, and she told me that it made her think of fireworks. A crowd gathers to watch as Christ ascends until he is hidden from view, and they all remain staring at the sky, waiting for that spectacular moment where sound and light pierce the darkness.