SERMON on the occasion of the Blessing of the Church at Walsingham, the Ordination of Fr. Philip Steer to the priesthood and Patrick Radley as Reader

Saturday, 1st October, 1988

We are so accustomed to seeing churches in our midst, that we forget what a church can mean. In countries of persecution, and indeed, even in our countries where the faith has grown cold, where indifference is rife, where so many believe in nothing, not even in man, in themselves, a church is a place of refuge. But a place of refuge not only for us who come to God; it is one of the few places where God has a home. In the vastness of the world there are places where God can say, «This place was made for Me to dwell in in a world from which I am being expelled, rejected. And it exists because the few have remained faithful, have continued to love Me so truly, in such an active way that they have given Me a home» .

When you come to this church, remember that it is a place where God has found a refuge: but it is also a place which, by His presence, is made as vast, as holy as eternity. And when you come into it, come silently, and listen to the depths of silence in which God dwells; and then, open your mind and hear, and listen to the word that resounds from this depth: the word of life, the word that can give life and can make us perceptive of eternity.

And today this church has been consecrated anew, in a new acu ui fait^/ (?) in a new act of love and devotion, and, shall I say – of compassion to the crucified Lord; because the world is still crucifying Him. But what is our place in it? Is it simply that we shall come here to take refuge, to flee? No! It is a place in which we must come to learn from the Lord Jesus Christ, God become man, what it means to love at the cost of one's life, to learn that no-one has a greater love than he or she who give their lives for their neighbour. And the neighbour – you remember the parable – is not the one who we like, or who is next to us in space; the neighbour is the one who needs us whether we like him or not, whether he hates us or not.

And so coming here, receive this message; and also remember that our vocation is to be sent into the world, not to be o f it, but i n it, to be His incarnate presence, to be the voice of Christ, to be the hands of Christ, to be the perceptive and broken heart of Christ, the mind so pure, so true. But if we want to be the incarnate presence of God in the world, we must remember what happens when God is incarnate; He said to John and to James, «Are you prepared to drink My cup, are you prepared to be merged into My ordeal, baptised in My baptism?» He says that to each of us when He sends us out into the world in His terms, the God of Heaven Who has come to be crucified. And because He is crucified, because He has become a victim, He can with all authority and power say «Forgive them, Father – they do not know what they are doing!». This is our vocation to proclaim the word of God, to be the convincing presence of God. This call we are to receive in this church and every church dedicated to God.

And the image of Transfiguration is so important to us; yes, like Peter, like John, like James, when we are here, we are the glory of God, we can see Him, Jesus of Nazareth glorified, shining with unearthly light; we could say, as they did, «Lord, it is good for us to stay here!». How good it would be never, never to lose this sense of perfect peace, and joy, and safety. But what did Christ do after the Transfiguration? He went down into the valley, and there He found not only turmoil – He found a child in need of help, a father in agony, people whose faith was not strong enough to heal and to save. This is where He calls us to come with Him: into the world around us, to save, to heal, to serve, to be His presence.

And today one of you has undertaken to be a servant, a servant on Christ's terms, one who will be prepared to drink His cup and to be merged in His ordeal, together with Christ to carry on his frail human shoulders, your suffering, your sins in confession, your doubts, your needs. He cannot do this by his strength, there is no human strength that can face it, but has not the Lord said, «My grace deploys itself in weakness»? Did not Paul who knew how totally unable he was to fulfil his mission rejoice in this weakness knowing that all things become possible in the power of Christ who sustains us?

But do not leave Philip alone; protect him, support him, stand by him – and by Philippa and by the children; because it is a hard thing to carry other people's burdens, but it is a harder thing for a wife to see her husband loaded with the pain, the agony, distress and doubt, and sin of others. Support them because they are one person, and his priesthood is her priesthood.

Today we have also dedicated Patrick to the service of God in a new way, for him to be in the services, as the book explains, an image of St. John the Baptist, the one who goes ahead of the Gospel, who gives a sign to the people for them to recognise that He Who comes after him is greater than he, and that he must diminish for all eyes to be only on the one Who comes.

Fr. David has asked me to give him my blessing to consecrate his live more completely to his monastic profession and to icon-painting, which is the preaching of the Gospel, the proclamation of the truth of God in line and colour, accessible to the illiterate to those who cannot yet hear the Word. May his new life grow ever deeper, ever richer. Of course, he is not abandoning the Parish, he is at the heart of it, but now it will be Fr. Philip who will be responsible for the Parish, and it is for you to make his path smooth. Surround them both, and those who are around them, with understanding love; grow into oneness until the day comes when both will stand before God, and will be able to say «Lord, Here am I, and the children whom Thou hast granted me» – and rejoice. Amen.

Announcement made at the Cathedral on Sunday, 2nd October

Yesterday in Walsingham I ordained to the priesthood our deacon Philip, Father David has asked me to allow him to relinquish his responsibility for the parish, to go more completely into his monastic life, and consecrate all his time to praying and painting icons. Fr. Philip is now the Rector, the Vicar of the Parish of Walsingham. I would like you to pray for him. He celebrated the Liturgy today for the first time as a priest. I would like you also to remember his wife, because the priesthood of a husband reflects not only gloriously in the life of his wife – and I am not speaking of any outer glory, but of a true participation of the wife in the priesthood of her husband; but also there is a dark side to it. The dark side is that two persons who shared everything, were totally open to one another, who could talk about everything now will have a problem to surmount, because Fr. Philip will have a whole realm which will be closed to his wife. He will not be able to share with her what he hears in confession, he will not be able to share with her what he will hear in confidential conversation; and therefore, all her faith in him, all her trust, all their mutual oneness will be needed for her to face a realm in which God alone and her husband can share. Think of her, and what it means in the life of each of us, whether we are married or whether we are friends, to know that there is something which is beyond sharing. There is pain, but there is also an incredibly deep growth in mutual trust, in surrender to God, in oneness ... (Mnogaya leta!)