Fr Richard's Homily for the Feast of the Dedication of the Cathedral
Homily: Religion over retail
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Dedication of our
Cathedral - the mother Church of the Diocese. We look to St Mary’s as the point
of unity since it is the Bishop’s Church, the place of his cathedra, the seat
of his authority from where he shepherds his flock.
All parish churches in the Diocese are in unity with the
Cathedral church. The Feast of its Dedication draws our attention to the
importance and sacredness of our churches. Each of them is the house of God.
Sadly, as we know, our churches are closed at the moment. This
is a source of great pain. We know that civil authorities and bishops have a responsibility
to exercise the virtue of prudence in their making of tough decisions based on
sound advice, particularly when protection of people’s health is of significant
concern. In the last few days, however, there has been a noticeable move both
by the laity and bishops to now call for churches to reopen, even if just for
private prayer. Indeed, as you may have heard, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, chair
of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, was due to have a meeting with
government officials today to discuss this possibility of opening churches for
individual visits. He makes clear the bishops have drawn up a strategy for
proper safety and sanitisation measures to be in place.
Currently, churches are included in the last stage of the Government’s
plan to lift “lockdown”, meaning that they won’t open until July 4 at the very earliest.
As the Bishops’ Conference statement rightly expressed the other day: “The
timing and the manner of the opening of churches touches profound sensitivities
and spiritual needs. The Government’s document and statements fail to recognise
this.”
‘Phase 3’ of the Government’s plan ranks churches in the
same category as beauty salons, pubs and cinemas. This category is even lower
than non-essential retail outlets opening – sports shops and the like. On this Feast of
the Dedication of our Cathedral let us be very clear in our message to society –
going to the house of God is not on a par with getting your nails done
or going for a pint. It’s not less important than buying a new pair of
trainers. The church, rather, is the place of salvation where the Gospel is proclaimed
and the saving mysteries of our redemption are celebrated. Whatever the prudential
judgments are that need to be made about churches and, later down the line,
public worship – they should not be based on this present ranking system.
It’s a sad reality that our culture sees retail and religion
as synonymous. Jesus the Gospel chosen for today’s feast couldn’t be clearer on
this point. Our Lord drove the money changers out of the Temple, reminding them to treat it for what it is: his Father’s house. Christ shows us that worship of God is more important than shopping.
Churches are God’s dwelling place. They are indeed the most
sublime and important places on the face of the earth. There, the Blessed Sacrament,
Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, truly resides in the tabernacle. As is alluded
to in our reading from the Book of the Apocalypse, the church is the place
where heaven meets earth. It’s the place of our encounter with Christ and his
Body, the Church. It’s the place of prayer, adoration and contemplation of God.
Quite simply – it’s the refuge for all, a place to encounter love Himself.
On this Feast, we give thanks to Almighty God for our Cathedral
and our churches. We pray for Bishop Terry. We pray for positive news to come from today’s meeting
between the Cardinal and Government. We pray that our churches may be safely
opened again soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment