Unless a grain of wheat ...

Reflection on the Sunday Gospel for Lent Five

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain.

There is something so remarkable, I think, at the way Easter falls at this time of year, when we move from the darkness of winter to the brightness of spring.

Because let’s face it, once the beauty of the snow has passed, winter is a dour and dark and cheerless time. It is cold and wet. The hours of daylight are short, and there are many days which are overcast and gloomy. The trees stand bare and lifeless. And the mood of the earth is one that we too might share. February is a miserable time.

And then March moves into April. Still cold, and often windy, the sun may shine. In the midst of showers there is bright sunlight. Shoots emerge from the ground. Leaves form on the trees, and the grayscale around us becomes punctuated with colour: a little green, the yellow of daffodils, the pinks of early blossoms.

As, during Lent, we do without this or that, the loss of colour and warmth which has been forced upon us begins to draw back. Sunlight, warmth, colour, and the freshness of the spring breezes.

Here in nature - even in the nature of our lit streets and our centrally heated homes - here in nature is a vivid parable of the mystery of our faith.

Drabness gives way to colour, darkness recedes in the sunlight, sorrow surrenders to joy and death gives way to life.

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain, but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.

There is no gain without pain. We must travel through darkness to light, through sacrifice to reward. We must give in order to receive. We must surrender our lives in order to gain them.

In this final fortnight of Lent - what used to be called Passiontide - this is the overwhelming message, written into creation itself, fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Christ and shared in our own lives: it is death which leads to fulness of life, and as we share in His death, so He gives us His life.

The Ten Commandments

Homily/Sermon for Lent 3 - March 15th

This Sunday, the first reading is of the Ten Commandments. How well do you know them?

Here’s a good quiz for the family. Give each person a piece of paper, and ask them to write down the Ten Commandments. See who can get all ten. I bet some of them put down ‘Love your neighbour’ which isn’t one of then. And I also bet that few of them put down about covetting - and might not even know what the word means (it means jealously wanting to have what others have, sort of keeping up with the Jones’. In many ways our society is built on covetousness).

Now we can deplore the fact that few know the Ten Commandments off by heart, and still fewer understand them, and yes, there is a point to be made, but the reciting of words is not quite the same as living them. It’s not that the words aren’t important, of course they are, but far more important than to know the words by heart is to live them from the heart.

It is one thing to know it is wrong to tell a lie - it is quite another to be outraged by the temptation to benefit from a convenient untruth.

It is one thing to know it is wrong to steal - but it is another to turn our backs on the odd scam or bargain from a questionable source.

It is one thing to know that we should keep each Sunday by going to mass - yet another to rejoice in the celebration of our faith.

Now then, when people hear the story which is Sunday's Gospel reading - the story of Jesus clearly angry, entering the temple, overturning the money changers’ tables and driving them out with a whip - some ask how can this be? Isn't it a sin to be angry?

Well anger itself is not mentioned in the Ten Commandments. And in any case, Jesus’ apparent anger is a zeal for truth, a thirst for honest dealing and a yearning for a faith that comes from the heart - not words only, but words that are expressed in deeds.

My latest brush with the media

My occasional words in support of our local pub, have led me to set up a petition on the 10 Downing Street web site. I did so really just as a local citizen, pub customer, concerned voter. But of course, the interesting bit of the story is that I am a Catholic priest. Ah!

Here below is the article as it appeared in the Sentinel - the original article, with comments, can be seen here. And oh yes - the petition (which you can sign if you are a UK citizen) is here.

ALMOST 200 people have joined a Roman Catholic priest's campaign to save a city centre pub from the bulldozers.
Father Peter Weatherby has launched a petition on the 10 Downing Street website which calls on the Government to step in and rescue Hanley's Coachmakers Arms.
After being accepted by moderators, it went online on Monday and has so far attracted almost 200 signatures.
He and other campaigners want the Secretary of State to call in Stoke-on-Trent City Council's decision to grant outline planning permission for a new £250 million shopping centre.
Last month, the authority's development control committee voted unanimously to approve Realis Estates (Stoke) Ltd's initial bid to create a new East-West centre – subject to the matter not being called in by the Secretary of State.
Click here!
But Coachmakers Arms campaigners are unhappy that only five committee members took part in the vote and point out that there are already a number of vacant shopping units in the city centre.
They agree that there is broad approval for regeneration in the area, but want the Victorian pub to be included on the plans.
But Realis has maintained throughout that the retention of the pub is impossible for commercial and design reasons.
The petition reads: "We, the undersigned, petition the Prime Minister to call in the plans for development of the East-West Centre in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, in view of the overwhelming public opposition to demolition of the Coachmakers Arms as part of these plans."
Last month Father Weatherby, priest at nearby Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Eastwood Place, used The Sentinel's Yours Faithfully column to explain why he would not be giving up the Coachmakers for Lent.
He said it was because he wanted to celebrate the pub's history, warm welcome and range of beers while he still had the chance.
Father Weatherby said there was overwhelming support for regeneration.
But he added that a substantial number of people opposed to the demolition of the award-winning pub felt aggrieved by the way the planning process worked.
He said: "A lot of the city is very ugly, and we all know that.
"But this is worth preserving because it is providing a local facility for people to meet and sit and talk.
"There is never any trouble and there is responsible drinking.
"It is a place where people gather and form friendships and these type of pubs are going."
The petition runs for a year and, if it attracts more than 200 signatures, it will be passed to officials working for the Prime Minister or to the relevant Government department for a response.
Every person who 'signs' the online petition will then be sent an email detailing the Government's response to the issues raised.
Coachmakers licensee Jason Barlow said the petition was the latest stage in the battle to keep the pub open and said it was to be backed by the Campaign for Real Ale and trade publications.
He said: "We want to overwhelm them with so many names that the Government has to say 'We are going to have to take a look at this'.
"We have decided to do it now because every political eye in the country is focused on Stoke-on-Trent at the moment."
Mr Barlow said if the decision were called in, the pub would consider handing over its other petition, which has been gathering signatures for several months and currently has around 11,000 names.
Mr Barlow said several people had already indicated they would like to sign, but did not have email accounts or access to the internet, so he will be setting up a computer at the pub in the next few days and will assist anyone wanting to have their say in setting up an email address.
ALMOST 200 people have joined a Roman Catholic priest's campaign to save a city centre pub from the bulldozers.
Father Peter Weatherby has launched a petition on the 10 Downing Street website which calls on the Government to step in and rescue Hanley's Coachmakers Arms.
After being accepted by moderators, it went online on Monday and has so far attracted almost 200 signatures.
He and other campaigners want the Secretary of State to call in Stoke-on-Trent City Council's decision to grant outline planning permission for a new £250 million shopping centre.
Last month, the authority's development control committee voted unanimously to approve Realis Estates (Stoke) Ltd's initial bid to create a new East-West centre – subject to the matter not being called in by the Secretary of State.
Click here!
But Coachmakers Arms campaigners are unhappy that only five committee members took part in the vote and point out that there are already a number of vacant shopping units in the city centre.
They agree that there is broad approval for regeneration in the area, but want the Victorian pub to be included on the plans.
But Realis has maintained throughout that the retention of the pub is impossible for commercial and design reasons.
The petition reads: "We, the undersigned, petition the Prime Minister to call in the plans for development of the East-West Centre in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, in view of the overwhelming public opposition to demolition of the Coachmakers Arms as part of these plans."
Last month Father Weatherby, priest at nearby Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Eastwood Place, used The Sentinel's Yours Faithfully column to explain why he would not be giving up the Coachmakers for Lent.
He said it was because he wanted to celebrate the pub's history, warm welcome and range of beers while he still had the chance.
Father Weatherby said there was overwhelming support for regeneration.
But he added that a substantial number of people opposed to the demolition of the award-winning pub felt aggrieved by the way the planning process worked.
He said: "A lot of the city is very ugly, and we all know that.
"But this is worth preserving because it is providing a local facility for people to meet and sit and talk.
"There is never any trouble and there is responsible drinking.
"It is a place where people gather and form friendships and these type of pubs are going."
The petition runs for a year and, if it attracts more than 200 signatures, it will be passed to officials working for the Prime Minister or to the relevant Government department for a response.
Every person who 'signs' the online petition will then be sent an email detailing the Government's response to the issues raised.
Coachmakers licensee Jason Barlow said the petition was the latest stage in the battle to keep the pub open and said it was to be backed by the Campaign for Real Ale and trade publications.
He said: "We want to overwhelm them with so many names that the Government has to say 'We are going to have to take a look at this'.
"We have decided to do it now because every political eye in the country is focused on Stoke-on-Trent at the moment."
Mr Barlow said if the decision were called in, the pub would consider handing over its other petition, which has been gathering signatures for several months and currently has around 11,000 names.
Mr Barlow said several people had already indicated they would like to sign, but did not have email accounts or access to the internet, so he will be setting up a computer at the pub in the next few days and will assist anyone wanting to have their say in setting up an email address.

The article in the paper had a large picture of me outside the pub - the smaller version below shows my empty glass but not the sign over the door:

My daughter said "Dad - you look so miserable!"

Ah well - while others agonise over world peace or the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, here's me in some brief March sunshine stood outside the pub.

A secret scandal

It seems that Local Government in Stoke-on-Trent is in total freefall.

I've not got time to put all the links in here to the stories I'll mention, but they can be found on the net and in the local press - though they have received little coverage nationally.

First, the education authority has been taken out of control of the council and is in special measures, mainly because of deep seated weaknesses in children's services. The proposals of outside agents Serco are meeting with much controversy in the city, and reorganisation of the city's schools is first on, then off, and under review again.

Secondly, an independent body has found the city council fundamentally unfit for purpose, and has proposed a radical reshaping of the council, reducing it from 60 members to 20, which would mean one councillor per ward. The councillors have rejected these proposals (hardly surprising, as at least 40 of them will lose their seats). This means that the changes are delayed, and the elected members have in effect extended their terms. We now wait for the government overrule the council and to impose the changes.

Thirdly, the electorate - always ready to vote against the status quo - voted to remove the elected mayoralty. It will be replaced in May by a leader elected by councillors, and with no clear candidate there is the real possibility that the council could have a leader from the BNP.

Fourthly - and fifthly - arrests have taken place of the leader of the conservative group and of the elected mayor over allegations of corruption. Details are thin, but with many millions of pounds of regeneration funds being poured into the city it is not hard to guess that the allegations may concern the awarding of contracts or favouring of developers or something along those lines. Of course these are currently only allegations - but in how many other parts of the country have the elected mayor and the leader of a party group on the council been arrested and are currently out on bail?

Yet to my astonishment there seems to be no mention in the National News and no one seems to be linking these sad instances of disfunction together ...

... it all makes my little bleating about the Coachmakers seem small beer (excuse the expression) but I think it is symptomatic of this greater malaise of a local government which is ... as we watch ... just falling apart.

Will anyone do anything about this? Can anyone? Who cares about Stoke-on-Trent?

Sacrifice and Glory (Homily for Lent 2)

Last week it was Noah’s Ark, and this week the story of the sacrifice of Isaac. Or not so much the sacrifice, but the attempted sacrifice. The Old Testament can certainly challenge our understanding!

On the face of it, this is a horrific story. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son, and Abraham, out of blind faith, almost carries out the order. Only at the last minute does he hold his hand. Is this the sort of thing God does? It is a challenge to our understanding.

But then we must look at two stories together.

The Gospel reading tells us of another mountain. And another Son. And this time the Father is God himself. On the first mountain faith is clear, but the will of God is not. On the second mountain the voice of God speaks clearly and his Glory is revealed.

In the first reading Abraham is blessed not because of the action he did not carry out, but because of his utter devotion to God. In the ancient world, even more than today, family was everything. The clan, kith and kin, the succession, this was at the heart of the fabric of society. Abraham realised that faith in God is greater even than this.

And in the Gospel we hear that the sacrifice is not the sacrifice of an unwilling son, but the gift of God himself, in the Son. Just as in the Old Testament, God replaces the brutality of human sacrifice with the sacrifice of a Ram, so in Christ it is the Lamb of God the takes our sins upon himself.

Sacrifice is, at the end of it all, not about violence, but about love. It is not about taking a life, but about giving life. It is not about the body of an unwilling innocent, but about the sharing in the Body of Christ. It is not about blind faith, but about the hope of resurrection, the resurrection of the One who is transfigured, clearly seen in all his glory.