Homilies by Revd George Kingsnorth (Deacon)

Homily for Sunday 2nd October 2022

Homily27th Sunday in Ordinary Time2nd October 2022Creative people are always getting a flood of ideas. Things they can do and make that will brighten people’s lives or pass on a message or philosophy through their art. A lot of artists and writers get stuck in their own procrastination. They can see what it is they are trying to do as if it was there in front of them. Then another idea comes, and another, and before long the first concept is lost in the mists of time. “Dear Lord, how long must I wait to see these things come together?” cries the frustrated painter.When I was teaching it was a struggle to get my students to write down their visions. “Keep a journal,” I would tell them. “Scribble down your ideas, get them down onto paper, and then you have a record you can go back to, and be inspired at a later date.”That’s what the Lord is saying in the first reading. If you can imagine what you want, and can see it in your mind’s eyes, as if it is really there in front of you, then it will become a reality. Once it is there, on paper it can be developed. As a filmmaker, most of my projects have many scenes. If I get lost in the details too early on everything can fall to pieces. Some projects take years to come to fruition. I have been working on one project for nearly 14 years. In the early days, the film seemed eager to come to fulfilment. But at other times, I could not even open the project file to look at it. Yet, I have talked about this film for years. I have used it as an exercise in editing techniques. And it keeps getting nurtured along. It will come in the fullness of time. I just have to wait and be patient. At times I have flagged. My soul wasn’t in the right place. I got disheartened but then I would get a flurry of ideas and there would be a new spurt of work. I would discover new techniques to realise my vision that was not there when I started.In the second letter to Timothy, St Paul encourages him to keep faithful and not to be ashamed of witnessing about Christ Jesus. We have been entrusted to look after a precious thing, and the Holy Spirit will help us to guard it, as he lives within us. In the Gospel, the apostles asked Jesus to increase their faith. There are many projects that we find ourselves working on, and in this day and age we can often be discouraged and distracted by what the world throws at us, which can sometimes be used to make us feel that our own project is not worthy enough. Yet, if we have been inspired by the Holy Spirit to come up with the vision in the first place, then it is our duty as a servant of Christ to see it through and make it happen. Sometimes, we have to be nudged many times to get the project done. We are being asked to get our soul in the right place to fulfil our purpose. The one Jesus sent us here to do. We may not fully understand what it is or why, but we should trust in the vision and dreams we are given that inspire us. The outcome may be slow, but the Lord tells us: “come it will, without fail”. It may even take a lifetime. It will probably take a lot of hard effort, but we are told that the vision is for its own time.This project, inspired by the Holy Spirit, will require discipline, self-control and love, but it is a gift from God, and we should not be timid in bringing it to fruition. Especially if through its realisation it can be a witness to our Lord. My college diploma film had a rock man, a magistrate, and parcel wrapping that turned into a dove. I had been inspired by the science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick. When the assessor saw the film, he asked me if I was aware of all the symbolisms? I wasn’t. So, he revealed to me how he saw the rock-man as St Peter, the magistrate as God the Father and the wrapper as the Holy Spirit. I had had the vision, but someone else had to interpret it for me so I could understand. All we have to do is listen to what our Lord is calling us to do and follow it through, as it is our duty to do so. In this way, we will see many miracles and be surprised at how others are brought to see Our Lord Jesus from the gifts that we produce. Amen.

Homily for Sunday 25th September 2022

Homily26th Sunday in Ordinary Time25th September 2022If we consider the words of the first reading, you might think Amos was talking about our time. We see television shows where supposedly ordinary people have accumulated riches one way or another and can now buy homes that are fit for a king, maybe ten times more expensive than what most folk can buy locally. It all seems like a dream. Or young ones wanting to find love on an island, which will make them rich and famous, at the expense of being cheated on, deceived and having their hearts broken, all to entertain a mass audience. If you were not told that the first reading was from the Bible, you might think it was a scene from the television series Game of Thrones. Many stories from the Bible, especially from the books of Samuel and the two books of Kings show the intrigue and conspiracies that may seem darker than those found in Games of Thrones. David’s general Joab often acted on his own without consulting his King or waiting to see if it was what God wanted. He was ruthless in killing David’s rivals and was not worried about the crimes he had committed, but he was rewarded like like in the end and Joab, having not supported Solomon to be King, found himself taking refuge in the Tent of Yahweh. He refused to come out when ordered to do so and was put to death where he stood.There seemed to be more Kings who went against God than there were who followed him. Even those who did were conspired against. It was a constant battle to stop the Israelites from following other gods. Even kings sacrificed their own sons to gain favours with a god made from human hands. None of this was what God wanted. But still, the Israelites continued in their evil ways.We are often reminded of how Samuel was called by God when he was with Eli. Samuel grew up in the presence of God, but Eli neglected his duties as a father and allowed his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas both officiating priests, to abuse their privileged positions. They took choice meats being offered as a sacrifice and had relations with women serving in the sanctuary. They had no regard for God. So, a man of God announced to Eli that at a future date his sons would both die on the same day and a more faithful priest would walk in God’s presence. Sometime later, when Eli was an old man, the Philistines attacked Israel and captured the Ark of God, and both Eli’s sons were killed. A messenger brought the news to Eli. Though he was told his sons were dead, it was the shock of hearing the Ark had been captured that sent him reeling and he fell to his death. The rich man in the Gospel followed a similar path as Eli’s two sons. He did not consider Lazarus’ needs, and how his life could have been made better. Both died, Lazarus found himself in heaven and the rich man ended up in Hell. Still being selfish, he wanted Lazarus to do what he would not do for Lazarus. Yet the gulf could not be crossed. Even then, the rich man wanted Lazarus to return to the land of the living to do his bidding to try and save the rich man’s relatives who had taken the wrong path. He wanted a sign to be given to them to get them to change their ways. Abraham reminded the rich man that if they did not listen to Moses and the prophets why would they listen to someone who had risen from the dead? We have enough evidence to convince us of the reality of God. Timothy tells us how we should dedicate our lives to God through being saintly and religious, filled with faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Eternal life can be won by dutifully following what we have been told by speaking about the truth as witnesses to God the father, his son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit, we can be in God’s presence. What we see around us, in these seemingly strange times, with threats of war escalating beyond Russia and Ukraine, famine in many parts of the world, floods in Pakistan, and rising costs of living here at home in the coming months may make us fearful. But all God is asking us to do is to trust in him and he will save us. He will guide us through, just like he did the Israelites when he took them out of Egypt after the Passover. When we doubt and try to solve the problems ourselves, we end up in greater difficulty. We have our limits, but God is limitless. We just have to trust in God and not listen to those who ignore him. God the Father and Christ Jesus the son, call to us through the Holy Spirit to be present and not strangers.The sheep that belong to Jesus will listen to his voice and will follow him. Though he was rich he became poor for us, to receive riches through his poverty. We just need to have faith and believe in him.

Homily for Sunday 18th September 2022

Homily19th September 202225th Sunday of Ordinary Time.God remembers everything. Nothing is forgotten. And we cannot serve two masters, and the Gospel is asking us to choose between God and money. Yes, we have a choice. God wants us to freely choose. Things we think we have done unnoticed will eventually come back to bite us, and we will have to pay the cost, one way or another.In today’s world, especially over the last couple of years, we have seen everything being turned upside day. COVID had us locked inside, across the globe. Whereas many struggled psychologically trying to cope with the isolation, others found loved ones being taken from them and not being allowed to be with them in their last moments. There was a lot of heartaches.Yet, at the same time, there seemed to be a lot of people who were reaping great rewards on the stock exchange. Many getting richer. While others struggled to make ends meet and needed to visit the Food Banks on a regular basis, even with a good salary. There seemed to be an imbalance of things. We saw certain leaders having a great time with parties, telling everyone else to self-isolate. One rule for some and another for everyone else – at least that’s what they think. But all is remembered. And they’ll be caught in the long grass, just like the velociraptors chasing humans in the movie Jurassic Park. Or perhaps others will say, long runs the fox – eventually, it gets caught.The bad steward knew how to make a good deal so that even in losing his job he would be okay, by swindling his master even further to gain favour with others so they would become his clients. Yet, the Master knew. How else would he have been able to praise his dishonesty for being astute?It may be that the bad steward could rightly assess the situation and turn it to his advantage but was it right? In the film ‘Family Man’, Nicholas Cage’s character Jack Campbell is a rich, lonely guy who is expecting everyone to work on Christmas Day. On his way home he calls into a shop where a young man is told his winning lottery ticket is a fake. The young man pulls out a gun and threatens the shopkeeper, but Jack offers to buy the ticket for the price of the winnings, a mere $238. The young man agrees the exchange is made, and he leaves. Jack catches up with the young man in the street and offers to help him. The young man tells Jack that what is about to happen he has brought upon himself. Jack returns home to an empty but luxurious apartment. When he wakes the following morning he finds a wife, kids and a dog. He is in a rundown house. Bewildered he struggles to cope with this new identity but as the months go by, he realises that this is a better life, the one where he is struggling to be a good husband and dad yet loved by his wife and kids. Upon this realisation, he meets the young man again, who is now a shopkeeper about to be swindled out of some money by a young girl who is not honest with her change. Jack realises that he must go back to his old lonely, rich life. And soon he wakes up back in his luxurious apartment.However, with his new insights, he takes the courage to rekindle a lost love and correct the path he took to make a better life. This is just a movie, but we all have opportunities every day to make a difference. To not be like the children of this world, yet we can still be astute, not for our own benefit but for the benefit of others, by doing the right thing. It may not be easy, but it will be remembered. Jesus Christ was rich, but made himself poor for our sake, to make us rich out of his poverty.