16 May 2018

sermon concludes

Throughout history, Mary comes to us as the Immaculate Conception; the one whom God preserved from Original Sin so that she could be the perfect and flawless Mother of God the Divine Son; so that she could give God back his own gift to her by giving him a perfect and flawless humanity to unite inseparably with his Divinity. And Mary comes to us as our Mother too, as well as the Mother of Jesus. Because if we are one with Christ, one in Christ, as S Paul teaches, then Christ's Mother is our Mother too. When we kneel at the Altar to receive the Lord's Body and Blood, what the priest puts  upon our lips is the Body that Jesus took from Mary and the Blood which flowed in her veins before it flowed in his. Mary is our Mother; and what is it that mothers give their children, soon after birth, except food? Our Mother Mary brings food for her children "in this our exile", food neatly packaged for the journey we are making through this Vale of Tears; food to give us strength until we reach our True Native Land. beth lehem is Hebrew for House of Bread; and when we come to Communion the Mother of this House, the Great Mother of God Mary Most Holy, brings from her cupboard and sets within us the Blessed Fruit of her womb Jesus. Because Mary is not locked away in Bethlehem or Nazareth; she's not even a fixture who only made it as far as Lourdes. Mary walks down the centuries and across the seas and countries and hurries to make her way to this country of England in this our Mary Month of May; she comes this afternoon to this place and to this moment of time; comes to be your Mother and your merciful guide and advocate, here, in your own land.
The sermon is concluded.

5 comments:

Victor said...

Beth lehem - "House of bread" in Hebrew, but "House of flesh" in Arabic. There lies deep sense in it...

Fred W. said...


Hello -

Imagine also the nursing child receiving Holy Communion after the mother does !

~Fred

tradgardmastare said...

I am reminded of the lembas Tolkien wrote about in lord of the rings , food for the journey. Tolkien was,l believe,was a daily communicant and new the need for sustenance for us all. A most memorable and moving sermon,thank you Father.
Alan

Elizabeth said...



Years ago I gave Mary, the most Holy Mother of God and our Mother, a new title that sums up much of what you are saying: Maria in Medias Res!

And so she is!


Deacon Nicholas said...

The child in utero is receiving the Eucharist from the mother.