How can I shine like a light?

Here's the reflection I shared this evening at St Catherine's Wickford during our Patronal Evensong:

I’d like you to think about those people who are or have been a special inspiration to you? Maybe it’s … someone in your family? One of your friends? Someone at school or at your Church? Someone in the news or media? I wonder what makes them special? Do they … make you laugh? Look after you? Stand by you? Encourage you? Challenge you? Inspire you? Make you feel special?

There have always been special people in the world to inspire us. In church history Christians have thought some people so special that they have been designated as saints. There are many stories about the saints. Some of them lived long ago, some of them more recently. Some were very brave. Some had the courage to stand by their beliefs, even if that meant being different from everyone else. Some cared for others, especially the people no one else wanted to care for. Some were teachers. Some were great leaders. Some wrote inspiring books. They all loved God and wanted others to come close to God too. Christians sometimes call them heroes of the faith.

Tradition has it that our Patron Saint, Catherine of Alexandria, was a girl of a noble family who, because of her Christian faith, refused marriage with the emperor as she was already a 'bride of Christ'. She is said to have disputed with fifty philosophers whose job it was to convince her of her error, and she proved superior in argument to them all. She was then tortured by being splayed on a wheel and finally beheaded. The firework known as the Catherine Wheel took its name from her wheel of martyrdom. She is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a very special group of saints known for their very powerful intercession.

Saints are shining examples of how to love God and follow God’s way. Yet, Christians also believe that everyone can be holy, like a saint. So perhaps we are all … saints in the making.

I’m going to light a candle and ask us to be still. In the silence, remember those people who are special to you and ask yourself, ‘How can I shine like a light?’

Loving God, bless all those that I love; bless all those that love me; bless all those that love those that I love and those that love those that love me. Help us, like the saints, to be creators of light in all that we do. Amen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saint Catherine of Alexandria Vespers Hymn

Catherine of Alexandria: A persecuted Patron Saint

Here's the reflection I shared at St Catherine's Wickford in their Patronal Festival Evensong:

Our readings today (Daniel 12 and Revelation 13.11-18) describe times of anguish in which many are deceived and oppressed but where those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

More than 5,600 Christians were killed for their faith last year. More than 2,100 churches were attacked or closed. More than 124,000 Christians were forcibly displaced from their homes because of their faith, and almost 15,000 became refugees. Sub-Saharan Africa—the epicentre of global Christianity—is now also the epicentre of violence against Christians, as Islamist extremism has spread well beyond Nigeria. And North Korea is back at No. 1 of the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous and difficult to be a Christian, according to the 2023 World Watch List, the latest annual accounting from Open Doors. Overall, 360 million Christians live in nations with high levels of persecution or discrimination. That’s 1 in 7 Christians worldwide, including 1 in 5 believers in Africa, 2 in 5 in Asia, and 1 in 15 in Latin America.

Tradition has it that Catherine of Alexandria was a girl of a noble family who, because of her Christian faith, refused marriage with the emperor as she was already a 'bride of Christ'. She is said to have disputed with fifty philosophers whose job it was to convince her of her error, and she proved superior in argument to them all. She was then tortured by being splayed on a wheel and finally beheaded. The firework known as the Catherine Wheel took its name from her wheel of martyrdom.

The Greek word "martus" signifies a "witness". It is in this sense that the term first appears in Christian literature; the Apostles were "witnesses" of all that they had observed in the public life of Christ. The Apostles, from the beginning, faced grave dangers, until eventually almost all suffered death for their convictions. Thus, within the lifetime of the Apostles, the term martus came to be used in the sense of a witness who at any time might be called upon to deny what he testified to, under penalty of death. From this stage the transition was easy to the ordinary meaning of the term, as used ever since in Christian literature: a martyr, or witness of Christ, as a person who suffers death rather than deny his faith. Catherine of Alexandria was one such.

Paula Fredriksen writes that “The martyrs are a heroic minority. They don't represent a huge popular swelling. We don't have tens of thousands of people being martyred. What we do have, is tens of thousands of people admiring the few who are martyred. So in that sense, the martyr stories have an incredible effect on the imagination of Christians.”

Elizabeth Clark thinks: “the martyrdom stories that got circulated were very important for the development of early Christianity. Several of the martyrdoms … say that there were pagans present … who were so impressed by the... courage of the Christians that they came to see the truth of the Christian religion themselves and immediately converted to Christianity.... Probably, for the most part, though, these martyrdom accounts were written for other Christians to try to bolster the Christians' faith at a time of persecution. To keep up your courage in case this happened to you as well.”

After three decades of their research, Open Doors, who prepared the statistics I shared at the beginning of this sermon, has learned that such needed resilience is found by being “anchored in the Word of God and in prayer.” Also, by being “courageous,” as the persecuted church is most often “active in spreading the gospel” and “vital and growing against the odds.”

As we have reflected, there continue to be Christians who experience persecution or martyrdom today and we must pray for and support our brothers and sisters in the persecuted Church, remembering those many, many places where persecution is real and Christians are being killed regularly and mercilessly or imprisoned and harassed for their resistance to injustice.

While it is, probably, unlikely that we will share with them in that experience, even so, we can still share with them in the other meaning of martus; that of being a witness who gives testimony. We are called, with the Apostles, Saints and Martyrs, to be those who tell our stories of encountering Jesus to others. To do this, we don’t have to understand or be able to explain the key doctrines of the Christian faith nor do we have to be able to tell people the two ways to live or have memorized the sinner’s prayer or have tracts to hand out in order to be witnesses to Jesus.

All we need to do is to tell our story; to say this is how Jesus made himself real to me and this is the difference that has made. That may even be the very best way to celebrate our Patronal Festival.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Delirious? - History Maker.

Our ultimate destination, being united with Christ

Here is the reflection that I shared during tonight's Patronal Evensong at St Catherine's Wickford:

Tradition has it that Catherine of Alexandria was a girl of a noble family who, because of her Christian faith, refused marriage with the emperor as she was already a 'bride of Christ'. She is said to have disputed with fifty philosophers whose job it was to convince her of her error, and she proved superior in argument to them all. She was then tortured by being splayed on a wheel and finally beheaded. The firework known as the Catherine Wheel took its name from her wheel of martyrdom. She is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, a very special group of saints known for their very powerful intercession.

Adam of St. Victor wrote a magnificent poem - Vox Sonora nostri chori – in her honour. The poem also tells her story:

Let the voices of our choir resound in praise of our Creator, who disposes all things; by whom they fight who are unskilled in war, by whose power maidens triumph over men.

Through him, the people of Alexandria stand amazed to see in blessed Catharine qualities that seem above her sex, when she vanquishes learned men by her science and the sword by her courage.

To the glory of her race she adds the precious ornaments of incomparable virtue; and noble by birth, she becomes more noble still by grace and holy living.

Tender is the flower of her beauty, yet she spares it neither labour nor study; and in early youth she masters earthly science and that which is of God.

A chosen vessel full of virtue, she considers transitory goods as mire, contemning her father’s wealth and her ample patrimony.

Filling her vessel with oil, as a wise and prudent virgin, she goes to meet the Spouse; that, ready at the hour of his coming, she may enter without delay to the feast.

Longing to die for Christ, she is led before the emperor; and in his presence, by her eloquence, puts fifty philosophers to silence.

For love of God she endures the horrors of the prison, the cruel wheel, hunger and want, and all her other sufferings; she remains unchanged through all.

The tortured overcomes her torturer, a woman’s constancy triumphs over the emperor; yea, the emperor himself is tormented, seeing both executioner and torments unavailing.

At length she is beheaded, and by death ending death, enters into the joys of life, while Angels with all care bury her body in a far-off land.

An oil flowing from her body, by a visible grace heals the sick; good indeed is the unction she gives us, if she heals our vices by her prayers.

May she rejoice to see the joy she causes us; may she who gives us present joys give likewise those to come; and may she now rejoice with us, and we with her in glory. Amen.

Dr Eliana Corbari notes that “objects reflect the stories of her life: the crown shows her noble lineage, the wheel is an instrument of her torture, the book signifies her learning, and the sword is the instrument of her martyrdom. The crown, the book, the sword and, above all, the wheel are the attributes by which she would have been easily recognizable by medieval people, who had heard and read the stories of her life.”

Like them, let us all imitate St. Catherine, who with the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, took the time and care to learn the Holy Scriptures and the truth of our faith, taking them to her heart. In doing so, she declared this truth openly and publicly, defending them in the face of horrible torture and martyrdom.

When she was a young woman, her father approached her about marriage. Her reply to him was simple, “Sure, I will get married—when you find a man who is smarter, more beautiful, and more virtuous than I am.” What appears at first to be arrogance ends up being something more profound when we realize that is precisely what she did—she found Christ.

From the Medieval period onwards, she is depicted as going through a mystical marriage wedding ceremony with Christ, in the presence of the Virgin Mary, consecrating herself and her virginity to him. Essentially, this is a reminder to us of our ultimate destination; that of being united with Christ. The saints are not there to emphasise their difference from us but for us to see our similarity with them and be inspired to become more Christ-like in our living as a result. May Saint Catherine inspire us in this way as we give thanks for her life and witness today.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For all the Saints.