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From the church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy
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Today’s readings: Genesis 18:1-10; Luke 10:38-42.
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Let us pray.
Almighty and everlasting God,
by whose Spirit the whole body of the Church is governed and sanctified:
hear our prayer which we offer for all your faithful people,
that in their vocation and ministry they may serve you in holiness and truth
to the glory of your name;
through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God now and for ever.
Amen.
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A Reflection from Fr. Simon
To state the obvious, it has been very warm this week and is about to get hotter. Extreme temperatures force us to slow down, not rush about so much, drink more water, and find some cool refuge in the shade. It’s a helpful reminder that life’s busy pace needs to be moderated, and some reattuning of rhythm is called for.
Our Gospel reading today is about Mary and Martha and their own pace of life. Together with their brother, Lazarus, they have their joint feast day at the end of this month as ‘Companions of the Lord’. The raising of Lazarus from the dead in John 11 when Jesus goes to the tomb has Martha state, in the King James Bible: ‘Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days’. The heat can do that.
The reading before us, however, does not mention Lazarus this time. We have the famous account of Martha nipping about as she prepares the meal and becoming more annoyed. The Hôtel-Dieu in Beaune (also known as Les Hospices) was a medieval hospital for the poor in a very fine building run by nuns. In the kitchen, high up on a ledge, is a statue of Martha, surveying all that passes with a dishmop in her hands. Her irritation in the story is due to her sister Mary ‘who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said... ”Don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”.’ I think this must be something we’ve all experienced being stung into action by someone else, or frustrated at the lack of others to get on with something.
Jesus, however, doesn’t agree. ‘Few things are needed,’ he says. ‘Really, only one thing is needed.’ And that is where we have his teaching that Mary ‘has chosen what is better. And it will not be taken away from her.’ Stop, slow down, collect yourself and forget the fluster: being with Jesus is what’s important. It’s a little like when preparing a meal at home for guests and you find there is still an ingredient missing for something. What do you do? – rush out to find it? Improvise? Make do? Sometimes it is easy to fret over the tiniest detail and make it more important than anything else. When that happens, it can mean losing proportion and being off balance. How many Christmas Dinners have been made tense by a burning smell or a lump in the gravy? It’s important, but not as important as the bigger meaning of the celebration.
Neither will perfection come this side of heaven. We are a fallen humanity in a fallen world. And it is only at the end of time will everything be reunited and once more made perfect. Until then, we do well to wait and make the best of it. Luke’s Gospel in particular has a focus on what theologians call realized eschatology – the eschaton is the every end of things, when Christ will come again. But some argue that it is already realized and made present through the life and legacy of Jesus, the ‘now and not yet’ because we live in the so-called in-between times, but throughout are building the kingdom and making God’s love known to the world in advance of that great event anticipated for the end of time.
When we look at it that way, the idea of spending time with Jesus, almost literally at the Master’s feet like Mary, is not so strange. It would be easy to define that ‘Jesus time’ as being in church, participating in liturgy, even praying before the Blessed Sacrament. But Christ’s mission will not and cannot be contained within one building or action alone. It must be out there in the world, where it is needed, with the wounded, the lonely, the broken hearted. It is to be, in the analogy of Pope Francis, a field hospital. If this sounds a little too Martha-like with much rushing around then think again. Hospitals have to be about focus and calm, attentive and alert to the task at hand. They are, as the Holy Father said in that 2013 interview, about ‘nearness, proximity… Heal the wounds. And you have to start from the ground up’.
Great leaders are often commended for their attention to others – the sense that whoever they are talking to is the only person in the room and they have their full engagement. To model something of that in our own lives means focus on Christ and what he is asking us to do. It is true that at time that will mean a certain amount of cross-carrying, physical work which is demanding and even lonely. But at others it is the vital need for contemplation and re-attunement we need. Take a deep breath, say a prayer, and rebalance at the feet of the Master.
The short story Babette’s Feast by Karen Blixen became a famous film in the 1980s. Its climax is where the unpaid Babette who serves two spinster sisters in their home church in 19th-century Denmark wins a vast amount of money through an old lottery ticket. She decides to use the fortune to give the congregation a wonderful meal on what would have been, for the sisters, the 100th birthday of their father who had founded the church. Babette goes to great lengths, bringing in the finest items (a great turtle, cow’s head, birds; wine, champagne, silverware) and the puritanical sisters are then worried, along with the townspeople, that the banquet will be so sensuous it shall prove sinful. The only way they can still go ahead with the meal is with a vow to make no comment on the food whatsoever. That way, they cannot be guilty of enjoying it. So they come and so they do, except one guest who is a general and knows nothing about this conspiracy of silence. With each dish and drink he provides a rapturous commentary about how wonderful it all is and concludes with a toast. ‘Grace demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude,’ he tells them.
Through his obvious pleasure and encouragement, the other guests have relaxed and found great joy in the meal also. Old arguments have been salved and new friendships formed. ‘They only knew that the room had been filled with a heavenly light, as if a number of small halos had blended into one glorious radiance. Taciturn people received the gift of tongues; ears that for years have been almost deaf were open to it. Time itself had merged into eternity.’ It ends beautifully with great praise for Babette and her generosity.
‘Really only one thing is needed,’ says Jesus. – which the KJV renders as ‘needful’. A chance for us to all stop and reflect – even in this sweltering heat – on what in our lives is needful and choosing the better part.
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Organ Voluntary
‘The Westminster Carillion’ – Louise Vierne – play by Gert Van Hoef:
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Today’s hymns
O, for a closer walk with God:
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The God of Abraham praise:
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Music from Matthew
Music at the offertory is by Handel this morning; Sophie will sing Ombra mai fu, commonly known as the Largo from Xerxes. Although after Handel’s death this aria was rediscovered and has become one of his most well-known vocal pieces, the opera from which it comes was a commercial failure and only lasted for five London performances. The words of the aria refer to a humble plane tree, so common here in the capital. This recording, on period instruments, demonstrates Handel’s gift for creating an expressive vocal line.
‘Ombra mai fu’ from Xerxes by G.F. Handel (1685-1759)
Never was a shade of any plant dearer and more lovely, or more sweet.
Renée Fleming (soprano), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Harry Bicket (conductor)
https://youtu.be/cuUMnC8E6nE
During the communion, ‘En prière’ is a cantique (a term which generally describes French religious songs in the vernacular, rather than the secular mélodie from this period). Written around the time that he was composing the Requiem, this seemingly simple song is an example of Fauré’s genius in handling shifting harmony and a lyrical melody with the utmost control and expression. And like most Fauré songs, its tranquillity belies the technical tenacity required from singer and accompanist!
‘En prière’ by Gabriel Fauré
If the voice of a child could reach up to you, O my Father, to be heard by Jesus kneeling before you, a prayer! If you have chosen me to teach your laws on Earth, I would know how to serve you, august King of kings, O Light! On my lips, Lord, place the salutary Truth, so that those who doubt, with humility will revere you!
Kathleen Battle (soprano), James Levine (piano)
https://youtu.be/lHHSeFXMjK8
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In our first reading we hear of the Oak of Mamre where Abraham meets with three angels. Here’s a short account of it:
Oak of Mamre - Wikipedia
You might also recall that the story is also most famously represented in the Rublev icon of the Holy Trinity:
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Heatwave at St. Anne’s
As we all know Monday and Tuesday will be very hot and many of you, and others, may well suffer greatly in homes which you are not able to keep cool.
Therefore, I shall open up the church building from 7am until early evening for those who want to flee to a, relatively, cooler and more bearable space.
There is Wifi for those who need to work and there will be cool drinks and, probably, lunch on both days.
This will also be a great opportunity, for those who want something to do, for us to give the church a good clean! Or just bring a book, or chat to friends.
I shall, of course, be opening this to the wider community, as there will be many, locally, who might like to escape from the heat.
If anyone were able to help with lunch and drinks and welcoming that would be wonderful.
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A very Rosemary day!
What a jolly day to give thanks to, and for, Rosemary and Grant, and so wonderful to have so many old friends of St. Anne’s to join us:
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For your prayers
Please pray for Anna who has fled Ukraine and will be staying at the Vicarage for a few days before going on to her host family in Wales.
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