Text: Sermon at service of prayer and reflection for Jo Cox

St Margaret's, Westminster

MPs, friends and family members walked to St Margaret's Church from the Palace of Westminster yesterday, for a service of prayer and reflection for slain MP Jo Cox. Earlier, in a specially-recalled session of Parliament, with Jo's husband and young children in the gallery, many tributes were paid to the young MP for Batley and Spen. Speaker John Bercow said they had gathered in 'heartbreaking sadness' and 'heartfelt solidarity'.

The Readings were: Philippians 4: 4-9 and Deuteronomy 15: 7-11.

Speaker's Chaplain, Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin gave the sermon.

The full text follows:

Words from the psalm, "Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord." The cry of the Psalmist becomes our cry today, because from the depths of our
being we cry out in agonising pain at the brutal taking of the life of our colleague; from the depths of our being we cry out at the loss of Jo Cox MP, a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a colleague and a friend. We are in shock; bewildered; there are no words to express the aching we feel inside at the
brutal way in which she died. We do not understand how someone so full of love, goodness and compassion could be taken from us with such venom and
hate; leaving her family - and us, with a pain of grief hardly to be endured. And we must commend her family - her husband Brendan and children, her
parents and sister and other extended family for the dignity with which they are bearing this loss.

Jo's death is undeniable of sizemic proportion not only for her family but of seismic proportion also for our democracy that we cherish. Our Members of
parliament must be able to interact with the people who elected them to serve without fear of being attacked. As we gather now and remember Jo, we must
not allow the way she died to take precedence over the way she lived. I would like us to recognise that she was a real gift to us her family & friends; a real gift to her colleagues and her constituency; and a real gift to parliament. For the short time she was with us, she modelled well the characteristics of being an
excellent Member of Parliament. This was not just a job - this was a calling, for her, it was her vocation. She was not interested in being a slave to any one
ideological belief; to achieve success for the humanitarian causes she fought for, she was not afraid to work across party lines. We have much to learn from
her legacy.

In her lifetime, Jo walked the talk: She was here in Westminster not to be what some people refer to as the Westminster bubble but because she wanted to
make a difference in the lives of her constituency. she genuinely loved all the people whom she was called to serve, in the community she grew up in and
now had the privilege to work for. She was not daunted by what may have appeared as an insurmountable problem. She would simply find a way through
it. For her, nothing was impossible. Jo served a diverse constituency, and in her own words she said, "What surprises me time and time again, as I travel
around the constituency is that, we are far more united and have far more in common with each other, than things that divide us' - and it was the things in
common, that she would seek to harness.

She also wanted to make a difference in the lives of those who were vulnerable around the world. As a former aid worker she knew first hand, the experiences of those who were fleeing war or poverty; she understood and felt the plight of the child refugees. Speaking in the Commons debate on the Syrian city of Aleppo, she said, "Who can blame desperate parents for wanting to escape the horror that their families are experiencing?" "Those children have been exposed to things no child should ever witness, and I know I would risk life and limb to get my two precious babies out of that hellhole." Jo was not afraid to speak her mind. I am minded to think of her as a prophet, one called to speak truth to those in power, regardless of the consequence.

Jo lived the words of the last line of our Deuteronomy reading, "Open your hand to the poor and needy neighbour in your land." She was clear, 'to make
change happen, enough good people were needed'. Will we commit ourselves to being that group of good people? Will we be a Bernard Kenny, the
pensioner who intervened irrespective of the consequence - we pray for his continued healing.

And finally, for all of us - of faith or no faith; of whatever creed or culture, "Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think on these things. Keep on doing the
things that you have learned and received from Jo ...and the God of Peace will be with you."