Sunday Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons - 15 July 2018

Jesus with disciples road to Emma's

Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

One of the enduring images in the story of early English Christianity is the tale of Bede's sparrow. It wasn't in fact Bede's tale at all, but in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People, he tells the story of King Edwin receiving the Gospel from St Paulinus about the year 625 AD. Discussing what this new faith might mean, one of the King's councilors, uses the image of a sparrow flying into the hall for shelter and warmth, and then out again to urge openness to the message: "man appears on earth for a little while; but of what went before this life or of what follows, we know nothing. Therefore, if this new teaching has brought any more certain knowledge, it seems only right that we should follow it." What we discover here is willingness to listen to the Gospel because of the witness and lives of the messengers.

It's a beautiful image, made of course for those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere with its changeable weather. It places before us the almost helpless and fragile household sparrow, seeking life in the vast space of its world, very much as we all are. Maybe not so helpless, but we are small figures in the huge Hall of life. Where we come from and where we go to, these are, despite all our technology and knowledge, questions that we still ask of each other.

Does the Gospel message help us? Does it have answers? Perhaps not the ones we seek, when as children we need the absolute security of love and support that we get from family and friends. This is an image or metaphor we find in Mark's Gospel, where Jesus talks about the journey as one travelled lightly with only a staff (or as some translations put it, walking stick: "He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick-no food, no sack, no money in their belts". (Mk 6:8). It's a strong image and very apposite, as we both give and receive, becoming a staff, in love, in prayer, in mercy and kindness but also accepting others help.

This is not restricted to human beings; Bede's sparrow shows us that other staves of God are found in living creatures and natural things. Each of us brings others into the Kingdom by our loving, and so all life, all creation becomes linked.

More importantly Mark's Gospel of the sending of the twelve is one all about the medium rather than the message. It tells us that what we do, how we live our lives, and how people perceive us, are crucial to the acceptance of the message we bring. There's also a no nonsense approach, don't waste too much time on those who reject you, move on, there's plenty more to get on with. Bishop Paulinus was open to King Edwin, and so won over those who saw in him goodness, truth, and honesty. So it is with Bede's image of our sparrow, a symbol of humility, honesty and truthfulness. May we be people of integrity, find in our journey and at its ending, the presence of the One who is the 'staff' and lover of all creation!

Lectio Divina

From Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People

"The present life of man upon earth, O King, seems to me in comparison with that time which is unknown to us like the swift flight of a sparrow through the mead-hall where you sit at supper in winter, with your Ealdormen and thanes, while the fire blazes in the midst and the hall is warmed, but the wintry storms of rain or snow are raging abroad. The sparrow, flying in at one door and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry tempest, but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, passing from winter to winter again. So this life of man appears for a little while, but of what is to follow or what went before we know nothing at all".

From the last letter of Frère Roger of Taizé August 2005

"Seeking reconciliation and peace involves a struggle within oneself. It does not mean taking the line of least resistance. Nothing lasting is created when things are too easy. The spirit of communion is not gullible. It causes the heart to become more encompassing; it is profound kindness; it does not listen to suspicions.

To be bearers of communion, will each of us walk forward in our lives on the road of trust and of a constantly renewed kind-heartedness?

On this road there will be failures at times. Then we need to remember that the source of peace and communion is in God. Instead of becoming discouraged, we shall call down his Holy Spirit upon our weaknesses.

And, our whole life long, the Holy Spirit will enable us to set out again and again, going from one beginning to another towards a future of peace".