Cardinal Vincent Nichols at St Thomas More Golden Jubilee Mass

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Cardinal Vincent Nichols gave this homily at St Thomas More Church, Manor House, during their Golden Jubilee Mass on Sunday 22 July 2025, the Feast of St Thomas More.

It is rather lovely that we celebrate the Golden Jubilee of this parish on the Feast of Corpus Christi. The feast of the body and blood of the Lord. Because what we are celebrating is the fact that Mass has been celebrated here with constancy, faith and devotion for these 50 years - echoing exactly the words of St Paul in the second reading: 'What I have received I have handed on to you.' And we, here in this parish of St Thomas More, have been faithful to those words of St Paul: 'What I received I've handed on to you" and family by family, community by community, we do the same. What we have received we hand on - because it is such an enormous gift.

The Gospel is a story of a people in need. 5000 plus. No food. It reminds me of another story in the Gospel: of a people in need - at the Wedding Feast of Cana. Nothing more embarrassing than a party that doesn't go well. And especially on a wedding day. Both these incidents - both these pictures that we have - we learn a very important lesson that we bring the little that we have and we present it to the Lord. Whether that was five loaves or it was some jars full of water. In our need we bring what we have and dedicate it, give it to God.

Today we face many needs. We face a world in a very precarious moment. We face ongoing conflict with unutterable devastation in many places in the world. And today we bring these needs and just hand them over to the Lord. And let Him work with the little we can do to bring His grace and His blessing as he does in every celebration of the Mass.

We heard in the first reading of the great figure of Melchizedek. He is seen as the great priest and ruler of the time and who is forerunner if you wish, of the priesthood of Jesus Christ. And he proclaimed the wonder of God and the King gives a tenth of what he has to the priest to offer to God. That priesthood is in every one of us. And what we can learn today as we try to hand on what we've been given, is that in every home, in every small community, we do well to begin the day by saying 'Lord, here's my small effort today, I want to give it to you, that you can do with it what you will' . And at the end of the day we say: 'Lord I did my best. I did my best to give and put into your hands all my effort, potential, maybe not a lot maybe on a good day we have a great sense of satisfaction. But that's the priesthood of each one of us - to make that offering. And make that thanksgiving and in that sense bring our whole being into the presence and providence of God.

At the altar that same dynamic takes place, but now we know, because of St Paul's words, that the little we offer is transformed in a way that makes present and real the Devine and human - Christ's presence in our flesh and our bodies.

So we think of the feeding of that 5000 as we bring forward the hosts, the bread for the Mass. It's a symbol of our effort. It's a symbol of our productivity - what we've tried to do in the day - it's there, placed on the altar. That it may be transformed . And we bring the wine as well - the wine that represents our need also for joy and celebration. And we bring the little that we have even if we've only got a glass of water. And through the grace of the Holy Spirit that too is transformed.

And maybe even more importantly the little that we bring and how it becomes for us the real presence of Jesus - His body and his blood. The little that we bring is given back to us, but transformed. So that we can really begin to understand that when we receive what were given through Mass that we actually become the presence of Jesus in our midst.

So maybe as we celebrate this golden jubilee there is a moment in the Mass which I'd ask you to give your whole self to today. It's that moment when I will raise before you your gifts of bread and wine and say: 'Look. Behold . This is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.' And that Lamb of God, that gift, is then given to you - placed in your hands that you may be filled with the divinity with is suffused what we presented as bread and wine is that it becomes that saving presence of the One who takes away the sins of the world. And then we know what we have to do. It's very simple. We have to live what we've been given. We have to live what we have received and consumed, but whereas the cornflakes we had for breakfast become part of us, in the Eucharist we become part of Christ. We become part of what we were given and consumed so that our lives slowly like a flower open up and blossom and give off their goodness for one another.

One last thought. At the end of Mass there's a sending out. Yes we know what we're to do. We're to be what we've received. And my final thought is this - often on this day we might had had formal processions of the Blessed Sacrament . They're not as popular or as common now because it's difficult to take over a street and it's not easily understood by the rich variety of people around us. But let me say this - each one of you as you walk home is a procession of the Blessed Sacrament. Each one of you has there to bring in to this wonderful strange sometimes puzzling world of ours, a moment, a mark of Jesus 'presence on our streets and in our homes. And that's why a church like this, celebrating 50 years, we can think of it as a powerhouse - an outflowing of goodness and loveliness a place of compassion where we try to respond to the needs around us. And at the end of the day a place in which we praise God. That's the purpose for which we've been created. That's where our life will find its fulfilment - In the praise of God in Heaven . And we glimpse it here. And we rejoice to be people who praise God and then through us, His mercy and goodness flows into our world.

So may God bless this parish of St Thomas More. God bless each one of you, your families and your friends May you fulfil that priestly character of always bringing your gifts to the Lord. Presenting them to him each day and may this parish always be a powerhouse of praise for the goodness of God in our world today. Amen

Watch a video of Mass here: https://vimeo.com/1095423851/02cd45fd49?ts=0&share=copy