Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: 31 August 2025

Aidan of Lindisfarne

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The demand of Christ's commitment to the little ones

I am often troubled by the gap between what the Lord Christ has called us to become, as his disciples seeking the kingdom of God and its righteousness, and the more human fascination with the structures, rules and riches we discover in the Institutional Church . After 46 years as a priest, more when I add in my monastic beginnings, and, because I intend to be more personal in my reflection this week (as I mark my 72nd birthday today August 31st), I personally find that the security Church structures and society no longer hold the charm or attraction they once did. I do appreciate the wonderful heritage of our faith, and am thankful for the experience I have had in the joys and trials of ministry and discipleship in my very full life.

To grow in faith is to simplify things

Yet, it seems to me, that as we all progress in our spiritual life, and move inexorably towards our own destiny and fulfilment as children of the One God, heirs to the Kingdom of Heaven, what we are being asked by Jesus to realise is a simplicity of outlook and of honest humility, discerned in this phrase from the Lord in today's gospel: "Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."(Lk 14:13,14)

It is the topsy-turvy nature of this command that catches my breath, and I hope yours? For the Christ is asking us to be brave, be bold, and reach out to those we do not know, particularly the little hurting people and creatures of life, and call them in to the orbit of our friendship, care, protection and love! It is also an extremely hard statement to cope with, precisely because of its radical quality of commitment, for it demands we let go, strip off, remove so much of what we hold dear and important, and worse of all it asks us to face our prejudices and bypass them, let them go.

Our vocation is to be citizens of the Kingdom and its righteousness

This is the commitment of our Christian baptism when we died to sin, rose through the waters of rebirth to accept Christ's relationship with each of us. We were also stamped ( sealed) with the mark of the Holy Spirit, and in putting on the garment of salvation, discover a greater vocation as those who wear the white robe of those invited to the eternal wedding feast in the Kingdom. Isn't this what the letter to the Hebrews suggests when it tells us: "No, you have approached Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven,* and God the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, (Heb 12:22-24) This is not only a vision but a reality of the faith we hold so dear, for even bow we celebrate in our liturgy and penetrate that thin space between the here and now and the kairos of the Kingdom. That is what holds me still to the task of ministry, and I hope it gives each of you a sense of your own purpose as disciples proclaiming that Kingdom we touch in our Eucharist, sacraments and liturgy-but also in the interaction of kindness and love we have for others, so that we become more open to the Spirit at work with and within us.

Even though I may be critical of certain aspects of our ecclesial life please don't get me wrong, I love the Church, I love what it can be, but I am not blind to the nonsense and messiness we as individuals or specific focus groups. make of our faith. There seems to be far too many online who opine, make statements about what we should or should not be doing, post what are really their own personal comments about what it means to be catholic, but which are not rooted in either good theology or our deep pastoral tradition guided by the teachers and saints of our faith.

To be a 'Catholic' means that we live out and tread the road of the gospel, but recognise we are also in communion with each other, being universal in our outlook, and supported by the ministry of others, clergy and lay alike. As members of this body our own personal thoughts and ideas need testing by others, and at times they need to be subordinate to a greater whole, trying always to do what is the greater good for the Body of Christ.

Perhaps we need to remind each other far more often of the truth that Christ teaches us of his summary of the Law found in the love of God, and our neighbour as ourselves, an enduring truth that places us in relationship to him-in-others ( our neighbours) as this comment from Matthew reminds us so well :" "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me."(Mt 15:40)

We are judged on love

What we can find for ourselves in today's gospel, is Jesus pointing out that the Law important though it is, cannot be an end in itself, that in the end we will be judged on love . I have always loved this quote from the Orthodox saint, Mother Maria of Paris who died on the eve of Easter March 31 st 1945 in Ravensbruck concentration camp: "The way to God lies through love of people. At the Last Judgment I shall not be asked whether I was successful in my ascetic exercises, nor how many bows and prostrations I made. Instead I shall be asked, Did I feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the prisoners. That is all I shall be asked".

Pope Francis took those gospel words of Jesus about loving the stranger and the little ones, and often wove these words of Jesus into his homilies and talks, yet for this he was often reviled by those who prefer a tidier approach to difference and change, but he spoke the words of Christ. and in his actions revealed that he believed them deeply-and that has touched the hearts of many more than his detractors. I certainly miss him, I miss his direct way of speaking deep truths to those who struggle with a faith that can be very heavy, I am touched by his actions, too many to recount, where his touch or hug spoke far louder than words-and I am truly grateful we had his presence as a leader, teacher and servant, More than that I am grateful he showed me the way to be a priest of the margins, one who lived out this gospel of humility, and I feel sure our new Pope Leo will do the same in another manner.

But the Pope is not my master, nor is he yours, for you and I live in a very different place than the Vatican, and we are at what used to be called the 'coal face of life'. We have much to share with the priests and bishops, religious men and women, our deacons, each one of us has something to give as another insight into the gifts of Spirit at work with us. The Master we all serve is the servant Christ-who serves us too, who is to be found in exactly those Jesus bids us call into our circle of trust and we are bidden to choose the path of the humble contrite heart to manage this. "For every one who exalts himself will be humbled,
but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."(Lk 14:11)

Consumed in God's love

Our faith is a long road and a journey of our lifetime, we are continually learning, changing , for the truth about change, as John Henry Newman shared with us is this: "To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often." This is why this Sunday's gospel is a good challenge because it demands a change of heart. As the letter to the Hebrews says, we have already approached 'Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem' (Heb 12:22), We are on holy ground at the wedding feast of the Kingdom, that is wherever Christ is with us, and there we face the Living Holy One, not to be condemned or reproached, but consumed in God's living fire of love for ever!

Lectio Divina

Saint Maria the Martyr of Ravensbruck

Mother Maria of Paris

"The way to God lies through love of people. At the Last Judgment I shall not be asked whether I was successful in my ascetic exercises, nor how many bows and prostrations I made. Instead I shall be asked, Did I feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the prisoners. That is all I shall be asked. About every poor, hungry and imprisoned person the Savior says 'I': 'I was hungry and thirsty, I was sick and in prison.' To think that he puts an equal sign between himself and anyone in need.... I always knew it, but now it has somehow penetrated to my sinews. It fills me with awe."

Feast of St Aidan , fire of the North, August 31st

The Life and Miracles of St Cuthbert

CHAPTER IV

HOW, IN COMPANY WITH SHEPHERDS, HE SAW THE SOUL OF BISHOP AIDAN CARRIED TO HEAVEN BY ANGELS

But whereas the grace of Christ, which is the directress of the life of the faithful, decreed that its servant should encounter the merit of a more rigid institution, and earn the glory of a higher prize, it chanced upon a time that he was tending a flock of sheep entrusted to his care on some distant mountains.

One night, whilst his companions were sleeping, and he himself was awake, as he was wont to be, and engaged in prayer, on a sudden he saw a long stream of light break through the darkness of the night, and in the midst of it a company of the heavenly host descended to the earth, and having received among them a spirit of surpassing brightness, returned without delay to their heavenly home.

The young man, beloved of God, was struck with the sight, and, stimulated to encounter the honours of spiritual warfare, and to earn for himself eternal life and happiness among God's mighty ones, he forthwith offered up praise and thanksgivings to the Lord, and called upon his companions, with brotherly exhortations, to imitate his example. "Miserable men that we are," said he, "whilst we are resigning ourselves to sleep and idleness, we take no thought to behold the light of God's holy angels, who never sleep. Behold, whilst I was awake and praying, during a moderate portion of the night, I saw such great miracles of God.

The door of heaven was opened, and there was led in thither, amidst an angelic company, the spirit of some holy man, who now, for ever blessed, beholds the glory of the heavenly mansion, and Christ its King, whilst we still grovel amid this earthly darkness: and I think it must have been some holy bishop, or some favoured one from out of the company of the faithful, whom I saw thus carried into heaven amid so much splendour by that large angelic choir. " As the man of God said these words, the hearts of the shepherds were kindled up to reverence and praise. When the morning was come, he found that Aidan, bishop of the Church of Lindisfarne, a man of exalted piety, had ascended to the heavenly kingdom at the very moment of his vision. Immediately, therefore, he delivered over the sheep, which he was feeding, to their owners, and determined forthwith to enter a monastery.