Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: 3 May 2026

God, (Christ) the Geometer - 13th century Wiki Image

Fifth Sunday after Easter

We all need reassurance sometimes, I don't think I have ever come across anybody who doesn't. Of course this is almost an art in itself, the human demonstration of care and support from one to another, may reveal itself in a variety of ways according to the situation, but it is most often in a gentle word or simple touch, which goes a long away to alleviating our worries. These opening words from our gospel this Sunday have that quality of reassuring care: 'Jesus said to his disciples:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled.
You have faith in God; have faith also in me"'.(Jn 14:1)

The rest of the gospel goes on to explain and explore just why the disciples, and by extension, we ourselves, should not be over anxious about how we will know God, or the way to the Father's house. The outpouring of the Spirit will enable us to discern and discover the abiding presence of the Lord in so many different ways. At the heart of it all is Jesus' invitation to trust in him:

'Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father.'(Jn14:12)

The whole passage has that quality of loving support, that is why, I suppose, so many of us have heard it at funeral services. It engages our attention by its simplicity of style, but also a deeper evocation that the mystery of God's love for us, and how that cannot be confined by or own narrow perceptions, for we are reminded clearly: 'In my Father's house there are many dwelling places'. (Jn 14:2a)

As one of the better hymns of Fr. Faber puts it so well, 'There's a wideness in God's mercy!'.

Yet, all this reassurance has a daily purpose in our lives, and that is the building up of the Kingdom amongst us by our own ministry and mission. I presume that few of us assume that the Church's ministry is exclusively for the clergy or religious person.

If we have any doubts, the Rites of Initiation show us our common vocation as those who build up each other in the ministry of mutual love and service.

Our second reading from I Peter holds up before us what we all share in Christ through our baptism and confirmation: 'But you are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises" of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.' (I Peter 2:5)

This is the common royal priesthood of all believers, distinct from the ministry of Holy Orders , that of bishop, priest and deacon,-which is instituted to be a vocation of service to build up the People of God by Word and Sacrament in their particular ways.

But we need to build up each others sense of this 'royal priesthood', for it is our identity and marks us out as the people bound and built together on the cornerstone that is Christ. This too is part of that work of reassurance of our Christian vocation, to see ourselves as a 'family' without national or ethnic boundaries where there should be an equality of respect and loving care between us all.

It is also fortuitous that our reading from Acts brings into focus the ministry of our deacons, showing in a snapshot the moment of their institutions as a definite ministry in the Church . In recent years the ancient tradition of the permanent diaconate has grown and has been very much welcomed, though they are part of the tripartite ministry of Orders in the Church, deacons have their particular ministry to assist the bishops and priests particularly in service of others. Here in this short passage from Acts we see their ministry as distinct, a bridge of charity, if you will, between those of us who are priests and bishops and the whole people of God .

'So the Twelve called together the community of the disciples and said,
"It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table.
Brothers, select from among you seven reputable men,
filled with the Spirit and wisdom,
whom we shall appoint to this task,
whereas we shall devote ourselves to prayer
and to the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:2-4)

It is good to have this ancient ministry restored amongst us as a permanent and distinctive vocation, rather than , as once was more common, to be simply a stepping stone to priesthood. We must pray for our deacons and cherish their ministry amongst us.

In all of the Scriptures shared amongst us this Sunday that gentle theme of the abiding reassurance of Christ is discovered in his words to the disciples, and to each one of us not to be troubled too much. It is found in the metaphor of us as a royal priesthood of the living stones built on the Cornerstone of Christ, an abiding sign of love in the world, and it is discerned in that moment when in response to need, the ministry of deacon was instituted amongst the community. for service. These though are only a few of the many gifts of care and support, part of the wideness of the Spirit, who is the Comforter. Amen

Lectio

From : Dogmatic Constitution on the Church

Lumen Gentium 10

10. Christ the Lord, High Priest taken from among men,(100) made the new people "a kingdom and priests to God the Father".(101) The baptized, by regeneration and the anointing of the Holy Spirit, are consecrated as a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, in order that through all those works which are those of the Christian man they may offer spiritual sacrifices and proclaim the power of Him who has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light.(102) Therefore all the disciples of Christ, persevering in prayer and praising God,(103) should present themselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.(104) Everywhere on earth they must bear witness to Christ and give an answer to those who seek an account of that hope of eternal life which is in them.(105)

Though they differ from one another in essence and not only in degree, the common priesthood of the faithful and the ministerial or hierarchical priesthood are nonetheless interrelated: each of them in its own special way is a participation in the one priesthood of Christ.(2*) The ministerial priest, by the sacred power he enjoys, teaches and rules the priestly people; acting in the person of Christ, he makes present the Eucharistic sacrifice, and offers it to God in the name of all the people. But the faithful, in virtue of their royal priesthood, join in the offering of the Eucharist.(3*) They likewise exercise that priesthood in receiving the sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by self-denial and active charity.

From the Ordination Rite of Deacons

…You grant that the Church, his Body, adorned with manifold heavenly graces, drawn together in the diversity of its members, and united by a wondrous bond through the Holy Spirit, should grow and spread forth to build up a new temple and, as once you chose the sons of Levi to minister in the former tabernacle, so now you establish three ranks of ministers in their sacred offices to serve in your name.

And so, in the first days of your Church, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, your Son's Apostles appointed seven men of good repute to assist them in the daily ministry, that they might devote themselves more fully to prayer and preaching of the word. By prayer and the laying on of hands they entrusted to these chosen men the ministry of serving at table

A prayer for deacons

O God, who have taught the ministers of your Church to seek not to be served but to serve their brothers and sisters, grant, we pray, that these your servants, whom you graciously choose today for the office of Deacon, may be effective in action, gentle in ministry, and constant in prayer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever.

Hymn by Fr F Faber

1 There's a wideness in God's mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there's a kindness in His justice
which is more than liberty.

2 There is welcome for the sinner,
and more graces for the good;
there is mercy with the Saviour;
there is healing in His blood.

3 For the love of God is broader
than the measure of our mind;
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.

4 If our love were but more simple,
we would take Him at His word,
and our lives would be illumined
by the presence of our Lord.