Fr Aidan's Sermon 4th July 2004

Welcome to Mass which is the 14^th Sunday in Ordinary time.

The Pope sometime ago proclaimed this weekend as “A Day for Life” and the bishops in England and Wales have sent out this leaflet – “A Day for Life.”  Last year the theme was “Beginning of Life” next year it will be “End of Life” but this year it’s about celebrating the blessing of families.  We must therefore think about family life during this mass; so bring all members of your family to mass and offer them to God.  Those who are here together its great but perhaps you cannot all be together but all of us have families’ so offer them to God to bless them.

Jesus sent out 72 disciples, I don’t know but he could have here 72 families but he means us, that he sent out and he said “Rejoice your names are written in heaven” that’s one of the things about being at mass your names are written in heaven.  So, we are thinking about families and the celebrating the blessing of families and how blessed family life is.

I remember my own family – I was the golden haired younger child with an older brother and sister, spoilt rotten, a “pain in the backside”.  We lived in a big house belonging to Lord Derby.  One day I was winding my big brother up at the bottom of the stairs, he lashed out at me and as I ducked his fists hit the staircase.  I ran out the house down the garden through the orchard followed by my big brother. He was catching up on me as he could run faster.  I then saw the cat so I threw it at him so it slowed him down.  My sister was there in tears not because of the way her brothers we fighting but because of the way we treated the cat who I usually loved dearly – but that was family life.  Looking back on those days I was spoilt as a child and if they got at me I would turn on the tears and run to my mother and father and tell them it was the fault of my brother and sister.  Most of the time they had the sense to see through it and had no sympathy.

We are a mess as families its usually one person like me who thinks they are all important who set all the others on edge.  Yet looking back I never thanked my parents for the love they poured into our lives.   Our sense of the whole was a sense of complete security and love that was a gift they gave us.  Maybe it was because of the other structures we had – the meals we shared, mass every morning, the family rosary at night.  Looking back there was a real richness, a structure of prayer and family life together that underpinned and embraced and dealt with all the mess which is in families.  I look back in gratitude for it was the greatest gift I had ever been given.  I feel sure many of you will feel the same and it is that the bishops are talking about – “The Blessing of Families.”  It is not that family life is cosy and wonderful, no it isn’t, it is a place of fights and bitterness but it is a place of tremendous security for us.  The girl who recently won the tennis the first thing she said was “I would like to thank my mother and father who have been with me through all the bad and good times.”  It is that tremendous support we get in family life that we are celebrating this weekend.

In the leaflet we see the heading “Keeping Families Afloat” we need other families it is very difficult if families are isolated that is one of the great things about a parish we support one another.  It was great this afternoon how we supported one another at the summer fair it was lovely with so many families there and that is a real strength in parish life.  Looking again at the heading “Keeping Families Afloat” we need other families to help us then because we are strong and secure in our own families we can then be a source of strength to other families in our world.

Another heading in the leaflet is “Family Living – a Way for Saints” and yet it is through that rough and tumble that we become holy not being remote and escaping family life but living out that real love.  This is where the strength of our country, our parish and our church comes from.  If we have strong secure families it doesn’t stop there we reach out and foster and welcome strangers.  This country desperately needs to welcome strangers.  We need to welcome refugees. God knows what they are fleeing from; they must find a welcome in our families.  Our families are on the side of pro-life to the end and that idea of cherishing life.  Ask what the Catholic Church is about most people would answer against abortion which is great; also euthanasia because our families cherish life.  Life is a blessing and new babies are not an accident or misfortune it is a blessing in our families and perhaps that is the only way we will get more priests when there are again twelve or so to a family.  In the old days they could afford to give some to the church because they had so many (I’m only being glib!).  As we cherish life we live it out in our families.  In this parish we are good at cherishing older people saying they are a richness in our families. 

It is a difficult time for families.   In the soaps they are so beguiling my proud boast is that I have never watched Coronation Street – is this a record?  They remind me of “Dick Barton” the cartoon character that would run up sixteen floors of a building and hang by his fingertips until the next episode.  That is the crazy thing about soaps you have to have something exciting which isn’t like life which can be drab, unexciting and hard work.  That is how we live in an age were pressures are on Family Life.  That is why we need to bring our families to mass and say yes lord we need your presence in family life.

The last title in the leaflet is “Listening to Families” the bishops really want to hear our experiences in family life to know what we feel about it.  Remember those leaflets we gave out if you have lost them just write down positive things about family live and how can the church and parish help.  Do respond either bring your comments to the parish, send them to Lancaster or via the Internet by the end of July.

So Family Life is wonderful it is where we grow to become saints and we put the centre of it at this mass – Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen

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