‘JESUS COMMANDED THE UNCLEAN SPIRIT TO COME OUT OF THE MAN’ (Luke 8: 29)

The Gospel reading for the Church of England this Sunday concerns the expulsion of unclean spirits from a man possessed. This past week has highlighted the way we are so easily dominated by the ‘unclean spirits’ - of anger, hatred and violence.  From the killings of LGBT people in Orlando to that of Jo Cox in Birstall and the disgusting pictures of English football fans taunting refugee children in Lille, it suddenly becomes apparent that we are at the mercy of ‘unclean spirits’.  Britain has its own Donald Trump's who have unleashed so many demons.

I do not have the privilege of preaching this Sunday but I hope those who do will not shirk from naming the evil that has erupted in our midst. And to name the fact that there are those who fan the flames, even though they may deny it. The massacre of scores of LGBT people because of one man’s hatred, a hatred supported by religious faith (and both Muslims and Christians are guilty of not addressing the subject); the murder of a wonderful young politician, possibly out of hatred of foreigners fermented by right-wing politics, and pictures of hundreds of football fans chanting “f..k off Europe, we’re all voting out” between violent clashes with police and shown across the globe – all show, with terrible consequences, the power of bigotry and hatred. The blatant scapegoating of foreigners in a UKIP poster Nigel Farage unveiled showing a stream of Iraqi refugees in Slovakia under the heading: “Breaking point: the EU has failed us all.”  It’s as if we have forgotten the arguments of the Synod of Whitby and are still trapped by the desire of a king to rid himself of his wife, Catherine of Aragon (let the reader understand).

I hope none of those who preach will fail to name the evil that has got into our society.  But I know that those who need to think about the consequences of allowing bigotry and hatred to enter our souls will not be in the pews on Sunday for it is clear that there are many who do not ‘want to be told what to do’.  Who are not interested in the views of ‘experts’, whether economic, social, international – or spiritual.  Who do not want to be challenged.  Who do not want to have their hearts converted to the gospel of God’s compassionate love.  Who will not be interested in recalling that, in the words of Archbishop Justin: ‘At the heart of Britain’s Christian heritage are certain glorious principles. They are what make the best of our nation, whether we are Christians, of another faith or of no faith. They come from Jesus’s teaching, especially in the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes. Among those principles is a vision of peace and reconciliation, of being builders of bridges, not barriers. … Sacrifice, generosity, vision beyond self-interest, suffering for others, helping the helpless, these are some of the deeply Christian principles that have shaped us.’  Who will reject the Holy Father’s reminder that we must take care not “to yield to our own selfish interests and to consider putting up fences here and there. …  The founding fathers (of Europe) were heralds of peace and prophets of the future. Today more than ever, their vision inspires us to build bridges and tear down walls.” 

Polly Toynbee, in an article for ‘The Guardian’, named the way this evil has entered mainstream debates concerning the EU Referendum by observing that: ‘This campaign has stirred up anti-migrant sentiment that used to be confined to outbursts from the far fringes of British politics. The justice minister, Michael Gove, and the leader of the house, Chris Grayling – together with former London mayor Boris Johnson – have allied themselves to divisive anti-foreigner sentiment ramped up to a level unprecedented in our lifetime.’ 

A climate of hatred has been allowed to develop unchecked and social media is showing just how ugly it is.  So many of those who seek to influence public opinion are unelected and unaccountable owners and editors of newspapers who do not have to offer a balanced perspective but who are free to pander to humanity's baser instincts.  As Archbishop Justin went on to say: 'Jesus taught us to love our neighbour, and when questioned about what that meant gave the extraordinary story of the Good Samaritan. In that story the one who turns out to be a neighbour is the one who shows respect, mercy and love to the stranger, even to an enemy.'

So I hope that those who preach on Sunday will speak out against the evil that has entered us, as it entered the man from the country of the Gerasenes.  And remind us that, as St. Ignatius Loyola discovered, the way to make choices is to hold them before God and, if we don’t know immediately what we should do, to ask ourselves this simple question – which decision will lead to an greater increase in faith and hope and love?  

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve you as you deserve;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do your will.

(St. Ignatius Loyola: 1491 – 1556)

MAY THEY ALL BE ONE

Today we feel the wind beneath our wings
Today  the hidden fountain flows and plays
Today the church draws breath at last and sings
As every flame becomes a Tongue of praise.
This is the feast of fire, air, and water
Poured out and breathed and kindled into earth.
The earth herself awakens to her maker
And is translated out of death to birth.
The right words come today in their right order
And every word spells freedom and release
Today the gospel crosses every border
All tongues are loosened by the Prince of Peace
Today the lost are found in His translation.
Whose mother-tongue is Love, in every nation.

 Malcolm Guite

PENTECOST witnesses the reversal of Babel when peoples divided became united.  The story of Babel concerned how God divided and scattered humankind so we could not become like God.  Yet our dis-union and separation was never God’s final purpose which Christ summed up in those words: ‘May they all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us’ (John 17:21)

With the Referendum in just over five weeks’ time I am struck by this thought.  There seems a constant tussle between two extremes, individualism and collectivism.  Are we primarily called to be individuals who can exist without the other?  Or do we belong together?  In upport of Individualism the 19^th cent. American social reformer and statesman, Frederick Douglass, wrote:  ‘We are distinct persons, and are each equally provided with faculties necessary to our individual existence. In leaving you, I took nothing but what belonged to me, and in no way lessened your means for obtaining an honest living. Your faculties remained yours, and mine became useful to their rightful owner.’  Whilst David Callahan of the think tank Demos recently stated that: “America works best when its citizens put aside individual self-interest to do great things together—when we elevate the common good,” 

This notion of the ‘common good’ having the greater moral claim is what has inspired society down the ages.  It has been the motivation of the Commonwealth and is a central pillar of Catholic social teaching.   John XXIII describes it as ‘the sum total of conditions of social living, whereby persons are enabled more fully and readily to achieve their own perfection.’ Mater et Magistra (1961).  It differs from pursuing the ‘greatest good for the greatest number’ in Christian terms because ‘the pursuit of the common good entrusts, both to the government and the Church, care for the greatest good of all persons, not just the greatest possible number. No individual is excluded from the common good. It is also therefore linked to the ideas of human dignity and authentic and integral human development, making them central aims of all societies.’ (Catholic Social Teaching.org.uk)    The common good also provides a balance against too strong an individualism by emphasising the social aspect of the human person.  Pentecost witnesses to God’s affirmation that we are created to be alone (Gen. 2:18) but, as difficult as it is, to discover ourselves in relation to the other. 

A reflection on the way in which we are ‘Better Together’ a certain Michael Gove said in March 2014: “Think globally.  Think what would happen if Scotland and England broke up. Do we think that Vladimir Putin would think, ‘Oh that's a pity’?  Or would he think, ‘Ah look, the second principal beacon of liberty in the world is a little more unstable. That plinth has been broken. I'm in a stronger position to do what I want’?” And, just 18 months ago, Boris Johnson wrote: “… we are on the verge of an utter catastrophe for this country. In just 10 days’ time … a fundamental part of our identity will have been killed. We will all have lost a way of … explaining ourselves to the world. We are on the verge of trashing our global name and brand in an act of self-mutilation …” And so on, and so forth, until this heartrending conclusion: “I am praying that we will wake from this sleepwalk to tragedy; and that the Scots vote no to divorce, and yes to Britain, the greatest political union ever.” (Daily Telegraph, September 10th, 2014)  Whatever the difficulties and problems, choosing the path of separation whilst recognising that this signals disunion seems, to me (and, not long ago, Messers Gove and Johnson), an act of wilful vandalism. 

As a race we seem to have a propensity to heed the call to self-centrism.  Today’s Feast of Pentecost s is not only the birth of the Church but, through Christ, completes humanity’s wholeness.  It is ‘a fulfilment of the prophecies that God would gather his scattered people together.  It is a decisive recasting in anthropological terms of human foundational order.’  (James Alison)  And whilst this recasting is a Godly act and can never be fully achieved in social terms, nonetheless it would seem that to seek to do otherwise, to seek to fragment society, is not what God intends for Creation but is, rather, to heed the Accuser who delights in preventing that unity which is in the mind of God.  As Pope Benedict affirmed on the Solemnity of Pentecost 2012: “Pentecost is the feast of union, comprehension and human communion. We can all see that in our world, although we are increasingly close to one another with the development of the means of communication and geographical distances seem to be disappearing, understanding and communion between people is both superficial and problematic.”