“..to the fool she says “come & eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared” ..”she” is wisdom.. a wisdom learned through experience..notice wisdom is feminine.. hokmah, centuries later to be understood as the Holy Spirit..feminine dimension of God ..& here she the voice of experience..a wisdom learned through moral conduct, through poor choice/ mistake & its lessons for the next time.. she invites us to a special meal..in a house & at a table prepared for a particular group of guests..guests she & God call fools..you & I ..fools are we not? ..lets be honest, & if we are honest, then our name is written on the guest list..your seat here & now at this table..for the meal of a lifetime is it not ?
“..come & eat my bread..” ; Lord have mercy “..drink the wine I have prepared..” ; Christ have mercy “..leave your folly & you will live..” ; Lord have mercy May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins & bring us to everlasting life. Amen.
“..be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent & not like senseless people. This may be a wicked age, but your lives should redeem it.” St Pauls words of encouragement to Ephesians echo now to you, you people of Ampleforth..“always & everywhere you are giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of OLJC” our Mass is Eucharistic a meal of thanksgiving, an appreciation of our exodus journey so far out of slavery to sin, through the unforgiving desert of crisis trial & temptation, towards ultimate land of milk & honey..the time of life for a careful life, mindfulness heartfulness ..about the kind & quality of life we lead, weaving good wise counsel to our own lived experience, & thereby to grow in wisdom..to put us in a privileged position of servant leadership that can redeem this age & our Village..can bring example to fallenness, to inspire encourage a change of heart & behaviour that welcomes failure folly mistake as seedbed for redemption..He came into the world not to congratulate perfection but to redeem failure..through you & I, each of us failures sinners, saints in the making are we not?..we are invited to taste see, eat it first, & then by intinction, to invite others into our orbit in this house & at this table “who is ignorant? let him step this way..come eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared” a bread baked with my own hands, yeasted with my heart..my hands my heart not ours..get personal instead of hiding protectively in a pew & a congregation..its your hand your heart..you..not person next to you, who is the baker of day..your wine, a wine & grape harvest from choicest vines, fermented in just right conditions & aged..uncorked at right moment for this meal, of thanksgiving to all who contribute to meal..you have all contributed be sure from least to greatest..think of those who have brought most to this Mass..wife mother of 6 & a husband with seemingly everything going for them..if only you knew what self sacrifice she “she” gives 24x7 in weaving/ holding family together..redeeming family as it wanders off into foolishness selfishness carelessness..think of those who have brought the least to this Mass..16yr old struggling in liminal space between childhood & maturity, controlled lectured criticised humiliated by loving frightened parents, & here..here & now..out of raw obedience ; told & expected to be dressed tidily behaving properly & here..they the vital grain of yeast for our eucharist, we thankful for their presence, their foul temper/ struggle to feel they still belong in family at home & in our faith family here..our most beloved; impatient afraid & unaware of just how loved valued & needed they are, as their radically different way of life offers a message to you & I..“leave your folly & you will live..walk in the ways of perception” [perception not perfection]..”words & tunes of psalms & hymns when you are together” together, side by side? or heart to heart?..a world of difference..a rigorous or an intimate presence?..how does it feel to you just now?..[Mother Teresa] “we ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean would be less because of the missing drop [we need your droplet]; when we die & it comes for God to judge he won’t ask “how many good things have you done in your life?” but “how much love did you put into what you did?” your grain of yeast of love, the least drop..”I am the living bread which has come down from heaven” ingredients you/them which bring this eucharist to life..real presence of each one of us, as we are..”come as you are” authentic grains of yeast not battery reared compliant Catholics, but free range organic; fed on “real food real drink”..10yrs ago led wkend retreat for 35 Conf candidates from Leeds & their 10 catechists..I wanted one session with youngsters without presence/ wisdom of leaders, so asked them to go off to compile fitting description of their parish, that which young were asking to buy into..produced sketch of London eye; round rim they wrote of parish “this is always in motion & you are welcome to get on & off when you need to or want to; it belongs to you & you belong to it. God is at the heart & you are always in God’s heart”..could we sign up to that as authentic description of who we are in OL&SB?..fools on a journey towards wisdom..& have you bought into it yet?.. [ 20thSunYr B ;Jn6;51-58]