Archbishop
Kevin's
homily
at the
Youth 2000
Festival

2006/2007

Archbishop Kevin's homily at the Youth 2000 Festival

Holy Ghost Church, Balham
29th December 2006 - Feast of Saint Thomas a Becket

Today is the feast of St Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and patron of the diocese of Southwark, and it is very appropriate that we commemorate him while meditating on the love of God as we move into this weekend.

To adapt a phrase from Cardinal Newman, to love means to change and to be perfect in love means to have changed often. St Thomas of Canterbury changed a great deal in his life. We all need to seek and desire change but we have to recognise that change is a gift of God, a gift promised by God who said: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you.” It’s to that change that we need to be open.

Earlier this month, we celebrated the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. She received the once-for-all grace of holiness, goodness and love from the very beginning of her life. But it is important to remember that that same grace which effected that work in Mary is at work in us. But in our case it works through a process of struggle, growth and change, a process that involves the cross but which seeks forgiveness, healing and new life. So, learning to love involves change and that’s important because we tend to think that we’re naturally loving and caring people, whereas human beings are naturally self-seeking and self-protective. Our focus tends to be ourself, especially in our culture, and it requires change if we are to go out of ourselves in love of others. Our own physical and psychological needs, status and reputation, loom very large, as do our own views and opinions. And, as I say, the culture in which we live encourages that. We hear the phrase “the right to choose” and the language of rights and of choice crops up a lot in media and politics. The phrase “right to choose” is used in relation to abortion but it is symptomatic of a mentality in which the emphasis is on me and my needs, ambitions.

How do we move out of that? Well, in order to love, in order to focus on the other, we need to receive love and live in the gratitude and confidence that comes from receiving love. Sometimes we pray before a crucifix, which is the symbol of God’s love for us: it says something that cannot be put into words. This weekend there will be a lot of time for prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and the Lord who is truly present to us is the Lord who died and rose for us out of love for each of us. What is asked of us in this prayer is simply to be open to the gift of God’s love. Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament creates openness to God’s love and makes us receptive and above all grateful. Gratitude is, I suggest, a very Christian virtue. The ability to be grateful is a kind of litmus test of faith and enables us to see others as gift - the poor, marginalised, the unborn child, the sick - and to relate positively, sensitively and chastely to other people.

Prayer is also healing and I’m aware that healing is part of this weekend. Our Lord spent about 60% of his time with the sick. In August I went on the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes and it’s always moving to be with the sick as they seek the water of life. It’s in prayer that we come to realise that healing doesn’t necessarily or usually come according to our agenda, or time scale, or our own priorities. Sometimes, when people asked Jesus for physical healing, he said instead, “your sins are forgiven”. The key thing is to seek the healing that is according to God’s purpose for us, his calling of us. We need to recognise that we’re called here, called to give ourselves in love and, returning to St Thomas a Becket and the readings for his feast, recognise that the path of love is marked by the sign of the cross. There was no other way for him, or for any of the martyrs of the Church, nor is there for any Christian. That is why solidarity is so important, so let us be open to all that God would do in us and to us in these days, empowering us to love Him more deeply and love one another more truly.