Sermon - St Michael & All Angels

Marc Chagall, Jacob’s Dream, 1966, Nice, Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall

A sermon preached at the Choral Eucharist at St Stephen Walbrook on Thursday 29th September 2022 at 12.45pm. The Feast of Michael and All Angels.

 

Sermon in a nutshell

The idea of angels – with wings and halos can be a bit of a turn off for some. Others recount personal experience of coming face to face with angelic beings. Wherever we stand, angels – heralds or ‘instruments’ of God – are a fact of life; rooted in our scripture and tradition and our belief in ‘all that is, seen and unseen’. Our conception of angels has changed over time. It is at times of transition when we seem most willing to entertain the concept of universal forces affecting our lives. In the sacrament of the Eucharist we come as close as we can in this life to the ultimate transition - the boundary between heaven and earth. In the Eucharistic prayer we repeat the very words of the heavenly host – Holy, holy holy, Lord God of hosts. Perhaps at this moment we are most receptive to these instruments of God, as we join in their heavenly song of praise?

Start:Stop - The language of love

The Rosetta Stone (close up)

Listen to an audio recording of this reflection at this link. Hello and welcome to St Stephen Walbrook and our Start:Stop reflection, when we start the day by stopping for ten minutes. Please come and go as your schedule dictates.

Two hundred years ago today, a brilliant French linguist, Jean-François Champollion, announced in Paris a breakthrough in translating the Rosetta Stone. His discovery allowed scholars to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphics, transforming the western discipline of Egyptology and turning the Rosetta Stone into an icon of our attempts to understand other languages and cultures - and decoding just about anything.

The 27th September also marks the day the church remembers St Vincent de Paul, a French priest who decoded the purpose of his life and calling when he was summoned to hear the confession of a dying servant. Ten years after he was ordained, Vincent came to understand God’s universal language - of love. 

 

This morning’s bible reading is taken from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:

Start:Stop - Her Majesty's Life of Faith

The People's Monarch - Helen Marshall, Gatwick Airport/BBC South East, 2012

Hello and welcome to St Stephen Walbrook and our Start:Stop reflection, when we start the day by stopping for ten minutes in prayer and reflection. Please come and go as your schedule dictates. You can listen to an audio recording of this week's reflection at this link.

The world is mourning the death of Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II; monarch, Supreme Governor of The Church of England and perhaps one of, if not the most prominent advocate for the Christian faith in recent times. 

I confess I have found it impossible to put into words the loss of someone known to 94% of the population of the globe - the single most visually recorded human being in history.  

So, rather than my words, this morning’s reflection, which follows uses her own. Words of wisdom drawn from just some of the public statements and Christmas Broadcasts (CB) she gave over her long reign. Please do take a sheet away with you to reflect on these words further.