Homily given by Rt Revd Br Stuart Burns, OSB on the occasion of the dedication of the new statue of Our Lady of Tintern, Sunday 9th September 2007, Tintern Abbey
Jesus went missing. Mary and Joseph searched for him for three days. It seems that the last place they thought of looking for him was the Temple.
Throughout our society there is a groundswell of interest in things spiritual. It’s a bit of a generalisation, but, whereas back in the 1980s folk were ridiculed for being interested in spirituality, it’s now much more kosher and is manifesting itself in a whole range of what are called the ‘new spiritualities’. What is patently obvious is that the last place most folk are looking for spirituality is the local church, and that is both a huge indictment and sadness … and in many cases very, very understandable.
The truth is that the institutional church as we know it, of whatever denomination, is in a mess ~ many would say that it needs to die before it can live.
At the last Congress of Benedictine Abbots in Rome, Abbot Bernardo, the Abbot General of the Cistercians came to greet us. He said,
The truly Benedictine-Cistercian monastic is becoming a rare bird in danger of extinction in many parts of the North Atlantic Western World. I think he would have done well not to limit what he said to monastics. I think it applies equally to the Church in general. Be that as it may, he went on: As we stand in front of this fact, we are faced with two possibilities: to begin to sing our swan-song and die, OR to re-evangelise the depths of our lives and renew. I have decided on the second, he said, and I have come to share my hope with you.
As we meet in the ruins of this great Cistercian Abbey I feel a great hope that the renewal Abbot Bernardo spoke of is not only possible but is already happening.
We are meeting here, Christians of many traditions along with other seekers, to pray ~ to allow God to work on us ~ and also to dedicate a sculpture that we hope will point the way to many others who come here in the future.
Perhaps it would be good to pause for a moment to realise how much things have changed in the last 50 years. When I was a boy I spent a good deal of time staying with my granny. She was a well-corseted Scots Presbyterian. The only other child of my age in the neighbourhood was Thelma next door. We instinctively liked each other, but I was forbidden to play with her because she was a Roman Catholic! Whenever I was really naughty, the worst thing my granny could threaten me with was that “a Catholic would come and get me”. I can’t begin to imagine what she would have made of this occasion, but nor can I help contrasting the hope and joy of today with what must have been the heart-rending sadness as the old statue was decapitated and smashed and the monks dispersed in 1536. To see us all here filling their church must surely be giving them great joy, and I hope it’s a joy my granny can now share in!
We are here as a great crowd, but these walls speak of the silence and the mystery of God, and those who ponder this sculpture will be pointed towards silence ~ the silence of Mary as she holds the Word incarnate and suggests ‘Listen to my son’.
‘Listen’ ~ the first word of St Benedict’s Rule. ‘Listen attentively, with the ear of your heart.’ And if we are going to do that, then we have to silence some of the noisiness of our lives as the monks who lived here all those centuries ago had to.
‘Learn to be silent. Listen to the familiar words of the gospel with fresh ears, as if Jesus is speaking them for the first time, and allow them to find their home in our life.’ ‘Listen ~ become aware – more and more aware of the wonders of God’s creation: the vastness of our universe … which, the astronomers tell us, is only one of many, … and, by contrast, ponder the complexity of the eye of a wren, the delicacy of a spider’s web, not to mention the mind-blowing way the internet works. Just as the astronomers are only beginning to be aware of the vastness of space, so the scientists are just beginning to scratch the surface of life on earth , for example, DNA … but they are all revealing levels of reality our ancestors never imagined … and yet, and yet, with all this fresh knowledge, so many of us seem to live very much on the surface of life, not taking time to stand and stare, either at the night sky or at the beauty of a dandelion growing in a pavement, or the intricacy of a spider’s web.
As I read the article about the new statue in the ‘Monmouthshire Country Life’ I began to realise what a shift there has been over the centuries. The article says, “Following the dissolution, the abbey was stripped and plundered of its fallen stone and it wasn’t until the late 1700s that landscape and ancient buildings became interesting to people.
Early tourists started coming to Tintern. This led to people realising that buildings such as the abbey needed to be conserved.”
And thank God they did, but I suspect they did so little realising just what an important role such places were going to play in the 21st century. As I said, just as Mary and Joseph didn’t seem to think of looking in the Temple for Jesus, the last place most people who are looking for spiritual help turn to is the local church and organised religion …. But they do come to places like this, and to the cathedrals – places where there is space, places which speak of the numinous, of the majesty and the mystery of God.
They come by the coach-load – as tourists and sight-seers … or are they seekers and pilgrims? Some are; some aren’t. They also come here on foot, on their bicycles, through the beauty of this valley …. And as they do, many must wonder about the meaning of creation and of life itself. They arrive in a state of openness to the mystery of it all, and come into these amazing ruins. Who lived here? What were they about? What drew them? What excited them sufficiently to give their lives in this place and to build on such a vast scale?
… And for answer ~~ ? - Silence. The occasional calling of the birds, and recently, the tap tapping of Philip as he has worked on the new statue … and silence. A silence that seems able to absorb the noise of the other tourists ~ or are they pilgrims, albeit unwitting pilgrims?
But how to ‘be’ in this silence. So many are drawn to it, but don’t know how to ‘be’ in it. How simply to be still and open. And they sometimes need help.
[I’m reminded of some friends of mine, who would claim no Christian experience or allegiance, who visited Tewkesbury Abbey some years ago. They went in because it was raining and they had an hour or so to kill before meeting up with some friends for lunch. As they wandered round they began to read some of the beautifully simple cards explaining the various places and artefacts … and how they might be used devotionally.
Quite naturally they found themselves lighting a candle for their daughter who was expecting her first baby that week, and remembering their neighbour who had just died. It was only later that they realised – to their great surprise – how they had been taken into the atmosphere of the place, and opened up in wonder. The little cards of explanation had been of enormous help … but so had the obvious fact that it was a place where worship and prayer were still very much its business.]
And this is what is so good about what is happening here today. As I said, these walls speak of the silence and mystery of God ~ but people often need help in engaging with that. Today we dedicate the statue which Philip Chatfield has so beautifully carved: a new statue - which alerts those who may not have thought about it, that Christianity is still alive in this place. It’s a statue which will point those who take time to ponder it, to something of the deep realities of human life and experience. And perhaps one of the most important things for those of us who are here today to get hold of is the invitation to us to stop and ponder.
Over the centuries the Church has wandered from the Gospel. In so many ways it has failed to take on board the significance of what Jesus was trying to communicate to his disciples: the unconditional, inclusive love of God for the whole of his creation – including every human being of whatever race, colour or creed, and instead the message of Jesus’ life has been distorted and made into an exclusive religion.
The Prophet Mohammed saw this and believed he was called to correct the distortions. The current rapid growth of Islam in Europe invites us – or should I say challenges us? – to try to take a fresh look at Jesus’ life and teaching. So does the fact that we are so much more aware of creation than our ancestors were. Those old monks firmly believed that the earth was flat and that the sun and the stars revolved round it. Heaven was ‘up there’ and hell was ‘down there’. … and so much of the imagery and language we use in our worship perpetuates such beliefs. No wonder so many folk regard church-goers as dinosaurs.
Have we really understood what Jesus was trying to tell us? How clear are we about what the Good News is for people of this generation? How best can we live it? [~ because live it we must if others are to believe it!]
As we stop and ponder the new statue, we will meet the silence, the humility, the obedience of Mary ~ we, too, are invited to grow in those qualities. And then Mary’s invitation to us: “Listen to my son. Listen freshly ~ and do – live – whatever he tells you.”
It’s back to basics, and as we try to listen, and listen together, and together try to discern the essence of what Jesus is telling us – both in his teaching and in the way he lived and related to people – as we try to put into practice what we discern, a very different style of Church may well emerge ~ much humbled, much poorer in material terms, much more aware of the wonder of the creation we have been born into and more ready to care for it and for each other. Perhaps much more grateful for so much of what we now take so much for granted … and much freer to love generously and to allow ourselves to be loved and to be moulded, sculpted, by the Spirit into what we are needed to be in and for our generation as were the monks of old for theirs
Our prayer is that we will have the courage to stop and be silent; to ponder Our Lady and allow her to point us to her Son. “Listen to him! ~ And so whatever he tells you.”
I finish be reading a poem someone in London wrote last month after her daughter returned from a visit to Tintern, excited by the work she had watched Philip doing. She sent me a copy, not knowing that I would be here, let alone preaching.
Our Lady of Tintern by Dannie Newsome
Lady of Tintern
we come to proclaim
the wonder and joy
of your Son’s saving name:
Lady of Tintern
we thank you and bless
the courage and grace
which made you say ‘Yes’.
Yes to salvation
for all of our race,
Yes to rebirth
in a heavenly place;
Yes to the end
of pain and despair,
Yes to a life
of love and true care.
Lady of Tintern
we come to proclaim
the wonder and joy
of your Son’s saving name:
Lady of Tintern
we bless you again;
let heaven and earth
ring out the Amen.