Archbishop Bernard Longley's homily:
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, dear friends: just a month ago I was attending Evensong in St Paul’s Cathedral – not, as you might suppose, in London but in Melbourne, Australia. My reason for being so far away was to take part in the work of ARCIC, the international dialogue to which the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church have now been committed for more than fifty years.
The Anglican Co-Chairman, Archbishop Philip Freier had just retired as the Archbishop of Melbourne and we wanted to conclude our work on a new Agreed Statement, about moral decision-making, in his home city. Evensong offers a pattern of prayer towards the end of the day which makes its participants, whether Anglican or otherwise, feel at home in any part of the world.
And tonight, here in Lichfield Cathedral, we also have that sense of being at home - in prayer with not only our dear friends but more importantly united in faith with our brothers and sisters though our baptism in Jesus Christ and in the power of his Holy Spirit. I know that I speak for Bishop Timothy Menezes, Canon Brian McGinley, Canon Dominic Cosslett and Mgr Anthony Wilcox from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham in thanking you for that sense of belonging which you always foster here in Lichfield.
Our relationship has been strengthened by the presence of St Chad’s relic, solemnly translated here and placed in its new and beautiful shrine in 2022, thanks to the heartfelt vision of Bishop Michael, the practical and spiritual support of Dean-Emeritus Adrian and under the watchful care ever since of Bishop Jan as Dean. St Chad’s mission to gather together the disciples of Christ has continued in the See which he founded so long ago.
In this magnificent and ancient cathedral, I am conscious of the friendship I enjoy with Bishop Michael as he walks in the footsteps of St Chad. We are committed together to doing all that we can as bishops to lead those we serve into the one fold of Christ.
As Christians from traditions that have followed divergent pathways, we nevertheless share a kinship and have an affection for the saints. Our common faith has its own roots in their work and their missionary achievements. St Chad reminds us of the bonds of faith that hold us in a genuine communion with one another, despite the development of our different traditions, and of the responsibility we have to pray and work for the unity of the Church.
There is much that we can learn in our own time through the story of St Chad about the Church’s mission and our task of evangelization. Although we are separated from his time by nearly thirteen centuries we still recognise the essential elements of our faith in Christ that we share with St Chad and the Church of his day.
Peter Walker’s evocative and inviting statue of St Chad, blessing the city from the east end of the cathedral and holding the Lichfield Gospels, reminds us that the whole of his life was a pilgrimage of faith - out of familiar territory and into the unknown. From his earliest days he was no stranger to travel and the early influences on his life came from other pilgrim saints - especially St Aiden of Lindisfarne. Although the Celtic monks belonged to monastic communities, they were expected to travel the countryside preaching and teaching wherever they were made welcome.
St Chad was on the road much of his life, and this wandering characteristic of his life as a monk and then as bishop, holds a lesson for us today. It betokens an attentiveness to the voice of God, the promptings of the Holy Spirit, calling him from place to place for the spread of the Gospel and the good of the Church. It also demonstrates a personal flexibility and a desire to put God’s will first.
We need to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to learn where our presence and our Christian witness are needed today. We need to be flexible like St Chad, to be able to turn to the next task for the sake of the Gospel without becoming too settled or comfortable.
We thank God for the heritage of faith that we have received through St Chad. We pray that our faith may grow as “pilgrims into hope”, until we come to celebrate the eternal banquet, together with St Chad and with all the saints.