Given at the National Mass for Altar Servers in Westminster Cathedral on the feast day of St Thérèse of Lisieux, 1st October 2022
It is good to be able to gather again to celebrate the National Mass for Altar Servers after the disruption of the COVID pandemic. I am aware that many who had hoped to travel here today are unable to do so because of the travel difficulties. We miss their presence and pray for them.
I am sure that for many of the younger servers, this will be your first visit to the cathedral and hope it will be the first of many. This is your home and I hope you always feel welcome here. I remember when I was eight years old, and beginning as an altar server, my aunt brought me to the cathedral and we climbed the tower for a view over London. How different it will be today! As a child, I don’t think I had ever been in such a beautiful and large building. This left me with a lasting memory which I treasure. I recall later being in the cathedral on the visit of St John Paul II in 1982 and can remember where I was sitting. Much later my ordination as a bishop brought together all these different memories and prayers. I hope you remember this visit and it helps you grow in your faith in Jesus and God’s love. I know that those of you who are older will have memories of your many visits to the cathedral and know the many prayers which are offered here every day.
To serve at the altar is a wonderful calling and privilege. You are close to the priest during the celebration of the Mass and assist him as servants of Jesus. When we serve with dignity of presence and love, then we lead others in their prayer so that they can focus on Jesus Christ, hear the readings attentively, and receive Holy Communion with love and reverence. Your serving is an important witness of your faith and love of Jesus to other young people. Of course, it is not easy to be an altar server. It means making sacrifices to attend and not do other things. Being a server also can mean facing opposition, especially in teenage years, when others may criticise you or mock you because you go to Mass and serve. This is unfair but requires courage to stand up for what you know is right and good. I encourage you to be faithful to serving and to persevere, especially when it is difficult. It will make you courageous and ready to stand up for your faith.
Today we gather under our patron, St Stephen. Behind me to your left, you may just see the mosaic of St. Stephen, the first martyr. It was installed in 2013 and reminds us of St Stephen praying for us. I am sure that you know his story very well. He was filled with grace and power and guided by the Holy Spirit. He spoke passionately and convincingly about Jesus, his message of forgiveness and the promise of eternal life. His life and witness to Jesus led to him being stoned to death. In all this, Stephen trusted in the Lord and praised God. We are told that Saul, the future St Paul, watched this happen and, in haunting words, ‘approved of it’. I often think that Saul must have remembered the calm and forgiving face of St Stephen as he died, and later understood the love of God which had shone out from it. Maybe he remembered that moment when he was knocked from his horse on the road to Damascus. The radiant face of St Stephen reminds us that it is the little signs and actions of love which change people and bring them closer to Christ.
You may also see, as you look to the right, the mosaic of St Laurence the Deacon who served the Church in Rome. The emperor who persecuted the Christians asked Laurence to bring the wealth of the Church, all its gold and silver, to him for his own use. Over three days St Laurence gathered the sick, the poor, and the weakest people, and brought them to the emperor. He told him that these people are the treasures of the Church. The emperor was infuriated and had Laurence martyred by roasting him to death. He reminds us that the treasure of the Church are the poor.
There are two mosaics which you are unable to see. Only those serving on the sanctuary can see them and they are on the pillars facing the altar. They are very special to the bishops, priests, and the servers. On the left-hand side as you look up from the nave, behind the pillar, is the mosaic of St Thérèse of Lisieux, the little flower, whose feast we celebrate today. Through her deep and intimate friendship with Jesus in prayer, she came to understand that her mission was to model the love of Jesus in her love towards all she met. She spoke of being ‘love at the heart of the Church’ and teaches about the way in which love triumphs. She continues to pray for the Church in heaven.
On the other side there is the mosaic of the humble St John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, who rebuilt the life of the church in the small French village where he was sent by his bishop. He spent hours in the confessional forgiving sins. In the same way in this great cathedral, many people come and queue here to make their confessions and receive the healing of forgiveness from their sins.
These four saints, our friends in heaven, are with us as we celebrate this Mass for the Altar Servers and celebrate the feast of St Thérèse of Lisieux. St Stephen speaks to us of courage, St Laurence the care of the poor, St Thérèse of prayer, and St John Vianney of the mercy of God we find in confession. May we become their friends and ask for their help in our lives.
St Stephen, pray for us.
St Laurence, pray for us.
St Thérèse of Lisieux, pray for us.
St John Vianney, pray for us.
Bishop John Sherrington
Photo: Bishop John Sherrington at his episcopal ordination (Mazur/CBCEW.org.uk)