Homily given for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the 175th Anniversary of Farm Street Church
I am delighted to be part of this prayer of thanksgiving for the founding and life of this Church of The Immaculate Conception. A year of thanksgiving is coming to a close, 175 years since this church was formally opened in 1849. And we do well to offer a great prayer of thanks to our Heavenly Father for all the blessings and graces received here throughout those years.
The building of this beautiful church was an expression of the mission of the Society of Jesus. Through their preaching, spiritual guidance, confessional practice, social outreach and sponsorship of fine church music as an expression of cultural excellence the fathers of the Society drew many to the faith. And so a church initially built for 900 people has proved to be well used. Not until 1966 did this church become a parish church in the Diocese of Westminster, expanding its mission still further, as a place for both baptisms and weddings.
There has been much celebrated during this anniversary year.
Today we add to that thanksgiving, not only on the Patronal Feast Day of the church but also in the midst of the lovely season of Advent. Indeed, today we remember that Mary, the one conceived without the stain of original sin, is truly the woman of Advent, the one who teaches us how to wait for, expect, the coming of the Lord into our lives. We can learn from her today.
The Gospel presents to us the first of these lessons. In the moment of the Annunciation, we are right to imagine Mary at prayer. She could not have said: ‘Let it be done to me’ unless her heart and mind were constantly turned to the Lord. So too, in the familiar words of an Advent text, we pray that when he comes ‘he may find us watchful in prayer, and exultant in his praise’.
This practice of daily prayer, so sensitively promoted by the Ignatian tradition, is the first requirement for which we strive in our following of the Lord. May that practice be strengthened during this season of Advent and through the impetus of this anniversary.
The second lesson we are given by our heavenly Mother was beautifully expressed in the opening words of this Mass. ‘Gaudens gaudebo’, ‘I rejoice heartily in the Lord, in my God is the joy of my soul’, a direct echo of Mary’s great cry of joy: ‘magnificat anima mea’, the Magnificat. In the opening antiphon, the reasons for this joy are made clear. I rejoice because I have been ‘clothed in the robe of salvation’. It was bestowed at baptism. I have been ‘wrapped in the mantle of justice’. In the power of the Holy Spirit, I long for that justice to fill the earth. It was the gift of transforming grace that filled Mary with joy. And so, it is for each one of us too.
The third lesson is implicit in the first two. The impetus of prayer and the overspilling of joy in all that we have received, leads us, if we are willing, into the great cry of praise of God who is the source of all. To be caught up in the praise of God is our highest calling. There is no greater fulfilment for which we have been created. To praise God is our true purpose. It is the finest jewel in our life. And so, in the words of the entrance antiphon, Mary is praised for her beauty: ‘like a bride adorned with her jewels’ for Mary’s praise, offered in humility of heart, is the finest of all.
To be alert to God in our daily prayer, to be filled with joy, to know the wonder of praising God at all times: these are the lessons of this great Feast and the fruit of this beautiful church in all its ministry. We rejoice in this anniversary, thanking God for all who have prayed here, who have opened their hearts to God here, who have walked from the Church with a renewed joy. We thank God for all who have exercised ministry here, adding depth to prayer, exuberance to joy and beauty to every act of praise.
But there is another line from a recent Gospel text that returns to my mind at this point. It comes at the moment when the disciples are returning from their mission, and rejoicing in all their achievements. Perhaps just as we are now. Yet, without spoiling their joy, Jesus says to them: ‘Rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven’ (Luke 10:20).
This is the true perspective that we must sustain. In the second reading, St Paul opens up this vast horizon for us: ‘Before the world was made, he chose us in Christ’…. ‘determining that we should become his adopted sons’… ‘to make us praise the glory of his grace’.... ‘for in him we were claimed as God’s own.’
This, then, is the perspective we must keep fresh, amidst both these celebrations and the brokenness of our world. It is in this perspective that we can sing today, with greater clarity than ever, the hymn chosen to accompany our bringing our lives to this altar in the Offertory Procession. We sing to Mary, proclaiming her as our Patron, with the wonderful words of the hymn ‘Holy Light on Earth’s Horizon’ (Fr Edward Caswall) published in 1849, 175 years ago. These words, along with this church, have lost nothing of their rich appeal which today we embrace afresh.
Holy light on earth’s horizon
Star of hope to fallen man
Mary,
Promised from the dawn of time
Mary,
Sun and moon and stars adorn you
Mary,
pledge of life divine.
May our prayer, our joy, our praise, along with our hope of heaven, be enriched this day and in all the days to come, in this church, a most precious place for which we give great thanks.
Amen.