Celebrating St Peter and St Paul

Please note:

This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.

It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.

Morning Prayer - Sunday June 29th

Saints Peter and Paul, apostles

Opening announcement from Continuity: BBC Radio 4. At ten past eight it’s time to go live to St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bradford for a service of Morning Prayer.. The service is led by the parish priest Fr John Newman and begins as Bradford Catholic Youth Choir sing words Jesus said about St Peter – You are the Rock and on this Rock I will build my Church – Tu es Petrus.

Introit

Chant Tu es Petrus [0’30”]

O God, come to our aid. [1’]

ALL: O Lord, make haste to help us.

Glory be to the Father...Amen. Alleluia

FATHER JOHN:

Today is the Feast of the saints, Peter and Paul. Welcome to our service of worship and praise from the heart of Bradford. There’s been a church on this site since the 1880s, and throughout all of its life the congregation has been multicultural, first with a large Irish community, others later from Poland and the Ukraine and also in the 1960s from the West Indies: all became a vital part of our parish.

Today’s congregation numbers about 600 from across much of Europe, as well as Africa, Asia, the Philippines and the West Indies. It’s a wonderful reminder of God’s loving call to all people to live in the unity and peace that is His gift. The congregational singing is led by members of Bradford Catholic Junior Choir and Huddersfield Boys’ and Girls’ Choirs – all part of the Diocese of Leeds Schools Singing Programme - the largest church music programme for young people in the country. They lead our first hymn now “Let the round world with songs rejoice.”

Hymn

Let the round world with songs rejoice (Deus tuorum militum) [2’30”]

Let the round world

V1 Let the round world... [full]

V2 Ye servants who once bore the light... [SA]

V3 O God, by whom to them was given...[TB] (essential because of reference to the key of heaven)

V6 To God the Father... [Full]

FATHER JOHN:

Our preacher this morning is Fr Tim Byron. Fr Tim is the Catholic Chaplain to the Universities in Manchester and a member of the Society of Jesus, a Jesuit Priest. He also writes a blog called Schola Affectus or The School of the Heart.

FR TIM BYRON:

This Feast of St Peter and St Paul is a time when Catholics think about and pray for St Peter’s spiritual successor –Pope Francis. We are all aware of the ‘Francis Effect’ - Why is he so popular? Partly because his leadership has gripped the imagination of many people. Very few global figures are seen to have the integrity that Francis has – the simplicity of his life – his refusal to be surrounded by bodyguards, or to travel first class, to distance himself from ordinary people like so many V.I.P’s do. Every Wednesday when there’s a papal audience – he plunges into the crowds – kissing babies, hugging those who come to the audience with obvious disabilities …. Children reach out for him…. The young flock to have selfies with him - The poor are drawn to him and every Wednesday these photographs are put on facebook, twitter, Instagram, and go viral. Perhaps it’s ironic that this Pope – who certainly hasn’t welcomed celebrity – is actually gaining celebrity because his very integrity and simplicity of life points way from himself to Christ – and gives people a measure of hope in a cynical tired world. So this morning I’m going to explore the Jesuit spirituality and prayer life that’s formed him and made him the kind of person he is.

FATHER JOHN:

Morning Prayer is based on the ancient monastic office of Lauds, and finds its origins in the worship of the early Apostolic Church – a service based on the recitation of the psalms. This morning Bradford Catholic Youth Choir sing the psalms and canticles set for today’s service. Each of these is framed by an antiphon – a short response which encourages faith and links the words of the Old Testament with those of the New. Psalm 149’s antiphon takes the words of St. Paul ‘I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.’

Psalmody

I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.

Psalm 149 [1’30”]

Sing a new song to the Lord, his praise in the assembly of the faithful.

Let Israel rejoice in its maker, let Zion’s sons exult in their king.

Let them praise his name with dancing and make music with timbrel and harp.

For the Lord takes delight in his people. He crowns the poor with salvation.

Let the faithful rejoice in their glory, shout for joy and take their rest.

Let the praise of God be on their lips and a two-edged sword in their hand,

to deal out vengeance to the nations and punishment on all the peoples;

to bind their kings in chains and their nobles in fetters of iron;

to carry out the sentence pre-ordained; this honor is for all his faithful.

Glory be...

I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.

FATHER JOHN:

The Collect for the Feast of the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul

O God, who on the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul

give us the noble and holy joy of this day,

grant, we pray, that your Church

may in all things follow the teaching

of those through whom she received

the beginnings of right religion.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

ALL: Amen.

FATHER JOHN:

We’re listening in the psalms and canticles to the recitation of holy scripture, and in a moment we’ll hear the word of God in the New Testament read and then preached. But first the Benedicite is an ancient canticle taking verses from Daniel 3 and Psalm 148 in praise of Creation – ‘O all you works of the Lord, O bless the Lord.’

ANTIPHON:

The grace of God in me has not been fruitless; rather, his grace remains with me always.

Canticle [4’30”]

O all you works of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.
And you, angels of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

And you, the heavens of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
And you, clouds of the sky, O bless the Lord.
And you, all armies of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

And you, sun and moon, O bless the Lord.
And you, the stars of the heavens, O bless the Lord.
And you, showers and rain, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

And you, all you breezes and winds, O bless the Lord.
And you, fire and heat, O bless the Lord.
And you, cold and heat, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

And you, showers and dew, O bless the Lord.
And you, frosts and cold, O bless the Lord.
And you, frost and snow, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

And you, night-time and day, O bless the Lord.
And you, darkness and light, O bless the Lord.
And you, lightning and clouds, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

O let the earth bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

And you, mountains and hills, O bless the Lord.
And you, all plants of the earth, O bless the Lord.
And you, fountains and springs, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

And you, rivers and seas, O bless the Lord.
And you, creatures of the sea, O bless the Lord.
And you, every bird in the sky, O bless the Lord.
And you, wild beasts and tame, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

And you, children of men, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

O Israel, bless the Lord, O bless the Lord.
And you, priests of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
And you, servants of the Lord, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

And you, spirits and souls of the just, O bless the Lord.
And you, holy and humble of heart, O bless the Lord.
Ananias, Azarias, Mizael, O bless the Lord.
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.

Let us praise the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit:
To him be highest glory and praise for ever.
May you be blessed, O Lord, in the heavens:
To you be highest glory and praise for ever.

The grace of God in me has not been fruitless; rather, his grace remains with me always.

READER:
A reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians

God, who had set me apart from the time when I was in my mother's womb, called me through his grace and chose to reveal his Son in me, so that I should preach him to the gentiles, I was in no hurry to confer with any human being, or to go up to Jerusalem to see those who were already apostles before me. Instead, I went off to Arabia, and later I came back to Damascus. Only after three years did I go up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas. I stayed fifteen days with him but did not set eyes on any of the rest of the apostles, only James, the Lord's brother. I swear before God that what I have written is the truth. After that I went to places in Syria and Cilicia; and was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judaea which are in Christ, they simply kept hearing it said, 'The man once so eager to persecute us is now preaching the faith that he used to try to destroy,’ and they gave glory to God for me.

The Word of the Lord.
ALL: Thanks be to God.

Hymn: City of God how broad and Far.

V1 City of God... [full unis]

V2 One holy Church...[full harmony]

V3 How purely hath thy speech...[SA / TB split at half verse] (can be cut if necessary)

V5 In vain the surge's angry shock...[full unis]

FATHER JOHN:

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of man is?'

And they said, 'Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.'

'But you,' he said, 'who do you say I am?'

 Then Simon Peter spoke up and said, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

 Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a blessed man! Because it was no human agency that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven.

 So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of the underworld can never overpower it.

 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'

The Gospel of the Lord.

ALL: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ

Homily – Fr Tim Byron

In a culture that can seem obsessed with celebrity, that even grades them A-List, B-List etc. - the church celebrates today two of our foremost saints…. Saints Peter and Paul have been called the indispensable men of the early church, Peter with the unique authority that Jesus conferred to him, as we heard in today's Gospel, Petrus the Rock who is given the keys to heaven, on which Jesus says I will build my church – and Paul the great missionary who first takes the News of the Risen Christ to those outside of the Jewish community. It may be fitting in these days of the World Cup to compare them to a defensive and attacking midfielder, Peter anchoring the team built around him and Paul making ranging runs into the opponent’s box. Different roles, and as any team knows, there may be tensions between their star players, but if that energy can be harnessed and becomes a creative tension, if the egos (and perhaps I should say teeth!) can be kept in check and when we’re playing for the team not for ourselves, when we remember it’s God's Kingdom rather than our own we’re building – these different but complementary roles can become great channels of grace. Peter and Paul certainly had their differences, notably Paul rebukes Peter in his Letter to the Galatians, for Peter’s decision to stop eating with Gentiles to appease the hardliners in the early church. But Paul always ultimately deferred to the senior apostle. Both were to die a martyr’s death in Rome, sometime in the AD 60's, Peter reputedly crucified upside down in the area of Rome known as the Vatican Circus, and Paul beheaded.

Ever since then Catholics believe that the leadership of Peter has continued down the years in the Popes, some saintly men, others certainly not – and these saints and sinners have exercised what we call the Petrine ministry. It‘s been a great scandal and a great sadness that this Petrine ministry has become a source of division for so many Christians – so much so that Pope John Paul II appealed to all Christians to help him explore how the Petrine ministry could be at service to unity..... a crucial question that we have to take seriously. We can see the damage that inter-religious feuding can wreak, looking at the painful history in our islands, but also now in the poisonous conflict between the Sunni and the Shi'ite. It is clear after Pope Francis’ recent visit to the Middle East that he, following in the footsteps of John Paul II, wants his role to be at service to unity. He surprised the world with his invitation to both the Presidents of Israel and Palestine to join him for prayer – and it was great to see how quickly they responded, joining him in prayer in the Vatican Gardens and giving people a new hope and a new dream of peace.

Jorge Bergoglio, Pope Francis – was never meant to be Pope. He’s a Jesuit like me , and when he took his final vows, he took private vows never to seek authority or status in the Church or within our Order - Jesuits call it 'ambitioning' and it’s strictly forbidden, as St Ignatius – the founder of the Jesuits saw clerical ambition as one of the main sources of corruption in the Church.

In the influential Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius we are asked at one point to meditate on how power, wealth and honour can in a very subtle but deadly way undermine our commitment to be disciples of Jesus. So Pope Francis has an inbuilt aversion to careerism in the church…… so how did he become a bishop – let alone sit on the Chair of Peter? Because as a Jesuit he has also promised special obedience to the Pope – which took priority when first he was asked by the Pope to be a Bishop in Argentina – and then was elected Pope by his peers.

I think the other key to understand him is to understand the significance of the Spiritual Exercises. Jesuit training is called formation – it often lasts for longer that ten years, but the key experience of that formation is a 30 day silent retreat called the Spiritual Exercises. This is a programme written and honed by St Ignatius which is split into Four Parts. Each day is split into 5 hour long slots of prayer – interspersed with mass and also a daily meeting with their spiritual director. The four parts –are referred to as ’weeks’, although the Director decides how long is spent in each week – for some it can be a couple of days, for others it can be up to ten or more days. For each week there is a grace that is being prayed for and series of meditations which are leading towards that grace. To understand Pope Francis is to see someone who is profoundly marked by the grace of the first week – which is a gentle, but deep and honest assessment of life, warts and all. And then it is when we honestly look at our mistakes, at how we’ve hurt others and inspite of all of that – we are still loved unconditionally – that our life changes. It happened to me and I am sure it happened to Pope Francis. Somehow this sense of being loved in spite of all my messiness – and my sinfulness, as well as being a healing experience it unlocks a great compassion in us. And more that his simplicity, and his integrity people sense a deep compassion there. And I think there is wonderful parallel with Peter there – who denied Christ three times and was forgiven three times. Both are leaders who made mistakes early on and have encountered a Risen Christ who is only compassionate.

 Francis is a man who knows he made many mistakes as young Jesuit – who was thrust into authority at a young age in a toxic political situation in Argentina – the Dirty War. Through the spiritual exercises he has faced up to this, his mistakes, his weakness, and has experienced that like St Peter – even though he is frail, God still loves him. He often describes himself as a loved sinner – and someone who has experience of the mercy of God, becomes more and more compassionate themselves. The courage to go deeply into silence – to honestly assess one’s life and to experience the love of God – as happens so often in the Spiritual Exercises – gives one great freedom – freedom from fear, and also great compassion. These graces are not instantly available – they take commitment to prayer, the courage to seek silence and the wisdom of a Spiritual Guide.

So what about us? As we remember how the risen Jesus undoes Peter’s threefold denial – by offering Peter the chance to express his love three times ….. so we too are offered that same encounter with the unlimited mercy of God. Only this encounter can change hearts and change minds – and an increasingly angry world is thirsting for this. Let us, like St Peter, and Pope Francis dedicate our lives to sharing this compassion…..Let us be the blessing which Zecharia recognised was coming from God in Jesus: ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: for he hath visited and redeemed his people.’

Benedictus [+ antiphon – Simon Peter said ‘Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; we believe and we know that you are Christ, the Son of God.’ Alleluia’.] – Philip Moore

Intercessions – Different voices please.

We pray to Christ who built his Church on the rock, and sent his apostles as witnesses to his victory over death:

– Lord, be with your Church.

You prayed that the faith of Peter might not fail:

strengthen and sustain the faith of your Church.

– Lord, be with your Church.

When you had risen from the dead you appeared to Peter and revealed yourself to Paul:

help us to live in the power of your resurrection.

– Lord, be with your Church.

You chose Paul to proclaim your good news to the nations:

like him, may we be committed to spreading the truths of your gospel.

– Lord, be with your Church.

Peter denied you, but your love drew him back to you:

whatever we have done in the past, keep us close to your merciful love.

– Lord, be with your Church

Our Father, who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name;

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive those who trespass against us;

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil.

(Amen?)

Fr JOHN:

Our closing music is a joyous and energetic setting of the Hundred and fiftieth psalm – “Alleluia! Praise God in his holy place, praise him in the heavenly vault of his power.” The Latin text is set to music by the Brazilian composer Ernani Aguiar.

Motet

Salmo 150, Aguiar [2’30]

Concluding prayer and blessing

May Almighty God bless you,

for he has made you steadfast in St Peter’s saving confession

and through it has set you on the solid rock of the Church’s faith.

Amen.

And having instructed you

by the tireless preaching of St Paul,

may God teach you constantly by his example

to win brothers and sisters for Christ.

Amen.

So that by the keys of St Peter and the words of St Paul,

and by the support of their intercession,

God may bring us happily to that homeland

that Peter attained on a cross

and Paul by the blade of a sword.

Amen

And may the blessing of Almighty God,

the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

come down on you and remain with you for ever.

Amen.

Hymn

For all the saints (Sine Nomine) [4’30” - 8vv]

V1 For all the Saints...[full unis]

V2 Thou wast their Rock...[TB]

V4 O blest communion!...[full harmony] (can be cut if necessary)

V8 From earth's wide bounds...[full unison]

Total music time c 23’ (probably too long)

CLOSING ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CONTINUITY:
Sunday Worship came live from St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Bradford. The preacher was Father Tim Byron SJ and the service was led by the Parish Priest Fr John Newman. The choirs were directed by Thomas Leach and the organist was Daniel Justin. The producer was Philip Billson.

BBC Radio 2 is looking for it’s Young Choristers of the Year 2014 – details can be found on the Radio 2 website.

Next week’s Sunday Worship comes live from St Mary’s Church Warwick and reflects on how faith needs to be informed by understanding and wisdom.