Sermon preached by Fr Chris Wedge at a Sung Eucharist for the Feast of St Herefrith
St James’ Church, Louth 28 February 2021: Prayer, Grace and Mercy
Almost 1200 years ago Vikings were invading the area all around us. Churches and monasteries were places of wealth, there would be gold and silver as well as precious manuscripts to be stolen. Our very own Richard Gurnham tells is in his book about early Louth that the Vikings’ principal targets were religious communities, many monasteries had accumulated treasures and some monks and nuns were of high rank whose families were prepared to pay ransoms if they were taken captive.
On this very site Louth Monastery stood, it was the home to Herefrith a simple monk who had also been Bishop of Lindsey. It is believed that Herefrith died on February 27th in one such Viking raid and today we keep his feast day. The church which replaced the monastery was dedicated to him long before Saint James was ever thought of as a dedication for the main church of Louth. Herefrith was a martyr, his blood was shed on the cold earth beneath your feet and a shrine was built to his memory, pilgrims came from far and wide to pray at his grave and eventually the monks of Thorney in Cambridgeshire stole his bones and by cover of night transported them to their own monastery to increase its status as a place of holiness and pilgrimage.
Some of the music we hear today is like that which would have been known by Herefrith and sung by him in his monastic church.
After the Reformation Louth forgot about Herefrith, his memory faded, life moved on, his monastery and shrine were consigned to long forgotten history but Herefrith was one of us, he was a son of this town, he walked our streets, he saw the landscape that we see and he prayed to God where we pray. We are his successors; we follow in his footsteps as we keep the flame of faith alive in this place. And that is why, a year ago, we established the Confraternity of Saint Herefrith, a community of men and women united in daily prayer in the tradition of our beloved saint.
Herefrith was a holy man, a monk and a Bishop. He died a martyr’s death and pilgrims honoured his life, were inspired by his example and prayed for his eternal rest and peace. Today, we too remember Herefrith, we call upon his name in our prayers, we imagine his voice united with that of all the saints of heaven and we know that he prays for us in the household of God. Herefrith is our saint and today we honour him.
Our Gospel for today speaks of taking up our cross and following Christ. Jesus invites the disciples to give up everything in order to follow him in the adventure of faith. He tells them to give up their life in order to gain their fullest life, to live the life of abundance we hear about in John’s Gospel. Herefrith knew the meaning of today’s Gospel, he studied it, he taught it, he preached it and he lived it. Herefrith took up his cross and spilt his blood for the good news of Christ.
But what does all of this mean for you and I? Is the life of Saint Herefrith and the message of Lent simply ancient history, a set of interesting ideas and events from long ago? Or is it a window into our life of faith? Is there a call in all of this for you and me from the God of love?
Herefrith was steeped in prayer. He prayed in his monastery seven times a day. He meditated on the scriptures, he prayed for the needs of his community, he read the lives of the saints and he
was nurtured by the sacrament of the Eucharist. Prayer was the pattern of his day. He lived his life close to God. The seasons of the church gave shape to his life and he desired to be holy. Herefrith knew that grace and mercy were gifts from God which were freely given and he knew that Christ is the one who carries the true cross, we are not called to be crucified and nailed to the cross, that is the calling of Christ alone. Herefrith knew that he was called to live his life close to Jesus, that his faith would be costly and that the adventure of being a disciple would lead to life everlasting and so it is for you and me.
In this Eucharist when we pray ‘Lord have mercy’ we are asking God to help us to carry our burdens. We are praying that God will lead us away from our sins, that his mercy will renew our lives and our souls and that we will travel from darkness to light.
It is only by the grace and mercy of God that we can become like Herefrith and grow in holiness. Grace and mercy are what drive us and fuel us, we can do nothing in our own strength and power. It is never through our own efforts that we are transformed into the people that we were made to be. We need grace, we need the power of the holy spirit and we need to trust that God calls us into the adventure of pilgrimage where he makes all things possible.
The cross is heavy, it is not a thing of beauty but an instrument of torture and execution. There is nothing pretty about the cross. It is marked by blood and suffering. If you have ever suffered, if you have ever known real pain in your life then this Gospel is for you. Christ knows the weight of your burdens; he knows that your cross is heavy and it causes you to stumble. It is in Christ that the weight of the cross is taken from us, he calls us to follow him and it is in following him that we can set our gaze on the cross and beyond it.
It is in the cross of Christ that mercy is made real. Jesus dies and rises again so that we need never die. This is God’s ultimate act of mercy, to save us from eternal death and the need to carry our crosses forever.
Prayer is the only answer to the burdens of our crosses. Everything else is secondary, a detail and a distraction. Prayer is our meaning, our purpose and our calling. Prayer changes everything and through prayer we are changed into the people God means us to be. There can be no change and no church without a people who are first renewed by prayer.
This Lent, pray united with Herefrith in the sure and certain knowledge that God will show his mercy to you and pray also that you may show mercy to those around you so that you can share the weight of the cross with the downtrodden and broken people of this world. We none of us can carry the cross on our own, we need to lift the weight together, we need to let Christ take the heavy load and we must know that Herefrith prays for us in heaven as together we walk the way of Jesus – the way of grace, the way of mercy. Thank God for Saint Herefrith. Amen.a holy man, a monk and a Bishop. He died a martyr’s death and pilgrims honoured his life, were inspired by his example and prayed for his eternal rest and peace. Today, we too remember Herefrith, we call upon his name in our prayers, we imagine his voice united with that of all the saints of heaven and we know that he prays for us in the household of God. Herefrith is our saint and today we honour him.
Our Gospel for today speaks of taking up our cross and following Christ. Jesus invites the disciples to give up everything in order to follow him in the adventure of faith. He tells them to give up their life in order to gain their fullest life, to live the life of abundance we hear about in John’s Gospel. Herefrith knew the meaning of today’s Gospel, he studied it, he taught it, he preached it and he lived it. Herefrith took up his cross and spilt his blood for the good news of Christ.
But what does all of this mean for you and I? Is the life of Saint Herefrith and the message of Lent simply ancient history, a set of interesting ideas and events from long ago? Or is it a window into our life of faith? Is there a call in all of this for you and me from the God of love?
Herefrith was steeped in prayer. He prayed in his monastery seven times a day. He meditated on the scriptures, he prayed for the needs of his community, he read the lives of the saints and he was nurtured by the sacrament of the Eucharist. Prayer was the pattern of his day. He lived his life close to God. The seasons of the church gave shape to his life and he desired to be holy. Herefrith knew that grace and mercy were gifts from God which were freely given and he knew that Christ is the one who carries the true cross, we are not called to be crucified and nailed to the cross, that is the calling of Christ alone. Herefrith knew that he was called to live his life close to Jesus, that his faith would be costly and that the adventure of being a disciple would lead to life everlasting and so it is for you and me.
In this Eucharist when we pray ‘Lord have mercy’ we are asking God to help us to carry our burdens. We are praying that God will lead us away from our sins, that his mercy will renew our lives and our souls and that we will travel from darkness to light.
It is only by the grace and mercy of God that we can become like Herefrith and grow in holiness. Grace and mercy are what drive us and fuel us, we can do nothing in our own strength and power. It is never through our own efforts that we are transformed into the people that we were made to be. We need grace, we need the power of the holy spirit and we need to trust that God calls us into the adventure of pilgrimage where he makes all things possible.
The cross is heavy, it is not a thing of beauty but an instrument of torture and execution. There is nothing pretty about the cross. It is marked by blood and suffering. If you have ever suffered, if you have ever known real pain in your life then this Gospel is for you. Christ knows the weight of your burdens; he knows that your cross is heavy and it causes you to stumble. It is in Christ that the weight of the cross is taken from us, he calls us to follow him and it is in following him that we can set our gaze on the cross and beyond it.
It is in the cross of Christ that mercy is made real. Jesus dies and rises again so that we need never die. This is God’s ultimate act of mercy, to save us from eternal death and the need to carry our crosses forever.
Prayer is the only answer to the burdens of our crosses. Everything else is secondary, a detail and a distraction. Prayer is our meaning, our purpose and our calling. Prayer changes everything and through prayer we are changed into the people God means us to be. There can be no change and no church without a people who are first renewed by prayer.
This Lent, pray united with Herefrith in the sure and certain knowledge that God will show his mercy to you and pray also that you may show mercy to those around you so that you can share the weight of the cross with the downtrodden and broken people of this world. We none of us can carry the cross on our own, we need to lift the weight together, we need to let Christ take the heavy load and we must know that Herefrith prays for us in heaven as together we walk the way of Jesus – the way of grace, the way of mercy. Thank God for Saint Herefrith. Amen.