30.03.2012
Sermon preached by The Very Revd Victor Stacey at his installation as Dean of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on 31 March 2012
1 Kings 3:7 “I am but a little child”.
That may seem a strange text on such an occasion as this, but that is how I feel. Forgetting chronological age, I am, today, as a little child, setting out, learning, growing. The words of the text are the words of Solomon. He has been called by God to succeed his father, David.
When God asks what gift he might give him he asks for ‘an understanding mind … that he might discern between good and evil.’ Solomon, who might have asked for other gifts, asked for the gift of wisdom, and is remembered as a great builder, amongst other achievements. We shall not pursue the analogy too far, because Solomon, like all of us, was a human being with good and bad characteristics, which led to his eventual ruin and the destruction of the nation.
Let us look instead to today’s liturgy. As does any liturgy, it speaks to each one of us in a variety of ways, embracing past, present and future.
Irish composers Stanford and Wood’s beautiful music is a link with the past.
The traditional Psalms appointed to be read at the installation of a Dean are about building. Psalm 84 begins “O how amiable are thy dwellings O Lord of hosts” – useful as we try to determine the purpose of a Cathedral, or any other house of God. And Psalm 133 “Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity” – the even more important task of building and maintaining human relationships.
Moving on to the first Lesson from the prophet Jeremiah (33: 10–16) – one usually noted for his pessimism, here he promises new life and hope.
He goes on to refer to the ‘voices of those who sing as they bring thanksgiving to the Lord’ giving credence to the fact that Cathedrals are, and should be places of good music.
The Gospel reading from that of St Mark is in two parts (10: 32–4, 46–52). The first part shows Jesus walking ahead of his disciples: He is walking purposefully toward Jerusalem knowing the fate that awaits him: prophesying his death and resurrection. That way is strewn with every human emotion – all human life is there – and we shall in heart and mind again follow that road from tomorrow Palm Sunday and throughout Holy Week. The second part of that Gospel reading is the curing of blind Bartimaeus inspiring us to vision and foresight.
Probably at this point you are expecting me to set out my stall – to indicate my priorities and hopes for this venerable building and its ministry. They will be brief and general because there is still that ‘little child’ making first, slow, tentative steps.
I am humbled and grateful to the chapter who elected me, and only hope I can prove worthy of the trust they have placed in me. Whether my tenure is long or short (only God knows), it will be very short in terms of the history of this place. I can only hope to build on the foundations laid by those who have gone before me. My sense of the enormity of the challenge and my inadequate qualifications for it has been abated somewhat by the huge number of messages of good will and prayerful support.
John Donne (17th century Dean of St Paul’s) whose anniversary it is today, said, ‘no man is an island’. And long before that, Moses received the advice of his father–in–law, when taking up a new job: “the thing is too heavy for you, you cannot do it alone”. (Ex 18: 18)
So this ministry under God must and will be a collaborative ministry.
The Chapter and Board have their responsibilities and are well up to the task. We are blessed with wonderful workers whose interest in the place goes beyond paid work. We could not survive without our friends and volunteers. St Patrick’s must enable and allow each to fulfil their ministry.
We have interests in our local area and in our schools. But how do we look beyond ourselves? How will we be perceived by others? What is our mission to the world? The answer to that is partly answered by the make–up of this congregation, representing as it does many facets of national and church life. We are the national Cathedral of the Church of Ireland. As such Bishops, clergy and people from all parts of Ireland are represented here. We are happy to host events of national significanceand are grateful for the representation of people with different civic and social responsibilities.
Ecumenism and interfaith relationships are more essential than ever before and I thank those who have come here under that heading. Then there are tourists, visitors, pilgrims and regular worshippers whose presence we value and to whom we want to minister.
And over and above all that, this is a house of prayer, where daily offices are said, the Eucharist is celebrated, a place where people come to encounter God, however He may reveal Himself to them. The Archbishop of Dublin and Prebend of Cualaun, in a recent public talk described a Cathedral as a place of ecumenism, education, elasticity and expectation. I echo that and would add, I want this Cathedral to be a place of harmony, hospitality and hope. Whilst enormously challenged by the trust that has been placed in me, as I start this journey, I know just two things:–
1. I can only be myself.
2. I can only use whatever gifts God has given me ‘I am but a little child’.
Pope John XX111, of beloved memory, said ‘When we become old we become like little children’. Then he added, ‘after all Jesus said, unless we become like little children we cannot enter the Kingdom of God’.