Preached at St Mary’s, Potterne; Christ Church, Worton; and Holy Cross, Seend
Readings – 1 John 3.1–3; Matthew 5.1–12
“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God”
Which is your favourite saint? Is it St Agur, known for his blue cheese? Or perhaps St Ivel, dedicated to the more humble margarine and yoghurt? And who could forget my favourite saint, St Bruno – the patron saint of pipe-smokers?
The funny thing about all those famous saints from the labels of consumer products is that none of them exist – except for St Bruno, who was one of the most austere monks in the history of the Church! Why is it that naming a product for a saint is so popular that marketing men will make up entirely fictitious saints for the sake of branding? Is it something about the sense of wholesomeness and age-old tradition they invoke?
Yet most of us would run a mile at the idea that we are saints, or should be saints. We know we aren’t saints: we’ve all cheated when we were playing Patience – sometimes Scrabble and Monopoly too – and we pick our noses when we think nobody is looking.
Saints? No, not us. We just muddle along and hope the Big Man is going to be kind enough to do right by us when we pop our clogs.