5 April 2017 - Wednesday of the 5th week in Lent - John 8:31-42

       In the Gospel today, Jesus’ words demonstrate a deep rift that existed between those Jews who believed in him and who tried to follow his teachings and those Jews who saw him as a heretic and who wanted to destroy him and to put him to death.  Jesus sometimes speaks in language that confounds and confuses the people.  He talks about them being set free, but the people cannot get beyond those words, thinking that God had already set the Jews free when he liberated them from slavery in Egypt.  We listen to words, and try to understand them, but sometimes we see them from our own perspective, not in the context in which they were spoken.  The Crusades are a difficult event to understand in our Church history.  The Crusades and the Muslim invasion of Spain are central events to the pilgrimage of the Camino de Santiago that I go to in Spain.  It is easy in my modern 21st century American mentality to judge that era or to ignore it.  I struggle to gain greater insight and understanding as to what went on without trying to judge these events from my modern point of view. I bring this up because Richard of Chichester is a saint we celebrate this week.  I learned about him when I was assigned to St Richard.  I grew to love St Richard and appreciate his teachings. Richard was Bishop in Chichester, England in the 13th century.  Richard had a very difficult time as Bishop.  Most of the time, King Henry III denied him access to his cathedral and revenue due to the Diocese due to a dispute that was going on between the King and the Church.  Richard had to roam his Diocese, relying on the generosity of the faithful. Pope Innocent IV called asked Richard to preach in favor of the Crusades throughout England, which Richard obediently did.  However, in the midst of those journeys, he came down with fever and died at the age of 56.  He was buried in Chichester Cathedral, which became a popular place of pilgrimage. However, that site was destroyed under King Henry VIII in 1538 when England broke away from the Catholic faith.  Richard’s remains and any artifacts that remained in Chichester were destroyed as well. It is interesting that the composers of the rock musical Godspell chose St Richard’s prayer as the basis of one of their songs: 

Thanks be to thee, our Lord Jesus Christ,

for all the benefits which thou hast given us,

for all the pains and insults which thou hast borne for us.

O most merciful Redeemer, Friend, and Brother,

may we know thee more clearly,

love thee more dearly,

and follow thee more nearly. Amen

St Richard, pray for us.