We are blessed to be a blessing

Archbishop Shane Parker, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, preached at Christ Church Cathedral in Fredericton on Sunday, Sept. 27, as part of a week-long visit to the Diocese of Fredericton that included visits to churches, ministries, the clergy conference and Diocesan Council.

He reflected on the week he had spent in the Diocese, saying it had been “wonderful to meet with your clergy and to see a number of your ministries in different parts of your diocese.”

The Cathedral itself also held a particular significance for Parker. He told the congregation that he had served for 20 years as dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa and that “cathedral ministry is dear to my heart.”

With Christ Church Cathedral in a time of transition as it prepares for the appointment of a new dean, Archbishop Parker encouraged the congregation to think not only about who would fill that role, but about the nature of the Cathedral’s ministry itself.

“People should notice what cathedrals do,” he said.

He reminded the congregation that Christ Church Cathedral serves not only as a parish church, but as the Cathedral and mother church of the Diocese, with a role in Fredericton, throughout the Diocese and within the wider Anglican Community.

He encouraged the Cathedral to embrace the particular opportunities of cathedral ministry and to use its building, space and resources in ways that allow “the grace of God and the love of God and the light of Christ” to be known in the community, the city, the Diocese and beyond.

“Look up as you look to the future,” he said.

Archbishop David Edwards welcomed the congregation and presided at the Eucharist. Kurt Schmidt, Missioner for Christian Formation read Scripture, while Cathedral verger Hank Williams led the congregation in prayer.

From his reflection on cathedral ministry, Archbishop Parker turned to the Gospel reading from Matthew and Jesus’ encounter with the chief priests and elders in the temple.

He invited those gathered to imagine the tension of the scene as Jesus entered the temple and began teaching, despite the opposition of the religious authorities.

“Where would you be?” Parker asked. “Would you be out the door? Would you freeze or would you move closer to hear what was happening?”

Jesus then tells the parable of the father and two sons. One son initially refuses his father’s request to work in the vineyard, then later goes. The other says he will go but does not.

For Parker, the story pointed toward the difference between saying the right things and choosing to live them.

He recalled God’s covenant with Abraham—a blessing that carried with it a responsibility to become a blessing to others.

“You are blessed to be a blessing,” Parker said.

He told the congregation that the religious leaders knew the command to love God and their neighbour but had failed to extend to others the love they themselves wanted to receive.

He then turned from the Gospel story to the choices Christians make in their own lives.

“God gives humanity Jesus,” he said “to reveal both who God is and how people are 
called to live."     

Following Jesus, Archbishop Parker said, means choosing to be “kind and compassionate and courageous and merciful.”  

He continued by naming gentleness, justice, faithfulness, generosity, forgiveness, patience, peacemaking, healing, reconciliation, hope and love among the qualities Christians are called to embody. 

“As God gives to us, we are to give to others,” he said. “We are blessed to be a blessing.”
Archbishop Parker said Jesus shows what it means to live fully as children of God, receiving God’s grace and extending that same grace to others.     

“Strive to live as Jesus taught every day of your life,” he said.

Following the service, the gathering moved outside onto the Cathedral grounds, where members of the congregation and visitors shared a picnic lunch beneath the trees.

Archbishop Parker continued meeting and speaking with people as conversations carried on around the lawn and picnic tables.

His final words from the pulpit offered a simple summary of the morning’s message. 

“Know that you are loved. Live as you are loved. Amen.”