This little incident in Luke comes just after Jesus has told the parables of the sower (stony ground, weeds etc.) and the parable of the Lamp (so not hide your light). Do not be mistaken to think that in this incident, Luke is suggesting that his family are outside the crowd, because they do not listen to him or do not follow his word. Indeed, elsewhere, Luke is at pains to show how Mary his Mother did listen to God (her 'Yes', and the Magnificat), Mary is also shown to be with the disciples in Acts 1:14.

What is happening here is that Jesus is pointing out his mother and the rest of his family as exemplars of how we should listen, ponder, and act. The way Jesus says this, opens up to each of us the possibility of joining that happy throng, of those who are in his family - we just have to listen to him.

Todays saints certainly are in that throng. They represent thousands - possibly tens of thousands, of Christians who were persecuted and martyred in Korea over  just the 17th Century. And there were no priests their until the 1845!. That was Andrew Kim Taegǒn, a secret priest trained in Macao, who entered Korea in 1845 and was martyred just one year later along with his father, two of 103 Korean martyrs who are celebrated today;  Their church was founded exclusively by lay people. "The death of these many martyrs became the leaven of the Church and led to today’s splendid flowering of the Church in Korea. Even today their undying spirit sustains the Christians of the Church of Silence in the north of this tragically divided land.” – Pope John Paul II at the canonization of the Korean Martyrs, May 6, 1984.

Choosing readings for a funeral is something of a 'desert island disks' exercise - the limit of the number of readings that can be used in one service can make the choice particularly difficult. There is a good selection offered by the liturgy office. 

Even with their help to narrow down the choice, there are decisions to be made. One might reflect on how the deceased lived his or her life - a life dedicated to the search for God might suggest "Now may your servant go in peace" (Luke 2: 28). A life generously give to the service of others, "If a wheat grain dies, it yields a rich harvest." (John 12: 23). Some might plan to bequeath a (hopefully well intended) message to those they leave behind. Others might be chosen as the scripture selected was known to be a personal favourite of the deceased. As well as being the head of state, Queen Elisabeth was also head of a church, the Anglican Communion, and it is widely reported that she had designed her own funeral some time ago. So it will be a blessing to see what she has to say to us through her funeral liturgy today. As with all scripture, it will be worth a second or even third reading, so once we know what she chose, we shall share them here.

Each of us will have a personal thought about the queen. Even though republicans might wish that she never had her role, they are likely to recognise that in her life of service to all of our country, she has shown an exceptional ability to comfort the week, build up the unconfident, and guide those with authority. For those who ardently follow the cause of Royalty the Queen has provided ample evidence that the stability and confidence heads of state provide can not be matched by any other source. The great St Benedict, in his Rule, has wise things to say about the necessary qualities of an Abbot and it is probable that HM Queen Elizabeth likely was familiar with his guidance - she certainly followed it in practice. "Let him realise that his aim must be to profit for others", "hate evil but love the brethren", "not be moody or anxious or given to extremes". She manifested that and much more. We must certainly hope King Charles III continues in like vein and pray that he is given the gifts necessary to do so.

At her accession to the throne all those years ago, she promised "my life, long or short, will always be devoted to your service." This is, broadly, the same promise made to us by our Pope, who is "the servant of the servants of the poor". At St Gregory the Great in Cheltenham we have commemorated the Queen with four requiem masses and also at 16:00 on Monday, will say the evening prater from the office for the dead in our church. In union with all people of Faith, ee give thanks for her life of service, and pray for her and her family.

Almighty God,

You are the author and sustainer of all human life; grant that your servant Elizabeth our Queen, to whom you granted a long and happy reign as Monarch of these lands may be forgiven her sins and rewarded with that eternal life promised to all those born again in the water of baptism and the power of your Spirit.

Eternal rest, grant to her O Lord, and let Perpetual Light shine upon Her. May She rest in peace;

Amen.

May she rest in peace:

Amen.

St Edith (c961-c984) (also known as Eagdyth) is one of the canonised saints associated with the Diocese of Clifton. A natural daughter of Edgar, King of England (reg. 959-75), she was born at Kemsing (near Sevenoaks) but was brought up by the nuns at Wilton Abbey where her mother, Wilfreda (Wulfthyth), eventually became Abbess. Edith refused to become Queen after the murder of her half-brother Edward in 978. She built a church at Wilton dedicated to St Denis and invited Dunstan, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to consecrate it. Dunstan is said to have wept throughout the mass, declaring that Edith would die within three weeks. This prophecy proved to be accurate. Many miracles were attested to her after her death and Edith became the focus of a major cult in Wilton. Three Wiltshire churches and about eighteen more beyond that county were titled for her. Until its dissolution in 1539 Wilton Abbey was one of the most important nunneries in England.

Cornelius was pope from 251-3. He was elected after a yearlong interregnum during a lull in the persecution of the Church by Emperor Decius. His papacy was marked by strife within the Church concerning the attitude that should be taken to those who had lapsed from the faith during persecution but who wanted to return to the Church when persecution abated. Cornelius advocated forgiveness of the apostates and readmission to Communion after penance. In 253 he was banished to Centumcellæ (on the Tyrrhenian Sea) when the Decian persecution resumed; he is accounted a martyr because he died in exile.

Cyprian (c200-258), a Berber who in 249 became Bishop of Carthage, was learned and articulate and was considered the preeminent Latin Christian writer prior to St Jerome and
St Augustine. Cyprian supported Pope Cornelius in his efforts to restore the lapsed to the bosom of the Church. Ironically, though, Cyprian was opposed in his own diocese by a party of “laxists” who urged the reconciliation of the lapsed without any penance. Cyprian was martyred under the wave of persecutions that broke out under the Roman Emperor Valerian in 256. Cyprian was banished, imprisoned, and then beheaded by the sword. He is named in the Roman Canon alongside Cornelius.

The Sequence Hymn for this day (the use of which is now optional), Stabat Mate Dolorosa, was composed by the 13^thCentury Franciscan, Jacopone da Todi. “The sorrowful mother stands,” the literal translation of the first line, in many ways sums up this feast.

St John is the only one of the four evangelists who explicitly mentions the presence of the Mother of Jesus standing, as the hymn puts it, ‘close to Jesus at the last.’ The Crucifixion fulfils Simeon’s prophecy, on the fortieth day of Jesus’ earthly life, that a sword would pierce Mary’s heart. [Luke 2.35] ‘Through her heart, his sorrow sharing, now at length the sword had passed.’

The Blessed Virgin teaches us what it means to share the sufferings of Our Lord. Her own sufferings were conjoined to his as she offered her Son’s life to the Lord of Life, trusting in his eternal intention to utilise that life that bring life to the world. [John 10.10,17-18]

The multiple feasts of the Holy Cross in former liturgical calendars have been consolidated into one. The date commemorates the rescue of the relic of the True Cross by Emperor Heraclius in 629 after it had been captured by the Persians fifteen years previously. It also marks the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in 335; the date for that dedication was chosen because it was the traditional date of the dedication of Solomon’s Temple (in the Hebrew month of Ethanim). [I Kings 8.2] The feast also commemorates the finding of the True Cross by St Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine the Great, in about 326.

The liturgy of Good Friday includes the solemn Adoration of the Holy Cross. “Because of the wood of a tree, joy has come to the whole world.”

The Cross, for the Roman Empire the ghastliest punishment that could be devised, a punishment meted out only on slaves and other non-citizens, was God’s way of conquering death. Our Lord entered the faithless city of Jerusalem [Luke 19.41-44] to conquer Satan, sin and death not by means of an army either earthly or terrestrial [Matthew 26.53-54] but by suffering. As we bear our own crosses [Matthew 16.24-26], as we offer our own sufferings to be joined to his, we become his partners in bringing to the world a joy beyond the transitory pleasures that this world can afford.

The sobriquet by which this 4^th Century Father of the Church (347-407) is remembered means ‘golden-mouthed’. For several years he lived a life of extreme asceticism as a hermit. Through this time he remained constantly standing, lived on an extremely restricted diet, and dedicated himself to memorising the whole of the Scriptures. These practices had profoundly adverse effects on his health, and he returned to Antioch where he was ordained Deacon in 381 and Priest in 386. There his insightful exposition of the Scriptures and his stern morality gained large crowds to listen to his preaching. In the Autumn of 397 he was appointed Archbishop of Constantinople. His uncompromising efforts to reform the lax morals of the clergy and the court won him few friends, and he was banished by the Emperor multiple times. His letters kept him in communication with the Church in Constantinople, though, and in a further effort to undermine his influence in 404 he was exiled to Armenia. Even from there he continued to be an influence and he was finally exiled to Pityus (in modern-day Georgia); he died on the road there, his final words ‘Glory to God for all things’.