ARCHBISHOP JOHN RECEIVES THE PALLIUM:
This Sunday Archbishop John Sherrington will receive from Pope Leo XIV the pallium. What could be more fitting than this on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, for this is an ancient tradition, dating back to the 6th century and becoming a requirement for Archbishops in the 9th century. It is a special vestment – a band of wool worn over the shoulders – a reminder that Christ used the image of the shepherd caring for his flock to explain his redeeming mission to the world. St Peter and the Apostles were entrusted with spreading the mission to the ends of the earth and originally the pallium was reserved for the Pope, but this was extended to Archbishops and Metropolitans, who have oversight not just of their own diocese but of a whole province. I think for us it is a timely reminder that we are all called to be united in Christ’s mission – links in a chain to the reach the ends of the earth. Sometimes we struggle to work out where we fit in: perhaps Saint John Henry Newman’s prayer (which I used as one of my Ordination Cards) will help:
God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good. I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him; whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may service Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.
IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SYNOD, LET’S KEEP GOING TOGETHER ON THE PILGRIMAGE OF LIFE IN THIS JUBILEE YEAR OF AND IN HOPE.
