"This is my body..."

This Sunday is the feast of Corpus Christi.

What is it and where does it come from?

Well, the clue that it's a festival originating in the Roman Catholic Church is in the name: "Corpus Christi" is Latin for "Body of Christ".

And it's a festival where we have time and space to think about the eucharist.

In certain churches, like the one on the left, a blessed host will be processed around the local area in a solemn procession. This was definitely what happened when this feast day was first instituted by the Pope in the 13th Century.

It's part of a 'high' church practice and was definitely NOT what the Reformers thought was appropriate behaviour when they formed the Church of England in the 16th Century. In one of the 39 Articles (the basis for the Church of England, written under Queen Elizabeth I's reign, it specifies: "The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped." (Article 37).

Others would acknowledge that this wasn't the essence of Christ's command: it doesn't mean it's pointless, though.

What I remember, irreligious though it may sound, is the advice of TV chef Ainsley Harriott on preparing meals for "Ready, Steady, Cook": "It should be a feast for the eyes as well as the stomach." If food is something we see as well as eat, can there not be a time when we simply view the blessed bread? We are still 'consuming' it, just in a different way.

Join us on Sunday, where Bishop Christopher will be presiding.

There won't be a procession like in the picture. There will be a time to meditate on the miracle of God's presence amongst us. And there will be a time to reconsider the institution of the eucharist, when Christ first blessed bread and uttered the words, "This is my body..."

Fr Robert

I baptise you...

"I baptise you, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

These words have been spoken throughout generation upon generation of Christians.

Baptism was a custom of the earliest Christians, just as it's what we do today.

And these words may have been spoken of you, when you were a baby, or maybe as an adult.

Baptism is about a lot of things, but perhaps most of all, it's the seal and sign of God's love for an individual coming into the world, an individual who is already part of the body of Christ.

I can't remember my baptism. I know it happened: it's in the records. In April 1975 in a church in South West London to be exact. But I can't remember it.

This Sunday (18th), for me, will be different, because it's when my own daughter (above!) will be baptised. I don't think I'm going to forget this one. I'll be very proud, I expect.

With infant baptism, it says almost as much about a family as it does about an individual baby, a family desiring this particular blessing on their child. It's one of many, many choices that parents make for their children: what they wear, when their bedtime is, what their bedroom will look like... it never ends. But this one is a special decision.

All are invited, as ever, for when this happens at the 10am service. Sainsbury's finest Cava will be served for everyone afterwards.

It's also "Trinity Sunday" in the Church's calendar. Time to think about what "Father, Son and Holy Spirit" actually mean. Why do we describe God in this way?

Father Robert