Saint Wilfrid

This Saturday is the Feast of Saint Wilfrid. He was for a time Archbishop of York. He had messy beginnings and endings in York. He refused to be consecrated by Celtic bishops and so went to France for the consecration. That took two years. When he returned to claim his see, Chad, had been appointed in his place. In 669 a new Archbishop of Canterbury decides that Wilfrid is really “York” and so Chad withdrew, and Wilfrid was installed. Later, after a bit of ecclesiastical gerrymandering by Canterbury and the King, Wilfrid’s diocese was divided into four dioceses. After more time in France, Wilfrid ended up with the Pope taking his side. That did little good and Wilfrid was banished from the area of his diocese. After a reconciliation with the Archbishop he again served as a bishop only to be deposed. He ended as Bishop of Hexham.

Wilfrid’s troubles seemed to involve weighty matters such as whether Celtic or Roman liturgical customs would be followed and whether the Queen could leave, her husband, the King, and become a nun. There was also something about making fishing nets and making it rain in Sussex. 

He was among the 1% and rather flashy about it. But just to note how jumbled humans are, he may have been the first to introduce the Rule of St. Benedict into English monastic life. He also left his money to the poor. Kiefer’s write up on Wilfrid underlines the untidiness of humans by noting that he also left his money “to the abbots of the various monasteries under his jurisdiction, ‘so that they could purchase the friendship of kings and bishops.’ ”  His support of Benedictine monasticism was in part because he “regarded it as a tool in his efforts to "root out the poisonous weeds planted by the Scots.’ ”  He died on October 12 at the age of 75 (which I find slightly unsettling).

How has history dealt with all this? The list of Archbishops of York has Chad from 664 – 669 and Wilfrid 664 – 678.  The church canonized both.

I should note that Wilfrid seemed to do well for periods of five years, once for nine years, before things went south on him—being gerrymandered, banished, excommunicated, and deposed.

I mention that because a good friend is being installed in her parish this Saturday. I will pray that she avoids being gerrymandered, banished, excommunicated, and deposed. I’ll also pray the collect for the day which should bring her to faithfulness in the care and nurture of the parish.

Heavenly Father, Shepherd of your people, we thank you for your servant Wilfrid, who was faithful in the care and nurture of your flock; and we pray that, following his example and the teaching of his holy life, we may by your grace grow into the stature of the fulness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

A few reflections

We only get saints that are human. We only get bishops, parish priests, and members of the Eucharistic community who are human. They are to be sure redeemed sinners but the fact of human limitation and sin needs acknowledgement. All the saints, all of us, are imperfect and redeemed.

Getting hit with a Title IV complaint isn’t a nuclear disaster. Nor would being banished, excommunicated, and being deposed. The story of the church is one of conflict and disagreement. The losing side often punished. People are shunned out of their beloved parishes. Clergy are restricted. There are winners and losers. And sometimes, in God's time, the first are made last, and the last first. All the saints, all of us, are offered a participation in the Divine Life that invites growth in perseverance and courage, humility and wisdom.

The holy harmony of the church is by way of pain and death. Wilfrid disrupted the settled way. God used that disruption for holiness. We can do little more than share the truth as we see it. We lay our lives upon the altar, pour them into the cup, and God takes, breaks, blesses, and makes use of them. All the saints, all of us, get used by God for God’s purposes, in God’s time.

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