´óÏó´«Ã½

Good morning. And a happy St George’s Day.

Far be it from me to accuse the Church of England of being out of touch with the nation, but today my Church celebrates St George’s Day.

The arcane rules that govern our calendar of saints’ days have transferred the nation’s patronal festival from inside the eight days of Easter, to the first available day outside. Today. And so, whilst the rest of the nation celebrated our patron saint last week, we keep the feast today.

Actually this sort of thing is happening all the time – saints finding their feast-days displaced by more important festivals.

But in the case of St George it’s of more than academic interest. It serves to separate the narrow, jingoistic view of St George as the patron saint of England and the star of rousing speeches in Shakespeare’s Henry 5th … from the holy man who gave up his life rather than renounce his faith. Legend has it that George was a Greek-speaking soldier in the Roman Army from the land now called Turkey. He died in the persecutions of Diocletian in the year three hundred and three. And he’s the patron saint of countries as diverse as Ethiopia, Russia and Syria, as well as England.

It’s rarely a good idea to put the workings of God into neat human categories. And maybe a gentle warning to those who would make St George into a symbol of something other than a deep devotion to the Christian faith.

Lord God, keep our minds open to the breadth of your love for all humanity;

keep our eyes open to see your love at work in the world;

and keep our hearts open as we continue to pray for the people of Syria, and all who share with us the patronage of St George.

Amen