Homily by Archdeacon Howard Stringfellow
Preached at Diocesan House on 9 September 2010
1 Corinthians 1:3-5, Psalm 25:15-21, Saint John 12:24-28
I find the Epistle of this Eucharist haunting. God consoles us, we are told, so that we may be able to console others. God consoles us, in other words, so that others may be consoled. God’s consolation, then, is not about us or our feelings; it’s about making God’s consolation more widely known. We are touched by it, washed in it, and refined by it, but it is not about us.
I believe that to some extent all martyrs understand this mystery. God’s love passes through them for the purpose of reaching someone else.
The Martyrs of Memphis made sure that more, much more, than yellow fever passed through them. They made sure that God’s love passed through them just as God intends. About the former, about the contagion, they may have had no choice. But about the second, about God’s consolation, they made the choice of their lives.
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