Osborne himself mellowed somewhat and even started attending evensong, escaping from what he saw as the vulgarity of so much of modern life. But his tirade against the sort of nostalgia that is simply a turning of one’s back on the modern world continues to strike home. Memories of the cosy little world of yesterday can be a comfort in bewildering times, but in excess can become a retreat into oblivion. This was once brought home to me by an angry letter from a woman who, after an absence of forty years from the sacraments, returned to find a very different form of liturgy. The thing she most objected to was women ministers on the altar. She had expected the church of her childhood to be preserved in aspic.
We need to live in the present with all its challenges and not seek refuge in a time that has passed. Watching yet another costume drama on BBC television moves me to ask, what has happened to the sort of playwriting that had something relevant to say? The best example of this exciting genre was ‘Cathy Come Home’, which galvanised a whole generation to focus on an aching social problem of the time.
Now, memory is vastly important to us Christians. Recalling the birth of Jesus and his life and teaching on earth defines our faith. But it is a faith that has to take on a contemporary colouring if it is to be effective. Christianity is not only about historical events and eras, but also about the present living out of the gospel.
I once knew an elderly nun who went by the name of ‘Inky’. I was a little intrigued by this. Then I discovered the reason for it: her name in religion was Sister Mary of the Incarnation. If ever anyone lived out the meaning of the incarnation, it was Inky. She scoured London seeking to help the poor. Curiously modern in her informality and availability, she was also very traditional and, declining to wear a modified habit, she sported the full blue gown, cloak and wimple. She represented both the new and the old. One thing was for sure: her faith was truly incarnational.
May our Lady, the original Mary of the Incarnation, prepare your hearts anew for the Saviour’s coming this Christmas!
Father Barry