Saturday, December 31, 2011

Signs of Life in the Midst of Death


Have been receiving so many messages that tell me there is life in the midst of death. For example, the other night, I was out front in the wee hours of the night, I saw a Buck in the cemetery, not twenty feet away. Deer, among other things are symbols of fertility... Also, not long ago, I was walking through the nature preserve and I was praying my rosary. It was about 5:30 in the evening, the sun still bright in the sky. As I was praying; "Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death", I heard two owls strike up a conversation. I can't remember ever hearing two owls sing and call back and forth, up 'till now, I've only ever heard one at a time. Anyway, it's poignant, that line: "Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death". It might as well read; "Mommy, don't leave me, don't abandon me, I don't want to be alone at the hour of death"... Owls are, among other things, messengers of death and change. And to hear two calling back and forth as I prayed that line, it was a sign of assurance for me, that I am not praying alone, someone is praying with me.
These voices keep singing to me: do not despair, do not give up hope.- July 12, 2011

Feast of St. Michael and All Angels


I don’t often speak on the subject of the supernatural, preferring to have a very
earthly theology. Often, I find that miracles and supernatural events are
distractions from the work of social justice. My Grandmother gave me the best
piece of advice; “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.”…
But I’d like to take this opportunity to say; I do believe in angels. I do believe
in miracles. And tonight is the night to celebrate them.

 What is an angel? What does an angel look like? Would you recognize one if you
saw one?

 When most of us think of the word “angel”, we think of what the Bible calls a
“Seraph” or a “Cherub”. We think of a wondrous and sometimes terrifying
creature that appears as a human with wings.

 But often, when the word “angel” is translated, it is not describing a kind of
creature, but simply means; “messenger”.

In the book of Genesis, there is the story Balaam’s donkey. Balaam was a prophet,
or magician who was contracted by a king to put a curse on Israel. While Balaam was on his way to mountaintop to look over Israel and pronounce the curse, the donkey  kept turning aside, would
wander off the road. The reason the donkey was doing this was, unbeknownst to
Balaam, there was a Defending Angel with a sword standing in the road, waiting
to strike Balaam down. The donkey could see the angel, but Balaam could not.
And so Balaam would beat the donkey until he returned to the road. Finally, God
gives the donkey the gift of human speech and he says; “Master, have I ever
disobeyed you before? Why do you keep beating me, when I’m working to save your
life?”… How many angels were in this story? One or two? I’ll say there are two
angels, two messengers, the donkey being one of them, as he is given the power
to proclaim an eye-opening revelation and message to choose between Mercy and life,
or Violence and Death. Famous psychic, George Anderson says; “animals, especially
our pets, are the eyes of God.”

 Another weird story and even hilarious story can be found in the Book of Acts. Peter
has been imprisoned by the Romans. Now, this event isn’t just an equivalent to
going to jail in the modern U.S.A., where the prisoner is fed daily, given the
opportunity to see a doctor if the prisoner is sick or maybe even given the
opportunity to leave as a reward for good behavior. Being imprisoned by the
Romans was a fearful thing, torture was real possibility, as Jesus found out
when he was crowned with thorns, mocked and beaten. Death, execution was
expected… So, when Peter escapes prison (with the help of an angel) and knocks
on the door of a friend’s house – listen to what is said. Acts 11:13-15 says;

“Peter knocked at the outside door, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it.
She recognized Peter’s voice and was so happy that she ran back in without
opening the door, and announced that Peter was standing outside. ‘You’re
crazy!’ they told her. But she insisted that it was true. So they answered, ‘It
is his angel.’”

Hear that! “It is his angel.”… Peter’s friends have already given him up for dead.
They can’t, cannot believe he is alive in the midst of their grieving. What
they’ve just said is; “it must be his ghost.” So, what we see here is, it was
believed that human spirits of the deceased could also act as angels, as
messengers of God.

 Would you recognize an angel if one came your way? Maybe we shouldn’t look at
the form, so much as we should look at what they do.

 Obviously, since the word “angel” so often translates as “messenger”, we would
expect angels to proclaim the Good News, or at least to offer the message;
“choose ye this day the path of life or the path of Death”… It’s interesting to
note, by the way, the Creation of the world and multiverse (as related to us in
the Book of Genesis) begins with “and God said”! It begins with the utterances
of the Creator. In the Gospel of luke, the Covenant of God through Christ has
two-stage beginning; the first stage is when Mary says; “Yes! Let it be so!”
and the second stage is when the choir of Angels, the Shekinah of God, the
shepherds and the pagan Magi and all the creatures of the world are singing of
the glory of the birth of Jesus. Jesus later gives Christians the duty of
speaking out, of proclaiming the kingdom of God in the Great Commission. Jesus,
whom the Apostle John calls the “logos”, the Creative Word of God. And we have
come full circle. No wonder Jesus said that our words have great power and to
be careful with them, to let our yeses be a simple yes and our nos be a simple
no.

 But angels, as we have seen in the reading from the Book of Revelation, do so much more than simply function as the mouth of God. St. Michael is portrayed in the Bible and in folklore as defending first the Jews and then later also the Christians from forces of evil. There is Raphael, the physician angel, who heals us; mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually. And there are 13 more Archangels, each with their own specific ministry. But as we have seen, in the first reading and then through the Gospel, there are whole legions of angels going to and fro, through Christ, attending to the needs of the world and multiverse – hearing your cries and attending to your needs. And rather than giving you a dry list of names and functions, I’d rather share a couple more rich portraits to really bring the ministry of angels home to your hearts.

What do angels do?

There is the story of the prophet, I think it was Elijah, in the desert. And
the raven brings him bread… Angels attend to our physical needs. But there’s so
much more to this story. The raven has wings, it is able to travel from heaven
to earth and back again as a messenger. In this particular case, the raven is
descending from heaven to earth to feed the prophet. Bread from Heaven, it recalls
Mannah, it foretells the Eucharist – it is Christ. The angel is bringing Christ
to the prophet. The angels thus draw us to the sacraments and minister to our
spiritual needs as well.

In recent weeks, I’d been reading the diary of Saint Faustina Kowalska of Poland. She was a modern woman,
she’d lived during the early decades of the 1900’s, dying shortly before World War II. She was a mystic and had many visions.

 St. Faustina, unfortunately, was also frequently very ill, dying of cancer while
she was in her early 30’s… There were times when she was had to be sent to the
secular hospital, which was 90 miles away from the convent. In those days, that was quite a formidable distance and so, her sister-nuns were not able to visit often, and St. Faustina did not always have a priest available
either. These were desperate times for the poor woman, because she was extremely devoted to the sacraments of Confession and Communion. And when I say “extremely” devoted, I do mean “extreme”.

 When the opportunities presented themselves, Faustina would attend Mass and receive
Communion on a daily basis and would attend Confession on a weekly basis. When she was left to languish in the secular hospital, without access to the sacraments, she would fall into depression – she felt as if she’d been led out
into the desert and was withering up and dying. But just as God sent the raven to the prophet in the desert, God sent a ministering angel to Faustina in the hospital. St. Faustina described this particular angel as a Seraph or Cherub,
as appearing human but with wings. Interestingly enough, the angel appeared in her cell with the Bread and Wine prepared to give Faustina Eucharist. (I have to note that the angel did not consecrate the Bread and Wine, leading us to believe that it had been consecrated earlier and most likely by the great High Priest Christ himself.) But St. Faustina stopped the angel. She said; “Angel, before you give me Communion will you hear my Confession?” The Angel looked upon her with a sad smile and said; “I cannot. There is only One who forgives sins and He has reserved that ministry for priests.”

So here, friends, is yet another kind of ministering angel, your priest. An angel who is able consecrate your Eucharist and to hear your Confession and to profess the forgiveness of God, the healing of God and reconciliation of the Church Community.

Feast of St. Luke


Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Luke, the writer of the Gospel and the book of Acts. Luke was a first century, Gentile Christian. Some sources say that Luke was one of the 70 missionaries that Jesus sent out, some say that he was one of the disciples that Jesus appeared to after his resurrection, while on the Road to Emmaus. Others have said that Luke had a special friendship with our Lady, Mary. We can’t know any of this for sure. 


What we do know for sure is that Luke was a physician and faithful companion to St. Paul. He accompanied Paul on  missionary journies and Luke remained in Rome, serving Paul while he was in prison, until the day that Paul was beheaded by Roman authorities… And if you’re familiar with the scriptures, with the stories of St. Paul, it’s not hard to see why Paul needed his best friend to be a physician! Paul was forever in need of an emergency room, whether because he was starving in some remote wilderness, suffering from the cold, being bitten by snakes – or, because he was always offending somebody and being beaten up or being stoned and left for dead! There’s no doubt that St. Paul kept his beloved Doctor quite busy. 


I wouldn’t doubt that Luke waited until after Paul’s death to write the Gospel and the Book of Acts. Fortunately for us, he lived to be 84 years before he died in old age and he had plenty of time to write. And he did. The commentary  I’d turned to for guidance says that Luke actually contributed more material to the New Testament than any other writer, including Paul. I’m a little skeptical. But it’s not so much how much St. Luke wrote that counts, but what he wrote… 


Luke is my favorite author in the Bible. Countless books have been written about his intellect, his charm, his good humor, his emphasis on compassion and social justice… I could go on and on about the joyous wonder that is St. Luke! For one thing, if he had not written the Book of Acts, we have would have precious little idea regarding the day-to-day lives of the first century church – no other new testament author has given us so many detailed and delightful stories (as opposed to letters)… Anyway, as I was saying, I could go on and on about the joyous wonder that is St. Luke, but I’d rather buckle down and focus on one of Luke’s more unique contributions, his particular portrait of what the Good News is.



Anyone who has studied the gospels knows; each one of the gospel writers gives us a slightly different portrait of Jesus and a different picture of what the “Good News” is. St. Matthew, for example, presents Jesus as Messiah, Suffering Son of Man and the one who will render justice for everyone at the End of time. St. John portrays Jesus in a very mystical way, he is the Logos, the creative Word of God and the Passover Lamb. Luke portrays Jesus as the compassionate Liberator, he has Jesus in the temple reading; 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free…” This is not the only reference that Luke makes to the poor, the lame, the blind, the outcast. His entire gospel is a parade of the poor being provided for, the blind and lame being healed, the outcast being embraced by Jesus. Throughout the entire gospel, Luke creates a “Table Theology”, where God’s Kingdom is portrayed as a banquet and ALL are invited! – without exception. It’s a joyous riot! It would be easy to mistake this for the whole of Luke’s “Good News”. But if we do, we miss something so profound, something that is so powerful that it raises the hair on my arms and my neck.

To illustrate for you what I mean, let’s compare Jesus’s birth story in Matthew with Luke’s story about Mary and the angel Gabriel: Matthew 1:18 ”This is how the birth of Jesus Christ took place. His mother Mary was engaged to Joseph, but before they were married, she found out that she was going to have a baby by the Holy Spirit.” That’s it. One verse. That’s all. In the very next verse, we read; “And meanwhile back on the ranch, Joseph was contemplating divorce.”… Matthew completely drops Mary, completely drops the Holy Spirit and focuses on Joseph.

Compare that one single verse to the long, lyrical and poignant story that Luke gives us in our Gospel! Luke is highlighting this event, he’s trying to tell us something.

I’ve read the Bible cover-to-cover more than 7 times, I’ve studied it for years at college. And for me, Luke’s story of Gabriel’s Annunciation to Mary and Mary’s “Yes!” is the most profound, most powerful passage – it is the hub that the entire wheel of the Bible and the Church revolves around, without it we have NOTHING. This here, is the Good News – that God chose Mary to be a co-worker and intimate partner in Creation and Salvation. And may I add, if God felt that he needed Mary, still needs Mary – who are we to think that we do not?

I mean, really, think about it. God is reportedly All Powerful, All Knowing, All loving, etc… He could have had Jesus appear, full bodied and fully grown in the middle of the Temple, ready to take charge – Instant Salvation… Why not? The Greek and Roman gods and goddesses reportedly did. For that matter, so what? So Adam and Eve screwed up, we as the human race have screwed up, so what? As the Scripture says; “love covers a multitude of sins”, why couldn’t God just say; “I love you, forgive you.” And let that be the whole of Salvation? Why this long, bloody, passion play that we call human history? Why the long, wandering missionary journies of Jesus? Why that horrific Crucifixion? We can guess some of the reasons, others will remain mysteries ‘till the end of the time.

Whatever the reasons, God decided he needed Mary. And he decided that he needed her for more than just an incubator for his only Begotten Son… He needed her to feed Jesus, to clothe him, to hold and cuddle him, to teach him how to walk, to teach him good manners, to discipline him, to play with him, to teach him, to kiss his boo-boos. God needed her to devote her LIFE, first to Jesus and then as Luke testifies in the book of Acts, to devote her life to the mothering and care of the first century Church… This is exciting stuff! God needs Mary, he wants Mary, he works and plays in intimate partnership with Mary. As Paul would say, God is closer to Mary than her very breath.

What makes Mary so special? Why her? My answer to you, and Luke’s answer to you is; Mary is special only in the fact that she was First. Everything you see, hear or read about Mary, is true for you as a believer, too. This what Luke was saying in the story of the Pentecost. The Holy Spirit over-shadowed Mary and she gave birth to the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit over-shadowed the Believers and they, too, joyously gave birth to the Body of Christ. God decided he needed you, and you, and you… And just in case you didn’t get it the first two times, Luke thought this message was so very important that he tells the story yet a third time! Acts 10:44-46 Peter was in the home of Cornelius, a captain in the Roman army… ”While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message. The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were amazed that God had poured out his gift of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speaking in strange tongues and praising God’s greatness.   Just for giggles, let’s compare these 3 “Pentecost” stories by Luke with the Pentecost story found in the Gospel of John.

John 20:19-22 ”It was late that Sunday evening, and the disciples were gathered together behind locked doors, because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities. Then Jesus came and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. After sayign this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I send you.’ Then he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”Pentecost gets two whole verses in the Gospel of John and no mention in Mark or Matthew. Again, Luke is highlighting these 3 events, he’s trying emphasize something incredible and profound. Luke is trying to tell you something.

Luke is saying that salvation is collective, it must happen in community. He’s saying that God needs you, and you, and you… God needs you to feed the hungry, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, give your neighbor a hug and a smile, he needs you pray and to love – to work with him in bringing Tikkun Olam; that is healing, justice and love to the world.

And guess what? The Church agrees with Luke. As I’d mentioned on the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, the Consecration of Eucharist and the Forgiveness of sins in Confession are services reserved for the Priest. But it is equally true, that without you – there are no sacraments. You are co-creators with God, you are birthing Christ… You know this because you are called to participate in Mass, as opposed to just sitting passively and watching the priest do all the work for you. When I was a child, we used to kneel in adoration during the consecration of the Eucharist, God and the priest performed this sacramental act alone and we, the Faithful were passive recipients. The Church decided, however, that this was not a truly representative portrait of how our salvation is worked. So, now we are asked to stand, with the priest (who stands as representative of God), we are asked to pray out loud with the priest (who stands as representative of God) and work together with God to manifest the Christ – in just the same way that God and Mary worked together. This is the Good News, the incredible news, the profound news. God wants to be closer to you than your very next breath, he wants to work and to play in an intimate way with you to heal the world, to transform the world, to  bring something Divine and wonderful into being.  

Feast of the Faithful Departed


Do you know where or why the custom of “trick or treating”, the custom of going door to door began? In the northern European countries, there were two seasons, Summer and Winter, the season of light and the season of dark. When the days grew longer, members of the village would look for the first flowers on the trees and from the ground. When they were spotted, it became the custom for the messengers to cut them and run door to door with the flowers as proof of the good news; “Spring is here! Soon will be time to plant. The time of winter hunger is soon over.” These messengers were considered to be sacred, messengers of the Divine and they were given treats… The same was true for the oncoming winter. The messengers would run door to door, with apples, cut wheat and other symbols of the harvest just past, and announce the on-coming darkness, announce the coming of the winter. These messengers, too, were given treats. Now, of course, the first tradition is no longer practiced and is largely forgotten, just a footnote in history.

Such is the power of this Fall season, though, that even though we no longer live our lives on the farm, we still feel the darkness and marvel at the falling of autumn’s leaves. There is a stark and disquieting beauty that enchants us this time of year, so we continue to celebrate; Halloween, Dia de la Muertos, Samhain. For millennia, this time of year has been a time of slowing down, physically and mentally, after the harvests were over. Traditionally, 3 harvests are recognized by Reconstructionist historians; wheat/corn harvest end of August, the apple harvest at the end of September, the blood harvest at the end of October… I can hear you now, the WHAT harvest? The blood harvest… After the wheat and the apple harvests were gathered in, the farmers had to take stock. They had to ask; do we have enough food and resources to last the family through the winter? Do we have enough food and resources to last the livestock through the winter? Very often, the answer was; we have enough food to last for only half of our livestock. The rest of the herd was slaughtered and the meat preserved, to last the family through winter. Thus, the term “blood harvest”.

With the darkness and cold descending, the leaves dying and falling off the trees, the animals fleeing into hibernation and the gruesome blood harvest – it’s not hard to see why our ancestors would find this to be the time for taking an inner inventory as well, they found this time of the year to be the perfect time for our version of “lent”. They would reflect on their behavior and achievements of the year past, choose bad habits to drop and good habits to develop, making goals for themselves in the up-coming year… We can read some of these goals in the “Havamal”, an ancient book of European wisdom.
We would read;

”Feed your animals before you eat.”


Or this exhortation to practice hospitality;
” Fire is needed by the newcomer 
Whose knees are frozen numb; 
Meat and clean linen a man needs 
Who has fared across the icy fells,”


Or this exhortation to avoid drunkenness;
” Less good than belief would have it 
Is mead for the sons of men: 
A man knows less the more he drinks, 
He becomes a befuddled fool,”


What do any of these pagan practices and pagan scriptures have to do with Jesus? What do they have to do with the “Faithful Departed?” Our history, both European and Guatemalan both, have come down to us with stories about some of our ancestors refusing to abandon their heritage, refusing to accept forced Christian conversions. Stories about our cultures being in conflict with Christianity, one side being good and the other being depicted as evil. But it didn’t have to be that way.

We are Christians now, that is why we are here, but… I don’t know about you, but I can’t leave my pre-Christian ancestors behind. I can’t say; “those people were evil, they belong to the Devil and we should forget everything they’ve ever said and done.”… They were not evil, they don’t belong to the Devil. God must be faithful, God must be just and God must be love – he is the fount of all wisdom, and since my ancestors and your ancestors
obviously held wisdom in their oral and written traditions, God must have been speaking to them in some way. Romans chapter 1 tells us that God has made himself clearly known through the things he has made, and Ecclesiastes says that God has set eternity in our hearts.

So, I have to stop and look at the question; “Who are the Faithful Departed”? Can I trust God, can I put my hope in him, without denying who I am, ancestral memories, ancestral inheritance and all? After all, I love and treasure each one of my relations. If I ask the question: Who are the Faithful Departed, what would God say?

let’s start with the words of Jesus, from the gospel of luke: you will know them by their fruit. A good person brings good out of the treasure of good things in his heart: a bad person brings bad out of his treasure of bad things… It really is that simple.

Jesus brings this lesson home in one of my favorite parables, in Matthew 21:28-32, which reads:

  28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
   29 “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
   30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.
   31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
   “The first,” they answered.
   Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did, they repented. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”
In this parable we see that Jesus looks past what people say, past what they profess, and looks to what they do. For Jesus, actions speak louder than words, actions tell us the state of a person’s heart.

Our reading from Galatians goes a step further and really spells out what we’re to look for. The fruits of the spirit are: “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Finally, if we still have any doubts, 1 Colossians reads; “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Christ, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

The Faithful Departed, my friends, are those who have led righteous lives of love and compassion, doing the very best they could with the resources they had. We can feel free to honor all of our ancestors, Christian and pre-Christian, with all of the love in our hearts and with clear consciences. Thanks be to God!

Because we can trust God with our past, we can trust him with our future.
We, too, can live lives manifesting the fruits of the spirit, we can be God’s eyes and God’s healing hands, looking forward to that day that Isaiah told us about: the day when God “will prepare a banquet for all the nations of the world, when he will suddenly remove the cloud of sorrow that has been hanging over all the nations.” All the nations, all peoples, no exceptions.

And now let us follow in the Psalmist’s example and bring a wine offering to the lord, to thank him for  his goodness to us.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary


Tonight, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. Elizabeth was a princess. She is a canonized Saint within the Catholic Church and was definitely “the People’s Princess”, so much beloved by her people that she is remembered as “Dear Elizabeth”.

We don’t have royalty here, in the U.S. The closest thing we have to royalty is not our politicians, but our celebrities. So, I’d like you take just a second and imagine what would it be like if you were the son or daughter of say, Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson, or Madonna? We can say is that you’d have a lot of nice clothes, that you’d eat gourmet food, that you’d be surrounded by  intelligent and interesting people at all times;  musicians, artists, politicians, hair-dressers, makeup people, engineers, lawyers, accountants – a flurry of all kinds of the best, brightest and most influential people. You’d also be surrounded by security personnel. At least one body-guard, even in your quiet and most private moments… One of the most treacherous pitfalls to this kind of life is; it would be easy to grow up to become guarded, jaded, suspicious. Growing up in an environment of wealth and influence, it’s difficult to know who is your friend and who is your enemy. It’s difficult to know who loves you and who is pretending to love you, while using you for your money or using you for their own social and political gain. This kind of situation is heart-breaking. This is the world that Princess Elizabeth was born into.

Elizabeth was born in Hungary, in the year 1207, daughter of King Alexander II and Queen Gertrude. She was surrounded by wealth, the finest clothes, the finest foods – surrounded by the best, brightest and most influential people. She was surrounded by people who smiled at her and treated her kindly, but who privately lived lives devoted to personal ambition, competition, devoted to devious political schemes. When Elizabeth was 4 years old, her parents arranged a royal marriage for her and she was sent away from her home to Thuringia, to be raised and educated in the household of her future husband, Hermann of Thuringia. This must have been traumatic for the young girl, she must have been heartbroken. When Elizabeth was only 6 years old, her mother (Queen Gertrude) was assassinated. When she was 9 years old, her betrothed Herman died. I do not know the cause of his death, whether it was political intrigue or war, or illness. A year later, King landgrave (her betrothed-husband’s father) was excommunicated from the church, went insane and died. Part of King landgrave’s insanity came from the belief that another King had hired mercenaries to assassinate him, he was afraid for his life. So, for a long time the court and Elizabeth’s home had been in horrifying uproar and chaos. These events and I’m sure a whole legion of other horrors of the political life must have had profound effects on Elizabeth. Still, she did not withdraw from humanity and isolate herself in self defense, she did not look upon everyone with suspicion and treat everyone with a guarded demeanor, quite the opposite… Wounded Elizabeth chose to reach out, to embrace and heal the broken world around her.

We’re told that she was intelligent, that she had a mind of her own and the inner drive to see her goals accomplished, that she let no one stand in her way.

Elizabeth wasn’t one who cared much about what other people thought of her either, she wasn’t going to be intimidated or cowed into submission by the disapproval of others. For example, Elizabeth refused to wear formal dress or embroidered gloves to Mass. Instead, she wore simple, plain and unadorned clothing. I’d like to think that she did this because she didn’t want the poor to feel shamed for their poor clothing, she didn’t want them to feel too ashamed to come to Church. But the truth is, I don’t know if the poor were permitted to worship with the wealthy? So, I don’t know why Elizabeth did this, except that she felt that “embroidered sleeves and embroidered gloves were unnecessary and gaudy luxuries” so, she dressed plainly. The other royalty, the nobility and members of the court saw this as a rebuke to them and they were quite offended, they became hostile toward Elizabeth. But she never changed, she continued to go her own way and do what she thought was right… Other than this, Elizabeth practiced giving alms to the poor, penance and prayer vigils.

At the age of 14 Elizabeth was considered an adult and was given in marriage to the 21 year old King Ludwig. In Ludwig Elizabeth found a true soul-mate, in him she found love that she could trust and love that would not only heal her but which would empower her to become a force for healing a hurting kingdom. King Ludwig, we are told; “gave his protection to Elizabeth’s acts of charity, her acts of penance and vigils.” When he traveled away on business, he left Elizabeth in control of the finances and she worked wonders with them.

Then the Kingdom of Thuringia was beset by floods and pestilence…

You know? I love today’s Psalm so much, I’d like for us to read it again, together, as this was the cry of Elizabeth’s people, when they’d been devastated by floods and pestilence, had lost their crops, lost their homes, lost everything.


Psalm 109:20–25     
20 But you, O Lord my God,
oh, deal with me according to your Name; *
for your tender mercy’s sake, deliver me.
21 For I am poor and needy, *
and my heart is wounded within me.
22 I have faded away like a shadow when it lengthens; *
I am shaken off like a locust.
23 My knees are weak through fasting, *
and my flesh is wasted and gaunt.
24 I have become a reproach to them; *
they see and shake their heads.
25 Help me, O Lord my God; *
save me for your mercy’s sake.

When her people lost everything, Elizabeth was the answer to their prayers, she heard their cries and responded with great compassion. She opened the royal granaries and fed the people. We’re told that she clothed the naked, even giving them royal robes when there was nothing else to give them. She had a hospital built and every day she tended to the needs of the patients herself… This is amazing! Most royal homes would’ve barred the door, filled the moat and put guards in the towers to protect their food and resources. But Elizabeth opened the doors, she opened her arms and she gave everything, even the clothing from her own closet. In so doing, she set the example for each one of her people to follow, set the tone of cooperation for Thuringia’s recovery. If she had shut the doors of the castle and set armed guards against the people – the people would likely have treated one another that same way and Thuringia would have experienced more devastation, rather than recovery.
Our reading from 2 Corinthians says something interesting. St. Paul writes; “I’m trying to find out how REAl your own love is.” He’s saying actions speak louder than words and Paul then points to the example of Christ “who made himself poor for your sake.”… This is what Elizabeth did, not only financially, but mentally, emotionally and physically. She poured her very self out for the love of her people, esp. in her work at the hospital; feeding them, bathing them, binding their wounds. Elizabeth’s love was REAl.



Elizabeth and Ludwig were married for 6 years and had 3 children. Then, in the 6th year of their marriage, Ludwig died of illness while on the road to war. Elizabeth was devastated. When she heard the news, she was heard to cry; “All the joys in this life are dead to me now!”

She was 20 years old, mother of 3 and a widow – without protection now, in a court that was hostile toward her and her great acts of charity.
Immediately, Elizabeth’s family wanted to arrange another politically expedient marriage. But Elizabeth refused remarriage. Again, she didn’t care what other people thought, she had to do what she thought was right… She could not, however, remain in Warburg. Heinrich, Ludwig’s brother, had come to power and he was cruel to Elizabeth. He promised to give her shelter and enough food for each day, period. Nothing more. He refused to provide her money to give to charity, or to protect her charitable work.

Elizabeth, we are told, left Warburg “for moral reasons”. She took refuge with the Franciscans in Marburg and became the first member of the Franciscan Tertiaries. She was moved to have a Franciscan monastery built and again, to have a hospital built. She became a nurse there, tending to the needs of the patients herself. Again, Elizabeth was reaching out to heal the world… But that work was cut short when she died, just 4 years later at the age of 24.

Death was not the end of Elizabeth’s work. Almost immediately, miracles began to be reported at her grave in the hospital’s chapel, especially miracles of healing. Her grave became a popular destination for pilgrimages, so popular that it could be compared to the Shrine of Santiago de Compostela. Dear Elizabeth continues to be loved and continues to reach out in love even today.

Our reading from the gospel of luke tells us to “love our enemies”, to be children of the Most High God, who is good to everyone… And in 2 Corinthians, Paul tells us; “On with it then, finish the job! …it is only fair that you should help those who are in need. And rest assured, God will accept your gift on the basis of your eagerness to give. He will accept your gift on the basis of what you have to give not on what you don’t have.”

You don’t have to be a King or Queen, you don’t have to be celebrity, you don’t have to win the lottery and build hospitals to be a Saint. It’s not about your wallet. It’s about your heart and your efforts, the work of your own hands…

One of the most moving stories of love, healing and charity that I’ve ever heard came out of a concentration camp during World War II. A Jewish lady said; “We were starved, reduced to skin and bones. One day, my friend came to me with a gift. In her hand was a leaf and on it, a single blackberry. It was so good!”… A single blackberry can heal the world. Go be love!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe was born June 14th 1811. She was born into a family that was not only devoted to education, but was driven toward intellectual excellence. But her family wasn't comprised of "armchair generals" so to speak, they didn't just sit around and imagine what Utopia would theoretically be like. Her family believed that actions speak louder than words, her family was comprised of deeply spiritual people who actively sought to be the healing hands of Christ in this world. To do that, they knew they had to be loud, outspoken, ready to stir the pot and make people think, they had to be agitators. Her father, Lyman Beecher was a zealous preacher, a leader in the temperance movement and president of Lane Theological Seminary. Her mother, Roxana Foote, ran a school for girls and publicly advocated for the intellectual development of women at a time when Society frowned on women receiving college educations. Roxana believed that women could be intellectually equal to men, that women could do anything they set their minds to. Harriet's 7 brothers all became ministers. Her sister Catherine led the women's opposition against President Jackson's Indian removal bill. So, in light of all this, it isn't too terribly surprising that Harriet would be enrolled in the seminary (run by her sister Catherine), where she received a traditionally "male" education in the classics, including study of languages and mathematics. It isn't too terribly surprising that Harriet would grow up to become the author of more than 20 books, and abolitionist who not only spoke out against the evils slavery, but who actually helped slaves escape to freedom along the Underground Railroad. She was living out a family tradition!


On March 9, 1850, Stowe wrote to Gamaliel Bailey, editor of a weekly antislavery journal,  that she planned to write a story about the problem of slavery: "I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak... I hope every woman who can write will not be silent."


Why would Harriet say that? Because she could hear the slaves crying out with the Psalmist;


16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked?
   Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?
17 Unless the LORD had given me help,
   I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death
 Because Harriet knew, that not only is death silent, but silence leads to death. So, she wrote more than 20 books and gave public speeches. She was loudly outspoken in the face of great opposition and anger. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that she had received death threats. But she would not allow anger, political pressure or threats to silence her voice, she continued to speak for those oppressed persons who were robbed of their voices, to speak for those oppressed persons whose lives were made a silent living-death.


Her most famous book is "Uncle Tom's Cabin". A book that was an emotional portrayal of the evil consequences that slavery has on families. The book became an international phenomenon, the bestselling novel of the 19th century, not only here in America but in; Britain, Europe, Russia and even China! Not only was Harriet's book loud and outspoken, the people who read it became loud and outspoken. The people of the North celebrated the book by turning it into a play, they were inspired to form abolitionist groups, and even name their babies after characters in the book. In the South, slave owners were outraged. Her work intensified the sectional conflicts that would eventually lead to the Civil War. According to legend, when President Abraham Lincoln finally met Harriet Beecher Stowe, he said; "So this is the little lady who started this great war!"
Unfortunately, Harriet's time is not so different from ours. In her day,Traditionalist type Christians of the South waved the Bible and proclaimed that God's Word had sanctioned slavery. While on the other hand, Christians like Harriet Beecher Stowe proclaimed a new truth, one contrary to traditional readings of the Bible - that slavery was evil. The nation was bitterly divided... Today, we see the nation is just as bitterly divided now as it was then. Actually, more so! Traditionalist type Christians wave the Bible and proclaim that God's word declares homosexuality is evil, that God's Word says; "God helps those who help themselves" and so we should do away with all the safety nets our Society has put in place to protect the weakest members of our society; the elderly, the children, the ill, the mentally ill, the disabled. Often, these same people advocate slave wages.


As a result of these "traditional" voices, Christianity is in a time of great crisis and Church of Our Saviour is in a time of crisis. Recent polls show;


Only 16 percent of non-Christians aged 16 to 29 years old said they have a "good impression" of Christianity,


Only 3 percent of 16- to 29-year-olds who are not of the Christian faith express favorable views of evangelicals. In the previous generation, 25 percent of young people had positive associations toward evangelicals. That is a massive, jaw-dropping 22 percent change!


Half of young churchgoers, hear me! I said half of young CHURCHGOERS, Christians! said they perceive Christianity to be judgmental, hypocritical, anti-homosexual and too political. Also, one-third said it was old-fashioned and out of touch with reality.


Millions of Christians are leaving the Churches every single year... Here at C.O.S., we're facing a financial shortfall of $800.00 a week and the reason is not because we are poor church, the reason is because we have empty pews. Empty pews equals fewer people to fight injustice and keep Christianity alive and vital in the way that Harriet Beecher Stowe and her family did. So now, with Harriet Beecher Stowe I say: "I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak... I hope every man, woman and child who can write will not be silent."


Speak out against slave wages and for employment at a living wage, speak out against hunger and for the right to feed the homeless without fear of arrest, speak out for poor people to have access to medical treatment, speak out against the injustices of our society. Silence is death, not only for the oppressed, but for all that we love. Let's be a people who proclaim life and life most abundant.

Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul

When you think of St. Peter, what comes to mind?


When you think of St. Paul, what comes to mind?


When I think of St. Peter, I often think of a rough and tumble fisherman, a big guy, with muscles, a quick temper and rough tongue. Or, I think of what a great contribution he made to Christianity - he was such an incredible leader, St. Paul refers to him as one of 3 pillars of the Church. Galatians 2:9-10 reads; "James, Cephas[a] and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship..." And the final thing I think of, when I think of St. Peter is that he has the biggest tombstone in the world. The pharaohs and their pyramids don't even begin to compare. The Vatican is built on top of St. Peter's grave - the whole Vatican!


When I think of St. Paul, what comes to mind is his mighty intellect. He was an incredible scholar and a teacher. I don't know where he's buried, or what kind of literal tombstone St. Paul has, but the fact that he'd written 2/3rds of the New Testament is it's own monument to his vital contribution to Christianity. He, too, is a pillar of the Church.


So what we have here, on this feast of St. Peter and St. Paul are two of Christianity's greatest characters, bigger than life and really, I couldn't think of two more different men. Peter the uneducated, Paul the scholar. Peter the big, rough and tumble fisherman with calloused hands. Paul, as a scholar, may not have had calloused hands. Peter the man with a quick temper and cussing tongue. Paul, the man of eloquence, who debated with kings and Greek & Roman philosophers... How do I fit these two men into one sermon? What in the world do they have in common?


The C.O.S. motto, from the book of Micah, 6:8 reads; "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." We often hear sermons of justice and mercy here, in this hallowed space. But we don't often hear sermons on humilty. I would imagine the reason for that is because it's most often "the least of these" that fill these pews. Still, it is humility that Peter and Paul have in common. And I'll give you a few examples or portraits of that humility.


Peter, the bold, the brash looks at Jesus, falls to his knees and says; "Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man!" (Luke 5:8)


And how do you suppose it is that we know about the story of Peter denying the Lord three times, after the Last Supper and before the Crucifixion? How do you suppose we know that after Peter's third denial and the rooster crowed, that Jesus turned and looked at Peter. I'm going to propose that the only way we could know this, is that Peter was humble enough to tell the story, over and over again, so that it became well known to the 1st Century Christian community. Known well enough that Luke wrote it down in his Gospel, where it has been preserved for 2,000 years.


Peter, pillar of the Church, humble enough to accept Gentiles into Christianity and humble enough to make room for St. Paul as another Apostle. These are no small things! And they were not easy things! Gentiles were considered by Jews to be unclean, an obstacle to purity and holiness - but when Jesus came to Peter in thrice-fold vision and said; "“Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” Peter says; “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” And even though all the Apostles and all the Christians were afraid of St. Paul, the man who had executed and martyred many Christians, Peter would not condemn him. Indeed, Peter generously gave Paul the right hand of fellowship. Humility enabled Peter to do these things. Humility allowed him to learn, to change, to grow and develop. Humility enabled to him keep from grasping at power, authority and prestige - humility allowed him to share the lime light with anyone who was willing to work to proclaim the Gospel.


Now, Paul... He was another terrific example of humility. After Paul's conversion experience, where he meets Jesus face to face, one of the first things that Paul does is seek out the Apostles. Acts chapter 9 tells us; "When Paul came to Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles... Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord."... After having martyred many of their friends, this took great courage, but it also took great humility. And Paul really didn't have to do this, he didn't need their blessing or acceptance - he had the blessing and acceptance of Jesus Christ. He didn't need to be taught by the Apostles, he had received divine revelation first hand. But Paul didn't feel the need to grasp onto that kind of egocentrism, he didn't feel the need to seize authority or power. Paul was humble, he knew that each and every member of Christ's community needed one another. He knew that we are, each one, part of a whole.


Like Peter, he refused to think of himself as figure of authority, he refused to grasp after power. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, Paul writes;
"My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized in my name."... That is humility. Everything is done for the glory of Christ and if Paul thinks, even for a second, that people will lift Paul up (instead of Christ) then Paul takes himself out of the picture. Paul would probably be mortified that I'm talking about him now, if he were here, I would imagine he would be pleading with me to speak about Jesus.


In 1 Timothy 5, Paul writes; "17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,”[a] and “The worker deserves his wages.” So, what Paul is advocating here is that we pay our preachers and ministers for the work that they do for the Church. But, Paul often did not accept a salary for the ministry work that he did. Three different times, the scriptures tell us that he was a tentmaker and often supported himself with that trade. That is humility.


And my final words tonight are the words I'd started with, the C.O.S. motto, from the book of Micah 6:8; Through the example of St. Peter and St Paul, "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

The First Pentecost

What am I saying? I'm saying; in Genesis, when God breathed life into everything (including grass), that was the first Pentecost. That was when every living thing received God's nephesh, God's ruah, God's Breath and God's Spirit. 
http://www.amazon.com/Boundless-Circle-Caring-Creatures-Creation/dp/0835607259/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1307627219&sr=8-1
and
http://www.amazon.com/Animal-Gospel-Andrew-Linzey/dp/0664221939/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307627283&sr=8-1


It is no wonder that the Jews, whose Hebrew ancestors wrote that account and who fully understand what it REALLY means, look upon the smaller and exclusive (even discriminating) Christian Penetcost with puzzlement and unease. It has, wrongfully, given Christians a license to "demonize Jews, Pagans and Heretics", as Christian scholar Elaine Pagels has written.
http://www.amazon.com/Origin-Satan-Christians-Demonized-Heretics/dp/0679731180/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1307627427&sr=8-1

Sin and Perfection

There is no such thing as "sin". None. Zip, zero, nada... It's been one of the most tragic and erroneous concepts ever made up in the mind of humankind. It's never existed and never will exist.


In the original language, it meant "to miss the mark, not perfect" and signified being out of harmony, out of right-relationship with all human beings and creation (thus with God too). 
1) There is no such thing as perfection. There has never been anyone or anything on this planet that was perfect. Humankind doesn't even know what it is, as is beautifully exemplified in the feeble attempts to describe the "perfection" of Heaven in the Book of Revelation... (For example, the book of Revelation describes a place where there is no pain and the sun is always shining, there is no night. Pain is necessary for survival and even growth, have you seen what happens when people do not have pain? And anyone who has lived in the Arctic knows, the 24/7 sun is HELL. No one can sleep, after 3 months, people are grouchy from sleep deprivation and fist fights break out - the whole Arctic heaves a huge sigh of relief when the sun finally goes down! The body needs the darkness to process melantonin and to heal. What's true physically, is true spiritually - we need pain and we need the darkness, just as much as we need wholeness and sunshine. We need the polarity.) 
2) Where in the world would the change, growth and the development of a human being coming from if it were not for our "missing the mark", if it were not from our mistakes? How many times did you have to fail tying your shoes before you finally mastered the task? How many times did you have to wobble and fall before you learned how to balance and ride a bike? The same is true with learning the art of friendship and romance - we have to learn how to set boundaries, how to negotiate, how to argue fairly, etc... All learning experiences. Our successes are built on the foundations of our failures and our mastery is built on our imperfections. Funny how we have been made this way. 
3) Evil exists. It most certainly does, but it is not explained by the ridiculous concept of "sin". It is much more than "imperfection", "missing the mark"... Evil has much more to do with the state of prejudice and hatred in the heart, with the absence of empathy and the intention to harm. No wonder Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers."