a priest's musings on the journey

blog addy correction

2008-11-03T17:47:00.000-08:00

it should be
www.creavit.blogspot.com

sorry

new blog addy

2008-11-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

Sorry, i forgot to give the address to the new blog...

www.creativ.blogspot.com

New Blog

2008-10-31T07:52:00.000-07:00

For a while I blogged at a priest's musings on the journey, but then the inspiration to write there left me, and I have left it fallow for several months. I will continue to post an occassional sermon or commentary there, butI am refocusing my energy on a new blog: creavit.Here I will share some of my poetry, short stories, paintings, and the music and art of friends as well as favorite pieces of mine. I will also offer planning suggestions for Sunday Mass and Holy Days. Thanks for stopping by and checking this space out. I hope the writings and images there will aid you in your quiet times and in your prayer times.

Returning Glamour to the Organ (Thanks james)

2008-10-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

A great story on a young organist who is trying to change the way we think about organs and organists... If you missed the story on NPR weekend edition, check it out http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96085462

Selected Tanka

2008-10-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

A tanka is a Japanese poem which tells a story or expresses a complete idea in 31 syllables, and 5 lines. The first and third lines contain 5 syllables, and the others contain 7: 57577. Here are a few that I have written over the last few days during my queit time.

Tanka on Sabbath

on the seventh day
God gave birth to harmony
repose, peace, and rest
potential for renewal
completion of creation

Tanka on the Blessed Virgin Mary

Rosa Mystica
Most Bless-ed Mother of God
Mother of us all
and Defender of the poor
who plead for her protection

Tanka on the Theotokos

Most Blessed Lady
All-Holy Mother of God
Birth-Giver of God
who contained within her womb
God who could not be contained

Tanka on St. Juan Diego's Call

Saint Juan Diego
heard the voice of a Princess
calling from a hill
asking him to build a church
where all could find God's mercy

Tanka on Our Lady of Guadalupe

Castillian Roses
blooming on a frozen hill
placed in a tilma
changed to the image of the
Merciful Mother of all

Tanka on Baptism

baptized in water

sealed by the Holy Spirit

accepted by Christ

and made God's own forever

all forgiven, all belong

La madre de todos los pueblos

2008-10-24T21:44:00.000-07:00

I've had a burst of creative energy lately. This is the result of some experimenting with painting.

Mixed Media
October 2008

poem october 2008 working title: redemption

2008-10-22T21:26:00.000-07:00

disassociation
unremitting isolation
fractionated abandonment
boundless desolate cavern
suffocating seclusion
rejection

nebulousness
endless vacant night
smoldering incomprehension
nihilistic vacuity
tenebrous

extirpative
non-existent being
fertile barrenness
destruction

caliginous conflagration
evolving decreation

void

gloaming

luminous chasm
mounting origination

reparation
fecundate bourgeoning
fleurissant reality
abetment

educement
summoning brilliance
perdurable gladdening star
apprehending pleroma
perspicuousness

subsumation
embosoming affection
illimitable proliferous sphere
uniated actuality
integrating quintessence
theosis

why some glbtq people decide not to come out

2008-10-22T12:11:00.000-07:00

It's sad, unbelieveable really, that in 21st century America many gay people remain afraid or unable to live their lives openly and freely- not only in the church, but also in society. Gays and lesbians who live in places where there is greater tolerance, acceptance, and protection of civil liberties often lose touch with what life is like for their peers who live in more hostile areas. These closted men and women are often co-erced, forced, or guilted into coming out- and tragically are sometimes outed (a most disgraceful act especially when done by another gay person.) But the sad truth is that there are some gay people who can not and should not come out- and their decision to protect themselves and the ones they love should be honored, and those who are out should be present with those in the closet with compassion, understanding, and respect until that person knows its the right and safe time and palce to be fully known.

There are gay priests (and bishops) who would be unemployed if they were out- (the dicoeses of Virginia, South Carolina, Quincy, Fort Worth, and Pittsburgh come to mind) not to mention the subject of the vouyersitic, predatory media eager for its next victim to exploit. Is it fair for a faithful priest to be forced to decide between his/her calling to serve God as a priest and his/her sexual orientation? No, but that's the reality for many. There are gay parents who would lose all contact with their children, and gay children who risk being outcasts in their own families if they came out. Is it just to make a father choose between his son and his lover? No, but judges force this decision all of the time. There are gay people who would be openly ridiculed at least, and assaulted or even killed at worst if they were out in their communities. It's easy for those on the other side to judge the ones in the closet and advise them to just leave their communities and judging families- but it ain't always as simple as that. No one wants to be rejected by those they love, and sometimes it just hurts less to hide one's sexuality so that one can feel the love and 'acceptance' that one needs. It's just too scary for some people to walk away from those who would reject them if they knew the turth; it takes a courage and a strength they don't have. Perhaps, in time and with God's grace, those in the closet will be able to come out, and I even pray be fully accepted. Until then, we should support others where they are, and love them, instead of judging them for not making the choices that we would make.

Philo once said, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Living in the closet is a struggle. It often feels like one is trapped in a prison. One lives in constant fear of being found out- be kind to those who live with such oppression. One day they will come out; one day they will find liberation, peace, and acceptance. Only they know when that day is- and only they can choose when to leave the closet. Until then, instead of attacking them and adding to their pain by judging them as "abusers of Christ" who "refuse to walk in the Light"- it might be better to encourage them, support them, and wlak with them until they are able to take the hand of the loving Christ, or the hand of a beloved friend, and walk into the glorious freedom of the sons and daughters of God.

Davis issued a stay

2008-09-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

Just two hours before the time of his execution, the US Supreme Court, meeting in an emergency session, issued a stay for Troy Anthony Davis. They had agreed earlier to hear his case next week, and yet the State of Georgia was still going to kill him tonight. Thanks be to God for this last minute move. They may have saved the life of an innocent man.

Troy Anthony Davis to be executed tommorrow. Speak out against State Murder

2008-09-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

Troy Anthony Davis is scheduled to be murdered by the State of Georgia tommorrow at 7 PM. It is abhorrant to execute a person for crimes in any case, but especially so when there are questions concerning guilt. Go to Amnesty International's website to find more information about how to write to the Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles and ask that Davis be given clemency.

Offer a prayer for Troy and his friends and family.

God have mercy on all of us.

Univeristy of Mary Washington Canterbury Club's new website

2008-09-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

see it here.

(pics and photos of the House Blessing and Dedication of the Prince of Peace Chapel can be found there as well)

Sweet Kissing...

2008-09-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

A birthday present from Luiz.

The Glykophilousa icon, also known as Sweet Kissing or Lovingkindness is my favorite image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the infant Christ. It was in fact the first icon I ever purchased, and my home is filled with different "Sweet Kissing" images. Not only do I find great serenity and tranquility in the scene itself- a mother caressing her child and being embraced by her child in return- but I find comfort in contemplating the faces of the Theotokos and Our Lord. I often see her pensive, forlorned visage and wonder, "does she somehow know what his fate will be?" "Is she trying to hold him close in an effort to protect him from his destiny?" When I see her in this icon, I see the face of a mother who is about to lose her child, and is relishing the last moments of tenderness before he is taken away from her. He looks as if he has been frightened and has ran into his mother's arms for safety. Perhaps I am reading in the part of the Story that I already know; perhaps I am reading into their Story parts of my own Story in an effort to find comfort and strength to live into my own plot. In any case, it is a beatiful, tender image with which I often pray, and from which I often receive many graces.

off to Rio de Janeiro

2008-08-10T18:33:00.000-07:00

with my sweety for 2 weeks... i probably won't get to blogging until the end of the month, unless i get particularly inspired...

peace y'all

Fa and Blessings on 8/8/8

2008-08-07T13:01:00.000-07:00

Go < a href= http://videos.howstuffworks.com/reuters/7567-chinas-lucky-number-8-video.htm#>here< to learn more about why the number 8 is lucky according to Chinese Superstition. Apparantly, the superstition has caught on even here in the US, where hundreds are have planned their wedding for 08/08/08, including a wedding at which I will officiate tommorrow at 8:08 PM.

In Chinese the number 8 is pronounced in a similar way as the word prosperity (fa). So to get married on 08/08/08 is like getting married on fa,fa,fa- which is a lot of prosperity. (notice the Olympics will open on 08/08/08 at 8:08 as well...)

So fa and blessings to all the newlyweds

Transfiguration and Prayers for Peace

2008-08-06T04:52:00.000-07:00

How could I ever forget that flash of light!
In a moment, thirty thousand people ceased to be,
The cries of fifty thousand killed
At the bottom of crushing darkness;

Through yellow smoke whirling into light,
Buildings split, bridges collapsed,
Crowded trams burnt as they rolled about
Hiroshima, all full of boundless heaps of embers.
Soon after, skin dangling like rags;
With hands on breasts;
Treading upon the broken brains;
Wearing shreds of burn cloth round their loins;
There came numberless lines of the naked, all crying.
Bodies on the parade ground, scattered like jumbled stone images of Jizo;
Crowds in piles by the river banks,
loaded upon rafts fastened to the shore,
Turned by and by into corpses under the scorching sun;
in the midst of flame tossing against the evening sky,
Round about the street where mother and brother were trapped alive under the fallen house
The fire-flood shifted on.
On beds of filth along the Armory floor,
Heaps, and God knew who they were …
Heaps of schoolgirls lying in refuse
Pot-bellied, one-eyed, with half their skin peeled off bald.
The sun shone, and nothing moved
But the buzzing flies in the metal basins
Reeking with stagnant ordure.
How can I forget that stillness
Prevailing over the city of three hundred thousands?
Amidst that calm,
How can I forget the entreaties
Of departed wife and child
Through their orbs of eyes,
Cutting through our minds and souls?

- Mitsuyoshi Toge
from Hiroshima-Nagasaki: A Pictorial Record of the Atomic Destruction (1978).

We continue to remember those who died on this day on 1945 when Hiroshima was attacked by the US. May God be merciful and grant peace to our world, so that acts of violence and war will cease as we are transfigured into the likeness of Christ.

O God, who on the holy mount didst reveal to chosen witnesses thy well-beloved Son, wonderfully transfigured, in raiment white and glistening: Mercifully grant that we, being delivered from the disquietude of this world, may in faith behold the King in his beauty; who with thee, O Father, and thee, O Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen.

The Cross of Life

2008-08-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Luiz' final piece on his Lambeth Devotional art blog has to be my favorite, because it was a "collaborative" effort between Luiz and Zac. Zac sketched a cross on a canvas in June for a painting he intended to create for my mother, but being the perfectionist that he is, decided it was the wrong cross and left the canvas to create a new one for her (the one he gave her is a flowering cross set against a hill over which the sun is rising... alas I do not have a picture). Luiz took the used canvas and said he could use it somehow. The Cross of Life is the result of Luiz' additions to Zacs original sketch. Zac was elated to see it on Luiz' website, and to know that it had stood in a place of prayer at the Lambeth Conference. I think this will encourage him to continue with his own artwork.

A better image of the icon.....

2008-08-05T14:11:00.001-07:00

Holy Martyrs of the Melanesian Brotherhood, pray for us that we may be continiually inspired and empowered to proclaim the Gospel of Peace and to work for a just and peaceful world, so that God's will may be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

Icon of the 7 Martyrs of Melanesia... written by Luiz Coelho for the Closing Eucharist and the Melanesian Church

2008-08-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

From the Living Church....

Seven martyred Melanesian brothers were added to the names in the Chapel of Saints and Martyrs of Our Own Time at Canterbury Cathedral during the closing Eucharist of the Lambeth Conference Aug. 3.

The seven members of the Anglican Religious Community of the Melanesian Brotherhood were killed by separatists in the Solomon Islands in 2003 while they were trying to serve as peacemakers in the conflict. Archbishop Ellison Pogo, primate of Melanesia, presided at the closing liturgy, which included hymns, anthems and readings in a variety of languages used throughout the Anglican Communion.

Following the post-communion prayer, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams received the names of the seven brothers at the location in the cathedral where Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas a Becket was murdered in 1170.

Beginning in the nave, members of the four religious communities of Melanesia chanted the Litany of the Saints and Martyrs of Melanesia as they slowly processed to the altar. The brothers and sisters wore soft-soled shoes or sandals so that their voices were the only sound echoing through the packed cathedral.

.....

What the Living Church did not report, nor any the other blogs that I have read about that evenings liturgy, was that on the altar where the names were recieved stood an icon of the 7 Martyrs of Melanesia, written by Luiz Coelho and given as a gift to the Melanesian Church. The icon has been blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and, at the request of the Melanesian Church, will remain in the Chapel of Saints and Martyrs of Our Own Time so that pilgrims can know the story of the 7 Martyrs and add their prayers to the prayers of the martyrs and of all the church for peace in the world. Rumor says "the real story" of the liturgy can be read in the Church Times in days to come.... I'll keep you posted.

More on the martyrs can be found here and here

Bp Duncan finds it troubling to include a chant to a god he does not know... Which deity does he find so troubling?

2008-07-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

Read about it here

An Image for your Prayers

2008-07-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

Dalit Madonna by Jyoti Sahi

Hail Mary, full of grace, Our Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, our Lord, Jesus Christ. O Virgin Saint Mary, O Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at all times, and at the hour of our death. Amen.
( from the Indian (Malankara) Orthodox Church)

Sunday July 27 Lambeth Eucharist:

2008-07-26T06:38:00.000-07:00

Tune in to BBC RADIO 4 tommorrow- or later in the archives to hear the Sunday Lambeth Eucharist. Of course the ABC is preaching, but more importantly, Luiz is leading the Intercessions. :)
(He looks like the perfect Southern getleman with that bowtie)

What About Now? Daughtry

2008-07-24T21:07:00.000-07:00

Seems to fit the week....

Keeping Perspective: A Plea to Remember the Important Things

2008-07-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

I received this in a listserve of which I am a member... I'm posting it here because there is great wisdom in this letter. We can not allow the statements made by the Archbishop of Sudan regarding human sexuality thwart our committment to working for peace, justice, and freedom for the Sudanese people. No matter what Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul and other conservative Christians think of me, we are bound together in Christ: I belong to them, and they belong to me because we all belong to Christ. I can only return the pain that their personal views about gays and lesbians bring with prayers for their continued transformation in Christ. I asks God's blessings on the Primate of Sudan and I pray for peace among the people there. And in the mystery of the love of God, I have hope that through my prayers for justice and liberation for them, the Spirit will bring justice, peace, and liberation to us all.

pax to you all

Dear Ones,

There's been a lot of talk about one statement made by Sudanese
Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul yesterday at Lambeth. It has caused much pain
and consternation. What has been completely lost in that hubbub is the
other statement made by the Archbishop on behalf of the Episcopal Church
of Sudan. It is a critical statement and I commend it for your prayer
and study. It is ample evidence why our companion relationship with Lui
continues to be a good and important and life-saving thing.

I encourage you to go to the EGR blog -- www.e4gr.blogspot. com -- and
read the whole statement, which we've fitted with links so you can more
easily learn more about the various provisions. We've also provided a
link to a document developed by our Diocese of Missouri's Companion
Diocese Committee in consultation with the Episcopal Office of
Government Relations ... a "Sudan Advocacy Action Guide" that addresses
the points in this statement and has talking points and a letter
template as well as contact information for senators Kit Bond and Claire
McCaskill, as well as information about how to find and contact your
representatives.

The statement's key "asks" are:

*International pressure for peace in Darfur as part of a "whole Sudan
approach" to conflict in Sudan, realizing that the conflicts in Darfur
and in the South are inextricably linked.

*Continued education and political pressure around the Referendum of
2011, which would provide the opportunity for independence for Southern
Sudan.

*Continued political pressure to abide by the Abyei protocol of the CPA.

*Support for the Church in the North in the face of religious
persecution from the government.

*Continued pressure on peace talks with the Lord's Resistance Army and
Ambororo.

*Support in terms of relief and development, to help communities provide
clean water, security, health and education for returning refugees and
internally displaced persons.

*Support from the Lambeth Conference and Anglican Communion to "stand in
solidarity with the Sudanese Church and people."

*Prayers and fellowship to encourage and support the Church in its mission.

Please read and disseminate this statement widely. It is no surprise
that the statement dealing with issues of sexuality has gotten
high-volume play and the statement dealing with people being murdered
has gotten almost no play (I spent much of the morning searching the
internet for any text of it at all, and fortunately a wonderful deacon,
the Rev. Timothy Spannus of Royal Oak, MI, sent me an email when ACNS
finally posted it.).

Don't let the cries of the Sudanese people get drowned out. Please take
the time to read this statement and respond with your prayers and advocacy.

Christ's peace,

Mike+

--
The Rev. Mike Kinman
Executive Director, Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation
MKinman@gmail. com + 314.348.6453
http://www.e4gr. org + http://www.e4gr. blogspot. com

New Discovery

2008-07-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

I'm always the very last person to discover things, but I made a new discovery this morning and it is giving me a liturgasm. Please check out Chant Blog. if you haven't discovered it yet.

Walk of Witness

2008-07-23T06:58:00.000-07:00

Tommorrow The Archbishop of Canterbury and some 600 bishops will participate in the Lambeth Walk of Witness, meant to be a symbol of the Church's committment to working towards accomplishing the Millennium Development Goals. You can read more about the walk of witness here and here.

As the bishops walk in London, concerned Episcopalians in Fredericksburg, VA will walk with the bishops in our own walk for witness downtown Fredericksburg. We will gather at Trinity Episcopal Church, on the corner of College and William, at 6:00 AM. We will make a station at the Micah Hospitality Center- the ecumenical ministry to the homeless temporarily housed at Trinity Church- and offer prayers for Micah's work- and then walk downtown to St George's Episcopal Church, where we will offer Eucharist and offer prayers for the poor and those who help them. Those participating in the walk will also contact local and national leaders and ask them to do more to end poverty in our community, the nation, and the world.

20 July, 2008 Lambeth Conference Eucharist Sermon by the Rt. Rev. Duleep De Chickera, Anglican Bishop of Colombo, Sri Lanka

2008-07-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

We gather in this impressive awesome magnificent cathedral as
representatives of several nations, several cultures, several tongues
and as representatives of several Christian denominations and other
living faiths. This is a joyful and a sacred moment. And I would like
to suggest that we keep a pause in our worship to express our
gratitude to God for all those responsible for shaping our Anglican
identity, for nourishing our spirituality and for helping in the
formation of our common life through the centuries and in many parts
of the world.

The ninth verse of the twelfth chapter of 2 Corinthians. “My grace is
sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul is confessing and proclaiming the paradox of grace in the
Christian gospel. It is as we increasingly recognise and acknowledge
our vulnerability in our journey of discipleship in Christ and with
Christ that we receive grace to be and to become faithful disciples.
I want you to hold on to this text because it is the idea that will
undergird our thinking through the rest of this reflection. The
recognition of our vulnerability makes growth possible in Christian
discipleship.

There are two realities that encompass us as we meet as a world
family of the Anglican Communion. I would like to draw your
attention to both these realities without which our conference and
our forward journey will become meaningless.

Our world is torn and divided. Bishops are expected to bring their
dioceses with them to the Lambeth conference. Bishops whose dioceses
strive to be faithful through the challenges that come through God’s
word will bring along with their dioceses the pains, injustices,
struggle , evil, and hostility that men and women encounter in
today’s world. It is true saying that God gives the church an agenda
out of the crises of the world. And so my dear sisters and brothers
in Christ, the world Anglican Communion must always give the highest
priority to participate with Christ in transforming God’s world. To
bring healing, peace, justice, reconciliation and abundant life where
there is oppression hostility, and strife.

This concept of the world in pain must run through this conference
for the conference to receive the energy and spirituality of our
church. No other priority can contend for that place. God has called
us and placed us in God’s world so that we might participate with him
in bringing this transformation.

The second reality is that we are a wounded community. Some of us are
not here. And that is an indication that all is not well. Certainly
the crisis is complex. It is not a conflict that can be resolved
instantly. The journey ahead is a long and arduous one, that will
demand our prayers and faithfulness, our mutual trust in each other
and of course our trust in God who makes reconciliation possible.

I would like to draw your attention to the parable read as the
gospel. The words of the master were: let them grow together, there
must be no uprooting, simply because if we attempt this game of
uprooting the unrighteous, none of us will remain. We are all a mix
of the wheat and the weeds. The wisdom of these words suggests that
we stay together because we have grown from a common soil, tradition,
and heritage. We are what we are regardless of our differences.
Transformation comes in this interaction and transformation must come
from within.

In Jaffna a church is being converted into a centre for conflict
reconciliation and peace: Christ Church Jaffna. It has been
renovated. Something is emerging, an agenda for peace and
reconciliation in this place. We have decided to retain the marks and
scars on the wall of this church. Transformation comes from within.
The old gradually converts as men and women pray and talk and
dialogue and disagree as we must. Disciples of Jesus stay together
and journey together.
There are three challenges to leave with us as we address the
objectives of this Lambeth Conference. To strengthen our Anglican
identity, and to enable bishops to be leaders in God’s mission.

Here are three thoughts that could contribute to identity and
mission. First, our communion must return to the discipline and
practice of self-scrutiny. We have a rich tradition that supports
this discipline: the retreat, the quiet time, contemplation,
spiritual counsellors. All of which enhance the practice and
discipline of men and women coming to God in stillness to evaluate
and examine their lives. The parable of the plank and the speck of
dust. Christ calls us to be hard on ourselves and calls us to
consider him only as our measure and our standard. So we stand and
evaluate our ourselves in relation to the fulness and the abundance
of life in Jesus. Then when shortcomings are detected we work with
the Spirit to overcome, to grow, to become beautiful and faithful in
the eyes of Christ. The standard is always Christ. It is not that
bishop who is giving you trouble or archdeacon whose theology always
irritates you. Self scrutiny is possible in the Christian journey as
we stand naked before Jesus the Christ.

The second challenge that I would to leave with you is one we would
like to declare again and again. The challenge of unity in diversity.
As I look around and see you I see this wonderful unity in diversity.
When the sacrament is administered, lips from numerous countries and
nationalities will touch the same cup. We are united in support of
the fact we are different in Christ , we are equal. There is enough
to go around if none will be greedy. Here my sisters and brothers is
an insight of what the church is called to be. an inclusive communion
where there is space equally for everyone and anyone, regardless of
colour, gender, sexual orientation, ability. Unity in diversity is a
cherished Anglican tradition a spirituality which we must reinforce
in all humility for the sake of Christ and Christ’s gospel.

The third challenge that I have for you is that of the prophetic
book. It is not complete unless we address and deal with the
injustice of the world. And so the world Anglican Communion must
articulate this prophetic voice regardless of where we serve in the
world. Now as many of you will be aware, the prophetic voice has two
strands, and it is imperative that these two strands are held
together. First the prophetic voice is the voice of the voiceless.
There are those who for political, cultural, economic, and military
reasons cannot speak for themselves. Or if they do, they do so at
tremendous peril. And so the Anglican Communion must speak on their
behalf, whether it be on the crisis in Sri Lanka, in Zimbabwe, in
Sudan, or Afghanistan, or Iran. The voiceless must be given a voice
through the leadership of the Anglican Communion.

The second strand which goes with a voice for the voiceless is the
calling into accountability of those who abuse power. To
authoritarian regimes who oppress and suppress the people the
prophetic voice will ask pertinent and relevant questions. Two other
comments about the prophetic tradition. In a sense the prophetic
voice is monotonous. It is the same thing as long as the problem
remains. And so you do not need to worry that you are not saying
anything new. Relentless monotony.
Then there is no self interest in the prophetic voice. We speak for
justice and order in Gods world and and we speak on behalf of those
who cannot speak for themselves.

I want to conclude by quoting one of my favourite archbishops. Not
Rowan Williams as yet. Archbishop William Temple who once said hat
the church is the one institution that does not live for itself. My
dear sisters and brothers as we move from this wonderful retreat
through this beautiful eucharist into our conference, let us hold on
to these words. Here is the crux of Anglican identity and
spirituality. We do not live for ourselves, and all our gifts are to
be directed towards abundant life for the other.

Comforting News from Lambeth

2008-07-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

at KANTINHO DO REV

"... that they may be One, even as the Father and I are One..." prays Jesus

from Luiz Coelho... Stewards and Religious singing at Evening Prayer (We Are Singing to God)

2008-07-13T20:42:00.000-07:00

There is something so beautiful about this......

Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace- written by Luiz Coelho in the Univeristy of Mary Washington Canterbury House Chapel

2008-07-13T11:41:00.001-07:00

Praying for peace in the midst of the violence

2008-07-13T10:12:00.000-07:00

There is a small restaurant near the University and the Canterbury House that I sometimes frequent for lunch, mainly because it's close, and because it is one of the few Chinese restaurants to have a a good selection of veggies on the buffet. It's a sweet little family run place, where many Hispanics and students hang out for meals. Today, it is closed- not because it is Sunday- but because the family and the community are in mourning for the death of the son of the owners, who was abducted and murdered recently while delivering an order. Last night, there was a community vigil to pray for him and the family, and to pray for peace in our little town.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated event. On Wednesday a woman was attacked while running (just yards away from the Church). the man was armed and tried to bind her hands, but she resisted and he fled (and is still at large). On July 1 a university student was also attacked by a man fitting the same description, while she was running along Hanover St (on the trails I usually like to walk on).

Fredericksburg is normally a quiet, peaceful town, where neighbors still know each other and speak with each other, where one feels safe walking alone on the streets at night... until now.... this bucolic Mayberry is becoming plagued by a stream of violence.

Part of the Canterbury Clubs mission is to pray and work for peace. In fact, we chose to name the chapel, Prince of Peace Chapel to remind us of our call to be peacemakers. There is a cross in the chapel on which those who suffer from persecution and violence are named and prayers are offered for them. The idea was that we would pray for Iraq, Sudan, The Middle East, etc. I do not think any of us dreamed we would be naming people who had been victims of violence outside our door. It is clear that our mission for peacemaking is becoming "real" and "at home"- of course we will pray and speak out against violence, but I am praying about what else we can do to stand against the rise of violence in our neighborhood and in the world. Part of me thinks this is the fruit born from the violence our country has been sowing throughout the world: Now is the time to sow peace, love, and justice. Now is the time to cry with those who mourn, to rage with those who are sick and tired of the power given to violence by those who have the ability to act against it but who sit complacent in the face of it, to resist the evil within ourselves that feeds the evil in the world, to pray for mercy, and to act for a transformed world that looks more like the world Jesus proclaimed was coming among us as God's Reign.

Stay tuned.... I can't wait to see what ideas the students have when the gather back here in August....

You see a clip of the vigil here.

Do I Really Want to Follow Jesus?

2008-06-22T19:55:00.000-07:00

A few years ago while I was living in North Carolina, I discovered an intentional Christian community in Durham called Rutba House. While I have flirted with some sort of monastic vocation for the last twenty years, this was my first exposure to "new monasticism", and as I read about this community's life, mission, and vision, "my heart was strangely warmed", to borrow Wesley's delicious phrase, and I began reflecting on what it really meant for me to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. The immediate fruit of that prayerful reflection was an attempt and ongoing struggle to live a simpler life, to try and reduce my carbon footprint and live greener, and to be more intentional about finding and loving Christ in the poor and oppressed (read spiritual as well as physical poverty here.) The seed that is still gestating is a call or desire to take a bigger step toward reorienting my entire vision of what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be Church, and what it means for me to be a priest. At the risk of sounding judgemental (and I suppose I am), there seems to be something missing in Church for me. Maybe I'm wrong, but I wish the Church would be more about living the Gospel and following the Way of Jesus, and less about playing politics and preserving an Institution that is more like the world than the vision of God's reign that Jesus proclaimed had come among us. (and I wish I could articulate that in a less acerbic and more grace-filled way).
Let me unpack that a bit: what do I mean by living the Gospel? As I understand it, the heart of the Gospel message is Jesus' new commandment to love God with all of one's heart, mind, soul,and strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself. The context for knowing, experiencing, and giving and receiving love is community. Our baptismal incorporation "in Christ" is in fact an initiation into the "body of Christ", which is a metaphorical description of that community of disciples of Jesus Christ from all times and places, in heaven and on earth. And, our incorporation into Christ's Body is an incorporation into the life of God- an incorporation into the loving community of the Most Holy Trinity. I still remember when, through Henri Nouwen's help, I had an "a-ha" moment with Rublev's icon of the Holy Trinity/Visitation of the Angels when I realized that the empty space in the circle was a space reserved for me (and you) to join in the sacred dance of eternal love between the members of the Divine Being. My Holiness roots had called this union with God, "sanctification", an idea similar to the Eastern Church's teaching on "theosis", the life-long(and beyond) process of becoming by grace what God is by nature. If then, we are united in Christ and are becoming partakers of the Divine nature (1 Peter 1:4), and if the Divine nature is in essence love- since God is love- (1 John 4:8), then how can we live any other way than the way of love- which is the way of God proclaimed by Jesus? For God love is sacrificial, self-giving, unconditional, unending, and available to all.
If we share in God's nature, then we are called to love the same way- which is real life terms means sharing our bread with the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the imprisoned, and healing the sick. It means taking the words of Jesus seriously when he said to love our enemies, to bless those who curse us, to turn the cheek, to forgive those who abuse us, to welcome the stranger,and to liberate the oppressed (and the oppressors). It means speaking out against injustice and working to tear down the powers of evil- both in ourselves and in the kingdoms of the Church and the world- which rage against the Reign of God and exploit the people of God. It means caring for the world and the environment, not just because God called us to be care takers of the world, but because a life rooted in love is a grateful life which respects God's creation and preserves it for those who will live on this planet after us.
Is this Gospel life the way of life that most Christians live? Is it the way of life that I live? Can I be (remain) a partaker of the Divine nature and not live this way? Can I claim to love God and ignore the plight of the poor? If I am becoming by grace what God is by nature, then shouldn't I be working to end poverty, and working to bring gender and racial equality? Shouldn't I be working to form a truly inclusive church where everyone really is welcomed as Christ without the General Convention or the Lambeth Conference telling me via a resolution that is ok for me to welcome them? Shouldn't I denounce the powers of consumerism and materialism that pull me away from God's Reign and cloud Christ's call to love my neighbor. Shouldn't I be praying for those in the Church who deny me a place at the Table of Grace and intentionally working for reconciliation (NB: cracks like "akinola- assahola" are not faithful expressions of the ministry of reconciliation. I'm pretty sure that's not what Jesus had in mind when he said "do good to those who hate you, pray for those who insult you and persecute you.." (Matthew 5:44).

This is not the life that I am living... but I want it to be. That is not the life that I see the institutional church living- but if it doesn't awake from its slumber and "be" the hands and feet of Christ in the world- (pardon the awkward grammar) then it will become utterly irrelevant. (and maybe it already has... )

Luiz and I have mused on these thoughts for several months. We've also been reading Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution, which seems to be offering us greater clarity into what it might mean for us to follow Christ's way of love. While both of us have at various points in our Christian journeys considered monastic life, neither of us feel our vocation is to "leave the world" in order to serve the world through prayer. Don't get me wrong, I have tremendous respect and admiration for those who enter the religious life, and their contribution to the Church and the world is an invaluable service to the Kingdom of God. However, that does not seem to be the path that I am being called to take- at least in its intentional form. I am feeling called to an intentional ministry of transformation in the world- (again, cloistered monastic life also participates in the ministry of transforming the world; the various paths of living out discipleship are not better than another- only different). During our conversations we have reflected on how and where our vocations will participate in Christ's work of transforming the world.
We have been dreaming of creating our own "new monastic intentional Christian community." Although we still do not really understand what that will be like, our dream is to find a residence in an urban area, where 6-12 people would live in intentional Christian community, under an adapted Benedictine Rule. We would worship together daily, share meals in common, and work together with the poor and marginalized in the area. The core of our dream includes the creation of an art atelier which would train the poor in the visual arts, host exhibitions of their work, and manage a shop which would sell their work. The emphasis would be on the creation of liturgical arts- vestments, icons, statuary, paintings, sacred vessels, stained glass, etc.; but other forms of art would be encouraged as well. The atelier would also offer after-school classes for children and youth, and the community would assist the poor with food and access to medical care and spiritual formation. Our deepest dream would be to create a community that modeled greener living for the urban poor, by the creative planting of plants and vegetation, by designing urban gardens, recycling and re-purposing "trash", etc.

More needs to be fleshed out; I have no idea how this would work, where it could be, or how to get there. I envision myself working at least part time in a parish as well, and I would think members of the community migth also have jobs outside of the house. But, this is only in the dream phase. While both of us are excited about the possibilities and open to the Spirit, we will have to trust God to direct us from here. If this dream interests you, and you at least want to be a part of the conversation, contact Luiz or me, and let's talk.

More Thoughts on Honduras

2008-06-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

One of the most rewarding parts of the Mission to Honduras was my interaction with the children. I have never played so much soccer, UNO, and baseball in my life... neither have I received so many hugs and warm smiles from hearts thirsty for affection and acceptance. One of my favorite moments was when one of the boys asked me to read a book with him. I had brought a few children's books, so I got a couple and we sat ont he ground and took turns reading. Suddenly it started to rain, and we went running for the nearest shelter, which happened to be the laundry room. We sat there and chatted until the rain stopped, and then he said that he was late for bed and had to go ... but first he ran to me and gave me a big hug. As strange as this might sound- it wasn't just a hug- it was filled with love and thankfulness.

The next morning I was walking and praying the Rosary and one of the boys that I had played soccer with came up to me and asked what I was doing. I showed him the Rosary and said I was praying but that we could talk- He wanted to see my Rosary, but he was distracted by my Celtic Cross necklace, and after touching it asked if he could have it. "O, no," I said, "this one is very special to me becuase it was given to me by my son." "But padre, I'm your son too, no?".... Well, how does one argue with that. Thankfully I had the Rosary in hand, so I showed him the Rosary and asked if he'd ever used one. He took it, and he made the sign of the cross and kissed the cross and said "I love this- may I have it?" "Yes, this you may have, if you promise you will say your prayers with it." He took it, put it around his neck, hugged me and went off to do his chores. After I left I received an email from a parishioner who stayed there for an extra week saying the boy had not yet taken off the Rosary... I hope he knows he is loved- not just by God, but by me and others...

One way that you can help this ministry is by sponsoring a child. When one sponsors a child, one is able to enter into a relationship with the child. If you can not speak Spanish, there are volunteers in the States who will translate letters for you and the children. There are three ways to sponsor a child:

You can sponsor a child's education for $600 a year or $50/month
You can help pay for a child's Room and Board for $900 a year or $75/month
You can be a Full Sponsor for $1500 a year or $125/month

To enquire about sponsoring a child, please go here and fill in the application form and mail it to :

El Hogar Ministries,
70 Church Street,
Winchester, MA 01890

Here are the pics of two boys that I will be sponsoring. I am so proud of them- and ask that you would say prayers for them when you can.

Marvin	Luiz

Trinity Parish Mission Trip to El Hogar de Amor y Esperanza, Tegucigalpa, Honduras

2008-06-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

A small group from Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, VA- the parish which sponsors the Canterbury Club at the University of Mary Washington where I am a Chaplain, spent a week at an Episcopal school and home for children in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. El Hogar is a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Honduras to the poorest of the poor. Some of the children are orphans, but most come from single parent homes and are rescued off the streets because the parent is unable to care for them. Some children return home on the weekends; others do not because it is not safe for them to return home. The children of El Hogar are given an education, and are grounded in a faith and morality that will empower them to be productive citizens of Honduras. The mission of El Hogar is "to provide a loving home and education in a Christian environment for abandoned, orphaned and hopelessly poor children, enabling them to fulfill their ultimate potential as productive human beings in Honduras."

The ministry includes three campuses: the elementary campus- where 96 boys and 12 girls live in community, the Instituto Technico de Santa Maria and the Episcopal Agricultural School and Farm. El Hogar has recently opened its doors to girls, and a new dorm is being built for them in hopes of bringing more girls into the orphanage. More information about the orphanage and school and about all of the schools can be found here.

I'll be posting more photos and musings on my experience there, as well as introducing you to some of the children and youth who touched my heart in days to come.

Icon for the Visitation

2008-06-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Please say a prayer for me; I have been sick for several days- and as I am the only priest in the parish this weekend, I am trudging through three masses today anyways... but I feel like crap... This morning we had a visitor from "the third largest parish in the Episcopal Church" in Florida, apparantly, who decided to give me some advice on how to more gracefully celebrate and project my voice... It took all of my Southern Hospitality and fake-kind temperament to say "O, I am so sorry my sickness inconvenienced you on the back row- but I am the only priest here this weekend and this is the best I can do." UGH one more mass and then I am going to bed....

When I am better I will write about my trip to Honduras... Pray for me...

Off to Tegucigalpa

2008-05-16T18:05:00.000-07:00

will be offline 9 days...

Nuestra Señora de Suyapa... Patroness of Honduras

2008-05-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

Icon and Litany to Our Lady of Iraq

2008-05-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

Litany to Our Lady of Iraq

Mother of Our Creator, pray for us
Mother of Our Redeemer, pray for us
Mother of Our Salvation, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us

Holy Mary, Daughter of Abraham of the Chaldees, pray for us
Holy Mary, Sister of Thomas who evangelized Mesopotamia, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mother of Mar Addai and Mar Mari, co-workers with Thomas, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us

Holy Mary, Defender of the oppressed, pray for us
Holy Mary, Comforter of the afflicted, pray for us
Holy Mary, Advocate of the poor, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us

Holy Mary, Helper of those in danger, pray for us
Holy Mary, Protector of all in peril, pray for us
Holy Mary, Guardian of the persecuted, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us

Holy Mary, Refuge of all who seek your help, pray for us
Holy Mary, Haven of all who are in distress, pray for us
Holy Mary, Shelter of all in need of sanctuary, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us

Holy Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mirror of Justice, pray for us
Holy Mary, Seat of Mercy, pray for us
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us

Holy Mary, Ever Blessed Virgin Mother of God, we seek your intercessions for peace in the land of Iraq. Defend your children from violence, degradation, and the violence of war. Comfort the childless and the orphaned, defend the oppressed and the poor, calm the fears and the hatred of those who oppress. In your compassion, plead to Your Son, Our Savior Christ, to pour God's healing grace upon the people's of Iraq, that they may be given peace, mercy and salvation, in this life, and in the life to come.

(composed 12 May, 2008)

12 May

2008-05-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Creation Groans for Redemption

2008-05-12T14:28:00.000-07:00

32,000 dead in Burma- thousands of corpses scattered across the country uncared for- thousands in peril as aid is denied.

Dozens dead in the Southeast US after 66 tornadoes raze and destroy communities, leaving many homeless.

10,000 dead in China- and rising, as many remain trapped in rubble following a massive earthquake.

Hundreds threatened by an out of control fire in Florida.

Wild, unpredictable weather patterns; gluttonous, non-visionary, wasteful Americans who still aren't conserving energy, saving natural resources nor working to decrease their ecological footprint in spite of overwhelming evidence of the consequences of our exploitation of the earth.

And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' Acts 2

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as children, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Romans 8:19-24

2008-05-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

2008-05-10T21:47:00.000-07:00

Blessed Pentecost Day

2008-05-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

The Protection of the Theotokos

2008-05-09T19:50:00.000-07:00

My prayers are with those who lost their homes as the tornadoes passed through NC and VA last night. I also ask your prayers for the people of Burma

AIDS Walk

2008-05-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

A high school friend of mine has registered for AIDS Walk New York 2008 (May 18, 2008)- an event that hopes to raise money which will make a difference in the lives of men, women, and children affected by HIV and AIDS. Even though there has been a lot of publicity about drug treatments which are prolonging some people's lives, they don't work for everyone and there is still no cure in sight. Moreover, young people are still getting infected at alarmingly high rates.

It is clear that more services and more prevention programs are needed, and the money raised will go to the Gay Men's Health Crisis and about 40 other AIDS organizations in the NY area to support the work they do.

If you would like to help, please consider being a sponsor. You can go here to find Stephen's personalized donation web page, where you can charge your donation. Thank you, in advance, for supporting this important cause and for showing that you join me in wanting to end this epidemic.

A few facts you may want to know:
~AIDS Walk NY is the world's largest AIDS fundraising event.
~AIDS Walk NY stands out as a model of community action and cost-efficient fundraising. The priority has always been to have the money raised go directly to vital services to help people living with HIV or AIDS.
~AIDS Walk NY benefits GMHC (Gay Men's Health Crisis), the nation's oldest and most comprehensive AIDS Service organization. The organization's staff of 189 and 7,000 dedicated volunteers provide services to more than 15,000 men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS and their families.
~A portion of the net proceeds from the AIDS Walk also goes to dozens of other AIDS organizations within the tri-state area.

Mary Image for Thursday 08 May

2008-05-08T11:02:00.001-07:00

From the Book of Kells

Pentecost Sermon: Family Mass

2008-05-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have never done this before- nor did I think I ever would. But since we are doing a Rite 3 Mass with intentional silence, dramatic readings, liturgical dance and flaming tongues of fire at 11 on Sunday, I thought I'd try something a bit different for the sermon at the Family Mass.

Mary Image for 07 May

2008-05-07T23:41:00.000-07:00

Our Lady of Darfur: Written by Luiz Coelho

Heavenly Father,

We pray for those whose lives are lived on the margins of nations and suffer from the wars that others fight around them. We pray for the warring factions, that they may see themselves under the gaze of God and those who suffer for their cause. We pray for the peoples of Darfur who are haunted by fear of violence, hunger and hopelessness, that they may continue to be fed, visited and defended. We pray for the work of peacekeepers, negotiators and the humanitarian organisations that security may prevail. We pray for the Government of Sudan and for her unity. We pray for peace in the name of him who is the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen. (The Archbishop of Canterbury's Prayer for Darfur)

Korean Virgin Mary... 05/06/08

2008-05-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

은총이 가득하신 마리아님, 기뻐하소서!

주님께서 함께계시니 여인중에 복되시며

태중의 아들 예수님 또한 복되시나이다.
천주의 성모 마리아님,
이제와 저희죽을 때에
저희 죄인을 위하여 빌어주소서.
아멘.

Hail Mary in Korean

More Reflections on Archbishop Robin Eames' Talks at Shrinemont

2008-05-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

I was able to hear two more talks given by Archbishop Eames this morning. Of course I didn't find any paper on which to take notes, so I can only pass on the things that have stayed in my memory.

He began by making some comments on the process of reconciliation. The first point being that reconciliation is a process. It takes time- time to listen to both sides and time to understand the positions and questions of each side. The process is complicated by the fact that people have varying degrees of openness to being reconciled. Thus, despite the best efforts of a peace maker, there might be times when the best thing to do for peace is for the parties to have heard and understood each other- and being unable to find a place where they can agree or meet... to walk apart. That sounds counter-intuitive to me- except for the truth that in the end it is God who reconciles, and God already knows the end of the journey and God already sees the Day of Peace when all will be reconciled in God. So, we can let people go and entrust them into the hands of God.

One other powerful insight for me was the revelation that sometimes what seems like a failure to us is in fact an opportunity for God to act. Related to the idea of failure, is the idea that sometimes the peacemaker is called to be the fall guy- to suffer on behalf of those who need to be reconciled. I don't think this means that God delights in causing us pain. Rather, that God sanctifies our suffering, so that through it, God's redeeming, transforming grace is able to flow. Of course the Cross and Christ's suffering there is the supreme example of reconciliation being accomplished through the suffering of the peacemaker.

The Cross also is an example of one other important part of reconciliation: forgiveness. Even as he was being murdered by human beings, Christ asked God to forgive those who were causing his pain and death. Forgiveness is hard work, however. I know from my own experience that I struggle with it. I struggle to forgive the one who was the cause of my son's death. I struggle to forgive those who refuse to allow holy gay and lesbian couples marry. I struggle to forgive those who refuse to ordain holy gay and lesbians who have been called by God to serve the Church. Sometimes I think I have forgiven them- and then, out of the blue I feel outraged at them. Forgiveness doesn't make the pain go away; it isn't forgetting about the offense. But it is essential to healing and reconciliation. I know in my own case, that I can not be a good priest until I really have forgiven the one who killed my son- until I truly forgive those who are homophobic. But I have for so long not known how to do that.

Archbishop Eames told the story of Gordon Wilson, whose daughter was killed by a bombing on Remembrance Day in Enniskillen, Ireland. The complete story may be read here. What spoke to me the most was the ending of the story, when Mr. Wilson was interviewed and asked how he felt about those who had killed his daughter. His reply was that he held no ill will towards them, and that he forgave them. of course his forgiveness was a powerful weapon for peace- to use an awful phrase- but what was more impressive was the question the archbishop asked... "I don't know if I could have done that. What would you have done?" And I sat there knowing what I would do- and knowing that I needed to find a way to forgive.

And then the Archbishop said something that liberated me. I don't remember the details of the story- but I do remember him saying, when we can not forgive, we can trust in God who forgives both me and the one that has offended me. Christ died for both of us. Both of us are sinners who have been redeemed by the love and compassion of God- and in the forgiveness that God has for us, we can find the compassion to at least pray that God would forgive them- and take steps from there.

Well, I have rambled in a stream of unstructured free fall here- and I am not sure how I should stop- except to ask that you would pray for me a sinner. Pray that I will be able to find the grace and compassion to forgive as God has forgiven me.

Pray for peace.
Pray for reconciliation.
Pray for God's compassion to overthrow the reign of hate and evil in the world.

Mary Image for May 5, 2008 Icon of Our Lady of Reconciliation

2008-05-04T20:19:00.003-07:00

An Evening With His Lord, Archbishop Robin Eames

2008-05-04T20:19:00.002-07:00

I am at Shrinemont, in the Diocese of Virginia, for a Spring clergy and parish lay professionals retreat. The speaker for our retreat in Archbishop Robin Eames, who will be speaking on reconciliation. Tonight's remarks were brilliant- but of course the would be from the man who played such a role in the current peace in Ireland. I only wish I had taken my laptop so that I could have taken notes. Here are a few of the points that stuck in my memory.

He opened with a story that occurred in Ireland while he was having dinner in one of the rectories in the diocese (perhpas you've heard this story- but it's wonderful to read again). While they were eating dinner, there was a loud thump and the lights began to shake. The priest excused himself to go upstairs to his son's room to investigate the source of this commotion. He asked his seven year old what had happened... There was a moment of silence, followed by the (suprise) "I don't know what happened Daddy." The father continued to press for answers, and finally the child replied, "Daddy, I think I fell out of the bed." "O, that's what I thought, but how did you fall out of the bed? Did roll out"
"No, Daddy."
"Did you get tangled in your clothes Daddy?"
"No, Daddy."

He continued his query, but the child did not know how he fell out of the bed. Finally, the father gave up, kissed his son and left. As he exited the room the son called out, "Daddy, I think I know how I fell out of the bed; I fell out because I was too close to the place where I got in."

I fell out because I was too close to the place where I got in.
Great wisdom from a seven year old (which by the way is where I generally learn all of my greatest spiritual lessons.) His Grace went on to challenge to go deeper into our callings, so that when times of difficulty come, we will be immersed enough into the love and life of God, that we will know how to meet the crisis with compassion, grace, and wisdom. The danger of not deepening in our faith and going deeper in our calling, is that when those hard times come, we will fall out of our faith because we are too near to the place where we got in.

Good stuff. I intend om stealing it for a future sermon.

It was very moving, and edifying to hear his story of his work for peace in Ireland. He said that when one has seen Jesus bleeding in Ireland for forty years, it puts petty issues and disagreements in perspective. Why is so much energy wasted on little disagreements, when we need to love the bleeding and dying Jesus all around us.

At 10:20 PM much has already escaped my memory- I'll have to try to take notes tommorrow- What I will never forget is his peaceful, gentle spirit. Once can feel that he is a peacemaker and a man committed to reconciliation. I am grateful for his work in the Church.

Prayer for Peace
Loving Father,
Your will is that we should all be of one mind in this land;
God of Peace, bless Ireland and bless those countries where there is civil strife,
Where neighbour rises up against neighbour,
Where familiar streets become battlefields
And familiar people the casualities.

Change the hearts of all
Who think that their cause is more important than another person's life;
Change the politics of those on either side which create, condone or extend the conflict;
And by the power of the cross
Help all who have been sinned against to forgive
That peace may come
Through Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

Amen. Prayer for Peace said daily by former Taoiseach, Albert Reynolds as printed in Fr. Brian's Page, Sunday World.

Compassionate Sportsmanship

2008-05-04T20:19:00.001-07:00

compassionate sportsmanship. You have to read this college baseball story. i can't preach any better sermon than this....

Sweet Kissing... Image of Mary for 04 May

2008-05-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite imagesof the Theotokos. The first icon I ever prayed with was a Sweet kissing icon. There is such tenderness and compassion in this image. I go to it whenever I feel sorrw and loneliness. I always feel taken up in that embrace and loved by my God and my Mother in Heaven.

Forasmuch as thou art a well-spring of tenderness, 0 Theotokos, make us worthy of compassion; Look upon a sinful people; Man-ifest thy power as ever, for hoping on thee we cry aloud unto thee: Hail I as once did Gabriel, Chief Captain of the Bodiless Powers.

Mystagogical Sermon- Sunday after the Ascension

2008-05-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Sermon Series on the Sacraments:
Reconciliation and Unction

Today we conclude our series on the Sacraments with the Sacrament of Reconciliation- sometimes called Confession- and the Sacrament of Unction- or the anointing of the sick. . The old adage, “all may, some should, none must” is quite apropos to both of these sacraments. Neither sacrament is necessary for salvation, in most cases; yet, both are powerful conduits of God’s healing and transforming grace. In both cases, any person is able, through the meditation of Jesus Christ, to cry out to God with a penitent heart and ask for mercy and forgiveness. You do not need a priest to receive the forgiveness of your sins from God, nor do you need a priest to ask God to fill you with God’s healing grace. God is a merciful God, full of compassion and love, and God will give mercy and grace to whoever asks for it. However, there are times when our hearts are so overcome with sorrow and guilt or our bodies and spirits are so heavy-laden with sickness or the cares of life, that we need the prayers and pastoral support of a discreet, compassionate, and understanding priest. It is during these times in our lives that these healing sacraments offer us the grace that we need to endure and to live in peace with the assurance that God is with us because God loves us.
While both Sacraments offer a conduit for us to receive God’s healing love, each offers that grace in different ways. The Sacrament of Reconciliation offers the assurance that no action that we have done can keep us separated from God, when we come to God with a contrite heart and ask for forgiveness. Confession of Sin is a means of cleansing our souls and ensuring us that we are still in communion with God and the people of God. The Church offers many ways for us to confess our sins: we are able to confess them in the General Confession of sin at the Holy Eucharist and in the Daily Offices, we are able to confess them directly to God in any manner that feels comfortable to us in our private prayers, and our participation in the Holy Communion is in itself a confession that we are sinners who need continually to be renewed by God’s grace- and through the Body and Blood of Christ, given to us in the Holy Communion, we receive the forgiveness of sins. For most sins- and for most people- any of these means of confession is adequate for the assurance of God’s love and forgiveness. Some circumstances, however, leave us feeling afraid, alone, and abandoned by God- not just abandoned, but forsaken because of some grave sin that we committed. Sometimes we might have prayed and asked for God’s mercy and help, and we indeed have felt the love and grace of God assuring us of God’s forgiveness; yet, we may still feel confused and concerned about the consequences of our actions. We might feel lost and incapable of seeking reconciliation with those whom we have injured. We might not know how to ask forgiveness from those whom we have sinned against. We might not know how to give restitution for our wrongs. The Sacrament of Reconciliation offers us the help we need to make right the wrongs we have done. It offers us the grace we need to discontinue bad and destructive habits. It offers us the peace we need when we have made a mistake so egregious that we think God will never love us again. When we make a confession, we bear our souls to a priest, who listens to our confession, assures us of God’s forgiveness, and offers counsel to us, so that we can seek reconciliation with others. Through this action, God gives us grace which heals our sin-sick soul and strengthens us for the work that we have to do to become reconciled with those whom we have separated from ourselves by our non-loving, sinful actions towards them.
Coming from an Anglo-catholic background, it was my practice to make a confession every Lent and Advent- in preparation for the High Holy Days. But none was more meaningful than the confession that I made to my bishop before I was ordained to the diaconate. It was the practice in my diocese for candidates for holy orders to make a retreat at the All Saints Sisters of the Poor Convent prior to the day of ordination. In June 2000 I made that retreat with 16 other candidates- and our bishop. Each day we said the daily offices, celebrated the Holy Eucharist, spent time in silent prayer, and listened to talks given by the bishop. One morning he spoke on the Sacrament of Reconciliation- and encouraged us all to make a confession to him or a priest on the grounds. So, partly out of obedience to my bishop, I did. I was nervous of course, especially when I heard myself confessing sins that I had not planned on confessing. But as I made my confession, it felt as if the weight of the world was being lifted from my shoulders; I was being liberated from a burden that I didn’t even realize that I was carrying. And the bishop was compassionate and loving and pastoral and offered words of advice that I had been longing to hear. I left feeling clean and renewed- ready to be ordained with the assurance that I was a child of God, and that I was worthy to serve God as a priest because of what Christ had done for me.
Is the Sacrament of Reconciliation for you? Perhaps not. But when you feel your sins have pushed you away from God and others, and you feel so lost that you cannot find the way back to union and love, you might consider seeking out a priest and receiving the sacramental grace that God offers to help you on the path of reconciliation.
While the Sacrament of Reconciliation offers healing grace for those afflicted in spirit by their sins, the Sacrament of Unction offers healing grace to those made un-whole in body and spirit by sickness, illness, and disease. Those desiring to receive the Sacrament of Unction ask a priest to lay hands on them, sometimes with anointing with oil, and to pray for healing. In times past, it was thought that this sacrament was for those dying- in some places only Extreme Unction was offered with last rites. But God’s healing grace is offered to us at any time that we feel overwhelmed by sickness and disease. This sacrament is offered weekly here at Trinity at the Wednesday Noon Healing Eucharist. It is also available when you are hospitalized or when you desire healing prayers at home. Through this sacrament of unction, God offers the grace and comfort of the Holy Spirit, and the strength of Christ’s love to help you endure the affliction until you are brought again to health and wholeness. The sacrament isn’t magic; it isn’t a magical cure for sickness. Healing and wholeness come in many forms- sometimes with the recovery from illness in this life- sometimes with the healing of the wounds of a broken heart- sometimes with new life with God in the life to come. But with the sacrament, we have God’s pledge to be present with us through our sickness, to walk with us as we seek to be liberated from our addictions, and to carry us in His bosom when we begin our journey through the valley of the shadow of death. Of course God is already with us and we don’t need to receive the laying on of hands and unction in order to make God present- but those sacramental actions enable us to be more aware of God’s presence. Many here can attest to feeling a sense of comfort and peace after receiving the laying on of hands with healing prayer.
The Sacrament of Unction is rooted in the directives for prayer for the sick in the Epistle of James: "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church and pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven" (Jas 5:14-15). The sacrament of unction is not a replacement for medical care, but a means by which we invite the Holy Spirit to sanctify the healing actions of those health care professionals who care for us. It is a balm for our souls when we are afflicted by sickness. It is a way by which we strengthen our hearts to trust in God’s care and provision for us during times of sorrow, weakness, and brokenness.
One of the most heartening revelations for me personally was that because God loves us, God chooses to be present with us- to experience all that we experience- not just the good, but also the bad. The hope of the Incarnation- indeed of the entire story of Jesus- is not that God will make my life all rosey and pain free. Rather, that God will be present with me no matter what comes my way- that no matter how hard the struggle or how painful the circumstance, I am not alone- God is there to support me, love me, and refresh me. The healing sacraments of reconciliation and unction are conduits through which we can more readily experience God’s ever-abiding presence, particularly during those times when it is difficult for us to acknowledge God there. Don’t be afraid or intimidated by either of them- through them God offers God’s healing love and comforting embrace when you need them the most.
Thanks be to God. Amen.

Mary Queen of the Apostles

2008-05-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

O God, you sent the Holy Spirit upon the apostles as they were united in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. May the Queen of Apostles, the same Mother of us all, help us to serve your majesty faithfully, and to spread the glory of your name by word and example. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be)
Queen of Apostles, pray for us.

Mary's May

2008-05-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

A Month of Mary: :)

2008-04-30T21:31:00.003-07:00

One Happy anglo-catholic boi

N.T. Wright on the Ascension and Second Coming of Jesus. (Give it a try- it's actually pretty good stuff)

2008-04-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

Lord knows I do not agree with everything that Bishop NT Wright nor the quoted blogger below says... and some things Wright has said deeply grieve my heart. However, I like these thoughts on the ascension- very useful for preaching/teaching. Give it a read... Blessings to you all on this holy day.

(quoted from the kibitzer
In chapter seven of Surprised by Hope, “Jesus, Heaven, and New Creation,” N.T. Wright emphasizes that the ascension of Jesus, which he describes as a (until recently) relatively ignored doctrine, must be understood before we can properly understand the second coming.

The ascension thus speaks of the Jesus who remains truly human and hence in an important sense absent from us while in another equally important sense present to us in a new way. At this point the Holy Spirit and the sacraments become enormously important since they are precisely the means by which Jesus is present.

Additionally, early Christians were not, as is commonly assumed, bound to a three-tier vision of the universe, i.e., heaven, hell, and earth.

[W]hen the Bible speaks of heaven and earth it is not talking about two localities related to each other within the same space-time continuum or about a nonphysical world contrasted with a physical one but about two different kinds of what we call space, two different kinds of what we call matter, and also quite possibly (though this does not necessarily follow from the other two) two different kinds of what we call time.

So heaven and earth, understood in this way, are two dimensions of the same reality. They “interlock and intersect in a whole variety of ways even while they retain, for the moment at least, their separate identities and roles.” Combine this with the doctrine of the ascension and we do not have a Jesus who floats up into a heaven “up there” but disappears into a reality we cannot yet see. Because heaven and earth are not yet joined Jesus is physically absent from us. At the same time he is present with us through the Holy Spirit and the sacraments, linkages where the two realities meet in the present age.

Now that this is established he moves on to the question of the second coming in chapter eight, “When He Appears.” First, he says, Jesus never himself talked about his second coming. Here he appears to be advocating a form of partial preterism, though I’m not familiar enough with preterism to say this with certainty. The second coming was a doctrine worked out among the earliest Christians (before the time of Paul) as a conclusion drawn from the doctrines of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Wright defines parousia, the word used by Paul to describe the second coming, not as “coming,” but as “presence.” The word was in common use as meaning either the “mysterious presence of a god” or the visit of a person of high rank – like the emperor – to a subject state; it is obvious why Paul would have used the word to describe the second coming.

This “presence” then does not mean that Jesus is going to literally descend from the heaven “up there” at his coming. Since heaven and earth are both two dimensions of the same reality what the second coming means is that those two dimensions will be joined – think of the New Jerusalem of Rev. 21 - and Jesus will be truly present with us. And this appearance will make all things new.

There will come a time, which might indeed come at any time, when, in the great renewal of the world that Easter itself foreshadowed, Jesus himself will be personally present and will be the agent and model of the transformation that will happen both to the whole world and also to believers.

Muslims and Jews ask for an Inclusive National Day of Prayer on 01 May

2008-04-29T21:16:00.000-07:00

Read here

Write your representatives and ask for a day of prayer that represents all people.

End of the School Year

2008-04-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

It is hard for me to believe that the semester at the University of Mary Washington is coming to an end. Classes ended last week and students are taking final exams this week. All is not quite over with the Canterbury Club, however. We celebrated Canterbury Sunday at the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday at Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, VA. Students read the lessons, served as Chalice bearers, led the Prayers of the People and Eliza Diliberti preached an excellent (and powerful) sermon. (Be looking for the text of her sermon in a few days).

This week, the Canterbury House is open in the mornings and afternoons as a stress free zone, where students can come hang out, watch movies, play games or take a nap. In the evenings, it becomes a Study Hall for those who need a quiet space to study. The Prince of Peace Chapel is also open at all times for those who need to light a candle before the icons and say a prayer. Here are some prayers that one might like to use during Finals (I don't know the sources for all of these)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A PRAYER FOR FINAL EXAMS

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not flunk;
He keepeth me from lying down when I should be studying.
He leadeth me beside the water cooler for a study break.
He restoreth my faith in study guides.
He leads me to better study habits
For my grade's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of borderline grades,
I will not have a nervous breakdown For Thou art with me.
My prayers and my friends, they comfort me.
Thou givest me answers in moments of blankness;
Thou anointest my head with understanding.
My test paper runneth over with questions I recognize.
Surely passing grades and flying colors shall follow me.
All the days of my examination,
And I shall not have to dwell in this university forever,
AMEN

St Ursula, patron saint of students
A prayer for those taking final exams
(Inspired by seeing so many students on AIM tonight studying for finals, which for us start tomorrow.)

Dear Lord:
Let those who are filling the library right now with their bodies and their thoughts
Study hard, but also eventually rest.
Let them realize that success on their exams comes
Not from pulling allnighters
Not from cramming
Not from losing sleep
But as the sweet fruits of a long semester
Of diligence, patience, humility, and sweat
Of losing themselves in the laborious doing
That comes when a long-held dream is finally pursued.
Let them know that their final exams not only measure their knowledge
But also, in the ending of the term, show how faithful You have been to them.
They know more now than they did in August.
They are better students, better stewards, of Your blessing of intellect.
Their thoughts are more like Your thoughts.
And no matter what happens, this cannot be taken away.
In that, let them rest
And tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday, let them learn and be satisfied.
In Your Name: Amen.
(from the blog "castingoutnines")

St Gregory the Great, patron saint of students)

My God, enable me to trust in the good outcome
of the test I am about to take;
help me to contribute my own share
of optimism and confidence.
With your grace, my God,
I hope to crown my efforts with success.
Keep far from me at this moment
any presumption that it all depends
exclusively on me.
You are next to me, my God,
the necessary and welcome presence
in all the moments of my life.
I will take this test, my God,
because it is important
for my personal development.
My God, be the source of my inspiration
in my doubts and uncertainties,
supporting me with your blessing.
Amen.

An Act of Hope
"O my God, relying on Thy almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I hope to obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and life everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer. Amen."

Because love casts out all fear, I won’t let fear cloud or block my thinking. (from Prayers that Avail Much for Teens

I Miss Those School Days....

2008-04-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

Zachary had a long weekend because of a school holiday, so he was with me from Friday afternoon until Tuesday morning. His mother had to work Monday and Tuesday at the hospital, and her husband was out of town, so I had to drive him to school on Tuesday morning. It was a long morning driving the 4 hour round trip to Maryland- but I loved every moment of it. I really do miss the morning routine of preparing breakfast for him and getitng him ready to go to school. I miss preparing his lunch and the chats in the car (I always learned very useful information during those chats). Sigh....

At least I had one more morning, and for that gift I am grateful.

Zac before heading off to school 22 April, 2008

Letters to Pope Benedict XVI From 2 Gay Catholics

2008-04-21T07:19:00.000-07:00

Gregory Maguire
Presentation for "A Few Minutes with the Pope: Lesbian/Gay Catholics Speak About
Their Church" -- a press conference sponsored by New Ways Ministry
National Press Club, Washington, DC
April 10, 2008

Pope Benedict XVI

Your Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, and ladies and gentlemen:

It may seem artificial to address Your Holiness this morning when I know you won't be in attendance at this press conference. Yet I write as an act of the imagination as well as a exercise of hope that your news bureau might signal to you this message of welcome.

I come from a family of writers. I am a professional novelist. I joke that anyone who publishes novels with titles like WICKED and CONFESSIONS OF AN UGLY
STEPSISTER and LOST must be, by definition, a Catholic novelist, and indeed, I am.
All my fictions are essentially about lost individuals in search of a home. An act of the imagination, an act of sympathy, can be the beginning of understanding.

My family taught me to pray as well as to write. My father and mother, now both
deceased, and the aging stepmother who raised me from infancy, and my six siblings—
they remind me that all will be well if I compose these remarks with courage and caritas.

I write in respect for the traditions of the Church, which is my home and my family as solidly as my biological and adoptive parents are, and as my husband and my adopted children are.

I present three things to you today: a blessing, a hope, an invitation.

I bless you for your work in the troubled world, your work for reconciliation among
troubled peoples, and for reconciliation within the hearts of troubled souls. Such work takes courage and caritas.

I name this hope for you: That you will be inspired by your visit to the United States. We Americans hardly invented the human failings of greed, solipsism, and hedonism, nor do we own exclusive rights to the virtues of generosity and sympathy that we sometimes practice. Still, our moment in history does make us visible exemplars of virtues and also of their counterparts.

Pope Benedict, my husband and I, married under the laws of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, are Catholics. We have three children adopted from overseas, ages 10, 8, and 6. They have all been baptized and the middle child will make his First Communion in ten days. We do this in the full and adult belief in the statements of the Creed, especially in the lines "we believe in one holy Catholic Church, in the communion of saints, in the forgiveness of sins." So doing, we struggle with certain statements from the Vatican that suggest as two married men raising orphans from overseas we are doing the equivalent of grave damage to our children. I won't air the details of my children's initial years to suggest what their lives might have been like had we not come along to adopt these children and bring them home. But an act of the imagination can well picture what those horrific realities. "Grave damage" doesn't begin to cover it. Infants are capable of suffering.

All three of our children were abandoned by their parents, who lived in situations of poverty, illness, and want of every sort. We have taken these children to our hearts, to our home, and to the baptismal font for the blessings that may follow.

But perhaps you shouldn't be asked to accept on faith my rosy portrayal of our family life. I am a storyteller, after all, and any schoolchild can tell you that another definition of a storyteller is a professional liar. Once, teaching writing to a group of seven year olds, I asked the students if they understood what was meant, in the outline of a story, by the 2 term "crisis." A second grade boy raised his hand and said, "It's when things get so bad that you have to say 'Christ!'"

The boy may have been parroting his parents' questionable language choices, or he may have understood somehow, deeply, one of the enduring prompts to prayer. When times get so bad, sometimes you have to speak to name of the eternal: Christ. Christ.

So my third message to you is an invitation. I am known for being almost criminally
earnest, but mind, now, I do mean what I write. My husband, Andy Newman, and I invite you to visit us in our home in Massachusetts. We invite you to spend a day, a meal, a weekend with us. We make the promise that, other than wearing slightly cleaner clothes, we won't put on a special Catholic show for you. We will live life with you as we live it ordinarily. Our children will say grace with you. Luke will race through it, mumbling, and Helen will declaim it with theatrical piety, and Alex will mime it through his stuffed monkey. It will be grace nonetheless. The children will recite their evening prayers at their bedsides. They will go to church on Sunday and try to remember during the homily not to do breaststroke competitions in two adjacent pews. We don't want to serve as a poster-family for gay Catholics, nor could we possibly manage it. We will just be ourselves, in all our confusion, aspiration, need, and joy. Remembering to attempt some measure of the corporal works of mercy among the obligations of homework, soccer, ballet, bath-time, piano, reading, and religious instruction. Andy, who was raised in Europe, speaks excellent French and his Italian is pretty good, too. We have room for an interpreter, an assistant or two. Our dining room table sits twelve. You will not need a taster.

If you look for us to be perfect Catholics, you will have to look elsewhere. If you look for us to be practicing Catholics, you will recognize us. We practice a lot.

A few weeks ago, I took my family to my original parish in upstate New York. My
stepmother is 91 this spring, and sickly, so we decided to attend as much of the Triduum as we could while visiting her for Easter. At the Good Friday service, the sacristans had gathered the chairs in a loose circle around the center of the room. There, the rude heavy Cross, no image of the suffering Jesus upon it, was raised to be venerated. From where we sat we could see people streaming from four corners of the room in turn, as if from all four corners of the world. It was like a stage set as organized by Caravaggio. Now the evening light fell now on someone's brow, now on this bowed back, now on a baby's forehead, now on a bent and greying head. When the frail came forward, acolytes lifted the Cross down to them since they couldn't lift themselves up. All comers to the Cross are welcome; we know this.

As the Cross stood in the half-light, and we contemplated it. I thought to myself: At the age of 53, dare I pray for a new level of understanding of Christ's suffering?

I tried to picture Jesus's holy form on the Cross, but I couldn't. My anticipation of the resurrection serves as a kind of inoculation, a stay against the apprehension of His true human suffering.

So I tried for a moment to imagine that someone else I knew was strung up on the Cross. My stepmother. My parish priest. My husband. My sister. One of my friends. Or
someone I was aware only distantly. Someone I'd never seen. One of those prisoners-of- war in Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo. A resident in the Concord penitentiary a mile from my home. Anyone alive today. Anyone. Any single person. Even one of my own
children.

The horror of the image was almost too much to bear. I thought: Christ. For an instant I Christ. For an instant I knew the feeling of wanting to throw myself up as a shield against the next aiming spear. I would clamor to take the lash, if I could spare my daughter or my sons.

That imaginative moment was a devotional exercise, a prayer that I might receive the
blessing of more courage, more caritas, for when it is most sorely needed: and a prayer of gratitude for Christ, who shared in the suffering of humans through His own trials.

Dear Pope Benedict XVI, I ask you to venture imaginatively into the suffering of your gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in Christ. I ask you to contemplate the burden of those who feel chastised by the Church for a human condition they have neither requested nor, because they accept themselves as God has made them, rejected. I know this suffering is not of the same order as torture on the Cross, death on a battlefield, incarceration in a prison, dread in a hospital ICU ward, or abandonment by a sickly or impoverished mother. Nevertheless, it is a real suffering. I ask you and I ask the Church to enter imaginatively in understanding the needs and gifts of the faithful, to find out what we require for sustenance and to accept what we give to the Church and its people in return.

I believe this can happen, and I live in faith.

To imagine something is to approach understanding—well, it is one of the ways. To
experience it is another. So come to dinner. As Christ sat with the suffering, come sit with us. Chicken or fish? Red wine or white? Simple bread and local cheese. Courage and caritas. We'll wash the napkins. You are welcome any time, and you can take us as you find us, though a little advance notice would allow us to clear the bikes out of the driveway and tidy up the living room. We will try to help you feel at home.

Sincerely,

Gregory Maguire and Andy Newman
Luke, Alex, and Helen Maguire Newman

Heather Mizeur
Presentation for "A Few Minutes with the Pope: Lesbian/Gay Catholics Speak About
Their Church" -- a press conference sponsored by New Ways Ministry
National Press Club, Washington, DC
April 10, 2008

If I were fortunate enough to meet with the Pope during his visit to the United States, I would use it as an opportunity to explain why I love Christ so deeply; why I love the Catholic Church so deeply; and why I love my wife so deeply. And how, with his help, this trinity of love can and should be encouraged, recognized, and valued.

From a very early age, I was blessed with an awareness of many things about myself –
what my professional, spiritual, and emotional callings were. I knew I wanted to be a public servant through elected politics to use government and community service as a vehicle for improving lives. I knew that my passion for helping others was connected to my love for Christ and the social justice teachings of my Church. And I knew that if I were to be honest about who I would want to share my life with, it would be another girl.

A politician. A Catholic. A lesbian.

That was a lot to shoulder in elementary school. I knew there were some people that
hated each one of those things. Some people hated them all.

So I chose first to focus on the thing I already was practicing: Catholicism. I figured if I got to know Jesus real good, I would be better guided on how to deal with other two.

It's probably worth mentioning at this point how "organic" my connection to Christ was at that time in my life. My family was not particularly religious. My parents believed in God but certainly never subscribed to the notion that one must go to Church to know God or be a good person. My father is Catholic. My mother converted prior to their marriage. We attended church as a family until I was in elementary school. Then, like many families, the burdens of holding everything together meant that some things slipped.

We often spent Saturdays doing fun family outings like packing picnics in the park,
wading and skipping rocks in the local river, going fishing, and riding on bails of hay in the back of the truck.

Sundays were spent meeting all of our relatives at Grandma's house for dinner and family time. Going to church regularly became one of those "optional" time sucks that my parents just couldn't seem to swing any longer – mostly because the time we spent in silence in our pews didn't seem as valuable to them as the time we were spending together in other activity.

The Church experience was something entirely different for me, though. I NEEDED to
be there. I hungered for the Eucharist – the physical presence of Christ. And my parents respected that. At my initial begging, my father would get up on Sundays to continue taking me to church. I would encourage my little sister to come with us. In that phase of our life, my father's presence at the mass was more as a chauffeur, less as a congregant.

When I turned sixteen, I was able to relieve him of that duty by driving myself and my sister. We attended mass by ourselves. Though only a teen, I was respected as an adult by other elders at the church because it was clear that I was choosing to be there of my own accord (many of my peers were still being dragged unwillingly to mass by their parents). I was given leadership roles as a Eucharistic minister and lector; chair of the Alter and Rosary Society; and a member of the Parish Council. My personal commitment to my faith and to my God grew deeply during those years.

I carried that commitment to college, where I attended daily mass and served on
Koinonia retreat leadership teams and was the Catholic confirmation course instructor at the Newman Center at the University of Illinois.

Faith wasn't the only thing I further explored in college. It was fairly easy to deny my lesbianism to myself and everyone else I knew while I was in high school. I spent all of my time and energy on academics and athletics. Being the high school valedictorian and MVP on the basketball team was more important to me at that time than dealing with my sexual orientation. That would have been too complicated in small town, rural Illinois. Rather, I had determined to spend my life giving of myself to others through community service and/or elected politics and to embrace a celibate life.

Of course, my faith was also tangled up in that decision. But in college, I began to try to figure out how the two could co-exist peacefully: how could I be a good Catholic lesbian?

The more time I spent in discernment, the more I realized I needed to let Jesus' voice on this issue come through to me, and not the Church's voice attempting to speak on His behalf. I put to work my own knowledge of theology and began to particularly appreciate our doctrine that supports the primacy of one's own conscience.

The Catholic Catechism, Part III, Chapter One, Article 6, is about the moral conscience: "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths." Man has the right to act in conscience and in freedom so as personally to make moral decisions. "He must not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters."

Over the course of years of discernment and prayer, I realized that my conscience has been bee telling me this: That being a lesbian is just who I am; who God created me to be. It is how I am to love and be loved. It is God's intention. It is but one strand in the entire web of my complex humanity, and everything in that circle of creation is meant to be glorified and honored.

With that realization, I determined to no longer deny a part of me to myself or the world.

Therefore, dear Pope, I ask that you, too, no longer deny me or my relationship the honor and respect it deserves.

Three years ago, my spouse, Deborah, and I exchanged eternal vows at a large public
ceremony with our closest family and friends. Our marriage is made of the stuff you
dream of when counseling young couples during Pre-Cana classes: our relationship is
humble, loving, caring, honest, and kind; it is built on mutual respect, admiration, and
fidelity; weekly church goers, we are keepers of the faith through regular prayer, fasting,
abstinence, and alms giving.

Pope Benedict, I would challenge you to get to know us and our love for each other; for
our Lord; and for our Church – and compare our relationship against any other you
consider as a role model. Honest reflection could lead you to only one conclusion: ours
is a marriage blessed by God.

And while we seek no Papal blessing or formal recognition for our own sake, we do
believe an improved progressive outlook on the Church's teachings regarding
homosexuality would be a welcomed change for others.

The Church has given us many reasons to want to leave, but Deborah and I believe in
working for change within an institution. There would never be any catalyst for change within the Church if all of us who sometimes disagree with Her were to leave.

For us, love of our faith is stronger than the hate we sometimes encounter. But,
unfortunately, that is not true for everyone. We have hemorrhaged many of our GLBT
brothers and sisters. They call themselves, "recovering Catholics." There is much you can do as our Pope to bring them home.

Let us refocus our time, talent, and energy on building a Church based on love, peace, and economic and social justice. A Church with open doors, not folded arms. A Church that is as enlightened as its Creator. A Church whose greatest commandment is to love thy neighbor as thyself.

5th Anniversary of Isaac's Death 04/19/2008

2008-04-18T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today is the 5th anniversary of my youngest sons death. He died on 19 April 2003 just moments after returning home from the Great Easter Vigil. One of the last things we shared together was the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ at the First Mass of Easter. In thanksgiving for the time God allowed him to be with me, and in gratitiude that through the Holy Eucharist we continue to be bound together through our communion in Christ, I offer the follwing words of his name saint, St Isaac of Syria. This reading will be read tommorrow at a Memorial Mass in Rio de Janeiro, celebrated by the Rev. Josi Saldanha, the rector of the Anglican Church of the Mediator and the Anglican Church of Good Jesus. My heart is filled with joy and peace at her kindness to Zac and me, in remembering our Isaac before God at Mass. Thank you all for your prayers. May Isaac continue to grow in grace until he beholds God face to face in eternal Glory.

Let yourself be persecuted, but do not persecute others.

Be crucified, but do not crucify others.

Se slandered, but do not slander others.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep: such is the sign of purity.

Suffer with the sick.

Be afflicted with sinners.

Exult with those who repent.

Be the friend of all, but in your spirit remain alone.

Be a partaker of the sufferings of all, but keep your body distant from all.

Rebuke no one, revile no one, not even those who live very wickedly.

Spread your cloak over those who fall into sin, each and every one, and shield them.

And if you cannot take the fault on yourself and accept punishment in their place, do not destroy their character.

What is a merciful heart? It is a heart on fire for the whole of creation, for humanity, for the birds, for the animals, for demons, and for all that exists. By the recollection of them the eyes of a merciful person pour forth tears in abundance. By the strong and vehement mercy that grips such a person’s heart, and by such great compassion, the heart is humbled and one cannot bear to hear or to see any injury or slight sorrow in any in creation. For this reason, such a person offers up tearful prayer continually even for irrational beasts, for the enemies of the truth, and for those who harm her or him, that they be protected and receive mercy. And in like manner such a person prays for the family of reptiles because of the great compassion that burns without measure in a heart that is in the likeness of God.

The person who is genuinely charitable not only gives charity out of his own possessions, but gladly tolerates injustice from others and forgives them. Whoever lays down his soul for his brother acts generously, rather than the person who demonstrates his generosity by his gifts.

God is not One who requites evil, but who sets evil right.

Paradise is the love of God, wherein is the enjoyment of all blessedness.

The person who lives in love reaps the fruit of life from God, and while yet in this world, even now breathes the air of the resurrection.

In love did God bring the world into existence; in love is God going to bring it to that wondrous transformed state, and in love will the world be swallowed up in the great mystery of the One who has performed all these things; in love will the whole course of the governance of creation be finally comprised.

Question: When is a person sure of having arrived at purity?

Answer: When that person considers all human beings are good, and no created thing appears impure or defiled. Then a person is truly pure in heart.

Love is sweeter than life.

Sweeter still, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb is the awareness of God whence love is born.

Love is not loath to accept the hardest of deaths for those it loves.

Love is the child of knowledge.

Lord, fill my heart with eternal life.

As for me I say that those who are tormented in hell are tormented by the invasion of love. What is there more bitter and violent than the pains of love? Those who feel they have sinned against love bear in themselves a damnation much heavier than the most dreaded punishments. The suffering with which sinning against love afflicts the heart is more keenly felt than any other torment. It is absurd to assume that the sinners in hell are deprived of God’s love. Love is offered impartially. But by its very power it acts in two ways. It torments sinners, as happens here on earth when we are tormented by the presence of a friend to whom we have been unfaithful. And it gives joy to those who have been faithful.

That is what the torment of hell is in my opinion: remorse. But love inebriates the souls of the sons and daughters of heaven by its delectability.

If zeal had been appropriate for putting humanity right, why did God the Word clothe himself in the body, using gentleness and humility in order to bring the world back to his Father?

Sin is the fruit of free will. There was a time when sin did not exist, and there will be a time when it will not exist.

God’s recompense to sinners is that, instead of a just recompense, God rewards them with resurrection.

O wonder! The Creator clothed in a human being enters the house of tax collectors and prostitutes. Thus the entire universe, through the beauty of the sight of him, was drawn by his love to the single confession of God, the Lord of all.

“Will God, if I ask, forgive me these things by which I am pained and by whose memory I am tormented, things by which, though I abhor them, I go on backsliding? Yet after they have taken place the pain they give me is even greater than that of a scorpion’s sting. Though I abhor them, I am still in the middle of them, and when I repent of them with suffering I wretchedly return to them again.”

This is how many God-fearing people think, people who foster virtue and are pricked with the suffering of compunction, who mourn over their sin; They live between sin and repentance all the time. Let us not be in doubt, O fellow humanity, concerning the hope of our salvation, seeing that the One who bore sufferings for our sakes is very concerned about our salvation; God’s mercifulness is far more extensive than we can conceive, God’s grace is greater than what we ask for.

When we find love, we partake of heavenly bread and are made strong without labor and toil. The heavenly bread is Christ, who came down from heaven and gave life to the world. This is the nourishment of angels. The person who has found love eats and drinks Christ every day and every hour and is thereby made immortal. …When we hear Jesus say, “Ye shall eat and drink at the table of my kingdom,” what do we suppose we shall eat, if not love? Love, rather than food and drink, is sufficient to nourish a person. This is the wine “which maketh glad the heart.” Blessed is the one who partakes of this wine! Licentious people have drunk this wine and become chaste; sinners have drunk it and have forgotten the pathways of stumbling; drunkards have drunk this wine and become fasters; the rich have drunk it and desired poverty, the poor have drunk it and been enriched with hope; the sick have drunk it and become strong; the unlearned have taken it and become wise.

Repentance is given us as grace after grace, for repentance is a second regeneration by God. That of which we have received an earnest by baptism, we receive as a gift by means of repentance. Repentance is the door of mercy, opened to those who seek it. By this door we enter into the mercy of God, and apart from this entrance we shall not find mercy.

Blessed is God who uses corporeal objects continually to draw us close in a symbolic way to a knowledge of God’s invisible nature. O name of Jesus, key to all gifts, open up for me the great door to your treasure-house, that I may enter and praise you with the praise that comes from the heart.

O my Hope, pour into my heart the inebriation that consists in the hope of you. O Jesus Christ, the resurrection and light of all worlds, place upon my soul’s head the crown of knowledge of you; open before me all of a sudden the door of mercies, cause the rays of your grace to shine out in my heart.

O Christ, who are covered with light as though with a garment, who for my sake stood naked in front of Pilate, clothe me with that might which you caused to overshadow the saints, whereby they conquered this world of struggle. May your Divinity, Lord, take pleasure in me, and lead me above the world to be with you.

I give praise to your holy Nature, Lord, for you have made my nature a sanctuary for your hiddenness and a tabernacle for your holy mysteries, a place where you can dwell, and a holy temple for your Divinity.

http://www.midiowa.com/ssephmac/Isaac.html

ancient-future liturgy for pentecost

2008-04-17T13:58:00.003-07:00

So, the head rector wants us to be creative for Pentecost. His vision is an ancient-future, emergent liturgy in which the experiecne of worship is itself the sermon. He envisions something Rite 3-ish (and since this is the third Mass of the day that's permitted by the rubrics). We will have Baptisms on that day- and so I have suggested we baptize by immersion. My other thought has been to project images of icons and symbols of the Holy Spirit and the Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit on the wall throughout the liturgy. But that's all I have... and even that, I am sure, will unsettle the ECW. I am after all a good Anglo Catholic boy... The very idea of Rite 3 on Sunday unsettles me. Nonetheless, I will be a dutiful assistant and try and create a liturgy that is both creative- as the rector desires (in praise of the Creative Spirit) and transcendant. I would ask for help from you all, though, because I really have no idea what I am doing. It is not my nature to *create and innovate liturgy*... So, what are your ideas? What does liturgical, creative, experiential worship for Pentecost look like? Share your ideas pelase!!!

Thanks

Come to us, Creative Spirit

ancient-future liturgy for

2008-04-17T13:58:00.001-07:00

Mystagogical Sermon on Holy Orders

2008-04-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, here's sermon number 2 in the parish series on the Sacraments. The next- and last one- from me will be on Reconciliation and Unction. Peace.

For the past few weeks, we have heard readings from the Book of Acts which tell us the Story of the earliest days of the Church. From those stories we learn that the Apostles’ were faithful and fervent in their proclamation of the Gospel message that Jesus, who had been crucified, died and buried, had risen, and as the Christ had been seated at God’s right hand in Glory, and that all who believed on His name would find salvation. Many heard the gospel message, believed and were baptized- thousands at a time, as a few of the stories tell us.

These earliest believers met daily for prayer and the breaking of the bread, and shared their resources so that no member would be in need. It didn’t take long, however, for a problem to arise among the members of this newly formed community. It seemed the needs of the Hellenistic Jewish widows were not being met as promptly or as adequately as the needs of the Hebrew Jewish widows- and those being slighted began to ask for justice. The Apostles felt that their call to ministry was one rooted in the proclamation of the Gospel- and they could not leave that ministry in order to distribute food. So, in a pastoral response to their request for equality, the Apostles asked the community to select 7 men, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, to serve the needs of the community and to oversee the distribution of food to the widows in order to insure all the needs were being met. 7 Hellenistic Jewish men were chosen, including Stephen -of whose martyrdom we heard about today. The 7 were approved by the apostles, who laid their hands on them and prayed, thereby setting them apart for their special ministries in the community.

Although some contemporary scholarship argues that these 7 were set aside as presbyters, the traditional view sees this moment ion the life of the Church as the beginning of the Diaconate: or the order of deacons- that special order of ministry dedicated to ministering to the sick, the poor, and the needy, and committed to assisting bishops and priests in proclaiming the Gospel and administering the Sacraments. It is too the order of deacons that priests are first ordained and it is the charism of service that the Spirit gives to a deacon that continues to form and shape the ministry of a man or woman once s/he is priested and/or consecrated as a bishop. “Once a deacon, always a deacon.”

Some men and women are called to a permanent diaconal ministry. Others, at the discretion of the bishop, but usually after a 6 month to one year curacy, are called by God to serve the Church as ministers of word and sacrament, and are ordained as priests in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. Priests are called to preach the Gospel, administer the Sacraments, declare God’s blessing, pastor the people of God and equip them for service in the world.

Both the diaconal and priestly orders, however, share in the authority and ministry of the bishop, who as the successor of the Apostles, serves as the chief priest and pastor of the diocese, guards the faith and unity of the church, proclaims the word of God, lives a life which participates in Christ’s ministry of reconciliation, and ordains others to carry on the ministry of Christ.

The Sacrament of Holy Orders (Ordination) takes its name from the fact that bishops,
priests, and deacons give order to the Church. They guarantee the continuity and unity of the Church from age to age and from place to place from the time of Christ and the apostles until the establishment of God’s kingdom in eternity. In the Sacrament of Holy orders, the gift of the Holy Spirit is imparted through the laying on of hands by a bishop and the invocation or epiclesis of the Holy Spirit, thereby setting a person apart for service in the Church. For some there is the concern as to whether or not our Anglican orders are valid. Rome has said that they are not. Personally, I do not need the approval of Rome because I know that my ordination is valid, because I have been ordained by a bishop in apostolic succession who has laid hands on me and has invoked the Holy Spirit to fill me with the grace that I need to be a priest in the Church of God. This form of the sacrament is the valid form which has evolved from apostolic times- and I trust the Holy Spirit to work through this action, just as the Spirit does in all sacramental acts. But, if you do need the validation of Anglican orders from another jurisdiction in the church, your heart can rest in knowing that many in the Eastern Orthodox Churches have concluded that our Anglican orders are valid, including the Patriarch of Constantinople, Meletios, who in 1922 issued an Encyclical on the Validity of Anglican Orders, in which he wrote that in Anglican ordinations “…there are found in their fullness those orthodox and indispensable, visible and sensible elements of valid episcopal ordination - viz. the laying on of hands, the Epiclesis of the All-Holy Spirit and also the purpose to transmit the charisma of the Episcopal ministry.”

This action, that we as Anglicans continue to perform as successors to the Apostolic tradition, is specifically done to set apart bishops, priests, and deacons- but generally speaking all of the people of God are set apart as priests with the laying on of hands by the bishop in Holy Baptism. (As a side note, bishops no longer lay hands and anoint every baptized person with chrism, but chrism is blessed by the bishop and priests anoint the newly baptized with chrism in the name of and on behalf of the bishop, and the newly baptized are sealed by the Holy Spirit and made Christ’s own forever.) It is this being set apart in baptism that unites all of us to Christ’s priesthood and calls each of us to participate in some way in Christ’s mission in the world. Holy Orders only sets apart those already called to share in Christ’s eternal priesthood to exercise special ministries of oversight, leadership, teaching and pastoral care. These men and women are called to serve, empower, equip and bless the baptized so that they can exercise the ministries to which they have been called. One of the primary ways that the ordained equip the baptized is through preaching and the administration of the Sacraments. But we ordained clergy are also called to live lives worthy of the Gospel, so that, as St Francis put it, we are able to preach the Gospel at all times, sometimes without words.

But then, all of the baptized are called to live lives worthy of the Gospel, and we all are called to proclaim the Good news of God in Christ in word and deed. This calling is particularly clear in the Epistle reading appointed for today from 1 Peter 2. These words come from the early Christian community’s instruction for the baptized- and may contain parts of an ancient baptismal hymn- which describe for the catechumen- that is the one awaiting baptism- what this community in Christ is like. This instruction in 1 Peter teaches that the baptized are members of a royal priesthood, a holy nation- a people set a part by God as living stones that are built upon Jesus Christ the Cornerstone and joined together by the Holy Spirit to be a Temple where God’s presence may be found. As priests we share in Christ’s priesthood and offer sacrifices of praise to God- not only as we offer the Holy Eucharist- but also as we offer the sacrifice of a holy life which bears witness to the love of God in Christ.

The catechism in the Prayer Book asks:

Q. Who are the ministers of the Church?
A. The ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops,
priests, and deacons.
Q. What is the ministry of the laity?
A. The ministry of lay persons is to represent Christ and his
Church; to bear witness to him wherever they may be;
and, according to the gifts given them, to carry on
Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world; and to take
their place in the life, worship, and governance of the
Church

Each of us, whether we are set apart for service to the world in Baptism, or set apart to equip and nurture the faith of the baptized in Holy Orders, are called to participate in the priesthood and ministry of Jesus Christ, according to the gifts which the Holy Spirit has given us. Being an ordained clergy person does not make one closer to God or holier than other Christians. Yes, because of our training we are often better equipped to interpret scripture and preach the Gospel, and only the ordained may administer the Sacraments- other than baptism, which is valid if any baptized person administers it. But those distinctions are only differences of calling and ministry. The ministry of presence and compassion, the ministry of hospitality, the ministry of teaching and spiritual nurture, the ministry of music and artistic prayer, the ministry of healing and love, the ministry of the stewardship of this house of prayer and all other ministries in which we are involved are as important as what we priests do when we proclaim the Gospel and administer the sacraments. All that we do is rooted in the work that Jesus Christ has done to reconcile all to God, and to bring about God’s Reign of Peace and Justice. All of our ministries proclaim the Love of God and make visible the Body of Christ and the life of God in the world. So, be thankful for those God has called and will call to holy orders. Pray that God would call faithful men and women to the service of the Church- and pray for us who are already ordained- Lord knows we need your prayers. But also be thankful that you have been gifted by the Spirit and called to share in Christ’s priesthood. Pray that God will show you how to best use your gifts in the church and in the world- so that all might come to know the loving embrace of God

In the Midst of Life We Are In Death

2008-04-11T07:27:00.001-07:00

This has been an emotionally, physically, and spiritually draining week- a week of wrestling with a young person struggling with issues of life that have overwhelmed him and led him to hoplessness and suicidal thoughts; a week of celebrating the life of a godly servant of God and the Church who died yesterday; and a week of helping an elderly man who has come to end of his journey prepare to let go of the life in this world and to be ready to greet the Holy Angels summoned to carry his soul to the bosom of God.

I was feeling a bit conflicted and overwhelmed about my week with Death, especially in the middle of Eastertide- until this morning when I realized that the Resurrected Christ has been present in each of these situations (You'd think I'd have figured that out before now, since I'm a priest-) Suddenly, I am feeling peace with the potential for new life that the Holy Spirit is birthing in this young man as he seeks professional help for his troubles. I am feeling joyful that two servants of God have entered into the glories of the beatific vision are at rest from their labors.

In the midst of life we are in death, says the anthem at the beginning of the Burial Mass in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. But it's a good death- a holy death-a death to our false self and to those things that separate us from the love of God and from community with others. It is a death that leads to true life in God, enjoyed not only in the life to come, but even today if we can but open our eyes to see the Risen Christ at work around us, breathing the life-giving Spirit into our dead corpses and raising us to new life. And so I rest, remembering again the joy of Easter morning, when bells were rung, the organ shouted in joy, and the people of God rejoiced to hear that the Lord is Risen! Alelluia! Alelluia!

I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? (Hosea 13:14)

"DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:54ff)

Death be not proud.......

2008-04-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

Death wanders through our lives at will, sweet Death
Is busy with each intake of our breath.
Why do you fear her? Lo, her laughing face
All rosy with the light of jocund grace !
A kind and lovely maiden culling flowers
In a sweet garden fresh with vernal showers,
This is the thing you fear, young portress bright
Who opens to our souls the worlds of light.
Is it because the twisted stem must feel
Pain when the tenderest hands its glory steal?
Is it because the flowerless stalk droops dull
And ghastly now that was so beautiful ?
Or is it the opening portal's horrid jar
That shakes you, feeble souls of courage bare?
Death is but changing of our robes to wait
In wedding garments at the Eternal's gate.

- Sri Aurobindo

Have you ever seen Death? I don't mean a dead person or creature or the consequences of death. Have you seen Death? A parishioner once told me the story of his grandfather's passing. He had been ill and they knew he only had days to live. One afternoon, all of the family had gathered around him. Some were talking to him; some were singing hymns and reading Bible verses. Others prayed. Then suddenly and dark chill entered the room- he could see the death angel move through the air, and he said to himself, "Death is here. Grandpa's time has come."

I haven't seen Death or the "death angel", but I've felt its presence plenty of times in my ministry as a priest. I once witnessed the death of a saintly woman who had lived almost 100 years. She had lived a holy life- if anyone had followed the way of Jesus, she had. I was called to her bedside because she was going to be removed from life support, at the request of the family, and her death was imminent. We said a prayer, the Litany in the Prayer Book and a few Hail Mary's, and then she the tubes were removed. I anointed her with oil and asked that the Presence of Christ would be with her and that she would be taken to Heaven by the angels. Of course her children were sad and devastated; but when Death came, there was a joyous serenity that filled the room. We all knew she was going to be with God.

I have witnessed other deaths that weren't as hopeful or peaceful. I have witnessed men cursing God with their last breath; I've seen others fight and struggle to gain one more breath. I've seen children taken from their families before their life had even begun. Once I was even asked to baptize a child that had died. (I know there are theological issues with that, but my pastor's heart told me to do it anyway... and so I did). In almost all of these occasions, one could feel the air change as the a chill filled the room just moments before Death's departure with the soul of the one whose time to take their journey across the waters of the Jordan.

It must seem odd that as we enter the middle of the celebration of our Lord's Resurrection that I would write about death; after all, aren't we celebrating Christ's victory over Death? I agree it's an odd subject for Eastertide... and I wouldn't contemplate anything other than Death's annihilation by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ if it weren't for the fact that I feel Death lurking about this night. No, I am fine. I am not in any danger- as far as I know. But I fear someone that I know is. This evening I saw this person and I also saw Death- or at least I felt Death- I felt the fear of Death and that same chill that I had felt in the hospital rooms before. As I looked at this person this afternoon, I could see nothing but utter darkness; the darkness of Death enveloped them totally. This person is not ill; but s/he is suicidal. And this night I fear Death is courting. I've talked with this person on several occasions about their suicidal thoughts. I hear them and I take them seriously. I don't see this person's life so tragic or problematic that suicide seems like a solution- in fact s/he has a wonderful life- as I see it... And then, as I see it isn't really the point. S/he must be feeling so trapped and hopeless. I just wish s/he could find a spark of hope that would will him/her to live.

S/he is sleeping at the moment- When s/he sleeps s/he can escape the suicidal thoughts. S/he sleeps and I am keeping watch with them... praying, praying, praying to Our Lord, the Holy Mother of God and all the saints... and yet, I feel so powerless. I can listen; I can offer my compassion and love; I can weep and pray- but I can do nothing more. I can not make her/him will to live- and yet, I can not just let it happen. I stand and fight- I pray to the Lord of Life and hope that He will rescue His Servant from the gates of Death and lead him back to the paths of Life. I ask God to send Death away this Night- I am not willing to see this beloved child of God leave this night. I can't believe his/her journey is finished. S/he has so many talents and so much potential- s/he has so much beauty in her/his heart... She has the potential to change the world......

I feel death near.... but Death can't be stopping here tonight..........

O God make speed to save us
O Lord make haste to help us.

++++++++++++++

Suicide is very often caused by depression. In fact an ongoing sense of sadness and depression can be a sign of suicidal tendencies, especially if accompanied with other signs like:

# Withdrawing from family and friends.

# Sleeping too much or too little.

# Feeling tired most of the time.

# Gaining or losing a significant amount of weight.

# Making statements such as these:

# I can't go on any longer."

# "I hate this life."

# "There's no point to this stupid life."

# "Everyone would be better off without me."

# "Life is not worth living."

# "Nothing matters anymore."

Other signs for suicide may be found here

More information on suicide prevention may be found here.

if you observe any of these signs- or even suspect that a person might be suicidal- take it seriously. Get help.

Mystagogical Sermon on the Holy Eucharist

2008-04-03T14:45:00.001-07:00

The head rector has decided that for Eastertide we will preach a mystagogical sermon series on the sacraments. Last week he preached on Baptism; this week I will preach on the Most Blessed sacrament of the Altar. I post it here, not because I think it is a great sermon, but because I've never preached a mystagogical sermon before- so I'd like to see your thoughts and comments about it before I preach on Sunday (don't be too harsh though, padrerob bleeds easily) ;)

thanks! Christos Anesti!!

Mystagogical Sermon Series: On the Sacraments
The Holy Eucharist
Third Easter, Year A 2008

In the Name of God by whose Spirit Christ is Risen +. Amen.

In the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, we renounce the world, the flesh and the devil- as the old prayer book put it- turn towards God in repentance of our sins, accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and are buried in the waters of baptism in the name of the Most Holy Trinity. In the waters of baptism we die to ourselves and to sin. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are raised to newness of life into the Risen Life of Jesus Christ, granted the forgiveness of sin, adopted as God’s children, and incorporated into the body of Christ. The Sacrament of Holy Baptism is the sacrament of new birth: the font is the womb of the Holy Spirit, by which we are born again as children of God. The Sacrament of Holy Baptism is the door through which we enter into the Household of Faith and find a place in the Communion of saints. The Sacrament of Holy Baptism is one of the two dominical sacraments- that is the sacraments instituted by our Lord himself. The Sacrament of Holy Baptism was instituted by our Lord when he commissioned the apostles to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The second dominical sacrament is the Most Blessed Sacrament- the Holy Eucharist- sometimes called Holy Communion and the Lord’s Supper. It is the sacrament that Christ instituted on the night before he suffered and commanded us to do as often as we could in remembrance of his life, death and resurrection, until his coming again. In the Holy Eucharist, we offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, by giving of ourselves, and by offering to God bread and wine, in obedience to Christ’s command. In return, God receives the gifts that we offer, and by the power of the Holy Spirit they are transformed and become conduits through which we are united to Christ’s all sufficient offering of himself for us on the Cross. In union with him, we become partakers of the self-giving love of God , and we are given life through the life of Christ. Through the Holy Eucharist we are fed by Christ with his own body and blood- nourished and strengthened to live as children of God in the world. This spiritual food is the ‘medicine of immortality’- by which we are made more and more to be like Christ. This happens because our remembrance of Christ’s life, death and resurrection makes Christ present in the bread and the wine, and in the assembly of his gathered body. Our remembrance of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, however, is not a mere recollection of his story; it isn’t recalling to mind favorite scenes from his life’s story: much like we did in the Pentecostal Church of my youth, when we, seeing the bread and wine only as symbols of Christ’s body and blood, wept at the altar as we recalled visions of the Cross and Christ’s sufferings for our sins. No, this kind of remembering is best expressed by the Greek term anamnesis… anamnesis means to bring the past to the present and the present to the past. In the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, we truly experience Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and Christ is made present to us… and we are made present to him.

In classical Anglican theology- rooted in the faith of the church catholic- not meaning Roman Catholic, but to the catholic, universal faith believed by all people in all times and places- this is called the Real Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Since the times of the earliest Christians, it has been believed that Christ is truly present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. We believe in the Real Presence not only because in the words of Institution our Lord said of the bread. “this is my body” and of the wine, “this is my blood,” but also because the apostles experienced the Risen Christ in the breaking of the bread, as we heard in today’s Gospel reading, and because Jesus taught in other places that we could only receive the life of God and become members of God’s emerging Kingdom by eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Take for example the words of Jesus in the 6th chapter of the Gospel of St John:

"I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever."

Of course there are some who interpret these sayings figuratively and want to say that Jesus is using symbolic language. But the Greek is pretty clear that Jesus LITERALLY means that his body is the food that offers us the life of God. I could translate this as “my body is real food; my blood is real drink, indeed.” And when Jesus is challenged by the Pharisees who are offended by his comment, he does not clarify his words by saying, “O, sorry, you didn’t get my point, I was speaking metaphorically.” No, instead Jesus intensifies the offense by reiterating four times that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to have eternal life. This was too hard a saying for some of his disciples, and because of this teaching they walked away.

“Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life within you…“: that’s a hard saying for us as well- but like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, many of us have also experienced the Risen Christ in the breaking of the bread- and many have before us. The witness of the Early Fathers strongly testifies to the real presence of Jesus Christ in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote: “I have no taste for corruptible food… I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ… and for drink I desire his blood, which is love incorruptible.” St Cyril of Jerusalem preached in his own mystagogical sermon on the Eucharist in the 4th century, “Do not, therefore, regard the Bread and the Wine as simply that; for they are, according to the Master's declaration, the Body and Blood of Christ. Even though the senses suggest to you the other, let faith make you firm. Do not judge in this matter by taste, but -- be fully assured by the faith, not doubting that you have been deemed worthy of the Body and Blood of Christ. And Tertullian wrote: “The flesh feeds on THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST, so that the SOUL TOO may fatten on God. ”

As Anglicans we believe that Christ is truly present in the bread and wine of the Eucharist: In the First Book of Common Prayer, issued in 1549, the rubric in the prayer book instructed priests to communicate the baptized with these word: “the body of our Lord Jesus Christ preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life.” These words were, of course, not Protestant enough for some of the Reformers in England, and Cranmer removed them in the 1552 Book of Common Prayer and inserted the words: “Take and eat this in remembrance that Christ died for thee, and feed on him in thy heart by faith with thanksgiving.” However, by 1558, Queen Elizabeth I wanted the original words reinstated. She is credited with having said: “Christ Jesus took the bread and brake it. He was the Word that spake it. And what that Word doth make it, that I believe, and take it.” There were, however, some bishops who objected to a return to the more catholic theology of the 1549 prayer book. In the end, in classical Anglican Via media fashion, a compromise was reached that would enable all to embrace the idea of the Real presence. The compromise merged the two together, creating an ambiguity and a sense of holy mystery that has come to define us as people fervent in our belief in the real presence, but not needing to know exactly how it is that Christ becomes present. We Anglicans do not have theologies that explain how it is that Christ is present in the bread, and what happens to the bread after it becomes the body of Christ. We do not need to explain at which moment the bread and wine becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ. We are comfortable with the assurance alone that he is present in the consecrated bread and wine- and we are comfortable to live within the mystery of how that can be possible. In fact, towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign, Anglican devotion for and adoration of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharistic mystery was already beginning to emerge. Richard Hooker would write: “what these elements are in themselves it skilleth not: It is enough that to me which takes them they are the body and blood of Christ… Why should any cogitation possess the mind of a faithful communicant than this, O my God, thou art true; O my soul, thou art happy?”

By the 17th century, the Caroline Divines would further develop an Anglican Eucharistic theology which taught, in agreement with the teaching of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, that our participation in the mysteries of the Holy Eucharist enables us to partake in the divinity of Christ- since Christ has deified our humanity by his Incarnation. In other words, when we receive the body and blood of Christ, the Holy Spirit deepens the sanctification of our souls and we are made to be more like Christ. Which is what Paul was getting at in his instruction to the Corinthian Church about “discerning the Lord’s Body” when we eat this bread and drink this cup. Yes, there is something in that phrase about recognizing that we are receiving Christ himself when we receive the Blessed Sacrament of the altar- and that’s why some of us genuflect or bow deeply to reverence the Blessed Sacrament- but there is more. Discerning the Lord’s Body also means recognizing Christ present in others; discerning the body of Christ is seeking and serving Christ in those who gather at the table with us; discerning the body of Christ is recognizing that we ourselves are members of the Body of Christ- and as members of the Body of Christ, we are called to carry on the mission of Christ in the world- to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world- to offer to God and others the same sacrificial, self-giving love that enabled Jesus Christ to offer Himself for us on the Cross and to make himself ever present to us in the Eucharistic feast. We receive the body of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament so that we may become the Body of Christ. “If then,” as St Augustine of Hippo wrote, “you are the body of Christ and his members, it is your sacrament that reposes on the altar of the Lord… be what you see and receive who you are.”” There you are on the table, and there you are in the chalice.”

The miracle of transformation is not only in the bread and the wine: in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist we too are transformed by the Holy Spirit; the real presence of Christ also becomes manifest in us. This transformation is an echo and a continuation of the Incarnation - of God putting on flesh and dwelling among us and showing us the path of life. Christ feeds us his body and blood so that he might be present in us, and so that we might be the presence of Christ in the world and participants in God’s work of reconciliation in the world.

So, since the Holy Eucharist unites us all to Christ, transforms us all into members of Christ’s body and unites us to one another so that we can serve the world in self-giving love, it is also a conduit for unity. As we share the one bread and drink from the one cup, we receive grace from the one Spirit who is brooding over us and joining us together into one body and one united presence of Christ offering itself for the world. Of course unity does not mean uniformity: There is one body, but there are many members, St. Paul teaches. There is one Spirit, but a diversity of gifts. Through the Holy Eucharist we are made one body in Christ, and yet, the most casual observation of the Church shows that we are not united. Not only are we divided between various sects and denominations, but in our own Episcopal Church we grieve over divisions that undermine our unity and threaten to separate us from each other. Amid these divisions, the Holy Spirit calls us to gather around this holy table more and more in order to share more often the one bread and the one cup through which our bonds of affection and our unity in Christ is strengthened . Each time we share this Eucharistic meal, each time we experience the real presence of Christ among us, each time we receive the grace of this holy sacrament, we become closer to the dream God has for us to be agents of reconciliation in the world, and to the desire that Christ has that we would be one as he and the Father are one. Consequently, during times of disagreement and distress, we are not permitted to separate ourselves from the rest of the body, nor are we allowed to excise those with whom we disagree. Again St Paul writes:

As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’ On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honourable we clothe with greater honour, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honour to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

We are all a part of one another; we are bound to each other, because we all are bound to Christ. I like the dictum, “In essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things love.” It is this Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist that enables us to live together according to the rule of love- and since God is love, that’s the only rule by which we can live and remain united to the life which God offers us. Hear again the words of St. Augustine, “There you are on the table, and there you are in the chalice.” “Be what you see and receive who you are.”

Amen.

Day 6: On to Lindisfarne

2008-04-02T13:29:00.001-07:00

So, today we realized how stupid we Americans can be regarding using public transportation. Who knew that we had to tell the conductor that we intended to get off the train at Berwick-upon-Tweed. There we were standing at the doors ready to get off, and they did not open. Everyone was very understanding, however, and we were told we could ride on to Newcastle then board a train back to Berwick. The mistake turned out to be fortuitous, because the English countryside was stunning- as was the view of the Holy Island from the train.

Finally, we arrived in Berwick, and after a short taxi ride, we were on the Holy Island Lindisfarne. For me it lacked the mystical "thin-ness" of Iona; Lindisfarne bordered upon being nothing more than a museum. And yet, the presence of the holiness of St. Aidan and others who served there somehow lingered. We spent some time, even though the winds were fierce, exploring the ruins and imagining what life must have been like for the monks there. After lunch in the pub we walked down to the beach and I sat; I gazed over the waters that had isolated us from the mainland and I contemplated the greatness of God and the inconsequential nature of my own being. It was a humbling moment: and then again a moment in which I felt totally loved by God. It was a moment in which I felt an immense trust in God and knew deep down in my heart that "all shall be well."

The wind really was fierce, and it was bitterly cold, so we eventually sought warmth and protection in St Mary's Church. We spent the rest of afternoon there in prayer, until the priest came to officiate at Evening Prayer. After the Office the causway was open once more and we returned to Berwick to catch the train back to Glasgow in hopes of a good night sleep before our trek back to the US on the morrow.

Day 5 Pilgrimage to Iona

2008-03-31T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day on Iona. All that I had heard about the mystical quality of the "thin places" on this island are true, and I struggle with the idea of leaving and returning to life as it had been. There was something so attractive about the these days- not only the solitude and beauty of the island and a more intense awareness of my participation in the Communion of Saints, but the simplicity of living. I had lived these days unplugged from television, the cell phone and internet. All of these things were available to me if I needed them, but I was able to be free from them as well. Even mealtime was more sacred, surely because we prepared our food and ate in community - lingering over the table chatting and playing cards- but our meals were the produced from the most basic elements of the earth: bread, cheese, simple soups, a tomato sauce and pasta, yogurt... nothing fancy, no fine culinary genius at work, but holy and truly wonderful. The time of my departure left me wondering how I could find space in my life to create solitude and simplicity. How could I train myself to notice the thin places in my normal life in the "real world".

Before leaving, we discovered the Infirmary museum, that housed the original St Oran's Cross, St John's Cross and fragments of St Matthew's Cross. The original St Martin's Cross still stands near the abbey, but the crosses in the museum had fallen and are in the process of being restored. Of course being a good catholic, I could not leave that place without venerating those crosses and touching St Columba's pillow. I lingered as long as I good with those relics and enjoyed a sense of the presence of those who had served God on that island in ages past- and then it was time to board the ferry and head back to Glasgow.

The evening in Glasgow was particularly pleasant, as I had the privilege of having drinks and chat with Kelvin Holdsworth- the Provost of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow- whom I've enjoyed corresponding with via his blog and facebook. Do visit his blog, and when in Glasgow, drop by St Mary's. There doing some great ministry there and you'll be warmly received.

One final random note: While on Iona I lost my wallet. Everyone in the shops and the abbey were so helpful and kind in trying to help me locate it. However, one of the employee's of the Finlay Ross General Store was particularly helpful. She made telephone calls for me went to the post office to enquire whether or not someone had found it and returned it there. I regret I do not know her name, but I am grateful for her kindness and assistance. Drop in to the general store when you visit Iona and thank them for going the extra mile for a stranger. (by the way, a few days ago I received an email saying my wallet had been found. It had fallen in a box in one of the stores and was discovered when an employee was cleaning. Of course I've already replaced all of my cards and driver's license. LOL )

Go Davidson!!

2008-03-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

If it can't be Duke... then it's gotta be Davidson....

Let's make earth hour - earth lifetime

2008-03-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that an hour without electricity has raised awareness to the problem of climate change and our impact on the earth and its resources. But if that's all one does, what is the point? So what... you ate dinner by candlelight tonight. Did you consider where that food came from and what impact it had on the earth to get it to your table? I'd rather see a person make a commitment to buying more locally grown, organic vegetables or even planting an organic garden in their yard (or even on their patio.) So you turned the lights out for an hour... and then at 9:00, what happened? I'd love to see people not using lights at all so much throughout the day: one could supplement lights with solar lamps and certainly switch to energy efficient bulbs.

I don't mean to have such a preachy tone- I get to do that tomorrow morning at Mass ;)- but empty gestures rooted in political correctness do little if one is not willing to make small changes that can really make a difference. A good first step for everyone is to take a short quiz to discover what their carbon footprint is and what impact they as an individual are having on the earth and its resources. To take the quiz click here. To learn more about how to reduce your carbon footprint check out these websites...

worn again
zerofootprint

A very insightful article on praying to the earth and making changes as a spiritual discipline can be found ,here

Be a gardener.

Dig a ditch,

toil and sweat,

and turn the earth upside down

and seek the deepness

and water the plants in time.

Continue this labor

and make sweet floods to run

and noble and abundant fruits

to spring.

Take this food and drink

and carry it to God

as your true worship.

- Blessed Julian of Norwich

Day 4 PIlgrimage

2008-03-25T17:45:00.000-07:00

Today it rained, and rained, and rained.... and rained. There were some moments when the clouds cleared, but the wind was so strong that we had to stay indoors most of the day. We all curled up in the hostel around the fire reading, chatting, and playing cards. All in all not a bad way to spend a day ;)

We were able to leave the hostel briefly in the morning to celebrate the Holy Eucharist at St. Columba's Chapel in the Bishop's House (a retreat house of the Scottish Episcopal Church). It was an honor to be able to say Mass there and to use the <1982 Liturgy of the Scottish Episcopal Church (don't tell anyone, but it's an improvement on the 1979 US Prayer Book). Many thanks to the warden of the bishop's house for her hospitality to us.

That evening two of us decided to brave the wind and walk down to the abbey for evening prayer. It was such a spiritual moment to sit in that abbey and listen to the wind howl through the stones. My mind wondered how many monks had sat there at prayer listening to the same wind blow across the island. My soul mused upon the character of the Holy Spirit- who was experienced by the Blessed Virgin Mary and the early disciples as a mighty, rushing, wind.

After prayer, a woman who was staying in the hostel with us asked me if I would bless her rosaries on the altar in the abbey *GRINS*. I was humbled to stand behind the altar and bless the rosaries- I could almost feel the saints who had stood in that holy place praying with me. What a spiritual high for me.

(more pics to come)

Day 3 Pilgrimage to Iona...

2008-03-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

This morning we worshiped with the Iona Community, beginning morning prayers in the St Michael Chapel, and processing to the Abbey for the beginning of Spring worship in the Abbey. After the service, we were invited to remain in the abbey and explore and pray. I sat in the choir and soaked in the holiness of the place, wondering about all of those holy people of God who had prayed on that holy ground in ages past- and all of the people of God who gather there today to continue in the tradition of prayer and service.

After our private time in the chapel, we went to Spar and bought food. We decided to buy community food that all could share, and we agreed that each would take a part in preparing the meal or cleaning up afterwards. We each grabbed a bag and walked the mile journey to the hostel- thankful for the crisp, sunny morning- and prepared a picnic on a rock. It was during our lunch that one of the students began to share an epiphany she had discovered in the hotel in Glasgow. Because her shower wouldn't work, she decided to take a bath, and as she sank under the water she could hear her heartbeat- and in those waters she began to consider the connection with water and life. She realized the sanctity of water, and understood why so many religions used water in their rituals because of the power it conveys.

She thought of her baptism- and she remembered the Muslim practice of taking a ritual bath before beginning a pilgrimage- and she was grateful that her broken shower forced her to take a bath. So, as she washed her body, she prayed and asked the Spirit to make her heart clean and to prepare her for what gifts God would offer her on this pilgrimage.

The afternoon was spent in private prayer, and as it was a sunny afternoon, I took my journal and headed for a hike to the southern side of the island- since I hear God more clearly outdoors, I was eager to amble around the thin places of Iona and listen.... I walked and climbed on top of a rock which allowed me to see the vast sea, the ancient rocks and the rolling green Iona hills, and I sat... offered a prayer of thanksgiving, took up my pen and started to write- what ended up being a hymn of praise for the creation.... (maybe I'll share it later- but for now it's just for me).

Day 2- Pilgrimage to Glasgow-Iona-Lindisfarne

2008-03-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

Today was a travel day. The coach met us at our hotel in central Glasgow in the morning to drive us to Oban, where we were to catch the ferry to Craignure- then take a bus to Fionnphort, where we would catch a ferry to Iona. Because of high winds the Fionnphort ferry to Iona had been cancelled earlier, and an unexpected snow worried the driver that the road might be closed en route to Oban. However, after a few calls the driver believed we could make it to Oban with no problem and that the ferry to Iona would run. And indeed, we had a safe and beautiful drive to Oban, where we boarded the ferry and enjoyed a beautiful trip to Craignure. //
We exited the ferry to discover that the bus to Fionnphort had left us- and to make things worse that was the last bus of the day, and the ferry to Iona scheduled to leave in an hour was also the last ferry of the day. I was about to call a taxi when two women came up to us and asked if we needed help. We expalined our problem and she mentioned that her brother-in-law had a minibus and he could drive us to Fionnphort for 80 pounds. It seemed like we had no choice, so we hired the minibus. and the driver called the ferry to see if it would wait for us. The ferry driver agreed to wait 10 minutes, and our coach driver began to race across the Isle of Mull in order to get us to the terminal in time. There were a few moments when I thought we were going to plunge into the sea, and a few sheep and chickens narrowly escaped an untimely end... but he got us to the terminal in 40 minutes.... a drive that should have taken an hour mind you... ;)

We arrived on Iona in darkness... hungry and ready to eat. We knew that we would have to get groceries and prepare our own dinner- so we sent a few on to the hostel with the baggage, and the rest of us walked to the Spar to buy groceries- only to find that it had closed at 3 PM, and that all of the restaraunts had closed. Some of us had bought shortbread and crisps at the The Green Welly en route, and a few others had brought snacks from the States- so we combined all of our snacks together and *enjoyed* a rather unusual supper- and an even better lesson in sharing bread and offering thanks that our hunger was only temporary, unlike thousands who spend all of their days hungry and without food and potable water. We offered our hunger and dismay to God as a prayer that we would not forget how our stomachs felt as they rumbled, so that thsoe hunger pangs would remind us to work to eradicate poverty and hunger in our community and throughout the world.

Day 1 Pilgrimage to Glasgow-Iona-Lindisfarne

2008-03-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the 3rd of March, some of the students in the UMW Canterbury Club began our pilgrimage by attending the Choral EvenSong at St Mary's Scottish Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow. It was an especially glorious evening because it was Mothering Sunday and also a Diocesan EvenSong in which many choirs from the diocese had gathered to join in praise. They were truly magnificent- and most impressive to me was the inclusion of the newly formed children's choir at the cathedral- a children's choir that sings classical Anglican music, not that happy-clappy dumbed down liturgy crap... It was such a delight to see them standing with the adults and singing (from their hearts mind you) the canticles and anthems.

It was an equal treat to hear Bishop Idris preach on the mothering nature of God and
our call to be like God as mothering nurturers of the creation. Both the Canterbury students and I were impressed and encouraged by his prophetic words to care for our world. However, as good as his words were, I was hoping to hear the Provost- Kelvin- whom I have enjoyed corresponding with on the blogisphere- preach. I will have to save that treat for another visit. For now, I offer my thanks to Kelvin for his hospitality and graciousness. If you are ever in Galsgow, please drop by St. Mary's for a visit.

off to iona and lindisfarne

2008-03-01T08:17:00.000-08:00

for pilgrimage and retreat with the canterbury club.... refelctions and photos to follow.........

A Message from the Primate of Brazil... Which Path Will We Take?

2008-02-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

Message from the Anglican Primate of Brazil
Translated by Francisco de Assis Silva
19 February 2008
Message from the Anglican Primate of Brazil, Maurício de Andrade, on letter announcing the Boycott by Five Anglican Primates of the 2008 Lambeth Conference

Which path will we walk?

Who will hear us?

How will we bear witness?

These days I wonder which path we will walk. At the last meeting of Anglican primates, in Tanzania, 12 primates besides me were participating at the gathering for the first time. It was an experience of patience and hope: patience, because nothing happens when we want it to and, hope, because the new primates, including one woman, indicated the possibility of taking new paths.

We were very well received by Archbishop Donald Mtetemela of Tanzania, by the provincial secretary, Canon Mwita Akiri, and by the local organizing committee. There, I saw friends I had met awhile ago, like Ian Ernst, work colleagues, and provincial secretaries such as Nathaniel Uematsu and Bernard Ntahoturi. I met other people who have become friends and joined hands in face of the challenges of walking as a Church desiring to stay on the path of unity.

I also spoke with Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone about the situation of Robinson Cavalcanti of Recife and reaffirmed to him what I have already said on other occasions, that is, that I have been trying to develop my ministry in the Anglican Communion as primate of Brazil based on three precepts: reconciliation, restoration, and renewal. And in reaffirming these principles to Archbishop Venables I told him we could follow this threefold path by establishing a conversation with Robinson Cavalcanti. He agreed with me and even committed to take the initiative of setting up a meeting with the three of us in São Paulo in July 2007. But nothing happened. I have read that Archbishop Venables will come to Brazil for a pastoral visit with Robinson Cavalcanti and his clergy. But I have received no message concerning this visit, despite the announcement published on the Web site of Cavalcanti’s diocese. When I saw Archbishop Venables in Tanzania, he told me: “our act was only to show solidarity with the situation in Recife, and it is clear to me that this is merely a temporary situation.”

In view of facts of this nature we are forced to ask: Which path will we take? Who will hear us? How will we bear witness? These are serious questions that we need to answer for the members of the Church.

This is the season of Lent, a time for seeking conversion to God in all our actions; it is a time for prayer and meditation and a time for forgiveness and reconciliation.

I think we need to take a hard look in the mirror and see what we are doing with the Anglican Communion; I think it is time to remember that we are a “communion” and not simply a “federation” of churches and that, therefore, we do not need a “pact.” What we do need is to deepen the communion beyond the search for power, domination, and control.

Who will hear us? Who can hear the message we have to proclaim, which some want to envelop in the concept of “orthodoxy,” when it is in fact the message of God through Jesus Christ, whose love reconciles us with life, and life in abundance? Our words have been words of division. Yet, in Brazil we sing: “The Word was not made to divide anyone; the Word is the bridge over which love comes and goes. The Word was not made to dominate; the destination of the Word is dialogue.” Who will hear the archbishops/primates, bishops, and priests of the Church?

We are seriously preparing ourselves in Brazil to participate in the 2008 Lambeth Conference because we are certain that this is the space for unity, and we know that unity does not mean uniformity. All of us bishops in Brazil and our spouses are in prayer while we await to meet and be reunited with brothers and sisters who live challenges and in different contexts from our own, knowing that we are united in God’s mission. So we are preparing to share our lives, challenges, and experience of being a Church that lives in missionary expansion. In 1998, the Province of Brazil had seven dioceses. Today, in 2008, we have nine dioceses and one missionary district. Despite the difficulties of two schisms, one in 2002 and another in 2004, we can say “thus far the Lord has helped us” (1 Sam 7:12, NRSV). We therefore desire to devote ourselves fully at the Lambeth Conference to the Bible study groups, to prayer, and to the breaking of bread (Acts 2).

How will we bear witness? Who will hear us? We are not being honest with ourselves. Could it be that we want to propose the path of disunity for the future of the Anglican Communion?

I believe The Episcopal Church of the United States has been showing all of us an example of the path to unity and reconciliation, because they have met all the requests for visits that were made and answered all the questions that were posed. They have spent time, money, and energy to meet the primates’ requests, always with generosity and openness. I think we need to keep in mind that we are Anglican. We are seeing a disregard of our richness and our ethos, that is, autonomy of the Provinces.

The Anglican Province of Brazil has already spoken out against the creation of a new pact, because our way of being Anglican has already been defined in the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral. We are not nor do we want to be a mere federation of churches. We wish to continue in communion with Canterbury, a symbol of our unity, as full members of the Anglican Communion.

We intend to go to Lambeth open to dialogue, and to feel the presence of God guiding us as His people, breaking the bread that unites us in the Body of Christ, and expressing solidarity with the world in need of the Word of transformation and salvation. We therefore reaffirm our reply to the invitation of Archbishop Rowan Williams and deeply regret the boycott by five archbishops.

Brasília, 17 February 2008.

Second Sunday of Lent

The Most Revd. Maurício Andrade

Primate of the Episcopal Anglican Church of Brazil (IEAB)

Sermon: Last Epiphany Year A 03 February, 2008

2008-01-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

Just a little over a month ago, we gathered in this holy house of prayer, knelt in darkness, lit candles, sang “Silent Night”, and offered thanksgiving to God for the gift of Light that was given by God to disperse the darkness of sin and death in our lives. The children were given a star on Christmas Eve, reminding them that the Light from heaven that shone on that first Christmas Night, now shines in their hearts and guides their way through the dark places of their lives. On the evening of the Feast of the Epiphany, we gathered for a Service of Light, and once again lit the candles we had first lit on Christmas Eve- but this time, instead of extinguishing them after the service, we carried the Light out into the world, and accepted our call to allow the Light of Christ to burn brightly in our hearts- through our words and actions- so that the shadows of sin and death in our community might be illuminated by the brightness of Christ spreading more and more among us.

During Advent we lit candles and read the words of the Prophets which offered us hope that darkness and gloom created by evil would not last forever, and that one day God’s salvation would come and obliterate the darkness once and for all. In these days after the Epiphany, we have seen this Light of Peace and Hope revealed to us and to all the world in the person of Jesus Christ- and on this Last Sunday after the Epiphany, we are taken with Peter, James, and John to the top of the mountain in order to see God shining through Christ in dazzling brilliance. We call this moment when Peter, James and John saw the appearance of Jesus change “the Transfiguration of our Lord”. But this was no metamorphosis of the person of Jesus- because Jesus wasn’t really changed at all. It was the three apostles whose eyes were opened so that they could perceive the full revelation of who Christ is- and as they beheld that revelation, they saw the glory of God emanating from Jesus- a glory so brilliant that Jesus’ face shone like the sun and his clothes appeared to be dazzling white. And as they gazed upon this splendorous vision, they saw Moses and Elijah- two of the most important figures in the Hebrew Story of Salvation- bearing witness to the coming of God among humankind in the person of Jesus Christ- and the witness of the prophets is affirmed by a voice from heaven- much like the voice that was heard by John at Jesus’ Baptism- announcing that Jesus is God’s Son with whom God is well-pleased. Peter was so mesmerized by the vision of God in Christ that he didn’t want to leave the mountain- I imagine he must have thought that he had been transported to the heavenly places- that God had come to dwell on earth- and he didn’t want to leave- and who could blame him?

But as glorious as this vision of Christ was, it wasn’t given to theses three apostles in order to transport them to glory. It was given to them so that they could have a glimpse of the future glory that would be revealed when Christ would once and for all overcome the oppression of sin and death, and when all things would be brought under subjection to Christ and God’s Reign of Peace and Justice. This vision of the radiance of God emanating through Jesus was given to the apostles to strengthen them for the path of sorrow and suffering that lay ahead of them. And soon the voice from Heaven was no longer audible, Moses and Elijah disappeared, and the appearance of Jesus returned to that of any other human being. But everything had changed: Jesus descended the holy mountain and began his journey to Jerusalem- and the apostles followed him on the way of the Cross- not fully understanding what had happened or what Jesus meant when he talked about his death and his rising from the dead.

We read the account of this Transfiguration of our Lord on this Last Sunday after the Epiphany because everything is about to change for us as well. We too are descending the holy mountain where we have seen the radiance of God’s glory in Jesus Christ- and we are about to pass through the valley of the shadow of death- as we begin our Lenten pilgrimage of penitence and self-examination. We begin our Lenten journey by peering into the ultimate darkness that awaits us when we begin the pilgrimage of our death. We trade the dazzling brightness of the mountain of Transfiguration for ashes and a cross and a reminder that we are dust, and to dust we will return. And for 40 days we will carry that cross, following the steps of our Savior , leading us to Jerusalem, to an Upper Room, to the Garden of Gethsemane, and finally to death on Calvary. But it is the Light that we have been carrying with us since Advent- and indeed the Light of Christ that was given to us at baptism- that illuminates the shadows of the Valley of Lent; it is this Light that keeps the lamp of hope burning in our hearts- a hope that tells us that no matter how dark the night- the morning is coming- a hope that tells us that no matter how many times we fail to love God and our neighbor, that there is mercy and forgiveness in God’s Love for us- a hope that foreshadows the end of our Lenten journey- when we see the fullest revelation of God in Christ as the newly blessed fire ignites the Paschal Candle and we shine its light in the darkness of the Nave scattering the gloom of Good Friday and announcing that the Light of Christ is present and is growing more and more brilliantly until it illuminates the entire universe with the incomprehensible radiance of the life of God that fills and sustains all things. The radiant vision of the Transfiguration enables us to hope and see with the eyes of faith that even a darkness that consumes the entire universe as humankind kills God on the Cross can not resist the incomprehensible Light of God- which begins to radiate from the pierced heart of God as blood and water stream from Jesus’ side, and overtakes the darkness of evil more and more until it bursts forth in Resurrection.

And there lies our greatest hope: because if God can overcome the darkness of death and fill all things with God’s glorious presence, then we can hope that God will enlighten our hearts when we feel overwhelmed by the darkness; when we feel lost among the shadows and don’t know which way to turn; when we feel hopeless and helpless and think the world is about to crash over us. I remember last summer when Zac and I visited the Linville Caverns in the mountains of NC. As the tour was ending the guide announced that he was going to turn out the lights- and as no natural light is visible in the cave- we would experience utter darkness- a darkness that blinded the trout that live in the cold waters that flow in the caverns. I’ve never experienced such a void, and I thought- this is what it is like to be absent from God: that’s what darkness and the death of sin – or hell if you prefer to use that label- must be like- the absence of God- the absent of the radiance of God’s glory- But thanks be to God- our hope is that reality is no longer possible, because Christ is in all and with all, and even in our darkest night, God kindles a fire that never dies away, and that lamp of God’s Love guides our path to the way of redemption- out of the threatening darkness into God’s Shalom.

As you journey to the remembrance of the hour of your death on Wednesday, hold the Light of this day in your heart- as the writer of the Second Epistle of Peter writes, “let it be like a lamp shining in a dark place” – until the Light of Christ shines in its fullness through you on that day when you too experience the full revelation of this vision of glory as you behold God face to face. And until then, as you make your pilgrimage to Jerusalem- let this light emanate from your heart and illumine the path of others searching for light in their darkness. As you travel through the shadows of Lent with the lamp of hope share the hope which we have been given; seek out the oppressed and the suffering and reach out to them with Christ’s compassion and mercy so that the Light of Christ will be ignited in their hearts- and the darkness of evil will be diminished more and more- until we behold the ineffable radiance of God in all things on that Eternal Easter Day.

Thanks be to God.

Local Coninuing Episcopalian writes to the Editor of the local newspaper: "Breakaway Anglicans Follow Mars, not Jesus"

2007-11-17T08:41:00.000-08:00

A Letter to the Editor of my town newspaper demonstrates the pain and anguish that CANA and the schismatics are creating here in the place where I minister. You can read it here.

Please offer special prayers for Bill Mehr- the author of the letter, and the other members of The Continuing Episcopal Church of St Margaret's Woodbridge as they continue to do the work of the Gospel and share the Love of Christ in word and deed in Woodbridge, Virginia in the midst of sacrifice, persecution, and hardship. They are all an inspiration to me. You can visit the parish website here.

You might also want to visit Bill Mehr's blog here.

Please continue to pray for the Diocese of Virginia and all of the Continuing Episcopal Churches in this diocese as legal proceedings continue this week.

Peace, Light, and Love

Calling Young Adults!!!

2007-11-09T12:06:00.000-08:00

My parish has noticed that we have few parishioners between the ages of 26-44. We are well below the national average, even though the population in our town for this age is higher than the national average. in an attempt to know how to reach out to this age group, we are doing a "survey" to see how the spiritual needs of this group can be addressed. (Nevermind the fact that I and 4 members of the vestry are in tis age group... but we'll let the vestry do their little study LOL- meanwhile I'll meet with the other young adults at the bar for Theology on Tap LOL)... Seriously, if you could take the time to send me a response to the following questions, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks!!! Rob+

1. What is your age?
2. What is your gender?
3. Single, Married, Domestic Partnership, Other
4. Do you have children? Ages?
4. Do you attend church regularly?
5. If so, what do you like most about the church you attend?
6. What is your favorite memory of church?
7. What keeps you going back to your church week after week?
8. if you do not go to church, what would you be looking for in a church should you decide to begin attending a church?
9. In a perfect world, what would your church experince be like?
10. What would it take to get you actively involved in a church?

Thanks y'all!!! I appreciate it. Feel free to add any other comments you'd like to make as well. Peace Rob+

You can post your answers in the comments... I wont publish then unless you'd like for me too...

The Cost of Being Gay in the World

2007-10-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

The Cost of Being LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi, and/or Trans) in Today's World.

Algeria - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Angola - Labor Camps
Antigua and Barbuda - 15 Years in Prison
Bahrain - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Bangladesh - 10 Years to Life in Prison
Barbados - Life in Prison
Belize - 10 Years in Prison
Benin - 3 Years in Prison
Bhutan - 1 Month to 1 Year in Prison
Botswana - A Fine to 7 Years in Prison
Brunei - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Cameroon - A Fine to 5 Years in Prison
Cook Islands - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Djibouti - 10 to 12 Years in Prison
Dominica - 10 Years in Prison
Egypt - 5 Years in Prison
Eritrea - 3 to 10 Years in Prison
Ethiopia - 10 Days to 3 Years in Prison
Gambia - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Ghana - Not Known
Grenada - 10 Years in Prison
Guinea - 6 Months to 3 Years in Prison
Guinea Bissau - Labor Camps
India - A Fine to Life in Prison
Iran - Death
Jamaica - 10 Years Hard Labor
Kenya - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Kiribati - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Kuwait - A Fine to 7 Years in Prison
Lebanon - A Fine to 1 Year in Prison
Lesotho - Not Known
Liberia - A Fine
Libya - A Fine to 5 Years in Prison
Malawi - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Malaysia - A Fine to 20 Years in Prison
Mauritania - Death
Mauritius - A Fine to 5 Years in Prison
Morocco - 6 Months to 3 Years in Prison
Mozambique - Labor Camps
Myanmar/Burma - 10 Years to Life in Prison
Namibia - Not Known
Nauru - 14 Years Hard Labor
Nepal - A Fine to 1 Year in Prison
Nicaragua - 1 to 3 Years in Prison
Nigeria - 5 Years in Prison to Death
Niue - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Oman - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Pakistan - 2 Years to Life in Prison
Palau - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Palestine - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Papua New Guinea - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Qatar - A Fine to 5 Years in Prison
Saint Kitts and Nevis - 10 Years in Prison
Saint Lucia - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Saint Vincent and Grenadines - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Samoa - A Fine to 7 Years in Prison
Sao Tome and Principe - Labor Camps
Saudi Arabia - Death
Senegal - 1 Month to 5 Years in Prison
Seychelles - A Fine to 2 Years in Prison
Sierra Leone - Life in Prison
Singapore - 2 Years in Prison
Solomon Islands - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Somalia - 3 Months in Prison to Death
Sri Lanka - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Sudan - 5 Years in Prison to Death
Swaziland - A Fine
Syria - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Tanzania - A Fine to 25 Years in Prison
Togo - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Tokelau - A Fine to 10 Years in Prison
Trinidad and Tobago - 25 Years in Prison
Tunisia - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Turkmenistan - A Fine to 2 Years in Prison
Tuvalu - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Uganda - A Fine to Life in Prison
United Arab Emirates - Death
Uzbekistan - A Fine to 3 Years in Prison
Yemen - Flogging to Death
Zambia - A Fine to 14 Years in Prison
Zimbabwe - A Fine to 1 Year in Prison

Posted originally at laird68's blog Hat Tip: Louie Crew

Please consider helping Canterbury students go on pilgrimage

2007-10-21T22:25:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends

The University of Mary Washington Canterbury Club is going on a holy pilgrimage to Holy Island Iona during their spring break. We are beginning our fundraising campaign to help underwrite the pilgrimage for students who would not be able to attend. One way we are raising funds is by selling magazines. You may visit out online magazine store
here

Please consider ordering a few magazines through our site and support the spiritual nurture of a great group of students. God's blessings on you for your generosity and support.

Addendum to Sermon: Padre Rob is a Heretic and an Immoral Infidel...

2007-09-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well, I was a bit nervous about this sermon, because I preached this in the parish (not at the Canterbury Eucharist) and this IS the diocese of Va after all. Most people received it and either thanked me for it or said they would give it more thought. A few were very upset with me, including one who told me gays were welcome in the church as long as they knew they were sinners (to which I wanted to say "as long as you know you are a sinner too... but I didn't) and another who told me I was an immoral infidel for refusing to abide by the rules set by the Jerusalem Council- and I'm still not sure what he was talking about, although it hurts to be called an immoral infidel. I did, however, tell him I was glad that we could pray together despite our disagreement and hoped he wouldn't let my position keep him away. But, since I am an immoral infidel, I suppose that is unlikely.

Well, if my brothers and sisters in Burma can endure their sufferings in their present condition, then surely I can take the lip from these men (o yes, interestingly they both were old, white men).

Pray for Burma.
and while you're at it... Pray for me a sinner.

The Chasm Between Dives and Lazarus

2007-09-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Sermon: Sunday September 30, 2007
Proper 21 Year C
The Chasm Between Dives and Lazarus

Last Sunday’s Gospel Reading ended with a warning that one can not serve God and wealth. In today’s reading, Luke fleshes out that warning with a parable about a man who was enslaved by his own wealth. Jesus tells the story of two men. One, sometimes called Dives- which in Latin means wealthy- lived a life of privilege. He lived in a large home, dressed in purple and fine linen- which in antiquity was a status symbol and a sign of wealth- and he feasted sumptuously everyday. He was greedy, gluttonous, and self-absorbed. He only cared for himself and his own comfort and his own desires. Outside of the gates of his house, lay a poor man named Lazarus- a poor, destitute, homeless man whose body was full of sores. He was a weak, powerless man who could not even defend himself from the dogs who gathered around him to lick his sores. Lazarus was sick, lonely, and hungry- desiring to have the scraps that the rich man threw away after his feasts.

The rich man must have passed Lazarus daily, and even though he had the means to feed, clothe, and relieve the sufferings of this man, he chose to ignore him and to leave him in his desperate condition.

Eventually the poor man died, and he was carried by angels to the bosom of Abraham, where he was comforted and relieved from his sufferings. The rich man also died, but instead of being carried to Paradise on the wings of angels, he found himself in the fiery torments of Hades. In his anguish he saw Abraham and Lazarus in the distance, and still behaving arrogantly, asks Abraham to send Lazarus- the poor man he couldn’t ever be bothered to help- to give him a drop of water to relieve his sufferings in hell. Abraham reminded him that in his life he had never once acted to relieve the sufferings of Lazarus. Abraham said to him:

During your lifetime you received good things, and Lazarus likewise received evil things. And now he is being comforted here, but you are suffering. And in all these things, there is a great divide set up between us and you people, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.

This chasm between Dives and Lazarus did not just suddenly appear upon their deaths. It was always there, having been created by the rich man inch by inch each time he ignored the plight of Lazarus. And now, the divide is so wide that it is impossible to bring the two together. The rich man wasted the opportunities he had been given to act with compassion and justice towards Lazarus, and with every act of injustice, he isolated himself more and more.

And this seems to me to be the moral of the parable. While this story has something to say about wealth and the right use of it, the real moral seems to be a call to work towards bridging whatever the gaps are that exist between us NOW- in this moment while we have the opportunity for reconciliation; it is certainly a challenge to us who are rich to help relieve the sufferings of the poor: and using global standards, most of us in this church are in the top 5% of the wealthiest people on the planet- so that call is directed right to us. The call to economic justice is certainly an important part of Luke’s Gospel and of this parable; however, Jesus’ warning to us is to work to bridge all of the chasms that separate us, to tear down all of the dividing walls that segregate us and enable one group to dehumanize the other. It’s so easy to allow the differences to separate us into opposing factions. Christ’s call is for us to be intentional and willful about becoming engaged in works of compassion and mercy which strengthen the bonds of affection that unite us as one body in Christ- and even as one human family. When we ignore that call, when we alienate those who are different than us, when we exclude those who do not agree with us, when we leave the church because some decision was made that we do not accept, then we isolate ourselves more and more; we remove ourselves from that great community that is bound together by Christ in God. Our call, which is reiterated throughout all of the Gospels, is to live into the gift of unity that the Holy Spirit has given us by becoming engaged in works of compassionate justice which bear witness in real life to our hope that by water and the Holy Spirit all of us have been made members of the Body of Christ- and although we may have different gifts and different ways of knowing and experiencing God, we are all equal and valued members of the Body of Christ, and we need each other in order to be healthy and whole. This is radically counter-cultural to the individualism of the American Culture. Since we are all in Christ, we have been made one; St Paul writes in his letter to the Corinthians that we are so joined together by the Spirit, that when one member suffers, we all suffer; when one member is honored, we all rejoice. Because we all are in Christ, there can be no divisions among us- and where chasms and inequalities do exist, we are called to work for reconciliation, because we need each other; because we can not abide in Christ on our own; it takes all of us to be the Body of Christ in the world. It takes all of us to work together- as one- in order to transform our society and reconcile the world to God. This might mean making the choice to donate a percentage of your income to agencies working to eradicate poverty, it might mean volunteering every week at the soup kitchen or food pantry- but it might also mean working to ensure women in developing nations have the same access to education that males do, or it might mean becoming involved in local initiatives to improve race relations. It might mean being intentional about allowing this place to be a House of Prayer for all people- a hospital for every wounded soul who is seeking healing grace in Jesus Christ. It means living into the reality that St Paul proclaimed was true for us who are in Christ, that now “… there is no longer male or female, Jew or Greek, slave or free..”; we are one in Christ. When we fully understand the meaning of “you are all one in Jesus Christ,” we begin to understand that in this place there are no more males and females, blacks, whites, Hispanics, or Asians, Americans or foreigners, gays, lesbians, or heterosexuals, Republicans or Democrats, young people or older people… If we are all one in Christ, it means I’m a bit of all that. It means I am a part of you, and you are a part of me, and together we are a part of Christ committed to being together in order to make a difference in the world.

If we truly believe that, then it matters to us that there are disenfranchised people sitting at our doorstep. It becomes important to us to use the resources God has entrusted to us to care for those who are lacking physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It becomes important to us to listen with compassion to those who have differing theological view points, and to refuse to allow those disagreements to create a chasm between us. It becomes relevant to us to reach out to those who are alienated from us, and to draw them back into fellowship with us at the Lord’s Table.
For the last few days the House of Bishops has been working to find a way to bring opposing factions in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion back together in celebration of our common baptismal identities as members of the one Body of Christ. They issued a statement that certainly did not make everyone in the Church happy, but it is clear, that they are committed to this ministry of reconciliation. They are committed to keeping our Anglican Family together, and to doing the hard work of building bridges over the chasms that have developed between us. It’s a hard bridge to build; but if we are the Body of Christ, I must feel the pain of gays and lesbians who are being excluded from full participation in the Church and society, but I must also feel the pain of those who feel that creating an inclusive space for gays and lesbians is an abandonment of the historic faith. Unless I allow myself to experience the pain of all of my brothers and sisters in Christ, I allow myself to exclude those persons from my experience of Christ; and inch by inch I isolate myself from an authentic experience of being one in Christ.

How do we do that? How do we keep that vision of unity from being just some naïve ideal of some idealistic spiritual leader? We do it by continuing to gather together as one body in Jesus’ name, Sunday after Sunday in this Holy House to sing praise to God with one voice, to offer prayers on behalf of ourselves, the Church, and the world with one voice, to offer Eucharist- to give thanks and praise to God with one voice- and to come together to the Altar to receive who we are and to become what we receive: the Body of Christ; the hands and feet of Jesus working to bring all of God’s creation into union with God. We do it by bringing the burdens of our failures to feel the pain in others, the burdens of our disappointments and confusions about decisions that are being made in the Church, the burdens of our inability to cross the widening chasms that exist between us; we bring all of these burdens- and all others that we carry, and we lay them at the feet of Jesus. We lay them at the foot of the Cross. We take all our divisions and failures and sins and pain and we hand them over to the one who died to save us all.

And we leave them there… When I wa sa child, we used to sing The African American Gospel hymn that says it this way:

Leave it there, leave it there
Take your burden to the Lord
And leave it there
If you trust and never doubt
He will surely bring you out
Take your burden to the Lord
And leave it there.

And we leave trusting that as we pray together, and serve together, and love together, that the Spirit will come down and give us the grace to be one; to refuse to allow the chasms to grow, and to walk together side by side, hand in hand bearing witness to a broken world of the radically transforming love of God.

________________________________________________________________________

Many thanks to my Luiz, for some of his insights that helped shape this homily.

retiring blog

2007-08-30T22:31:00.000-07:00

for now...

It'll still be here because there are some links to some really good bloggers who are making a postive difference in the world with their words of healing and justice. I wish all Christian bloggers could follow their examples.

Anglican Covenant and Dis-Unity?

2007-08-29T17:24:00.000-07:00

Go read Bp Alan's thoughts here

Sermon proper 16 8/26/2007 Who Will be Saved?

2007-08-25T13:25:00.000-07:00

Who Will Be Saved?

Since ancient times, human beings have wondered what will happen to us after we die. Different religious groups have offered different answers to the question, with most basically agreeing to the concept that after this life our existence continues somehow with God. For Christians, our hope is that since Christ has been resurrected, we who have been united to Christ will also be resurrected to eternal life with God in the communion of the saints. Now it remains a mystery as to how we will experience eternal life with God, since none of us have crossed over to the other side and returned to tell, but we believe that in the life to come we will experience the joy of fully knowing and loving God and each other, and that God’s purpose for the world will be complete. Of course musings on the afterlife raise other questions, like, “what will happen to people who lived evil lives?” “Will people like Hitler, and Charles Manson, and notorious criminals also enjoy the joys of heavenly bliss, or will they be punished?” and if they will be punished, “will it be forever?”

The answer to this question lies in the mystery of God’s mercy and justice. Our Judeo-Christian heritage offers a variety of answers and opinions to the question “who will be saved?” Some of our more fundamentalist brothers and sisters insist one must have a born again experience or that one must be a practicing member of their church. Other Christians, including many of the early fathers and mothers, feel that in the end everyone will be saved- that even the most evil human beings in the end will be reunited to God.

St Clement of Alexandria wrote:

We can set no limits to the agency of the Redeemer to redeem, to rescue, to discipline in his work, and so will he continue to operate after this life.

Diodore of Tarsus wrote in the fourth century:

For the wicked there are punishments, not perpetural, however, lest the immortality prepared for them should be a disadvantage, but they are to be purified for a brief period according to the amount of malice in their works. They shall therefore suffer punishment for a short space, but immortal blessedness having no end awaits them...the penalties to be inflicted for their many and grave sins are very far surpassed by the magnitude of the mercy to be showed to them.

Many of the fathers taught that the full work of Christ’s work of salvation will be complete when all evil is overcome by the love of God, and God is all in all.

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is asked the question, “who will be saved? Will only a few be saved?” Jesus, however, does not answer his question. Instead, Jesus attends to the real need of the man asking the question and the crowd listening to the exchange by giving his vision of what the Kingdom of God will be like. Jesus says:

18 … "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches." 20 And again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened." (Luke 13:18-21)

Jesus vision of God’s Reign is an expansive, inclusive, kingdom, where people will come from east and west, from north and south, and will eat in the kingdom of God. Jesus envisions a feast where all are welcome, a table in God’s presence where everyone has a place of honor- It’s a kingdom where one’s ancestry, education, social connections, and bank account have no merit. That might not sound so shocking to us, but it was for the original audience; Jesus was challenging their presumption that because they were descendants of Abraham and members of God’s chosen people that they automatically had a place in the Kingdom of God- and that those who did not share their pedigree would be excluded. Instead, Jesus portrays a feast with God where those who thought they’d be invited because they were descendants of Abraham, stand aside and watch people from all the nations of the world take their places at God’s table. As the “insiders” see the “outsiders” find a place of welcome at God’s Feast, they ask, “Lord, what about us? We ate and drank with you and talked with you in the streets?” And the Lord will reply, ‘I do not know you.” And they will be cast out of the Kingdom.

Jesus goes on to encourage them not to rely on Abraham or their religious upbringing to get them into heaven- instead, he presents himself as the narrow door, through which they must strive to enter in order to find a place in God’s Kingdom. At first glance, Jesus’ call to strive to enter by the narrow door seems to contradict Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom of God where people from all the nations are welcomed. His image of the narrow door is exclusive, and maybe even hopeless. The implication seems to be that only a few will be able to pass through. But a closer read shows that Jesus really isn’t contradicting himself. The invitation to enter is given to everybody- and everyone who enters is given a place of welcome, in fact some with the wrong bloodlines and the wrong credentials will find their places in the Kingdom first. Everyone is invited- but to get there, everyone must walk through the narrow door. Jesus is not answering the man’s question by saying some will be saved and some will not; instead, Jesus is describing the process of salvation, and offering whoever wishes to begin that process to strive to find the way that leads to salvation. It isn’t enough, Jesus teaches to say ‘we were baptized members of the Episcopal Church” or even that we went to church every Sunday. More is required of us if we are to be saved. We too must strive to enter through the narrow door… but what does that mean?

Well, Jesus was not talking about a door as we think of it; he wasn’t talking about the kind of door that we lock at night to keep intruders out of our homes. The narrow door that Jesus had in mind was something else entirely—it was, in fact, an open door. In those days there was the daytime door and the nighttime door. The daytime doors were really the gates of the city. Any of you who have traveled to Jerusalem or any other cities with medieval origins has seen the large city gates. Every morning they were opened to let the vegetable and market carts in—or to let the soldiers out or in. They were giant doors that allowed the comings and going of animals and vehicles and armies, groups with lots to carry. At night, though, the wide doors were closed and the entryway to the city was through a narrow door through which you could only enter on foot—with very little baggage. When Jesus says strive to enter through the narrow door, the message is that you can’t take a lot of baggage with you if you want to follow him to the Kingdom of God. Christian life very often is about letting go of some of the baggage we think is essential to our lives. In order to enter the world to which Jesus calls us, we often must shed much that we think keeps us safe. We step through the narrow welcoming door, often having to bend low to come into the place with God to which Jesus invites us. It is that place where who we know, who we have been, who our ancestors were, what our education has been, or what possessions we have do not matter. And what we are given in exchange is the healing hand that allows us to throw off whatever is burdening us, in body, mind, and spirit, and to find wholeness and salvation in life in God.

The way to salvation is open to everyone; all are beckoned to come to the feast that God has prepared. But only those who follow the way of Christ, who let go of the things of this life that keep us rooted to the kingdom of the world will be able to enter through the narrow door. What’s keeping you on the outside looking in at others who are enjoying the joys of abundant life in God? What burdens are weighing you down and disabling you from entering through the narrow door into the Kingdom of God? Jesus calls us to let it go- to trust Him alone, to cast our cares upon Him, to follow his way of self denial and self giving love…when we walk in the way of love- when we love God and our neighbor, we will discover that the kingdom of God is already within us. But, as St Anselm of Canterbury wrote, our hearts can not be filled with this self-giving God-like love until it is emptied of other false loves. When our hearts are filled with love for riches, power, pleasure, and praise, then it is impossible for us to pass through the narrow way and experience the reign of God among us. When we let go of those things, and begin to have a love for helping the poor, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, befriending the lonely, and liberating the oppressed, then we will discover that our lives are rooted in God, and that God’s own life is breaking into the world around us.
Who will be saved? Not those who belong to a particular religious group or who have experienced certain religious rituals, although they are important. But, those who will be saved are those who have made a radical change in their lives- those who have cast aside the selfish desires of their hearts and who have striven to love as Jesus loves, to serve as Jesus serves, to embrace the outcasts, and the undesirables and to offer them the seats of honor at God’s Feast of grace. Those who will be saved are those who have realized that God is love, and in order to be one with God, one must also love.

In the Name of God. Amen.

When Cooking was about hospitality not Sex in the City

2007-08-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

Huw has a great post on The Food Network here

What ever happened to Julia Child, The Two Fat Ladies, Nancy Dupree, and Graham Kerr?

A correction on the Hymn

2007-08-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

The text was originally written by a danish woman, called Elle Andersdatter in 1639. Our Archbishop J.O.Wallin translated it to Swedish in 1819.
It has the nr 325 in the Swedish hymnal.

Thanks Fr. Jermunn!!

Old Swedish Hymn

2007-08-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

A new friend who is a priest in the Church of Sweden sent me this hymn in honor of Our Lady's Day. It is too lovely not to share. (I hope the bride imagery isnt offensive. It is an ancient metaphor, and personally, I am nurtured in the idea that I am the bride of God)

My saved soul is rejoicing in hope,
to eternal good it lifts itself in faith,
‘cause the chains of death Christ has broken
and gives me in his love – Life.

With him I have found the path of bliss,
and the heavenly inheritance he has won for me,
When I fall asleep, he embraces me,
and on his arms I will go to heaven.

And higher, more bright than gold, more bright than the sun,
my soul will shine before his throne,
the good God,
dresses me in the gown
he himself has promised his beloved bride.

The Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos

2007-08-15T02:24:00.000-07:00

Kontakion (Tone 2)

Neither the tomb, nor death, could hold the Theotokos,
Who is constant in prayer and our firm hope in her intercessions.
For being the Mother of Life,
She was translated to life by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb!

Today the Church remembers the death, resurrection and glorification of the Mother of God. Holy Tradition tells us that the Theotokos remained in the city of Jerusalem after the Descent of the Spirit on Pentecost, living in the home of St John the Beloved. In her early fifties, tradition believes, Blessed Mary died. The Apostles were scattered abroad preaching the Gospel; however, each of them, except for Thomas were miraculously brought to the Virgin aloft on clouds moments before her death.

As they stood around her bedside, she commended her spirit to the Lord and Jesus descended from Heaven, taking up her soul in His arms. The Apostles sang the funeral hymns in her honor and carried her body to a tomb in Cedron near Gethsemane. Thomas arrived on the third day and wished to see the Virgin for the last time. However, when they went to visit her tomb, they discovered it was empty. Church tradition teaches that the Theotokos was resurrected bodily and taken to heaven, in the same way that we all will be on the Last Day.

You can read a sermon of St Gregory Palamas here

Sermons on the Dormition by St John Damascene here

Another great source of information on this holy day may be found here

1000 Origami Cranes for Peace in Iraq

2007-08-12T17:57:00.001-07:00

How to Knit a Thurible

2007-08-12T12:44:00.000-07:00

This was posted in a comment on Kelvin's Blog, but my little catholic heart just had to share it. This is fabulous !! hehe

How to Knit a Thurible

Lutherans to allow Gays in Committed Relationships to Pastor

2007-08-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

The story is here

Two New Blogs

2007-08-07T20:58:00.000-07:00

Two blogs from friends that I recommend...
la vie graphite

and

Love, Life, and Lessons Learned

Where is the Love?

2007-08-07T09:27:00.000-07:00

Just wondering, why it is that members of Christ's Body who are in disagreement over certain issues find such delight in ridiculing, belittling, and making pot shots at their siblings who disagree with them? If that's love, if that's how Christians treat one another when they disagree, then no wonder our churches are empty on Sundays.

At the risk of sounding like an evangelical, I do not think this is behavior in which Jesus would be engaged. I think he'd be praying for unity (uh in fact he did) not making fun of those on the other side.

One reason I respect His Grace, the Rt Rev'd Gene Robinson, is because he is faithfully committed to the Gospel call to return evil with good, to bless those who curse him, to love those hate him, to include those who would exclude him- and even to be willing to endure suffering on their behalf. That is what is it looks like to be a follower of Jesus- not to be engaged in sophomoric frivolity which incites the rabble to cheap laughter at the expense of a brother or sister on the other side of the fence. Some of the derisive remarks I have read about Christian siblings with whom there is disagreement is not even appropriate in civilized discourse at all, much less in Christian discourse.

How can the love of God and a Gospel of inclusivity be proclaimed on Sunday, and then those same lips proclaim hatred for the Christ who is present in others? Have we forgotten the wisdom of John? " The one who hates ones brother who has been seen, hates God who has not been seen"

It's all getting rather embarrassing! How do we expect to ever find unity in our broken church and why should we think an unchurched person would want anything to do with us as long as we allow this kind of behavior to exist the church? It's time for it to stop; it's time for us to begin to pray for those who abuse us, love those who deride us, bless those who deny us a place in the family, and include those who exclude us. That's what is means to be a disciple.

Fr Kelvin Just Makes me Laugh

2007-08-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

Check out his 10 reasons for attending Mass for the Feast of the Transfiguration at St Mary's Cathedral, Glasgow here. Wish I'd been there ;)

Feast of the Transfiguration

2007-08-05T23:42:00.000-07:00

The Transfiguration of our Lord

"And so on the mountain he showed his Apostles the glory of his divinity, concealed and hidden by his humanity. For they saw his face bright as lightning and his garments white as light. They saw two suns; one in the sky, as usual, and one unusually; one visible in the firmament and lighting the world, and one, his face, visible to them alone. His garments white as light showed that the glory of his divinity flooded from his whole body, and his light shone from all his members. For his flesh did not shine with splendor from without, like Moses, but the glory of his divinity flooded from him. His light dawned and was drawn together in him. Nor did it depart somewhere else and leave him, as if it came from another place and adorned him, nor was it for his use. And he did not display the whole depth of his glory, but only as much as the limits of their eyes could encompass.

‘And there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him’. And the words that they said to him were such as these: they were thanking him that their words and those of all their fellow Prophets had been fulfilled by his coming. They offered him worship for the salvation which he had wrought for the human race; and that he had fulfilled in reality the mystery they had only sketched. There was joy for the Prophets and the Apostles by this ascent of the mountain. The Prophets rejoiced when they saw his humanity, which they had not known. The Apostles also rejoiced when they saw the glory of his divinity, which they had not known, and heard the voice of the Father bearing witness to his Son; and through this they recognized his incarnation, which was concealed from them. And the witness of the three was sealed by the Father’s voice and by Moses and Elijah, who stood by him like servants, and they looked to one another: the Prophets to the Apostles and the Apostles to the Prophets. There the authors of the old covenant saw the authors of the new. Holy Moses saw Simon the sanctified; the steward of the Father saw the administrator of the Son. The former divided the sea for the people to walk in the middle of the waves; the latter raised a tent for the building of the Church. The virgin of the old covenant saw the virgin of the new: Elijah and John; the one who mounted on the chariot of fire and the one who leaned on the breast of the flame. And the mountain became a type of the Church, and on it Jesus united the two covenants, which the Church received, and made known to us that he is the giver of the two. The one received his mysteries; the other revealed the glory of his works."

Ephrem the Syrian, On the Transfiguration 8-9

Full sermon here.