St. Mary's Episcopal Church

Something happens to me each fall on the day of the first real snowfall. I’m not talking about those spits and sputters with icy pellets that mix with rain. I mean the first time you look out and see the soft, light flakes falling from the autumn sky, dark clouds mixed with brief moments of sunlight. When it’s cold enough to prick the lungs when you inhale and clouds escape your mouth and nose when you breathe out.

I was once told that this time is a magical time for people like me – the abstract random thinkers. Personality profiles tell me that I’m one of those individuals who does not think of things in an orderly fashion, nor do I experience things concrete terms. I am a “compassionate dreamer,” one who feels more than thinks, who perceives more than judges. At a teaching conference, we were grouped according to our personality types, and as we sat chatting about the idiosyncrasies we abstract random/INFP’s exhibit, someone in the group mentioned that when the snow first falls, they love to make a cup of hot cocoa, put on winter seasonal music, and sit in the window and watch the falling puffs of white. We all chimed in that we like to do the same. And then our eyes filled with tears – not from sadness but from recognition that the first snow fall has always been magical to us.

As a boy, I used to love this time of year. Living in Johnsonburg, along Powers Run which paralleled the highway to St. Mary’s, PA, and being so close to the forest that which was just a leap away, the passing of seasons was not something we merely observed. They were experienced in all the senses: the sound of crunching leaves under our feet as we walked the path next to the stream; the sound of wind as it whistled through the leafless branches in the trees; the smell of burning barrels from gleaned gardens and raked yards. It all is a sign of time moving forward and the cycle of the year dropping down into a kind of quiet pall.

For me, it’s the sign that the summer is truly gone. The hot days and warm nights, the leisurely afternoons are all stepping aside. The leaves have mostly fallen, and the grass has stopped growing. There is a gentle surrender as the world puts itself to bed for a while. The sun does rise so high in the sky, and as it sets, it casts a golden light on each building and tree as it slowly disappears beyond the horizon.

God has made some of us very sensitive to these milestones during each year’s journey. We see things in constant motion, constant flux. We don’t fear the winter chill or the long nights. We embrace and respect them. And we see them as a reminder that there can be no rebirth without decay; there can be no resurrection without death. The days grow gradually colder. The snow falls gently, at first, on the soft ground. The nights grow steadily longer. And in the midst of this gradual passing we also recall in our random and abstract imaginations, that it won’t be long before the crocuses and daffodils will be pushing up through the soil to put winter to bed and hail the coming spring.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Shawn

PENTECOST 2011 - Part Two

In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. Luke 10:27

I was strangely attentive to the news on September 21. Somehow, the media outlets captured my attention with the story of Troy Davis’ appeal and execution. I have long been an abolitionist regarding the death penalty, and this man’s story took hold of my heart and mind. I couldn't believe that the legal institutions continued to pronounce his guilt as he maintained his innocence right up to his final moments.

While I certainly empathize with all of those who have lost family and friends at the hands of violent criminals, I do not advocate state employment of capital punishment. But as always, I do not assume that I am right in my stance on the issue, and in typical Anglican fashion, I test my disposition by looking at scripture, tradition, and reason.

The teachings of Jesus to his disciples regarding how to treat others are unambiguous. The scripture passages above are only two of the examples of the many statements Jesus made on how we are to act as community. We are called to treat others as we would want to be treated. We are invited to respect the dignity of all human persons. We are to respect the sanctity of all human life.

As Episcopalians we have a history of church teachings on the subject of capital punishment/the death penalty. Since 1958 The Episcopal Church has opposed capital punishment on the theological basis the life of each individual is that we all have infinite worth in God’s sight, and that only the Almighty has the divine providence to take any life. This opposition to the taking of any life by any human person was reaffirmed by several conventions since that time.

Even recently Bishop John Bryson Chane of Washington DC (and former assisting clergy at the Cathedral of St. Paul) articulated that the Maryland legislature should abolish the application of the death penalty in that state because it was “unjust and ineffective” and opposed its application because Jesus himself “forbade violence as a means to solve problems caused by evil.” He also pointed out that it is a sad reality that capital punishment unfairly targets the economically challenged, and that the death penalty has never been shown to deter commission of violent crime.

Our desire for vengeance is a human. But like most of our appetites, vengeance only leads to someone else feeling justified in wishing vengeance upon those who took the life of their loved one. In the midst of the emotions and appeals last month, I was stunned and inspired by Troy Davis’ final wishes and prayer: “I ask my family and friends that you all continue to pray, that you all continue to forgive. Continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on all of your souls. God bless you all.”

Mr. Davis’ words are reminiscent of another individual’s last moments in life, which were not filled with a cry for vengeance but rather an end to the mechanism of institutionalized killing.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."- Matthew 28:19-20 (NRSV)

There was a time, as one parishioner pointed out earlier this month, when our season of Pentecost was called the season of Trinity. While we preserve Holy Trinity Sunday in our Lectionary, initiating the second Sunday of Pentecost, we necessarily employ the Trinity as a guide for our season. Yet, we should. The Trinity captures the mystery of God’s nature: Three Persons in one Unity; Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier; Lover, Beloved and Unconditional Love shared not only between by transcending into all creation.

This mystery is ultimately how we frame our understanding of our own salvation. We are called into relationship with out Creator, recognizing our total dependence upon God for all life, all grace, all gifts that we share. And in spite of our human tendencies toward self-centeredness, God our Creator is made manifest to us in Jesus Christ, he who redeems us from our brokenness in becoming incarnate and affirming the intimate relationship between God and humankind. And after Jesus’ mission and life, passion, death, resurrection and ascension, God promises that we will not be left alone, but will have God the Holy Spirit, our inspiration, our solace, our guide to help us to continue the divine mission.

Trinity and Pentecost are essentially linked, not just in theology, but in ecclesiology, as we, the Church, continue the mission of reconciling all creation to God and to one another. Henri J. M. Nouwen said, “Without Pentecost the Christ-event…remains imprisoned in history as something to remember, think about, reflect on. The Spirit of Jesus comes to dwell within us, so that we can become living Christs here and now.”

Our color for the season of Pentecost is green – a color of life and growth. May we embrace this season as one for the growth of the mission of the Church and the sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our world.

Peace in Christ,
Shawn+

EASTER 2011

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Shawn

HOLY WEEK 2011

During the past several weeks, I have had the pleasure to walk with members of our congregation as they have prepared to either formally affirm their mature faith in confirmation or be welcomed into full membership in The Episcopal Church (USA). I have listened to their questions, loved their answers, embraced their doubts and shared their hopes. Each one of them has a very different story, and they are all blessed with distinctive gifts of Spirit and faith. They have all been touched by the Word of God and by our manner of worship. And all have responded to God's call and accept their responsibilities to share in God's work.

These new and renewed members of the Christian Church are at the heart of the traditions of our Lenten and Easter seasons, a time of preparation and covenant through which we all share as members of the body of Christ in His work in the world. We, as a congregation and faith community, have made these young and not-so-young people welcome at St. Mary's, have inspired them to growth in their own faith, and have come to look forward to how they will help guide our small faith community as we continue to share the Gospel in east Erie County.

While we celebrate their formation and acceptance of God's invitation, we are also bolstered in our own faith, knowing that by word and example we have lived into our own Baptismal Covenant. We have shared the faith and practice of our denomination, we have share how we have been blessed and redeemed by Christ, we have shared our own struggle to see Christ's face in the face of everyone we meet. We are humbled that our children and our friends wish to join us in our faith journey at the Mission of St. Mary's in Lawrence Park.

How wonderful to fully embrace this seasonal tradition that has been a part of the Church for two millennia. This is our season of growth, of strenghthening, of evangelizing. Let us give thanks to God for Jesus Christ, who loved us so that He shared His Body and Blood that we might be redeemed from hatred, intolerance and fear, and brought us to new life in the Spirit and eternal life with God. Let us hold up our confirmands and newly received members, Beau, Denny, Jason, Josh, Linda, Matt, Morgan, Neal, and Samantha, in prayer.

May God continue to work in them and in us to make manifest His glory in the world!

EPIPHANY II 2011 - BE PERFECT

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Matthew 5:48

Perfect: conforming absolutely to the description or definition of an ideal type (from dictionary.com)

Sometimes the notion of obtaining perfection is frighteningly daunting. Think of perfection. Think of being perfect. Are you getting that funny feeling in your stomach? We we think of being perfect, we often set our sights on what we think is the perfect model: am I the perfect parent? The perfect child? The perfect employee? The perfect boss? The perfect student? The perfect guide? The perfect priest? The perfect parishioner? In short - am I a perfect person? To measure our perfection, we have to find a standard by which we can measure ourselves, and often we look more at the ways that we are perfect, and not always at those ways where we do not measure up (unless we're in our teenage years, when the whole world is upside-down).

During the first half of the nineteenth century in Oxford, England, a group of young theologians were wrestling with many conflicting ideas of what was perfection in Church of England. There were strong Evangelicals who were proponents of the emotional experience of religion in opposition to passionate intellectuals who were proponents of High Church principles of a traditional approach to faith. Many tried to unite the two sides, affirming that the Church was a Via Media, a "middle way" that espoused the principle of "both/and" rather than an "either/or." (Glad to see so much has changed over time...!)

Until he joined the Church of Rome in 1845, John Henry Newman, an Anglican cleric and one-time vicar of St. Mary's in Oxford, was one of those young clerics, both a leading theologian and a powerful preacher. His own wish was to affirm both the personal connection to Christian spirituality and the powerful efficacy and transformative power of traditional liturgy. For Fr. Newman, perfection was truly attainable by each person. "Be you content with nothing short of perfection."

But what was the measure by which perfection was to be tested? Certainly we cannot be perfect in the same way that God is perfect. God is perfect God; God is pefect love, abundant in forgiveness and grace. We as human persons are perfect, but perfect in our brokenness, in our incompleteness, in our predilection to judge one another, distrust one another, and denigrate one another. We might say that we are perfect...perfectly AWFUL!

Still, saying we are awful and not doing anything about it is a copout. It is just an excuse for not trying. We are more likely not even to try to attain perfection so as not to risk failure. I can't do it on my own, and to ask for help is an admission of my own weakness. And to turn to God for help, well, we are even to arrogant to admit that we cannot achieve perfection without His un earned grace. Still, try we must, for as Fr. Newman put it, "...exert yourselves day by day to grow in knowledge and grace; that, if so be, you may at length attain the presence of Almighty God."

We must try to reach perfection, but not measure it by our own imperfect rule. We measure ourselves by God's measure, who calls us to strive to be perfect in loving Him, and in loving one another as He has loved us.

Love one another with mutual affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Romans 12:10

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Shawn

[John Henry Newman quotes are from his Parochial and Plain Sermons, edited and featured in Love's Redeeming Work: The Anglican Quest for Holiness (Oxford University Press).]

EPIPHANY 2010 - GLORIOUS HUMILITY

We've packed up Christmas, and we've put it back in storage in the basement. Alas and alack! I know I'm a bit of a geek about Christmas, but I must confess that my theology is grounded in the Incarnation, and for me, the Feast of the Incarnation is paramount to my faith.

But I do love Epiphany, too (heck, if you get right down to it, I love each liturgical season for the gifts and inspiration each offer!). Epiphany is the season of discovery, revelation, recognition, and realization. Throughout the season - and this winter's Epiphany is about as long as the season can get - we share signs and revelations of Jesus' divinity and godliness, along with his truly human and worldly self. There is glory in his miracles and signs, there is power in his preaching and his healing. But there is also humility in his humble servant hood, his example of walking, eating, and communing with the marginalized and the ignored.

Glory AND humility, divine AND human, exalted AND humbled, God AND Man - opposites, held in relation to one another as God's desire to hold God's self close to creation. It is enigmatic - mysterious - that, as Henri Nouwen put it, "It is hard to believe that God would reveal his diving presence to us in the self-emptying, humble way of the man from Nazareth." (THE ROAD TO DAYBREAK) It is hypocritical for those of us as faith communities and institutions to seek power, control, and popularity, when Christ's example was in embracing the powerless, the voiceless, and the littleness of the world.

Epiphany is a season of abundance and blessing, but it is also the season of quiet healing, still faith, and awe in the gift of Christ. May we continue our liturgical year, in sincere celebration of the gifts of the season, celebrating the Incarnate mystery of God mad Man, and the revelation of that truth by recalling and retelling the miraculous works and inspiring teachings of Jesus.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Shawn

CHRISTMAS 2010 - EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

I bought it with a great deal of reluctance, and even extreme doubt that it would end a love affair. While I loved the performer, and I certainly loved the material, I feared that somehow the combination of the two would leave me disappointed and even a bit jaded. She has always been a singer grounded in a true connection to the world in which she lived and the people who strove to live in it. The songs are some of the most well known songs, sung by people all over the world, in celebration of a singularity that forever changed men and women of faith's relationship with their creator.

Annie Lennox and Christmas Carols...it could have been a disaster, but instead it is an incarnation, an epiphany, a revelation of the power of music to reveal faith and celebration. So many of my own favorite seasonal songs, sung in our own Christmas Eve service - "The Holly and the Ivy," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "In the Bleak Midwinter," and "Silent Night" - illumined with a new voice, with her own polemical pop style, given a new importance, a new insistence that we hear the songs as if they were being sung for the first time.

If you know Annie Lennox's work, you know how it can both entertain and enjoin the listener to both appreciate and respond in very powerful and profound ways. A great artist is not one that is simply always pleasant and popular. Most performing artists who move beyond the entertainment industry want to make a mark, make a stir, and make a difference.

This is what God was doing in the history of our salvation. At one moment in time in the history of our human existence, when for many there was no hope for freedom, no hope for forgiveness, no hope for anything, God ripped through the firmament separating heaven and earth, bridging a gap that humankind in its arrogance and ignorance had created. God made a mark, made a stir, and made a difference in the hearts, minds and souls of all who recognized that from the moment of our Savior's birth, nothing in the universe would ever be the same.

When we celebrate the Feast of the Incarnation during our Christmas season, we will lovingly embrace old traditions, repeat old patterns, share in time honored ways, and yet we are always invited to keep in mind that no matter how many times we repeat the choruses and refrains of our Christmas rituals, it's not difficult to feel that same way we did the first time we gazed at a tree brought into the house as a sign of promise, the candles lit that were signs of light in our dark days, of the nativity which is the sign of the birth of Jesus and the birth of our salvation. And somehow it feels new, again and again. Like singing old carols in a new way, like shaking one another's hands and wishing peace in a new way, like celebrating the Holy Eucharist and making what happened two thousand years ago new, brand new in this present moment.

I love Annie Lennox - I'm a child of the 80's! But I've fallen in love all over again because of the way she has breathed life into songs I thought I knew. And I love her for what she has reminded me about the whole point of the Christmas season...everything old IS new again!

Happy Christmas!

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Shawn

“Nor need we power or splendour, wide hall or lordly dome; the good, the true, the tender, these form the wealth of home.” Sarah Josepha Hale

In the mid-nineteenth century, Sarah Josepha Hale, an editor of the Goody's Lady Book, a periodical for women, took it under her wing to be the advocate for a national day of thanksgiving, a holiday established by the federal government which advocated a celebration of the gifts we have been given and a recognition that these are gifts of grace which have been given to us in our Creator's providence and love of creation. She petitioned numerous presidents, and finally was able to convince President Abraham Lincoln that a national day of thanks was not only valuable but necessary.

Her argument came at a most unexpected moment in our nation's history - in the midst of the Civil War, September 1963, she presented the president with a unifying and uniting idea. Along with our responsibility of stewardship over earthly creation, humankind has been given the gifts of abundance, abundant live, abundant resources, abundant beauty. These gifts themselves mandate our praise and thanksgiving to our God.

Go back to the first century of Palestine, which like our own land of the mid-nineteenth century, found itself in the midst of civil strife, community challenge, hunger and oppression. In the midst of that amazing time, our Creator sent a messenger to an unwed teenage girl, that she had been chosen and filled with grace to be the one to bear the Incarnate God into this world. She too, like Sarah Hale, became a messenger herself, proclaiming this great news - that our God who loved us and who cared for us wished us to know it so perfectly that the chasm between Creator and creation would be spanned, that God would become human, and that she, Mary, would be the God-Bearer. Her words, sung out in joy in the gospel of Luke, celebrate the grace of our God.

"My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

As we begin our Advent journey, a time of preparation for the Incarnation of our God, let us, like Mary, give thanks for God's grace, God's abundance, and God's love of creation. By offering our thanks and praise to God, we do indeed make room for him to enter into our homes, our lives, our selves.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Shawn

"Every child should have a caring adult in their lives. And that's not always a biological parent or family member. It may be a friend or neighbor. Often times it is a teacher." - Joe Manchin

Sometimes I am more than a little proud of my primary profession as an educator. I love teaching. I can remember the first time I was in front of a classroom. I was teaching adjunct at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. The course was Introduction to Public Speaking, a night course, and most of the class was older than me. Still, the moment that a student understands a concept and applies that understanding in a practical way, the moment you see "the light bulb" illuminate above their head, there is such a feeling of accomplishment. You know that you made a difference in their lives.

Making a difference and being good neighbors is an important part of our faith as well. When asked, "Who is my neighbor?", Christ's response was unequivocal - everyone is our neighbor. In Lawrence Park, our neighbors have very special needs. Statistical data shows that there are more single parents, especially single mothers, in our zip code than anywhere else in Erie County. Our desire is always to reach out to neighbors and try to meet their special needs. While it's often difficult for congregations of our size to make a significant impact, we do have a resource that can be shared - our facility. We can certainly make a difference in the lives of others by reaching out in some ways to these parents who have to work very hard to raise their children.

With the exception of the community meals program, our building is empty Sunday's after Holy Eucharist through Saturday morning when I start the weekend with Morning Prayer. This July, I was approached by the YMCA to ask if we would be one of the sites where they might conduct their pre-school, before/after school program for children with parents who work, work early (before school hours), or work late (after school hours). The program, with it's fully qualified and certified teachers and staff, has been successful in other churches, including St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Waterford, PA. Fr. Norm Field sings the praises of the relationship. Our use agreement with the YMCA is modeled on that agreement and is being reviewed by both the bishop and the diocesan chancellor.

In the coming weeks and months, we will be entering into this agreement with those who are having a positive impact on our neighbors - providing care and guidance for children of parents who have to work hard and long hours, providing a safe place for young people to come to enhance their learning, providing direction and opportunity to care-givers and cared-for alike. Our bishop has asked us not to be "absent landlords" in this new ministry, but to uncover new and exciting ways by which we as a faith community can also have an impact on these young people and their families.

We are called to be good neighbors. We are called to share the gifts and resources that God has given us to benefit others. I am certain that the congregation of St. Mary's will rise to this ministerial challenge that God has set before us.

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Shawn

PENTECOST II 2010

Our liturgical color during the season following Pentecost is green, symbolizing growth. For us at St. Mary's, we have seen some growth in our Sunday attendance, we've seen revitalized growth in our continued ministry to our children, youth, and young adults - thanks to the much appreciated efforts of Bill McLean and Heather Nemenz. We've seen growth in our worship and a renewed sense of what it means to gather together as a family.

An area into which we have been asking ourselves to grow on the bishop's committee is in the area of evangelism - how are we sharing the Good News? I'm sure you've heard the common theme of challenge during the sermons - Christian is not a state of being, but an action verb. It is taking our hearts, minds, resources, and energies, and doing good work in our neighborhoods and in our community, It is showing others that the gift of Jesus Christ in our own lives has transformed us, reshaped us, and invited us to reach out to others in love, in care, in forgiveness.

I know that it is not in our nature in the mainline Catholic traditions to boldly proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. We are much more likely to sit back, not rock the boat, not put someone off. We don't readily share our own stories of how God became an essential part of our lives. Part of it is that we are shy, and part of it is that we'll be perceived or labeled for our faith.

But we have all been commissioned as disciples of Christ - in our baptism, we descended with Christ into the waters, and came out a new creation. We are saved, forgiven, and charged to share our Good News with others. And even the shy can do that, and even the least open environment can welcome our good works in His name. Helping a neighbor, who has been gruff or rude, in spite of their own demeanor, can confound the most cantankerous soul. Saying "Hi!" to the person who most offends or embarrasses you in the grocery store or restaurant can surprise and even challenge them to wonder, "Why?"

Our answer is first in our own hearts - Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, has had mercy on me. In return, I am following His example, and I extend love and mercy to others. The greatest criticism of Christianity is that we are often caught in our hypocrisy - we preach love yet we advocate animosity; we preach forgiveness yet we openly condemn; we preach reconciliation yet we build walls. If we are to share the Gospel, we have to accept what Jesus has proclaimed for us and then live our lives as we truly believe it.

Evangelism is that simple. The not-so-old folk song that many of us sang in church and camp tells it directly and clearly: "They will know we are Christians by our love."

Fr. Shawn
Vicar, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

PENTECOST I 2010

Jesus was a Jew. Sometimes this can be a shock to many Christians. There is a story about a dear friend who was completely bowled over by this fact - "What do you mean Jesus was a Jew? He was Roman Catholic, wasn't he?" No...Nor was he an Anglican/Episcopalian, though I must admit that in my theocentrism, I would imagine that if Jesus were around today, he would feel very comfortable at St. Mary's Lawrence Park! At least, I would hope that he would be happy with what we're doing.

Jesus and his disciples (who were also Jewish, by the way) celebrated Shavu'ot fifty days after Passover. This celebration, also known as the Festival of Weeks, was a celebration of gifts. Agriculturally, the celebration marked the harvesting of the first fruits and the bringing of them to the Temple. Historically, it also marked the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. On Sunday, May 16, my wife and I were blessed to join with members of the Brith Sholom Congregation and friends from the Erie community to celebrate another gift - the gift of devotion, teaching, and inspiration from Rabbi Leonard Lifshen, who celebrated forty years of rabbinical ministry. We were reminded of the importance of the celebration of Shavu'ot, and the invitation to also share our own gifts to help better our stewardship of God's creation.

In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is the celebration of the gift of the Holy Spirit, one of the first fruits of Christ. Just as the Torah is God's inspiration to live in right relationship with one another and with God, so does the Holy Spirit inspire us to reconcile ourselves with one another and with God. The Spirit inspires, challenges, and facilitates those relationships, and invites us to use the gifts of the Spirit to better our world.

The Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways - leading us, guiding us, helping us. During these first few weeks of the season of Pentecost, may we each find our own ministries empowered by the Spirit. May we each have the strength to respond to the needs of those entrusted to us, as Rabbi Len continues to respond to those entrusted to his care. May we each be thankful for the many promises and invitation to salvation of God, fulfilled in Christ, and extended through us to all.

Fr. Shawn
Vicar, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

EASTER 2010

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Call me crazy – but I buy it – hook, line, and sinker! I know that it is popular to test our faith with enormous scrutiny, and while Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins and others are trying desperately to cast doubt on all religion (or at least religious institutions), I am happy to remain in the category of what they might call “voluntarily ignorant.”

But is it really ignorant to voluntarily embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ? To affirm my belief that Jesus of Nazareth died, was buried, and then when his friends went to the tomb, they found it empty? That our Messiah rose from the dead, as he told his followers that he would? That Jesus Christ appeared to his disciples in the days and weeks that followed? Is it ignorant to affirm that in Christ death no longer has power over us? That God’s ultimate act of salvation is made complete? For me, it seems harder NOT to believe. As C. S. Lewis pointed out, we do not hunger and thirst for anything unless our appetite can be satisfied, and all of us hunger, thirst, yearn for communion with our Creator. In our faith, in our Gospel, that appetite is satisfied, as Christ graces us with eternal life – eternally in the presence of our creator.

Do I know exactly what our own resurrected life will be like? I have NO CLUE! I can read the speculation and theologizing of the greatest minds in history – and I can even read the skepticism from our atheist and agnostic fellow sojourners. But each time I do, I feel sad. Sad that there can be such disbelief, such pessimism that our Creator wanted so dearly to bring us home that God visited us, incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth.

Call me crazy, but I believe! I believe in the Resurrection! I believe in our Salvation! I believe that Christ has Liberated me from sin and death and invited me to share in eternal life!

I believe!

Lent II 2010

Our lectionary has taken us on a provocative journey since the Transfiguration just a few weeks ago. As Jesus came down from the mountain, he turned his eyes toward Jerusalem, knowing that his actions and his words on his journey to this seat of power would confound and anger the Pharisees and scribes, the very authority in the Hebrew faith tradition, as well as liberate the oppressed, the marginalized, the disconnected who had long been relegated to sit outside the holy places. Each step he took, each parable he shared, broke down barriers of centuries of teachings in the faith, and opened up the promise of salvation and reconciliation to everyone.

Our own Lenten journey has also brought us on a path, with Jerusalem, Golgotha, the Tomb, and the Garden at its end. We have heard Jesus' teachings, we have ourselves been made free from oppression and prejudice, and we are reminded that we are welcome into the loving arms of our God. Recognition of our own missing the mark, our sinfulness, is a key component of our repentance. Our forgiveness of self precedes our forgiveness of others, but both are reminders of God's own graceful forgiveness that is offered to us.

By the time Jesus reaches Jerusalem, upon his triumphant entry into the city, he has said enough, he has healed enough, he has taught enough. Words, while still profound, will speak, but not as loudly as his actions during the week of Passion leading to the cross. We will lament with him at Tenebrae; we will humble ourselves on Maundy Thursday; we will witness to his suffering on Good Friday. We will even descend with him to the Dead on Holy Saturday.

And at the Vigil on the Evening before Easter, at sunset, when the light seems to disappear from the sky, we will light our Paschal fires, remembering that even in death there is life and Light. We will have walked this journey, again this year, to remind us of the power of Light and Life over the darkness of doubt and death, and we will celebrate our redemption.

I invite all to be a part of our rich and traditional liturgies, to listen to the scriptures and teachings, to pray together as a community of believers, and to boldly proclaim our faith - Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.

Before his trial, Socrates challenged his students, saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” If you remember from your ancient Greek history, Socrates was charged for encouraging his class to question authority and think for themselves. Even Socrates himself was given an option – death or exile. But what kind of option is that? Leave your home one way or another. Socrates knew that to leave would make no difference – he strongly believed that abandoning his home would prevent him from observing and commenting on what was incomplete, disallowing any opportunity to improve on conditions. In the end, he refused exile, forcing the powers to impose a sentence of death.

While for most of us the Lenten discipline of self-examination is not a matter of life or death, it is a matter of giving this important season its proper place. The church year gives us the annual opportunity to approach our lives with discipline, to honestly evaluate how we are each doing personally in our relationship to God and to one another, and to take intentional steps to better enhance those relationships. Those who take the time to really invest in Lent and who do examine their lives, thinking about where we are in relation to our families, our neighbors, our colleagues, not to mention those whom we regard with enmity or disdain, are much more likely to make changes. It’s difficult to notice gaps in our lives if we are so used to patching up breaks and holes in our relationships.

Sadly, it’s just as easy to ignore gaps in our relationship to God. How often do we present our lives to God, as living members of the body of Christ, the Church? How often do we say thank you to God? How often do we neglect our Sunday worship, one hour out of the one hundred sixty-eight hours that make up a week, in which we hear God’s word, come together as a community, and celebrate God’s presence in the Holy Eucharist? How have we convinced ourselves that our lives are independent from God?

Lent is a time for returning to our spiritual path – a time for recommitting ourselves to following the teaching of Jesus Christ and emulating his example in our lives. It’s a time for reinvesting in our church family, St. Mary’s Lawrence Park, and for deepening our faith and commitment. It is a time for accepting God’s will and direction for us, and knowing God’s will for us, moving toward our personal and common goals of reconciling to God and to one another.

Let us pray for the strength and discipline that we each need to truly examine our lives. In the end, our honest reflection will not only make our own lives worth living but will also make worthwhile our common life in Christ Jesus.

Epiphany is a season of signs, symbols and metaphors. As such, it can confound some of our sister and brother Christians who are biblical literalists. Wizards from the east, descending doves, water into wine at a wedding feast, the poor and marginalized as agents of a new creation, calming of storms and calling of fishermen - all are challenging and empowering stories that give us insight into how we can understand just how different creation has become now that we stand in the Light of the Incarnation.

Epiphany comes from the Greek word that means "appearance" or "manifestation." Like our contemporary English word, in Greek, the meaning of appearance can be separate from essence. The adage, "Appearances can be deceiving" is one that cautions us not to believe everything we see. Or perhaps in a more positive twist, to not just see with our eyes, but with all of our faculties. We "see" with all of our senses, but we also perceive with our minds - our knowledge, our experience, and our intuition - all faculties that are gifts with which God empowers us to be discerning.

As we move through our Epiphany readings, we are invited to enjoy the stories of Jesus' ministry in the world, but we are also challenged to discern how these activities might be pointing us to action in the present. For example, the magicians that visit the child Jesus are more than just three wise men bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. It is also a lesson in how sometimes those closest to God in flesh and in the world are often the last to notice. We are cautioned not to look past those who are with us, in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our church, who are also manifesting God's saving grace in our own midst.

We are actively looking for signs, and we should be ready to be pleasantly surprised by how God is appearing to us. As we say in our own mission, Epiphany invites us to "come to know Christ in our own lives, and to give birth to him in the lives of others."

May God give us the light and enlightenment to live into our mission during this season of Epiphany.

Many Christians frown at the wish of “Happy Holidays!” For some, it is a denial of the centrality of Christmas as the most important holiday of the season. Some see it as an attempt to force secularization on faithful people. Some even see it (mistakenly) as an affront to the shared “faith of our fathers.”

But in truth, our nation is a much broader and pluralistic society, and as such, requires a certain amount of care on the part of all of us to affirm both our individual faiths and our shared cultural identity. Did you know, for example, that for several years the calendar of the Prophet, Mohammed, blessings be unto him, has had the holy month of Ramadan coinciding with this holy season? So while we have been partying, caroling and gifting (not to mention programming hours, even days, of seasonal entertainment on television networks and radio stations), our Muslim sisters and brothers have been diligently trying to keep to their own faith traditions. However, how many times have we seen on the cable news networks protests from this growing population even a slight rolling of the eyes, let alone overt complaints, that their faith has been assaulted or condemned by our season salutations, let alone populist secularism? Not once.

Yet many of our brothers and sisters in Christ have been in front of news cameras again this year, regularly demanding that the phrase “Merry Christmas” be an officially accepted term. “Christmas” is, at its purest and undeniable essence, “Christ’s Mass” or the celebration of the Holy Eucharist in recognition and affirmation of the church’s feast day, an anamnesis, or re-membering, of the church’s century old invocation of the incarnation. It means a shared celebration of God made human, Love come down, and the participation of that sharing in the Holy Communion. Don’t you wonder how many Christians demanding this phrase be made official are actually thinking about what it truly means? Many of the most vocal persons, who will not participate in that essential liturgical worship, the celebration of the mass, still demand that “Merry Christmas” be made an explicitly public phrase.

When we wish one another “Merry Christmas,” we are inviting one another into a very special and intimate faithful expression. We are saying first that we believe in God’s wish for our eternal salvation, that God wanted to show us his love and forgiveness in the flesh, and that flesh or Incarnation is brought into the very real presence in the bread and wine made Body and Blood in the blessed meal. For catholic Christians (Lutherans, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, and others) “Merry Christmas” is much more than a catch phrase of the season. It is not a political statement or a casual greeting. It is a very real, creedal pronouncement imbedded in at the very center of our prayer, faith and practice.

So let us celebrate this Christmastide, being mindful of the true meaning of Christmas as so beautifully stated in the first chapter of the Gospel of John:

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)