"On My Birthday"

“On My Birthday”

September 9, 2018

On my birthday the Gospel tells us that Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a distance of about 35 miles from Capernaum, on foot, on rocky, dusty foot! There in a foreign land, a Gentile woman, a Syrophoenician woman to be exact, begged Jesus to cure her little girl of mental illness. Jesus said to her; “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” It is as if Jesus were referring to the woman as a dog. 

That doesn’t sound like Jesus, does it? Mind you, at that time Gentiles were considered “outsiders”. A Syrophoenician woman; is such a one as this even to be considered worthy of human dignity? 

The disciples considered themselves “insiders”. To this day, in the Middle East, it is not unusual for one group to refer to another as “dogs”. There is in human nature a tendency to use pajoratives and epithets when referring to “the other”. Jesus plays into the prejudice. But then woman addresses Jesus as her “Lord” and dares to speak up; “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

All eyes on Jesus now; how will he handle the affrontery? Jesus called her “daughter” and declared her daughter’s demon gone. She is healed. And the disciples are left astonished and astounded. 

To drive home the point about “insiders and outsiders” Jesus leads them back from Tyre and Sidon on the Mediterranean shore, across the Sea of Galilee into modern day Jordan to the Decapolis, another arduous 45-50 miles journey. Then he heals another foreigner; he makes the deaf to hear, and tells the folks; “For God sakes, don’t go telling anybody about what I’m up to.” Obviously, they’ll arrest and execute someone who does such things!

I’ve always been fascinated by Jesus. He’s always doing something that flies in the face of preconceived notion. He surprises us by the way he reaches out fearlessly to all kinds of people. 

This, I think is why I love Jesus, becuase I too am one he would give his life for. 

And so forgive me as I pause this day to thank God for my birthday; It is my 73rd “year to heaven” as the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas once put it. Today! 

Thank You! 

Friday at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, I had breakfast with the the “ancient and honorable bunch of old buzzards”, (which is how I refer to my buddies). Last night my son and his friend took Cindy and me to Tavolo’s in Dorchester. And today we’re heading off to a gathering of family and friends in New Hampshire. A Trinity of Gratitude, these three days. 

Life: I thank God for the gift of life, knowing as I do how precious and precarious that gift is. There is so much to be grateful for.

Family: Cindy and the boys, my brothers and their wives and families; my mom and dad, God rest their souls, and all our ancestors. Above all I must offer a prayer of gratitude for my grandmother, “Ma” who gave me the gift of faith and imbued within me a love of God’s Story, as it is told time and again year after year, in  the Sacred Scripture. 

Education: I was the first in the family to go on to college and then to seminary. I have been given the privilege and love of learning, which I treasure not only in parchment; a BA and an MDiv,  I treasure learning for learning sake all my life long.

Vocation: A career of service and caregiving within the church, a life given to advocacy for the poor and the outcast. This is what the scripture requires and which I find inescapable as I ply my trade as a priest. I find it of interest that on my birthday the readings for this Sunday focus with vivid clarity on God’s bias for the poor. 

Country and politics: Having grown up in Massachusetts how could I but love politics! Mind you I have deep convictions as most of you do. Unfortunately, perhaps even tragically, so much of what we hold dear by way of conviction is conflicted in the body politic. How we navigate these dangerous days, will require of us all some kind of mutual accommodation. Our civic life will test the full measure of devotion to the Republic; will we tolerate with forbearance those who are diametrically opposed to us?

I love the arts. Music, drama, poetry, literature, architecture, painting, photography and culture of all sorts. I’m so glad to be back home in Boston, where culture is so much a part of our civic life.

Sports: Especially baseball and hockey. I saw Ted Williams hit his last home run. I was there the night Bobby Orr scored that famous goal. Red Aurbach, Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Larry Bird: all household names. And then in recent years, by the measure of my riper age, the New England Patriots have become yet another cause of cardiac palpitation!

Driving: I learned in Toronto, and sharpened my skills as a New York City cab driver, and perfected them here in the land of creative driving.  The American Automobile Association has identified Massachusetts as the state with the worst drivers in the country. Nuts to them! Driving around here is admittedly an acquired skill, but there is nothing like it in all America. You’ll have to go to Italy or India to outdo us. 

Life! Life my friends is such a wonderful gift. Such a dazzling multi-faceted rainbow of gifts. A zest for living which God has sewn into our lives, is a wonder beyond any one human being’s telling. 

But wait a minute: some years back, I attended a retreat led by a Nun of the Episcopal Church. She was, as nuns often are, wise to the ways of the world and to the ways of God. 

She asked us first to list the 10 most important things in life. She gave us an hour to think about it. I made my list: 

1. Cindy
2. David
3. Joshua and now Lizzie too
4. Michael
5. Family and Friends
6. My vocation
7. My education
8. Funny, I didn’t list politics, but I did list the arts, especially music.
9. Life of course, the gift of life itself
10. And finally, it occurred to me, almost by way of afterthought, I’d better get God in there someplace, and to round it out, let’s call God “The Holy Trinity.”

Then Sister said; “Suppose it is the last ten days of your life and you have to give up one gift each day until you have the one last gift to give back. 

You can imagine how excruciatingly instructive such an exercise was; selecting from the list as I prepared it. She counted off the days. I made my choices. As the days dwindled down, tears welled up within me. 

Until at last, I gave up God, my creator, my savior, my sanctifier. Then a remarkable thing happened. As I gave up God I discovered that God would not and could not give up on me. 

Instead given the choices, I made at that retreat, and given the choices you and I make throughout our lives, whatever we have to “give up” as our days increase, God will never “give up” on us but instead will more and more receive us unto the nearer presence of God the Creator, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 

I learned that day, that the Good News of Jesus Christ is far more precious than any other gift we have in life. Thanks be to God!

And that, dear friends is my gift to you “On my Birthday” 

In the Name of God; the Most Holy, Undivided, and Everlasting Trinity. Amen. 

Fr Paul

The Eucharistic Lifestyle

Thanks-doing!

It is an exciting day! Your new Priest in Charge, Brian Raiche officially begins his ministry with you today and assumes the responsibilities and privileges that come with the office. Congratulations to you. It is a day worth celebrating. It is a whole new beginning!

As for me, the time has come to conclude my work with you and retire for the sixth time. 

Before I take my leave from this church, however, there is one last thing I would like to share with you. It is a lesson I struggle to remind myself of every single day of my life. It is a lesson the disciples had difficulty learning from the outset. We, the the followers of Jesus, often begin with our anxiety over one thing or another, how little we have and lets face it, we complain. Its too hot. Its too cold. There isn’t enough money. Work is getting to us. Somebody is driving us to distraction. And on and on it goes. 

On the other hand, Jesus begins with giving thanks and distributing what little there is, until all have their fill and then, when we collect the left overs there are 12 more baskets full, interestingly enough, one for each of the disciples. An ample amount to fill the needs of all. We called it a miracle then. But when we give thanks, miracles do happen. This is how Jesus satisfied the hunger of the 5,000. Days later there were 4,000 and the same anxiety attack strikes. Again they say we don’t have enough. Jesus upbraids them; do you still not get it? Give thanks for what you have, share it, and there will be more than enough for all and more besides.

There is a lesson in all this if we wish to live a Eucharistic life. And learn it we may, and remember it we must day after day if we wish to live the Joy of Jesus. My default position tends toward anxious fear over whether there will be enough. But Jesus always begins by giving thanks, breaking bread, and distributing what there is among all that are gathered. And there is always enough.

This lesson is at the heart of our humanity. At the birth of the savior the angels greet Mary and the Shepherds with the reassuring words “Fear not!”. Jesus says the same thing and repeats it time and again at his resurrection; “Fear not!”. In life as in death it is the same thing! And yet we retreat time and again back into our fears as if that were our default setting.

We are called to be the Easter People! Let me encourage you to remember that our Baptism calls us to give thanks with Jesus. This is our new default setting: to give thanks in all things and for all things. To do Eucharist is to do thanksgiving. This is at the heart of our very worship and spirituality. What is it we say?

“Lift up your hearts

"Let us give thanks to the Lord our God

"It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.”

Alas, will we continue to be anxious and fretful over our household budgets? Of course! Will your vestry fuss over property and money matters. Most assuredly so. We’re likely to forget everything Jesus is trying to tell us.

But try to remember, it is not I who am encouraging you to begin with gratitude. It is Jesus who sets the example. It is the biblical narrative that sets the tone for gratitude throughout.

In today’s first lesson Isaiah reminds us of God’s abundant love;

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;”

Imagine! We have been consecrated to God’s service. There’s a reason for profound gratitude not only as servants of God in our every day lives, but as the folk the Church of the Good Shepherd.

Likewise the Psalmist exults in today’s appointed psalm;

“5 For you are my hope, O Lord God, *

my confidence since I was young.

6 I have been sustained by you ever since I was born;

from my mother's womb you have been my strength; *

my praise shall be always of you.”

And talk of exultation, listen to these soaring words from the Letter to the Hebrews which we heard read to us just moments ago;

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven”

How can one’s heart be anything other than grateful to know the grace given unto us in our Baptism and in our Eucharistic fellowship?

The Gospel proclamation today tells us of a woman who had been crippled for 18 years. She stood up straight and of course she praised God. How could she not? The leader of the congregation, however fussed about healing on the sabbath day, when Jesus rather directly confronted him with theses words; 

“Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.”

Notice the joy, the praise and the rejoicing in all these encounters with the living God.

This is our invitation. When we are afraid or anxious over one thing or another, especially over the issue over whether there will be enough to go around, remember that Jesus tells us to begin with giving thanks, breaking bread, and sharing of whatever we have. Then, what seems like so little to us becomes an abundance for everyone.

Having said all this, I wonder how Cindy and I will make ends meet in the weeks and the months ahead. The extra income is nice. But having said that I am called to remember what I am telling you; anxiety over what little we have does not lead to sufficiency or abundance. Rather it is gratitude for what we do have and learning how to share that gratitude with others that leads to joy!

From the earliest days of my ministry and our marriage, we have given to God in proportion to what God has given us. The biblical tithe is 10%. That is a lot of money. But what about 5%. That’s still a lot of money, but since the beginning, we know that as we share in proportion to what we have been given, more always comes back to us by some miraculous calculus in God’s economy. As we cast our bread upon the waters we never cease to be amazed, perfectly amazed at how the gracious goodness of the Living God becomes an abundant source that provides not only enough of what we need, but also an abundant source beyond what we could possibly have imagined.

Which brings us up to this day. As you prepare for your pilgrimage together, please know that not all your days will be easy. I am reminded of the time when things were going rather badly for Moses. It was in Numbers, Chapter 11

“Now when the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes…the Israelites also wept again, and said, ‘If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’ (Never mind the brilliant series of miracles that brought the people out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in the wilderness, and the miracle of manna itself, which appeared each morning providing sufficiency for their hunger.) “Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents…So Moses said to the Lord, ‘Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favour in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, “Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child”, to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, “Give us meat to eat!” I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favour in your sight.”

Bad case of clergy burnout there! So how did God handle this faith crisis? He spoke into the heart of Moses and said;

‘Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you. I will come down and talk with you there; and I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself.  ~Numbers 11

A good example of community organizing there! As you become more and more of a congregation together, remember, this work is not the burden of the priest, the wardens and the vestry alone. This work is everyone’s work. 

God has consecrated all of you to this service.

Give thanks therefore in all things and miracles will happen for you right here at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Reading.

In the Name of God, the Most Holy, Undivided, and Everlasting Trinity. Amen.

Fr Paul

One of the "Thin Places"

A Mountaintop Wedding

It happened on a mountain top in West Virginia. There was a pretty bride and a handsome groom and there was the dog, "Macie", bedecked with a specially made collar and leash. There was laughter and a few tears. It was cold on the mountain top in October, just yesterday. But we warmed ourselves with jackets, blankets, good humor and gracious affection. We were all friends and family. And of course, my wife and I were there too. A priest and his bride.

We decked out the altar as for a wedding. It was beautiful. There was a special hand made chalice and paten. The flowers gave a special accent to our joy.

Then came the procession, the traditional words of greeting; "Dearly beloved, we are gathered together, here in the sight of God, etc." The Declaration of Consent, presentation, and collect were followed by the readings and the Gospel. The priest gave a greeting, and an inner warmth filled us to the brim.

At the Eucharist, there came a moment when I elevated the chalice to heaven. I said the sacred words; "And when he had given thanks to you", I looked up to heaven and it was as if we were transported in an instant to eternity. White and darkened wisps of layered clouds whisked by in the wind, and there behind them there broke a sky as blue as azure. 

Time stood still for an instant. It seemed to take my breath away, but I continued on as I have for every Eucharist I've said a thousand times before. But this time there was something different. Folks said that as they looked behind me, the sun broke through the clouds just then, and the sight transfixed us all.

The moment came and then the moment went by. 

It was on the mountain top.

It was in West Virginia among some of the best of friends. I searched for a way to describe the feeling when it then came to me. 

This is what the Old Celts called "A Thin Place". It is where you may come to touch the Presence, or more correctly, where the Presence will come to touch you.

We rejoiced. We made our way back to our cars but as we did, gratitude filled our hearts to the brim. 

My heart sang an old Irish hymn; "And O what transport of delight, from Thy pure chalice floweth".

And so it was. 

And so too may you be filled with all the fullness of God.

Fr. Paul