The Bible v Facebook

 The Bible v Facebook

When war broke out in the Ukraine this week, I wanted to pray but prayer alone seemed so inadequate. Then the Spirit moved within me and I heard the ancient cry of Scripture. The words of Psalm 2 came to my heart and I cried out with the millions more of faith throughout time and place;

“Why are the nations in an uproar; *
why do the peoples mutter empty threats?
Why do the Kings of the earth rise up to warfare

against God’s People?
The Holy One whose throne is in heaven holds them in derision.
And now, you Kings, be wise; *
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Submit to God with fear, *
and with trembling bow before the Most High,
Lest God be angry and you perish, * 

For your time on earth is short and you will give and account for all that you have done.” 

I printed these words to my Facebook page thinking that the ancient words would help to express something deep within us all. But something in what I wrote was problematic.

Within moments my account was restricted. Apparently the words of Scripture give offense to one of Facebook’s algorithmic bots. I was astonished to think that the prayer of God’s people of faith down through the ages was met with rejection from this particular ubiquitous electronic medium.

Like many of you, I have been struggling with Facebook’s place in our culture of late and how it has occupied an outsized role in our national and international life. In fact I think Facebook has been used quite effectively to divide Americans and Europeans by a very clever and devious mind. The resulting weakness in the West gives the upper hand to anybody who may wish to launch a military campaign in Eastern Europe. 

It didn’t take long for me to finally draw the line. If my Facebook account can be restricted for quoting Scripture, then it has come time to delete my account and to declare a Solemn Fast for myself from Social Media.

What happened as a result of that action was a series of conversations with family and friends. And this I believe is what humankind needs more urgently than ever; the sacrament of human conversation. Whatever our point of view, let us at least find a way to speak to one another about it as if we were all children of the same God.

In today’s Scripture passages we do more than speak with one another. Moses and Jesus find themselves speaking directly with God. Imagine being in the Presence of the Living God!

When Moses held high converse in the Presence of the Holy One his face would shine and the people were afraid to come near him. So Moses put a veil over his face, until he went back again up the Mountain where the sacred conversation continued. Then he would remove the veil in the Presence and his face would shine yet again. 

Pay attention when you pray, something like that radiance begins to shine in your own heart and soul as you approach the Holy. Think about that for a moment or two…

In today’s Gospel the sacred conversation reaches a whole new level well beyond human understanding. Here the Disciples are confronted with Moses who represents our deliverance out of slavery and God’s gift of the Law. Elijah likewise appears representing the Prophets and God’s love of Justice especially on behalf of the poor. 

Jesus is there too and I can imagine what that might have been like. I’d be dumbstruck. And so they were for a while but Peter couldn’t help himself. “Let’s make three dwellings; one for you one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 

“Peter what are you talking about?” 

“I don’t know.”

How can anyone know what to say in the Presence of such an awesome experience of the Living Christ and his Transfiguration? How can anyone know what to say in the Presence of the Law and the Prophets and the Love of God made Flesh and Blood in Jesus?

You think you have something to say about that? Best you hold your tongue, listen and look.

Jesus is Transfigured. Moses and Elijah fade into the background and Jesus emerges from one Glory to another. His raiment is brighter than any fuller’s soap on earth could make. 

Moses at the Burning Bush asked God; “What is your Name”. Listen up and God will tell you.

Moses was summoned up to the Mountain of God and had nothing to say because God laid down the Law. 

After all it is God who asks the questions and we who give the answers. We learn that lesson time and again throughout history. No King or Queen, no Pharaoh, no dictator, no autocrat, no president on earth is god. Only God is God.

But Peter thought that somehow we could make three dwelling places; one for the Law, one for the Prophets and one for Jesus. But there is no way to put God in a box. God’s Glory shines in and trough and above and beyond anything our minds can fathom. Perhaps it is best for us to keep a holy silence in the Presence of the Living God.

But the Good News is not that God is beyond human knowing as Jesus reveals it. In fact it is all so simple. When Jesus died and rose again, the Love of God also came to life within each of us. As Jesus forgave us, so we forgive. As Jesus reconciled us to God, so we reconcile each to the other on earth. As Jesus stretched out his loving arms on the hard wood of the cross everyone comes within the reach of his saving embrace.

Which brings me back to the case of the Bible v Facebook. 

"Why are the nations in an uproar? 

Why do the kings of the earth imagine a vain thing. 

Do they not know that God is God?

We read in Scripture; “the fool has said in his heart; there is no God.” ~Psalm 14:1. 

Perhaps some algorithmic bot would take offense at that too. 

It is a tragic mistake for any King on earth to think there is no God.

Which is why I pray the prayer of Scripture. 

Today we all pray for those who suffer in the midst of warfare. For men, women and children whose homeland is under attack, and for refugees who have no home to go to.

May our hearts open to them as God’s heart opens to all humankind. 

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

Fr Paul

 

Below are the appointed readings for Transfiguration Sunday with words and sentences highlighted that speak to my heart. 

Transfiguration Sunday

The Collect:

O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Exodus 34:29-35

Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he

had been talking with God. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them. Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil on his face; but whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would take the veil off, until he came out; and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, the Israelites would see the face of Moses, that the skin of his face was shining; and Moses would put the veil on his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Psalm 99

The Lord is King;

let the people tremble; *

he is enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth shake.

 

The Lord is great in Zion; *

he is high above all peoples.

Let them confess his Name, which is great and awesome; * he is the Holy One.

“O mighty King, lover of justice, you have established equity; *

you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.”

Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God

and fall down before his footstool; * he is the Holy One.

Moses and Aaron among his priests,

and Samuel among those who call upon his Name, *

they called upon the Lord, and he answered them.

He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud; *

they kept his testimonies and the decree that he gave them.

“O Lord our God, you answered them indeed; *

you were a God who forgave them,

yet punished them for their evil deeds.”

Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God

and worship him upon his holy hill; *

for the Lord our God is the Holy One.

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. We have renounced the shameful things that one hides; we refuse to practice cunning or to falsify God’s word; but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

Gospel: Luke 9:28-36

Now about eight days after these sayings Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

God's Word in a Pandemic

God’s Word in a Pandemic

July 12, 2020

Live from Lynn, it’s “Godspell”.

Hello, this is Fr Paul Bresnahan, priest of the Episcopal Church.

Welcome back to “Godspell”: a time to spell it out.

Who is God, and how is God involved in our lives?

“Godspell” is a nice old English word for the Gospel or, what I call, the language of God, the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Silence

Blessed be God; The Most Holy, Undivided and Everlasting Trinity. 

And blessed be God’s Kingdom for ever and ever. Amen

The Collect: 

O God, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Isaiah 55:10-13

10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
   and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

12 For you shall go out in joy,
   and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
   shall burst into song,
   and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Psalm: Psalm 119:105-112

105 Your word is a lantern to my feet *
       and a light upon my path.106 I have sworn and am determined *
       to keep your righteous judgments.107 I am deeply troubled; *
       preserve my life, O Lord, according to your word.108 Accept, O Lord, the willing tribute of my lips, *
       and teach me your judgments.109 My life is always in my hand, *
       yet I do not forget your law.110 O The wicked have set a trap for me, *
       but I have not strayed from your commandments.111 Your decrees are my inheritance for ever; *
       truly, they are the joy of my heart.112 I have applied my heart to fulfill your statutes *
       for ever and to the end.

Gospel: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. 2Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9Let anyone with ears listen!’

18 ‘Hear then the parable of the sower. 19When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’

“Your word is a lantern to my feet

And a Light unto my path”

These particular words resonate within us like few other words in Scripture do. They take root in us and bear much fruit so much so that we dedicate our lives to the reading, mediating, and sharing of God’s Holy Word in the world. 

Jesus said; “A Sower went out to sow,” There is that part of us that may not understand God’s Word on occasion and Evil snatches us away for a time. There may be something within that gets it at first but the Word may not take root in us at any real depth. Then there are those anxieties within or troubles that draw us away. But eventually the Word of God falls on good ground and it bears good fruit for the rest of our lives and for the lives of those around us. 

The passages of Scripture assigned to be read on this Sunday in the Church Year are of profound consequence to many. The Prophet Isaiah says of God’s Word; “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose. 

What does God purpose during this pandemic?

We are in a time that will try the human soul. Yesterday, the New York Times carried the heart wrenching story of Doctor Lorna Breen who was head of the emergency department at Columbia Presbyterian in New York City during the worst days of the outbreak. There were shortages of PPE’s and space to put the people who suffered. What she saw there at the height of the epidemic brought her soul to the breaking point. So overwhelmed was the hospital that people were dying in the waiting room unnoticed.

She approached her Bible Study group for prayer and strength in her darkest and most desperate moments because there was nothing more she could do. Like people of faith in every age, Dr. Breen checked in with the Word of God. 

“Your word is a Lantern unto my feet and a light upon my path”.

Dr Breen however was at the end of her inner strength to carry on. Then she came down with the virus and her recovery was far too long for the over achiever she was. When she tried to resume her duties the stress and the strain got worse. She despaired and cried out for help. Colleagues intervened She was admitted to a psychiatric ward. But the stigma attached to anyone who suffered so was especially sharp in the medical community.

Tragically, it was all too much. She cried out; “I’m totally lost.” “I’m just baffled and overwhelmed.” and “It is the hardest time of my life”. On April 26 of this year, she took her life. I know all too well what mental illness can do in moments of despair.

There is much Dr Breen and I share. There was a time in my life when things got out of hand. I was a bit of an over achiever. I ended up in the psych ward at the Cleveland Clinic for 28 days. My psychiatrist told me I was Bi-polar. When you tell me I’m crazy, I can tell you I have the documentation. I have a diagnosis and I have taken my meds ever since. I continue to see a Psychiatrist and a Spiritual Director. 

My recovery took far too long for me and for those God sent me to serve. The stigma of my encounter with mental illness in the church was just as sharp for me as it was for Dr. Breen. I was not welcome back in my position as Rector of that church. I considered leaving the priesthood. Thankfully I was spared suicidal ideation.

During all this time your Word has been a lantern unto my feet and a light upon my path, especially when the darkest night of my soul overshadowed me. There YOU were in YOUR WORD resonating in my soul. “Yea thought I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me.” Mind you, it was a dark time.

We cannot know why Dr. Breen took her own life. She left no note, no letter, no explanation. Things got too far out of hand for her. But I know about how that can happen. When I served in West Virginia there were teens who felt the sting of rejection at home, at church and at school because of their sexual orientation.  They had nowhere to turn for the embrace of love. It was all too much. And I stood at the graveside of more than one. I was among the few who proclaimed that God’s love extends in ever widening circles of inclusion. Mind you, I was taken to task for that too. Sigh..

No matter; “Your word is a lantern to my feet and a Light upon my path.” What does God purpose in this pandemic. Sane leadership for one thing.

What of the mental health of the President of the United States? How can he stand by and ignore a pandemic? How can it be that after all these months he still refuses to mobilize a national emergency strategy to fight the virus? More than 68,000 of us tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday of this week. More doctors, hospitals, the sick, the suffering and the dying face into the bleak reality of the pandemic. 

Why does he not listen to Dr. Fauci? He is one of the few remaining names in this Administration the public trust. It is simple. Wear a mask, practice social distancing and hand hygiene. As early as February and March, he and the World Health Organization began to alert us to the need for universal Testing, Tracing and Isolating. Most of Europe has stumbled its way into flattening out the curve. 

Only grudgingly has he finally worn a mask in public once. He won’s listen to Dr. Fauci. Instead he follows the Roger Stone playbook “admit nothing, deny everything, blame everybody and counter attack.” Does he not see the sickness, suffering and death that has become our national daily experience? Or is this the borderline personality disorder we suspect? Is our President really a narcissist? 

Is Mitt Romney the only Republican with the grit and courage to speak truth to power? Where are the rest? Or are you all so deathly afraid of him? Do you have no backbone? Common decency? Respect for human life? Do you want history to say of you that you chose the madness over your country?

It appears that we have nowhere to turn now but to the Word of God made Flesh and Blood in Jesus. This is precisely what The Gospel of John proclaims; “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” ~John 1:14       

Jesus; you are the Word of God to Christian folk. You are the love of God made flesh and blood. But that alone does not fix the predicament we’re in. Salvation for us is not become manifest merely in repeating two syllables; “Je-sus.”

It will not be until we recognize that we are now the living presence of Jesus in the world. As Therese of Avila is famous for saying; “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

We cannot afford 68,000 new cases a day until election day. Dr. Fauci indicated; it won’t be long before that number will climb to 100.000 cases every single day. Our hospitals cannot deal with the numbers we have let alone the numbers coming at us. We cannot allow our loved ones to suffer and die like this without rising up as one. Black lives matter. The lives of our loved ones who suffer matter. The elderly, the poor, the veterans, those in nursing homes, the foolish youth who cram the beaches and the barrooms matter. 

We cannot afford to let this catastrophe continue without holding his feet to the fire. Rise up America. How many more hundreds of thousands must suffer and die before we finally speak up.

Dr. Breen, the Word of God and I are waiting. 

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

Prayers for the Church and the World

John, may he Rest in Peace and rise in Glory

Mary from St Mark’s Church in Saint Albans, West Virginia. 

Lord’s Prayer

A Blessing

See that ye be at peace among yourselves, 

and love one another.

Follow the example of the wise and good

and God will comfort you and help you,

both in this world

and in the world which is to come.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,

wherever He may send you.

May He guide you through the wilderness,

protect you through the storm.

May He bring you home rejoicing

at the wonders He has shown you.

May He bring you home rejoicing

once again into our doors.

And may the Blessing of God the Most holy undivided and everlasting Trinity be upon you this day and always. Amen.

God  Bless us everyone!

Thanks for joining with me. See you next week, same time, same station. 

Fr Paul

God's Difficult People

God’s Difficult People

Kathleen was a difficult person. She sat in the front row with her brother at the 8AM service every week. It was like looking at a picture of American Gothic. All that was missing was the pitchfork. What a way to start off a sunny Sunday morning! I think she disapproved of me. After all, I was Irish. I married an Italian. She arranged her face in every imaginable contortion when I preached. I don’t think she liked what I had to say. Even when I tried saying things I hoped she’d like, she made faces. 

One day in a fit of pique she called me on the phone and told me in a somewhat pompous tone; “In view of Christian Charity, I think we need to agree not to speak to one another.” 

Considering how things were going between us, I managed to say; “My good woman, that’s the first nice thing you said to me since coming to this church!” 

Some time later, she was hospitalized and she was informed by her doctor that she had a very serious heart condition. She had but a short time to live. She was my parishioner, so no matter what, I visited her. When I came into her hospital room, she broke into tears and she poured out her heart to me. We prayed together as she prepared for enter God’s nearer presence.

The day had come, thank God, for forgiveness. 

What does it mean to you to forgive and to be forgiven?

How many times are you to forgive? Seven?

How forgiving are you?

Jesus taught us to pray; “forgive us our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us.”

The word “forgiveness” takes center stage in the Gospel Proclamation. 

John’s ministry of proclaiming forgiveness occurs at a particular time and place. It was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, AD 14-37. Toward the south in Judea, Pontius Pilate was the governor, AD 26-36. Herod was the tetrarch, that is to say a regional overseer in Galilee, an area north of Judea; 4BC—AD39. Further north still, well north of Samaria are Ituraea and Trachonitis, regions ruled by Philip; and then Lysanias was the ruler of Abilene also in the far north. As to the High Priesthood at the time, Annas was succeeded by Caiaphas. Luke makes clear that John’s ministry extended over a period of time, and covers a significant amount of geography. 

John’s ministry was one of proclaiming forgiveness of sin through the waters of Baptism. There were probably difficult folks then too, families had feuds, folks were likely estranged from one another. 

John proclaimed a message of forgiveness to a people who lived under a brutal regime of the aforementioned strong men. It was welcome news and John was much beloved. His was a voice of one crying in the wilderness or so it seemed. So much of the news then must have fallen on jaded and disheartened ears. 

The occupation forces and the repressive tactics of oppression made life cheap then. Many’s the time, coming and going in and out of town, someone would be hung upon a cross to die as a sign to anyone who might dare to question authority.  The power of contemporary dictatorial leadership was absolute. You were not free to question the authorities. 

Democracy was long forgotten from that brief shining moment in Athens when folks were free to debate vigorously and then vote. It would be a long, long time coming before folks were free again. 

Democracy does not come easily. And when it does, it can disappear through an erosion that is hardly perceptible unless people are especially watchful, involved, informed and well educated. So wrote the Founding Fathers of our Democracy. 

But back to John! Imagine meeting John, with his fierce fervor telling you of your place in God’s salvation plan. Imagine him telling you of God’s forgiveness. Imagine John baptizing you in the River Jordan. His message to you was that you were free from the bonds of political violence. Free from hate! Free from feuding pettiness. Free from your own inner demons!

Imagine John telling you; now you are God’s own child. There is a whole new kingdom that belongs to God, and you are a citizen of that kingdom. When you become a citizen of that kingdom you are born again. You are alive forever. 

It was John’s belief that he was sent to announce the coming of Jesus; the Word of God made flesh and blood. He got all excited when he told his followers;

'Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’"

This is exciting news. The Great Leveler is coming to us. 

How can you contain yourself when you think about it. In the eyes of The Great Leveler there is no rich and poor, slave and free, male or female. There are no outcasts. Whoever you are; no race, ethnicity gender, class, or orientation can separate you from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You are all One in Jesus!

John is the one, who in Salvation History, proclaims the Advent of the new ministry of Jesus.

John was born to Elisabeth. She had been a childless woman, until the Archangel Gabriel announced that God had found favor with her. Zechariah held the new born baby in his arms and exulted in God’s Salvation plan like Hanna had done at the birth of Samuel, and in the way Mary would do at the birth of Jesus. God’s surprises the humble poor with the gift of life because of the goodness they exemplify in this world. Zechariah’s mouth is opened after a long silence, and his tongue is freed to sing; 

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; *

He has raised up for us a mighty savior, *

born of the house of his servant David.

You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, *

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

John was a prophet. He came to warn us about the error of our ways. Life is too short for all the hatred. This is why repentance is at the heart of forgiveness and Baptism. John is God’s messenger. He is like a refiner’s fire, like fuller’s soap. He seeks to purify us and make us clean. 

Ultimately John got himself arrested and beheaded. After all if you proclaim something about a King and a Kingdom, you can make a paranoid schizophrenic Tetrarch very nervous. Talk about difficult persons! Herod and Pilate had no idea of what John and Jesus meant about his Kingdom and his Kingship. How could they? They had no idea of God, repentance, forgiveness, and eternal life. 

But God is our stock and trade. Forgiveness, repentance and eternal life are all mixed into the waters of Baptism where you and I were washed and made pure and clean. 

Forgiveness is a tricky business because it may require facing some rather difficult persons; there may be mental illness, substance abuse,  and hateful, hurtful folk. The truth of the matter is that there are too many difficult personalities in life. Good Lord, we cannot even govern ourselves because of political gridlock. Truth be told, each of us is a difficult person to somebody!

Thankfully, I’ve learned a thing or two about dealing with difficult persons in the years since I first encountered Kathleen. 

Listen up sinners! John is still here proclaiming Baptism as the Way to forgiveness. He is still a voice of one crying in the wilderness. “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!.”

Empty you hearts and let go the hurt. Breathe in the fullness of God’s sacred silence into your empty lungs. There it is. Don’t wait for the doctor to tell you that you have the very worst kind of heart trouble and you have but a short time to live.

Now is the time to repent and believe! Now is the time to make room in your heart for Jesus. It’s never too late. Kathleen and I found this out a very long time ago. And Kathleen, I pray for you now as I pray for you often. Kathleen, won’t you pray for me too!

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

Fr Paul