The Pure Simplicity of God

The Pure Simplicity of God

It it’s all so simple; this whole business about God. Here is how I found out. 

I ran home as fast as I could to confirm what Something had spoken in my heart of hearts. I ran into the kitchen where my grandmother was presiding over her stove as a priest might preside over an altar. 

I asked; “Ma, is there a God?”

I needed to know. Everything depended on the answer. 

“Of course there is!” That was simple.

“Ma, is there a heaven?” She glanced sidewards at me with just a hint of irritation. After all, she was cooking and this was not a good time for theology.

“Yes, of course there is!” Still, pretty straight forward.

“Ma, is my daddy there?” Ah, now we come to a complication. There had been a messy divorce. He was at fault apparently. When he died, there were hasty words about his “deserving” what he got. Someone even said he couldn’t go to heaven because he didn’t go to church. All these things got said so I could hear them. I was eight years old at the time. 

Mind you my mom was a feisty lady and I wondered more than once if she had a part to play in the divorce when I heard them arguing with each other. And even my grandmother said more than once that the Irish ruined Boston. It all left me bewildered. My question hung there for what seemed an eternity. 

“Is my daddy there?”

That’s when she knelt down right there in the kitchen. She held me close and folded my head into the nape of her neck and she said;

“Of course he is!” 

And that’s why I’m a priest today. 

It is pure simplicity.

Yes there is a God.

Yes there is a Heaven.

And Yes my daddy’s there as are all our loved ones. All have been gathered up one by one into God’s nearer Presence.

It is all so simple.

First, God is “Our Father who art in Heaven”. God is the Creator of Heaven and Earth and everyone in it. When we said our prayers at night we blessed everybody by name in the family, all my friends, those at school and finally everybody in the “whole wide word”. God made every single one of us. See. Simple!

Secondly, God is Jesus Christ our Savior. It took a while to figure out how he saved us. The world didn’t look particularly saved to me. At the time we had air raid drills in an old school built before the Civil War. I’m not at all sure the building could have survived a nuclear attack. Nowadays kids do mass shooter drills, and there have been well over 230 school shootings just this year alone. I wondered; “How can you call this world ‘saved’”.

But then I figured it out. Jesus brought the world Forgiveness and Eternal Life. The one is related to the other. When we Forgive, we are in Eternal Life. And when we do come to our life’s end there is forgiveness. There is room in God’s heart for each and every one of us, even if we miss church once in a while or even if the only time you mention our Lord’s Name is when you loose a bet at the race track as my daddy often did way back in those days. 

How do I know? The Bible tells me so; “Yes, Jesus loves me.” And my daddy too. And each and every one of you too.

And third God is the Holy Spirit. She is everywhere present. She permeates all of existence. “Does not wisdom call,” the Scripture says; “and does not understanding raise her voice?”
We know her first by prayer. 

We also know her through the the Holy Wisdom from on High. My grandmother knew her well. As did all my elders. How I looked up to them. Not to mention my priest and teachers. How I loved them all. Such Wisdom!

The Spirit imparts gifts for ministry. As a child I wanted to be Ted Williams or a parish priest. This also was pure simplicity. I loved baseball and I loved God. Who wouldn’t, growing up a short subway ride to Fenway Park. We spent our summers in the bleachers chasing home run balls hit by Teddy Ballgame and all the others. Or going to St. James’s Church, North Cambridge. That priest, that choir, that pipe organ, those stained glass windows; that breathtaking building.

As it turned out my batting average was not so hot, so that left the priesthood. I learned so much in school, in college, at seminary and of course in life itself. Life, Wisdom’s own teacher. 

God is the gift giver of every good gift from above. As Jesus says; “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth”.

All of which tells me that there is nothing complicated or difficult about faith. 

We are born into it. 

Today we at Trinity Church come to our Name Day. 

We know Who the Holy Trinity is:

God is Creator.

God is Savior.

God is Holy Spirit.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

Pure simplicity.

As is our duty to God and our neighbor. 

Love God.

Love your neighbor.

It just can’t get much simpler than that. 

So straighten up your act. I’ve already spoken to Jesus about each and every one of you throughout these very nearly fifty years.

I will not go to heaven until each and every one of you gets in there first. There, I said it. Black and White. Did you hear that Jesus? So don’t go holding things up. Get things right between you and God and each other. Love God. Love one another.

Yes there is a God.

Yes there is a Heaven 

And yes, not only is my daddy there, each and every one of us is Heaven bound.

In the Name of God. The simple Name of God; 

The Most Holy, Undivided and Everlasting Trinity. Amen.

Fr Paul

Below, the readings for Trinity Sunday with highlights indicating thoughts and phrases that stand out to me and resonate in my soul. 

Trinity Sunday

The Collect:

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Does not wisdom call,
and does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights, beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
“To you, O people, I call,
and my cry is to all that live.

The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth—
when he had not yet made earth and fields,
or the world’s first bits of soil.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 

then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.

Psalm: Psalm 8

1 O Lord our Governor, *
        how exalted is your Name in all the world!
2 Out of the mouths of infants and children *
        your majesty is praised above the heavens.
3 You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, *
        to quell the enemy and the avenger.
4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, *
        the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,
5 What is man that you should be mindful of him? *
        the son of man that you should seek him out?
6 You have made him but little lower than the angels; *
        you adorn him with glory and honor;
7 You give him mastery over the works of your hands; *
        you put all things under his feet:
8 All sheep and oxen, *
        even the wild beasts of the field,
9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, *
        and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.
10 O Lord our Governor, *
        how exalted is your Name in all the world!

Epistle: Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Gospel: John 16:12-15

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

It's as Simple as a Shamrock!

It's as Simple as a Shamrock!

Today is Trinity Sunday

What is the name of our Church?

Yes, Trinity Church 

Today is our Name Day Festival!

The Trinity is one way of saying that God is One in Three

And God is Three in One

Father

Son 

Holy Spirit

Three distinct persons

One God!

How can this be?

It is as simple as a shamrock 

Patrick of Ireland put it this way.

Take a look at a simple Shamrock. It is One in Three and Three in One. 

One plant. 

Three leaves.

Take a look at who I am

I am a father,

I am a son

I am a husband

I am three distinct persons

And yet I am only one!

Do you understand that?

Take a look at Michelle.

Is she a mother?

Does she have a mother?

That makes her a daughter.

Michelle, do you have brothers or sisters.

Aha! That makes you a sister.

So then, you too are one in three

And three in one.

Think about yourselves.

How many of you are children?

How many of you are brothers or sisters?

How many of you have friends?

That makes you children, brothers/sisters and friends

So then, you are three in one and one in three.

And God is much much more besides.

Just like we are also much more besides.

After all Jesus is also our Friend!

God is One in Three

God is Three in One.

God is our maker and creator.

God is our savior

God is the Spirit who guides us.

Do any of you like to sing, make or listen to music?

Do you like to paint or draw?

Anyone like to tell or listen to a story?

Then you also like to Create, like God also creates.

Remember God made you!

Have any of you ever done anything wrong?

Have any of you ever needed to ask for forgiveness.

Have you ever been loved by someone you care about?

Jesus is the Love of God made human like us.

He always forgives and loves each and every one of us.

Do you ever need someone to teach you?

Guide you?

Has anyone given you something you needed?

This is how God is with all of us

God Creates.

God Loves, Saves. Forgives

God Guides, Teaches and Leads into all Wisdom.

God is Father 

God is Son

God is Holy Spirit

Here are some images of God the Holy Trinity

The People Complained

The People Complained

The people complained. I can tell you this about the folks back home in Boston. When winter wears on we complain. When the hazy, hot and humid days of summer wear on, we complain. It can get too wet. It can get too dry. And as for the traffic, or the subway service. The one universal is;  we complain. I wanted to let you know you are not alone. Cindy and I were out for lunch Friday noon, and there was a bit of a flurry underway. We overheard someone say; “I’m sick of winter!” We both looked at each other and chuckled; “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet, dearie!” And we sure have no idea what a Montana winter looks like or feels like. But I suspect we’ll find out. And when we do, I suspect we’ll complain about it. 

And so it was that in the wilderness as the people wandered through the desert wastes, there was no bread, no meat, no water and no vegetables like there was back in Egypt. And so the people complained. In Hebrew word is literally; “they murmured.” Ah yes, how exquisitely human!

Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness?” But God heard the people’s murmuring and recognized their heartaches and rained down bread from heaven. He gave them quail to eat at night and in the morning he gave them “manna” that would keep body and soul together. 

They ran around in the morning gathering the stuff saying in Hebrew: “Manna” which literally means “What is it?” And so, that is what they called it. “What is it?” “Manna?” It was just enough to preserve them through those long, long years of wandering through the desert wastes. It was a way to humble them and let them know that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. We are still learning that lesson. 

When we come to this Altar Rail Sunday by Sunday, we come to the “What is is it?” of the Body of Christ. The “Magnum Mysterium” of God’s Presence in the the Person of Jesus is here in our very midst. It is placed in our hands by a parish priest. We too are fed by the Bread of Heaven. God’s living Being shared among us. We remember that night when Jesus told us to love one another and then gave thanks to God, broke bread, said the blessing and gave it to us. Likewise after Supper he did the same with the Cup of Salvation. 

Remember the marvels God has done for us. By the way, class, what are the Five Mighty Acts of God our Catechism teaches us to acknowledge and proclaim in our faith? The Divine Drama has Five Acts like any great Shakespearean Drama. 

1. Act 1: The Creation
2. Act 2: The Exodus and the Law
3. Act 3: Jesus Christ
4. Act 4: The Church
5. Act 5: The Christian Hope

It is one thing to say God has acted in history; it is another to say how. Perhaps by naming these five mighty modes of action you can recognize that God continues to be active throughout history and within your own life as well. God is always creating, freeing, and inviting us into obedience to him. God is clearly incarnate in the person of Jesus in every human life particularly as we come to know the love and forgiveness that God intends for us. In the church we come to know how community relationships participate in the formation of our Christian nature. And finally in The Christian Hope we share in the death and resurrection of Jesus in which we all participate through Baptism. We share together in the Whole Mystery of God in community.

And while we are speaking of community isn’t it interesting that we speak of God in community as well. When we name God as Trinity, we are not speaking merely of a static doctrine, we are speaking of a dynamic community. God is not just our Creator, God is also our Savior. God is our Sanctifier. We name God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As we interact with one another we recognize something of God within each other was we see the marvels of creativity. We see the Jesus within each other as we see how we reach out to one another to salvage what we can of each other when in distress for instance. And I will say this about the Holy Spirit; her name interestingly enough is Hagia Sophia the Holy Wisdom from on High, the gift giver who abundantly bestows upon each of us gifts for ministry. The Biblical word for Spirit is in the feminine form and therefore encourages to experience all the fullness of God.

This world needs a church that sees God in such dynamic terms. There is much that seeks to destroy the creatures of God in this world. That’s called sin. Yes. On occasion we need to use that word. Just last week a dear friend of mine lost a grandson to a drug overdose; 18 years old he was. I don’t know why he did what he did. Or the thousand more who do the same?  But I do know that so many of our young people lack hope. There is no work for so many of our inner city and rural poor. If we cannot come up with a way to save our young, we are merely an anemic and ineffectual presence. Is it any wonder our young are no longer a vital presence in the church. I think we need to find a way to organize our life around their needs now and engage the entire community fabric around us so that we can be the hope of the future. 

That’s why I like to think of God as dynamic community. God as creative, God as redemptive, God as the one who makes all holy; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This, I submit to you is how we are to engage the powers and the principalities. 

In today’s Gospel the landowner sends us out to do the work God wants us to do. The harvest is plenteous, the laborers are few. 

That is to say there are so many human needs. When the church has been at its most effective, that’s how we have organized our life. Celtic Christians for instance, organized their work around the sick, the dying, the hungry, those in need of education, interestingly enough. They were also master cooks and made wonderful beer as the record shows. They were cheerful sorts in a depressing world. To them the Gospel was Good news and brought joy to the world.

As we go forth to do God’s work, the landowner finds others idle as the day wears on. Why are you standing there idle? Nobody has hired us? They were bored to tears. They resorted to crime, perhaps alcoholism. I suspect they complained too. But God challenges us with this notion of discipleship; There are always unmet human needs. 

As Matthew’s Gospel enumerates in the 25th chapter, there are always those who are hungry, thirsty, there are strangers who needs your welcome, naked, sick, imprisoned. How interesting that this is how Jesus judges the nations of the earth; in the same manner as the “least of these” are treated.

Allow me to add our inner city and rural young who are easy pickings for alcohol and drug abuse or criminal activity. I think the landowner’s question is a legitimate one. Why are we standing idly by when there are so many unmet human needs?

It doesn’t matter when we go. First thing in the morning or late in the day. To Jesus the first and the last are one and the same. 

What I find most compelling about this Gospel passage is that whenever we respond to human need and do the ministry God has sent us to do the Kingdom of Heaven immediately breaks in upon us. It satisfies something deep within the human soul when we respond to the needs of those beset right now by disaster. Whether in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, or Mexico, there hundreds of thousands, if not millions in a chorus of human suffering crying out to us for help. We keep writing checks to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund and I’m sure there are many of you who do also to the Red Cross or other charity. Likewise the Cathedral Social Concerns Committee seeks to respond to many local human needs.

This is God at work. God as Creator, Savior and Gift Giver; in the dynamic community known as the Church. This is who we are called to be! First, last, always. St. Paul writes in today’s Epistle; “live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

Still, the people complain. We will be all too human. That goes with the territory as any parish priest or administrator will tell you. But living the Gospel life and keeping our eyes on kingdom work by caring for one another in our needs, that’s what will satisfy the community of God within us. We will become creative, we will save each other in the midst of every disaster, we will bring to bear the gifts God has so lavishly bestowed up on us wisely. 

This community of faith known as the Holy Trinity is far more than a doctrine. The dynamic community of God is knit into every human heart.

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

Fr Paul

"Fed UP" the Movie

The Strong Name of the Trinity

It has always made good sense to me; The Strong Name of the Trinity. It makes abundant good sense to call upon God, my Creator, and, of course, the creator of all that is seen and unseen. It makes sense to call upon Jesus who is my Savior, and the One who stretched out his loving arms on the hard wood of the cross so that everyone might come within the reach of His saving embrace. It makes sense, perfect sense to me, to call up the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier, the HolyWisdom from on high, the Gift Giver in all of life. One might wonder about the holiness part in my case. 

The dynamic reality of God as a Trinitarian reality is often reflected in human endeavor. After all, we too are creative in so many ways, we do what we can to salvage whatever is possible of our lives as well as the lives of others. And the process of sanctification is an ongoing one given the fact that human beings are not always interested in such an upward call. 

The Holy Spirit is “The Sancta Sophia” the Holy Wisdom from on high. God knows it takes all the Wisdom of Solomon to figure out how to make our way through life with a discerning heart. At St. Paul’s you are engaged in a discernment process right now as you seek your next full time parish priest.

It is in this Spirit that Jesus turns us toward Baptism in today’s Gospel lesson. He tells us to go forward into the world and Baptize all Nations, all peoples in the “name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. The more increasingly we become a “House of Prayer for all People” in the Episcopal Church the more faithfully we fulfill Jesus’ intention for us that when we say “All” we mean “All”. 

I love Baptisms and have officiated at hundreds of them throughout my almost 42 years of ordained ministry. But the most important Baptism that I know about is my own, just as the most important Baptism you know about is your own. In what way has God invited you into new birth, new hope, new life? This is the daily question our Baptism asks of us with each new dawning. The more creatively we answer that question, the more vigorously we engage in salvation work for the sake of those in need in our midst; the more we heed, the urgings of the Holy Spirit in our own lives, the more convincingly we will commend Baptism as the pathway to Christ for others. 

This is why I bind unto myself this day the Strong Name of the Holy Spirit. Let me give you an example of what I mean. I ask your prayers. Tomorrow morning bright and early. Perhaps even so early as to be before it gets very bright, my darlin’ bride and I will be off to Mass General for an operation. I will undergo gastric bypass surgery to deal with a condition I have suffered with most of my life. 

Apparently I was understandably a bit morose after day dad’s death when I was a boy and I didn’t eat very much. I was, in fact, as some of my way back photographs will show, a skinny and scrawny kid. My grandmother was alarmed. She tried feeding me various kinds of foods but finally struck upon Franco American Spaghetti. Later that was supplemented by Chef Boyardee products. Then she plied me with Coca Cola. We often had sugary and salty snack foods in the house. I was hooked. The sugar content in carbonated beverages is not good for anyone seeking to manage his or her weight. And the processed food! Not just the sugar but the salt content in processed foods and beverages works against any effort to loose weight. All this became part of my diet like so many in America. I grew up, but as I grew up, I also grew out. My obesity, as the obesity of much of America has gotten out of hand. Now it is time for an intervention at least in my case.

Cindy’s doctor asked us to go and see the movie; “Fed Up” which we did several weeks ago at the Kendal Square Cinema. It is a documentary narrated by Katie Couric. The theme of the movie is that the pervasive use of sugar additives in processed foods and carbonated beverages has made of us a nation where obesity is a growing problem, if not epidemic. School lunch rooms are now increasingly the outlets for the fast food empire. Simple exercise, while desirable, will not in and of itself rectify the situation. The next generation of youth in our country is headed to become the first generation in our history to live a shorter lifespan than the one before it. We need to get at the added sugars, the carbs and the salts. 

Labeling on foods now at least gives us a listing of each ingredient as a percentage value for the recommended daily allowance…except sugar. Merely the amount of sugar in grams is listed. Very powerful lobbying interests persuaded Congress not to assign that value when the food labeling law first passed. Again we find ourselves wittingly or unwittingly at the mercy of corporate power. Our government is merely a pawn in the hands of very powerful interests.

If I had my way, I’d levy a 20% Health Care surcharge tax on all those things that are potentially deleterious to our health and use the proceeds to pay for a portion of our health care premiums. I would call the tax Bresnahan’s Affordable Care Act Premium Payment Plan. 

And I’d levy the tax on 

Cigarettes

Alcohol

Processed Foods

Sugar additives

Carbonated Beverages.

Not much of a chance I’ll get to first base on that one. But given the fact that I care about my life, the lives of others and especially about the lives of our children, I speak with all my heart. At least in a free country we can speak our minds and our hearts. Still those dollars and those corporations speak with a louder voice than you and I can muster.

My doctors have been encouraging me to take this step for quite some time. I have chosen not to put it off any longer. Not only do we hope to extend my life span, we hope to enhance the quality of life I am living while I have it. Naturally there are risks involved. There is the possibility of complication. But everything looks good going into this procedure and that is why I am asking your prayers. I know of several folks who have undergone the procedure and it has proven very helpful. The studies show encouraging results including the fact that the procedure often eliminates diabetes, and reduces high blood pressure and cholesterol. 

The price to pay is significant. I am embarking on a whole new life. But I did say that my Baptism is important to me. After the surgery I will be a new man, with a new life, born again if you will to a new hope. The renewal of life is what I seek. Perhaps this is a drastic solution, but it has been said; “drastic measures call for drastic actions.” 

This is why I ask your prayers. I will take the next two Sundays off for recovery. Hopefully I will be back on the first Sunday in July depending on how I am doing with my recovery at that time.

I have spent a good deal of my life praying for others, but I have learned in later life that we really need to begin our prayer life within ourselves, asking in the words of Paul for “the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” may always dwell within us. 

There is no question in my mind that the Holy Trinity has found a happy home here at St. Paul’s Church. I bind the Strong Name of this same Holy Trinity unto myself as I invite you to consider binding the strong Name of the Holy Trinity into your lives.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Fr Paul