Family Feud

 Family Feud

Face it. There’s bad blood in the family. I remember the scene in Fiddler on the Roof when Tevye’s third daughter Chava wants to marry outside the faith. Tevye reasons within himself that one the one hand she loves him and then on the other hand, he realizes there is no other hand. This far he cannot bend or he will break. He will not bless this child’s marriage outside the faith. It is a powerful moment when the Jewish family is driven out of their homes by Russian soldiers, and Tevye is finally able to look up from packing his meager belongings and softly, lovingly blesses his daughter. In this statement of faith God’s compassion emerges as primary to the father’s faith.

There was a time when Cindy and I announced we intended to marry. She being the eldest of seven in a large Italian Catholic family, I suspected we’d run into some resistance. We were both marrying outside our faith traditions. But we loved each other. I hasten to add we still do! 

The day came for Cindy’s father to take me for a long walk. We spoke of many things when he finally stopped me, looked me straight in the eye and said; “I do not want like daughter marrying outside the faith.”

I knew enough about Joe’s practice of faith to readily reply; “The day you start going to church is the day I’ll give your objections any credence!” The rest of our walk was quiet. 

Eventually we we reached an accommodation and life continued. We grew to mutual bonds of affection, honor and respect.

My mother had lots to say about our marriage but I had long since learned how to dismiss some of her emotional excesses. 

Still there are stresses and strains in family relationships. My elder brother questions my politics and my faith. And I question his. We have reached something of a rapprochement after all these years and we can still speak to one another, sort of. 

Look at how things are in God’s family. We are all one race; a human race, but you’d never know it the way questions were framed in the Senate Judiciary Committee this week. There were times this week when I wanted to commit mayhem during some of the interrogation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. Still, she maintained her dignity and composure and made us stand proud like that iconic photograph of her daughter Leila Jackson beside her. How inspiring!

Which brings us to the Gospel of the Prodigal Son. Talk of iconic images! The very idea of the Prodigal Son has entered the language as idiomatic not just to people of faith but to the general public as well.

Time and again there are stories of wayward children who wander far in a land that is waste. Some come to their senses, some don’t. When they do, the father rejoices. I dare say the mother does too. We all want the best for our children. And when they suffer, we suffer too. When their heart breaks, so does ours. When they come home our hearts rejoice and we are moved to compassion. Who would not call all our friends together and spend extravagantly and celebrate?

But there’s a problem. What of the son who is faithful and true? The one who is always there? The one we can count on to be dependable and true? He is rightfully indignant just as the older brother is in today’s Gospel;

‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ He has a point. 

In our Gospel life there are times when we are wayward and profligate. There are also times when you can count on us to be there day in and day out, year in and year out. Either way it is the father’s love we look to, the mother’s compassionate heart we depend on to redeem all our days.

This is who Jesus is to us. The parable may be titled incorrectly. Rather than “The Prodigal Son”, should this parable rather be called “The Compassionate Father”?

For a family to function without feuding there will need to be an abundance of love and compassion. Moreover we will need to overlook a multitude of sins. Perhaps most heart rending for any parent is bad blood between siblings. 

And face it. There’s too much bad blood out there. There is brokenness in our families and in our world. Communication may have broken down. You may be hurt. You may have hurt someone you love. 

Ultimately you may be the only hope there is to pick up the phone and make a call. A good opening line is; “What was it were fighting about?” It may not work. It may be fruitless, but it’s worth a try. And if you win the heart and soul of a loved one, there will be rejoicing in heaven.

The Fourth Sunday in Lent is known as “Laetare Sunday”. The Latin word “Laetare” means “Rejoice”.  Lent is long and and we need a day to “lighten up”. The Psalmist tells us today; “Be glad, you righteous, and Rejoice in the Lord; * shout for joy, all who are true of heart”

The custom in the British Isles on Laetare Sunday is for the family to return to the mother church, the whole family but especially mothers and their daughters. The day is referred to as Mothering Sunday. It rejoices the heart, especially God’s heart when we all come together. 

Then there is the preparation of the Simnel Cake also customary. It signifies the feeding of the five thousand and the decoration on top represents the apostles. It was a festive occasion. It was a delicious fruit cake made with layers of almond paste and marzipan. Rejoice! Celebrate! Give thanks to God!

Given the state of the world, and the fact of family feuds, it may take a conscious effort to rejoice this year. But Paul reminds us in the today’s Epistle that the old self has died and behold everything is now new because of our life in Christ. And moreover, “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, and has entrusted the message of reconciliation to us. 

Therefore insofar as it is up to me, I will pick up the phone and at least give it a try. I might suggest likewise to all nearby and far away. 

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

Fr Paul

Below are the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Lent with highlights indicating those word, phrases and thoughts that speak to my heart. 

Fourth Sunday in Lent

The Collect:

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Joshua 5:9-12

The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.

While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

Psalm 32

Happy are they whose transgressions are forgiven, *
       and whose sin is put away!
Happy are they to whom the Lord imputes no guilt, *
       and in whose spirit there is no guile!
While I held my tongue, my bones withered away, *
       because of my groaning all day long.
For your hand was heavy upon me day and night; *
       my moisture was dried up as in the heat of summer.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you, *
       and did not conceal my guilt.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” *
       Then you forgave me the guilt of my sin.
Therefore all the faithful will make their prayers to you in
                           time of trouble; *
       when the great waters overflow, they shall not reach them.
You are my hiding-place;
   you preserve me from trouble; *
       you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you
                            should go; *
       I will guide you with my eye.
Do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding; *
       who must be fitted with bit and bridle,
       or else they will not stay near you.”
Great are the tribulations of the wicked; *
       but mercy embraces those who trust in the Lord.
Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord; *
       shout for joy, all who are true of heart.

Epistle: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3So he told them this parable:

“There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate. “Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

Who are YOU?

 Third Sunday in Lent

Who are YOU?

Above, the traditional "Burning Bush" at St. Catherine's Monastery

All right class; name those gods! To review; for the Canaanites god was Baal. The sun goddess of the Hittites was Arinitti and her consort was the weather god Taru. The god of the Amorites, of course was Amaru, son of the sky god. All we know about the Perizzites is that they were a rural people who probably worshipped a host of nature gods but who knows for sure? The Hivites were equally obscure and probably worshipped a bunch of Canaanite deities. The Jebusites worshiped a god by the name of El Elyon, which is close to the name Eli; a name the Israelites used for God. And of course the Egyptians had a pantheon of gods: Osiris, Isis, Horus, and Seth god of chaos, violence, deserts, and storms. Re, of course was the great and exalted sun god.

For every nation on earth the immediate and existential question is who is our god? Who will fight for us and defend our right to exist? And because the answer to that question has always been national in origin, the resulting conflict has led to the rise and fall of many empires and the tragic reality of human bloodshed.

Since the twentieth century we have seen two world wars and subsequently a host of proxy wars fought under the tutelage of Britain, the United States, Russia and China. I hate to say it but here we go again. 

In today’s first lesson, Moses brings us to the central question all history; “Who are YOU?” Moses addresses God in the second person. “YOU”. For the Ancient near eastern mind God is not a he, she, them, or an it. God is YOU. This is a direct encounter not just for us as individuals but for all of us as human beings. 

One day Moses was minding his own business and tending the flock of his father in law, Jethro. An angel brings a message. “I have seen the misery of my people. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them…to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey”.

It has always been God’s way, to see our suffering and our misery and in far too often our slavery. It is God who will deliver us and set us free and give us a good land to live in. 

Moses has come to the Holy Mountain of God. He steps aside to see this marvel; the bush that burns but is not consumed. He is standing on Holy Ground. Moses take his sandals off and stands in silent awe. God speaks to Moses and tells him what he already knows somewhere deep in his heart; “I want you to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my people go”. 

Naturally Moses protests; “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh”. I am sure that behind that question was a concern for his own personal safety. Pharaoh, after all was just another absolutist in the pantheon of absolutists. He did not like being questioned.

But God tells Moses; “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”

I’m not sure how reassuring Moses found that “sign”. If it were me, I’d be quaking in my bare feet on the hot burning desert sand. 

Moses works up the nerve to ask this question, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

In Hebrew the Name is rendered “YHWH”. Hebrew scholars have debated for centuries exactly what those four consonants mean. Whatever or however you translate the word, it always comes back to the mystery of BEING. God’s BEING and ours. The Great "I AM” as well as our own somewhat more diminutive “I am”. 

Some say God is whoever God chooses to be at the time. God will deliver us in our time of need. Time and again God is present to us in history. God was there in the time of our ancestors. God was there to bring us out of slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. God gave us a Law to live by. 

And in these last days as Christians have always put it, God gave us Jesus to share our suffering and then to rise again in glory.

But back to Moses and this encounter with the Holy of Holies. Back to the Sacred Name and the four consonants “YHWH”. There are no vowels in ancient Hebrew so we have to introduce what scholars call “breathing symbols” 

The translation of the Sacred Name breaks the consonants into two syllables. “YaW” and “WeH”. There is a sense in which the consonants are unpronounceable without breathing symbols. The Holy Name is such that throughout Hebraica we are do not say it. We typically use Adonai or Elohim when we wish to say “God.”

But what if we were to breathe the Name. 

Perhaps the encounter with God is a prayer. 

The Breath Prayer par excellence.

Perhaps “YaH” is the silence inhale.

Pause then exhale “WeH”  

Perhaps the Holiest moment is life is the moment you take your first breath, the breath you take now, and every breath you take until you breathe your last. 

Understood in this way all life is Holy. God is God of all life, God of all Being, God of every human being. 

Taking a human life has always been contrary to the will of God. 

Those who refuse to see all life as holy are delusional children of the Evil One. They become agents of destruction. Paul urgently pleads with us today; “We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did…and were destroyed by… the destroyer”. This is yet another historic fact. The children of the Evil one are agents of destruction. 

The root of all grounded sanity is in the simple, sacred act of prayer; being and breathing. This is who God is. I AM. And me too. I am too. This is who we all are. 

There is only one God and the only way to Peace is by returning to the Holy One in Prayer. 

If I ask who are YOU? 

The answer is always; “I AM WHO I AM”

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

Fr Paul.

Below are the readings assigned for the Third Sunday in Lent with those words and thoughts highlighted that speak to my heart and soul. 

The Collect:

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; 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 3:1-15

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” He said further, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.” But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

Psalm 63:1-8

O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you; *
      my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,
      as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.
Therefore I have gazed upon you in your holy place, *
      that I might behold your power and your glory.
For your loving-kindness is better than life itself; *
      my lips shall give you praise.
So will I bless you as long as I live *
      and lift up my hands in your Name.
My soul is content, as with marrow and fatness, *
      and my mouth praises you with joyful lips,
When I remember you upon my bed, *
      and meditate on you in the night watches.
For you have been my helper, *
      and under the shadow of your wings I will rejoice.
My soul clings to you; *
      your right hand holds me fast.

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.

Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents. And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall. No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.

Gospel: Luke 13:1-9

At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. He asked them, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were worse sinners than all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did.”

Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

"Jerusalem, Jerusalem"

 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem”

Above from the altar of Dominus Flevit Church on the Mount of Olives

The root meaning of “Jerusalem” is “cornerstone of Peace”. God choose this place as the location for the death of Jesus. It is as if that one act would become the cornerstone upon which the peace of the world would be built.

Isn’t that interesting! That God would choose Jerusalem, the crossroads of many cultures, empires and religions; here Jesus will die. It is a festival city, occupied throughout all time by one  foreign occupation force after another, and a home for the three monotheistic religions. 

This chief cornerstone is also the crossroads of so many struggles. It is tragically the altar upon which a great deal of human bloodshed occurs. Not only does Jesus die there, so too we find ourselves in conflict, hateful and violent. Countless prophets and people die there throughout the centuries and into the present.

But we needn't look that far away to see hateful conflict. Cast your eyes upon Washington, DC. You may be a Republican or a Democrat, a Conservative or a Liberal. Sooner or later we come to January 6th. 

Perhaps you are a mainstream Christian, or a born again Evangelical right wing extremist. Or you may wish too have nothing to do with organized religion. For you the intelligent option is secular humanism or outright atheism. 

Truth be told the organized churches have not always distinguished themselves in the struggles for racial justice and freedom for all. In fact too many of our churches harbor superstition and prejudice and are racked with one scandal after another. Like many of our institutions, we question everything. 

The nations are in an uproar. Peace has shaken us to the core in the Ukraine. Putin’s invasion has laid waste to one city after another. The whole world is anxiously watching as we ask ourselves how we can contain the conflict or how can we intervene without making matters worse?

The litany of conflict is endless. Race, religion and politics. Too many lives lost. 

Jesus does not mince words as he surveys the history of the City.

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”

Using the image of a mother hen, our Lord aches to bring us under his/her/their pinions. It is a stunning image as I see it; the transgendered image of Jesus. As she spreads her wings over her chicks or as he stretches out his arms upon a cross; this is God’s vision of obedience.

Throughout salvation history the vision of expansiveness is beyond human telling. When Abram contemplated being childless, God told him to look up at the stars in the heavens. “Count them if you can. So shall your descents be!” And Abram believed in God and God counted that belief as righteousness. When we have the kind of belief that is able to see things as God does, then we can begin to see the expansiveness of God’s love. It is that faith that becomes the source of our righteousness. This is the rock our our faith upon which God builds the foundation of Peace.

But the Pharisees warn Jesus, “Herod wants to kill you.” 

Jesus is nonplussed in the face of raw power, “You go and tell that fox for me. ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’”

I wish there were something we could do about the Herods of this world. There’s something in me that wants to pray for a celestial being to slip something into Herod’s borscht when he’s not looking. But perish that thought right now. 

God’s eyes and ours must wait and watch as the children and the elderly, their moms and dads lay awake in the night, bombs and missiles strike their homes. God’s eyes and ours must watch and wait as Jesus dies on the cross. The mother hen hides her brood under her wings but what is she against the might of Herod’s weaponry?

The prayer of St. Francis begins “Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me.” I wonder how can we hope for a negotiated settlement in the Ukraine when our own Congressional representatives cannot even speak to one with a civil tongue in their heads? How can we hope for a negotiated peace with Russia when we cannot even sit at our family gatherings and manage civil and substantive conversations over things that matter to us like civil policy?

The world we live in is desperately broken. We are divided and enslaved by sin. We have forgotten how to listen and to hear the hearts of one another. There is too much contempt in the human heart. 

If this nation cannot find what it means to be one nation under God or if our families cannot come together at Thanksgiving or Easter to Bless God and each other then we have no idea what the Cross of Christ stands for. 

The vertical dimension of that cross describes the first commandment; “You shall love the lord your God with all you heart, mind, soul and strength”. And the horizontal dimension of that cross is Jesus’ commandment; “love one another”. 

She/he/they stands brooding over Jerusalem as a hen seeks to gather her chicks, but they would not! This is the first and fundamental fact of human and salvation history.

When all else fails, we turn to Jesus because it is in only him that we find unity, faith, love, forgiveness and most difficult of all, reconciliation. What Churchill said of Americans can be said of all humankind; “You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they’ve tried everything else first!”

St Paul surveys the human condition in today’s Epistle; “look at them, the enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.”

Jesus is the cornerstone of Peace. It is on his death and moreover his Resurrection that we find our Peace and our Hope. “Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me. “

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

Fr Paul

Below are the readings for the Second Sunday in Lent highlighted by with words and thoughts that speak to my heart and mind.

Second Sunday in Lent

The Collect:

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, “Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir.” But the word of the Lord came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; no one but your very own issue shall be your heir.” He brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Then he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” He brought him all these and cut them in two, laying each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
   whom then shall I fear? *
       the Lord is the strength of my life;
       of whom then shall I be afraid?
When evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh, *
       it was they, my foes and my adversaries, who
                             stumbled and fell.
Though an army should encamp against me, *
       yet my heart shall not be afraid;
And though war should rise up against me, *
       yet will I put my trust in him.
One thing have I asked of the Lord;
   one thing I seek; *
       that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
                            of my life;
To behold the fair beauty of the Lord *
       and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe
                           in his shelter; *
       he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling
       and set me high upon a rock.
Even now he lifts up my head *
       above my enemies round about me.
Therefore I will offer in his dwelling an oblation
   with sounds of great gladness; *
       I will sing and make music to the Lord.
Hearken to my voice, O Lord, when I call; *
       have mercy on me and answer me.
You speak in my heart and say, “Seek my face.” *
       Your face, Lord, will I seek.
Hide not your face from me, *
       nor turn away your servant in displeasure.
You have been my helper;
     cast me not away; *
       do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.
Though my father and my mother forsake me, *
       the Lord will sustain me.
Show me your way, O Lord; *
       lead me on a level path, because of my enemies.
Deliver me not into the hand of my adversaries, *
       for false witnesses have risen up against me,
       and also those who speak malice.
What if I had not believed
    that I should see the goodness of the Lord *
       in the land of the living!
O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure;
    be strong, and he shall comfort your heart; *
       wait patiently for the Lord.

Epistle: Philippians 3:17-4:1

Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

Gospel: Luke 13:31-35

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

"I want to go home"

                                                        

“I Want to Go Home” 

This narrative in the Passover Haggadah, begins thus:

My father was a wandering Aramean.

It was a difficult conversation. Cindy and I had agreed to answer a call to “retirement” and to serve part time at St. Peter’s Church in Salem, Massachusetts. It was our ticket home. We had served St. Mark’s Church in Saint Albans, WV for 11 years. I had enough years of credited service in the church to receive my full pension. That together with income from St. Peter’s would actually give us a respectable salary increase. I had spent many years of my professional life too far away. It was time to go home.

First however came that difficult conversation. I made an appointment with the Senior Warden. We had lunch at our customary meeting place when important matters needed to be discussed. I think he knew what was coming. When I informed him that I would be “retiring” at the end of December in 2006, his response was not one I could repeat here in exactly the same terms he used at the time. Suffice it to say, we had forged a close relationship as pastor/parishioner. His family had become close to our own.

Bruce was a man of enormous faith. He looked intently at me and said after that initial reaction, “Perhaps this is God’s way of looking out for you and your family”.

As it turned out I needed good medical care and I received that at Mass General. Cindy needed to be near her family as her folks approached their riper years. And Joshua was able to find a decent job at Logan Airport with American Airlines.

Deep within all humankind there is a yearning to go home. In our first lesson we hear that ancient creedal formula as recited by all Hebraica as a part of the Liturgy of the Passover Haggadah; “A wandering Aramean was my father”. In Rabbinical tradition the wandering Aramean was Jacob. We understood ourselves to be a people enslaved and in exile, but also a people for whom God would intervene to bring us freedom and the Law.

Many of us are a people who wander far from our homes in our origin stories. Unless we are among the peoples whose origin stories are from these lands. Often we were a people driven out of our homes by invading armies. History recounts endless examples of invasion and slavery. The Viking invasions of the British Isles in the seventh century, the European invasion of Colonial America, and of course our own participation in the slave trade. Presently, the Russian invasion of the Ukraine leaves us edgy about what comes next in our own history. 

We are driven time and again into the Wilderness. There, we are confronted with our demons. Jesus is haunted by the Evil One in today’s fascinating account of his own wilderness experience. 

Jesus ate nothing during those forty days. The Devil and Jesus knew he could turn stone into bread if he wished. How tempting,

when you are hungry to make such a command. It would be so easy. But humankind does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The Desert Fathers and Mothers often repeated those very words when they were famished.  In prayer their spirits were fed. And there is the wonderful story of a couple that went to St. Columba for marriage counsel. He fasted with them for one night. God’s word came to them in the long, lonely, hungry silence and they heard God speak to their hearts of their love for each other. That’s a unique approach to marriage counseling. Yes, humankind does not live by bread alone.

It was tempting when the Devil showed Jesus the glory of the nations. Imagine the authority and the power he has at his disposal, and all Jesus had to do was worship Satan. It is easy to give in to the evil of warfare. You can see the rubble throughout the nations during and after armed conflict. It is terrifying. Imagine having all that power at your disposal. But Jesus is unarmed. His only weapon is obedience to the law of God; love, forgiveness and reconciliation. Again and again we have to learn what Martin Luther King reminds us; “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” And hear these words from Dr King; “Evil may so shape events that Caesar will occupy a palace and Christ a cross, but one day that same Christ will rise up and divide history”. There is no room for violence or hatred in the heart of Jesus; his only possible answer to Satan is; “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’”

The Last Temptation of Christ is perhaps his most compelling. “Prove it Jesus. Prove you are the Son of God. Throw yourself off the pinnacle of the Temple so we can all believe you.” The tempter quotes Scripture; ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’ Jesus’ reply is another quote from Scripture; ’Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ As to proving that he is the Son of God, look, even if he does rise from the dead and manifestly appears to the women first of all, then to the twelve and more than 500 at one time, still they will not believe. How would throwing himself off the Pinnacle of the Temple prove anything?

Our faith is tested time and again. We are tempted to turn away in fear. We are now in the Wilderness of War. God knows what will become of us. A mind set of cold and calculating thought is hard to predict as is its stability. 

Jesus directs us in the wilderness experience to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, to worship God and worship God alone and not to yield to the many temptations that beset us at times like this.

For as St. Paul puts it; “The word is near you,” it is “on your lips and in your heart”. It is “the word of faith that we proclaim”.

I am glad I am at home where I can retire again and again and again. It has been more than 15 years since I retired the first time. The search for peace continues. There have been many wars in all the intervening years. But as long as I am among a people of faith like yourselves, it is worth keeping the candle of faith burning. Because the word of God is always very near.

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

Fr. Paul

Below are the readings appointed to be read on the First Sunday of Lent along with highlights of those thoughts that speak to my heart. 

The Collect:

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Deuteronomy 26:1-11

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, *
       abides under the shadow of the Almighty.
He shall say to the Lord,
  “You are my refuge and my stronghold, *
       my God in whom I put my trust.”
Because you have made the Lord your refuge, *
       and the Most High your habitation,
There shall no evil happen to you, *
       neither shall any plague come near your dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over you, *
       to keep you in all your ways.
They shall bear you in their hands, *
       lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and adder; *
       you shall trample the young lion and the serpent
                              under your feet.
Because he is bound to me in love,
     therefore will I deliver him; *
       I will protect him, because he knows my Name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; *
       I am with him in trouble;
       I will rescue him and bring him to honor.
With long life will I satisfy him, *
       and show him my salvation.

Epistle: Romans 10:8b-13

“The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Gospel: Luke 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.