"Consider the Lilies of the Field"

 “Consider the Lilies of the Field”

In Celebration of the Life of Bill Graham

A Meditation by Fr. Paul Bresnahan

Matthew 6:25-29 ~“Consider the Lilies of the Field”

‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

“Consider the Lilies of the Field”

“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow”.

This Gospel was written for an occasion like this.

Bill Graham spent a lifetime making things beautiful. He dedicated all that he had and all that he was so that he could scatter comfort and joy all around the North Shore well beyond anyone’s ability to calculate or measure. What a blessing he was to us. 

Even now I imagine him in a field of flowers gathering up a bouquet for his beloved. But that’s the friend and the priest in me talking. I can’t imagine anything better, unless, of course it were a shop on Essex Street in Salem. That really was lovely.

“Beautiful Things”. That’s what he called the shop. And it was exactly that. You could stop by anytime and there he was out back, surrounded by a grand clutter of flowers and greens and vases and what not of every manner under heaven. And by some miracle he’d pull things from hither and yon and voilà: there was something very beautiful indeed; a bouquet for the eyes and the nose and something about it all moved us to love.

That’s because Bill loved us. And so does Phil. In our particular case, when Cindy and I fell in love and married, Bill prepared the flowers for the wedding. Those flowers adorned the altar at Christ Church, Hyde Park on October 13,1979. And Phil sang. It was a glorious and unforgettable day! Thank you both!

Day in and day out. Year in and year out, you could count on Bill to be there and Phil too ready to greet you with warmth and affection Whatever the occasion, all you had to do was call in and tell Bill what you needed and he would go straight to work, his hands a blur and out of a menagerie of living things he’d gather another bouquet and prepare something special just for you.

So it was for many unforgettable days and special occasions for so many people. It could be the birth of a child, a wedding or an anniversary, the illness of a fried, the death of a loved one, a gesture of kindness, an expression of love, a request for forgiveness. You could always stop by or call in, and Bill was on it. Before you knew it there they were, delivered by my friend Phil. My best friend Phil. What a delight it was to to open the door and see that smile and those flowers.

Talk about beautiful things!

Thank you Bill

Thank you Phil

What a precious thing is life, friendship, love!

And family. I feel like I know you all well. You included Bill in all those Holidays; Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter and so on. Phil described those days to me in detail. In infinite detail. He knows every name, every important day in your lives, every school and workplace, every joy and sorrow. He loves every single one of you and so did Bill.  You made Bill family to you. Your kindness and love meant everything to him.

Thank you all. 

And to all his friends too many to number. How often you would stop by in the store just to say hello. You are a tribute to him and thank you for being here. I know how much you cared for him because I know how much he cared for you. 

Every single flower and every single one of us he touched spoke of that love. Not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as even one of these.

And then there came the illness. Even then he resolutely continued making beautiful things for as long as he could at the shop, in public speaking engagements, then at home. Only weeks ago he was baking cookies, doing needlepoint. Always something to make this old world a little more beautiful. 

The day he died, I visited Bill one last time. He was in extremis so I stayed with him for some time and said some prayers from my Celtic Prayer Book. I recited some lines from Morning Prayer

“One thing have I asked of the Lord. This is what I seek. 

That I may dwell in House of the Lord all the days of my life.

To behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his Holy Temple."

I have no idea whether he heard me or not but it always puts me at ease to pray. And besides the words seemed fitting.

I got up to leave but just then my buddy Phil arrived with some flowers, naturally. We visited. A kindly woman stopped by with a Golden Retriever named Rosie. It was delightful. Finally, I asked one last blessing: “The Peace of God which passes all understanding” Later that night Phil posted a picture of the seashore; “Good night my handsome” it said.

What next my friends? The priest in me must now speak to our faith as well as to our skepticism in all honesty, in all truth, and with a note of authority. 

You know my story Phil. You know what my grandmother said about all this. When my dad died at Christmas in 1953 I was only 8 years old. I wanted to know if I’d ever see him again. The “christians” in the family said my dad couldn’t go to heaven because he didn’t go to church. Thank God my uncle was an atheist. He told me not to worry because he said my dad would get to heaven a whole lot sooner than anybody in that crowd would.

My grandmother was the authority in the family on all matters theological. After all, she was the one who sent me to church.

So I asked her

“Ma, is there a God?"

“Of course there is” she said

“Ma, is there a Heaven?”

“Of course there is” she said.

Then I said; “Ma, Is my daddy there?” 

Ah there was a moment’s hesitation. After all she was a Yankee from Downeast Maine and my dad was an Irishman from Butman St in Beverly. And there was that nasty divorce. The prospect of spending an eternity with that man must have given her pause.

A lot was riding on what she did next. 

I remember it like it was yesterday

She knelt down right there on the kitchen floor in Somerville and held me close and said;

“Of course he is”

Because of that here I am today to proclaim the power of love over death whether we believe it or not, understand it or not.

There is a special place in God’s heart for Bill.

For you and me. For all. No exceptions. 

To prove it, here I am to embrace you with these words.

So consider the lilies of the field how they grow. From the dust of the earth they rise and live again. And not even Solomon in all his glory is arrayed as even one of these. That’s not just my uncle or my grandmother or me talking. That’s Jesus.

“Good night Bill”

“See you on the other side”

“Amen”.

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

Amen.

An Uncomfortable Gospel

 An Uncomfortable Gospel

This whole scene today with Mary and Jesus makes me very uncomfortable. The whole idea of a woman wiping my feet with her hair with that amount of perfume in front of the whole vestry the congregation, my wife, family and friends makes me squirm and I think for good reason. It seems awfully personal and frankly a bit over the top. 

And the amount of perfume. The last I checked, and I checked, a 10oz bottle of  Nard Magdalena Anointing Oil bottled in Jerusalem would cost $8.85 from Amazon. My Prime membership guarantees delivery by Friday. But did you know a pound of the stuff would set you back $2,986.62! I checked on that too! 

There’s not a vestry in the Episcopal Church that would’t raise objections if anyone went off and spent that amount of church funds without prior approval. And rightfully so! Can you imagine the debate if someone ventured the idea? I mean even folks who think the world of me would rightly ask good questions about that kind of expenditure especially if it would take away from other valuable programs in the church. We simply don’t have that kind of money to spare; and to what end?

John’s Gospel, in telling this story with the benefit of hindsight sees that Judas was not particularly concerned about the poor. But who among us serving on any vestry could justify such extravagance even if we know that our beloved is destined to die? 

But Jesus tells them to leave her alone. I mean think of it. There she is wiping his feet with her hair and the fragrance fills the entire house. Good heavens a pound of the stuff you could smell half a block away. What is going on here anyway?

Then Jesus mentions his burial as if she alone among them sees what is coming in our Lord’s life. She is preparing his body for the inevitable. She alone sees who he is to the disciples. He is the source of their forgiveness and eternal life. She has seen it time and again and knows of it in her own life. She knows she is personally forgiven and that he has given her eternal life. She alone understands, at some level, that he will die and then will rise again. And she will be there again with the other women to anoint his body for burial and will be among the first to see the Risen One.

The women who follow Jesus play a critical role in the salvation story. The Mary/Martha story is interesting when one is fussing over the cleanup and the dishes while the other sits at his feet hanging on every word that falls from his mouth. Then there is the woman at the well who Jesus meets at noonday. She has had a whole sequence of husbands and the one she had then was not her husband. Another fascinating encounter. And on an on and goes until Easter Day when it is the women who are there front and center to be the first to witness his Resurrection.

When a loved one dies we spare no expense. The average cost of a funeral in Massachusetts is around $10,000. 

By the way, the Book of Common Prayer urges the people to make responsible preparations for death so that the burden of it all does not fall on our families.

Many avoid the subject. Clergy and lawyers are notorious for avoiding the subject. But in my experience families are often thrown into the trauma of dealing with the subject and are left on their own to make arrangements. Aunt Shirley didn’t have a will, durable power of attorney or any other arrangements. When urged to do so she merely said that she was afraid if she did make arrangements something might happen to her. Then yes something did happen to her. Namely she died and the State of Florida made all the decisions about the disposal of her estate because she had not done so. 

Let that be a word to the wise. All this business of death and resurrection and even forgiveness can make us uncomfortable. It is all so personal especially when it happens to us or to a loved one.

But it happens. As the Great Litany cheerily reminds us

“From from violence, battle, and murder; and from dying suddenly and unprepared,

Good Lord, deliver us.”

That’s the key. From dying suddenly and unprepared! In this Gospel Jesus and Mary were embracing preparations and facing facts. Moreover Mary understood that Jesus was doing something new for us. As the Prophet Isaiah reminds us today “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

Jesus is about to introduce the idea of Forgiveness and Resurrection into our lives. Do you not perceive it?

This is what Paul is turning over in his mind in today’s Epistle. He is looking at life and death, suffering and resurrection and his life in Jesus and what that now means as something entirely new. He says; “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

This is Paul’s way of understanding what it means to anoint Jesus with costly perfume. Pure nard. Even a whole pound of the stuff. 

Do you not perceive it, Jesus asks of us? 

Do you not understand what I am doing for you? 

Do you have any idea of how much I love you?

And as to the Resurrection from the dead. 

Do you not perceive it?

As uncomfortable as this moment between Jesus and Mary may make us feel, it remains a moment of pure innocence in the Gospel. Mary loves Jesus unlike anyone else gathered there that day. It had nothing to do with money but everything to do with the intimacy of her devotion to him and his love for her. No matter what she had done or not done in her life, Jesus loved her. Everything stood forgiven but more than that he gave her something entirely unexpected; Eternal Life. It was a life that had already begun and that she was living in the very moment she anointed his feet with her hair. There was nothing uncomfortable for Mary or Jesus in that moment. It was a moment of organic authenticity and fit perfectly into the plan of salvation Jesus prepared for her and for all of us. 

Which bring us finally to the words of today’s Collect; 

“Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found”

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

Fr Paul

Below the readings appointed for the Fifth Sunday in Lent and highlights that speak to my heart and soul

Fifth Sunday in Lent

The Collect:

Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Isaiah 43:16-21

Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.

Psalm 126

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, *
       then were we like those who dream.
Then was our mouth filled with laughter, *
      and our tongue with shouts of joy.
Then they said among the nations, *
      “The Lord has done great things for them.”
The Lord has done great things for us, *
      and we are glad indeed.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord, *
      like the watercourses of the Negev.
Those who sowed with tears *
      will reap with songs of joy.
Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, *
      will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.

Epistle: Philippians 3:4b-14

If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

Gospel: John 12:1-8

Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”

Why are you weeping?

Why are you weeping?

God knows there’s plenty of that!

But then there are those who are able to stare into the abyss and refuse to capitulate to the fear and the sadness of it. Take Betty, for instance; she lived her life with spina-bifida. She was not able to process with the choir but she sang with all her heart and soul. She fought off depression all her life until she approached the end. That’s when things changed for Betty. One day as the inevitable came closer, I went to visit her and bring her communion. She was remarkably excited and cheerful. As I was leaving, she said to me; “Don’t forget my envelopes! After all, I promised God that I would tithe.” 

And tithe she did. Ten percent right off the top. I told her; “Betty, certainly you need some of that money for your own living expenses!”

She looked at me resolutely with a cheerful smile; “Oh Fr. Paul, all my life I have not been able to walk without crutches but soon, I will be able to leap like a deer! Don’t you know that for all Jesus has done for me, the least I can do for him is tithe. Besides, I still get to keep 90%!” 

She was so excited and cheerful as she approached the end! Yes, she suffered plenty. But she suffered all her life! As the end approached, she knew things would be very different for her soon and very soon. Because of her witness, my attitude toward giving and generosity changed. Moreover, my whole viewpoint of life, death, and the resurrection changed because of her. 

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

In today’s Gospel we are told that Mary was weeping. Not only was she grief stricken over the death of Jesus, but now, to add insult to injury, somebody had apparently taken the body away! She will not even be able to give her “Rhabbouni” a decent burial. The defeat of the cross has now given way to yet another indignity. Of course, she was crying. 

“They have taken away my Lord.”

First the angels asked her why she was weeping. But apparently she didn’t recognize them as angels. That recognition was to come somewhat later on.

Then the gardener appeared to her. Maybe this is the grave robber she thought to herself, and so she said; “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him.” Small comfort, but at least she could give him a decent burial.

Then came the Astonishing Surprise that has altered all of Salvation History. 

“Mary!” 

In that one word there came the recognition that Jesus Christ is Risen today. Alleluia!

“Rhabbouni!” The word occurs but one time in the Bible. It is of Chaldean origin and can be rendered “teacher” or “Lord” like the Greek “kyrios”…meaning “the one who is in control of my life” or “my master”. It is a word used to describe obeisance to the Emperor in the ancient world. It is therefore used by the early church to describe our obedience to our Master. The turn of phrase, “Kyrie eleison” is applied to Jesus as we greet one another in worship.

Jesus tells Mary not to hug him yet. God knows why, but something in Divine logic prevents it. He has not yet ascended to the Father. So he instructs her; “go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”!

Thus Mary’s weeping changes suddenly. Now there is excitability, incredulity, and even maybe a tinge of panic. She went and told the disciples what she had experienced; namely, the first encounter of the Risen Christ!

The weeping was over.

Folks, I wonder what side of the resurrection you and I are on? 

I know what side of the resurrection the world is on. All the warfare, violence, hatefulness, racism, and bigotry; in short, the brutal sin of it all. This world is on the other side of the The Resurrection and hasn’t got a clue as to what the Gospel is. The world has yet to hear the Good News that all our sins are forgiven and that death itself has been vanquished by the Love of God.

The world has yet to hear that Jesus planted a community on earth dedicated not just to the love God but to the love of all humankind. This without any exception. Period. As Peter said; "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to God.”

The world can be a depressing place and we ourselves can fall victim to its sin and despair. The angels and gardeners are likely to find us weeping. I suspect that you and I are frequently on the edge of Doubt and Despair!

But there are angels and gardeners all around us. In fact look around you today. You are surrounded by angels and gardeners. We can share with one another all our joys and all our sorrows. We can share our faith and doubt. We can tell our stories. We can wipe away the tears. We can proclaim the Gospel of Jesus!

And that’s because Jesus Christ is Risen today! We are the Easter People! We are on this side of the Resurrection! 

In the meantime we needn’t wait until we’re dead to know the victory of Jesus. It won’t do you much good to wait till then  to live eternal life! The living Christ is here and now in the angels and gardeners we meet all around us. You are the angels and gardeners of God for the sake of the world you live in.

Paul knew there was hardly a moment to loose in the new life he could claim in Jesus. He was forgiven. Jesus paid the price for his sins, even for his zealous persecution of the church. He more than made up for all that in the church building skills he developed. He was a teacher. He was an organizer. And what a writer! In his better moments his eloquence spoke of the love of God in such a way as to inspire us to love one another. His famous Hymn to Love is read at so many weddings. Intuitively his words speak to the heart of what we all aspire to in human relationships; “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” ~I Corinthians 13. 

What we aspire to in our life in Christ is eternal life. Still we must settle for reality. Again Paul says in today’s Epistle; “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and God’s grace toward me has not been in vain.” 

Eternal life is the Grace of God at work within us, as it was with Betty. I often remember her witness to the Victory of Jesus. Somewhere today she is leaping like a deer in the heart of Jesus. 

In the here and now of Eternal Life I invite you in the Name of the Church to Proclaim the Risen Christ: you, his Easter People!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

The Easter Reason to be Alive

The Reason We Are Here

In the Passover meal that Jesus had with his disciples, in the Passover meal all Jews have with their families and friends, the evening begins with the four questions; “Why is this night different from all other nights”? Then the Papa, tells the story; “The Liturgy of the Haggadah”; that is to say the “telling” of the mighty acts by which God delivered the Children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt into the Promised Land. The Christian year now comes to Easter Day. We’ve had a remarkable Lenten journey tracing the Eucharist historically through time, a liturgy that find its roots in the Passover meal itself.

Why then is this day different from all other days for us? On this day we sing of Jesus’ Resurrection and his power over sin and death.

Do we understand and believe what such songs sing?

Will we really live again?

Has Jesus really delivered us from the power of evil?

Why is this day so different from all other days?

Our souls come to rest on how we answer such questions. 

That Jesus has such power as to rise from sin and death is not really so difficult to comprehend. After all if we believe he was indeed the “sinless one” and if he really was the Son of God, then the power he has over life and death would be self evident. His resurrection is really not so much of a stretch.

But why would he want to share this victory with each of us? Why would he love us so? In fact why did he go to the bother of making us in the first place? Why the fall into sin, only to redeem us back again? That seems like a set of imponderables to me.

I often wonder about the business of being alive. The very notion of being carries a mystery with it if we take a moment to ponder from time to time. The Mystery and the Majesty of life itself; Its purpose?

Then I wonder why we make it so difficult on ourselves and others. 

Why the sin?

Why the hate?

White supremacists? Jews? Arabs? Blacks? Whites? Republicans and Democrats?

Men and women can get into it and the nature of those conflicted relationships can baffle the best.

The whole business of sexual orientation has gotten to the point that the Church in Uganda has supported capital punishment for folks just for being who they are. Then they turn around and accuse us of being Biblically unsound because of our compassion and inclusivity. Talk about baffling!

In the midst of it all we have the Russian Army on the Eastern Front of the Ukraine, the Crimean Peninsula already annexed. Putin has it in mind that the great tragedy of the last few decades was the disintegration of the former Soviet Union and oh wouldn’t he like to be able to put that broken egg back together again. On the other hand there is the army of the Ukraine. And we have more or less thrown ourselves into the conflict on the side of Kiev. NATO forces are now mobilizing on the Western front of the Ukraine. Oh my aching head!

Kids and drugs, unemployment, crime…I could go on.

None of this is new.

The world Jesus was born into was occupied by the Roman legions, and the “Herods” ruled in brutal succession. It is interesting that of all the places on earth to select for birth, God choose the most conflicted place in history. There were wars, rumors of wars, insurrections and a whole lot of bloodshed.

And don’t forget the poor, the lame, the outcast, the lepers, the tax collectors, the prostitutes and sinners of all sorts. You name it, Jesus loved them all. Jesus loved us all even in the very center of our sins.

It was his idea to love us whoever we were. This offended the religious authorities who had a strict set of rules about who could come to the Temple and who could not, in order to offer sacrifices to God. Jesus, on the other hand loved those folks who had been marginalized and excluded. And the idea caught on with the early Christian Community. 

The first great controversy in the church, and yes, we’ve been embroiled in one controversy after another ever since, that first controversy was over whether you had to be Jewish first in order to be a Christian. After all, up until this first council in the Acts of the Apostles, from which we read today, everyone in the church was a Jew. Therefore all future Christians should be be Jews, correct? Peter and Paul in the meantime began to hear what Jesus had said about going into all the world and preaching this Gospel message of Forgiveness, Reconciliation and Love and likewise the Power of God over all sin and death. So then in today’s reading from Acts Peter says; "I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” 

Please note how fundamental this idea is to our faith. Anyone means anyone. Everyone means everyone. There are no exceptions. Even when Phillip the Evangelist baptized the Ethiopian Eunuch along the Gaza strip; I can well imagine the reaction back at headquarters; “You baptized a what?” We know that Paul had broken down the dividing walls between Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, male and female, now the dividing wall means even the Ethiopian Eunuch! Where will it end? Thanks be to God, it doesn’t. This is Easter at its heart. This Gospel message applies to all of you, no exceptions! The ever widening and inclusive embrace of Christ continues even unto this day.

The Gospel had become universal, in other words it had become “catholic” in its original sense. The church had become One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. The Good news now came to all, and covered as we might say a multitude of sins.

And if that wasn’t enough, Mary went to the tomb early on that first great Easter Day, not expecting much of anything except for the exquisite sadness of yet another death, but she found that the stone had been rolled away. Grave robbers! That was her first thought and she told the gardener so. But the gardener was somebody she had already known quite well. Interestingly enough she did not recognize him at first. Easter is, after all, a total surprise. No matter how many times Jesus told them that he must suffer, die and rise again, these people were not ready for that moment when it happened. He turned to Mary. He was not the gardener after all. He was Jesus. He was then and is now the Risen Christ.

“Mary”, he said to her. 

It wasn’t until that moment that she recognized him. “I have seen the Lord!”

That is how it will be with us too. All our lives long we hear the church tell us about our forgiveness. We hear about the resurrection. But we’re not really going to believe it until that moment comes when Jesus says to me; “Paul”. You won’t believe it until he calls you each by name.

So why are we here?

What is the purpose of my life?

You are here to bring good news to the poor.

To comfort those who mourn

To lift up the meek and the lowly

To satisfy those who hunger and thirst for righteousnesses

To be merciful and to obtain mercy

To be pure in heart and to see God

To be peacemakers, because this is what the children of God do.

And indeed to be persecuted for the sake of God, as you shall discover when you stand up for the poor, the meek and those who mourn and all the vulnerable of the earth.

The Wolves of Wall Street will seek to devour you. Greed, power and voracious sin is alive and well. There are all kinds of forces out there and in here that seek to devour and destroy the creatures of God. Make no mistake about that. That’s why we need to have our wits about us and become intentional about our discipleship.

We have a reason and a purpose to be here. We have been redeemed in order that we may participate in God's work of redemption for all. God wants to salvage whatever is possible of our lives and the lives of others. God wants us to be sure we know we are forgiven, and to make sure others do as well. God wants us all to be reconciled. We have put to death all our sins and nailed them to the cross of Christ. Thus as we die with him we are now raised with him in his glorious resurrection. Jesus Christ is Risen today!

Happy Easter my friends! Thank God at least we know why we’re here!

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

Fr Paul