Remembering Desmond Tutu

 Remembering Desmond Tutu

“Let Freedom Ring!”

(From The Washington Post 

January 1,2022)

The Bishops of the Diocese of Massachusetts asked us to ring the church bell in honor of Desmond Tutu last Friday at noon and I’m asking Tom to do that again right now. And as I do that let me say; 

Let Freedom Ring! Ringing of the Church bell!

It is a long hard road to freedom. Ask the children of Apartheid what it was like. Or the children of Slavery in America, perhaps we might listen to that story. Native Americans can tell you the story of what it was like to lose land and life. The Irish fled famine. Italians and Germans fled war. And so it goes. Here we are today. We are a people of conflict caught between a struggle for freedom while at the same time agents of oppression. The truth must be told. And I invite you to walk the way of Love. 

Yesterday, Desmond Tutu was laid to rest at St. George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, South Africa, may he Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory. 

I am no stranger to White Supremacy in America. When I became the Rector of Christ Church, Hyde Park in Boston the city was in the throes of Phase II Desegregation. On the eve of my first service I received a phone call from a woman I later learned was a parishioner. When I said “Christ Church rectory, good evening” she said; “You say one word about integration and we will kill you.” Click. And such was my welcome to that chapter in my ministry. 

Many years later, while serving as Rector at St. Mark’s Church in Saint Albans, WV a black teen age boy asked a white teen age girl to go out on a date. That night there was a cross burning on the black family’s front lawn. The next morning after our services I went to St. Paul’s Missionary Baptist Church. I wanted the black community to hear the news from me. I promised as God is my judge to do what I could. Pastor Mike Poke and I organized a march for the following Friday evening to go from one church to another to denounce this evil in the strongest terms possible. Hand in hand we marched. We carried the cross of Jesus right down Main St. Local officials and even Joe Manchin, then governor of the state of West Virginia joined in prayer with the whole community to renounce this and all wickedness having to do with racism.

The struggle for equality continues. 

Even as a child I learned early on about gender inequality. I used to love hanging around the kitchen table or when shooed off to bed to hang by the upstairs bannister and listen in to all the family gossip. I vividly recall my mother telling the story of her pay scale at the First National Bank of Boston. She worked data processing in payroll and because of her position she learned that she was being paid at a different rate than a man working exactly the same job in the very same office. When she confronted the boss, he said that the man had a family to support. My divorced mother said; “What am I, sliced liverwurst! I have two boys at home and I’m the breadwinner for my family”. That argument made no difference whatsoever and to this day the pay scales between men and women remains unequal and unjust. If being a feminist means, “equal pay for equal work”, among other things, then I am a feminist. 

Desmond Tutu was also a leader in LGBTQ rights and equality. I was no stranger to the fact of same sex relationships at a very young age. After my dad died my uncle and his “friend” Jimmy let me tag along with them on day trips all over the state of Massachusetts. On special occasions they took me to Frank Guiffrida’s Hilltop Steak House up on Route #1. Many of you will remember the plastic cows who kept us company while waiting to get to get a table. 

My uncle was gay, but I never thought of him that way. He was just my uncle, Jimmy was Jimmy and they were both good friends. But when I went to seminary our relationship began to change. Al did not hold back his feelings about the church which he considered a safe harbor for superstition and bigotry. My uncle freely and vigorously expressed his opinions. I learned some vocabulary from him which I found useful when I drove taxi in New York City and Boston; which I did to help pay my way through seminary. My grandmother took exception to much of my uncle’s vivid and colorful idiomatic epithets. She often said, that man swears like a stevedore. I had to look that word up too when I first heard it. 

Not long before I graduated from Seminary and prepared for Ordination, my uncle confronted me. This was way back in 1972, by the way, long before the church came around to deal with many of the issues of inclusivity which many of us take for granted now. He summoned me front and center as only my uncle could; “You with the turned around collar” he said, dripping with sarcasm, “I don’t give a good blankety blankety blank about what that church of yours thinks, I want to know about what you think of me.”  Immediately, I said; “Geez Al, you’re just fine with me.” “Then stand up for me and Jimmy in that blankety blankety blank church of yours some day!” And I did just that. And many more did just that. And Desmond Tutu did just that and together we moved the embrace of Jesus in ever widening circles of love to include all people by whatever color, gender, orientation, language and so on. 

Not that Jesus didn’t embrace us all in unconditional love from before time, now and forever, but it takes humankind so long to learn the way of love. 

Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu land many others led South Africa from Apartheid to Freedom and Justice. He led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which required confession, forgiveness and restitution, where possible.

Today we remember the time when the Three Kings bring their gifts to the Christ Child. We celebrate the gifts of Desmond Tutu and the Freedom he brings to our souls. It was a privilege to meet him in person, just once, but it was an unforgettable moment. I think of the great gift he was to this world. Martin Luther King was a great gift. And I think of your family and mine as a gift, as I do each and every one of you. 

So let the church bell ring as our lives lead us to embrace Freedom with Justice for All. This is not just an American Dream. This, as Desmond Tutu so often said is the Dream of God. 

Amen.

Fr Paul

Below, the readings appointed to be read on the Second Sunday of Christmas, January 2,2022.

The Collect:

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Lesson: Jeremiah 31:7-14

For thus says the Lord: Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, “Save, O Lord, your people, the remnant of Israel.” See, I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here. With weeping they shall come, and with consolations I will lead them back, I will let them walk by brooks of water, in a straight path in which they shall not stumble; for I have become a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.” For the Lord has ransomed Jacob, and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him. They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion, and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord, over the grain, the wine, and the oil, and over the young of the flock and the herd; their life shall become like a watered garden, and they shall never languish again. Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy, I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will give the priests their fill of fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my bounty, says the Lord.

Psalm: Psalm 84:1-8

How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! *
       My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of
                                the Lord;
       my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
The sparrow has found her a house
   and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; *
       by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts,
       my King and my God.
Happy are they who dwell in your house! *
       they will always be praising you.
Happy are the people whose strength is in you! *
       whose hearts are set on the pilgrims’ way.
Those who go through the desolate valley will find
                                it a place of springs, *
       for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.
They will climb from height to height, *
       and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.
Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; *
       hearken, O God of Jacob.
Behold our defender, O God; *
       and look upon the face of your Anointed.

Epistle: Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe.

Gospel: Matthew 2:1-12

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.”When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

Overturning Tables in The Temple

In the Name of One God; The Holy, Undivided and Everlasting Trinity.

“Over-turning the Tables in the Temple!”

What a Sunday to begin! Somebody; if I start turning tables over at the coffee hour, remind me not to take the Bible so literally!

My son David is the Senior Warden at St. Mary’s Church in Dorchester. So last week being my last “free” Sunday for a while, we worshipped with him and later went to brunch. Naturally, I had to search out the indoor plumbing. You know you’re in Boston when you go to the “men’s room” and discover it is not the men’s room after all. Where you would typically see the universal symbol for men or women on a bathroom door, instead you see a symbol half of which is for the male of the species, and the other half, female. The sign below the curious symbol reads; “Whatevah”.

The conversation we’re having in the church and the culture around it about gender and orientation is reaping interesting and renriching ways of looking at one another. I hope we are also learning that the old pigeon holes we put each other into are beginning to disappear. 

The phenomenon is not new to us. It is as old as the Gospel. St Paul put it this way; “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” ~Galatians 3:27,28.

When Paul references “Jew and Greek” he is not merely speaking of those two racial/ethnic delineations, he is speaking of all races and ethnicities. “We are all one!”

When Paul speaks of “slave and free”, he is not only speaking of those with freedom and those without, he is speaking of all folks in every economic class; rich and poor and everyone in between. “We are all one!”

And when Paul speaks of “male and female”, the same spirit is present. I would argue that Paul speaks up for all of us in the entire rainbow of human identity, inclusive of the LGBT community, which for so long has been persecuted and marginalized inside and outside the church. Did you not notice? There it is; right at the outset, in the beginning, as it were; the Gospel proclamation; “We are ALL one!”

Jesus overturned many tables and not just those in the Temple that day. The Gospel overturns our whole way of looking at one another. The Church Jesus planted overturned the tables of all human hatred. Right here at the heart of our love for one another; Jesus places himself on the Cross. Race, class, gender, orientation; this is not how Jesus saw us. Like an old Arab woman once told us when on Pilgrimage in the Holy Land in answer to the question; “What is the color of God?”

She replied; “The color of God is the color of water!” 

Today’s story; The Cleansing of the Temple occurs in all four Gospels. In John it occurs at the outset of Jesus’ ministry in the second chapter, and sets the tone for his whole life. In the Synoptics on the other hand; Matthew, Mark and Luke the event occurs at the conclusion of Jesus ministry. The confrontation of Jesus with the money changers and the Temple Authorities seals his fate and in a few short days there is a trial, a crucifixion, a death and a glorious resurrection! Talk about turning the whole world upside down!!!

I remember when we were in Seminary we fought for civil rights. Jonathan Daniels, a senior student had been shot to death the previous year to my matriculation, for protecting a young black girl. Violence and guns have been around for a very long time and has taken a vast toll on human life. We alone among developed countries kill one another off at the alarming of rate of tens of thousands each year. When I returned from Canada to attend seminary, gun deaths there could be counted in multiples of 10. Still can. Why is that? The young people of Parkland High and our Bishops call us to action. What part of “Thou shalt not kill” do we not understand anyway? Bad enough that there are well over 300,000,000 weapons out there. Worse still that we do not execute the full measure of the Second Amendment which calls for “A well regulated militia”. Until we make sure that the Second Amendment exists under the authority of that clause, the slaughter will continue. Folks we need to join the kids from Parkland and “March for our Lives”!

During the struggle for racial equality John Burgess was elected the first Black bishop in the Episcopal Church. He ordained me a priest in the church of God more than 45 years ago. I thank God for that for so many reasons. His consecration raised many an eyebrow among lots of white folks. 

Then it fell to us to begin exploring the possibility of the ordination of women. The church had fits over the ordination of the Philadelphia eleven and the Anglican Communion has yet to get over it in many quarters.

Then there was this. My uncle was what we called then “a confirmed bachelor”. This was way back in the 1950’s. More recently two of my children broke it to me; “Dad I’m gay”. One was afraid of how Cindy and I would take the news. The other told us to take it or leave it. More recently, I officiated at the wedding of one of Cindy’s sisters and her partner is another woman and they too love one another very much! Good heavens, and I say that advisedly, I’ve been around the LGBT community all my life. If ever there were a non issue in our family, this is it. Yet, in some quarters, the Church and the culture around it have gone downright apoplectic over the idea of celebrating God’s embrace of all people. 

We’ve been over turning tables in the Temple for a very long time. By what authority do we do this? Under what authority did Jesus make his whip of cords and chase out the money changers and those who traded in pigeons and the like? 

In the synoptics, when Jesus cleansed the Temple he told them plainly; “My House shall be a House of Prayer for ALL People” (emphasis mine). Jesus did not pick that turn of phrase out of thin air. He quoted scripture to show by what authority he did these things; specifically Isaiah chapter 56. The prophet considered the question of foreigners and eunuchs in the household of God. Both the Levitical and Deuteronomic Law Code separated foreigners and eunuchs from the sacred assembly. But not Isaiah and certainly not Jesus!!! Listen to this passage from the Prophet Isaiah; 

“Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,

   ‘God will surely separate me from his people’;

and do not let the eunuch say,

   ‘I am just a dry tree.’ 

For thus says the Holy One:

To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,

   I will give a monument and a name

   better than sons and daughters;

I will give them an everlasting name

   that shall not be cut off. 

And the foreigners who join themselves to God,

   I will bring them to my holy mountain,

   and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

   for all peoples.”

And then in the next verse the Prophet says;  

“Thus says the Holy One,

   who gathers the outcasts of Israel,

I will gather others to them

   besides those already gathered.”

There have always been persecuted outcasts among those God loves and cares about. God requires care and love among us as well. Lots of folks don’t like foreign folks, and want to build walls to keep them out. I often wonder how high that wall needs to be since so many foreign folks get here by air. Antipathy to the “other” has a long history. My grandmother used to say that it was the Irish who ruined Boston; which tells you what she thought of my dad. And she made me promise on the family Bible, that I’d never marry an Italian. I promised. I later broke that promise. But that’s all right. Ma has all that straightened out now that she’s in heaven. “Don’t you, Ma?” 

Foreign folks have often been given the cold shoulder here and around the world: and too the “eunuch”; those who raise gender and orientation questions. Talk about cold shoulder!

To our credit the Episcopal Church has handled these matters with something approaching Grace, albeit with the notable occasional brouhaha. 

The world doesn’t get what we’re doing sometime. Neither does so much of the church. As Paul so well puts it in today’s Epistle. “The message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” And “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.”

The core proclamation of today’s Gospel is: “We are a House of Prayer for ALL people”. This is because when Jesus stretched out his loving arms on the hard wood of the cross he did so in order that everyone might come within the reach of his saving embrace. 

God may surprise us from time to time in delightful kinds of ways just as happened last week after I returned to the lunch table with Cindy and David. “You’ll never guess who I met in the bathroom just now!” It doesn’t matter any more. Jew or Greek, slave or free, it doesn’t even matter any more if we are male or female. Because we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord and we shall always be “A house of prayer for ALL people”

In the Name of One God; The Holy, Undivided and Everlasting Trinity.

Honest to God

Honest To God

When was the last time an Episcopalian actually "invited" you to church? As Advent approaches this year, that's exactly what I'd like to do. Last Sunday was my first down day in a while. I just plain slept in, read the paper, drank coffee and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. After 46 years of priesthood I thought I deserved a break. Being an Honest to God Pagan from time to time has much to commend itself. 

But then Cindy and I started thinking about Advent. What shall we do? Obviously it makes sense for us to visit churches we've served since retirement. It has been quite a journey. And we're both curious. 

But that begs the question. Why would I invite you to church?

You could be a perfect stranger to me.

You may be reluctant given what passes for "christian" out there. 

I agree with you there. I feel no connection whatsoever with the evangelical conservative movement which feels contrary to much of what I value in the Gospel.

For me, Jesus searched out and loved the outcast. 

In those days it may have been the leper. In our day it feels like the LGBTQ community. 

Jesus searched out the poor, the meek. the brokenhearted and the persecuted.

These were among those Jesus described as blessed. ~Matthew 5

The Episcopal Church and other "mainstream" churches have struggled to be inclusive communities that search for justice for the poor. 

Jesus is compassion, reconciliation and above all, Jesus is the Love of God made flesh and blood.

This is Who I seek.

When I want to focus on the Love of God made flesh and blood I look to Jesus. There are four magnificent snapshots we have of him in The Sacred Writings: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. The reading of them takes center stage in our Liturgy. The Gospel Book is brought into the midst of our congregations as Jesus came into our midst in the town squares to long ago.

I invite you to come and meet this Jesus along with the rest of us.

May I suggest that if you wish to take me up on this invitation you do so "Honest to God". This is the only place to begin, in the center of your Heart of Hearts where God lives. 

I invite you to go to the very center of your Heart of Hearts this Advent and come to rediscover who God is for you. This is how I seek to approach the Sacred. And to tell you the truth after 46 years of life in the church, that is pretty much where we all begin; "Honest to God". 

This is not to say you will not find pettiness and hypocrisy in the church. God knows I've fought many a petty battle with what I considered "small minded" folk for many years. Truth be told I can also get a bit petty and small minded too. 

To tell you the truth, there is plenty of pettiness and hypocrisy to go around. But there is also a far higher truth to live into also. To find a place where we can come to terms with the lesser within us as well as with the noblest within us is exactly what the church is designed to be: Honest to God!

Yes. I invite you to church. Pick one. They're all pretty much the same. Wonderful people who will be a blessing to you and a bane as well, I assure you. This is true of us all. The church is a wonderful place to come to terms with the truth about us all "Honest to God".

In the silence before sleep, this is Who I discover "Honest to God". As I converse with the hallowed emptiness of a sleepless night, there You are, the same now as ever. What seems empty to me, Honest to God, is full of your Love for me. Eventually, this is how I fall asleep; In Your love.

This is what keeps me coming back to church, to learn and learn and learn again that You are there in our midst; "Honest to God".

And so I invite you to church, not so much to "go to church" as to "be the church".
Having folks who can be "Honest to God" with one another is such an inviting prospect!

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

Fr Paul

The Winnowing Fork

The Winnowing Fork

Please allow me to thank you for your invitation to spend the remainder of this Advent Season, Christmas, and even into Epiphany to be with you. Together with joy let us set forth the Word of God and Celebrate the Sacrament of Christ’s Presence among us. I am delighted to be with you particularly at this time of year.

Allow me to introduce my wife, Cindy. We met each other not far from here in Hyde Park 38 years ago while I was serving at Christ Church. And we are delighted to be in Dorchester where two of our sons were born at the old St. Margaret’s Hospital over on Cushing Avenue. 

Cindy and I have been married 37 years now. We have three grown sons. Our first born, David lives nearby and attends St. Mary’s Church. Our second married recently and lives in Charlotte and our youngest lives in San Francisco. I have been ordained 44 years and have served congregations in this Diocese, in Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. I “retired”, after a fashion, 10 years ago this Christmas and in my retirement I have served as interim and “bridge” priest wherever and however the church  needed. I like writing particularly on issues of Congregational Development. I thank God for all these wonderful blessings. And I thank God for you. You are a blessing to one another and to the church as today’s Epistle says; “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another.”

In this very special Advent season we prepare for the birth of the Holy Child. There is a note of urgency in our preparation. We hear it in the voice of John the Baptist in today’s Gospel as he enters onto the stage of sacred history with these words;

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

Make his pathways straight”

We are to make room in our hearts for the Birth of this Holy Child, as John reminds us again with that same note of urgency;

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”

This Kingdom is indeed near, it is at hand. In fact it has already arrived. It is within you. Again and and again, Jesus uses these words “near”, “at hand”, “within”, and “among” to describe the location of the Kingdom of God. His winnowing fork is already in his hand.

We needn’t wait until we die to live it. Nor do we await some cataclysmic event to occur, as some claim, when the earth and the heavens shall pass away. No, dear friends. God’s Kingdom is here, within and among us. That is why it is a matter of urgency that we prepare our hearts to receive The Child again this Christmas.

We are to repent. That is to say, we are to become something “new” again for God in the same way that God is always becoming something “new” to us. We are to undergo a “complete makeover”. I imagine that there are some of you who like those TV shows where they are always gutting out and making over somebody’s home. Don’t you wish you had the wherewithal to do all that you might dream of doing in the home in which you dwell? O well, in the meantime we make do with what we have. 

The dwelling place of which the Scripture speaks, however, is within the human heart. Here is where we can make the kind of metamorphosis that John and Jesus want, right here, within our hearts. When John uses that word “repent” he uses a Greek word “metanoia” which means “a complete makeover”. Much like a grub undergoes a metamorphosis from its cocoon to become a magnificent butterfly, so too we are invited by John and Jesus to make our hearts new again. In point of fact one of the images the early church used to signify who we are to become is the butterfly. Where we now put a cross, the early church often put a butterfly, a very beautiful one, like a Monarch Butterfly. 

Which reminds me, do you have any idea how beautiful you are in God’s eyes? How magnificent? As Shakespeare described humankind 

“What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason,
how infinite in faculties, in form and moving,
how express and admirable in action, how like an angel,

in apprehension, how like a god!” 

~Hamlet; II,2.

And Michelangelo, when he looked at a block of marble, he did not see a formless hunk of stone, he saw the potential for an angel. Imagine the exquisite shill of the sculptor working on the rough corners of your soul to make of you something beautiful for God! Jesus is your sculptor! 

The Holy Child is soon to be born for us. We have now lit the second candle of the Advent Wreath a candle that represents Love; not just a love of God and of one another, it is the love we are commanded to have in our hearts and souls for ourselves. The second of the two Great Commandments is this: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Notice please that the second commandment is to Love your neighbor "as" you do yourself. It does not say "instead" of yourself” but “as” yourself, that is to say, in like manner.

There are distractions to be sure. There is the incessant “jingle” of “Christmas” bells and piped in music in all the stores and the hectic pace we keep this time of year. There is the din of the news much of which portends ill for many of us and the nations of the earth. This is a danger and a distraction to the proper nourishment of our souls. 

It is an urgent matter for us is take quiet time and prayer to be with God as we prepare our hearts to be present to the Holy Spirit. 

In today’s first lesson the prophet reminds us that a little child born of the root of Jesse, shall come among us. Furthermore “he shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth”.

Just for the record, the biblical narrative repeats the theme of Justice  time and again. Today, for instance the Psalmist says; 

“He shall defend the needy among the people; 

he shall rescue the poor and crush the oppressor.

He shall live as long as the sun and moon endure.”

Not only is our Advent preparation urgent, it is also clear that God will judge justly for the poor, and will hold the oppressor accountable for any and all oppression. With his fierce and urgent voice John says; “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and will gather his wheat into the granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” Be forewarned ye leaders of the world and within our own nation. Repent!

I don’t want to be on the wrong side of God's winnowing fork, do you? Imagine how it would go over if you were the one by whom 20 million people were denied health care! The Gospel, as Jesus says, is indeed sharper than any two edged sword.

Advent waiting is anything but passive. Advent waiting is full of expectation and urgent preparation, much like any expectant mother awaiting the birth of her child. There is much to be done before the moment arrives. 

We have much to do as we await the Birth of the Holy Child this year. Our souls await a complete makeover so that you and I can become the hands and feet of Jesus in and for the sake of the world we live in. In order to repent as John and Jesus would have us repent we will need to undergo such a transformation as will make each of us something very beautiful for God indeed. That transformation is not just a personal one it has its social dimension as well. I would be less than candid if I did not say that I am concerned about any nation, especially our own, when it turns its back on the needy and the poor, the outcast, the sick and the lame. You and I may have to prepare ourselves for further action as we move into the next chapter of our nation’s history.

Teresa of Avila the 16th Century Christian Mystic writes;

“Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.” 

Jesus will come again this year and when he comes all people will be invited to find hope, love, joy, and peace in him, just like Advet words proclaim. God help anyone who prevents the hope, love, joy and peace of God from justly extending to all without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, class, gender or orientation. We seek to be what Jesus lived and died for. We are to become more and more "A house of prayer for all people". Even now the winnowing fork is in his hand!

We seek to be among those on whom God’s favor rests, during this Holy Season of urgent expectation. My prayer for all is the same as the Scripture proclaims on this Second Sunday of Advent.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In the Name of God, the most holy, undivided, and everlasting Trinity.

Fr Paul.

There's A Song in My Heart!

There’s A Song in My Heart

There is a song in my heart this morning. There is a song in all our hearts this morning. We sing a song of gratitude to God for the ministry of Carol Amos, our parish organist and music director. There is a song in our hearts for Paisley Jayde Wilson this morning, as she enters into the community of faith through the sacrament of Baptism.

Those who sing, pray twice as St. Augustine once said more than 1500 years ago. When we sing, there is a melody in our hearts, and there is poetry in the words we use in these grand hymns. If we let them dwell within us, they have the power to change our lives, to heal and to strengthen us, to teach and empower us for God’s mission and ministry in this world.

What are we here for?

What song do you think there is in the heart of God?

Let me suggest a reminder; “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to the end that all who believe in shouldn't perish but have everlasting life.” ~John 3:16. 

I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I look at the world with all its violence, warfare, terror, bigotry and oppression, I find it anything but lovable. Sometimes when I look at the lives of those I love, it can get discouraging. And when I read the daily papers or watch the news, I think, what a mess!

But not so with God. God loved the world so much that the only begotten was willing to give his life for the whole of it notwithstanding the wickedness of it all.

This is what bring a song to my heart. Because this is nothing less than the song of God. Week after week after week Carol and this choir work diligently to sing these songs so that we too may learn to love the world with all the love with which God loves it. It would be easy to wash our hands of it all. But that not how God works.

This is not how Jesus does things either. This is not how Jesus sees you. To Jesus, you are infinitely precious. We see it in a newborn, don’t we? We see the innocence, the loveliness, and beauty of this brand new child. Our hearts are filled with love, joy and hope aren’t they? 

You would give your life for this child, wouldn’t you? I’d give mine for my children. This is how it is with God. He gave his life for each and every one of us. And no matter how many messes you’ve made, no matter how hopeless it may seem, God never gives up on us, or anyone else for that matter and certainly not for this tired and sinful old world. There’s not a soul on the planet God will give up on.

God is filled with love for it all. And there is a song in my heart because of it. We thank Carol Amos today for her ministry. We baptize Paisley Jayde today and mark her as God’s own child forever. By the way she already is God’s child. She is already forgiven. What this water and this baptism does is that it helps us see what God has already done for her.

If God so loves the world we live in,  what about us? How much do we love this very dangerous and wicked place?

Imagine if you will every single baptized person on the face of this planet, every single congregation, every single denomination, all churches, all synagogues, all mosques…imagine the collective power of all of us when combined.

If we all organize our lives and worship places around the needs of the communities we live in…if every single child of God were to dedicate himself or herself to some form of servant ministry, imagine what that combined effort could accomplish. 

Imagine if we were all on the same page, all pulling in the same direction. For example, one of the most noble symbols for this country is the American eagle. Have you ever seen an eagle soar on the updrafts of a strong canyon wind? How magnificent! Notice it takes both wings for an eagle to soar. In fact, it takes both wings for any bird even to get off the ground and fly, let alone soar.

That’s both wings; the left wing and the right wing. We sometimes forget this one simple and obvious fact of life. Just because we may differ theologically, politically, or on the matter of any other opinion. You’ll never fly, let alone soar, none of us ever will until we come to understand that we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord. Whether we are Conservative or Liberal, Republican or Democrat, Rich or Poor, Black or White, Male, Female, Gay or Straight…whoever we are we are all of one blood. Blessed Paul the Apostle put it in these magnificent words; "As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." ~Galatians 3:27 & 28

Until we come to understand this one key fact of the Gospel, we will find ourselves hobbled by the wickedness of divisiveness. Today there is a song in our hearts. One song. Today there is a Baptism in our Church. Today there is One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father of All.

In the Name of the God, the most holy, undivided and everlasting Trinity.

Fr Paul