The Nearness of God

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

   be acceptable in your sight,

   O God, my strength and my redeemer.” ~Psalm 19:14

The Nearness of God

That’s what seems to come to me today. Therefore, let’s consider this text from today’s Gospel; “Repent, The kingdom of heaven has come near”

   ~Matthew 3:2

Many years ago one cold and blustery Friday in December when I was a young priest in Hyde Park, I found myself in the bank across the street from the church. Suddenly dark clouds and a violent wind whirled outside. For a moment everyone stood still. Well, you know me; I am not one to let such a moment pass by; I wheeled about, fierced myself up with eyes blazing to say; “Repent!” There was a moment of suspended animation, then finally we all had a good laugh for ourselves. 

John the Baptist, likewise, was a fierce and edgy sort. His appearance in the wilderness, clothed in camel’s hair, his diet of locusts and wild honey is an indication of his somewhat feral nature. When it came to the Pharisees and Sadducees he did not hold back or mince his words; “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath that is to come?” Fair warning! It is a matter of ironic interest to me that for both John and Jesus, it was the fundamentalists of the day who proved to be the source of violent danger.

And yet folks flocked to him. His message; “Comfort ye, Comfort ye, my people!” drew us to him. When he appeared; he proclaimed the nearness of God. In the midst of that arid desert; in the rocky, dusty earthen experience of human suffering and injustice; John proclaimed Good News. The Waters of Baptism make new life possible. Copious amounts of water go hand in hand with the extravagant promise of God that we can indeed die to sin and rise to newness of life. God can bury bury sin and death and raise us up in the power of Christ’s resurrection. Rejoice! God is near.

The Christian hope is built brick by brick and person by person into a whole new realm of eternal life.  The nearness of God becomes an unmistakable sign of who we are. Jesus is very near to us. John said so. “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”

This blessed Advent season is full of the expectation of a new birth. That expectation is of the sort that is inevitable given the condition Mary finds herself in. She ponders what all these things might mean that the Angel Gabriel announced to her. Neither she nor Joseph could possibly understand it all. But there was no time for that. The Nearness of God was upon them and within her.

So they journeyed on from Nazareth to Bethlehem; an arduous and dangerous journey of just over 97 miles. Imagine that! Not an easy trip for anybody on foot, let alone a woman on a donkey in the fullness of her pregnancy. The Nearness of God comes to us much like every earthen journey; fraught with danger, distance, and possibility, requiring determination.

Thank God! The Nearness of the Holy One is with us every step of the way. I believe this is why we flock to John the Baptist. He proclaims the kind of repentance that understands our predicament. Like Mary and Joseph, there is no way we can possibly understand what it all means while going through it.

I remember when our boys were young. Those years were busy and demanding. After dinner, we put the three of them into the tub, dried them off, put on their P.J’s and sent them off to bed. But because of our baptism, I also remember story time every night. I remember lighting the sacred candle. We said our prayers. And then there was slumber in the Nearness of God. 

There were mouths to be fed, dishes to be done and endless loads of laundry, and a living to be earned to provide for it all. The whole journey was and continues to be a demanding one. If we do not stop to remember the Nearness of God in the Joy of Repentance, we miss so much of life. It is a sad and depressing world that doesn’t know the Nearness of God.

“Repent, the kingdom of God has come near.”

I think we flock to John and to Jesus precisely because in them we see the nearness of God.

Throughout the Biblical narrative we read the record of God’s Nearness. Today the Prophet Isaiah proclaims: 

“A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,

   and a little child shall lead them.

for the earth will be full of the knowledge of God

   as the waters cover the sea.”

Likewise the Psalmist points to a kingdom not yet completely fulfilled but no less hoped for.

“Give the King your justice, O God, *

The King 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”

In Sacred history we see Jesus as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and he shall reign for ever!

These words sing to our hearts in the Nearness of God.

As for the one in whose name you have dedicated and consecrated yourselves in and from this sacred place, he writes to us today in words of immediate and practical value; 

“May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus”…and…”Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.”

Paul brings the nearness of God front and center right up to the present moment. Here we are living as Paul urged us to live. I am grateful beyond words that you live this way because you become living evidence that Jesus is indeed present in the nearness of our friendship with one another. 

When John invites us into repentance I suspect it is more with a note of Joy than it is with a note of Severity. After all, John’s point was that the kingdom is near. God is near. God is no further away than Forgiveness, Reconciliation, or the next act of Compassion and Love. This is how Jesus is with us when he heals the sick, teaches the crowds, feeds the multitudes, or overturns the tables in the Temple Precincts, then dies, puts our sin away and rises again in Glory. 

God has come as near to us as the Holy Child who is born to us yet again this year. Prepare ye the way for the Holy One in your hearts!

Repentance is a matter of deep Joy. God’s day is not a day of darkness and gloom as it was on that that Friday in Lent on a Boston Bank so many years ago. Repentance is a matter of Joy to John, to Jesus and to all of us who would embrace this new life born to us in the nearness of God. 

“Repent for the kingdom has come near.” Amen. 

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

The Perfect Christmas

The Perfect Christmas!

In my mind’s eve Christmas is always perfect. 

I picture a large fireplace, stockings hung on the mantle, a Christmas tree with an abundance of presents, and a large happy family filled with laughter and joy on Christmas Eve and when morning dawns. One surprise after another announces how thoughtful and loving we all are of each other.

Many of us seek to create Christmas after the images we have in our minds’ eye of what this holy time means to us. 

But then there comes reality, perhaps what Christmas has become will be just a bit different for many of us. Many of the family we celebrated with in those days are no longer with us. Thankfully, we tend to forget the hurt and the conflict that left us out of communion with one another. Some of us will be alone. There is fear and poverty, and a few too many dislike others for one reason or another. I do wish Christmas could be perfect like it is in my mind’s eye. But, truth be told, Christmas is real.

There was one Christmas that was both perfect and real!

Especially real and absolutely perfect was that first Christmas, we read about it in the tonight’s Gospel. Our homes are warm, but in that holiest of holy places, there were barnyard animals, and God’s greatest Gift to the world was placed on a bed of hay where these same animals eat. That’s what the word “manger’ means after all. In French the word “manger” means “to eat”. In Italian “mange, mange” means “eat, eat!”. 

There was no room for this Child and his family in any local Inn where it might be cozy and warm. There were no hospitals, no midwives to minister to the Mother of God. Still they huddled close for warmth. Bethlehem gets cold at this time of year. It can even snow there. I would not be the bit least surprised if God’s living beings could see their breath on this most holy night. 

Included in the reality of this Holy Family is the fact that Mary and Joseph were “engaged” or “betrothed” as the Old English would have it. Jesus was born to us without the benefit of wedlock. Matthew’s Gospel records Joseph’s concerns about our Lady’s honor. But then the dream that came to him reassured Joseph of God’s decision to make this birth the instrument of God somehow becoming Flesh and Blood among us. (~Matthew 1:1-23)

Whatever the case, they had to make haste and get to the city of Joseph’s “house and lineage” where he could be recorded for the census. Nothing but death is more certain and real than taxes! And so it was that this family of modest means made their way by night to the little town of Bethlehem. 

We are told that the journey was a dangerous one. There was Herod and his murderous threats. The Family travelled by night. A star appeared to guide them on their way. And then, in the fullness of time the Child was born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes to keep him as warm as she could. She held him close to bond her love to his. No matter how deeply we dig down into the Mystery of this birth narrative we cannot help but be filled with the Hope, Love, Joy and Peace of Christmas The vision of that Mother and Child has moved the world then and since to the Gospel of Jesus; his life, death, and resurrection, and his victory over sin and death.

The angels sang when they told the shepherds of the news. They too made haste to see this thing that had come to pass. And so it was that all of heaven and earth would sing. 

In my mind’s eye, this is really where my gaze comes to rest. Not so much in the comfort and warmth of my own home but in the reality and perfection of God’s coming to us in the Word of God made flesh and blood in Jesus. 

I think it right that he would be born in a “manger” where the animals could not help but take a taste of hay. Very likely Mary and Joseph would gladly feed them. After all, the animals were hungry too. And Mary and Joseph being grateful for this humble place to birth a child, would only be too happy to share what little they had with the animals who gave them what warmth they could generate.

Christmas makes us all hungry for good things to eat. My grandmother’s squash pie, I can almost smell it still! The oven bursting with turkey, the turkey bursting with stuffing and all the fixings. The dishes laden with food. The family gathered passing it all around, and me stuffing my plate   and my stomach beyond its capacity to hold it all. The memory is all so holy.

And then the long and luxurious afternoons where the women played cards and gossiped in the kitchen and the men would sleep in the parlor. My brother Bobby and I playing with trucks or troops and when there was a loud noise which there was bound to be, one of the uncles would growl at us to be quiet. We’d snicker and comply for a bit. But then it would happen all over again. It was Christmas!

This was all a long time ago for me. But many more will rehearse the family traditions all over again this year. Others celebrate Christmas in their own peculiar and unique way. But it all began a very long time ago when the greatest gift of all was given on one very silent and holy night far, far away. 

And my soul sings with joy to this old world because of what I remember in profound gratitude for the life God gives me and the family that made me who I am. 

And tonight God’s Table is laden with good things to eat. Perhaps it only looks like a little wafer broken by an old semi-retired priest and a cup of ordinary wine. But we gather too around this table and hold out our hands to receive this Child born anew tonight in our souls. 

This Bread and this Wine is more than all our Christmas Tables put end to end from one generation to another for as long as humankind has feasted in all our holidays rolled up into one. This is God’s very Banquet Table. And all of us, from the first days of our redemption until now and yet to come are welcome and invited! 

This Bread and this Wine we receive tonight was born in a manger a long time ago and far away. He fills us with good things, his very life born for us in flesh and blood like everything that is real about him and us. Jesus fills us with Eternal Life.

My soul sings with joy to this old world because of what I know of this little Child and his mother dear. For Joseph, the carpenter, and the donkey standing near. The cattle lowing and the rooster crowing. 

And the little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The Perfect Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

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

Fr Paul

Rediscovering Celtic Christianity and Joy!

Joy and Celtic Christianity

Pictured is Aidan of Lindisfarne d. August 31,651AD. A pioneer in the Celtic Spirit of Christianity. And what was the idea behind Celtic Christianity? Organize community life around the needs of the people. For example, are your loved one dying, bring them here and we'll tend to them. Are they sick? Bring them here we'll nurse them back to health. Are you hungry? Come here we'll feast together (no questions asked as to eligibility). Do you or your children hunger for knowledge? Come here, we are among the best scholars in Europe. Is your spirit downcast? Come here and we'll cheer you with genuine conviviality and with good stories, and more feasting. Above all, does your heart search for something more. We'll tell you of the love of God. And if you can't quite get it, we'll point you toward Jesus who made it abundantly clear how much God does love you and the rest of us. And then the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and the friendship of many of us will bring you to joy. Much of Western Civilization, this nation, and much of the church has forgotten all this. It is time to rediscover who we are called to be for one another. Soul friends! 

Passion Sunday Now and Then

Passion Sunday then and Now

At the moment of his death Time stands still!

The Sunday of the Passion of our Lord, Palm Sunday, has always meant a great deal to me. I loved getting my Palms as a child, the festive procession into the church, the wonderful music, and of course the dramatic reading of the Passion Narrative. It is a moment in the church year when time itself stands still and we contemplate the mighty acts by which our Salvation is given unto us.

It is also the Sunday I asked Cindy to marry me. I have often thought of how appropriate it was that we would happen to become engaged on that particular Sunday; Passion Sunday.

To tell you the truth there was a lot on my plate that year as there is every year for a parish priest. I was preparing all the Holy week services and I just didn’t need one more thing piled on. 

And so I said; “Just let me get past Easter and I’ll ask you then.”

To which she said; “A little less talk and a little more action!”

At which point I remembered the old English proverb; “The faint heart never won the fair lady.”

So I took the train to Boston and it was during that ride that I was shaking like a leaf. And I remember taking the escalator up to the 5th floor of the old Jordan Marsh department store where the wedding rings and the engagements rings were on display.

And I remember this all like it was yesterday. Behind the counter there was a diminutive lady by the name of Kelly, and I asked to look at the engagement rings.

She said; “Oh Father, you don’t want to be looking at those rings!”

Realizing then that I was wearing my clerical collar I said; “Oh this,

don’t worry about that, I’m an Episcopal priest.”

Mrs Kelly crossed herself and said; “Thanks be to God!” and breathed a generous sigh of relief and helped me find a nice ring.

I made a reservation at the Cafe Budapest, at the time, one of the finest restaurants in the City of Boston. I asked Cindy to go to dinner with me after church on Palm Sunday, and I think by now, she had a good inkling of what was a in the offing. 

And so it was, that after church that day we drove into the city and there was a lovely table set us with candles and a bud base and a red rose to greet us. We ordered dinner and a violinist came to the table and played exquisitely for us. 

I had put the ring into a Diamond match box so there wouldn’t be a bulge in my jacket pocket. Then I produced the ring and told her of my love and asked her hand in marriage. 

There was no hesitation, but a simple and uncomplicated declarative; “Yes.” We ordered a bottle of wine; “Egri Bikaver”, a popular Hungarian wine, the name of which means “Bull’s Blood”. I had  the Hungarian Goulash and the whole meal was a marvel.

When we got back to Cindy’s home to break the news to the family, Cindy’s little sister, Susan, just over 10 years of age at the time was alarmed at the news and said; “Oh no Cindy! Does that mean you’re going to be Irish now?”

That was 36 years ago.

Time stood still for us in that moment and for me, that moment still stands as the signature moment of my life. And the Passion we declared for one another bound ourselves to one another that day and since.

And we’ve seen each other and many others through many moments of joy and suffering since. As many of you have, through life and death, marriage and divorce, well being and illness. We stood with our son during his stroke and in the aftermath of his recovery. We’ve stood with parents at the death of their children. And life with all its joy and all of its suffering goes on. 

Time stands still for all of us with a love like this.

And Time stands still when we look to Jesus and a love like his.

We look to Jesus today and remember his Passion a latin word whose root meaning is to suffer, in the sense of a very intense feeling of devoted love. No doubt in his Passion you will see how much he loves you. It is a love so intense that we are bound to the Beloved in this Passion for all time. As two young lovers may do in their youth, or when they nurture and rear their children and then send them off into the world and then grow old together and eventually commend one another to God.

Time stands still for us in our Passion for God and God for us and in our Love for one another.

This Passion of our Lord binds us together forever.

Yes he suffered our of his love for us.

Yes he died.

Yes he is risen

Yes he will come again. 

And until he does we will come to this Table week in and week out where the candles are lit, the flowers are set and the music plays on. We will break this Bread and pass this Cup.

His Body and His Blood.

Received into our Body and our Blood

And we are bound together as those who love one another.

Hosanna Lord hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the Highest.

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

Fr Paul