Next: Good Shepherd, Reading

Greetings in the Name of God!

If the Paul the Apostle had a vision calling him over to Macedonia, then  Paul the parish priest had an email and a phone call inviting him to come on over to Reading to help out with you folks. I do hope I can be of some service to you while I am here. And so it is that on the first day of May in the year of our Lord 2016, we introduce ourselves to one another. As I wondered how to do so I thought perhaps I’d use something Biblical since that is always a good beginning, something theological since that only seems to make sense, and something personal since it always helps to put flesh and bones on our thoughts and prayers as we come to know one another.

First then, on to the Biblical.

Jesus said to Judas, not Iscariot, I hasten to add; "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them.” This is the example that Jesus sets for us. “Love one another as I have loved you.” And so, let me introduce myself to you by saying, I will love you exactly as you are and whoever you become along the way. This is how Jesus wants it. This is what God has had in mind all along. And moreover, as a church we are coming to discover that there are no exceptions to the essence and centrality of this proclamation. We are to love one another exactly as we are and whoever we become. In this journey, in this pilgrimage we call life, the core of the Gospel proclamation is set into the center of the human heart with these words of Jesus; “Love one another!”

That being the case within our faith communities we discover yet another dimension of the Gospel. And Jesus says as much in today's Gospel, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.”

Having said this to you, I do not mean to make the proclamation sound glib or facile. You and I both know how difficult and challenging it is to live out the mandate of the Gospel in family or in faith community. For the truth is that we do find ourselves in conflict with some regularity. And there are times when this Peace of which Jesus speaks seems elusive and somewhat beyond our grasp. It is indeed a Peace that passes all understanding.

Which bring me to the second part of my self introduction.

Think for instance of what we have been through, indeed what we are going through culturally among the nations of the earth, within this nation and indeed within this church. Just in my lifetime I can name the struggles;
1. The struggle for Civil Rights.
2. Gender equality
 4. Prayer Book revision
3. Inclusivity of the LGBTQ community and marriage equality.
4. Class and economic disparity.

Every one of these struggles is an ongoing one. The church and the culture around is immersed gridlock. Instead of recognizing that God will bear us up on Eagle's wings, to soar as we are intended and destined to do, we deny either the left or the right wing it's right to even exist. No bird can fly, let alone soar without both wings.

Ultimately the biblical and theological reference I come back to time and again is from the Gospel of Paul the Apostle is in his letter to the Christians in Galatia in the third chapter and in the 28th verse; “For in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 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.”

Ultimately our biblical and theological pilgrimage must bring us to The Cross and the Crown of Jesus. You will remember that when Jesus entered Jerusalem in great triumph, and he was greeted with joy by those who sang “Hosanna to the Living God. Blessed is he who come in the Name of the Lord, Hosanna in the Highest!” Events took a sudden turn after this greeting. For Jesus entered the Temple precincts and found the money changers and dealers in pigeons and rather unceremoniously overturned their tables and said “My house shall be a house of prayer for all people, but you have made it a den of robbers”.

I found something interesting about this passage when I looked it up. For when Jesus says; “My house shall be a house of prayer for all people”, he was actually quoting a passage from the Prophet Isaiah, which he often did. Isaiah was in fact, the most frequently quoted of all the prophets. In this case, when he confronted the dealers in sacrificial commodities, Jesus was not impressed with their approach to sanctification. It was only money, and the weightier issues of justice were far from their minds.

Some day, maybe even today, when you have a moment or two, read the passage from the 56th Chapter of the book of the prophet Isaiah.  Foreigners and Eunuchs wonder where they stood with God. Foreigners always have had a difficult time among the majority. There has often been an unpleasantness and an unwelcome dimension between natives and those born elsewhere. Likewise Eunuchs, those whose sexual identity was certainly ambiguous; whether physically or functionally so, there have always been folks among us who do not fit into the convenience of the male/female category. Jesus refers to this passage then when he confronted the Temple merchants.

From Isaiah 56:
“Do not let the foreigner joined to the Lord say,
   ‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’;
and do not let the eunuch say,
   ‘I am just a dry tree.’
For thus says the Lord:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
   who choose the things that please me
   and hold fast my covenant,
I will give, in my house and within my walls,
   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 the Lord,
   to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,
   and to be his servants,
all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,
   and hold fast my covenant—
these I will bring to my holy mountain,
   and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices
   will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
   for all peoples.”

Yes indeed, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people”. This is how the Episcopal Church and her congregations increasingly see themselves. Over the great west doors of the National Cathedral in Washington; since the very day it was built, these very words proclaim this vision.

So you see, I am under the very mandate of Jesus when I say to you “I will love you whoever you and and whoever you become.”  I hope I can live up to that noble proclamation as we live into our unfolding relationship.

And then thirdly, allow me to introduce myself to you with this vignette from my family.

One very hot and humid summer’s night while I was serving a church in West Virginia, my youngest son and I sat outside being honest with each other the way families need to be from time to time. He was feeling awkward, I could tell. There was something he needed to tell me but he was reluctant to say what it was for fear of how I might take it. After all, we were in West Virginia where families, schools and churches easily rejected people for the very reason he needed to tell me. He knew I often spoke about my unconditional love for him and for all people. But…

So I said; “Michael, what is it?”
There was a long delay.
Finally he told me. There were tears in his eyes, and his voice quavered with anxiety.
“Dad I’m gay”.
I confess, I din’t see that one coming. I wondered how he knew. He was still quite young. I wondered if somebody had “turned him that way.” But there he was. My own flesh and blood. I kinda wished he’d get married, settle down, have kids, because I think I’d make a fabulous grandfather. I wondered how Cindy would take the news. It did take time for us to get used to the idea. But my son sat there beside his father and he was teetering on the edge of love and rejection. It was then that God gave me the grace to say; “Michael, I love you exactly as you are, and I will love you whoever you become.” We embraced. We shed a few tears.

There was never a question in our home about the love. And there never will be. We will always work our the particulars of our salvation under the authority of the Gospel. Because Jesus loves us all whoever we are and whoever we become. This is how I seek to introduce myself to you: with the unconditional love of God. And so it is, that this I can say; “I will love you exactly as you are and whoever you become"

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

Marriage Equality, Health Care and The Beloved of God

Marriage Equality, Health Care and The Beloved of God

And thanks be to God, that would be YOU! 

As a long time and outspoken advocate of the poor and for marriage equality, I greet the recent decisions of the Supreme Court with joy! Not everyone will. God knows that in the world of “faith” there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth over these decisions. But not from me. 

I have been and will continue to be an activist priest. And it was more than a decade ago that I wrote  “Everything You Need to Know About Sex in Order to Get to Heaven”; an outspoken satire about the church’s skittishness over human sexuality. Naturally I was excoriated by the right wing of my church, but most of the Beloved of God appreciated the work I was trying to do. 

(NB: You can have your own autographed copy by contacting me: paulbresnahan@gmail.com)

Most of the Beloved of God in our tiny corner of the world of faith understood that EVERYONE must come within the saving embrace of Christ. We’ve paid the price; we’ve reaped the benefit; and now I must say, many of us will feel vindicated.

Which brings me to the subject of “The Uneven Sidewalk”

As a  child I was fond of walking with my hands clasped behind my back and my head down. Many wondered why I seemed so sad and what could be done about it. And it is true that there were things in my life that made me sad, but that’s not the reason I carried myself the way I did.

Truth be told, there is a practical reason for the way I walked then and the way I walk now. The sidewalks are uneven. Even when the town of Sandwich finishes this repaving project along Main Street, and please God, they’ll finish it before the 4th, even then, I’ll walk the way I do with my hands clasped behind my back, and my head down. God knows I’m not that steady on my feet or sure footed. A mountain goat I’m not!

But pensive yes, I am a pensive sort. I’ve always loved a long walk through the city streets of my home in Somerville and Cambridge. And then when I was older through the city streets of Toronto and Boston. I have my favorite walks and currently going up to the boardwalk here in Sandwich or walking by the seaside in Lynn; these I find so deeply satisfying. And yes I am a pensive sort. 

There is a deep place in my spirit that turns itself to God when I write, when I pray, and yes, when I walk with my hands clasped behind my back and my head down to keep a careful watch out for uneven sidewalks and streets pock marked with potholes; such is the Pathway to God’s inclusive Love for ALL.

Yes, I am a pensive sort and I like to take whatever time I can to be with God. And it is out of that deep place where my heart turns itself to the Beloved of God; the poor and my family. We grew up poor. My uncle and two of my boys happen to be gay. And I knew many years ago that God loves the poor, and that God loves my uncle and my children. 

So I practice the Presence of God when I pray, when I write and when I walk. I discover that I have acquired the gift of approachability through all this Practice.

The last few days have been difficult for me. Family, friends, colleagues, parishioners, turn to me with some regularity for counsel on the matters of difficulty, of depression, anxiety, and that persistent panicky feeling that I find intrinsic to much of human experience. In the past few days, the intensity and frequency with which folks have turned to me has increased significantly. 

I hear in these voices a lamentation like the one David made for Saul and Jonathan. “O how the mighty have fallen.” It can be the death of a loved one or a mighty warrior like Saul. It can also be that certain nameless fear, that chronic feeling in the pit of your stomach that will not go away. It can be testy relationships between those we care about. On and on and on it goes.

The Psalmist speaks to the matter; “Out of the depths have I called out to you O God” “O God hear my voice!”

That’s the missing piece for so many in our time. When we cry out of our depths, we often act as though we have no one to cry out to. So many live without God. Not everyone has a Jesus to turn to. And many forget that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can cheer the downcast spirit. And for those of us who do have a God, it is often the case that we simply cannot find a way fit all the pieces together as we make our way to the kingdom of God

In this context today, we have David’s Lamentation for Saul and Jonathan, we have the poetic Lament of the 130th Psalm. And Paul’s plea for the generosity of the church in Corinth to make provision for the church in Jerusalem. We’ve been trying to fit the pieces together for a very long time and when we try to do so on our own we often get lost or mired in the muck of our own making. 

Thankfully in the Gospel we have two folks who understand that there is a profound difference in spirituality between the Lamentation of David and the Psalter and the Hope of the Gospel.

Jarius turns to Jesus.

And so does the woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for a dozen years or so.

"My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live," says the former
And the latter; "If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well, she reasons to herself.

Jesus, aware that the woman had touched him with her faith, turns to her to say; “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

The matter of Jarius’ little girl posed a more difficult problematic. The poor child had already died. “Why trouble the teacher any further?”

Not so quick. It is not yet time for lamentation. It is time to demonstrate the power of God over sin and death. It is time to show who Jesus is for us. It is time for us to come to see why it is so central to our faith that he is the One to turn to with our problems, all of our problems. 

The Gospel passage continues with these words; 

"Do not fear, only believe." When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, "Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha cum," which means, "Little girl, get up!" And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement."

Then he told them not to go telling every Tom, Dick and Harry what just happened. It is not yet time for him to go up to Jerusalem to fulfill God’s intention for Jesus and humankind. That will come soon enough. For now, just give the girl a little something to eat. God knows she’s been through a lot today and so have you all.

You see, the question is this; “Who do we have to turn to in all our sorrows, our lamentations, our confusion, our hurt, our perplexity, our sadness and melancholy?”

There is God. The one who is at the center of our souls, the Holy One who is closer to us than the very next breath we take.

There is Jesus. The One who gave his life for his Beloved. That would be you and me.

There is the Holy Spirit. The continuing Presence of God our Creator, Savior, and the Holy Wisdom from on High.

We have a whole community of God to turn to.

The essence of this turning is pure simplicity.

That is why I write and pray and take long walks. 

The human community may turn to the Community of God and I rejoice that The Beloved of God is growing in its inclusivity. 

Yes, I am a pensive sort. 

I love my long walks especially at this time of year when so much serendipity surrounds us.

As I walk along, or write or pray I find myself in what Paul Tillich called; The Eternal Now"; the Now that never ends but is always alive in the heart of God and in our hearts as well. Thus we are joined heart to heat in the "Now" of God.

Words keep coming to me like these; 

“Thou leadest me beside the still waters.

Thou restorest my soul.”

And yes.

“Out of the depths of my soul cries out to Thee”

O God hear my prayer”

Poetry comes to mind. My own poetry. Words of my own like these;

The Beloved of God

A moment with You.

A moment with God.

Time to walk

Time to breathe

In-Yah

Out-Weh

The Holy Name

Just the faintest breath of a prayer.

Being alone in the Silence

Being alone in the Presence

Being with You

The God of my Being

Never alone with You.

The uneven sidewalk

The pock marked potholes 

Of the sacred pathway

We tread together.

The salt air

The marshland waters

The birdcall of the morning

The glorious rising of the Sun

The glorious rising of the Lord

And Jarius' desperate prayer for his Beloved

That Jesus would take a thought for him

And his little girl?

“Arise little girl”

The Beloved of God

She and you and me

ALL, The Beloved of God.

The uneven sidewalk 

The pock marked pathway

To God.

And now may the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you always. Amen.

Fr Paul

A Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

Pentecost

"A Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow"

The day of Pentecost has come. Fifty days from Easter and counting. The word Pentecost means fifty days and so we move through time and as we do we encounter God the Father, God the Son and now God the Holy Spirit. The Hagia Sophia as she is known in Eastern Christianity. “She” because the word “Sophia” is obviously in the feminine form. And so it it from the beginning that the church has taught that our encounter with God is a complete experience, one of totality, in which God is more than a static Being but one in dynamic community.

God is One.

God is the One who creates us.

Jesus is the One who saves us

And the Holy Spirit is the One whose breath comes to us like a mighty wind.

There is another word from the Hebrew Scriptures the word “ruach”. It can be rendered “breath” or “wind” and in the account of the Pentecost experience from the book of Acts the breath and winds of God have a significant force behind them, so much so that they are called “a mighty wind”. 

The very sound of the word “ruach” has the quality of imitative harmony because its sound reflects the reality it seeks to describe; hence “ruach” sounds like what “breath” and “wind” are. And yet the meaning of the word involves holiness, sanctification and wisdom. The words “ruach” and “Shophia” are used in the Hebrew Scriptures to describe the Wisdom Literature.

The Pentecost experience challenges some of the stricter teachings of Judaism.  God’s Spirt and Wisdom are not only for the select, the elect or the chosen of God. No, this spirit and this experience is a generous outpouring of God’s mighty breath and wind upon all flesh and in every language, so that God’s mighty work could be understood by all including; “Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs-- in their own languages.” And so on, and so on, and so on for ever and all around the world, even to the far reaches of Old Cape Cod in a language we can now understand.

The word “ruach” and “Sophia” also contain within them the overtones of prophecy. It took a while for Paul and Peter get the point, but in this moment in Acts, Peter hits the nail on the head. He understands well what the prophet Isaiah says 

`In the last days it will be, God declares,

that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,

and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even upon my slaves, both men and women,

in those days I will pour out my Spirit;

and they shall prophesy.’

I hope you appreciate how stunning this proclamation would be to the people within the hearing of the Apostle at that time.

I’m sure even then folks would ask; “Where then do we draw the line?” But the Pentecost experience is a generous one. Peter and Paul and increasingly all the others came to understand that the Gospel’s largesse was not for the chosen, the elect or the select, but for all.

The Psalmist understood how generous God’s compassion and love were. You cannot spend much time at sea without an appreciation for God’s amazing diversity and creative joy.

In the appointed Psalm for today we hear this exultant refrain;

“Yonder is the great and wide sea

with its living things too many to number, *

creatures both small and great.

There move the ships,

and there is that Leviathan, *

which you have made for the sport of it.

All of them look to you *

to give them their food in due season.”

~Psalm 104:26-28

Yes, you heard right; God made a whale just for the pure joy of it; just for the pure fun of it. Who can say that God does not rejoice in the creation when we become fully alive to what God intends for us?

The Holy Spirit continues to pour out on us and the whole world we live in. In overwhelming numbers the Irish have voted for equal access to marriage for all her citizens. Ireland is the first nation on the planet to vote that way in direct referendum. God’s love is not only generous, it is inclusive and unconditional. Sometimes that love will be proclaimed more persuasively outside the teachings of the prevalent church. The Roman Church was officially against it. But the Pope has recently introduced a Spirit into our discussions and treatment of one another that is entirely different in tone than what has gone before. Thanks be to God! Perhaps someday we will all catch up to the teachings of the early church and her experience of God’s comprehensive and unconditional love. In the meantime, today in Ireland, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!

It is a new day for St. John’s, I hope you don’t miss it. It is a brand new day. God’s mighty winds are moving among us. God’s breath is breathing within us. In fact, it has been said that God is closer to each of us than the very next breath we take.

But the Pentecost experience is not confined to a personal experience but to one that moves among us like a mighty wind. God is searching every heart for joy. More than joy God is looking forward to what is coming together for us. Paul’s words apply directly to this congregation; “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

I do hope you are praying for your church as you pray for your search committee. Pentecost is celebrated in so many places as the birthday of the church. Our finances are lagging behind just now, probably as much as $48,000 or more in reference to what it will take to provide for a full time parish priest. The question for us as we move toward our next stewardship campaign, do you really want a full time parish priest? God knows this church needs one. Given the fact that your current interim priest is serving with you on a part time basis, you can easily afford the budget you have for this year.

But when you have a full time parish priest and pay for housing on the Cape, health coverage, and pension, then you’ll be incurring some significant expenses.

For this great Feast Day of Pentecost all we need to ask of one another is prayer. We’re doing fine just now. But if we want to maintain our position as a full time parish with a full time parish priest, if we want to pay a sexton, and a youth minister, or a christian education director, we’re going to have to consider what the Holy Spirit is stirring us up to do with the mighty winds of her sanctifying wisdom and her prophetic utterances.

For now all we need is your prayer. When a church rests on prayer she rest secure indeed. Jesus refers to the Holy Spirit as our Advocate. I find it reassuring that Jesus is our Advocate and that God’s Holy Spirit has been poured out upon us all.

There is a birthing among us of God’s Holy Spirit. Such a birthing provides for God’s Church. We are and have been a family for a good long time. Two thousand years as a matter of fact. This particular portion of God’s family, like all families, has had its good days, and its not so good days, its trials and tribulations as well as those times of triumph and satisfaction.

God knows you folks have been through plenty in these past few years but look back at our history. The Reformation or now what our brother and sister Christians in Egypt and other parts of Africa are enduring. We do not have the luxury of resting in our past, whatever side of the fence you may rest your sentiments. We only have today and tomorrow. There is only this Pentecost and this birthing we have to work with.

Jesus sends us this Advocate for a reason. Your prayers are needed as I said for this church and for your search committee. God is at work among and God is about to do a new thing.

I hope you are aware of it as fully as I see it in you.

And now may the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be among us this day and for evermore. Amen

Fr Paul

All Aboard the Emerging Church!

All Aboard: Everyone is Welcome!

For my birthday, I wanted to take the Salem Ferry to Boston and have lunch at Durgin Park. My wife and I did that. It was a fun day. As we gathered at the Dock we anxiously awaited the invitation of the boat staff; "All Aboard"

When I was a child, I loved vacations with the family. I particularly loved seeing those "Episcopal Church Welcomes You" signs wherever we went. Every time I saw one, it was as though God spoke a kind word in my heart. I felt as though God actually welcomed me. I took this whole religion thing very personally. It was for me the ecclesiastical equivalent of the welcome words dockside at a ferry boat; "All Aboard!"

But then I discovered along that way that it was going to be a real battle for the church to mean what it said, and to say what it meant. I've been a priest for over 40 years now and what a struggle it has been.

There was the business of race for instance.

When I went to seminary, we had to do battle for civil rights in this country. I lived and worked in Harlem to try and understand what was wrong with the soul of this country. I discovered that the problem was not in Harlem. It was in White America. I have spent the rest of my life trying to deal with that reality within me and within my church. We are still struggling with that. One of my classmates, previous to me by two years, paid the price of the struggle with his life. Jonathan Daniels took a bullet for a young black girl in Hayneville, Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement. Now it appears that we have to fight the whole battle all over again as America's signature stain on her shoul rears back it ugliness in so many ways.

There was the business of our common worship life.

We went on to make the Liturgy more accessible to the contemporary world, and this was especially difficult in a church hide bound by tradition. Many, many folks treasured the language of our Elizabethan liturgy and rightly so. It is a treasure. But most of our contemporary world speaks a very different English. And the proof of the pudding is that most of our churches celebrate the Eucharist in the contemporary idiom, while still reserving the traditional mass for the early service in most places. It is an accommodation that makes good sense. Still we lost many to schism during this difficult period.

Then there was the business of gender.

It became clear, in fact it became obvious to most of us that there really should be no distinction between us based on gender. In fact Paul made it clear that when we are in Christ we are a new creation and that "there is no longer Jew or Greek, male or female, slave or free" ~Galatians 3:28. This notion, as obvious and clear as it now seems, was a matter of great controversy to the church and again many left for more traditional congregations and denominations. When we elected our first woman bishop, Barbara Harris, it was just the icing on the cake for many, many more, and even to this day, many in the Anglican Communion still refuse a place at the altar for women.

And now more recently there is the matter of sexual orientation.

Then on the Feast Day of Pentecost in 2003, the Diocese of New Hampshire elected Gene Robinson as bishop, the first openly gay man to serve in that position anywhere in the Lutheran, Episcopal and Roman Catholic circle of faith. Mind you, there have been many gay folks serving as bishops and priests in all three but not so openly. All hell broke loose as many of you will know. The Anglican Communion was ripped apart in controversy. People threatened to kill Bishop Robinson. In fact he had to wear a bullet proof vest at his consecration. Christians can be hot headed about these things as others can be. It is no wonder to me why so many turn away from "organized religion". But we held to our position that the church is called to be inclusive.

We believe that when Jesus was among us, he went out of his way to include folks who had been specifically excluded from the Temple Precincts.

Excluded were Prostitutes, Tax Collectors, The Blind, The Maimed, Poor Beggars, and just plain fisherfolk. Eunuchs were also specifically excluded but Jesus specifically included them. You will no doubt remember that it was exactly to this crowd that Jesus reached out his loving arms. This got Jesus into lots of trouble. 

What sealed his fate then was his "Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem". He entered the Temple Precincts, saw the moneychangers and dealers in pigeons. In a rare demonstration of rage, he overturned their tables and said "My house shall be called a House of Prayer for ALL people, but you have made it a den of robbers."

In a few short days he hung upon a cross reaching out his arms of Love upon the cross so that everyone might come within the reach of his saving embrace. 

So why is this concept so difficult for so many Christians to understand? Why do Christians erect barriers along definitions of race, ethnicity, gender, class and orientation? Obviously there is much fear still of those who differ from "us" whoever we happen to be.

But it is my birthday. I have worked a lifetime on all of the above issues. I was born into this church; the Episcopal Church, and I feel blessed on my birthday to have been born into it.

We are becoming a "House of Prayer for ALL People". I am grateful too that there is an emerging church that no longer adheres to strict denominational lines but along the lines of Christ's all encompassing love of everyone.

It makes for a very Happy Birthday indeed.

Blessings to you all,

Fr. Paul

Let's Party!

Let’s Party!

My wife will tell you that I don’t need much of an excuse to celebrate. In fact, like many of you, I am old enough now to celebrate if, when I wake up in the morning , I can see the ceiling and my name is not in the morning obits. I’m a happy man when I awaken to greet the new day. Cindy’s grandfather was a stonecutter from Carrara, Italy; where some of the finest stonecutters in the world were born and nurtured. When he woke up in the morning he’d take the newspaper and a cup of coffee and he’d count up the dead Irishmen and the dead Italians and so long as there were more of the former, he’d let out a holler and tell his wife; “We’re ahead!” For him it was like seeing if the Red Sox or the Celtics won the game the night before. There’s always a good reason to celebrate!

And so it is that we come to today's Gospel passage where Jesus found himself in one of the greatest celebrations of a human lifetime; a wedding in Cana of Galilee. I remember our wedding day. It was the last time on this side that my whole family, as I remember it from my childhood, was all together in one place. Cindy’s whole family was there too, and that number dwarfed mine. Our best friends were there and there was that one memorable table where things got a bit out of hand after a bit of an excess of liquid indulgence. That, of course, was a group of my friends.

So here we are likewise, with Jesus and his friends and family. It is early in his ministry as we are early in the church year. Just last week we celebrated the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. Now we find ourselves in Cana of Galilee, a town nearby Nazareth. Things were going strong when the unthinkable happened. They ran out of wine. Mary, the Blessed Mother, tells Jesus. Then Jesus uses the most respectful form of the word “woman” that there is in Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus and his contemporaries; a word that suggests the sense of “my beloved” the same word used for wife, and he reminds her, “My hour has not yet come”.

His ultimate Epiphany is yet to come. Here he reminds Mary, later he has to remind his disciples again and again. He is here to be handed over into the hands of power and violence, to be tried, found guilty, even though perfectly innocent, to die a torturous death, and then to rise again for the forgiveness of this very violence (another word for sin), and then as a free gift to us all, for our eternal life. He has probably already explained this to Mary. He will later explain it plainly to his disciples.

“Do whatever he tells you”, she tells the servants.

Then he tells them to bring him the jars used in the Rites of Purification. It is as if Jesus were sanctifying that solemn moment when we commend ourselves to one another in love and devotion for the rest of our lives. How pure is that! How sacred is that moment when, in our youth we declare our love for one another, and live out that declaration for the rest of our days. At least that’s the theory. It works itself out in varying ways then as now, but the intent and the hope are pure. God knows Jesus can redeem us no matter how far we fall from that blessed estate.

So they do as he bids. They bring him the jars used in the rites of purification and, as instructed, they fill them to the brim with water. 

“Now draw some off”, Jesus tells them.

And when they did, the caterer of the feast was impressed. “Whoa,” he might have said. “This is good wine. Usually you serve the good stuff first, and when the taste buds are anesthetized by copious imbibing you can then serve the inferior vintage until the party gives out in the wee small hours of the morning.” 

Not so here. This vintage is of God. It is the very best vintage of all. God honors the wedding guests with generosity. The party continues. It is such a memorable celebration that in the wake of the death and resurrection of Jesus, his first miracle is recalled by the early church because the imagery of marriage is central to the Proclamation of the Gospel itself.

Jesus is the Bridegroom and the Church is his Bride. We are the beloved of God. He, like any man or woman worth his salt will give his life to protect his family. And so he did.

Our enemy is human violence, aka “sin”. That which is within us that seeks to destroy ourselves or others needs redemption. We need this salvage operation. And as we come to Jesus, one by one, week by week, altar rail by altar rail, that salvage work continues all the days of our life. After all the only thing that can effectively deal with that predisposition to violence is the love of God and the love he demands of us for one another.

Wonder of wonders God’s salvation plan is for everyone. This marriage is not just for one sort, it is for all. Just this week the National Cathedral announced that all legal marriages will be celebrated there. For God’s sake lets celebrate that!

But as we celebrate that, lets not forget those who cannot love everyone. There is a young man I would like to ask you to pray for this week. His name is Terrance. He died on Monday. He couldn’t take it. I mean, there were those who felt they needed to “out” him. He lived in West Virginia, and one of my son’s friends knew him well. I can tell you from personal experience that there is an exception for many to love those like Terrance. There are families, schools, workplaces, and yes, even churches where some folks cannot embrace people like Terrance. 

And yet there are so many, like Terrence, who have given the church and the world so much art, literature and music, how could we do anything but thank the likes of Terrance. As Blessed Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles put it; "There are many gifts, but the same spirit."

For all too many God’s grace does not always embrace people like Terrance. It cannot embrace two of my own sons who happen to be like Terrance. It cannot embrace Charlie, a dear friend of my sons and a dear friend of Terrance. Charlie tells me he was a good guy. 

This kind of restriction on God’s love gives the Church a bad name. And as the prophet said in today’s first lesson; “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent.” So too for Terrance’s sake, I will not keep silent.

“Your love, O God, reaches to the heavens

Your faithfulness to the clouds

How priceless is your love O God”.

So says the Psalmist today.

Therefore we celebrate with Jesus at the Wedding in Cana of Galilee. We celebrate with Jesus who invited common fisherfolk, tax collectors, prostitutes, lepers, eunuchs, poor folk, prisoners, and all other sorts and conditions who live at the margins of this and all social orders in every age.

Interestingly enough, these very people were driven away from the Temple. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, The Scribes, and the Doctors of the Law, why the whole Sanhedrin; all these biblical literalists of the day looked askance at Jesus for the company he kept. And yet it was all the above he brought to the Temple precincts at his triumphal entry into Jerusalem; these very same sorts and conditions who spread palm branches at his feet as he rode on in majesty on a common donkey.

You know, we have done the right thing. We are embracing the teachings of Jesus. We believe that all people are included within God’s saving embrace. Now, all can enjoy the benefits and responsibilities of membership and ministry at every level in the Episcopal Church. Granted we are a tiny percentage in the world of faith. But we are not here to be successful. We are here to be faithful. God will reward such faithfulness as many will be drawn to this total and unconditional love.

So then, lets celebrate. Lets come to this Table of our God and feast with Jesus and all his friends. This is because Jesus is still alive in each and every one of you. For as long as you have the courage to love all God’s people there is hope in this tired and sin sick old world.

Let's celebrate!

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

Fr Paul