Jesus, how did you do that?

Jesus, How did you do that!

For those of you who love British humor you might want to watch Rowan Atkinson’s portrayal of an English Vicar reading this Gospel. His take on the story generates all kinds of mirth. I’ll provide you a link on my blog a little later today.  I think you’ll enjoy it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzNORwik0dY

The first miracle at a wedding in Cana of Galilee for me, is rich with symbolism.

The marriage feast of the Lamb, the Messianic Feast.

Christ as the Bridegroom; the Church as his bride.

The water jugs set aside for the Jewish rite of purification, there are all kinds of reasons to keep wash your hands, body, dishes, not just for ritual cleanliness, but also for general hygiene. The use of these particular jugs to make wine for the wedding feast, provokes some interesting questions. 

Underneath all of these references, there is the idea of the Passover of Jesus from death to life, the last supper, the Passover, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The joy of drinking fine wine, to taste and see how good God is in our life.

Let’s not get bogged down in whether or not “it happened”. 

Rather let’s direct our attention to what Jesus is dong in our lives when he feeds the multitudes, heals the sick, brings good news to the poor, and reaches out to the outcasts, the lepers, prostitutes, and the tax collectors.

God’s love for us is much like a wedding. Everyone is invited. There is much feasting. Whatever feuding there may have been before is suspended for a while as the bride and groom celebrate their love and their families with them.

There are varieties of gifts but the same spirit

For a wedding, typically everyone brings a gift; the gift of themselves as well as something for the couple.

There are other kinds of gifts to make a wedding possible.

At our wedding rehearsal dinner, Cindy’s family; a large Italian one; each brought their favorite dish to share, in copious amounts, I might add. And there was plenty of beer and wine. The laughter and the joy was plentiful.

On our wedding day, there was a dear friend, our “yenta” Jackie who baked our wedding cake. On the way to the wedding her husband, Martin had to stop short and the wedding cake suffered some smudging. 

Another family friend found a hall for us to use for the reception. 

Another provided the music.

The funeral director provided the limousine 

Bishop Coburn presided and blessed our rings. Chester Porteus, dear, dear Chester, my first boss and curmudgeon extraordinaire, pronounced us husband and wife.

So many gifts, and yet one spirit. almost 40 years ago now.

Thanks be to God.

My uncle and his partner were there. Now, they too can be married in the Episcopal Church, thanks be to God. 

My uncle was not all that pleased when I was ordained. “You with the turned around col-laire,” he was fond of saying dripping with sarcasm. 

The church was not good to the LGBTQ community in those days. In vast swaths of the the faith and secular community it still isn’t

One night Al was beaten to a pulp when he was out partying with his friends in Boston. He called me up and asked me to come over to his apartment and help bandage him up. It was a brutal beating. I did the best I could.

I said “Jeez Al, should I call the cops?”
He said; “Hell no, the last thing I need now is another beating!”

I had no idea how bad it was, but I was learning.

One time, he said to me; “I don’t give a blankety-blank what your expletive deleted Church thinks of me; I want to know what you think of me.”

Jeez Al; “You’re fine with me, you know that.”

“If you mean that, then some day, you stand up for me in that blankety-blank church of yours.”

I did that. 

Thank God the Episcopal Church did that.

And now, miracle of miracles, the water has indeed changed into wine; not only can Cindy and I drink deeply from these wines made pure by Jesus, so can Al and Jimmy; so can all God’s children; without regard to gender, orientation, race, class, ethnicity, language or national origin. 

We all bring many gifts. We are one people and one spirit in Christ Jesus our Lord. The wine Jesus gives us in his unconditional love is the very best wine of all.

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

Fr Paul

"On My Birthday"

“On My Birthday”

September 9, 2018

On my birthday the Gospel tells us that Jesus went to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a distance of about 35 miles from Capernaum, on foot, on rocky, dusty foot! There in a foreign land, a Gentile woman, a Syrophoenician woman to be exact, begged Jesus to cure her little girl of mental illness. Jesus said to her; “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” It is as if Jesus were referring to the woman as a dog. 

That doesn’t sound like Jesus, does it? Mind you, at that time Gentiles were considered “outsiders”. A Syrophoenician woman; is such a one as this even to be considered worthy of human dignity? 

The disciples considered themselves “insiders”. To this day, in the Middle East, it is not unusual for one group to refer to another as “dogs”. There is in human nature a tendency to use pajoratives and epithets when referring to “the other”. Jesus plays into the prejudice. But then woman addresses Jesus as her “Lord” and dares to speak up; “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

All eyes on Jesus now; how will he handle the affrontery? Jesus called her “daughter” and declared her daughter’s demon gone. She is healed. And the disciples are left astonished and astounded. 

To drive home the point about “insiders and outsiders” Jesus leads them back from Tyre and Sidon on the Mediterranean shore, across the Sea of Galilee into modern day Jordan to the Decapolis, another arduous 45-50 miles journey. Then he heals another foreigner; he makes the deaf to hear, and tells the folks; “For God sakes, don’t go telling anybody about what I’m up to.” Obviously, they’ll arrest and execute someone who does such things!

I’ve always been fascinated by Jesus. He’s always doing something that flies in the face of preconceived notion. He surprises us by the way he reaches out fearlessly to all kinds of people. 

This, I think is why I love Jesus, becuase I too am one he would give his life for. 

And so forgive me as I pause this day to thank God for my birthday; It is my 73rd “year to heaven” as the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas once put it. Today! 

Thank You! 

Friday at the Hawthorne Hotel in Salem, I had breakfast with the the “ancient and honorable bunch of old buzzards”, (which is how I refer to my buddies). Last night my son and his friend took Cindy and me to Tavolo’s in Dorchester. And today we’re heading off to a gathering of family and friends in New Hampshire. A Trinity of Gratitude, these three days. 

Life: I thank God for the gift of life, knowing as I do how precious and precarious that gift is. There is so much to be grateful for.

Family: Cindy and the boys, my brothers and their wives and families; my mom and dad, God rest their souls, and all our ancestors. Above all I must offer a prayer of gratitude for my grandmother, “Ma” who gave me the gift of faith and imbued within me a love of God’s Story, as it is told time and again year after year, in  the Sacred Scripture. 

Education: I was the first in the family to go on to college and then to seminary. I have been given the privilege and love of learning, which I treasure not only in parchment; a BA and an MDiv,  I treasure learning for learning sake all my life long.

Vocation: A career of service and caregiving within the church, a life given to advocacy for the poor and the outcast. This is what the scripture requires and which I find inescapable as I ply my trade as a priest. I find it of interest that on my birthday the readings for this Sunday focus with vivid clarity on God’s bias for the poor. 

Country and politics: Having grown up in Massachusetts how could I but love politics! Mind you I have deep convictions as most of you do. Unfortunately, perhaps even tragically, so much of what we hold dear by way of conviction is conflicted in the body politic. How we navigate these dangerous days, will require of us all some kind of mutual accommodation. Our civic life will test the full measure of devotion to the Republic; will we tolerate with forbearance those who are diametrically opposed to us?

I love the arts. Music, drama, poetry, literature, architecture, painting, photography and culture of all sorts. I’m so glad to be back home in Boston, where culture is so much a part of our civic life.

Sports: Especially baseball and hockey. I saw Ted Williams hit his last home run. I was there the night Bobby Orr scored that famous goal. Red Aurbach, Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Larry Bird: all household names. And then in recent years, by the measure of my riper age, the New England Patriots have become yet another cause of cardiac palpitation!

Driving: I learned in Toronto, and sharpened my skills as a New York City cab driver, and perfected them here in the land of creative driving.  The American Automobile Association has identified Massachusetts as the state with the worst drivers in the country. Nuts to them! Driving around here is admittedly an acquired skill, but there is nothing like it in all America. You’ll have to go to Italy or India to outdo us. 

Life! Life my friends is such a wonderful gift. Such a dazzling multi-faceted rainbow of gifts. A zest for living which God has sewn into our lives, is a wonder beyond any one human being’s telling. 

But wait a minute: some years back, I attended a retreat led by a Nun of the Episcopal Church. She was, as nuns often are, wise to the ways of the world and to the ways of God. 

She asked us first to list the 10 most important things in life. She gave us an hour to think about it. I made my list: 

1. Cindy
2. David
3. Joshua and now Lizzie too
4. Michael
5. Family and Friends
6. My vocation
7. My education
8. Funny, I didn’t list politics, but I did list the arts, especially music.
9. Life of course, the gift of life itself
10. And finally, it occurred to me, almost by way of afterthought, I’d better get God in there someplace, and to round it out, let’s call God “The Holy Trinity.”

Then Sister said; “Suppose it is the last ten days of your life and you have to give up one gift each day until you have the one last gift to give back. 

You can imagine how excruciatingly instructive such an exercise was; selecting from the list as I prepared it. She counted off the days. I made my choices. As the days dwindled down, tears welled up within me. 

Until at last, I gave up God, my creator, my savior, my sanctifier. Then a remarkable thing happened. As I gave up God I discovered that God would not and could not give up on me. 

Instead given the choices, I made at that retreat, and given the choices you and I make throughout our lives, whatever we have to “give up” as our days increase, God will never “give up” on us but instead will more and more receive us unto the nearer presence of God the Creator, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 

I learned that day, that the Good News of Jesus Christ is far more precious than any other gift we have in life. Thanks be to God!

And that, dear friends is my gift to you “On my Birthday” 

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

Fr Paul

It's as Simple as a Shamrock!

It's as Simple as a Shamrock!

Today is Trinity Sunday

What is the name of our Church?

Yes, Trinity Church 

Today is our Name Day Festival!

The Trinity is one way of saying that God is One in Three

And God is Three in One

Father

Son 

Holy Spirit

Three distinct persons

One God!

How can this be?

It is as simple as a shamrock 

Patrick of Ireland put it this way.

Take a look at a simple Shamrock. It is One in Three and Three in One. 

One plant. 

Three leaves.

Take a look at who I am

I am a father,

I am a son

I am a husband

I am three distinct persons

And yet I am only one!

Do you understand that?

Take a look at Michelle.

Is she a mother?

Does she have a mother?

That makes her a daughter.

Michelle, do you have brothers or sisters.

Aha! That makes you a sister.

So then, you too are one in three

And three in one.

Think about yourselves.

How many of you are children?

How many of you are brothers or sisters?

How many of you have friends?

That makes you children, brothers/sisters and friends

So then, you are three in one and one in three.

And God is much much more besides.

Just like we are also much more besides.

After all Jesus is also our Friend!

God is One in Three

God is Three in One.

God is our maker and creator.

God is our savior

God is the Spirit who guides us.

Do any of you like to sing, make or listen to music?

Do you like to paint or draw?

Anyone like to tell or listen to a story?

Then you also like to Create, like God also creates.

Remember God made you!

Have any of you ever done anything wrong?

Have any of you ever needed to ask for forgiveness.

Have you ever been loved by someone you care about?

Jesus is the Love of God made human like us.

He always forgives and loves each and every one of us.

Do you ever need someone to teach you?

Guide you?

Has anyone given you something you needed?

This is how God is with all of us

God Creates.

God Loves, Saves. Forgives

God Guides, Teaches and Leads into all Wisdom.

God is Father 

God is Son

God is Holy Spirit

Here are some images of God the Holy Trinity

OMG! Am I a Unitarian?

Oh my God!

Am I a Unitarian?

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

Last Sunday somebody thought I might have some Unitarian leanings because of some of the comments I made in my sermon. I do think thoughtfully about the Biblical narrative and I do question biblical literalism. So I can see how some might think that of me. My paternal grandmother was a Unitarian Universalist, so there is something of all that in my blood. But I am an Episcopalian so this whole business of the Trinity is very important to me. It makes me very comfortable to be in a Church dedicated to the Triune God. When my grandmother asked me to bury her, when the time came, I told her that I’d have to use the Trinitarian formula. I was younger then and a bit singleminded in my own theological bias. My grandmother looked at me with her piercing eyes, smiled and then very firmly but kindly said; “Buddy (that’s what they called me then) you bury me by whatever formula makes you happy!” Spoken, I might say like any true Unitarian Universalist.

St Patrick is said to have explained the Trinity by using a three leaf clover. It has three distinct leaves and yet is one; The Three in One and the One in Three! On the other hand my maternal grandmother often said; “Never in Two’s but in Three’s.” That applies to a whole wealth of wisdom and is at the heart of so much human experience. I’m not as smart as Patrick, I cannot “explain” the Trinity but I know in my heart that God is my Creator, Jesus is my Savior, and The Holy Spirit is a whole other dimension of God. She is the “Hagia Sophia” in my heart. She is the Gift Giver and the Holy Wisdom from on High. The word “Sophia” is a lovely feminine name.

The word for Spirit in Hebrew is “rucha, ruach”. Just listen to the sound of it and you can hear the breath or the winds of God. In Greek the word for Spirit is “pneuma”. It also suggests breath and wind. In the Hebrew the word is in the feminine form, in Greek it is in the neuter. The Spirit of God is unseen yet powerful.  In English we derive the word pneumonia from “pneuma”. The struggle for breath is as critical to life itself as the ease with which we take it for granted day in and day out. It has been said that God is closer to us than the very next breath we take. Deep sigh here!

Another word for the Holy Spirit is “Parakletos” is our counselor; someone who will come to our aid as an Advocate. and Guide. 

And in Eastern Christianity there is the notion of this “Hagia Sophia”, Holy Wisdom. She, is closely associated in Orthodoxy with the idea of the Holy Spirit and also with the person of Jesus. In fact the Great Church in Constantinople (now Istanbul) is called the “Hagia Sohpia”  and stood for a thousand years as the center of Eastern Christianity. 

The very concept of the Triune God is multifaceted. Not only as Father and Son, God also reaches out to us in the feminine dimension as well. I will tell you this; that it was both grandmothers who guided me to God. They were consummate storytellers. It was through the art of the story that they communicated the experience of God. God is made known to us in the Story, God’s story as well as our own. That story is given to us in an Anthology of stories called the Bible.

To me the idea of God has a very real feminine dimension, this in spite of the fact that the Church tends to name God Father to the exclusion of the other side of who God is. The totality of our experience of God requires the totality of who we are as human beings; male and female. For example we are after all created in the image of God. As we are told in the very first chapter of Genesis (vs 26 & 27)

“Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness...

So God created humankind in his image,

   in the image of God he created them;

   male and female he created them.”

By the way this is the First Creation Story, the one in which God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The Second Creation story begins with the fourth verse of the second chapter and tells us the story of Adam and Eve. It is the story of disobedience and alienation, the Fall and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Things went from bad to worse in the second story. We had nothing of this in the First Story. You will remember that God rested on the Seventh Day and with a wonderful sigh of satisfaction called the whole creation “very good.” These two strands of thought weave their way through the Biblical Narrative. And from time to time we find ourselves one side then the other of that story; sometimes perfectly at one with God and the created order, at other times very much at variance, in violence, and alienated from from one another, from God and even ourselves.

In today’s Gospel the Greeks say they wish to see Jesus. I know I do and so do you. “Sir, we wish to see Jesus”. But then when we do, in a few short verses, he is deeply troubled and in agony with God and wondering if he can be delivered from the suffering he is soon to endure. He answers his own question. “No, it is for this reason that I have come into this world. “Father, Glorify your name”.  Interesting juxtaposition there! The glorification of Christ, the Gospel tells us, is in lifting him up on the cross where he can be clearly seen. Thus all the world will be drawn to him. 

The Letter to the Hebrews tells us; “he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

This is a compelling idea and not at first easily understood. Friends, it is through suffering and obedience that Jesus becomes the source of eternal salvation for all who likewise obey him. 

What does it mean to obey Jesus? It means more than saying those two syllables; “Je-sus”, doesn’t it? I would suggest to you that it is in the “Imitatio Christi” as Thomas à Kempis put it. It is in the “Imitation of Christ”: that we learn obedience; yes, and suffering too. We learn to love the unlovable: the outcast, the poor, the lame, the sick, and the mentally ill. We learn to forgive the unforgivable both our friends and our enemies, and most difficult, we learn to forgive ourselves. It is in learning to reconcile the irreconcilable; a most dangerous place to be. Peacemakers are often asked to pay dearly for that work.

I will tell you this of my experience of living in God. It is most often when I surrender that I find God most able to salvage something of my life. Ask anybody in the Twelve Step program and you will learn the same thing. I was once at the center of a controversy over building a homeless shelter in a suburban neighborhood near Charleston, West Virginia. There had been zoning disputes, law suits and even a death threat, but when my executive director ran up a $40,000 bill unbeknownst to me or to the board of directors, I had to fire him. It seemed as though all was lost. I gave up! I threw in the towel as it were. But lo and behold, the Bishop, the Diocesan Council, and the local bank would not allow me to fail. The Board of Directors and some very dear friends rallied around me and held me up!

We built a homeless shelter and it continues to provide housing for 28 persons every single night to this very day. 

It is a funny thing about suffering and surrender. It is the central truth of the cross that in radical obedience to God and in total surrender with or without suffering, we find our way to eternal life. 

Likewise at the very end of life itself, in great weakness, in total surrender, and often in much suffering, you and I and our loved ones all find our way with Jesus to eternal life!

The Prophet Isaiah said that the days are surely coming when God will write a new covenant, but this one will be written not in stone but within our hearts, and then the scripture says; “I will be their God and they shall be my people”.

So then dear friends am I a Unitarian or a Trinitarian? I know God my creator, I know Jesus my savior, and I know the Holy Spirit, The Holy Wisdom both my Grandmothers once taught me to love. And I know how to tell a good story!

You are living eternal life now dear friends! What is your story with God? Practice telling it to one another. The world is waiting for us to Lift up Jesus so that there may be some salvation. After all, the world is in a sorry state is it not!

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