3rd Sunday after Pentecost (June 29, 2025) Isaiah 49:13-19, Romans 3:19-26, Matthew 6:22-34

A preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

There are so many valuable lessons from the Scripture readings today, but one of the first sayings from the gospel stood out for me.

It has many translations. Here is one: “If your eye is pure, there will be sunshine in your soul. But if your eye is clouded with evil thoughts and desires, you are in deep spiritual darkness.”  Other translations are: “The eye is the lamp of the body [or, The lamp of the body is the eye]. If your eye is healthy or sound, your whole body will be full of light. If your eye is unhealthy or diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness or in darkness, If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

What is this spiritual vision that enables our eye to be pure, healthy, or sound? It is our capacity to see clearly what God wants us to do with our lives. This insight can be clouded by our many thoughts, desires, interests, and goals that are self-serving.

 In this gospel, Jesus then refers to things within the reach of our senses- like the lilies of the field and birds of the air- that we might more easily grasp His teaching. We understand the value of light in our lives. The mind (nous) is our spiritual eye. Keeping our spiritual eyes good or wholesome is fundamental to our Christian life. Planting ourselves squarely in the present moment is a condition for being fully alive and happy. Our personal rebirth or enlightenment begins here and now! Today, let us take time to notice. We can go through life on automatic pilot, or we can discipline ourselves to pay attention to each moment with openness and gratitude. Moments of beauty easily lead us to pray when we are awake to their presence, when we see with our spiritual eye. The mystic theologian St. Gregory of Nyssa indicated in his writing: “The whole of creation is but one single temple of the God who created it.”

We have the opportunity to look again at who we are, at where we want to go in life, at how we are getting to where we want to go. We need to know that we are living for something of value. Will we leave this world better than when we found it? We need to carry a light into the darkness of the world so that others too, may follow and find the way.

Mary Magdalene can be our model. The Magdalen had banked her whole life on the fact that the vision of Jesus would come to fullness. She believed in him and believed in everything he taught. She followed him to the end, even when others fled. She followed him in the light and finally, like the rest of us, she followed him through the darkness. She continued in the faith that what had come to life in her, even if suppressed in the world around her, could not die.

The message is clear. When we follow Jesus, the path is often through darkness to what looks like failure and defeat. But when we ourselves carry the message of Jesus here and now, we carry within ourselves the promise of new life. We live the ongoing message of the Resurrection itself: What comes in the name of Jesus will not die. Darkness will be overcome as long as we ourselves never let the light of Truth be blown out in our own hearts.

Sermon 209 June 22, 2025: Sg 3:1-4, 6-11; Ac 2:40-47; Lk 24:13-35 “Christ at Emmaus" - "Seen and unseen"

As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

       When we recite the Creed, which we will do again this morning, we may be so habituated to saying it that we can let the text just slide over us without really penetrating our consciousness. For example it opens saying God is the "maker of heaven and earth and of all things visible and invisible." One might also say "all things seen and unseen." We have no trouble comprehending the concept "all things visible." Since the Enlightenment, we in the West especially, put our trust in the reality of the physical world. But "all things invisible" is another matter.

       Something unseen can be right in front of us, but we don't see it. This can happen when we are looking for something we have misplaced and we walk right by it in our frantic search for it and do not see it. But another way of looking at something and not seeing it is when we are looking at someone and we see them, their physical presence, but we do not see into their heart. A person's inner world is not visible to us. Although the aura of that inner world might be visible or at least sensed.

       But unseen can cover many other phenomena. In scripture unseen or invisible often refers to angels and other "bodiless" powers. Many things that were once in the category of invisible may now be detected by scientific methods. Sound waves, wind, and electricity, for example. But what about love? 

       Today's gospel reading about the risen Jesus joining Cleopas and his companion as they dejectedly walk on the road away from Jerusalem is not about mistaken identity, it's about love. The two disciples didn't see him, even though they saw the person walking with them. Of course, this story is given to us along with many others, to witness to Christ's resurrection.

       Why did Jesus come to them? They were in despair. He knew this. He came to rekindle their faith. But the faith Jesus represents is something beyond what they expected. "We thought he was the one to liberate Israel."  It is so human to project our needs or preconceived notions onto Jesus or God. "We thought he was the one to save our dying daughter." "We thought he was the one to end all wars." "We thought he was the one to eliminate all evil in the world." We can all add to this list.

       Being with a loved one who is dying is love. The outcome doesn't change, the love that animates that act also doesn't change.

       God is love. We can't see God because we can't see love. We experience it. To enter into God is to enter into the all embracing love that is God. Our journey on this earth is a prelude to that final destination. Cleopas and his companion's hopes for this life seemed to have died on the cross. They didn't see the larger reality. Christ had to restore their faith. He had to show them in a physical reality that they could understand--and see--in order to open their eyes to the reality beyond the physical. Then he disappeared--but he was not gone. He remained with all his disciples on their journeys to spread the good news.

       I just finished reading a biography of Archimandrite Roman Braga. ^[1] I suspect that someday our church will recognize him as a saint. Near the end of his life, Fr. Roman, in guiding a young priest monk [heiromonk] to see the need for balance between formal theological education and the practical experience of the Christian life, said: "The Last Judgment will not be a theology test; it will be about what you did." In critiquing his own ascetic practice Fr Roman said to his disciple, only one prostration is needed. Smiling, he continued, it takes a thousand prostrations before you get to that one wherein you truly die as your head touches the ground and come back to full life upon rising.

       And what is that full life we rise to? It is the love of God. Jesus walked with Cleopas and his companion to reorient them once again toward the salvation to which he is calling all of us. The love that holds us through and beyond all joys and sorrows of this life.

       Christ is in our midst!

---

^[1] Journey to Simplicity : The Life and Wisdom of Archimandrite Roman Braga. Daniel B. Hinshaw. Yonkers NY: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2023, pp. 517-18.

The Man Born Blind

 As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

1 Peter 3:13-22, Acts 9:32-43, John 9:1-39

One of the constant themes of monastic spirituality is the notion of keeping vigil: watching for the coming of the Lord. We are to be vigilant and alert for the subtle ways the kingdom of God breaks into our consciousness. For in those moments, we touch the elusive mystery of God on earth.

For the man born blind, the mystery of Jesus healing him revealed the message that Jesus is the light of the world for all to see.  Christ said that as long as he was in the world, he was the light of the world. The mystery is that Christ said that he is with us always, having died, but rising and sending his own Spirit to be with us. Watch and pray!

Only by faith can we live peacefully with the knowledge that we will die. What can help is to notice the daily deaths we all undergo throughout our lives – those errors in judgement and moments of alienation, the hurt feelings and careless words that we utter or that others say to us.  Notice that death never has the last word. A quiet call stirs from the depth of who we are: Rise up! Rise up to new life, to a better vision of who we can become!  Hope rises with each new day. Being able to let hope spread is to begin each day in stillness. Take nothing for granted, but be open to whatever the coming day may be.

Ours is an age that is increasingly uncomfortable with silence. When we embrace silence with courage, we are given the chance to be mindful of God’s abiding presence. Silence allows us to be aware of our own thoughts and to choose our own way with care. Focusing our mind makes our life fertile soil for the coming day.

Anything we achieve comes from God. We need to give serious thought to what in Jesus we are striving daily to imitate. We believe many things about the Christ, about our God. Let’s give some thought to why we believe these things. We do believe in many mysteries of our faith. Why do we believe them? And why do we not believe some of them?

Many things about Jesus in Scripture do not look mysterious. His goodness, his compassion for the sick, the loss of loved ones, his sadness with those who would not believe him. Reflecting on these things will help us to remember that we are grace-bearing creatures, commanded to be the salt of the earth and to be a light for those around us. If we obey the divine command of service offered to others, with love, patience, gentleness, kindness, integrity, fidelity, and all the rest that goes with being witnesses for Christ, healing will come through us to others. Perhaps not as it did for Peter, with Tabitha and Aeneas, but in other ways.

 If our hearts are set on possessions, pleasure, good health, prestige, ease, and comfort, we are vulnerable to unhappiness. Any of those things can be lost at any time.  If the relationship with God is the highest priority, our blessedness is secure. Even when we are suffering, we can remember to unite our own suffering with Jesus’ sufferings, and we can attain peace. Sometimes we might be suffering because of less than smart decisions we have made, sometimes it is just due to the human condition. None of these sufferings should touch that which matters most: our relationship with God.

 We can find ourselves stumbling as if we were blind. We grasp and search for truth and wisdom, but usually not see Jesus right in front of us. if we would focus our life on Christ and keep our minds focused on the one needful thing, then we would see, we could affirm as did the blind man, “Lord, I believe.” Let us pray that Christ will illumine the way to that pearl of great price—the source of all.

Christ is risen!!

Sermon 208 May 18, 2025: 1Pt 2:18-25; Ac 9:1-19; Jn 4:3-30,39-42 “Samaritan Woman"

 As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

Christ is risen!

 

       Brother John was convinced that dowsing for water was real. The dowsing rod looks to me like a large wishbone. It was the technique used to find the right location to dig our wells at New Skete and it was successful here. Once one finds the right spot, then to dig a well, one first has to break through the top layer of soil. Today's gospel lesson is about dowsing for, what Jesus calls, living water. And the scene takes place at Jacob's Well. And a well is the perfect image for the conversation that ensues between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. For like the modern day drill that digs for the well water, Jesus, with this woman, is digging down into her soul to reveal to her where the font of living water is to be found.

       One might argue that the most important element of this story takes place before the story begins. The woman went to the well to draw water as she undoubtedly did everyday. And that's when the story begins. She is about her normal chores. But on this particular day, when she got to the well she found her life looking at her: Jesus. She wasn't on a pilgrimage to a holy site. We know of no particular issue in her life pressing on her at this time. She was simply doing what she normally did. This is what we can often miss in our own lives. Jesus is with us in our ordinary daily activities. And the extraordinary will often emerge from the most ordinary events, if we notice. This Samaritan woman found her salvation while doing her normal work. It was in doing her normal tasks that Jesus met her.

       So when we are about our normal tasks, we are probably not thinking that Jesus is right beside us. After all, the Samaritan woman had no idea that Jesus was going to be sitting at Jacob's well. But Jesus knew. He also knew that this was the opportune time to break into her life and move her away from the mundane to become an evangelist. And she was ready, like the wise bridesmaids, to join Jesus in proclaiming the reign of God.

       The Orthodox Church has given this woman a name, Photini, meaning the enlightened one. She is called equal to the apostles. Her evangelizing work begins in her return to her village where she tells the men and women there of her encounter with Jesus, whom she believes to be the Messiah. She is a credible witness and they believe her, undermining the often repeated theory that she must have been a sinful woman or an adulterer because of having five husbands. But Jesus doesn't tell her to repent or to sin no more. He knows the societal prejudices of his day. She may have had five husbands because some predeceased her or divorced her. She may have needed a man to survive in the society of her time that gave women no standing and no rights. But her encounter with Jesus lets her break free of that restriction.

       This encounter between Jesus and Photini also models for us a liberating way to talk to God. She engaged with Jesus, asked questions, debated, not to be contrary, but to learn and grow her faith. She was seeking truth and Jesus never condemns her or dismisses her. He knows her life story up to that point and he knows the rest of her story too. The Orthodox Church fills in the rest of the story [a la Paul Harvey] having her baptized and named Photini by the disciples, evangelizing other Samaritan villages, traveling to Carthage and then called by Jesus to Rome at the time Emperor Nero where she, her family and others were tortured and imprisoned. Photini ultimately is martyred by being thrown into a dry well. The irony being she already had the living water.

       Even though the Samaritan woman's life was ordinary, her conversation with Jesus shows that she was aware of life's larger issues and nurtured a deep desire to seek the truth. She was able to cultivate and irrigate that deeper desire even while doing simple chores. Jesus knows all our stories. And he accompanies us on our life's journey. And we too can meet God in the ordinary, if we cultivate that awareness of God's presence around us and in us.

 

Christ is Risen!

Sermon 207 April 13, 2025: Mt 21:28-32 “Palm Sunday Vespers"

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As we leave behind the cheering crowd at Jerusalem and enter the week of Christ's sacred [saving] Passion, our gospel reading tonight might be seen as representing the change of mind of the Jerusalem crowd. Two sons are asked to do a task. One says yes but doesn't do it and the other says no but changes his mind and does his father's will. This little drama is also played out inside each one of us when we waver between the positive and negative impulses that can be at war in our hearts. And 
wasn't it also played out inside Jesus himself in Gethsemane when he asked: If possible take this cup from me. But your will be done. The Jerusalem crowd begins as enthusiastic supporters of Jesus and then changes and calls for his death!

The first part of Holy Week brings us readings with lessons preparing us for the passion. Tonight begins Holy Monday with its theme of the treachery of Joseph's brothers who sold him into slavery in Egypt. Their first thought was to kill him. This prefigures the crowd shouting at Pilate: Crucify him! Crucify him!  Joseph's brothers, however, changed their minds when they realized they could get money for him. So they sold him for 20 Shekels, prefiguring Judas' bargain to sell Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Judas is like the Jerusalem crowd, but even more, not just a quixotic enthusiast but a disciple, a member of the inner circle, "my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me," as the Psalmist says [Ps 41:9 NIV].

This story gives us the chance to ponder the nature of our relations with our dearest friends or even family. How easy it is for that relationship to turn ugly. And when it does, are we also hurting Jesus?  "What you do to the least of these you do to me."  And if so, might this help us learn from Christ on the cross to forgive even in the most painful of circumstances. For Joseph, when his family came to Egypt and met him, forgave them, embraced them and thereby brought healing to their family.  Didn't Jesus say to his opponents and executioners, "forgive them for they know not what they do?"

On Holy Tuesday we meet again the ten bridesmaids awaiting the wedding feast. Jesus opens this story saying the Kingdom of Heaven will be like this. We often think this story is about being prepared to enter the kingdom of heaven. The foolish bridesmaids lost their opportunity to enter the kingdom of heaven because they were not prepared. The tricky part is understanding what that means. What was the error of the foolish bridesmaids?  After running off to get a supply of oil, they returned only to hear the Lord say to them: "I don't know you." The oil they needed was not available for purchase. For the message of the parable isn't about oil or banquets. It's about being known by Jesus in a way that he can recognize. This is a lifetime occupation but Holy Week is a time to ponder this more deeply as we witness Jesus's passion. Can Jesus recognize himself in us?

And then on Wednesday we encounter the woman who crashes Simon's party and takes her sorrow and regret over her wasted life and spills that on Jesus as she anoints him with expensive perfume. The guests show righteous indignation at her behavior, while Jesus praises her act of contrition and then shows her compassion and forgiveness. He knows her, he knows what's in her heart. He also knows the hearts of the others in the room.  When judgment comes, to which of them will he say at the door of the kingdom: "I don't know you."

This is our path during Holy Week as we accompany Jesus on his journey to Golgotha. Whatever we may or may not have accomplished during Great Lent, or even throughout our life, this week gives us a chance once again to learn from Jesus about forgiveness, compassion and resurrection.

Like the one brother in our gospel reading, who is able to admit, at least to himself, his misguided response to his father, and with a change of heart, change his behavior as well.  Likewise, the woman's change of heart and life yields blessings from Jesus. May our participation in this Holy Week open us to similar blessings.

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Sermon 206 April 13, 2025: Ze 9:9-12; Ph 3:10, 4:1; Jn

As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

12:12-19 “Palm Sunday"

In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Back when I was a youngster growing up in LA, heading off  to the beach to ride the waves was a common summertime activity. I was never one to ride surf boards, unlike my two brothers who were quite accomplished surfers. I stuck to the slightly less hazardous body surfing. But no wave was too high!  The higher the better and what a view heading into the shore.  Riding high on the crest of the wave and the water churning below and the beach ahead seemingly tiny and distant. But the end of the ride was the reminder of reality below as you crashed into the sandy shore.

And isn't that a bit like the Palm Sunday celebration? The great high of the crowd gathering around Jesus and accompanying him on his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Here is the promised king who will liberate Israel from the Roman occupiers and establish the Kingdom of God that will last forever.  The crowd is jubilant at the prospect. But Jesus's Kingdom, while already present, is not the kingdom the crowd expected. His entire ministry was misunderstood and ultimately a disappointment.

Our 40 day Lenten journey arrives at this weekend respite before we plunge into the transformative experience of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Maybe this Lent you felt a sense of accomplishment, you made at least some progress in your personal spiritual growth. Palm Sunday becomes that welcome bridge that takes you from the arena of personal struggle to a welcome oasis of celebration, first with Martha and Mary at the raising of their brother Lazarus from the dead, and then with the joy of Jesus's welcome by the crowds from Bethany and beyond as he enters Jerusalem with the acclaim: Hosannah in the Highest! Blest is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

But at this moment of celebration we take our joy in what we may have accomplished and connect it to the salvific journey that Christ will now make for us. So the bridge, Palm Sunday, is where the focus changes. The raising of Lazarus is the spark that brought out the crowds. The celebration at Jerusalem was about the anticipation surrounding the prospect of achieving the crowds' goals.  

But Holy Week is different. It is no longer about the crowds' political goals or my efforts to re-orient my life, or at least make some modest improvement in my attitudes and actions towards others or even myself. Now the spotlight is on Jesus and his sacrifice for our salvation, the ultimate source of our transformation. We engage in his paschal journey by accompanying him through the pain and anguish of his arrest, trial, sentencing and execution on the cross. We also notice that, throughout it all, Jesus is the one dispensing grace to those around him: washing the feet of his disciples to teach them, and us, a lesson in humble service, inaugurating the Lord's supper to give us access to him even after he ascends to heaven, offering forgiveness to his executioners and blessing to the repentant thief also dying on a cross next to him, to show us how God's love embraces all people and all circumstances.

This journey of Jesus is also our journey, if we choose to truly immerse ourselves in its unfolding and take to heart the message it is conveying to us. No matter what life presents to us, we have the freedom to choose to engage with it and transform it into blessings. And when we do that, our paschal celebration at the end of Holy Week will be just the first wave of many new resurrection celebrations to flow our way in our life's journey.

Christ is in our midst.

Woman with a Hemorrhage

As preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Church

Ezekiel  18:21-23,23-30,  Hebrews 3:7-16,  Mark 5:24b-34

A friend recently sent us photos of some of her sheep. One had just given birth and the little lamb is perched on its mother’s body -being taken care of. Another was a little lamb obviously getting some special human attention by being inside the house. Perhaps it was sick or the mother would not nurse it and had to be hand fed. I like to think the lamb was being cared for as Jesus took care of the woman who had suffered from, so far, an incurable hemorrhage for 12 long years.

Custom dictated that for twelve years this woman had not been allowed to mix with others. Never the less, she boldly took a chance that no one would notice her. Having heard of all the healing that Jesus had already done, she believed she would be cured if only she could touch the fringe of his cloak.

 Jesus felt his healing go out from him and turned to look for the one receiving it. Upon gazing at the woman Jesus understood the courage and faith of the woman.  He wanted us to know what he valued in her and by extension, from us. That is; faith in Jesus and his love for each of us.

With that single action of healing Jesus helps her to reenter ordinary daily life, to be fully integrated into her community. Having no name, she represents all of us, especially if we feel isolated, exhausted or on the brink of despair. Jesus’ cure restored a woman to her full dignity to live life to the full as God’s child and our sister.

We are created in the dynamic image of God. To be made in the image of God is to be life-giving and imaginative. All of us are gifted with creative potential. We create connection and dialogue among people; we create art, music, prose, poetry; we create love and support for our families and communities. Our gifts, whatever they may be, are given to create a more life-giving world.

Or we can create discord depending what we put our attention on.

Faith in Jesus’ love for us seems to be what Jesus wants from us. Are we creative in learning how we can increase our faith? 

Are we inclined to be attentive to God’s presence in everything we do?

Do we have a special practice during Lent that might help to remember God is with us?

If fasting is one of your practices, do you think of God being with you when you experience hunger or not indulging in a special treat?  Thank God for the opportunity to be able to fast because you want to and not because you think you have to.

Whether you fast or not, faith in Jesus calls us to remember that God is within us. That is the important thing. It is an unfathomable mystery that God is within and without, everywhere and in all things. A prayer attributed to Saint Patrick whose feast day is tomorrow could be a mantra of sorts that could help us be mindful of our God as we journey through Lent toward the great Paschal Mystery.

• "Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me..." 
• "Christ on my right hand, Christ on my left hand, Christ all around me, shield in the strife" 
• "Christ in my sleeping, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising, light of my life"

 

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Now and forever!