October 19, 2025 - Lk 5:17-28

 As preached by Brother Christopher

Holy Wisdom Church

“And they were all astounded and praised God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen strange things today.” (Lk 5:26)

 

In this morning’s gospel, there is an interesting dynamic at play that’s worth reflecting on. It is the tension between “law” and “spirit”. Jesus is teaching to a packed house when suddenly a paralyzed man is let down on a bed from a hole in the roof and placed at Jesus’ feet. It’s a bold and astonishing thing to imagine, and the expression of faith by the friends that let the man down moves Jesus deeply. But what he does next is surprising, even shocking to the scribes and Pharisees in the crowd. Instead of focusing on the physical disability, Jesus addresses the deeper paralysis that afflicts the man: paralysis of the Spirit that no doubt had left him feeling alienated from God. Jesus says, “Your sins are forgiven.” Now this freaks out the scribes and Pharisees, whose unspoken thoughts were pretty clear to Jesus: “Blasphemy! Who does he think he is? Only God can forgive sins. He’s broken the law.” However, while ostensibly standing up for religious orthodoxy, their protests include another less noble aspect: that sins can be forgiven only after visiting the religious authorities and completing a rite of purification, which also involved paying a fee. Jesus’ pronouncement is thus a threat to the authority and livelihood of the religious elite. Jesus manifests a different authority – one of the spirit – one with no connection to power or financial gain: the authority of God whose forgiveness cures the paralysis of the soul.

              But the story gets even better: Jesus sees right through the duplicity of the scribes, calling out their toxic, hidden thoughts. He then demonstrates his authority to speak for God by ordering the paralytic to pick up his bed and walk... and so the man does – leaving everyone astonished. Who has ever seen anything like this? But what is even more astonishing is that after having seen such a miracle, no one in the crowd decides to become a disciple, at least as Luke reports it. They seem to be frozen in their astonishment, not realizing the implications of what they’ve seen. All they can say is, “We have seen strange things today.”  Interestingly, at the end of the passage, it is only Levi the tax collector – who wasn’t even at the miracle – who falls under the gaze and the word of Jesus. He is the one who shows us what is of real importance: following Jesus. He hears Jesus’ call and in one definitive moment, leaves behind his addiction to money. Perhaps it’s another healing of paralysis of a different sort.

              All of this is happening early on in Luke’s gospel and it sets the stage for the gradual unfolding of Jesus’ destiny. His mighty works attract significant attention but they are accompanied by a radical call to change, one that rattles the authorities. And even here in this morning’s passage we get a subtle premonition of what is in store for Jesus. While the charge of blasphemy by the scribes foreshadows Jesus’ death, the raising of the paralytic foreshadows his resurrection. Which leaves each of us with a question: do we stay on the level of the crowd’s astonishment, almost entertained by the tales of Jesus’ mighty works, or do we embrace the more challenging commitment of being a disciple, one who is open to fresh movement of the spirit? That can only be answered by each of us repeatedly in the depths of our heart.

             

Homily for the Feast of St Francis 2025

 

Preached by Brother Christopher
Holy Wisdom Church

 

I suppose it is not surprising that of all the saints one could think of in Christian history – including St Paul – none has enjoyed the popularity and affection as much as Francis of Assisi. And it is not confined solely to Roman Catholics. Indeed, more than any other saint post schism and Reformation, Francis is able to transcend religious divisions and elicit a respect and appreciation that inspires people of all faiths. It is believed that more books and essays have been written about him than any other saint, and while our culture seems to tilt more and more towards secularism, Francis is one saint that is still somehow taken seriously. Why is that?

              It might be tempting to single out Francis’ commitment to Lady Poverty, whose praises Francis sung throughout his life as being chiefly responsible for this. As a genuinely poor man, Francis made himself equal to the least in his culture, and so won their love and devotion. Or could it have been his unapologetic love for nature, for recognizing in the grandeur of the environment God’s presence and glory? Certainly in our own day when the fate of the earth is at risk through our reckless and profligate exploitation of its resources and our deafness to the ecological consequences of global warming, it’s not hard to see how today many would see his example as a desperately needed voice in the wilderness, calling us to sanity. Then again, perhaps it was due to his awesome sharing in the sufferings of Christ, as evidenced by the stigmata that he received on Mount La Verna two years before his death. It would have been hard for his contemporaries to ignore what such a miracle represented.

              Each of these aspects of his life and spirituality are important and no doubt have a role in Francis’ enduring importance. But with respect, I believe what undergirds them all and what gives his spiritual legacy perennial wings is simply his radical adherence to the Gospel. It is said that when Francis crafted his initial rule for his followers he began by stating that “The Rule and the Life of the Friars Minor is to simply live the Gospel.” And in the ensuing rule he penned it was primarily a collection of New Testament passages strung together into a coherent whole. When Francis sent it off to Rome for approval it is said that Pope Innocent said, “This is no rule; this is just the Gospel.” And I can imagine Francis saying, “Exactly, that’s precisely the point!” Francis’ total simplicity and transparency captivated an entire generation, helping it to believe that the Gospel could be lived in a radical way. Francis showed them it was possible.

              Francis could never have imagined how his order and influence grew over the centuries and how that very growth and expansion forced the Friars to face adjustments to Francis’ radical vision. There’s the paradox that faces Christianity more broadly, and religious life and monasticism more specifically: in order to be truly faithful to the Gospel and the specific way the Spirit calls us to follow, we have the courage to continue to listen to what a radical following of the Gospel looks like in our own day, realizing that it cannot be a literal imitation of Francis. But what is possible is to take the passion, the desire, the creativity that characterized Francis’ life and use it as inspiration for charting our own way forward. What does such love look like today? And in this, I believe, we follow Christ.

Homily for September 28, 2025

 

As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

Jonah 3:1-10, 1 Corinthians 10-14-17, Matthew 24:32-44

In the Epistle to the Corinthians read this morning we are warned about worshiping idols. And immediately in the words preceding this warning, Paul preaches that God is faithful and will not let us be tested beyond our strength. But in the testing God will also provide the way out of it as well as the strength to bear whatever trials come our way, including the temptation to make idols we cling to.
          Jesus used the fig tree leafing out to indicate that summer was coming. For us at this time of year, the tree leaves turning colors indicate that winter is coming. Jesus assured us that we know how to interpret these signs.  Are we equally aware of how to interpret this warning about trials to come?  As Jonah warned the people of Nineveh and they changed, are we willing to see what needs changing in our attitudes as we journey through life?  Do any of our attitudes involve idols we are inadvertently worshiping?

          I believe that deep within our hearts is an impulse to worship. This same impulse causes us to “follow” Christ.  This is an impulse that lifts our whole self into a personal act of gratitude and wonder.  It is a response to realizing that our life is a gift. It is a gift to realize that we are united to the rest of humanity. We are one with all of Creation.

What better reminder of this Unity than when we receive Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist!  This worship of ours is not confined to being in church, but is or can become active from the moment we awaken in the morning until we turn off the light to sleep at night.

Besides our inclination to worship and follow Christ, we have a tendency to hold on to what we learned about God as a youth. We need to bring knowledge to virtue so that our spirituality does not become bad theology.   Idols come in all shapes and sizes, and are difficult to recognize.  A commitment to knowledge can provide us with the tools we need to make judgements that are true and kind, compassionate and just.

It is easy for subtle idols to creep into our lives, but we have been warned. We can help ourselves by remembering that we are one with all of Creation and by giving thanks to God for all our many blessings—and even our challenges.

Remembering that we are one with all Creation as Patriarch Bartholomew said recently when speaking at Fordham is a *level of consciousness from which we can take action and inspire others to rise to an appreciation of, and a gratitude for, the material world and the beings who dwell in it. It calls us to take action, to become engaged with the world and its inhabitants – not for the sake of self-gain. Rather, in imitation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we extend ourselves for the sake of others, and in doing so, we find meaning for our own lives. *

Christ is in our midst.

 

Sermon 211 September 21, 2025: IS 49:13-18, 22, 23; Gal 2:15-20; Mk 8: 34-9:1 "Follow me"

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church 

 

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

 

       The two most important words in this gospel passage are "follow me." Thursday at matins this week a passage from Richard Rohr's Yes and caused me to think about this gospel passage in a different and unexpected way. Rohr said, we often find it easier to worship Christ than to imitate him.

       The gospels have many scenes where individuals say they want to follow Christ. When he tells them what they have to do to achieve their goal, they often hesitate. Nowhere in the gospels does he say "worship me." He does tell us that the most important commandments are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind, and your neighbor as yourself. This is what Jesus models for us in his life. How are we to do this? How do we imitate Jesus? In today's passage Christ says if you want to follow me you must deny yourself and take up your cross. That is a tall order.

       The first task, to deny yourself, is the foundation for what follows. I looked up that passage in several different translations and found many ways to say this. Deny yourself [EOB, NRSV, NIV], forget yourself [NCSB], give up all right to yourself [JBP], say no to yourself [CEB], renounce yourself [NJB], turn from your selfish ways [NLT] and Peterson's The Message: "anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am." So, if we're going to let someone else lead, if we are going to put our faith in someone else's leadership, we have to let go of our need to be the leader, to be in control, to be first, to be always right. St. Paul says this to the Galatians: "The life that I am now living, subject to the limitation of human nature, I am living in faith, faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." [2:20]. Who loved me and gave himself for me! The other is the focus. Jesus defined "deny yourself" by the way he lived and how he treated others.

       The second task Christ gives us is to "take up your cross." He doesn't ask us to take up his cross. He already has done for us what he set out to do, according to God's plan. How we make that part of our life, is by taking up our cross, our life, and living it as God has intended for us. In doing so, we do not escape trials and self sacrifice any more than Jesus did. We live life in the here and now. As Jesus tells us, tomorrow will take care of itself. And the ultimate tomorrow is in God's hands.

       When Jesus says to follow him, he is not saying to worship him. However, to worship and praise the God who gives life to us and to all creation is not a bad thing. It is necessary to keep our minds and hearts always appreciating the reality that our life is created and sustained by a higher power. This awareness must be linked to the "liturgy after the liturgy," a phrase and concept coined by Archbishop Anastasios of Albania in the mid 20th century. We make our work, home and daily tasks an ongoing offering to God. The church does the same by extending its service and solidarity beyond the church building into the world and especially to the marginalized and needy. The two modes of worship, if you will, are one woven fabric. In doing these things we imitate Jesus, we follow him, as he leads us to our salvation. And as God says through the prophet Isaiah: Those who hope in me will not be disappointed."

 

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Transfiguration Aug 6th 2025 1Kng 19:9-14a, 2Pt 1:10-18, Mt 17:1-8

 As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

 
This prayer prepares us to feel the presence of God everywhere because we have discovered that the presence of God is within. It enables us to respond in waves of trust that carry us far beyond the storms of the present to the fullness of the future.

Jesus had been warning his followers that he had to go to Jerusalem where he would suffer and be put to death. His followers would not hear of it as the Messiah was supposed to free his chosen people, not die.  Jesus then took only Peter, James and John up a mountain, to pray perhaps? Was Jesus himself not sure going to Jerusalem and enduring all the ensuing  suffering was what God wanted of him? Perhaps, Moses and Elijah were assuring Jesus the path he saw for himself was indeed what was needed.

The three disciples saw Jesus transfixed-saw him in a different light-saw him as he really was. Then Jesus said to his disciples “Get up and do not be afraid”. Their own lives were forever transfigured. We too, can go forth and not be afraid-being confident that Jesus will lead us by his light if we but do our part and continue to pray-to listen to the Spirit (of God) within us.

Of all we bring to prayer, presence is at once one of the simplest and one of the most difficult. Being able to be present to God and remembering God’s presence within us is difficult. We find we need to resist distractions. Where can we find this needed silence and solitude needed for prayer?

God can seem so far away. However much time we put into praying, God can remain more an idea than a reality. We look for God “to come.”  We do not expect to find God here. But where else is God, if not here?   And if God is here, what creates the block, the Plexiglass between us?

“God “is not in the whirlwind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire.” God, Scripture says, “is in the small still voice within.” What is blocking us from making the journey within? In a culture built on noise, talk, information, advertisements and constant movements, it is close to impossible to really pray. Silence and solitude are lightyears away from the list of unending activities we carry in our heads. We say prayers; we seldom sit in the presence of God and wait.

 The very thought of simply listening for the whisper of the soft, still voice within is not only rare, it can be uncomfortable. Shouldn’t we be doing something, our still, small voice shouts at us. Shouldn’t we be going somewhere, doing something, at least saying something holy? 

But it is the voice of God within that brings calm and direction. It drains the negative out of the present so that we can go on, calmly aware that there is nowhere -where we are alone.

Get up and do not be afraid.

 

Sermon 210 August 3, 2025: Ezk 3:1-11; Rom 9:1-5; Mt 12: 30-42 “Source of good and evil" Give us a sign!

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

       We all know the common adage that if you tell a child not to do something, that is the very thing they will do. It is easy to put God in that position in the Genesis story about the Tree of Good and Evil in the garden of paradise. However, Richard Rohr offers  an intriguing interpretation on the Genesis creation story (2:17) of God prohibiting Adam and Eve from eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Rohr does not see this prohibition as God laying down a law and then acting as a cop to enforce it. Instead he interprets good and evil as a symbol of an approach to life. If we look at life through this lens of good and evil, we begin to think that way: good and evil, right and wrong, win or lose, friend or foe, us and them, in other words, the imprint on our minds is that of dualist thinking. We introduce evil into our thinking. Therein lies our death in paradise, because everything in paradise is good. Once evil is brought in, paradise is lost.

       You may have noticed that this morning's readings are all about stubborn people. People who will not listen to God. God appoints Ezechiel a prophet and then sends him on a mission to people he knows will not listen to him. St. Paul laments that his people, the chosen people, will not listen to God. He wishes that he could switch places with them, that he could be the one disconnected from Christ so that the rest of his people would be receptive to the good news.

       Jesus was frustrated with what he calls, "this generation," because they refused to listen. No matter what he did it was not enough. The signs he gave were the good works he performed. They demanded different signs. They wanted proof according to their long-held beliefs. This is not listening. In his frustration Jesus says the people of Nineveh will condemn this generation because they listened to Jonah and repented but this generation won't listen to something even greater. The only sign they will get will be Jonah whose 3 days in the whale prefigures Christ's death and resurrection.

       But of course this passage isn't a history lesson, it's a commentary on our very human tendency to flinch when Christ's teachings mean we have to change our attitudes and actions. When we have to let go of what we want, and do what is better. The Gospel message is about life, how we are to live it and to what end. The story of the tree in Genesis tells us that we human beings are the one's who introduced evil into the world. We have to change. And that's not a bad thing that's a good thing. It's not something to resist, it's something to embrace.

       Jesus tells us that we can discern whether a tree is good or bad by its fruit. His point is not about fruit trees, it is about us. So what can we do to cultivate the good and avoid the snare of evil? First, we need to find the source of good and evil. Jesus says it is within us. And our words and actions reveal it. And our thoughts are the main source of our words and actions.   

       One can fill many library shelves with books about meditation, contemplation and reflection. These references can take a spiritual or a secular self-help approach. But all of them are going to include the need to take the time and space to examine one's inner world. This inward gaze will show us the dwelling place of good and evil, but also the kingdom of God. Touching this place within each of us is within our grasp. Taking time to be quiet and listen for God's voice is an essential first step. This is what Jesus points to in today's gospel passage. The people of Nineveh listened, the Queen of the South came to Solomon to listen. We too need to take time to listen.

       Christ is in our midst!

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.