Christmas Homily

Brother Christopher

Everyone loves a good story. Throughout history human beings have always told stories, either passing them on orally from one generation to the next, or putting them down in print or in film. Stories captivate our imagination and help form who we are, our values, our hopes, our dreams, who we hope to become. Now admittedly, not all stories are of equal worth. For most, we read or look at them only once. We’re temporarily entertained, but then we move on to the next one. However, for a really good story, one that is beautifully written or told in film -- with an engaging plot and vivid characterization, we may come back to the story, even several times. Such stories have the capacity of feeding our souls. I remember our Brother Elias used go back and re-read Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings trilogy every Bright Week. For him it was that rare story he never tired of.

Yet the story we hear in this morning’s Gospel is somewhat unique: it is God’s story and given that we “read it” -- listen to it -- every year, it has the power to work on us progressively, bringing us deeper and deeper into its mystery. For as Paul writes in the passage from his letter to the Galatians, “in the fullness of time, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law, so that we could receive adoption as sons and daughters.” This is God’s story, begun in the fullness of time, and we are drawn into it as participants. God makes us part of God’s own story. The whole Patristic tradition witnesses to the chief fact of the incarnation: God became human, so that human beings could become God... not God by nature but by adoption, by being brought into an everlasting communion of love. And the Gospel story in all its simplicity and beauty describes the dramatic way this begins: wise men coming from the East, King Herod’s alarm at their question, his duplicitous scheming, the wise men following the star to Bethlehem, their finding the child and his mother, their falling down in worship and rendering him homage, their offering gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh... their traveling back home by a different road.

I think it’s fair to say that in this story the truth is stranger than fiction: God becomes a creature -- a human being -- without ceasing to be God. God incarnate in the form of a vulnerable baby is contrasted with a corrupt King who is interested only in clinging to his own power. And the real wisdom figures are the wise men from the East -- Gentiles -- who are interested only in worshiping the true king. the real question in all of this is, “why did God choose to do this, why did God become a human being?” And the answer is: to draw humanity into the real story -- God’s story -- to become part of that forever by revealing the extent of divine love. Jesus is the fulfillment of the human hope for salvation, and he reveals this throughout his life. And while Jesus comes as the long awaited Jewish Messiah, the story makes clear through the presence of the wise men that he is the fulfillment of Gentile hopes as well. Through the adoration of the wise men, Gentiles bow before the infant king. And even though the Gentiles -- all Gentiles -- don’t have the Hebrew Bible and the promises of tradition, by following the star, the truth they do perceive, it will lead them ultimately to the Savior. Jesus is for them, as well.

Last night when we sang “God is With Us” it was with the energy and power of spiritual realization. God is truly with us... not only for Jews, but with the Gentiles as well, not only with Orthodox Christians or even Christians in general, but with all people, of all religions, even those who haven’t asked for him or even seek him. All people are called to become part of this story, not for God’s sake, but for their own. It is their destiny, not their humiliation; it is their dignity, not their shame; it is their freedom, not their bondage; it is their very life.

Christ is Born!

Sunday December 20, 2015

Preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

Sermon 132. Dec 20, 2015 Mt 1:1-17; Heb 11:8-12; Gn15:1-6: Stars

         When we sell a puppy, being in the State of New York, we have to go through a lot of paperwork with the new owners before they can adopt the puppy. There are assurances about the health of the puppy, copies of the New York State law governing the rights of the new owners to return the puppy if there are health issues, documents from our veterinarian showing the medicines and vaccinations that the puppy has already received, guidelines on neutering and spaying your pet, and the list goes on and on. One of those papers is the puppy’s pedigree. It is issued by the AKC [American Kennel Club]. It shows a few generations back in the puppy’s family tree but the owner can go on line and learn more. So we deal with canine genealogies all the time. But what about people?

A few weeks ago I was talking about genealogies with one of our community friends and she mentioned that she had taken an interest in doing some genealogical work on her family. What she noticed in herself was that this hobby can become addictive! What isn’t in life!  You can find a second cousin 4^th removed and some tidbit in the information will then lead you down other “branches” of your family tree and pretty soon you discover how much time you have just spent on a very tenuous connection. But it’s fun and basically harmless. I guess a lot more people have come to appreciate all the genealogical work the Mormons have done over the years.

         Once long ago I thought about doing some genealogy digging into my family background but I never got very far. I did find a book on the Dorr Rebellion but I got bored before I got to the end of it! My brother Paul did some genealogical sleuthing too but that’s all I know of being done in my immediate family. And yet, finding out about one’s family and all the connections with relatives can open up new relationships with unimagined results.

         In some ways it seems odd that Americans have taken to genealogical research since for generations one of the hallmarks of American self-identity was that “who you are” was not supposed to be as important in evaluating someone as “what you do” or “what you have made of yourself.” Valuing family of origin distinctiveness was frowned upon; it had the odor of nepotism and nobility, things supposedly of the old world that people came to the new world to escape. Here you were to be able to work hard and make your way and your family identity did not matter.

         So in light of these mixed signals from our society, what are we to make of today’s commemoration of the Ancestors of Christ? Why should this genealogy matter to us today? In Jesus’ day and in Middle Eastern society even today, genealogies can be very important. Among Muslims, it is a great honor and matter of pride to be able to trace your family tree back to the prophet Muhammad. Genealogies are used to justify particular family’s claims to leadership in some states. And even at levels well below questions of power, tracing one’s lineage can make a difference in what jobs you can hold, what state allowances you are entitled to, whether or not you are able to obtain nationality status. For Matthew, who was writing to his own Jewish community, he wanted to be able to convince his readers of the genuineness of the claim for Jesus to be Messiah by linking him to King David and all the way back to Abraham.  My guess is that many committed Christians today are not particularly concerned about such arcane arguments, despite the rise in personal genealogical quests. Believing in the claim that Jesus is God’s son may rest on other aspects of the Good News.

         Even so, as I pondered this scripture passage an image far removed from Matthew’s concerns came to me. Remember God’s promise to Abraham: I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven. What I see in the genealogy of Jesus Christ and in all our genealogies is mirrored for me when I gaze at the stars in the night sky. They are so numerous that they are beyond counting, and yet they are all part of the same cosmos. They are all connected.

Another way of looking at it is the image of the “family tree.” God’s promise about the descendants of Abraham creates a growing and ever expanding forest of genealogies of all humanity. Indeed, if we trace back our lineages we are all related to each other. And if you add Jesus’ genealogy to all the rest, then we are all related to Christ, yes, we are all related to God. God’s children, if you will. So we might say that the incarnation is not only about God coming into our world to experience human life, but also to sanctify all life by solidifying the connection with have with God. From this perspective the genealogy of Christ is a cause for rejoicing, not because Jesus is related to King David and Abraham [and all the rest in the lineage] but rather because we are all related to him! Yes, as scripture says, we are all sons and daughters of the Most High.

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Sunday, November 1, 2015

As preached by Brother Marc
Holy Wisdom Church

Wis. 12:12b-22; 2 Cor. 5:13-18; Luke 6:27-35

An old-time preacher once began her sermon by asking how many in the congregation might be willing to forgive their enemies. A few bravely hold up their hands. Then after a good twenty minutes analyzing the gospel text she asks again and gets a much better response. After another long round of teaching she asks for a final show of hands. By now all thoughts are wandering toward Sunday dinner, so almost everyone responds positively. She asks one of the others:

"Mrs. Johnson, aren’t you even willing to try forgiving your enemies?"

"I don't have any."

"Mrs. Johnson, why don’t you stand up and tell us how you are able to live without an enemy in the world."

With some help, the woman gets up and slowly turns around: "It’s easy. At ninety three, I’ve outlived those jerks!"

There may be people we feel are our enemies no matter how hard we try otherwise. Maybe someone just seems to hate us. Someone we've offended might not accept our apologies. A person is jealous or antagonistic toward us. Individuals hold grudges in families for some mysterious reason we can never comprehend. And there are those who seem to dislike us for no good reason.

It’s a hard part of life. And when we hear Jesus telling us to love our enemies, it doesn’t feel like that will make it any easier.

In the Gospels Jesus contrasts what his disciples have heard in the past with what they need to practice now. He says, "You have heard it said, 'An eye for an eye.' But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil;" "You have heard that it said you must love your neighbor and hate your enemies. But I say to you, love your enemies. Do good to them, bless them, pray for them."

Of course this may seem impossible, and by nature it is impossible! To love enemies sincerely? To pray for ... whom? Hateful persons working against us?—who not only want us to fail but are trying to destroy us. It seems masochistic —a recipe for psychological and physical disaster. We’re not supposed to be doormats.

But Jesus’ new way of love is not friendship or romantic love. It is seeing and doing from a completely new perspective, as if through the eyes of God. The 12^th century mystic theologian Hugo of St. Victor wrote: “Love is the eye!” Through the eye of love and altruism, we see accurately both in religion and in science. This love, agape, is a self-transcending love, a sort of unconquerable benevolence, a social ease and invincible goodwill. The very first word of Jesus in the gospel, “Metanoia,” meaning enter a different, higher mind, points to this new eye, a changed perspective, and a different way of thinking. This new love also works for the ultimate welfare of all. The opposite of metanoia is paranoia, which causes distortion of the eye with its lens of deep suspicion and exclusive self-interest.

Popular writer Fr. James Martin says, “Over the course of many years’ experience, and in light of meditating on the Gospels, I realized three things about loving your enemies.

First, some people may simply dislike you. So it's useless to try to "get" them to like you, much less love you. You cannot change them. You can be open to reconciliation, but you have no control over whether someone will be reconciled with you. Part of this process is letting it go and admitting your own powerlessness.

Second, turning away from insults, hatred and contempt "with the other cheek" is not so others can keep insulting or smacking us: it is for us not to react with anger or retaliate in kind.

Some psychologists say we should give vent to the anger we might be feeling now (rather than let it fester), but responding with a mean put-down, vituperation or vengefulness (two rather large words/weapons) and is a rather childish thing to do. Only babies need to give vent to their anger all the time. We can remain emotionally healthy and still acknowledge our anger and express frustration.

To put it less elegantly than Jesus, if your enemy behaves like a jerk toward you, there's no reason you have to act like a jerk toward him or her or them.

Third, loving our enemies, and praying for those who persecute us, is liberating—it frees us from always fighting for the upper hand or for who's up and who's down, and from analyzing every slight. This does not mean we condone what was said and done, or give in, or deny justice.

Instead, we refuse to let what someone says ruin our spirit and best intentions. We refuse to let what someone does to us alienate us from God and from love and respect for ourselves and others.

Brother Marc

19th Sunday after Pentecost Oct. 18th 2015

As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

Is 57:14-19, 2 Cor 1:17, Lk 5:17 28

Richard Rohr once used an example of the Russian Holiday nesting dolls to indicate a unique idea. Picture the Russian folk dolls, each one enclosing a smaller one. The first doll and the last doll are the Christ mystery, “the Alpha and Omega”  of history*1. In the end everything will be united in Christ.

This morning’s gospel story seems to indicate one of the inside dolls, being neither the beginning nor the end. Jesus has been preaching and healing and making quite a reputation for himself. So much so, that many of the common folk as well as the Pharisees and scribes-the keepers of the law- had traveled from all around Palestine to hear what he had to say. When Jesus was amazingly pleased with the faith of the men who had lowered their friend down through the rafters of the house, he told the sick man his sins were forgiven. It was a common belief that disease was a direct result of sinning. Both Scribes and Pharisees were horrified at Jesus words, thinking that Jesus was blaspheming God –claiming to be God since only God can forgive sins.  Jesus then referred to himself as the Son of Man. That is part of the Christ mystery.  Jesus knew what he meant by calling himself Son of Man even if others did not. Son of Man would have been more acceptable than calling himself God. Jesus kept trying to convince people that he was indeed sent by God. His miraculous healing powers and teaching, for example this paralyzed man, was to help convince them of this.

It was not necessarily the faith of the paralyzed man that brought about his cure. It was the faith of the men who took the trouble to climb onto the roof and remove the thatch between the beams in order to put the man in front of Jesus. They had heard of his compassion for the sick and his ability to heal and knew he would heal their friend if they could just get to him. What a difference in attitude with the rigid law keepers. While their attitude can be understood if one studies the culture they were brought up in, how can we in our time and culture, be more like the friends rather than the blind, rigid keepers of the law? Our culture can keep us from seeing as well.

 The theme of the retreat given here yesterday was strongly connected with silence. Our culture has seemingly become the culture of cacophony. With our modern conveniences we can be and are, at times, surrounded by noise of all kinds. Even beautiful music can prevent the silence that is necessary to listen for the voice of the Spirit. There is little time for listening to what the Word of the universe might be trying to say to us.

Distraction and ambition, anger and jealousy, pride and pain, fatigue and overload—all these distort the sense of the presence of God. Being able to contemplate the mystery of Christ is a gift from God. We have to choose to pursue and ask for this gift. Without taking the time to be quiet and listen, will we come to realize that God wishes us to be consoled? As in the Old Testament reading God indicated through Isaiah that God heals and bestows peace to the far and near. Faith in God can be challenged when we experience suffering and afflictions of all kinds.  This too is part of the mystery of Christ. By silence and contemplation of this mystery we are consoled as promised.

Christ is in our midst.

Homily: October 4, 2015

Preached by Sr. Rebecca

Holy Wisdom Church

          In today’s Gospel we hear Jesus saying: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me…”:  The image here is that of an animal harnessed to do work; the yoke provides discipline and direction.  In Judaism the yoke-image was used in connection with wisdom and the Torah.  In the book of Sirach 51:26 the sage invites prospective students to “put your neck under the yoke, and let your souls receive instruction.”  The book of Deuteronomy says that wisdom is found deep within our hearts. We do not have to go anywhere to find it…it is deep within our being, within the core of our being.  In today’s Gospel the image is tied directly to Jesus- the yoke Jesus is offering is: becoming one with him: Jesus, who is divine wisdom incarnate.

          Jesus’ school, wisdom teaching, cannot be communicated by word only or by reflection only; it is intended to be imbibed by sharing his life, his space, his task, his heart.  “Learn from me” means that the difference between the school of Jesus and other schools is that here Jesus IS the teaching.  There is no separation between the words, the theory and the practice. 

          Jesus is saying that this yoke, his wisdom which is from the Father, is diametrically different and even opposed to that exemplified by the Pharisees.  The burdens that Jesus is referring to when he says: “Come to me you who are weary and are heavily burdened”, are the multiple and punctilious observances of the law as the Pharisees saw fit.  They piled their self-made, so called ‘wisdom’ on the backs of ordinary people- and it was an unbearable yoke.  It certainly did not slake the people’s thirst for God’s love.  Jesus unmasked this iron yoke of the Pharisees’ appearance of faithfulness to God as destructive self-indulgence, willfulness and attachment to their own minds resulting in hardness of heart, and in some cases, down right cruelty to the poor and needy. 

          Jesus continues: “And I will relieve you.” Jesus’ name means ‘savior’–source of relief from all oppression, whether self-generated or imposed upon us from without. 

          Just as in Jesus’ time religion was so often presented as a system of obligatory doctrines, traditions, interpretations, belief systems, rituals etc. which were taught as conditions for salvation.  We are all aware that this same misunderstanding has passed into Christianity.  (Paul Tillich said) “We are all permanently in danger of abusing Jesus by stating that He is the founder of a new religion and the bringer on of another, more refined and more enslaving law.  And so we see in all Christian Churches the toiling and laboring of people who are called Christians, serious Christians, under innumerable laws (or doctrines) which they cannot (embrace or) fulfill, and from which they flee, or to which they replace by other laws.”  This is the yoke of which Jesus wants to liberate us.  Jesus’ yoke” is not a new set of morals, rituals, or doctrine, but rather a new Reality, a New Being, and a new power transforming our lives.  This yoke is offered…we don’t get it because we try harder to do x, y, z to gain it.  No, it is freely given.  This wisdom welling up from within is beyond our expectation: suddenly we are grasped by a peace, a love which is beyond our conceptual mind.  We know by experience, now, in this moment: love and truth has grasped us. Scales fall off our inner eyes.  Nothing externally changes.  The change is within and from within changes do happen.  It gives us a blessed experience of inexpressible love and we begin to live in a spiritual world to which we really belong.  This is what Jesus, in St. John’s Gospel, is calling us to: “Abide in me”.  And this ‘abiding’ enables us to live, to be yoked to the great commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you.”  

          Where or how do we find this new reality?  We cannot find it, but it can find us if we but be still.  “Come to me you who are burdened”: perhaps our readiness to receive this is facilitated when we face, for example, the pain of our burdens and when we take silent time to look inward and experience our actual anxiety, our worries, our inner poverty, our helplessness to solve certain problems-ours or those of others we cherish.  We may see perhaps the ways in which we unwittingly are driven by forces that are not from God.  We mistakenly put ourselves under the yoke of our past conditionings.   However, when we come to our spiritual senses, we know that we cannot save others let alone ourselves.   And when we become vulnerable, ‘poor in spirit’ we open ourselves to this outpouring of love that is beyond imagining.  This yoke Jesus is talking about is not free, though, from the unavoidable toils of everyday life, the disappointments, illness, and feelings of frustration just to name a few. These are now experienced in a new way: not with resignation as before nor by feverish or violent struggle – but within a Presence that truly gives rest to the soul even in the midst of these unavoidable afflictions.  And we learn the meaning and experience what Jesus says:  “Without me you can do nothing.” 

          We celebrate today the Feast of St. Francis:  his life and teaching is a witness to us of this New Being in Christ Jesus, this profound intimacy with him that no one, nor thing can separate us.  

I‘d like to end with a quotation from the Theologian Paul Tillich:

          “Do not ask in this moment what we shall do or how action shall follow from the New Being, from the rest of our souls.  Do not ask; for you do not ask how the good fruits follow from the goodness of a tree.  They follow; action follows being. …We and our world would be better, truer and more just, if there were more rest for souls in our world.  Our actions would be more creative, conquering the tragedy of our times if they grew out of a more profound level of our life.  For in our creative depth is the depth in which we are quiet.”

(Quotations from Paul Tillich:  The Shaking of the Foundations :  prepared for Religion on line by John Bushell.)

Homily - Sunday, August 02, 2015

Preached by Sister Cecilia, Holy Wisdom Church 

IS 29:13-16, Rom 11:33,12:1-5, Mt 15:1-14

The question in the gospel this morning represents a head-on clash between the leaders of the Jewish religion and Jesus. The scribes and Pharisees initially did not seem to have a malicious intent but seem genuinely bewildered by their cultural conditioning of keeping every jot and tittle of the law. In a very short time Jesus’ answers caused them to be shocked and outraged. Their law indicated certain ways of behaving and Jesus is saying other ways of behaving are better. It was a clash of two views of religion, two views of the demands of God. Jesus knew he was speaking for God but these leaders did not believe him. The reading from Isaiah this morning describes the problem. Their worship of God was from a human commandment learned by rote honoring God with their lips but not with their hearts. (Another time we can dwell on the rest of the gospel passage.)

You heard in the epistle Paul’s heart is so greatly affected that his theology turns into poetry. “Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How mysterious are God’s ways!” Paul sees the paradox that while God has given us minds to use to the very limit of human thought, that limit can be reached and all that is left for us is to accept what we cannot understand and then to be in a spirit of adoration. Paul, having done his best, leaves the rest to the love and power of God. He wrestled with the deepest problems theology had to offer and ends with the ethical demands which govern all of us. He finishes with his feet firmly planted upon the earth.

“Present your bodies to …God.”  To the Greeks in the time of Paul what mattered was the spirit. The body was only a prison to be despised and even ashamed of.  Christians in Paul’s time believed the body belonged to God was as valuable as the soul. The body is the temple of God- the Holy Spirit and the instrument through which the Holy Spirit works. Think of a church or cathedral. It is designed by the mind of an architect, built by the hands of craftsmen and then becomes a shrine for worship.  The shrine is a product of the mind, the body, and the spirit. 

 We are influenced by our environment –by our world.  Some of that influence is listed by Paul and the first thing he mentions to combat the conformity to the world is to strive for humility. An honest assessment of our own capabilities, without conceit and without false modesty, is one of the essentials of a useful life. Each of us has a task to do and it is only when we contribute the help of our own task that the body of the church functions well. We ought not be conformed to the values of the world but be transformed into discerning the will of God. That is the  transformation which is good, acceptable and perfect. To worship and serve God, we undergo changes. The essence of our being changes so that our lives are not so self-centered but Christ-centered.

So as Paul indicated, we need to take all our tasks, all our ordinary work as an act of worship to God. The meaning of the word translated ‘worship’ changed gradually through the centuries but eventually came to mean the service to and worship of God. True worship is the offering to God of one’s body and all that one does every day. Real worship is not just the offering to God of a liturgy, however, noble, and a ritual, however magnificent, but the offering of everyday life because we see the whole world as the temple of the living God. We can and do say we are going to church today to worship God which those who have come to truly believe want to do. We need to also think, to actually realize, we also worship God, when we are going to the shop, the factory, the office, the garden, the school, the farm, the shipyard, the hospital, the funeral, the home--anywhere.

The ability we have to carry out our tasks are gifts from God. Let our use of these gifts be our contribution to the common good of all so that our hearts, not just our lips are full of the loving praise and worship of God.

Christ is in our midst! 

The Man Born Blind

The Man born blind 5 17 15 1 Pt 3:13-22, Ac 9:32-43, Jn 9: 1-39

We just heard the evangelist refer to the believers as Saints. The Greek word Hagios is frequently translated ‘holy’ but the root of the word means different. The Hebrew people were different-set apart from the other people of this world. They were chosen to do the work of God. The Hagios are specifically a holy people. They are a different people chosen for the special purposes of God. Christians became the people who are different. That difference does not give us greater honor or prestige but does require of us a greater service. What might that service be? The greatest service we can give is to be the saint we are meant to be. A saint is someone whose life makes it easier for others to believe in God. Are we a living example of Jesus in how we live?

In Acts this morning we witnessed that Peter did not say I heal you but Jesus Christ heals you. And when he approached Tabitha he prayed for her to be healed. He did not say “be healed.”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. Give some thought to why those things are believed. We believe in many mysteries of our faith. Think about why we believe them.

There are many things about Jesus which are not mysteries, many things about goodness, that we believe. Take time to examine why you think they are true and why others might think so. For your own sake and for the sake of others who might someday ask why your belief, it is good to ponder these things. Be open to the Spirit when considering them. 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 this divine command of service offered to our community, lovingly, patiently, gently, through prayer, kindness, integrity, fidelity and all the rest that goes with being witnesses of Christ, healing will come through us to others.

If our hearts are set on earthly things, possessions, pleasure, good health, prestige, ease and comfort we are very vulnerable to unhappiness. Any of those things can be lost at any moment.

If the relationship with God is of the highest priority, our blessedness is secure. Even when we are suffering we can remember to unite our own suffering with Jesus’s sufferings and 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 can touch that which matters most –our union(relationship) with God.

We can often find ourselves stumbling in this world as if we were blind. We grasp and search for truth and wisdom in so many places, usually not seeing Jesus himself 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!!


Our faith is not a body of written down beliefs but a living example of Jesus in our life.

Mid-Pentecost

May 2015
Homily by Sister Rebecca

      We just heard the gospel passage: it is mid-way of the Jewish feast of Tabernacles when Jesus goes into the Temple and teaches.  The Feast of Tabernacles lasted 8 days.  At the close there were some symbolic rites with water: this was to remind the Jews that God is the one who continues to quench his people's thirst, as in former times when the Israelites journeyed through the wilderness.  It is in this context that Jesus, on the last day of the feast, cries out:  “If anyone thirsts, let them come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, ‘Out of their heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

       During Vespers we sing: “You went to the temple at mid-point of the feast, O Lord, and you poured forth the waters of your wisdom to satisfy those thirsty for divine grace.”   In another hymn we pray:  “O source of our life: Let our thirsty souls partake of the waters of true devotion, for you invite everyone to come to you and drink. “This feast’s liturgical texts frequently allude to the experience of thirst.  We know how it feels to be thirsty. When really thirsty, like, during a hike, water will be the only thing we think about:  slaking our thirst, preferably with cool, running water.  To be receptive to the water that Jesus offers, we need to experience a kind of inner thirst that feels like a poignant yearning. This yearning is one of the most valuable attributes of a spiritual seeker; it becomes the motivating force of the whole journey of return to God.  When this yearning takes hold of us, nothing in this world can satisfy this longing other than the Source itself, God.  Without this yearning, there is no opening in the heart for receiving the outpouring of the waters of life, the Spirit of Wisdom. 

            All people experience some kind of yearning.  It is a common human experience. Many of us, however, mistake the meaning of this yearning and in our ignorance try to fill it, more or less, with abusive substances, or behaviors.  The yearning is there.  And God most compassionate knows our fragile nature and our ignorance and at some point visits us with a totally free gift of spiritual awakening.  For some of us our hearts crack open so wide that we are like inebriated with an influx of an overwhelming sense of God’s presence within ourselves that there is an 180-degree turnabout in our lives.  For others of us, this awakening is more subtle, but not less real.  It is always about an inner change and often, too, an external one in a new chosen path of life.

            Concerning this yearning, let us go to a text from the book of Revelations where the Lord says:  “Would that you be hot or cold but because you are lukewarm (read: mediocre, indifferent) I vomit you from my mouth”.  This shocking provocation: we don’t like this kind of language today.  We would like to strike out these kinds of provocative words from Jesus’ mouth. The current spirit of our times is inclined to scrub clean from our image of Jesus every offensive feature, but it has little to do with the realism of his preaching. But the goal is about repentance:  a piercing of the heart to arouse compunction leading to inner awakening.    In our text, as in others, Jesus keeps prodding away at the crowd, the Pharisees, and scribes:  they are stuck in their linear mind: How can this man teach like he does when he has not been schooled?  This linear mind thinks only in ‘a + b = c’.    The Lord says through the mouth of Isaiah: “Your thoughts are not God’s thoughts”.   This kind of thinking is a major blockage to being permeable to the word of God, to the urgings of our innermost hearts, to living in the sacred now which is awareness of both/and: the tic-tock time of everyday life and the Kairos time of God’s time or eternal time.  Jesus points out that not only their thoughts are barriers but their whole attention is centered on ego gratifications, namely, thinking and making decisions according to outer appearances.   Without prayer, reflection and meditation we, too, risk losing sight of God’s presence in the NOW and we tend to get entangled in our difficulties and challenges to the point of stifling our zeal for God. 

           

            Spiritual teachers note that for some people the awakening to Divine Wisdom changes their lives and they never leave this ‘abiding sense’ of God.  They hear the inner whisper “don’t go there”, or this inner urge that they know to respect and heed to:  ‘go there’ or ‘do this. They learn from experience that this inner voice can and must be trusted.  For most of us:  we spiral up and down and at times just stay stagnant.  We hear the Word, heed to it and put it into practice; then we get distracted, we waste our precious time in this or that - not useless in itself- but in the long run, we are out of balance.  By the grace of God, we wake up again and reset our compass toward listening to God.  

           

            I would like to interject here a story:  years ago a friend of mine told me about her Jewish friend.  He was one of the fortunate ones who escaped the ovens at one of the death camps such as Auschwitz.  Like thousands of others, he lived in a barrack with many other inmates.  We have all heard of the unimaginable atrocities in these camps. The men were discouraged, beaten down, some life less just waiting to be killed on the job, collapse under the weight of hard labor and then be shot to death…One day this man felt inspired:  I will designate one square, a foot in length and width on the floor: it will be the Tabernacle as in the desert:  the place of encounter with our God.  I will stand there every day for 15 minutes and commune with God.   I will ask my companions that when I stand in this square, please leave me in silence during the 15 minutes for I am standing as in God’s Holy Temple.  And this he did.  It was a leap of faith as he could have been reported to a Kapo and then shot to death.  Well, to his amazement, others not only heeded his request, they began little by little to ask to have their turn.   In the end whenever there were prisoners in the barrack, there was always someone praying in that square day and night.  He said that the men that shared this compound gradually changed…no more depression, swearing, anger, debilitating paralysis of the mind, heart, and spirit; there was no more stealing or ratting on another inmate to one of the kapos to get some miserable perk.  Instead, acts of compassion, kindness emerged in and among them.  This practice, freely taken on, the intentional ritualizing the very meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles was life giving – life changing.  We miss the point if we think that they escaped death in the camp because of the prayer: the point is that by their prayer they allowed God to suffer within them, transforming their lives inside out.

            Today as we celebrate in this Temple:  would that we in our daily lives have something of the intensity of these men in their seeking God’s Holy Presence.   And no matter where we are or what conditions of body, mind and heart come our way – small in comparison or beyond what we think we can endure, may we too listen to our heart’s inspiration and wisdom to likewise seek a small space within to stand firm in the Divine Presence.  As Moses before the burning bush in the wilderness of Mt. Sinai, let us hear the Lord say to us: “the place on which you are standing is Holy Ground. (cf. Acts 7: 30-33) 

Thomas Sunday

Preached in Holy Wisdom Church
April 21, 2015

1Jn 1:1-7b, Ac 3:25-4:21, Jn20:19-31

Christ is Risen! 

In pondering this morning’s scripture readings I was struck by a cause and effect scenario.  The first reading is possibly the substance of what Peter and John preached to the crowd when they had brought about the healing of the crippled man.  The preaching is the effect of something that happened previously- the cause.  Recall, when Jesus stood in their midst they were hiding for fear of the authorities. Now, Peter, and no doubt John too, though warned to cease and desist from talking about Jesus by the highest religious authority, are able to declare the divinity and love of Christ to any who would listen. What a change!Is not their belief in the Resurrection Mystery the ultimate cause?

The doubt of Thomas is understandable and helpful not only to us these many centuries later but I’m sure reinforced the other apostles’ conviction that they were not imagining seeing Christ. There was no doubt it was Christ, so His appearance must have been what they had seen before his Resurrection. The second appearance was certainly a reinforcement that they were not dreaming. Did they really believe Jesus was resurrected before he appeared to them these two times? The resurrection Mystery is the ultimate cause of their belief. Their Spirit-filled wisdom, courage and dedication followed from their belief in the Resurrected Christ.   

Whether we would be a Peter or a John or a Thomas or even better a Mary Magdalen who believed in Jesus no matter what happened, the Resurrection of Jesus is the culmination of our greatest challenge -faith in darkness. We are blessed when we believe without being able to put our hands into Jesus’ side and into the holes in his hands.  We believe even without being able to touch Jesus except through our very belief.

 When we follow Jesus, the path can be and is often through darkness looking like failure, defeat and hopelessness.  Sometimes these challenges in life are simply there to remind us how much greater God truly is, beyond our comprehension. God’s love is greater than our past and greater than all other things the world has to offer. This abundant life of union with God is offered freely to each of us! When we carry the message of Jesus—when we live the life of Jesus here and now, then we too, carry out the light of Truth in our own hearts. Then our lives are filled with joy even as we might be called to suffer terribly.  As the eyes of the body are enlightened when they see light, our spirit, when we are intent on God, is illumined by God’s infinite light. Prayer stands before God as an honored ambassador. Prayer from the heart that is not just confined to fixed times or periods but continuous throughout the day. It gives joy to the spirit, peace to the heart.  It is truly a gift of the Divine Spirit.

The choice is ours. Jesus has said to each of us individually: “come follow me”.  He wants us, He wants us to be his disciples and carry on his work. The more we know Jesus the stronger our convictions. Our faith will be built on rock and we will be willing to stand up for our faith and the truth. For Peter, John and the other disciples, we see the cause and effect of  their deep faith and convictions. Is our belief in the Mystery of the resurrection expressed by our response to life today---tomorrow---- and the next day?

 Christ is Risen!

4th Sunday of Lent. Good Samaritan Homily - March 22, 2015

Preached by Brother Marc
Holy Wisdom Chapel


Jer. 2:1-8; Hebr. 6:7-12; Lk. 10:25-37

--We cannot truly come to love God with our whole being all by ourselves. Love of God needs to be grounded in the world. The first commandment needs to be incarnate with other people, with those around us.
--Our neighbors need not inhibit us from coming closer to God, but rather, it is through everyone we meet and know, living in their own world, that we are brought nearer to God. Our responses to them turn us more and more into the likeness of God.
--To our great distress, our so-called neighbor is usually not of our own choosing.
--We are told to love others as ourselves, whether they are friendly or unfriendly, whatever the cost, and whether we like them or not.
--This kind of love is not emotional. It simply desires the other’s well-being. It is in tension with our own self-love and our own needs.
--Where does compassion come from? It may spring from good character and upbringing, great love or suffering, a grateful heart, or an awakened and enlightened spiritual and religious life. This kind of love is larger than all of us. Love of God is the grace of God, the life and presence of God, enveloping us and our neighbor in its warmth.
--In the gospel today Christ asked literally: “Which of these three seems to you to have become a neighbor to the person fallen victim to the robbers?
--The lawyer knew the commandment “Love your neighbor.” Looks like Jesus has turned things around a bit. Jesus was pointing out to the lawyer that actually being a neighbor in that love is more real, concrete, and down-to-earth than simply loving the neighbor in our own minds and having good will toward all.
--Am I a neighbor when I am nearby, in close proximity, or on the road, aware of the concrete challenge to deal with the immediate needs of a person who was attacked and wounded by bandits?
--Being a neighbor, it seems, is not seeing another person, or other persons, as separate from me and my life or as other than me and us.
--It’s not so much a question of who our neighbor is: it’s more a matter of who or what we are.
--The good Samaritan on the road had “agape” love while the two religious passers-by did not.
--Agape love is love in action.
--Agape says, “Now BE a neighbor, you know, and DO it.”
--And so in the gospel Jesus ends the conversation with, “Go and do likewise,” and it’s a great way to end the story.
--He tells us to do something but doesn’t tell us what. And that leaves it open for discussion. What are we supposed to do?
--When Jesus says, “Go and do likewise,” is coming to church and being charitable enough? Does He actually want us to go and do anything or respond in a radically different way?
--We can prepare for those unique moments of love’s demands by practicing how to please God rather than simply pleasing myself. We can begin by listening to our own better natures.
--The other two were on way to do what they thought the Law required: they wanted to please God in the temple, but they missed a golden opportunity for grace that was suddenly set up for them along their path.
--Only the Samaritan took advantage of that passing moment of grace. He was the one who succeeded in pleasing God.
--The Samaritan did not possess the true worship, but he was the one who fulfilled the Law and the prophets in spirit and in truth.
--Finally, how surprised we might be to realize every last one of us is half dying for need of both treating and being treated the way people who are truly alive treat one another.

2nd Sunday of Lent - March 8, 2015

As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church


Ez 18:21-23,30-32, Heb 3:7-16, Mk 5:24b-34

A pencil. That is what a young boy in India answered when he was asked what he would like most in the world. A pencil was a symbol of his desire to learn, to be taught. A pencil was a way for him to rise out of the dire poverty he was in. For Adam Braun, it was the stimulus to go further and to provide pencils for many –even thousands of children. He did not stop with the pencils but eventually in 2008 Braun founded an organization that builds schools, trains teachers and funds scholarships for children in Laos, Ghana and Guatemala.

This is just one example from this past Sunday’s Parade section of the paper entitled ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! What all of these individuals have in common is the level of their faith. They want to do “something” to help. They are inspired to do something and they have faith that it can be done in spite of the seeming impossibilities at times.

The woman in this morning’s Gospel faced many hurdles in order to reach Jesus. Her faith in His ability to help her caused her to make the great effort it took. She knew the crowd would not be pleased with her being there. Jesus declared it was her faith that enable his healing. All the individuals in that article faced obstacles as well, but their faith in God and in others’ willingness to help has made a tremendous difference in so very many lives.

This Lent I’m sure many of us have asked ourselves what to do to know God better. Or to know what it is that God wants of us. Or to know what it means to have faith. Faith in what, you may think. It takes faith to believe that God wants anything of us and it takes faith and hope if we don’t already know, to believe that we will know eventually what God wants.

When we hear God is love, what does that mean to any of us? If we have had an experience of that love, the usual response is to enjoy and appreciate that experience but also we want to reciprocate in some way. How we show our love for God is the next question. Jesus has given us one answer. What you are doing to others you are doing to me. There have been so many who have responded to that call to love and each respond in their own way. We too can make a difference. We each can do something to bring about the reign of God on earth.

During his earthly life, Jesus showed us that it is his desire to heal, to teach and to help us come to truly know the Father, (the creator, the giver of life). Whether we are asking the Father for help for ourselves, for others or for the projects we have undertaken big or small, if we have faith, we can “move mountains”. We just have to be sure that the mountain we are attempting to move is the mountain God wants us to move.

There are many little ways that we can do something to reciprocate God’s love: Guarding against our tendency to anger when aggravated with another. Take the emphasis off the self by trying to be more understanding and compassionate with others. Be willing to listen without judging the other. Study what is the best way to carry out one’s responsibilities. Be aware that others are counting on you. By loving, we do learn how to pray always and thus become the instrument of God’s love.

God is in our midst!