Christmas Sermon 2016

Sermon 142 Dec 25, 2016 Mt 2: 1-12; Ga 4:4-7; Jr 23: 3-8 Xmas

Preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Chapel

          “But they weren’t there!” So, said Fr Paul Harrilchak a few years ago, during a talk here on the Christmas Season east and west. I am always amused by this when I think back on that presentation. He was talking about how the Three Wise Men [or the Three Kings] are depicted in images and stories and in the nativity crèche attributed to St Francis. They missed the birth. They came later. In the gospel passage that follows what we heard this morning, Herod gives us a clue about the timing of their visit in the reference to his ordering the killing of all male infants 2 years old and younger. Yet, maybe this is the ideal point of departure for us, since we too come to this event later, much later.  We celebrate the birth of Christ as if it is happening at this moment, which it is, in our spiritual understanding of this mystery, but historically it was two millennia ago. So, as with the Three Wise Men, we too are coming to this late. But does that matter?

When they came doesn’t matter, what they were seeking does matter. And what were they seeking? A baby? No, scripture says that they were seeking the Messiah. The savior of the world. And it was they seeking him and not the other way around. Jesus wasn’t looking at his watch, tapping his foot and wondering, “so, when are those three kings going to get here anyway!” God’s invitation to all of us to come to him is always available, but we need to initiate the action to seek him.

Sometimes church feasts are assigned dates directly connected to the chronological sequence of the events. March 25^th is the annunciation and 9 months later, December 25^th, the birth of Christ. Then on January 1^st we mark Christ’s circumcision. And yet 5 days later he is baptized as an adult. But then on February 2^nd, the Feast of the Encounter, Christ is a child again, presented to the temple. The manifestation of God is not time dependent. The symbols we choose to use to portray this reality may involve both chronos and kairos images. This entire season of lights which extends from December 25^th to February 2^nd is about the manifestation of divinity in humanity through Jesus Christ.

These feasts of the Church are inviting us to seek the reality of God in all we do and experience in life. Last week at matins we heard a reading from Thomas Keating who said: “Some devout persons think that if their activities at home or their job get in the way of prayer, there is something wrong with their activities. On the contrary, there is something wrong with their prayer.” What this means is that my prayer must infuse all that I do. It is not something separate. The incarnation, the manifestation of divinity in our human reality, brings this perspective to the fore. No matter what I am doing or where I am, I am invited to see God in it all. It is a full integration of this reality with the reign of God that Christ preached. It is one. The more I am able to see this, the clearer the path I am called to follow. Nature, chores, study, leisure, birth, death, all are infused with God’s reality, a reality that extends beyond this life. Celebrating Christ’s birth is like celebrating the planting of a seed that will germinate and grow from a small sprig into a large tree. From Jesus’ humble birth, will grow the reign of God. Something worthy to be sought by kings and by you and I.

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Homily Ancestor Sunday 2016

As Preached by Sister Rebecca
Sunday, December 19, 2016

Holy Wisdom Church

Today's celebration of Jesus’ ancestors is very important to the deeper and vaster understanding of the Good News of the Incarnation as taught by Matthew within his diaspora community in the 80’s or earlier, in Syria. 

Jesus was born, lived and died as a religious Jew.  We really need to let this sink in, and reflect on the implications of this reality as we prepare to celebrate this stupendous mystery of God incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ.

There are many Christians who think Jesus was a Jew in the way one would say so and so are Jews, that is, Jewish from a culture point of view. It is most unfortunate that followers of Jesus among our various Christian denominations have pretty much divorced-albeit unconsciously- our Judaic roots except in as much as they see Christianity as supplanting Judaism.  This is not so in the early Christian communities of mostly Jews in Matthew’s community.

Much of the teaching of Jesus, the Gospels, rests upon an implicit and explicit understanding of the Hebrew Bible.  For example when Matthew quotes Jesus saying in metaphor language to build our house on a rock rather than on the sand, he is saying that Jesus is not starting a new religion.  Yet the Word of God ever ancient, ever new needs to be reinterpreted throughout time and place.

I would like to focus on the last 2 sections of Jesus genealogy, the section of 14 generations dealing with the aftermath of the deportation to Babylon and the return to Israel.   During the years in exile the Jews desiring to remain faithful to their God, were faced with the dilemma of how to deal with innumerous laws that were related to the Temple worship that no longer exists.  In fact many exiled Jews were discombobulated in this country of exile where religious practices were so foreign and meaningless to them.  God inspired the prophet Ezekiel to lift and heal their minds and hearts through a vision: the Divine Presence, the Schekinah actually left the sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem and accompanied these devastated prisoners of war, wanderers to their destiny in Babylon and continued to remain with and in them.  Of course they wept, hung their harps on the willow branches along the banks the rivers in Babylon and mourned:  how can we sing in this foreign land?  Some of the psalms were composed during this period and upon the return to their devastated land in post exilic times.  Eventually new understanding arose as to how to worship God in Spirit and in Truth as we see in the ps 40:  “You gave me to understand that sacrifice and offerings are not what you desire…not what pleases you.  Then I said “Here I am! As it is written in the scroll, to do what pleases you is my desire, for your law is written in my heart.  The prophet Hosea sums up the whole of the Torah:  ‘You have told me O Lord what is good and what you require of me:  to do good, to love and cling to your presence deep within my heart and to walk humbly with you, my God.’  This and many other passages in the Bible can be practiced no matter where one is on this earth.  This is the whole Torah in a nutshell. They came to see that the true foreigner, prisoner is one who is attached to anything of this early existence even the Temple and particular ways of performing the rituals.   And attachments can be memories, hope and hankering for the way things were done in the past.

Back in their homeland where a second Temple was built, a movement had begun approximately two hundred before Jesus’ birth by sages who realized Jerusalem’s Temple was in jeopardy because of foreign invaders.

They worked to establish new religious practices that would ensure Judaism’s survival apart from the Temple and yet remain true to the commandments of the Torah.

It is in this milieu that Jesus was born and eventually became part of the first century teachers. 

The transitions from the Temple system into what would later be called Rabbinic Judaism was nothing less than extraordinary – and Jesus was at the center of that transformation. 

Jesus does not reinvent religion – he is still part of the Jewish ancestry.  But where are we? Jesus responding to some of his adversaries that accused Jesus of not being faithful to Abraham said “God can raise up stones to be children of Abraham.  The lineage is not necessarily a blood line – in fact Matthew names 4 women all who were foreigners yet became part of Jesus direct lineage.

What makes us part of Jesus’ lineage?  Whoever hears my words and puts them into practice is my mother, my brothers and sisters.

God’s Spirit in and through Jesus lineage tells us: Do not fear; do not worry…embrace, accept the light and the dark with peace of mind and heart and look deeply inside for the light of God to access wisdom to face whatever happens in the future.  And I need to sense that my faith in God is not mine alone and that I do not need to prove anything but to realize I am a leaf on a branch of this tree and by being true to my self and my place I have received and continue to receive the responsibility and grace to contribute to keeping the sap flowing down  into the vast roots that will nourish those that come after me. 

Homily 2016, Dec. 4: Woman with issue of blood. Lk. 8:41-56

++++ Some early traditions called the woman in today’s gospel Veronica or Bernice, but we could call her, simply and with some delicacy, the woman in the crowd. She courageously but unlawfully hid in the crowd to reach Jesus. Some would have stoned her, had they known, for contaminating them and thus ostracizing them, like her, from family, friends and temple. Things are very different today. A writer for America magazine wrote, “After such a long journey, I would have thrown myself in his path, begging him to help me. Instead our wounded and outcast sister "came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak." She had endured for 12 years. In an instant, she received from Jesus what no doctor in 12 years had been able to give her. Had she just stolen a miracle? But the true miracle is what had remained healthy all along from the beginning: her faith and courage. Jesus blest her rather than criticizing her boldness, “Your own faith has saved you; go in peace.” He ignored the old Levitical rules and dispelled her despair and destitution. He was God’s new presence there instead of the temple. For him the human body too is a temple of life as sacred as anything in creation. In the end, he paid the price. But the woman in the crowd and his followers had already found new life, health and salvation in him. Things again are very different today. When we ourselves are ill or falling apart in body, mind, financially and in endurance, it’s probably one thing after another. Author Nancy Burke wrote when she was gravely ill and receiving weekly intravenous treatments for two years, “Somewhere in the middle I lost my courage, and both my soul and my veins collapsed. One day the search for a healthy vein became too painful and I pushed the needle away and cried. A nurse brought to my side a young girl of about ten, who had battled cancer all her life. This child smiled at me and said, ‘You should have got one of these.’ Lifting her T-shirt, she showed me the hole that had been cut in her abdomen for a plastic port to receive her treatments. Then she put her hand, so small and soft, on mine and said, ‘You can take it.’ And I did.” May we, too, be able to do so whenever we run into our own difficult times. May the true miracle of faith and courage remain healthy in us all. May we too be bold, healthy, and blest to “go in peace.”                  –Br. Marc

Fishers of People

As Preached by Sister Cecelia
October 23, 2016
Holy Wisdom Church

Is 6:1-8,1Cor 15:39-44,47-58, Lk 5:1-11    

In pondering the readings for this morning, the response of Peter and Isaiah to the Holy, to the divine, is insightful. What would our own reaction be if we came into the presence of something totally mystifying (mind boggling) and awesome?

 Their response reminded me of a story of two 17 yr olds. The girl was very unsure of herself, she wondered how she looked to others. In trying to evaluate her appearance, she wondered if her nose was too big, her mouth too small, her legs too skinny? How could she know? She also found that in the presence of others, she could not think of anything to say. She had no confidence in herself.

The boy felt like he was not proportioned very well. He had to buy extra large clothes for his chest and size small for his hips. It also worried him that he was never sure of what to say. Others always seemed so much wiser than he. Since he felt he had no contribution to give, he kept his mouth shut.

 Then the two of them met. When he saw her he said; “Oh, my -you are so beautiful!” When she saw him, she said; “You look so strong”. They talked for a bit and he said to her; “You are so witty.” She said to him, “you are so wise!” After that, he had no doubts about himself and she became the most confident mother you would ever meet. Notice what friends, lovers can do for one another.

After hearing Jesus preach from his boat and seeing this miracle of the catch of fish, Peter was struck with awe by the light and felt his own smallness and unworthiness in Jesus presence. Jesus encouraged him though and indicated he would not just fish for fish but his catch now would be a great many people to whom he would be able to spread the good news of the light of Christ.  Notice Peter’s feeling of inadequacy change with Jesus encouragement.

When Isaiah saw the Lord, the king of angelic hosts, he too felt so totally unworthy in the presence of this light. After being cleansed with a burning coal to his lips, he was assured of his worthiness. Upon hearing the Lords question of who to send, he was emboldened enough to cry out; Here I am Lord.  Send me.

God’s prophets called Jesus  the light of nations, the light of the world. Jesus knew himself to be that light. A light does not so much add something new as it provides visibility. We can see what we have not seen before. The light enables us to see but also, to do things we have not even thought of before. Jesus enables us to see who we are, how we are and, what we can and must do. He has told each of us; You are a child of God. You are my sister. You are my brother. I am your friend. Notice what Jesus, the light of the world, our friend and brother, has done for us.

To God’s question St Paul answered, “Here I am, send me” and was emboldened to preach to the very people he had been punishing for heresy before he experienced the Light of Christ. His attempt to answer the Corinthian’s question of how our bodies can enter heaven seems somehow philosophically poetical.

 Paul was assured that by Jesus rising from the dead with a glorified body, a body many of his followers saw, that we too, would pass from our earthly, corruptible bodies to one that is incorruptible. The first person, Adam, was made of the dust of the earth and the second, Jesus, is from heaven. We all bear the image of the first person and we bear the image of the second. Our perishable bodies must put on imperishability. By accepting our own meager virtues as well as our failures we have a chance to understand the failures of others. We have a chance to realize we each have plenty of room for growth. We can stop saying, Too bad, that is just the way I am, and begin to say “There is more that I can be”.

Does our faith in Jesus words give us the confidence we need to spread the Good news, to live the gospel as the early disciples did?  We have the Light that is Christ in our hearts. It is in this light that we discover ourselves, inding out what are our possibilities as well as our tasks. Let us answer well and say frequently, Here I am Lord, Send me.   

       

Christ is in our Midst!

                                               

Fishers of People

As Preached by Sister Cecelia
October 23, 2016
Holy Wisdom Church

Is 6:1-8,1Cor 15:39-44,47-58, Lk 5:1-11    

In pondering the readings for this morning, the response of Peter and Isaiah to the Holy, to the divine, is insightful. What would our own reaction be if we came into the presence of something totally mystifying (mind boggling) and awesome?

 Their response reminded me of a story of two 17 yr olds. The girl was very unsure of herself, she wondered how she looked to others. In trying to evaluate her appearance, she wondered if her nose was too big, her mouth too small, her legs too skinny? How could she know? She also found that in the presence of others, she could not think of anything to say. She had no confidence in herself.

The boy felt like he was not proportioned very well. He had to buy extra large clothes for his chest and size small for his hips. It also worried him that he was never sure of what to say. Others always seemed so much wiser than he. Since he felt he had no contribution to give, he kept his mouth shut.

 Then the two of them met. When he saw her he said; “Oh, my -you are so beautiful!” When she saw him, she said; “You look so strong”. They talked for a bit and he said to her; “You are so witty.” She said to him, “you are so wise!” After that, he had no doubts about himself and she became the most confident mother you would ever meet. Notice what friends, lovers can do for one another.

After hearing Jesus preach from his boat and seeing this miracle of the catch of fish, Peter was struck with awe by the light and felt his own smallness and unworthiness in Jesus presence. Jesus encouraged him though and indicated he would not just fish for fish but his catch now would be a great many people to whom he would be able to spread the good news of the light of Christ.  Notice Peter’s feeling of inadequacy change with Jesus encouragement.

When Isaiah saw the Lord, the king of angelic hosts, he too felt so totally unworthy in the presence of this light. After being cleansed with a burning coal to his lips, he was assured of his worthiness. Upon hearing the Lords question of who to send, he was emboldened enough to cry out; Here I am Lord.  Send me.

God’s prophets called Jesus  the light of nations, the light of the world. Jesus knew himself to be that light. A light does not so much add something new as it provides visibility. We can see what we have not seen before. The light enables us to see but also, to do things we have not even thought of before. Jesus enables us to see who we are, how we are and, what we can and must do. He has told each of us; You are a child of God. You are my sister. You are my brother. I am your friend. Notice what Jesus, the light of the world, our friend and brother, has done for us.

To God’s question St Paul answered, “Here I am, send me” and was emboldened to preach to the very people he had been punishing for heresy before he experienced the Light of Christ. His attempt to answer the Corinthian’s question of how our bodies can enter heaven seems somehow philosophically poetical.

 Paul was assured that by Jesus rising from the dead with a glorified body, a body many of his followers saw, that we too, would pass from our earthly, corruptible bodies to one that is incorruptible. The first person, Adam, was made of the dust of the earth and the second, Jesus, is from heaven. We all bear the image of the first person and we bear the image of the second. Our perishable bodies must put on imperishability. By accepting our own meager virtues as well as our failures we have a chance to understand the failures of others. We have a chance to realize we each have plenty of room for growth. We can stop saying, Too bad, that is just the way I am, and begin to say “There is more that I can be”.

Does our faith in Jesus words give us the confidence we need to spread the Good news, to live the gospel as the early disciples did?  We have the Light that is Christ in our hearts. It is in this light that we discover ourselves, inding out what are our possibilities as well as our tasks. Let us answer well and say frequently, Here I am Lord, Send me.   

       

Christ is in our Midst!

                                               

Be Prepared, Sermon 140

  9 Oct 16

 Ez 33:7-16; 1Cor12:12-21; Mt 25:1-13 

Preached by Brother Luke, Holy Wisdom Church

During our summer retreat I read a book by Brennan Manning entitled: Ruthless trust: the ragamuffin's path to God.  He made a comment in the book about how we should understand the Gospels. It gave me pause, simple as it was. He said we should realize that the focus of the Gospels is always Jesus Christ. He went on to say that all too often we can get caught up in the details of a particular story or parable and miss the point. It is sort of like missing the forest for the trees, or worse missing the forest for the leaves.

Today’s Gospel is a classic example of that problem. By referring to this story as being about the wise and foolish virgins or bridesmaids we can get off track immediately. We can begin to focus on comparing the actions of these characters before we even ask the question, where is Jesus Christ in all of this? So, for example, we can look at the actions of the wise virgins and conclude that they are stingy, lacking in compassion, arrogant, prideful, etc. But if we understand the story as a vehicle for Jesus to make a point about living for the reign of God, then that becomes our frame of reference. The main point is very simple: be prepared. It’s the Boy Scout’s motto. So we start there as we look at the actions of the various characters.

Indeed, the wise virgins could have given some of their oil to the foolish ones but to what end? Had they done so, they all may have run out of oil. But if the story had gone in that direction, the lesson about being prepared would have been lost. This is because the wise virgins, to use a more modern phrase, would have “enabled” the foolish virgins to escape the consequences of their actions and thus allowed them to avoid learning the lesson about being prepared. Sometimes we describe this type of response with the expression: tough love. The story is not intended to condemn anyone, rather, it is a wakeup call to be prepared.

This leads to the next question: be prepared for what? In this story the virgins are waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. They do not know when he will arrive.  And that is a familiar caution throughout the Gospels: you know neither the day nor the hour. But one thing is certain, they know that he is coming. And when he comes, they are to accompany him into the wedding banquet.

For us the question is: when is Christ coming into our lives? The answer can be deceptively simple: he is coming into our lives every day. Are we ready to receive him? And what might that look like? So its morning and the sun is shining, breakfast is ready, coffee is brewing, the kids’ lunches are ready, homework done, you drive them to school, head off to work, get news of a bonus for a job well-done, in other words, all is well. It’s easy to be open to the good news and to be grateful for it. However, meeting Christ in the midst of plenty is only part of the story. The next day you get up and it’s raining, you can smell the burnt toast, the coffee pot is broken, the kids’ lunches are not ready, you have a presentation to give at a meeting and you are hoping to get to work early to put on the finishing touches only to discover that the car has a flat tire. You’re not just going to be late; you are likely to miss the meeting all together. Not so easy to be grateful for what this day has wrought. But we can be prepared for both scenarios. Not because we desire to go through the messed up day, but because we know that it is all part of a reality that is larger than one day. Life presents itself in many guises. The storm at sea is calmed by Jesus because he is not thrown off by it. He faces it head-on.

So, the lesson of the bridesmaids’ parable is that we need to be prepared to receive Christ EVERY DAY. Being ready to receive him means being open to what comes to us each day. Open to face each day’s reality, not pining for some magic to change things or make them better. 

For me that reminder came again last Wednesday when my dog Quena who was just 6 years old, had to be put to sleep. Spondylosis had set in rapidly and her pain was acute. My playful and sweet companion would be spending the rest of her life managing her pain. It all happened too soon and too quick. You know neither the day nor the hour. These are always traumatic decisions. But we can’t avoid them. It is a path every living being must travel.

Even as Jesus was telling this story about the bridesmaids he too was on the path to Golgotha. No wonder we always hear this story during Holy Week. Jesus is showing us the way, not trying to find an alternate route. And for those who believe as St Paul so clearly affirms, that Christ rose from the dead, the end of the story is one of hope and not despair.

Christ is coming to us every day to keep us on the path to salvation, no matter what the terrain, smooth or rocky. So as Isaiah says, clear the way, level up, level up the road, we are coming and we’re not turning back.

Keep this in mind whenever we say, Christ is in our midst, he is and shall be: say it with assurance, say it with ruthless trust.

Homily October 2, 2016

By Sister Rebecca

Gospel – Matthew 11:25-30

      Today’s Gospel begins: “At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank you Father for having revealed these hidden things...to babes.’”  Jesus is transcending the limitation of ordinary time and space to Kairos time—God’s time. In this passage we experience a sudden flash of the intimate relationship of Jesus with his Father. He invites his listeners into this very relationship.   It is through Jesus that God reveals these hidden things—that is, Divine Wisdom—to those who have ears to hear, to children.  Jesus calls “children” those who know they need God, and to these he unveils the path of spiritual transformation

     To these little ones Jesus says, “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me…you shall find rest for your souls.”  
   A yoke* is what a laborer places upon the shoulders of two oxen in plowing a field. In this metaphor, the disciple is yoked to Jesus, that is, not only for his teaching but his enabling us to carry the burden of putting it into daily practice.  What makes this yoke light is total openness to God, knowing God is present and knowing that there is meaning and purpose in bearing life’s burdens: we are not alone.  And this trust, this intimate relationship of love gives us the energy to carry our burdens not from will power, by gritting our teeth and groaning, but from a spirit of willingness and surrendering ourselves to God’s presence in this particular situation.  This was Jesus’ own experience, and he lived into it to the very end.  

    Today we celebrate Saint Francis as a model disciple. A famous story is told of Saint Francis while he was traveling with his disciple Brother Leo.  It was winter, and they both shivered from the cold. Francis called to Leo:  “Brother Leo, little lamb, if the friars were to make the lame to walk, if they chase away demons and give sight to the blind,…this would not be perfect joy. If, when we arrive at our destination all drenched with rain and trembling with cold, all covered with mud and exhausted from hunger; if, when we knock at the convent gate the porter should come angrily refuse to open to us, and leave us outside, exposed to the snow and rain…if we endure such injustice, and contempt with patience, without murmuring, Brother Leo: This is perfect joy.” 

    This point of the story is not to recommend passivity and inertia when we are faced with adversity.  Like Jesus’ parables, this story is about the innermost joy and peace to be found in the midst of suffering. It is meant to completely upset our applecart and usher us onto the road of spiritual transformation.  It illumines the falsity of our clinging to self-designed happiness, and it sheds light on today’s Gospel. When we are faced with adversity, the greatest suffering is within our own minds: our minds can go wild with “what ifs” as we imagine a future with the worst possible scenario.  At such times the rest that comes from being yoked to Christ can truly bring us to peace of mind and heart.

    The rest Jesus speaks about points especially to soul-sick weariness: work extracted from compulsion, work motivated by fear, or work performed in the face of futility. Such weariness comes from having nothing that truly matters.

     This soul weariness is well illustrated in an article “I used to be a human being.”  The man who wrote this article, after years of denial, finally wakes up to the reality that he is addicted to the internet.  He says: “Endless bombardment of news and gossip and images has rendered us manic information addicts.  It broke me.  It might break you too.”  He was hooked to gossip like others to sugar.  We have gone from looking up—living into the real now—to constantly looking down into our phones.  After 15 years of this hellish existence, and with even his health jeopardized, the man began to meditate, to introduce silence into his mind, and as he says, “…to follow spaces I had once known where mind and soul are replenished.  The reason we live in a culture increasingly without faith is not because science has somehow disproved the (seemingly) improbable, but because the white noise of secularism has removed the very stillness in which faith in God might be reborn.”

      Jesus’ invitation to rest means not only stillness, but also an injunction to stop, to put down, to cease from what drains us.  Internet addiction is only one of many sources of our mental and emotional drainage. Maybe the call for each of us is a personal inventory.  Perhaps most of our suffering comes from exhaustion that is self-imposed, whether externally or internally.  Rest means to be still, and also it can mean being before God in meditation, as in Psalm 62: “Only in God is my soul at rest and from him comes my hope.”

     Jesus at one time says to his disciples: “Come away to a quiet place and rest awhile.” The rest Jesus is talking about here and in today’s Gospel is synonymous with the word Sabbath.  Do we take time to honor the Sabbath?  Where in my life is the reality of Sabbath (Sunday or another day of the week): a day of rest—rest from physical exertion, but even more important from our mind’s inner noise?  What really nourishes my soul?  What on the contrary leaves me feeling empty? What leads me to become rooted in an identity that is unshakable, my true self in God? The more we live from this innermost still point, the more we find rest for our souls and experience wholesome contentedness, no matter what. There is no “one size fits all.” We need to listen deeply to what and where our hearts find replenishment, what St. Augustine refers to in this way: “our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O God.”  

*An added note on the “yoke” metaphor:  In offering us a life-giving yoke, Jesus could also have had in mind another kind of yoke, which is spoken of by the Prophet Jeremiah (cf. chapter 27), who speaks of yokes as bars attached to the shoulders of the Israelites who are dragged and deported on foot to Babylon by their captors. Jesus is aware of this kind of “yoke” not imposed by others, but by our own worries and preoccupations (Matthew 6:25-27). This kind of yoke may well apply to whatever in us today captivates us, leading us into a land of servitude of needless depletion and suffering.

Exaltation 2016

September 14, 2016

Preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church


Is 10:25-27,11:10-12, 1 Cor1:17-28, Jn19:13-35



Life is so full of mysteries. An ignominious death on a cross was certainly one of the mysteries the followers of Christ had to deal with.

A stumbling block to the Jews because they were looking for a miracle worker that would free them from the yoke of the Romans. The whole of Chapter 53 of Isaiah describes all that happened to the servant of God in Isaiah’s time, which was a foretelling of what also happened to Jesus. Chapter 53 ends with “Because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” The Jews’ Messiah could not be this servant of God, according to their law from Deuteronomy 21, verse 23: “He that is hanged is accursed by God.” One who served God and ended on a Cross seemed an impossible picture of the Messiah, the Chosen One of God.

The Greeks found the notion of a God becoming human to be ridiculous for several reasons. Their notion of a god was a being with no feeling. If anyone or anything could influence the god, that thing or person was therefore better than or superior to the god. They viewed god as unchanging, and by our nature a human changes. A second-century writer expressed their reasoning with these words: “God is good and beautiful and happy and is in that which is most beautiful and the best.” The incarnation would be a change for a god to experience, a change from good to bad, from beautiful to ugly, from happiness to unhappiness, from what is best to what is worst. If one had the time to delve into the Greeks’ history, it might become apparent where their notions of what a god is came from. Nevertheless, if we look at our own notions of God versus the material world through the ensuing centuries, the desire for goodness, for happiness, to be “best” pervades Christianity throughout its history. The desire to be united with Absolute Goodness has been the aspiration of many and seems a good thing. The outlook that everything human is worse, unhappy, bad, and ugly seems to be missing the mark but has also been in evidence by many as well: flee from the “world.”


If we understand this Absolute Goodness as Love, some things fall into place (though mystery is still abundant). Let us ponder what Absolute Goodness—Love— has to do with the Cross.

What can we learn from celebrating this exaltation of the Cross?

The Cross is not merely a nice artistic addition to our churches. It is a constant reminder of our faith in the one who was slain for us. It is a reminder that because we each have free will, there will always be suffering. Contrary to what many think, suffering is not God’s will. However, with discernment we can learn to be at peace with suffering that we cannot avoid and even learn from, and suffering that we should try to eliminate as best we can.

The Cross is a reminder that by Christ’s dying and rising, the fear of death has been overcome. The mystery of this ignominious death becomes the joy of the Cross that Paul and the other apostles preached so boldly. It is the joy that comes from knowing that all things in heaven and on earth are reconciled in Jesus. Our ascent to the Divine and the descent to the world can be brought into harmony.

In the gospel of John, Jesus says that “when the Son of Man is lifted up he will draw all things to himself.” On Calvary all are united, Jew and Greek, male and female, as equals before God. It is love that draws all things into Christ. It is love that enables us to embrace all things as valuable in the eyes of God. It is a mystery that all are equals in God’s sight, but if all are equals then all are valuable. Even if we embrace this notion of all being loved by God, and we attempt to love as God loves, we find it not always possible. It is a humbling experience to realize that we cannot do or be what we would like to do or be without the help of God. In our attempts to love as God has commanded us to do, let us be mindful that God is with us to help us to live out this mystery of the goodness in all things.

Glory be to God!

Sermon 139; Is 56: 3, 6-8; Rom 12:6-19(21); Mt 15:21-8 “Stay with us who love you”

Preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

As I thought about this passage during my personal prayer time, a prayer from the third hour kept coming to mind. So I began to think about how these two texts might be connected. Here is the prayer:

Jesus, grant us your servants fast and constant comfort when discouragement overwhelms our inmost spirit. When our souls are troubled do not withdraw from us, nor be far off when we are confused and doubtful in the midst of all the trials and tribulations of life. Rather, stand by us always, yes, come close to us, O you who are present everywhere, come close. And just as you promised to stay with your apostles, so stay with us who love you, so that ever united with you we may sing the praises of your all Holy Spirit.

The 3^rd hour is about the Holy Spirit which explains why the prayer ends as it does. But for me the phrase that connects to the Gospel passage is: “Stay with us who love you.” To love Jesus, what does that love look like?

At every Eucharist just before we approach to receive communion we hear the words of invitation: in faith and love draw near. This is precisely what the Canaanite woman in the Gospel did. In faith and love she drew near. Her appeal to Jesus is for her daughter’s sake. But then notice what happens. She is rebuked by Jesus. He tells her that he has been sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. But she persists in her petition. Then Jesus goes a step further and says “it’s not right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” What’s going on here? To modern western ears this sounds like verbal abuse.

In the Arab world, then and now, dogs are not seen as pets the way we often view them in the West. They run in packs and can be dangerous as they scavenge for food. Even those dogs that are used for hunting, herding or guarding are not house pets. Some of you may remember Susan Coulter-Miller who lived nearby for a few years and attended church here. She subsequently spent a tour of duty in the Peace Corps in Jordan. She lived with a family and worked hard to show them how to accept a dog into their family as a pet. She wrote about her experience in our Newsletter. Unfortunately, when she left Jordan, her experiment ended and the dog was out of the house. This is the cultural reality that Jesus was living in so when he referred to the Canaanite woman as a dog it was unmistakably pejorative.

St Matthew is spreading the Good News among his own Jewish community and the picture painted in this Gospel passage plays an important role in that work. Matthew’s hearers and readers were fully aware of the negative nature of the image he is presenting. It is stark and it is intended to be that way. Jesus affirms the common view that he has come only for the Jewish community and certainly not for Canaanite outsiders. But this woman persists in a way that even the hardest heart could not dismiss. “Even dogs eat the scraps that fall from the master’s table.” As with so many other Gospel stories, persistence is rewarded. Jesus recognizes her faith and grants her wish. Her daughter is cured. By so doing, Jesus has shown his community that even people they may equate with dogs can be welcomed into the community of believers. And indeed, expanding the community is the message in the Isaiah passage also.

So one valuable message delivered by this passage is the invitation to be open and to embrace all who seek to join the community of believers.  And yet, I think there is another message here as well. It is the faith in, and love for, Jesus that this woman exhibited. Her faith proved to be the critical factor for Jesus. He says to her: “you are a woman of great faith.” He uses her demonstration of faith to justify his healing of her daughter. Her faith was so strong that even Jesus’ rebuke could not budge it. This is also the faith we see in the martyrs through the centuries. Having limbs severed, eyes gouged out, being burned at the stake or beheaded, none of these atrocities shook the faith of the martyrs. They didn’t budge from their faith and love of Jesus; no matter what abuse came their way.  So her steadfast faith and unwavering love of Jesus is the additional message for us; and as with St. Matthew’s community, the openness to accept all who seek this path to salvation.  This is not only the gospel message but the epistle message as well.

Would that our faith and love of Jesus could be as strong as that of the Canaanite woman. 

Homily: Matthew 7: 1-11

As Preached by Sr, Rebecca
July 8, 2016

Holy Wisdom Church


Today’s Gospel is a continuation of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in chapters 5-7 of Matthew’s Gospel. These three chapters, beginning with the Beatitudes form a kind of Magna Carta in the communities of the converted Jews in the second half of the first century in Galilee and in Syria.

Matthew’s community like our own is composed of Christians dedicated to Christ on a journey of transformation.

The lived community experience of todays Gospel is the touchstone. It embraces 3 different aspects:

1. Do not focus on the splinter in your brother/sister’s eye (1-5), rather turn your attention the log in your own eye.

2. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs (6)

3. Bring your needs to God as a trusting son and daughter. (7-11)

Now let’s Explore the 1st imperative:

‘Do not judge”. Jesus, here, is addressing rash, reckless, and foolhardy judgments. Rigid opinions and negative judgments darken the heart. The contracted, critical part of our small minds is the distorting lens that magnifies our differences and if we are really aware of our body/mind we can actually feel the disharmony within ourselves. Trying to figure out people with our short sighted minds throws a veil over our own hearts. Focusing on the errors of others also minimizes in our small minds our fallibility, our own vulnerability. A teacher once said that a habit of negative judging is an occupational disease of some serious religious people. Especially in our times of chaos all over the planet we need to use all our powers of presence to live from the heart.

We need see God revealing our own blind spots to us, those shadow areas in our life that we have failed to see. If we go after them with a sense of willfulness, anger, self-depreciation we risk obstructing our God given gifts. Jesus puts it: “if you try to pull out the weeds, you might pull out the wheat along with it. (Mt 13:29).

Rilke expresses this to a young poet: “Don’t take my devils away, because my angels may flee too.”

2. The second imperative: “Do not throw your pearls to swine”. In Hebrew there is a play on words here: pearl and treasure share the same consonants. What is this treasure we need to honor and not expose to just any person or in any situation?

This treasure is one’s intimate relationship with God.

In Ps. 119: I lay your word as a treasure upon my heart. We lay God’s Word upon our heart, and in a sacred moment our hearts open, this word sinks into the heart, and transforms it.

This pearl that Jesus is talking about is like the metaphor of a seed as in the Parable of the Sower and the Seed. It needs the dark and the depth of the soil in order to germinate and become the mature plant that it is meant to become. The seeds that fall on the road, the rock, and the thorns all are trampled on, or wither.

The gift of God’s grace is a treasure to be honed and honored in solitude and silence.


3. The third imperative: Jesus urges us to ask, seek and knock and trust that the door of grace will be opened to us. When we don’t know how to deal with a situation, we tend to contract and go into the insular within ourselves. This makes us less available to grace. We must find a balance between self-effort and trust, openness and reliance on the grace of God.


Jesus throughout the Gospel teaches us to think of grace, God’s presence as woven into the fabric of reality. There is the reality of the daily 24/7, and there is grace, which is wider and deeper than our limited sense of self.


When we rely on ourselves to figure out how to deal with any particular problem in our lives, this leads to hopelessness and even despair. On the other hand when we leave everything up to the grace of God, then we shirk responsibility and we can go to sleep, become passive, numb.

This is a paradox: we need to question, seek understanding, but sooner or later we come to a dead end, a humbling sense of fallibility, perhaps even failure. We need to look inward, feel our desires, and engage in the struggle in dealing with them. But we also need to experience that we cannot with our small minds solve any dilemma. Sometimes we may even cry out: “Oh God, where are you in this mess?” We feel alone and empty. Then out of the blue, the grace of God breaks through. Grace, beauty and a quality of love permeates us. There is a moment of aliveness resonating within us. Chronos time merges with Kairos time as Br. Luke in his homily mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

St. Teresa of Avila says that in any given difficult situation, we need to engage all our faculties as though everything depends on us and yet we need to surrender and trust as though everything depends on God.

I like to offer a true story: Fr. William Johnson SJ taught world religions at the University of Tokyo for many years. He also started there a daily meditation group. All were welcome, Christians or not. One day a young man came in, introduced himself to Fr. Johnson asking if he could come. He said he was very depressed, that life was a daily struggle, his girlfriend had left him, he hated his job etc. and really he had no desire to live. Coming here was the last attempt to do something about his miserable life. He asked Fr. what he should do during this silent time: Fr. Johnson said: recite this phrase: “Today is a beautiful day”. It doesn’t matter if you do not believe it, nor feel it; just do it. This young man came every day. Weeks later the man comes up to Father Johnson saying: “thank you”. My external situation is the same yet “truly today is a beautiful day”. This man’s ‘small mind has descended into his heart. Nothing changed but everything has changed.

6th Sunday after Pentecost Mt 9:18-26, Romans 8:1-11, 2Kings 4 25-37

Preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Church

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Can you picture how this woman who had been considered unclean for 12 yrs had managed to get through the crowds surrounding Jesus to be able to touch even the fringe on his robe? She chose totally to ignore the fear of the repercussions if anyone recognized her and realized they were now unclean and would have to perform the ritual purifying enactments. She sensed she could not go up and ask Jesus directly for a cure but had heard such tales of his healing abilities and kindness that she was filled with hope and faith that he would heal her if she merely touched the tassel of his cloak. I have always doubted that Jesus did not know who had been healed. He wanted her to know it was all right to have done what she did and he wanted others to know how much he esteemed her faith in him to be able to heal her just with a touch.

For the sake of ritual purity this woman was ostracized from society. While we don’t have the same laws now, are there individuals that we ostracize from our society? What about those with addictions of any kind? Some science and medical practitioners indicate that opioid addiction, for example, is a chronic, often relapsing disease of the brain. Although the initial decision to take drugs may be voluntary, chemical and neurological changes to the brain severely restrict a person’s self -control. The disease hinders one’s ability to resist intense impulses to take drugs-despite harmful consequences to themselves and to others. I’ve been told that most addictions are treatable and there are things we each can do to help. We can encourage people in recovery, we can support treatment opportunities. We can commit to not use hurtful or damaging words about those who face addiction. There are many other opportunities we can do to lessen the difficulties of anyone who feels ostracized.

The crowds had heard the leader of a synagogue beg Jesus to come and touch his daughter who had just died. He was truly distressed and willing to try anything to bring her back to life. Was the crowd that got up to follow Jesus only curious to see another miracle performed or were they just excited to think a healer was among them and wanting to see for themselves? In the Hebrew scriptures the power to bring back life was often by touch, by laying on the inert body and or breathing into it. There is no denying that Jairus also had the faith that is so esteemed by Jesus. Matthew does not name the synagogue leader but we learn the fathers name Jairus from the other evangelists.

Our life depends on saying yes, we are with you, Jesus, and to the gift of faith given us. If we are sincere, our yes will be evident in everything we do. Jesus has said; whoever lives the truth comes to the light so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God and through. Perhaps what can be gleaned from the Epistle this morning is that when we have the Spirit of God within us, we have all the help we need to live for God and not for selfish or worldly ends.

When we receive the Eucharist, the body and blood of Jesus we more than touch the fringe of Jesus’ garment. In faith we reenact the mystery of Jesus reaching out and touching us to give us his life. We are reminded that our bodies as well as our souls benefit by Christ touching us. When we receive Christ by faith, we begin an immediate personal relationship with God. This relationship has to be nourished by our taking time to think of God, to meditate, to read and reflect and most of all, to listen. It takes faith to keep on doing these things even when at times it can feel like we are doing nothing. The Holy Spirit works in us to help us become like Christ. Then everything we do, every action, no matter how lowly a job or how high, becomes a prayer The Spirit unites the Christian community in Christ. The Holy Spirt can be experienced by all and works through all of us.

Christ is in our midst!

Sermon 138; 2Kg5:1-14; Rm5:1-11; Mt8:5-13: Life’s lessons

As preached by Brother Luke,

Holy Wisdom Church


     This morning’s scripture readings bring me back to the time when I worked in the Department of Defense in Washington DC. Though a civilian, I worked within the military environment. Both the story about the Centurion and the story about Syrian General Naaman highlight lessons drawn from military culture. At first glance, both of these stories are about healings. They point to the power of God acting in the world. And yet I think there is another message for all of us that we should not overlook.

     At the heart of the Centurion story is his understanding of authority and how it is supposed to work. For a military organization to be effective everyone needs to be clear about authority and ready to respond in a positive way to commands. The Centurion’s training lays the foundation for this and his experience confirms it. So when he asks Jesus to heal his servant, he understands that Jesus has the power to make this happen. The Centurion is so convinced of this that he says to Jesus I’m not worthy for you to enter under the roof of my house, just say the word and it will be done. He does not expect Jesus to personally go and minister to his servant as a doctor would. Rather he believes that the power to heal will be activated simply on the command from Jesus. On hearing this, Jesus commends the Centurion for his faith. A faith that surpasses any that he has seen in Israel. A faith in Jesus’ authority, drawn from God, to affect a healing. Jesus was neither commending nor condemning the military mindset but rather affirming the Centurion’s wisdom to draw from his experience an understanding of faith in God’s power in the world.

     Of course, the military understanding of the top down quality of authority is only one aspect of the military culture. The story from 2nd Kings about the Syrian General [commander] Naaman and the Prophet Elisha adds another dimension to this paradigm. Although in those times it was not unusual for servants [or slaves] to be a part of the military retinue, today we might call them subordinates. So in this story the Israeli servant girl passes on information to Naaman about the prophet in Samaria, Elisha, who she says could cure his skin disease. This is an example of information [not authority] going from the bottom up. Naaman takes this information to the Syrian King hoping to get permission to go to this prophet. Naaman knows he needs the permission of the King to follow-up on the Israeli servant girl’s information. Again, utilizing the expected authority structure, top down. The King obliges and sends the general to Israel with a letter and gifts for the King in Israel. The Israeli King’s response is grist for another homily. In the end Naaman goes to see Elisha. However, Elisha does not meet the general but simply sends a message telling him what he needs to do to be cured. Sounds like Jesus and the Centurion’s servant. However, Naaman takes offense because what is happening does not conform to his expectations. He storms off but another servant [subordinate] speaks to him about the prophet’s instructions and convinces him to do what Elisha says to do. Why should these servants care about Naaman’s welfare? Whether we view this dynamic in terms of servant-master or subordinate-superior, the interests are the same. It is in the subordinate’s best interest for the superior, in this case the Syrian commander, to be well and successful. The subordinate casts his argument in a way that he believes is most likely to convince Naaman to do what is in his best interests, even though the commander does not see it. This reminds me of the way information is passed on in the government and other large organizations. Massive reports always come with Executive Summaries which are usually the only part of the report most executives will ever read. If decisions are needed, usually three options are given and the often used strategy is to make option B the one you want the executive to choose. It’s all about how information is presented. The servant crafted his argument to appeal to Naaman’s desire to be strong in spite of his disease. When Naaman agrees to do what Elisha instructed him to do and is cured, he then goes to Elisha to thank him and to declare that Elisha’s God is the only true God and he will henceforth pay homage to that God.

     So we have two different stories set in a military context that ultimately bring the central character to an understanding of who the true God is. The centurion applies his training and experience about authority to come to a faith in Jesus while Naaman, by relying on information from subordinates, aware of its value, is also brought to a realization of the true God. Life’s experiences brought them both to God. But these paths were their paths. They are not the only paths. Indeed, they are not necessarily the ideal paths. They simply illustrate a more generic truth. In our search for God we might learn from these stories not to dismiss life’s lessons for they may well be the avenues leading us to God.

     Christ is in our midst.

Homily for the Sunday of the Fathers of Nicea 2016

As preached by Brother Christopher

Holy Wisdom Church

          Next week on Pentecost, for the first time in about 1200 years, the heads of the autocephalous Orthodox churches are scheduled to meet in Crete in a great and Holy Council. This has been in the planning for close to a hundred years; everyone in Orthodoxy knows and agrees in principal that it is desperately needed. And yet in recent months there are disturbing signs that all of the planning and hard work is once again going to fall short of of realization: the Church of Georgia stated recently that it could not sign one of the chief documents on relations with the non-Orthodox churches; just this past week the Church of Bulgaria said that it is not going to attend the Council at all, and the Antiochene Church has also threatened to boycott the event due to a jurisdictional dispute with the Patriarchate of Jerusalem over the Church in Qatar... there are even reports of heated disagreements over seating arrangements for the hierarchs that threaten the Council. It leaves one wondering if we shall ever get beyond the pettiness that has so often crippled Orthodox church life in recent centuries. Put cynically, “Where’s an emperor when you need him?” 

          All of this is strangely relevant to today’s celebration, when we honor the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council that was held long ago at Nicea in 325. That Council was called by the Emperor Constantine and intended to establish clarity and unity in Christian doctrine and church life. The issues were far more contentious than those we’re carping about today: for example, whether Jesus was really one essence with the Father -- whether he was the Eternal Word incarnate, or whether he was, as Arius claimed, merely a magnificent creature, the nicest of guys. Those Fathers also came out with a common creed that expressed the essentials of Christian faith that have remained in place even to this day. Those hierarchs met in council together throughout that year, argued passionately for their beliefs and ultimately came to a common clarity of faith through dialogue and discernment. What would Orthodox Christian faith be without that initial Council? It leads one to wonder, “we claim that we are the Church of the Fathers. Yet how faithful to the spirit of those Fathers are the games we see being played out in advance of the coming Great and Holy Council?” We will have to wait and see whether the movement of the Spirit at Pentecost is able to rouse the Council set to meet in Crete, or whether we shall have to simply put up with more frustration and embarrassment as a Church that cannot seem to read the signs of the times as a true kairos moment. Lord have mercy! 

          In this morning’s gospel the high priest Caiaphas states, “You know nothing at all.  You do not understand that it is better to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.”  Caiaphas doesn’t realize the true import of what he has said: this passage has often been used to show that Jesus died for our sins. While that is true, unfortunately it has been understood in a toxic way -- particularly in the Christian West -- to reinforce an atonement theology grounded in substitution. Jesus is the one who dies in our stead. He is the scapegoat, the perfect victim who appeases the Divine anger for all of our sins. It is a strange concept: God requires Jesus to die on the cross to free the debt we owe, to pay the penalty for our own sin and disobedience. God demands payment, and so Jesus‘ sacrifice becomes a juridical transaction. If that’s what it means to be saved, then it turns God into something of a legalist. 

          But there is another way of looking at Jesus’ sacrifice that seems to me much more in harmony with the gospel. The salvation offered to us by Jesus is contingent on revealing just how completely, how unconditionally we are loved. Jesus was put to death because he preached a message that was at variance with the Jewish status quo. His was a true Gospel, good news, a message that revealed God’s kingdom as one of  inclusion, as open to all who repent. By challenging the hypocrisy, rigidity and narrowness of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus angered them to such an extent that they conspired to put him to death. And they did. But Jesus on the cross reveals the extent that God will go to help us understand God’s limitless love for us. He will go even to the death. And that is just the mystery of Christ that Paul understood and was transformed by, that he speaks of in his letter to the Ephesians when he prays that we will have

“the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth,  19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

That is what the Fathers at Nicea were ultimately about, what they saw in Jesus and what they intended to pass on to us. Please God, may the Fathers at this coming Great and Holy Council be as faithful and vigilant as those who met at Nicea so long ago. 

Sermon 137; Is2:1-5; Ac 1:1-12; Lk24:36-53: Ascension: Abandoned

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

I'm leavin' on a jet plane/ I don't know when I'll be back again. For some reason, while thinking about this feast and the scripture passages from Luke’s gospel and Acts, these lyrics from that old song kept coming to mind. John Denver; Peter, Paul and Mary and many others sang that song. It is about a departure with no return expected. Many of us may have experienced that special fascination of watching a plane take off from an airport, rise into the sky and fly away, slowly shrinking to a small speck and then disappearing from view. And if the plane also had a friend or loved one on board, the emotions around that departure can become quite intense. We may not know if we will ever see that person again. Or we may know that we will never see that person again. In which case, feelings of loss, grief, sadness, disappointment, estrangement and abandonment may arise. My guess is that the apostles at the Ascension had some of the same feelings. The icon of the feast shows their confusion and fear.

Back in January 2007 at Br Elias funeral, I spoke about our loss: “The reality of his departure from us will sink into each one at a different time and in a different way. In our house, we may have begun to get used to his absence over the past year since he was away most of the last 12 months in hospitals or rehabilitation centers, but still he was at the other end of the telephone, he was there when we visited him and he did fight to come back and be with us for a few weeks despite his deteriorating health. But after today, when we gather to pray in church, he won’t be there, when we gather around the table for meals, he won’t be there when we gather to relax in our recreation room, he won’t be there either. And we will know it and we will feel it and we will feel the emotion of that loss welling up inside and we will cry. And that’s ok. It’s grieving. It must be done. We must cry over the loss of Brother Elias even as we celebrate the life that was with us but is now with God.”

After the funeral, Fr Alexis Vinogradov came up to me and said that as Orthodox we understand that even though he died he is still with us. And I said that is well and good but what I meant was that physically he is no longer with us. But of course, when someone is no longer with us physically, still we do feel that person’s presence in other non-tangible but real ways. We can be reminded of the person’s humor at recreation, or of their cooking at meals or of their presence in church during services. They can return in dreams and at times we may simply feel their presence in the room even though physically they are not there. This is the mystery that Vino was talking about and it is at the center of this feast. Indeed, the beginning and end of the paschal season is marked by this mystery. At Pascha Christ returns from the dead, only to depart again at the Ascension. Remember at the beginning of the paschal season Christ told the apostle Thomas, blessed are they who have not seen and yet believe. And here at the Ascension, Christ is telling the apostles that he will not leave them orphans, he will send them the holy spirit; even as he disappears from their sight. So this leaves them and us with the call to believe in something we cannot see. And we are asked to do this at the very time that we feel abandoned.

This feast is about more than Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is about our connection to that realm into which we will all pass. The Ascension is both separation and preparation. We are being prepared to receive the unseeable Holy Spirit. The Spirit that is God’s presence everywhere, in all things and in all living beings. That spirit is in every one of us. That spirit is what carries us to Jesus, to the realm beyond this physical world. The icon of Holy Wisdom behind the altar has the mandorla, the image of uncreated light and the passageway to the realm of Kairos time. The same mandorla is depicted in the Ascension icon on display in the narthex. In that icon, Christ, though further removed from us in the image, is at the opening created by the mandorla, going before us preparing the way as he said he would. The Spirit moves between both Chronos time [the time ticking in our present physical world] and Kairos time [the realm of timelessness] and is the conveyance that brings us God’s presence and indeed the presence of all those who have gone before us and ultimately conveys us to God.

So how does this feast help us to deal with abandonment, [separation, broken connections, departures]? By reminding us that no one is abandoned or lost. Not only does God remember all but God brings all together. We experience that reality every time we feel God’s presence and indeed the presence of others. The laws of the physical world may rearrange the pieces of this earthly puzzle, but in that realm beyond our reach, all the pieces are put back together as the fulfillment of God’s plan. No one is lost. No one is left abandoned.



Christ is in our midst!

As Preached by Brother Marc

May 24, 2016
Holy Wisdom Church

Emily Dickenson famously wrote, "They say, that God is everywhere, and yet, we always think of Him, as somewhat of a recluse."

As we know, the Jewish people of God in today’s story were governed by harsh and ruthless authorities.

Hard words were needed if someone were to give voice to the ancient prophets. They had to be dramatic words: I bless and I accuse. I warn and I bring mercy.

If Jesus simply claimed he was new prophet speaking those very words of God—the powers that be would have laughed. They did so in fact, by saying no prophet comes from Galilee. Who does he think he is?

As we know, Moses predicted God will raise up a prophet “as he raised me up.” Isaiah 700 years before Christ said, “Know that your ways are not my ways. My Word goes forth until it brings reconciliation. The chastisement of our world was upon Him, and by His wounds we were healed.” John the Forerunner said, “He will baptize with the Holy Spirit, and with fire.” (Matt. 3:11)

But even so, in fact, Jesus said much more, “I and the Father are one.”

That woke everyone up: How could it be possible, even to suggest this? Who could prove Jesus' teaching was from God and not merely from himself? Those in charge were not just skeptical—they were threatened on many levels from another dimension.

Recalling “My ways are not your ways,” Jesus continued: The world does not recognize me. You seek glory from one another instead of from God. You do not know God—Not the presence, nor the miracle of grace in the midst of destruction; not the pearl of great price or hidden treasure in the middle of a field.

Our desires and natural egotism are deeply, often unknowingly, antagonistic and resistant toward God. Jesus said “Those who are by some grace aligned with God’s ways recognize I do the will of God. They know whether my words are from God or whether I am setting up my own doctrine. You know in your heart of hearts, existentially, in your gut feeling, e.g. ‘My spirit leaps for joy.’”

This is truth as satisfying, liberating, creative, life-giving, real, reality, from the perspective of the highest things. Here it is a matter of the survival of the human spirit. He says, “To glory in my own glory and power would be a lie; being willing to die for my teaching gives witness to the truth.”

This was not mere political maneuvering. These words broke through the boundaries of mere religion. Neither was this the fickle messianic projection of the multitudes! He says, “It is not about me. I am not in control of Life’s ways, the ways of the one who sent me.” Here religiosity and spirituality are confronted by authentic religion, by the profound call and guidance of the spirit.

He was known by works of compassion and healing. His message was, “Take up your cross: I came to suffer and die: it is for this purpose I come to this hour.” Everyone must die; he accepts to die even before his time, if it must be so.

After the resurrection event it took until Nicaea to begin to gain the clarity to have agreement on the event and the teaching, and how to talk about it. What about us, who know the story and the history?

It is not enough to be a completely sincere and genuine person who wants to do what is right. Many have missed heaven by 18 inches, the distance between the head and the heart. We need to have both of them healed and blest with interior harmony.

“No one ever spoke like this, ‘I am meek and humble of heart.’” Is he more than a friend of God, a prophet? “You have words of life. Who else can we turn to?” To possess the virtue of faith is to experience authentic knowing, to use a special quality of words, and to develop character.

Trust is not a simply the decision to believe apparent facts. Instead, it is a coming to the Lord—as a feast, a banquet, and a spring in the desert when we are dying of thirst. Believing is receiving the Lord as water, food, and life for the soul.

Paralytic

MAY 22 16 1JN 3:16-24, AC 3:1-16, JN 5:1-15 Christ is Risen!

As Preached by Sister Cecelia, Holy Wisdom Church


This morning’s gospel is a simple story that probably had more fact than symbolism concerning the poor man for whom Jesus felt such compassion. Instead of the joy one might expect to see from this invalid regaining his health, much disapproval and anger takes place. It was the Sabbath and no work is to be done on the Sabbath. The original law only stated the Sabbath was to be different than the other days and that neither a man nor his servants nor his animals were to work on that day. Through the years this simple rule was made into thousands of minute rules and regulations, many carrying a punishment of being stoned to death if broken. That sort of explains why the paralytic excused his carrying his bed and then later went to the leaders naming Jesus as the man who told him to carry his bed. After regaining his health he did not relish the idea of being stoned.

Some of us appreciate symbolic meanings in writing and art works more than others but all of us can derive some meaning from symbolism. It is doubtful that St. John wrote about the paralytic with any allegorical meaning in mind but that has not prevented many from seeing even deeper meaning into the story.

Some scholars have interpreted the paralyzed man as standing for the people of Israel. The 5 porches are interpreted as the 5 books of the law. In those same porches the people lay ill. The law could lay bare a person’s weaknesses but could not mend or cure them. The law, like the porches, could shelter the sick but could never heal them. The 38 yrs stand for the centuries the people had been waiting for the Messiah. The stirring of the waters stands for baptism. There are in some early Christian art depictions of a man rising from the baptismal waters carrying a bed upon his back.

Aside from seeing the allegorical meaning that could be attached to this gospel, compassion stemming from love is the theme of all three readings today. Jesus is telling us that God did not stop working on the Sabbath and neither did he. God rested from the work of creation but the work of compassion, love, mercy and judgement continues. Jesus teaches that human need must be helped. Other work may be laid aside but the work of compassion - no. The Christian’s compassion must become like God’s, unceasing.

What brings about our ability to love and be compassionate as God is? There are two things that seem necessary . It is the realization that those who suffer are simply the other side of ourselves.

They remind us of our own vulnerability. Compassion is based on a keen awareness of the interdependence of all living beings. We are all part of one another, and all involved with one another. Sympathy understands the feelings of the one who suffers; empathy feels the feelings of those who suffer and are moved to help relieve the suffering.

The other realization is that we have no power of our own. We can be only channels of the power of our Risen Lord. If I only think of what I can do and be, it is most likely that I will experience great frustration and fear. If I think rather, not I, but Christ in me, there will be peace and power.

Knowing our own shortcomings and weaknesses, we all depend on the compassion of God.

Are there others depending on me for the same thing?

Christ is in our midst!

Beyond Expectations

As preached by Brother Luke, Holy Wisdom Church

Sermon 136: Col 1:13b-20; Ac2:22-36; Jn 20:19-31

Back in 1949, when I was born, Harry S. Truman was President. He was from Missouri and we all know Missouri is the “show me” state. Their motto is: “we have to see it to believe it.” Isn’t this the usual human response. We want tangible proof, preferably something we can touch, grab on to and know concretely that it is real. Doubting Thomas is a common expression even for those who have no idea about its origin. Today the church places before us the event that spawned the phrase “doubting Thomas.”

Isn’t it amazing that last week we celebrated the most important event in our Christian understanding of salvation history, the resurrection of Christ. And yet, just one week later the church introduces doubt. We aren’t allowed to get comfortable with any of these teachings. One week we have Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem and yet before the week is out he is nailed to a cross and dies. His followers flee the crucifixion and now some fear the resurrection while others doubt it. And yet, this sequence of events, far from being beyond our comprehension, in fact mirrors our very natural human experience.

We are in the middle of a presidential election season. In January a new president will take office and at that time he or she will be accorded the usual honeymoon, often lasting 100 days. It is during that period that the president begins to get the new administration’s staff in place, starts to articulate the administration’s goals, and craft the programs that are intended to achieve those goals. But it won’t be long before doubt arises. Personnel choices will be questioned; program initiatives will go to congress to go under sometimes hostile scrutiny. Public opinion polls may begin to reveal that voters now have second thoughts. In other words, the honeymoon will be over.

Of course the expression honeymoon originates with marriage. We might think of it as the special trip which immediately follows the wedding. It may be more than a trip; it may last much longer. But at some point the cute little things you overlooked aren’t so cute any more. Those small things you thought you could live with now seem unbearable. And some things you never knew about come to light. And looking at the sad statistics about divorce, it seems that seeing beyond the problems and keeping in mind the joy behind the original decision get crushed in the new reality.

This is why our gospel lesson today is so important. It intends to remind us of the larger issue. Note what Jesus said to Thomas. He is happy that Thomas, who has seen the risen Lord, now believes, but even more: Happy are those who have not seen and yet believe. And I believe happy is the important word here. How can we live, In the Spirit of Happiness, as we wrote about it many years ago? What is the happiness to which Jesus refers?

Christ says his kingdom is not of this world. What world is he referring to? The world that wants to deny the reality of the pain, sorrow and death that await us all. The world that closes its eyes to the poor and the marginalized. The world that wants only to see life as endless opportunities for pleasure and fulfillment. For Christ, his kingdom embraces all the joys and sorrows of this world and Christ accompanies us through it all for he has experienced it all. But he also calls us to a reality beyond our expectations.

So for all of us, who were not present when Thomas met the risen Lord, Christ is calling us to live beyond our expectations. To live in faith, confident that beyond all of this is the place prepared for us to which Jesus accompanies us. It is in living in that place, that kingdom of God, that place beyond expectations, that we experience true happiness. And that place includes the here and now.

Thomas expected Jesus to be dead and buried. The unexpected happened. Thomas’ life was changed forever and he worked to spread the Good News far into Asia and beyond. The church continues to present this story to us so that we too may know the happiness of faith in the unexpected. Faith that affirms: Christ is Risen!