Homily Lk 12-33 The Aging of Aquarius

As preached by Brother Marc
Holy Wisdom Church
January 27, 2019

WAMC’s Joe Donahue interviewed the author of a new book The Aging of Aquarius: What Are You Waiting For? The author, Ellen Wilkes, fled Nazi Germany as a child and now in her 80’s lives in Canada. As we approach our elder years, she says, we may want to ask ourselves, “Am I ready for this stage or time in my life?”

I know I do ask myself this every day!

If we don’t take steps every day to grow and become transformed as elder persons, she says, in a few years we will still be waiting for the life we are now called to.

We might ask around, “What are all of us doing while waiting on the warnings, promises or unknowns of the future? Am I keeping my body ready for the inevitable changes and challenges ahead? Am I in possession of my own soul—safely in God’s hands? Am I keeping my mind alert and my heart open? Am I Christ-like in any way at all?”

I once read about something called “The Black Swan,” one of those, unexpected, unplanned, explainable events that provokes a crisis.

Suddenly—in the middle of a nice day—the power goes off. And the generator becomes overheated and stops running.

Or a thief comes in the night: and our protection dog is at the vet’s.

In the gospel reading, the Lord announces his future great and sudden return. He says we know neither the day nor the hour. His implication is, “Are we prepared regardless of what the rest of the world does.” In the twinkling of an eye…everything can change.

He predicted: “That day will spring on us suddenly like a trap, for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of the earth, but guard your minds and hearts. Pray for strength to escape all the things that are about to take place and to stand before the Son of God.”

This might give us the motivation to be always on the alert. There will be an accounting, but the merciful Lord is with us.

What will keep us sharp and ready for this promise and warning? Pray always. Just as we might regularly watch world news, monastics keep watch at vigil services! Every canonical hour we raise your eyes to heaven and look toward life’s horizon.

What causes us to lose our spiritual alertness, desire and practice? Of course, we say—I am busy, tired, and depressed—and worse.

Spiritual readiness is not just leaving a friendly light on for family members or guests. For example, when we are upset, we unexpectedly reverse things and do for the others what you wish they had done for us! When Martin Luther King received the Noble Peace Prize for his leadership in the civil rights movement, he said “I still believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.”—and we know these make us ready in God’s eyes.

We ready ourselves as a religious community, or as part of the secular community, when we use our hospitality, gifts and talents. We build peaceful relationships and do not strive for things that perish. We always need to build up and inspire one another with energy and wisdom. A preacher remarked, “Do your best and God, the architect of life, builds with you.”

As a child Anne Frank, too, fled Germany in World War II with her family, but later they needed refuge again when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands. They waited for the day of liberation for over two years in the excruciating isolation of an Amsterdam attic. She wrote in her famous diary:

“I hear the approaching thunder that will destroy us too.”

In her adolescent lack of experience, she actively took care to feed her spirit and grow in awareness and love—she was transformed even while threatened by the suffering and hostility below her in the streets. “If you become part of the suffering,” she wrote, “you’ll be entirely lost.”

At the end, facing death and annihilation at the age of fifteen, Anne wrote simply, “Whenever you feel sad, try going to the loft on a beautiful day and looking at the sky. As long as you can look fearlessly at the sky, you’ll know, you’ll know you are pure within.”

If we want to be ready for the next big thing, we can pray and work quietly, or write and work publicly to inspire ourselves and those around us. Then, whether we are elders, youngsters or midsters, we can say, “Come, Lord Jesus, we are ready.

Brother Marc

Jan 20th, 2019 Eze 34:11-16, Col 1:11-20, Lk 15:1-10

As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

When I was young and heard about the shepherd going off to look for one sheep who had wandered off and leaving the other 99, I often wondered how responsible was that? Since then I’ve come to understand there are many meanings to the parables.  One explanation of leaving the 99 unattended is that the sheep were intermixed with other sheep and the shepherds guarding them would also guard this shepherd’s sheep. The sheep probably belonged to a village rather than one person and the villagers cheered when a shepherd came back with the missing sheep. At any rate I’m sure that some arrangement was made. For those who might equate themselves as being among the 99, God does love the faithful among us but even angels rejoice when a sinner repents-the sheep who wanders off.

 The Shepherd is God who goes after each of us if we stray. To answer the Pharisees objection of Jesus hobnobbing with those they considered sinners who should be avoided at all costs, Jesus indicates he came to save these very ones- the sinners and outcasts.

The joy of the woman finding her lost coin seems also to express how much God loves one who is lost.

That is one thing that Jesus taught that was not remembered by most of the Hebrews: that God actively seeks out those who have lost their way as we heard this morning from Ezekiel.

What is our response to this great love the Shepherd/ father has for us? How do we receive this love from God and then how do we pass it on to others? 

The reading from Colossians indicates how we can. Paul prayed that the Colossians -that includes us- be made strong with the strength of God’s power. Paul prayed that we be prepared to endure everything with fortitude, and patience. And with joy give thanks to God. This patience is not just bowing out heads and letting life happen around us but dealing with the events of life with courage. 

Another kind of patience is the long-suffering patience with people. It is a quality of mind and heart to not let another’s unpleasantness, maliciousness and cruelty drive us to bitterness. That we do not let another’s unteachableness drive us to despair or another’s foolishness drive us to irritation. That we continue to choose to love others in spite of any other undesirable qualities in them. 

Jesus never said: “Obey my rules.”  He said: “Obey me, follow me”. The Lord made obedience something that we would desire to do because Jesus gave up his life that we might be free. That is why we are required to discern between white and black, between light and dark, good and evil. We are required to make choices. That is the beauty of the freedom of the Lord. It is God’s love that make us want to obey. Obeying God was never meant to be a chore or a duty but a joyous response to God’s love.

It is the Father who seeks us out to enable us to share in the inheritance of the saints of light, that is, the kingdom of Jesus, (God’s beloved son). What prevents us from joyfully giving thanks to God in the light of seeing God’s great love for us?

Christ is in our midst!