Homily for Feb 23rd Judgement Sunday (Meatfare) Job 22:1-11, 31:16-23, 29-37; Colossians 3:5-17; Matthew 25:31-46

As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

Interestingly, the gospel this morning comes after the parable of the talents given to the three servants. On the king’s return, judgment is passed on how the three servants used the gifts he had given to them. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, all the holy angels come with him and witness his divine judgement over all.

Consider an interesting side note: the example Jesus uses about shepherds separating goats from sheep was the practical one of needing to shear the sheep, not that there was anything wrong with the goats. True, he did threaten the one group with dire punishment to help them realize how important it is to love one another.

It is God’s love for all those brought into being that expresses itself foremost in the desire not only to save us, but to bring us into relationship with each other. All the good things we do encourage a relationship with the rest of humankind, which Jesus is assuring his listeners that the good things they do, they are also doing to him. What a wonderful lesson in understanding the Mystical Body of Christ! 0

As we prepare for this coming Lent—which is only a week away—what are we prepared to do or to think about that will enable us to love others the way God seems to want us to do? Are we already doing the most that we can do? The church encourages us to fast and to abstain from certain foods.  Self-control in this area can be a very good thing. Scripture, however, indicates there are other areas where self-control is even more expedient.

 I recently came across a list of areas of fasting and feasting. I won’t list all of them, as you can add your own specific needs or weaknesses.

Fast from judging others; Feast on Christ dwelling in them.  

Fast from thoughts of illness; Feast on the healing power of God.

Fast from discontent; Feast on gratitude. 

Fast from anger; Feast on patience. 

Fast from complaining; Feast on appreciation.

Fast from bitterness; Feast on forgiveness.

Fast from self-concern, Feast on compassion for others.

 Paul tells us to let Christ’s peace be the “umpire” of our hearts. Our hearts are the center of our conflicts because our desires and feelings clash—our fears and hopes, our distrust and trust, our jealousy and love. Paul explains that we deal with these conflicts and live as God wants by deciding between conflicting elements on the basis of peace. Which choice will promote peace in us and others?   Such love is not a feeling but a decision to meet others’ needs. It leads to peace between individuals and among members of the human race. If we see someone who needs help and we are able to help, always help.

There are copies of a list of Fasts and feasts by the door. Please help yourself0, and add your own if you would find it helpful.

Loving Christians work together despite differences.

Sermon 173 Feb 9, 2020 Lk 13:9-14, Phil 3: 5-9, Dt 6:4-18 Publican & Pharisee: Great Expectations

As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

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

        Pip. Ever wonder what that really means and where the word came from? I looked it up. And there are way too many meanings. For example: A highly spirited individual. A person who acts like they know everything but actually knows nothing. Something extraordinary. I was wondering how it is that the hero of Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations got that name. Maybe that’s it, he was a spirited individual whose whole life was something extraordinary. But it was also a typical Dickens story. Each great expectation was followed by a great disappointment. And this repeated itself many times and even ended that way in the original story. But some of Dickens’ friends encouraged him to end the book with at least a little hope. Reluctantly he changed the ending. He provided hope, but not much.

        Expectations. That is something we all experience. After all, in life we live in expectation of outcomes in many very ordinary things. Go to the market and expect to get the food that you need. Go to a movie and expect to see the film that was advertised. Go to a concert and expect to be entertained. Go to college and expect to get an education that leads to a decent job. Drive to Vermont and expect to find gasoline at a lower price than in New York. Get married and expect ... well I’ll let the married among us answer that for themselves. But what about God? What are our expectations of God?

        In today’s gospel lesson we have an example of two different expectations of God. Both the publican, that is the tax collector, and the Pharisee, enter the Temple, God’s home, in the understanding of the people at that time, and they expect, at a minimum, that God will hear their prayer. Beyond that, their expectations differ. The pharisee is convinced that he is living in a right relationship with God since he has followed the prescriptions of the law to the letter. And he can strengthen his claim by comparing himself to the publican, whom he disdains as unworthy of God’s favor since the publican is obviously a sinner. So, the pharisee’s expectation is justification in the eyes of God.

        The publican, on the other hand, goes before God not expecting justification but rather asking for mercy in light of his many sins. He is a tax collector working for the hated Roman occupiers and collecting his income by adding fees to the taxes he collects. He is not necessarily expecting mercy but hoping that God might show him mercy despite his unsavory life. Jesus tells us clearly how God views the prayer of these two men. But as I was pondering this story, we might easily give names to these two anonymous individuals and see in other contexts how Jesus teaches us about God’s desires for us.

        What if we name the publican Zacchaeus and the Pharisee Simon? Over the last two Sundays we heard about Zacchaeus’ desire to see Jesus. How easily that would fit with the publican, who departs the Temple and then learns of the chance he might have to actually see Jesus. An outcome beyond his wildest expectations! And remember Simon, the pharisee who invited Jesus over for dinner? And at that dinner the woman enters with the perfume. She cries and tears fall on his feet. She dries them with her hair and then anoints Jesus feet with the perfume and Simon observes this with self-righteous indignation and is rebuked by Jesus. Simon’s expectations are dashed but he is not punished, rather, he is given the opportunity to learn what God’s real desires are.

        So, for us, entering this temple to worship God, we also come with expectations. And our liturgy is designed to help us learn what God’s desires are for us individually and as God’s people. The petitions remind us of what the human condition is and how God and we might make it better. The prayers of preparation of the eucharist remind us of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and how we participate in that through our reception of the eucharist and our living out our lives patterned after that of Jesus and all the saints.

        Just like Pip in the Dickens’ story, our expectations in life will ebb and flow but the love of God for us and for this creation is constant and we can always come and meet it and be renewed in it every time we enter the temple of God and bring our prayers to God and remain open to hearing God’s response to us.

        Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Homily February 2, 2020: Feast of the Encounter

As preached by Sister Rebecca
Holy Wisdom Chapel

In today’s Gospel, we heard about a supremely important event when Jesus was 40 days old. Mary and Joseph, obedient to the Jewish Law, journey to the Temple in Jerusalem.  The focus of this event is on the encounter of the Child Jesus with an Elder, Simeon, and the Prophetess Anna.  The latter, Anna, never left the Temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer, night and day. The former, Simeon, is described as righteous and devout, waiting upon the consolation of God.  Both Simeon and Anna, beyond the legalities, were LONGING to see the Messiah, and the consolation for Israel.

            Simeon, in his immense desire, portrays the psalmist (Ps 131): “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word do I hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the dawn, more than watchmen wait for the dawn. O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with the Lord is fullness of redemption.”

            His desire was more than just piety; it was holy longing, and in this yearning the Holy Spirit leads Simeon to the Temple.  Taking the Child Jesus into his arms, Simeon exclaims: “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation,...a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory to your people Israel.”

            Simeon sees in this Child not just a passive baby, but the very embodiment of God’s longing for humanity. He has been waiting, anticipating, and preparing a long time for the fulfillment of that prophesy and promise.  After decades of waiting, he exclaims: “My eyes have seen your salvation.” 

            There is a tension here:  It says something about our understanding and experience of God, in life and in the world.  For most of us, the world is often limited to the physical, the tangible, and the sensory. What Simeon sees is beyond the physical reality of THIS child.  It is an enlightenment experience for him.  His seeing is not an issue to be resolved; it is the entry into another realm.  It is about another way of being, another way of seeing, and another way of knowing.  That day in the Temple, Simeon and Anna saw more than what the physical eyes could perceive.  It was a Divine Encounter, a peering into the Eternal.  

            What does this Encounter say to us this morning?  It is not simply an event in history.  This very Encounter is happening all the time.  The invisible is seen, the intangible is touched, the unspoken is heard.  The Feast of the Encounter, at its core, is a feast of longing, of deep desire.  This feast reveals the longing between humanity and divinity.  Aren’t our deepest longings about desiring to know and to be known? Not a kind of knowing about this or that, even learning about God.  Our longing is for relationship, connection in and through the God within us, and seeing, experiencing God in all things.  For this to happen we must live with, and offer, the fragility, vulnerability, and joy of an open and longing heart.  That heart is the Temple, the inner space of Encounter with God.

            This feast has a huge message for us today:  A challenge!  This perception of the awesome mystery of God includes an experience of the sword.  As predicted, Mary’s heart will be pierced by a sword. And so will ours.  This sword cuts through the veil of our shadow’s hidden unhealed parts.  As Simeon prophesies, “the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.” They emerge out of the dark into the light. But the Temple experience, when pondered and meditated on in our hearts as Mary did, assures us that the darkness will not overcome the Light.

            Today is also Zacchaeus Sunday.  Because the liturgical calendar this year conflates this Sunday with the Encounter Feast, we anticipated Zacchaeus last Sunday.  Br Stavros, in his homily then, offered us insights that we might want to recall today.  Zacchaeus is also a person of desire.  Without desire, what are we left with?  A hollow, foreboding emptiness, sometimes bordering on pessimism, looking out at life through dark lenses.  Despair is not an option when we grow more deeply aware of our personal and global encounter with God.  This Sunday of Zacchaeus invites us to open our eyes to the next doorway leading in to Lent. These two feasts are meant to ignite in us a desire like that of Zacchaeus, who was passionate about seeing Jesus. It changed his life: a 180-degree turnabout.  Desire does things to us that seem unbelievable to our natural inclinations.  This desire forces Christ’s attention.  So too, this same desire brought within Simeon’s and Anna’s souls an Encounter with our living God.

            How do we move forward and at the same time be realistic and take account of all the unique pressures of our times? What Light, vision, and disciplines do we need to creatively channel the Spirit Fire inside us, so that its end result is creative days and restful nights and enduring peace in our encountering God, within ourselves and in connection with others?  

Resources:

Rev. Michael Marsh: a homily Feb. 4th, 2017

Fr. Ronald Rolheiser: from Holy Longing