Sermon 183 November 27, 2022 LK 8:41-56, Gal 1:11-24, Is 41:8-13

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church


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

It is a common sight to see people enter an Orthodox church, approach an icon of Christ and then bend over and reach down to touch the ground before kissing the icon. The individual will often be offering a prayer at the same time. For people who are new to the Orthodox church, this pious act may be mysterious and even perplexing. These actions may very well be traced back to historic cultural customs in various societies. However, they also have a scriptural pedigree that is on display in today's gospel reading.

Notice what Jairus, the president of the synagogue, does as he approaches Jesus: "He fell at Jesus' feet and pleaded with him to come to his house." [LK8:41] And as Jesus was walking toward Jairus' house, he encounters another person seeking healing from him and the evangelist relates that: "The woman came forward trembling, and falling at his feet explained in front of all the people why she had touched him." [LK8:47]

We have on display next to the Golgotha an icon of Christ that is known as "Extreme Humility" and it is the image connected to Jesus' passion. We often say that Jesus, by his life, passion and death, modeled for us a way of being that runs contrary to that which is expected in modern society. After all, popular culture is all about self expression and self promotion, the current understanding of the idea of freedom. Humility, not to mention "extreme humility," are not part of our modern lexicon. And yet this is what Jesus modeled to us.

Jesus humility goes beyond any physical posture or expression. In both healings in today's gospel Jesus does not take credit for anything and does not point to himself as savior. What he does say to the woman with the hemorrhage is: "Your faith has saved you, go in peace." [LK8:48] When word of Jairus' daughter's passing reaches Jesus, he says to Jairus: "Do not be afraid, only have faith and she will be saved."[LK8:50].

Once the healing has taken place, he cautions Jairus and his family, as he does so often in the gospels, not to tell others what has happened. [LK8:56] His goal is not self promotion, but rather to teach, by example, those who come to him, what faith looks like. Over and over he encourages people: "Do not be afraid. Only have faith."

It's a hard call when tragedy is on one's doorstep. The individuals in today's gospel will live, but they will also die, as will we all. When Jesus' says "only have faith, do not be afraid," he is teaching us about more than just this life. It is about life eternal. Is is faith in the resurrection. A faith that transcends any earthly sorrow. It is the ultimate joy that brings us through sorrow to a place that abolishes all sorrow. It is why Isaiah says to us: "Do not fear." [Is41:13] It is the gospel St Paul preached. It is the lifeline we receive in Holy Communion. It is why we are Christians.

Glory be to Jesus Christ

Our Lady of the Sign October 30, 2022 Isaiah 7:13-17, Hebrews 9:1-11, Matthew 1:20-23

 As preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Chapel

The first tabernacle mentioned in the Epistle this morning was a symbol of the divinity always with us. In Exodus, God said to Moses: “Make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst.” Today’s feast commemorates the symbol of Mary, the Mother of God—the sanctuary of Emmanuel in our midst.

What does it mean that Jesus—God—is in our midst? When Joseph heard that the Child had been conceived by the work of the Holy Spirit, what might that have meant to Joseph? The Jewish idea was that the Holy Spirit brought God’s truth to humanity. It was the Holy Spirit who told the prophets what to say and holy ones what to do. The name “Jesus” is the Greek form of “Joshua,” the savior of his people. Jesus came to save us by telling us the truth about God and the truth about ourselves. Jesus assured his disciples that those who had seen Him had seen the Father. The truth about the Father is that God is love, compassion, and mercy.

Mary’s role is to bring us in worship into contact with Divinity. Her arms raised in prayer are a symbol that she is praying for and with the whole church—which is all of us. As members of the body of Christ we are no longer strangers and sojourners; we are fellow citizens with the holy ones and are members of God’s household. It is essential that we understand and embody what that means.

We sometimes believe that we are not worthy and do not matter. Yet, the apostles, as flawed as they might have been, were the first living stones of the church. We follow in their footsteps. We are necessary for the being that is the church, the body of Christ. While Christ is the capstone, God is the Great Builder, who calls us to be part of what makes the Body sacred and whole.

If we examine the life of a human being as it appears externally, we find in that life—as in all things—a common trait of being bound up with and limited by time. Every earthly thing lives for only a moment, joining one tiny interval to the next, just as one breath follows the other that life may continue. Everything we do, whether in the inner life or the external work of the body, takes place in time. We are born, and we die. Everything that has a beginning must come to an end in time. Both the wine of joy and the bitter wave of suffering end in death.

Still, there is something in these things that does not pass away. In the indifference of all coming and going, there mysteriously lives something full of meaning, something eternal. Each moment of time, and each human deed, leaves what is eternal in it—the good or the evil. Is it not both a comforting and a frightful mystery—that our deeds sink into nothingness, but before they do, they give birth to something eternal that does not disappear? The fluctuation of time ceases and sets free the ground of the soul that until now was seen by God alone. This means that an individual travels the path of their life through time into an eternity that is no longer time.

Mary traveled this path, as well as we. With her as with all of us on this earth, life was a restless coming to be and passing away. Her life began quietly and then ended. In between those two points, her life was filled with the changes that constitute life. It was filled with the cares common to all. Hers was filled with hours of utmost joy in God her Savior, joined with many routine, ordinary hours and of heart-breaking grief. Such a life did not come to an end. Her whole life entered eternity. Every joy and every pain, the great and the small, lives on in the eternal goodness of the one passing into eternity.

Mary’s role is to remind us that God is the Great Builder who calls us to be part of what makes the Body sacred and whole while we live in time. It is essential that we understand and embody what that means.

 

 

Sermon 182, October 23, 2022 - LK 5:29-39, 2 Cor 1:8-11, Is 25:6-10 Apostle James

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

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



How often do I get in my own way? I'm not just thinking about tripping over my own feet, which I do. But rather letting my preconceived ideas and notions inhibit my ability to be open to new ideas and ways of thinking and doing things. I don't think I'm alone in this. Sometimes we may be prisoners of our own habits. In our current circumstances here at the monastery where we have moved into our guest house while the cloister is being renovated, I have come to realize just how much of my life was governed by rigid patterns of habitual behavior that are now disrupted leaving me often frustrated at how much longer it takes me to do anything. My autopilot crashed! And I am frequently pining for a return to the old ways and dreaming about how much better life will be when I can return to my old patterns of behavior in my old routines and in my old spaces. I think a big surprise awaits me when this project is completed!

This morning's scripture lessons should alert us to the reality that the past is past and new ways will impose themselves on us, with or without our approval. What is Jesus trying to tell us by dining with tax collectors and sinners, the outcasts of his day? For the Pharisees of his day the problem was not just eating with tax collectors and sinners, but eating AT ALL was looked on with suspicion if one is viewed as a prophet. Shouldn't they be fasting, like John the Baptist and his followers? But Jesus reminds the critics that these aren't the usual circumstances!

And what about those tax collectors? Today people may view the IRS with disdain and distrust and may see the whole process as theft, but if you work for the IRS you most likely are not ostracized by society. Some may not like how the government uses "your tax dollars" but it is not a foreign occupier with local agents.

Jesus comes to these marginalized members of his society as the doctor for those who need a doctor. But the medicine he provides may not be the elixir his critics have in mind. He does not shun them, avoid them or dismiss them. He is not telling them how wrong or bad they are. Instead, the medicine he brings is the reminder that God loves his creation, all of it and everyone in it. And bringing God's love to those marginalized by society is a central feature of the Good News.

Wrapping our minds around a new reality is the difficult part. Later in the passage Luke relates the examples of old wine bursting new wine skins and new cloth patching old garments only to tear away from the garment. Jesus was challenging societal conventions and offering an alternative that emphasized God's love. Old paradigms no longer apply if we really understand God's true nature. So this new understanding burst the old wine skins and tore away from the old cloth of society. New wine needs new wine skins and old cloth needs to be replaced with new cloth. A new understanding of God brings with it a new way to approach the marginalized in society, with love and understanding, not fear and rejection.

Isaiah tells us that "God has wiped away the tears from every cheek...taken his peoples shame away... [so] rejoice since he has saved us." And Paul reminds us "to trust not in ourselves but in God."

And to take an example from last summer, this is exactly what Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Archdiocese of North America did when he baptized the children of a same-sex couple in Greece not far from Athens. He put pastoral needs ahead of cultural sensitivities and societal conventions that too often hinder God's work rather than enable it. We want to stay in our comfort zone. Christ never stayed in his society's comfort zone. He constantly broke away from it just as the new cloth broke away from the old.

One might think that monastic life is as far removed from this paradigm as any life style could possibly be, but in fact it is just the opposite. It demands the very same thing of us. When we enter this life we must face the fact that we are entering into a completely new way of living, being and thinking. No matter how much our inner urgings may want us to simply continue to live our old life in a new location, that is not possible. We can't fit our old way of living into this life any more than people 2000 years ago could put new wine into old wine skins. The old wine skins will fail. And this teaching of Jesus is not just for monastics, it is for all of us.

Glory be to Jesus Christ

Sunday after Exaltation of the Cross - September 18, 2022 Isaiah 49:13-18, 22-23; Galatians 2: 15-20; Mark 8: 34-9:1

Preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Church


Last week I heard of a professional athlete who had a round medal engraved with these words: First God, Second Ron, Third self. He wore it always as a reminder of how to live. He explained that Ron was a nephew but symbolized all others.

First, God.

Second, neighbor.

Third, self.

It is pretty clear that following Christ entails self-denial. What kind of denial to ourselves is our task to discover. It is a lifelong challenge. We’ve often been told that Christ does not ask of us anything he has not been willing to accept or do himself. Jesus continually said “yes” to God and “no” to himself when a choice was demanded.

When making our own choices, do we intuit what is right and wrong, or do we depend on others to indicate what is right and wrong? What is good, better, and best; and what is mediocre, bad, and worse? For whom or what is it good or bad—ourself, our neighbor, our country, the world?

Throughout the ages, humans have looked to their leaders—be they kings, prophets, or religious leaders—for directions on how to live as they should, to be on the safe side. Humans generally like to be safe, but not always. When Jesus said “yes” to what he saw God was asking of him, he definitely was not being on the safe side.

Jesus prayed, listened, and then responded. When we realize that Jesus—our God—is with/in us, we pray to be able to respond as He did. We ask to be able to line up our will with the will of God. As Saint Paul has said, “It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.”

How often the directive to “love God above all and love our neighbor as ourselves” is repeated in the Scriptures we call our own. How often have we found ourselves behaving more like the rich young man who was directed to give all his riches to the poor and to come and follow Christ? That man went away sad because that was just too much to ask of him. Our own desires outweigh what we think God might be asking of us. The history of many of the saints shows that their enthusiasm about following Christ sometimes led them to extremes. In later life, they frequently apologized to their bodies for having mistreated them when they were younger. Attempts to be and do more than Christ did is a temptation to pride rather than to love.

Most of us are energized by being confronted by unusual challenges; we rise to the occasion. It is daily fidelity to our prime values that prepares us to deal creatively with unusual situations. We become saints not by waiting for an opportunity to display heroic virtue but by responding creatively to the niggling demands that come our way every day. God does not often ask us for heroic deeds, but rather steadfast perseverance in loving our neighbor as ourselves. It follows that we must love ourselves before we can know how to love our neighbor.

Loving God above all will inevitably cause us to be thankful for all we have received. Looking at the awesomeness of creation and our ability to give thanks for it ensures that we see the need to care for it whenever we can. These same scriptures show us, too, what loving our neighbor entails. Understanding what we as individuals can do in carrying out these two commandments takes reflection.

It is so easy to get caught up with all that is going on around us. We get caught up with friends and families, with our own health issues, with the war news, with fires, floods, and famine that taking the time to feed our minds, to reflect, to give thanks takes effort. It takes planning to find the time.

Do not worry about being safe. Be assured that even if we do not make the right or correct choices, God will make right what we do as long as our intention is to do what is right, which is: the will of God on earth as it is in heaven.



Give thanks for all the joys and sufferings that turn our hearts and minds to God.

Sermon 181 September 14, 2022 Jn 19:13-35, 1 Cor 1:17-28, Is 10:25-27, 11:10-12 Exaltation of the Cross.

 As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

 

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
 
       Today we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Throughout the years artists have made striking icons of the cross, not to mention beautiful jewelry and of course the schema monk's traditional garment has the cross at Golgotha emblazoned on the front. Wonderful though they are, these images of the cross can obscure its horrific original reality. It was a sign and instrument of torture, humiliation, shame and death.

       As we read through the gospels we notice how many times Jesus turns traditional understandings of life and customs upside down. For example, think about the messages embedded in the Beatitudes. The cross is one more example of this grand reversal. An instrument of death becomes a sign of life eternal. I believe it is also a key to understanding what Jesus meant when he said that he has come so that we may have life more abundant.

       What does life more abundant mean? How can the cross be a symbol of that more abundant life? We are all called to learn from Jesus and to follow his example. And yet, the phrase "life more abundant" filtered through the lens of modern worldly understanding would put the stress on the word "abundant" whereas Jesus' way of living puts the stress on the word "life".

       Did Jesus live an abundant life according to the world's standards? No. He did not strive to acquire more and more possessions. He said: put your treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust can corrupt. He didn't hold down a high paying job nor strive for worldly status. Pay unto Cesare what is Cesare's and unto God what is God's. Did he own the biggest mansion in the neighborhood? No. The Son of Man has no place to lay his head. He didn't own the latest, greatest chariot. He had to borrow a donkey to ride "triumphantly" into Jerusalem. Did he surround himself with sycophants who told him only what he wanted to hear? No. He even included amongst his closest friends the man who would betray him. He turned on its head all the world's standards of abundance. The prosperity preachers of the modern age have no clue into what Jesus is really about.

       He told the rich man to give away all his possessions to the poor and follow him. When the devil taunted and tempted Jesus he used scripture to counter all the evil and dishonest lures for wealth and power thrown at him. And then, he freely let himself be captured, tried, convicted and killed in the most painful and shameful way used by the political authorities of his day. Nailed to a cross.  By doing this he transformed our understanding of what abundant life is all about.

       When we honestly look at how we feel when we desperately strive after all the "good things" this world can offer, we might notice that this type of passion is insatiable. And rather than filling us up with joy and happiness, it leaves us empty and only yearning for more and more. The abundant life is not about acquiring but rather about self-giving. This is the example Jesus gave to us to follow. And the cross is the key because through it he made the ultimate sacrifice to save us. So to follow in his footsteps is to follow the two basic commandments Jesus told us to observe: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the teaching of the prophets hang on these two commandments. Jesus' love was always going out from himself and never pointing to himself. And this is what his father and our father, that is God, is all about. Love, freely given. When you see the Cross, think love, and hold onto it tightly. Let it always be a reminder of the love that Jesus gave freely. The love we too can also give freely.

       Glory be to Jesus Christ!

July 24, 2022

 As preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Church

2 Kings, 4:25-37, Romans 8:1-11, Matthew 9:18-26

The readings this morning remind us of the miracles performed by the early prophet Elisha and the many miracles performed by Jesus as well. The leader of the synagogue, Jairus, had faith Jesus could bring his daughter back to life. The woman with a 12-year hemorrhage believed Jesus could cure her. Even the epistle reminds us that through our baptism we receive the miracle of the indwelling Spirit who raised Christ from the dead into our own mortal bodies. What effect have these miracles had in our lives?

Even though the disciples witnessed many of the miracles performed by Jesus, those miracles had little effect on their behavior when He was taken by the Romans and put to death. It seems the miracles were ineffective in strengthening their faith because there was no correspondence between what was happening on the outside and what was happening on the inside. The most spectacular happenings do not work unless they trigger an interior response. There needs to be a consistency between what is deepest in us and the practical choices that constitute our everyday life. We do need to burden ourselves with principles that define our identity and set our objectives and not just float along with the current. This work of having a personal philosophy that is drawn from our past experience and feeds into our present and future living is of great importance as we arrive at a sense of who we are and what we stand for. Life can teach us to build within ourselves a structure of beliefs and values that serve to guide us in the decisions we make and serve as a standard against which we can measure our conduct.

In the course of our lifetime, we may not witness miracles, but we do encounter a vast variety of situations from which we may draw wisdom and understanding. We need always to step back and reflect. In Scripture, there are many admonitions repeated in many forms. Be chaste, be honest, and many other virtues—in short, keep the Ten Commandments. These moral precepts are about how to live an upright life. What one must actually do, leave us none the wiser in our actual day-to-day choices in light of what is known today that was not known in the past. In so many areas of life we know more, physically, psychologically, astrometry. These moral precepts must be kept, of course, but isn’t Christianity even more than these precepts?  We want to know God and mysteries that are inaccessible to the light of natural reason. We want to know where our heart and mind are to find fulfillment in this life on earth.

This past week we celebrated the feast of Mary Magdalen, and I am reminded of her going to the tomb to properly anoint Christ’s body. She did not recognize the gardener and asked “Where is He?” When Christ spoke her name, Mary recognized Jesus and became overjoyed. Are we alert enough to recognize Jesus calling our name? Sometimes Christ speaks to us in silence, sometimes in joy, in laughter, and even in the voice of a loved one who calls us by name.  We need to be more attentive to Christ in the sounds of creation—the birds, the wind, a gentle rainfall or crack of thunder. The more attentive we are to listening for Jesus to call our name, the likelier it will be that we hear and see Him in the young person who feels desperate, or the child who is hungry, in the refugee escaping danger, in the teenager who is bullied, in the person without a home.

What we give to others gives witness to our faith that Jesus lives.

Christ is in our midst!

 

 

 

Sermon 180 July 17, 2022 Mt 8:28-9:1, Rom 6:8-18, Is 65:1-10 1st 6 Ecumenical Councils - Marina.

 As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

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


The Greek philosopher Heraclitus lived in the 6th century BCE. He is attributed with saying: "the only constant in life is change." Fast forward more than 2,200 years and in 1849 a French writer, Alphonse Karr, wrote: "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" – the more things change, the more they stay the same…" Two different perspectives on the same idea.

Human beings really don't like change, we like routine, it makes us feel in control of our lives. But we really can't control our lives nor can we escape change as Heraclitus noted long ago. But we often fight against it. To put it more bluntly, we fear it. And yet, if we ponder the present condition of our world, a world we might rightly claim is much different than even 50 years ago, not to mention hundreds of years ago, we will notice that the underlying features of human nature have remained unchanged, both the good and the no so good.

Jesus Christ's message is all about change. It's about knocking heads right into the most stubborn aspects of the human condition. When we are in our routine, we tend not to notice the things around us that need to be changed. Sometimes right under our very noses, as with Lazarus and the rich man. We may also flinch from facing that change because it may very well have negative ramifications for our own, shall we say, quite comfortable lives.

Who wants to lose their job and then have to start all over again? Who wants to have their house blown down in a hurricane, or burned up in a fire, and then face all the trials of rebuilding one's home and one's life? And who wants to evacuate their home to make way for a new airport to be built in their neighborhood? Who wants to study hard for a college degree only to discover that there are no jobs in your field? And what couple whats to enter into marriage with the dream of building a family only to discover that their child has a severe health impairment?

In today's gospel message Christ is letting us know that we need to be prepared to face this kind of reversal in our lives. And that reversal can come as a result of something good. After all, in this story Jesus heals a man possessed by demons but the demons are then transferred into a heard of pigs who destroy themselves. When the villagers learn of this event they confront Jesus and ask him to leave their neighborhood. Are we so different? Do we want a prison or a nuclear waste dump to be built in our neighborhood? What happens to our property values?

Jesus' message is a disturbing one. Yes, it includes the promise that we are to have life and have it more abundantly. But what is the cost to arrive at that more abundant life? For us in the monastic life, it is a constant requirement that we re-examine our lives, our pre-conceived notions, our ego-driven desires, our pains, our failures, our annoyances, and even our cherished pleasures!

Jesus left the region of the Gadarenes and crossed over into his own town. They asked him to leave and he left. But what he left behind changed their lives. We have free will to decide to avoid the messages God is sending us, but they will come anyway, and they will impact our lives whether we like it or not. Jesus is letting us know that the best approach is to be prepared for the reversals that will come. He isn't just telling this to the bridesmaids, he is telling us.

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Myrrhbearers Sunday

As Preached by Sister Cecelia
May 8, 2022 

Christ is Risen! Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers!

Be not afraid!

According to one estimate, Jesus told his followers 150 times not to be afraid. In Mark’s rendition of the happenings after Christ’s burial, the brave women who had remained at the Crucifixion went to the tomb to find the stone already rolled away.  Mark has the women being so frightened that they go and hide rather than tell the Apostles. 

It seems quite reasonable to think the women and John were anxious and afraid at the foot of the cross.  But their love for Christ overcame their fear.

It is reasonable to be afraid when we face danger of any kind. After all, many things are truly dangerous, and it is foolish not to be afraid of them. Fear is a safety mechanism built into our humanity. Even Jesus was afraid in the Garden of Gethsemane. For the women to be afraid is understandable. Except for Lazarus, no one else in their experience or knowledge had ever risen from the dead. It would be hard to wrap one’s head around that idea. We don’t know when the women overcame their fear or what prompted them to overcome it. The Evangelist Luke has them telling the Apostles but ignored by the men who said that the idea was ludicrous. Even after the Apostles saw that Jesus was not in the tomb, they were still afraid for themselves until after the Spirit of God descended upon them at Pentecost—Traditionally 50 days later.

What do we do with our fears? If we are unable to endure a certain amount of anxiety or fear, we will look for ways to expel it. Expelling what we don’t want to endure gives us an identity, though a negative one. Formulating that identity gives us a false sense of self, but one we easily hold on to. Many people define themselves by what they are against, by who else is wrong, by whom they hate, instead of by what they believe and whom they love. 

How can our dearly held beliefs be completely overturned? How do persecution, poverty, mourning, and meekness make us happy, as the Beatitudes tell us? These conditions can be a spur to changing our whole way of looking at life. The disasters indicated by the Beatitudes crack open the comfortable world we have built for ourselves, and often they open us up to the mercy of God. Christ came to save us. He helps us to overcome our unhelpful resistance, to puncture our inflated self-esteem, and to bring to nothing our grand designs that made us think more highly of ourselves than is reasonable. This makes us realize our self-reliance is delusional. 

In Luke, Chapter 13, verse 34, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…” Jesus gives us an image of God as a mother hen and her brood as these fragile, vulnerable human beings who face very real danger. But God being like a mother hen will not keep bad things from happening. Nothing keeps danger from being dangerous. A mother hen cannot keep a fox from killing her chicks. What good is this image of God as a mother hen if faith in her can’t make any of us safe? Is it really being or feeling safe that would keep us from being afraid? Becoming aware that we find warmth and shelter under God’s protective wings does not eliminate dangers. Dangers are not optional, but fear is. In response to the very real dangers of this world, we have the invitation as people of faith to respond by loving.

Hope is born, once this awareness is made. However bleak the future seems, it is like the darkness before a radiant dawn. Hope is a human attitude much deeper than looking forward to a future event. It is a positive acceptance by our very being an openness that implies the goodness of all reality. It is a faith-based hope that God is the Alpha and Omega of all reality and thus of our very human existence. We know God is Good, is Love

As chicks under God’s protective wings, perhaps we can see our own mission in life to become more fully possessed by divine happiness and be able to pass it on to others. Mother Teresa of Calcutta once remarked that when we say goodbye to someone, we should aim at leaving them a little bit happier than when we met. Then we are God’s agents of happiness to all we meet. 

Each of us brings specific, particular skills to the business of doing God’s work. Our talents individually might seem small, but together they yield rich results.

Christ is Risen as He said He would!

Homily March 327, 2022

 As preached by Sister Cecelia

Holy Wisdom Church

Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Peter 2:21B-25, Luke 9:18-27

The last sentence in this morning’s gospel has puzzled many through the ages. “There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” Surely Jesus was not mistaken, so what could it mean? One way of interpreting these words is this: “Before this generation passes away you will see signs that the kingdom of God is on the way.”  Like leaven in dough, something came into the world which began to change it. The disciples saw the kingdom of God changing them and changing others.

It seems like our consciousness is still changing, but we have a long way to go.  At the time of Christ, no one thought anything of the slavery of one human to another. But look at how many centuries it took for slavery to be abolished in our country. And it still exists in some places. One country warring to take over another country was not unusual then. Today, only a portion of the nations of this earth truly abhor the invasion of the Ukraine. Is the kingdom of God in our midst the cause of thinking that this takeover is not right?

 Is it love of God that causes our attitudes to change? For many, yes, it is. For some others, self-gain or self-protection seems to be the motivation, rather than love of God and neighbor. Our consciousness of what is right and what is wrong on a cultural level has changed. The whole gamut of the world’s standards must be changed to the standards of the kingdom of God. The questions are not “What can I get?” but “What can I give?” Not “What is the safe thing to do” but “What is the right thing to do?” As Christians, we need to realize we have been given life, not to keep it for ourselves but to spend it for others.

Jesus was asking his disciples what the crowds were saying about him: who he was. Then he turned to his disciples: “Who do YOU say I am?” What answer do we give?

 It is not enough to know what has been written or passed on about Jesus. A person can read everything ever written about Jesus—which is well and good—but to be truly Jesus’ disciple a person has to come to a personal discovery of who Jesus is.

The temptations Jesus endured in his 40 days in the desert help us realize that he was human, as we are. When we are tempted, we need to know what is right and what is wrong. We must know the difference between good and evil, and seek the good. Living with evil is not the same as sanctioning its presence or condoning its consequences. It means that we must struggle to avoid evil’s many faces when possible and to confront evil when it cannot be avoided. It means resisting evil’s dehumanizing effects when we find ourselves its victims. Evil is in control if we ignore its presence. We limit evil’s destructive power when we become aware of its presence. We must take responsibility for our actions if we do wrong, and trust God’s forgiveness.

Coping with pain and suffering requires courage to discern the good and evil that comes from daily living. We learn new life lessons. In order to be responsible and accountable to one another in an interdependent world, we must be able to respond to the situations we find ourselves in, both personally and communally. We need to resist oppression and injustice, abuse and violence, for what they can do to us. Pain, loneliness, loss, grief, and death can shatter our sense of safety and of self. We do not need to experience these fears in isolation from God or from one another. As we commemorate the feast of the Cross today, let us accept our crosses that are an integral part of our life. The Spirit of our Lord encourages us to hold fast to God’s words to us.

Fear not!

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Annunciation Sermon March 25, 2022

As Preached By Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

Luke 1:26-38, Hebrews 2:11-18, Isaiah 52:7-10

 

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

            There was a time when writing letters was a sign of intimacy with another person. Since letters were hand written, one felt almost in touch with the other person, even to the point of judging their well-being by the state of the calligraphy. If the correspondence was between sweethearts or lovers, the letter might even be scented. In the more distant past, letters would often be hand delivered. Waiting for replies with expectation invested the correspondence with even more power and emotion. And what a delight when that unexpected letter from a seemingly long lost friend arrived! Letters were the basis of many biographies as well as a resource for other historical research. For many personalities of note, letters were edited and published.

            Fast forward to the 21st century. Writing letters seems to have become a lost art. Hand writing has all but vanished. Electronic correspondence is the norm. Email, texts, Twitter, and other platforms—not to mention cell phones, iPhones, Zoom, FaceTime, and other forms of image communication—have arisen. Communication is quick and often is in short sound bites. The pace of life has speeded up, and contacting people with messages can take seconds instead of days, weeks, or months. It is very efficient. But maybe something has been lost. Maybe we are tempted to go so fast that rather than living life we run right past it and miss it altogether.

            In the monastery, the expectation is that life is not about hurrying up but slowing down. This slowing down is not about indolence, but rather about introspection and contemplation. It is not about inaction but about refocusing on something deeper. It is about trying to open our hearts more fully to God. Seeking God's presence, entering into communion with God so that the lives we live are expressions of God's love for us and all humanity.

            Amidst the whirling activity of 21st-century life we may have lost the capacity to wait, to listen, to expect, to even notice when God is beckoning us to come closer to him. Do we even recognize messages from God?

            Tradition and scripture tell us that Mary was brought up in the Temple of God. The temple image intends to show us that she was brought up to experience the presence of God in her life. So when the message from God came to her delivered by the angel Gabriel, she was not overwhelmed by that message, overwhelming though it was. A lesson for us from her story is that she was prepared for the message from God, even though she was stunned by it. And her response was to accept the service to humanity that she was being asked to undertake. Disturbing though it was, she accepted it.

            So, for us, Mary gives us an example of how to respond to the word of God. Open and willing was her response. What might ours be? And how might we know that God is sending us a message at all?

            The human condition often leads us to place our will before that of God. If we want to go along with the message we will, but if it disturbs our plans, we fight it. To be open to respond in affirmation is our challenge.

            And in this fast-paced world of ours, slowing down to sift through the deluge of daily messages is the first step. Noticing what is really coming our way, and being willing to respond positively, particularly when we are being asked, or reminded, that loving God means loving neighbor and responding to the needs of others when that is in our power to do. Mary's yes to God was for the salvation of all humankind. It wasn't for her convenience. It was for others. Maybe that is a good measure to use when discerning from among all the incoming messages we receive from our world of overactive stimuli what might really be the message from God. Is it about us or others? Is it pricking my conscience? Is it prompting me to be more conscious of the needs around me? Our Lenten journey is a good time to sharpen our attentiveness to the needs of others. It takes time. Slow down, and give it the time it needs.

Glory be to Jesus Christ

                       

 

Sermon 176 Feb 13, 2022 Lk 18:9-14, Phil 3:5-9 Dt 6:4-18 Publican & Pharisee

 As preached by Brother Luke

Holy Wisdom Church

February 13, 2022

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

Narcissism. How slippery the slope.

In recent weeks in the world of NCAA football, a couple of acronyms have been widely tossed about and they can cause confusion. They are NLI and NIL. And they relate to colleges recruiting high school football players. The recruiting process has created special days for promising young football players to announce what college they intend to attend. They do this by signing a Letter of Intent, hence the acronym NLI for National Letter of Intent Day. But now there is also NIL which stands for Name, Image, Likeness. And what is that all about? Kids going to college and playing a sport now can "sell" their names to advertisers to use to promote their products. Long forbidden, now it is de rigueur. And media meccas like Los Angeles will most likely benefit mightily. But will the kids?

Self-promotion is a rather common phenomenon in society today. Not that it was ever far from the surface in any society, present or past. But with social media, we have taken it to a new level: high or low? You decide!

Sometimes we are just talking about hype. Marketing. A company may bring out a new product, or try to resurrect an old one in a new guise, and they need to get peoples' attention in order to sell it. In the "old days" this may have involved billboards on roadsides around the country. When radio was king and TV was new, one company would sponsor an entire program! Ah for the good old days. Now, a seemingly endless parade of advertisements, often 15 seconds in duration, saturate the airwaves. This has taught us all about getting messages out in short sound bites. But it is no longer just hucksters. Social media has made it possible for all who want to weigh in, to become their own huckster. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn are at the top of the social media pyramid.

And what do we find there? From the most benign perspective, we find the kind of personal information that may have been passed on in the past by letters and postcards to family members and special friends and acquaintances. But private communications are now on public display. And they can be designed to excite and titillate. But most importantly, they are about ME. The 1970s were supposed to be the Me Generation, as Tom Wolfe described them. Something tells me we have long ago surpassed that era in emphasizing ME.

But as today's gospel parable reminds us, this human itch for self-promotion, self-actualization, and self-absorption has a long pedigree. I remember my mother telling me "If you don't blow your own horn, who will?" Exactly! Who will?

If we stop to ponder this parable closely we may discover messages to us from all the characters. We may realize that we too can harbor thoughts about others that parallel those of the pharisee. We may be better able to keep them to ourselves, but they are still there, lurking in our hearts, waiting for the right trigger to launch them. After all, the Pharisee may not have gone into the temple planning to pray as he did, but those thoughts, always there, were triggered by standing next to the hated tax collector. And out came the hidden thoughts!

The Publican is no better than the Pharisee only he is in a different place in his prayer. He has reached rock bottom. He has finally seen his real self, the one who goes to poor villagers and exacts Rome's taxes and then extorts more for himself. Remorse has welled up in his heart and he now regrets always striving for more for himself without regard to the impact on others.

The antidote for self-promotion is a concern for others. Maybe that tax collector in the temple walked outside to become Zacchaeus in the Sycamore tree. After asking for mercy, he received the grace to recognize how to turn God's mercy into his mercy for others. Even the kids now signing up for the NIL promotions may not slide down the slippery slope but instead set up their own charities to help others. And maybe we too will turn that uncharitable thought about another into an act of mercy for that person. And just maybe, that is how we can embark on the coming Lenten Season, by turning self-denial into self-offering. And isn't that what Jesus did for us all?



Glory be to Jesus Christ!

2022 Blessing of the Waters

January 9, 2022 Blessing of the Waters
Malachi 3:20-24, Ephesians 5:8-20, John 1:19-34

By Sister Cecelia

“Be careful how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of your time, singing and making melody in your hearts. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5)

At the end of our Divine Liturgy today, we have our yearly service of blessing the water. In the book of Genesis, we read that God made all things, drawing forth the Creation from a dark and watery Chaos. We read how the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters. Here the verb “moved” in Hebrew connotes the behavior of a mother bird brooding over her nest, protecting and nurturing her offspring. The Spirit of God at the Creation of this young world, earth, was caring for it like a hen over her chicks. That is an apt image, as at Christ’s Baptism a bird was seen hovering over Christ when he was baptized and the Father’s words were heard. Only two evangelists relate anything about Jesus’ birth, while all four relate the Baptism of Christ—an indication of its importance to us.

Water is used by John to indicate the person’s cleansing and turning to God—repentance, metanoia.

Water is used in our own baptisms, indicating that we are united as one with Christ.

Water is used for both good and bad, as Br. Luke mentioned on Thursday. This time the symbol of water is good, for in our created world, so much needs water. We do not survive without water.

In the wake of the feast of Epiphany, we receive the waters of chaos turned into the waters of life, and if we bring this blessing into our houses and businesses and offices, for drinking and for sprinkling, we declare our intention to become part of a new creation and to bring our family, our home, and our work into the Reign of God. That is an ongoing commitment that is to be renewed daily. When we receive the water that carries the divine presence, we declare our intention to live no longer according to the laws of survival and self-advancement and pride. Instead, we declare our desire to live according to the rule of love, of mercy, of justice and humility before God and humanity. This is the meaning of the service we do today: our acceptance of Christ as our way of life, and our commitment to following our leader in the time we have been given.

Recently I gleaned a few ideas about the time we have from the writings of Joan Chittister. “We Americans are obsessed with time. We’re a pragmatic, productive people, and time is the national idol. It shows in our language. We spend time, invest time, and need time. We lose time, save time, waste time, find time, gain time, and want time.”

Time, we Americans seem to assume, is for doing something, for producing things, for achieving goals. Our goal is to realize that life is about becoming.

As another year has begun, take time each day to give more serious consideration to what we are becoming rather than to what we are doing. Life is not a package of years; it is a lifetime of opportunities meant to make us everything we can possibly be: gentle, understanding, patient, kind, open, loving, joyful, not envious or boastful, arrogant or rude, not irritable or resentful or rejoicing in wrongdoing but rejoicing rather in truth, being courageous, persevering, and generous.

Make the most of your time, singing and making melody in your hearts.

Christ is in our midst!

 

Sermon 175 Jan 06, 2022 Mt 3:13-17, Ti 2: 11-14, 3:4-8 Ez 36:25-28, 33-36 Theophany

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church



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

    When I was a kid, I wasn't good at getting up out of bed in the morning. So, when calling me to get up didn't work, my father would go into the bathroom, get a washcloth, soak it in cold water and then come into my room and put it on my face! Now that was an effective wake-up call. It definitely got my attention. A new day was about to begin and I was going to have to do my part.

    Water can be used for many things beyond drinking, irrigation, and cleaning. This is the time of year when we are inundated with football games leading to championship games, both college and NFL. At the end of a game, it is not unusual for the coach of the winning team to be doused with a huge barrel of water, or more likely, Gatorade. It can also happen in other outdoor sports, including baseball. It seems an odd way to celebrate a win. Being doused doesn't always have a positive connotation.

    Did you ever have the experience of thinking you had come up with an idea or plan that you thought was special and telling someone else about it only to have the whole idea dismissed with the epitaph "you're all wet!" That is the verbal equivalent of someone pouring cold water on your idea. No wonder babies cry or scream when they get baptized! They don't want to get this early preparation for being told their ideas are no good.

    The theme of water is explored from many angles in this feast. Prayers are said to purify the water of any unclean spirits. The purified water of baptism washes away our sins. The texts of the feast fill out the symbolic meaning. Here is the First Lity Sticheron.

    Today, Christ the savior is baptized: * He who wears light as a cloak was pleased to become like us to save us. * Today he is covered with Jordan’s streams. * Though he has no need of cleansing, * by that cleansing he himself receives, he regenerates us. * O what a wonder, that without fire he casts anew, * and without shattering he fashions anew. * And those who are filled with his light are saved by him, ** by Christ the savior of our souls.

    Today's celebration reminds us of our own baptism when we were submerged in water to symbolize dying and then rising to new life in Christ. Indeed, the Good News of the New Testament is about new beginnings, transformations from one state of being into another, transitioning from one life to an even better life. And indeed that is what our baptism represents, our entering into a new life with the promise of life eternal.

    The symbol of the voice of God descending like a dove and revealing the ultimate truth about Jesus is a message to all of us with more than one dimension. The truth spoken is: "This is my beloved, pay attention to him." And if we pay attention to him, we too become the beloved of God. Indeed, we are created as the beloved of God, but we do not necessarily always believe it, maybe because we, too often, have been doused with the negative message that we are not good enough to be God's beloved. We may have come to believe that God doesn't even know us or pay attention to us or care about us. Today's feast reminds us that God does care about us, so much so that he sent his only begotten Son to lead us back into that knowledge of God's love for us.

    Our joy on this festive day is waking up to the reality that out of love for us, God is always providing a new day for us, a new opportunity to grow in the likeness of Christ.

    Glory be to Jesus Christ!

Homily for New Year: January 1, 2022

 by Sister Rebecca

 

     Today: Another New Year.  We greet each other:  Happy New Year!  And we truly mean it: May it be a good year for you.  Last year at this time we thought: Oh! Finally 2021—a good year!  Then, the vaccinations were promised, and we could hope to get back to normal living.  Well, by now we are pretty much aware that there is no going back to a ”past normal.” We are facing the reality of the unknown future on numerous scores.  Doesn’t this sound to us like bad news?  Here I will share a story I heard from a Jesuit priest many years ago:

Good Luck? Bad Luck? Who Knows?

There once was a simple farmer who lived and struggled alongside his neighbors and friends, trying to exist and fulfil a peaceful life. One day news arrived, from far away, that his old loving father had died. His neighbors gathered to grieve, but the farmer simply said, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

In time relatives brought a very fine horse of great cost and fine breeding, left to the farmer by his father. All the villagers and neighbors gathered in delight with him to celebrate his good fortune, but he just said, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

One day the horse escaped into the hills, and when all the farmer’s neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

A week later the horse returned with a herd of wild horses from the hills, and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?”

Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this was very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

Some weeks later the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer’s son with his broken leg they let him off. Now was that good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?

 

In some way, to judge, label, and categorize the year as either good or bad is to fragment reality.

 

This is not to say that some aspects of one year or another are not more challenging than others, not as fulfilling as another year, more happy or less happy.  The story doesn’t tell us to be passive, to say “I give up” and just roll with the dice. Rather, it means we must trust the mystery of life more than our assessment of life by thinking and analyzing.  God reveals to us that our life is neither found IN nor determined BY its circumstances, but IN and BY Jesus Christ, God with us: Jesus, the one whose name means “God saves.”  How does God save? By inviting us, challenging us, calling us to a metamorphosis, to transformation. And when God “calls,” “invites,” the call and the invitation include a promise.

A good metaphor is that of the butterfly, which is formed within a dark cocoon, like a cave, a grotto, but totally closed!  Nothing seems to be happening.  All is dark, but new life is being formed untampered by human hands.  Likewise, it is in these dark times—all the while cutting back on all that fragments us and distracts us, spending more time in silence, and solitude, and contemplation—when our covenant in God grows deeper, more luminous.  We are not destined to be like cocoons shrouded in the dark, at the mercy of dismal forces of nature.  Rather, we are meant to be transformed, our consciousness awakened, enlivened, to see luminosity within these somber times. We let God BE, allowing God’s Spirit to transform us into who we are meant to be. We call this theosis: becoming God-like. St John of the Cross said, after a life of many hardships and graces, “I have no other light than the one shining in my heart.”

On this New Year’s Day, let us pause before the coming days give rise to new challenges and deep joys. May we soak in the rich poetic lines below, for the lean days will one day sprout wings.

 

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~ John O'Donohue
From: To Bless the Space Between Us