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!