Wednesday, August 6, 2025

Transfiguration Aug 6th 2025 1Kng 19:9-14a, 2Pt 1:10-18, Mt 17:1-8

 As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church

 
This prayer prepares us to feel the presence of God everywhere because we have discovered that the presence of God is within. It enables us to respond in waves of trust that carry us far beyond the storms of the present to the fullness of the future.

Jesus had been warning his followers that he had to go to Jerusalem where he would suffer and be put to death. His followers would not hear of it as the Messiah was supposed to free his chosen people, not die.  Jesus then took only Peter, James and John up a mountain, to pray perhaps? Was Jesus himself not sure going to Jerusalem and enduring all the ensuing  suffering was what God wanted of him? Perhaps, Moses and Elijah were assuring Jesus the path he saw for himself was indeed what was needed.

The three disciples saw Jesus transfixed-saw him in a different light-saw him as he really was. Then Jesus said to his disciples “Get up and do not be afraid”. Their own lives were forever transfigured. We too, can go forth and not be afraid-being confident that Jesus will lead us by his light if we but do our part and continue to pray-to listen to the Spirit (of God) within us.

Of all we bring to prayer, presence is at once one of the simplest and one of the most difficult. Being able to be present to God and remembering God’s presence within us is difficult. We find we need to resist distractions. Where can we find this needed silence and solitude needed for prayer?

God can seem so far away. However much time we put into praying, God can remain more an idea than a reality. We look for God “to come.”  We do not expect to find God here. But where else is God, if not here?   And if God is here, what creates the block, the Plexiglass between us?

“God “is not in the whirlwind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire.” God, Scripture says, “is in the small still voice within.” What is blocking us from making the journey within? In a culture built on noise, talk, information, advertisements and constant movements, it is close to impossible to really pray. Silence and solitude are lightyears away from the list of unending activities we carry in our heads. We say prayers; we seldom sit in the presence of God and wait.

 The very thought of simply listening for the whisper of the soft, still voice within is not only rare, it can be uncomfortable. Shouldn’t we be doing something, our still, small voice shouts at us. Shouldn’t we be going somewhere, doing something, at least saying something holy? 

But it is the voice of God within that brings calm and direction. It drains the negative out of the present so that we can go on, calmly aware that there is nowhere -where we are alone.

Get up and do not be afraid.

 

Monday, August 4, 2025

Sermon 210 August 3, 2025: Ezk 3:1-11; Rom 9:1-5; Mt 12: 30-42 “Source of good and evil" Give us a sign!

As preached by Brother Luke
Holy Wisdom Church

Glory be to Jesus Christ!

       We all know the common adage that if you tell a child not to do something, that is the very thing they will do. It is easy to put God in that position in the Genesis story about the Tree of Good and Evil in the garden of paradise. However, Richard Rohr offers  an intriguing interpretation on the Genesis creation story (2:17) of God prohibiting Adam and Eve from eating fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Rohr does not see this prohibition as God laying down a law and then acting as a cop to enforce it. Instead he interprets good and evil as a symbol of an approach to life. If we look at life through this lens of good and evil, we begin to think that way: good and evil, right and wrong, win or lose, friend or foe, us and them, in other words, the imprint on our minds is that of dualist thinking. We introduce evil into our thinking. Therein lies our death in paradise, because everything in paradise is good. Once evil is brought in, paradise is lost.

       You may have noticed that this morning's readings are all about stubborn people. People who will not listen to God. God appoints Ezechiel a prophet and then sends him on a mission to people he knows will not listen to him. St. Paul laments that his people, the chosen people, will not listen to God. He wishes that he could switch places with them, that he could be the one disconnected from Christ so that the rest of his people would be receptive to the good news.

       Jesus was frustrated with what he calls, "this generation," because they refused to listen. No matter what he did it was not enough. The signs he gave were the good works he performed. They demanded different signs. They wanted proof according to their long-held beliefs. This is not listening. In his frustration Jesus says the people of Nineveh will condemn this generation because they listened to Jonah and repented but this generation won't listen to something even greater. The only sign they will get will be Jonah whose 3 days in the whale prefigures Christ's death and resurrection.

       But of course this passage isn't a history lesson, it's a commentary on our very human tendency to flinch when Christ's teachings mean we have to change our attitudes and actions. When we have to let go of what we want, and do what is better. The Gospel message is about life, how we are to live it and to what end. The story of the tree in Genesis tells us that we human beings are the one's who introduced evil into the world. We have to change. And that's not a bad thing that's a good thing. It's not something to resist, it's something to embrace.

       Jesus tells us that we can discern whether a tree is good or bad by its fruit. His point is not about fruit trees, it is about us. So what can we do to cultivate the good and avoid the snare of evil? First, we need to find the source of good and evil. Jesus says it is within us. And our words and actions reveal it. And our thoughts are the main source of our words and actions.   

       One can fill many library shelves with books about meditation, contemplation and reflection. These references can take a spiritual or a secular self-help approach. But all of them are going to include the need to take the time and space to examine one's inner world. This inward gaze will show us the dwelling place of good and evil, but also the kingdom of God. Touching this place within each of us is within our grasp. Taking time to be quiet and listen for God's voice is an essential first step. This is what Jesus points to in today's gospel passage. The people of Nineveh listened, the Queen of the South came to Solomon to listen. We too need to take time to listen.

       Christ is in our midst!

Transfiguration Aug 6th 2025 1Kng 19:9-14a, 2Pt 1:10-18, Mt 17:1-8

 As preached by Sister Cecelia Holy Wisdom Church   This prayer prepares us to feel the presence of God everywhere because we have discovere...