No Parade for this Hometown Boy

Monday of Week 22 in Ordinary Time

Luke 4:16-30

Jesus comes to his hometown of Nazareth, to the community of his youth.  He reads from the prophet Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

         because he has anointed me

         to bring glad tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives,

         and recovery of sight to the blind,

         to let the oppressed free,

         and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.

But the drama is just heating up.  He rolled up the scroll, handed it back, and took a seat.  But increasingly, every eye was upon him.  He wasn’t done.  There is more.  Then comes the best and most scandal producing part:  Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.

The assembly went from astonishment to filled with fury and on the way to hurling him headlong off a cliff!

His claim is the Incarnation.  In the first instance it is so particular…the carpenter’s son from just down the road.  The incarnation continues in and through Christ’s body, the church.  The scandal of particularity is manifest in me. 

May I incarnate the vision proclaimed in Isaiah.

May I bring glad tidings to the poor in the midst of my ordinary day.

May I help the blind to see and in doing so broaden my own vision.

May I lighten the burden of the oppressed with my compassion at work.

May I put the grace of my baptism to work!

Amen

Can't See the Forest for the Trees

22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23

Nothing outside a person can enter and make a person unclean; 

rather the things that come out make that person unclean.

James 1:17-18,21-22,27

Be doers of the word.

The Gospel passage for today offers a disputation over what is clean and unclean.  And in essence tries to bring light to a "can't see the forest for the trees" confusion.  The accusation is that the Pharisees are so focused on the letter of the smallish laws that they break the grand law of love God and neighbor.  It is midpoint in Mark's gospel and Jesus is about to move to the Gentiles where he is hoping for a little less thick-headedness.

The passage from James today is plain lovely…and challenging.  It also speaks to the forest and trees mix up.  Unfortunately the lectionary has chopped it up pretty badly…so I read verses 12-27 and hopefully will be "blessed in what I do." (v.25)  The whole pericope blesses and challenges.

If the Gospel is warning against over-scrupulosity vis a vis the law, James is giving an antidote.  

Know this, my beloved brothers and sisters:  
Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger.

I'll just meditate on that for today.

A Head…and A Platter

Saturday of Week 21 in Ordinary Time

The Beheading of John the Baptist

Mark 6:14-29

With a narrative as rich in detail as the story of the beheading of John the Baptist, it is hard to discern out the layers of dramatic interpretation.  I just watched a clip from the Opera, Salome, performed by the San Francisco Opera.  It is Richard Strauss’ adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s play…so not particularly faithful to the scriptural text.  And then there is all the detailed (and outright gruesome) art inspired by these few lines of scripture.

It's all the characters!  Those few chilling lines present a daring prophet who speaks truth to power, a scorned woman trying to secure a place for herself, a seductive young dancer finding her own prowess, the powerful elite, a wishy-washy king, and very swift executioners.  It doesn't take much of an imagination to, wander with and wonder about, these characters.

The story is "sandwiched" between the sending and the returning of the twelve. It reinforces the expectation of suffering, both Jesus' and Mark's community struggling to live out their discipleship under pressurized circumstances.  That pressure continues though the circumstances are different.

What seduces me and leads me to forget about what is most important to who I am?

How do I enter into drama and scandal?  Do I feed the flame or bring peace and calm?

How quickly do I run with easy judgments?  And who are the casualties of that failure to discern truth with patience and prayer?

Maybe that is why this is such a popular narrative…so easy to see how from time to time I am Herrod, Herodias, the dancer, the executioner, the navel gazing bystanders, or hopefully (though surely reluctantly), from time to time, John.  

Sex Advice From Paul?

Friday of Week 21 in Ordinary Time
Feast of Saint Augustine, Bishop, Doctor

1 Thessalonians 4:1-8

This is the will of God, your holiness.

There has been much news and commentary over yet another "sex as conquest" culture in a New England boarding school.  I'm wondering if Paul wasn't reacting to something a bit similar when he challenges the Thessalonians to act differently than their Gentile neighbors who are apparently having trouble controlling their lust.

Why is Paul all concerned about sexual behavior?  Well, because the Holy Spirit is suppose to be animating the Christian's life.  What the Christian professes to believe must translate into how he/she lives.  This "sex as conquest" is one example of how others are made into things, commodities to be used or consumed for one's own satisfaction.

Paul says: Don't THING another!  Don't objectify another!  That's not what Christian love looks like.  Period.  And this goes beyond just sexual behavior…so there is a takeaway for everyone here!

Saint Augustine finally learned this…
After Monica prayed and prayed and prayed...
Saints Augustine and Monica, pray for us all.

Being Awake…That's The Point

Feast of Saint Monica
(patroness of mothers who worry about their children…are there any left out?)

Thursday of Week 21 in Ordinary Time

1 Thessalonians 3:7-13

Paul prays "and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all"

Thanks, Paul!

Psalm 90

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, O Lord

Matthew 24:42-51

Stay awake!  For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.

I come across Blood Moon/EndTimes/Apocalyptic mindsets fairly frequently in the hospital.  And I try to understand it in the same way I understand the genre of apocalyptic writings in the Bible (and elsewhere)…a literary testimony to finding hope in hard times.  The hospital can be an alien place.  There is a different language being spoken.  Natural light is hard to come by and days and nights go unsensed.  And the myth of control is pretty well debunked.  Give me something certain!  I understand.

The funny thing is just how clear Jesus is in Matthew's gospel and elsewhere (Luke 12:35-48, Mark 13:33-37).  And the fact is that every prediction/prophesy of the end times, has, up to this point, been off the mark.  This fascination with the End Times is the result of being far off the mark…of missing a pretty obvious point.  I need to be careful about the disguises this fascination can take.  I may not have bought the latest "Blood Prophesy" bestseller, but there is plenty that distracts from my living awake!

The gospel is challenging me to let go of needing the answer, or a timetable, or secret knowledge in order that I might enjoy the freedom to live awake today.  Live awake.  Live ready.  Live with earthly watchfulness.  Live about the business of holiness at work.  Live.

Psalm 139 You are there, and there, and there...

Wednesday of Week 21 in Ordinary Time

1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Psalm 139

Matthew 23:27-32 

In Thessalonians, Paul continues the theme of parent and child to describe the missionary care he brings to the community born of his apostleship.  He loves them and is full of gratitude.  And Jesus, in Matthew's gospel, continues his challenges (and he's not above poignant name-calling) to the Scribes and Pharisees.

All this is a bit of the same thing as yesterday…which took me to the Psalm.

I so needed this Psalm-Prayer this morning.  It made me remember a song version by Bernadette Farrell that closely mirrors the text of this psalm.  

(Click here for a very prayerful singing)

O God you search me and you know me

All my thoughts lie open to your gaze

When I walk or lie down you are before me

Ever the maker and keeper of my days.

You know my resting and my rising

you discern my purpose from afar

And with love everlasting you besiege me

in every moment of life or death, you are.

Although your Spirit is upon me

Still I search for shelter from your light

There is nowhere on earth I can escape you

Even the the darkness is radiant in your sight.

For you created me and shaped me 

gave me life within my mothers womb

for the wonder of who I am I praise you

safe in your hands all creation is made new.

This day…
May my seeking for "shelter from your light" be diminished 
May I welcome your gaze upon my thoughts and words and deeds
May the safety of your hands extend through me to all that crosses my path
Amen

A Very Old Letter

Tuesday of Week 21 in Ordinary Time

Saint Louis of Saint Joseph of Calasanz, Priest

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Rather we were gentle among you, as a nursing mother cares for her children.

Psalm 139

Matthew 23:23-26

Woe to you…you have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgement and mercy and fidelity.

Every time Paul's letter to the Thessalonians comes up in the lectionary I experience a certain awe that  it survived 2,000 years.  An occasional letter from Paul to the Church in Thessalonica not only survived but is revered and read at worship today.  What would Paul think?

His text seems particularly weighty for those interested in preaching the gospel.  By Paul's account he just doesn't have time to worry about hurting people's feelings.  He's not in the business of flattery and he's not going to tell people what they want to hear.  Neither will he burden the people with demands for a large stipend.  No.  He's gentle and caring like a nursing mother.  This implies doing what is ultimately good for growing into all God has intended.

And in the end, he expresses his gratitude for the people and their steadfast faith.  And it is beautifully put:

Rather, we were gentle among you, 

as a nursing mother cares for her children.

With such affection for you,

we were determined to share with you 
not only the Gospel of God,

but our very selves as well, 

so dearly beloved had you become to us.

A prayer for all preachers and ministers

that they experience such communion among the people of God

(…and enough Thessalonicas to balance the Philippis;)