BAREFOOT AND FOREVER LAUGHING

Full box of tissues alert.



Thanks MP and Clumber

Pentecost

Readings are here.

When we left the followers of Jesus last week they were staring up in the sky wondering, what next? Now they have spent the week+ gathering for meals, praying together, studying the scriptures and recounting their experiences with Jesus - doing what all have done since that time - gathering, lighting the fire, telling the story and breaking the bread - the basics of church.

Today we hear the next step in their journey in faith - the Day of Pentecost - the birthday of the church. The candles are lit by the Spirit and they begin to spread the word to the world.

Last Monday eve at our service one of the kids brought a pine cone in our "box." Every week one of them takes the box home and puts something in it for me to use to tell them about Jesus and the church. The pine cone reminded me of the Yellowstone fires. In 1988, Yellowstone Park experienced terrible fires. A combination of fire suppression which left trees of mostly one age and closely spaced, dry windy weather conditions, and other factors gave a welcome place for the fires to explode. The smoke in our valley 180 miles to the east filled the air. The sun appeared above the smoky clouds about 10 in the morning and set around 4. Devastation seemed to be the end of the grand old lady of national parks. As terrible as wild fires are - and we know them in Oregon as well - we learned that some pine cones cannot reproduce unless subjected to fire. They need fire to open and allow their seeds to be released and life to continue.

I see this as the story of Pentecost. Pentecost falls on the Jewish celebration of the giving of the law to the people through Moses on Mt. Sinai. Held at the harvest festival of Shauvot, it falls 50 days after the Exodus. The law is seen throughout the Bible as life giving - as the psalmist says, "a lantern for our feet" to help us live into that fullness of life that God intends for each of us. The Day of Pentecost for Christians falls 50 days after the death and resurrection of Jesus. When Moses received the law - the mountain was wreathed in thunder and lightning, smoke and fire. His face shone with the glory of God when he returned from the mountain - his face was so bright he had to wear a veil for the people to look upon him. In our reading today all the followers received the fire of the Spirit. It is portrayed as tongues of fire on each head. Or perhaps as Sister Corita says - they had "tons of fire." Each follower was filled with this fire or zeal - they ran to tell others - each in his or her own language. Many thought they were drunk but many caught the Spirit and soon the Word (not words - but the incarnate Christ) spread like a wildfire throughout the area around the Mediterranean and out to the whole world. The fire of the Spirit broke open their hearts and the seeds of Christ fell out into the world.

Am also thinking about languages and understanding each other and wondering how this event crosses the boundaries we set for one another. Some people who speak other languages are welcome - others not so much. How can the Holy Spirit bridge this divide?

Perhaps the fire of the Spirit can warm and open our hearts to God and one another. We can then witness to how Christ makes a difference in our lives - helps us to be more fully the persons we were created to be, gives us strength to go out into a hurting world and be the heart, hands and feet of Jesus and help others to know this too.

The Spirit comes in the way we most need it. For some it is an instantaneous conversion, for others a slow gentle process of deepening faith, as Mechtild of Magdeburg tells us: How God comes to the soul: I descend on my love, As dew on a flower. Sometimes we feel far away from the warmth and the light and wonder how to find it again. Even this is part of the journey of faith. Like the early disciples - women and men waiting after the Ascension for what they did not know - we continue to pray and study and be in community and do the work we are called to do. We tend our individual spiritual lives and the spiritual life of this place, St. Catherine/Santa Catalina, or wherever we find a community striving to be the Body of Christ. And we nurture the next generation. Whether it is providing care for toddlers on Sunday morning or supporting our kids and youth on Monday eve. This summer, with Godly Play and with our soccer club - more children will feel the care and concern of our church.

From Edge of Enclosure

celestial fire

Now an angel of the Lord appeared to
Moses in a blazing fire –

a fire that devours fire;
a fire that burns in things dry and moist;
a fire that glows amid snow and ice;
a fire that is like a crouching lion;
a fire that reveals itself in many forms;
a fire that is, and never expires;
a fire that shines and roars;
a fire that blazes and sparkles;
a fire that flies in a storm wind;
a fire that burns without wood;
a fire that renews itself every day;
a fire that is not fanned by fire;
a fire that billows like palm branches;
a fire whose sparks are flashes of lightning;
a fire black as a raven;
a fire, curled, like the colours of the rainbows!

-Eleazar Ben Kaller c 6th to 10th century liturgical poet
translated by T Carmi The Element Book of Mystical Verse

Lord
Take me where you want me to go,
Let me meet who you want me to meet
Tell me what you want me to say,
and keep me out of your way.

-The Rev. Mychal Judge O.F.M.
d. 9/11/2001

Yellowstone Fire

Ascension Day

I love the images of the Ascension especially the ones where Jesus' feet hang out of the sky. When I think about the Ascension, the image of Glinda the Good Witch leaving the Munchkins comes into my mind - I can hear them saying "good-bye, good-bye" and waving, excited by her visit and sad to see her leave but sure she will return again. Here are a few favorites:

5 Easter

Readings are here.

Notes towards a sermon. I have gone back to my previous practice of notes instead of text since I rarely preach the totality of what I write. This week thought about Way, Truth, Life in light of living in a pluralistic society. As we follow Jesus (what he asks us to do) he shows us the Way, he embodies Truth and wherever he goes he spreads Life. As a holy people, a royal priesthood we are called to the same, putting away the stones used to kill the body and soul and return to love.

Being grounded and steady in our faith we can encounter other faiths and non-faiths with an open heart and mind, not apologizing for the differences but celebrating them. When I was at school we had many traditions and tried to have common worship each week. When we tried to meld it all together and use the least controversial bits of our traditions - it was bland and boring. When we offered the fullness of our worship and each participated as invited or able to participate -- it was rich and satisfying.

And as this was the week of the predicted Rapture - a thought from Facebook:

The world is not ending today, it is just being rebooted. Please be sure your security software is up to date. Run a full scan of your life and remove any malicious files which may be damaging your joy, stealing your hope, or slowing down your blessings. If you need more instructions, please refer to the user's manual, or put your hands together, bow your head and contact technical support.

3 Easter

Readings are here.

Notes toward a sermon:

A couple is returning home from the heady days of their past week. Last week they had left the garrison town of Emmaus where they work for the Roman legions, stationed there. They had gone for the festival days of Passover. Making a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. They had been caught up in the crowds flocking to hear this man, Jesus. So kind, so embracing - healing just to be in his presence. They had seen his shocking confrontation in the Temple - turning over the tables of the money changers and sellers of birds and goats for sacrifice. They had shared meals with the other followers of Jesus - breaking the barley bread, drinking the rough wine. Full of hopes and dreams of a new world - a place where all can live in abundance and fullness of life.

Then the shocking end. Death as a criminal, on a cross, so awful. Now they scuff the dirt of the road as they return to their old life of daily serving the soldiers. It is a good job, the soldiers welcome their work, other peoples' sons stationed far from home, some seem to appreciate them almost like grandparents, a few are arrogant and abusive - but most are just like young men everywhere.

But the heaviness of heart - the joy destroyed - of hopes dashed. Will they ever know joy and hope again?

Now a stranger walking with them. Doesn't he know but now he is answering all their questions. Hearts on fire as he speaks. It is getting to be night time - they invite him into their home for the night. They are all hungry and tired from the walking and talking. It is dangerous on the roads at night. Hospitality is still the highest virtue in their faith. Welcome the stranger is the code of their ancestors from Abraham and Sarah to this night.

The woman lays out the bread and the wine on the table. They all sit as she lights the candles and says the prayers. They serve him first as is only proper - he breaks the bread.

Suddenly - there in the midst of the dailyness of life - the Lord of Hope and Joy - alive. Jesus is in their midst just as he promised whenever 2 or 3 are gathered. No fancy clothes or rituals -- just the everyday evening meal with strangers and family and friends. Always.

Emmaus

This captures that moment of the breaking of the bread among the strangers at Emmaus for me. h/t to Kwok Pui Lan

John O’Donohue’s “Beannacht.”

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.
And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.

2 Easter

Readings are here.

Every year, the first Sunday after Easter, the church reads this Gospel. It is a challenge to say anything new about the appearance to the disciples who are hiding in terror from the religious authorities and the soldiers of the Roman Empire. Are any of the women followers of Jesus with them? Is it just the 11? Hard to tell from the word "disciples," because in Greek if there is even one man in a group the male plural is used to describe the group. One wonders why Thomas was not with the group? Was he not afraid? Did they send him out for food or to see if the streets were safe for them. Was he tired of living in the atmosphere of fear? It was evening of the same day when Magdalene had been the first to see Jesus in the garden. Peter and the others had gone home after seeing the empty tomb. He and most of the disciples had run off after Jesus was sentenced to death on Thursday so it was Sunday evening when those in the locked room had experienced Jesus alive in their midst.

Now it is a week later. Thomas has resisted their story all week - saying - I have to see him with his wounds to believe you. Thomas appears 3 times in the Gospel of John. The first time is when Jesus insists on going so near Jerusalem after the death of Lazarus, when the sisters send for Jesus. While most of the disciples say it is not safe and they should stay where they are until things calm down, Jesus is determined to go. At that point Thomas says, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." (John 11:16)

Thomas appears again in John 14. Jesus is telling the disciples that he is going to prepare a place for them in his Father's house and that they already know the way. Thomas says to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Thomas may not understand what Jesus is saying at that moment but in our Gospel to day he finds out.

So today we find our selves in that locked room with Thomas, with an unbelievable story that the a man has returned from death, is able to come into our midst regardless of the solid doors and locks we have built between believing and unbelieving. For that is what is being explored. The Greek does not say doubt. It speaks of two states of being - being believing and being not believing. Doubt, in its way, is part of believing - it is saying "maybe" "maybe not" - having a part of oneself that is open to the possibility. Thomas is not believing - there is no room in his heart or mind to accept what happened to Magdalene, the other women, nor those in the locked room. He is not doubting at all - he knows. Jesus is dead. This is not a Lazarus story - Jesus is dead and buried and gone.

Now the door is locked once again and Thomas has locked out everything his friends are saying. And yet - still - suddenly - Jesus is there. Does Thomas even need to touch the wounds that Jesus shows him? He "gets it" -- and even more so than the others - he declares "my Lord and my God" -- the answer Jesus gave him to his question of John 14 is standing before him - Thomas sees God in the wounded One. The way to God is through looking at the wounded of this world. We will see God when we present to wounded-ness - our own wounds and the wounds of the world.

Jesus says in Matthew 25 - that when we help the "least of these" - those who are hungry, sick, imprisoned, without clothing, thirsty, or the stranger we will be helping Christ. That is what our Gospel shows us today. When we don't hide our wounds or hide from others who are wounded - we will be on the Way, the way that leads to God.

Joy after the wedding

A verger cartwheels in the Abbey after the ceremony -- how I feel after an excellent liturgy!!

The Wedding

Of course I got up at o'dark thirty to see it all. It was fun and silly and grand - and reminds me of why I love being an Anglican/Episcopalian. Here is the whole service for your watching pleasure. Wedding sermons are notoriously hard to preach - what to say that has not been said? This one is just right and the quote from Catherine of Sienna - good for all our days. The prayers at the end were written by the bride and groom.

God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.
In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy. Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. (Copyright of St James's Palace) Amen.

The Rutter piece commissioned for this was lovely. Hope you enjoyed the day -- may all of us live in hope always.

"You are rewarded not according to your work or your time but according to the measure of your love."~Catherine of Sienna

Easter

It is early Sunday morning, it is still dark, a dark that is only lit by Magdalene's oil lamp and the stars spread out across the sky. The dew is thick in the garden, the smell of the grass and the dirt and the trees fills the air. The stones are cold, all the heat of the day gone out of them. Her feet carefully pick their way along the path. The silence of that Sabbath is heavy in her heart. It has been more than a whole day since the one they all loved had been so brutally killed. The one in whom they had placed so much hope, who made their hearts leap with joy, who healed and taught and loved them with such abundance, dead and buried here in a new grave. Covered with a stone so heavy only several men could move it. Magdalene comes to grieve - to be close to him once again, even it is just his linen wrapped body behind a stone. She goes to the place where she last saw him before they placed him there, rolled the stone over the opening and the soldiers appeared to chase away any followers who might show up. All seems lost. Empty. Gone.

But, what's this? The stone has been moved, the soldiers are gone! She runs to tell Peter and the others. They run to the tomb and see that Jesus is not there - they believe Magdalene now - so return home. Once again it is just the woman - alone. She bends down and looks in the tomb and sees 2 angels. They ask her why she is weeping. Why wouldn't she be weeping - not only is the one who called them his beloved, the one who had healed her of her torment - 7 demons they had called it - and whom they loved is not only dead - his body is gone- there is nothing left. And then another person asking "why are you weeping? who do you seek?" I can almost hear her voice rising in a sobbed plea - "where is his body? what have you done?" And then, and then, the answer -- her name. Called by name. Like all those places in the stories of her faith and her people that she had heard all her life -- where God calls the people by name, each named by the Holy One. Called into life, into fullness of being. You no longer have to cling to things or your fears or to your past - anything that keeps you from really living -you can let go - you can live because I live and have shown you how to live and how to love one another so that all can live.

Today we heard the story of Peter - he has been confronted by Paul who says that Gentiles can become Christians without the rituals that Jewish men have to undergo. Now you know Peter is a leader in this new religious movement - and he knows how things should be - after all he was there at the beginning and knows the way we have always done things. What Paul is saying is NOT how it should be. Good grief - if you let Gentiles join without doing it in the correct way and with only a few rules - pretty soon anyone will be joining and who knows where that will lead? Peter is invited to eat at Cornelius' house - he "knows" that is wrong. But these people seem to be following in Jesus' Way. A dilemma

But then he has a dream - where Peter is shown more of what Jesus had been trying to teach him. In the dream food is spread out and God invites him to eat -- but some of the food is ritually unclean (bacon, shrimp, etc) - Peter is horrified, gags at the sight of it, even. But God commands him to eat - saying nothing in creation is unclean. It is all holy. This is where our lesson today starts - just after this dream. Now Peter understands -- Christ came for all people - not just a small band of followers - but for all who want to follow Christ. Over and over the church has had to rediscover this teaching - at one time the church has thought some were beyond the love of God - could not be seen as fully human--slaves, Native Americans, women, gays and lesbians, people with certain diseases, those who had sinned and not repented or paid for their sins. And over and over God has revealed the Holy in each of these --showing up in the most surprising places.

When we seek the things that are above - as the letter to the Colossians says -- we see God everywhere - we see LIFE everywhere - even in unlikely people, even though they have it deeply hidden behind their fears and their deeds. If we only see with our own eyes - we often just see brokenness and death and emptiness. When we look with Christ's eyes- we see the heart. We know the compassion that is offered to each of us no matter what and we want to offer that to others.

The other day I received a note from a friend who is a priest in the LA area - who some of you may know as he was a candidate your previous Bishop election- Howard Anderson. A close friend, mentor and bishop of his is dying of pancreatic cancer - his name is Bob Anderson. A bishop who was not afraid to stand up against the abuse of children, women and men by clergy in the Episcopal Church. A bishop who through this work brought many back from the dead to new life - death of the soul from abuse in the church. My friend writes:

We had just embraced, both of us in tears. It had been a good visit, even knowing that this would be the last time I saw him alive. Bishop Bob Anderson has been so much more than my ordaining Bishop. He has been mentor, cheer leader, promoter and wise counselor. The term clergy used to use for Bishops, “Father in God,” was more than appropriate for the relationship we have had over the years. As I opened the door to leave, I looked back, the frail, rail thin man who sat in his chair still looked to me to be the 6’2” 195 pound basketball player that I first met 34 years ago. That’s kind of what happens when we see with the eyes of love. I waved, and he threw me a kiss, and said, “See you on the other side!” He said that with such steadiness, such certainty, that I will never, ever forget the feeling I had. In the midst of Lent, I had an Easter, alleluia, moment!

And now we are in that Alleluia moment - in fact, are always in that moment because Jesus showed us that death has no power. Not the every day deaths we feel when in despair or struggle or falling short - nor the death that will come to us all one day. There is no power in these things - we need not cling to them or fear them -- the power of love and self sacrifice and compassion will win out. That is the Alleluia of Easter. or as I like it in Spanish ¡Aleluya!

Maundy Thursday

Last Supper by Piasecki

Maundy Thursday

Here is the liturgy we will use for Maundy Thursday. It is from the materials of Education for Ministry from the University of the South:

Sanctuary set up for dinner

People bring Middle Eastern or Mediterreanean food and place it on table

2nd Century Eucharist - Rite of Hippolytus
The Liturgy of the Word

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before
he suffered, instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood:
Mercifully grant that we may receive it thankfully in
remembrance of Jesus Christ our Lord, who in these holy
mysteries gives us a pledge of eternal life; and who now lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.

Psalm 78:14-20, 23-25
Epistle 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (27-32)
Gospel John 13:1-15
The kiss of peace (a handshake, embrace, or kiss on the cheek;
time should be allowed for all to greet one another)

The Liturgy of the Table
The offertory (A deacon spreads a cloth on the table while other deacons collect the gifts of bread and wine from the congregation. The bread should be in small loaves, preferably home-baked; wine should be brought in its original bottle. A deacon places a sufficient amount of bread and wine on the table and puts the rest aside on another convenient table. The president and the presbyters gather about the table and place their hands momentarily on the elements.)

The Eucharistic Prayer
President: The Lord be with you. People: And with your spirit. President: Lift up your hearts. People: They are lifted to the Lord. President: Let us give thanks to the Lord. People: It is worthy and just.
President: We give you thanks, O God, through your beloved Child Jesus Christ, whom in the last times you sent to us, a Savior and Redeemer and Messenger of your will, who is your Word, inseparable from you; through whom you made all things and whom, in your good pleasure, you sent from heaven into the womb of a virgin, and who, conceived within her, was made flesh, and was manifested as your Son, born of the Holy Spirit and a virgin; who, fulfilling your will, and winning for you a holy people, spread out his hands when he suffered, that by his passion he might set free those who believe in you; who, when he was given over to his voluntary suffering, that he might destroy death and break the bonds of the devil, and tread hell under foot, and enlighten the righteous, and set up a boundary post, and manifest the resurrection, taking bread and giving thanks to you said, Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. In the same manner, also, the cup, saying, This is my blood, which is poured out for you. When you do this, you make anamnesis of me.

Therefore, remembering his death and resurrection, we offer to you the bread and the cup, giving thanks to you because you have counted us worthy to stand before you and to minister as priests to you.

And we pray you to send your Holy Spirit upon the oblation of the holy church, gathering into one all who receive the holy [mysteries], that we may be filled with Holy Spirit, to the confirmation of faith in truth, that we may praise and glorify you, through your Child Jesus Christ, through whom be glory and honor to you, with the Holy Spirit in the holy church, both now and world without end. Amen.
[Blessing of cheese and olives: Sanctify this milk which has solidified, and solidify us in your love, and let not your sweetness depart from this fruit of the olive tree, which is a type of your mercy which you caused to flow from the Tree for life to those who hope in you. Glory to you, Father and Son with the Holy Spirit in the holy church both now and always and world without end. Amen.]

The breaking of the bread The receiving of communion

Dinner

Footwashing

Ubi Caritas - Choir

The Lord Jesus, after he had supped with his disciples and
had washed their feet, said to them, “Do you know what I,
your Lord and Master, have done to you? I have given you
an example, that you should do as I have done.”

Washing ceremony

Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with
you; peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.

I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have
loved you.

Peace is my last gift to you, my own peace I now leave with
you; peace which the world cannot give, I give to you.

By this shall the world know that you are my disciples: That
you have love for one another.

Stripping of the Altar

vigil for those who wish to stay