Monday of the First Week of Ordinary Time

READINGS
Hebrews 1:1-6
Psalm 97
Mark 1:12-20

REFLECTION: "Let's Get it Started"

So, the holidays are over, and it's time to start in with some New Year's resolutions, right? Some of us may have planned out our resolutions in detail, others may have broad sketches in their minds. And yes, a few folks don't fall into the whole 'resolution' mindset. So be it.

In our readings today, however, we are presented with some food for thought as we seek the ongoing deepening of our faith walk...

In our first reading today, drawn from the Letter to the Hebrews, the nature of Christ is insistently proclaimed. He is not an angel, a prophet, or any other created being. He is the Son of God!

Therefore, 
be it resolved, 
that I will firmly confess 
that Jesus Christ is of one essence with the Father 
(and the Spirit too!). 
Jesus Christ is God!

In our Psalm today, we profess the supremacy of God over the entire earth. We confess that even the stars of the sky glorify him... and we are reminded to never substitute anything for him in our lives. Not money, not advantage, not even family... nothing must take God's place in our lives.

Therefore, 
be it further resolved, 
that Yahweh, who is sovereign over the whole earth, 
will be the sovereign 
of my mind, 
my body, 
and my spirit, 
and nothing... no matter how tempting, 
will ever unseat him 
or become an idol for me.

In our Gospel today, we see the promise of new beginnings... of restoration... of renewal. Through fasting and a wholehearted reliance on God, we, like Jesus, can enter interface with life with a degree of mastery. Our self-discipline, shaped by the Spirit, can lead us to become more Christ-like day by day.

Therefore, 
be it further resolved, 
that I will take time to fast and pray, 
especially in times of temptation, 
so that I may entrust myself more fully 
to the care of the God 
who is the ruler of my heart.

We also witness Jesus calling others to join him in the proclamation of the Gospel. Just as surely as he is calling them, he still calls to us today. He seeks to empower us to share the Good News as broadly as possible, and through whatever means is appropriate.

Therefore, 
be it further resolved, 
that I will listen in the quiet of my heart 
to seek out exactly what new frontiers, 
or re-commitments, 
God is calling me to tackle in his name.

Finally, we are reminded of a central part of our ongoing growth and renewal: "Repent of your sins and believe in the Good News!"

Therefore, 
be it finally resolved, 
that I will examine my conscience daily, 
repenting with a true desire to change my life, 
and seeking out my pastor and others who can help me overcome my sins. 

I will do so with a fervent trust 
that the Good News can reshape 
my heart, 
my mind, 
and my spirit, 
even now!

And most especially,
as a part of this final resolution, 
I will strive to accept God's forgiveness, 
and to forgive myself!

Forgive me the perhaps chintzy format today... but as we really settle into the flow of this new year, there is a lot we can be doing to move forward in faith. Growing in our spirituality isn't simply an experience for Christmas and Easter after all!

First Sunday of Ordinary Time (The Baptism of our Lord, Year B)

READINGS
Isaiah 49:1-6
Psalm 29
1 John 5:1-10
Mark 1:7-11

REFLECTION: "I Think We're Missing Something Here..."

As we commemorate Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River in our worship today, it’s somewhat natural for our thoughts to turn to our own baptism, whenever in life that was. Now, on the surface, that’s fine… but turning this particular day into something of a mini-baptismal remembrance day ultimately fails the Scriptures we share and the message they bear. Friends, I think the contemporary Church is missing something here.

Today’s Gospel marks a significant ‘theophany’ of God – perhaps the most significant in Biblical history. The word itself in the original Greek breaks down as, θεο (god) φάνεια (appearance) should reveal to us what is at the heart of our celebration today- something often missed in our culture’s understanding of Christ and Christianity in the twenty-first century.

Many people accept Jesus Christ as a great moral teacher. Thomas Jefferson was one such man. In addition to being a founding father of the United States, Jefferson prepared his own edition of the Bible. He sliced out everything that was not a record of the moral teachings of Christ… Jefferson himself wrote: “Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God.” He classified the authors of the New Testament as “ignorant, unlettered men” who produced “superstitions, fanaticisms, and fabrications.” He dismissed the concept of the Trinity as “mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves the priests of Jesus.”
And so, Jefferson’s work is devoid of any mention of what we hear about in today’s Gospel, because if it was included, he’d have to concede that God fully revealed himself at the Jordan. Jesus is not a moralist. He is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Incarnate God.
God is still revealing himself today… through Scripture, in Sacrament, in prayer, in our assembled Christian community, and in the still, quiet spaces of our hearts. The fullness of our Triune God seeks to come and make his home within us. That is the glory of the Scriptures we have heard today, and it is the truth that fills us with a firm hope of God’s eternal presence in our lives.

Sabinus and his Companions

Today, the Primitive Catholic Community celebrates the memorial of Sabinus and his Companions, martyrs for the faith in the early fourth century.

Sabinus was a bishop. Together with his deacons, they resisted the edict of sacrifice during the persecution of the emperor Diocletian in the year 304.

Diocletian’s order required all Christians to sacrifice to the gods or be put to death, with their estates seized for the state. The local governor, Venustian, mocked Sabinus’s faith, accusing him of leading the people to the worship of a dead man. When Sabinus said that Christ rose on the third day, Venustian invited him to do the same thing. He had Sabinus’s hands cut off. The deacons were in great fear, but Sabinus encouraged them to hold to their faith, and they died after being torn apart by iron hooks. In prison after the martyrdom of his deacons, he was tended by a woman named Serena. He healed a man born blind in prison. Venustian heard of the cure and sought a cure for his own eyes from Sabinus. Sabinus healed the governor and converted him to Christianity. Venustian then sheltered Sabinus. Maximianus Herculius, hearing of this, ordered the tribune Lucius to address the matter. Lucius had Venustian, his wife, and his two sons beheaded at Assisi, and he had Sabinus beaten to death at Spoleto.

Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas

READINGS
Jeremiah 31:15-20
Psalm 124
Revelation 21:1-7
Matthew 2:13-23

REFLECTION: "Children Are Such an Inconvenience"

It must be pretty bad when you’re the nominal leader of a conquered land, subject to a foreign power, and you feel that the only way to solidify your position is to kill some kids.

And yet, our Gospel today presents us with just that scenario. The small town of Bethlehem, estimated population 1,000, sees the arrival the nominal soldiers of Herod, tasked with the extermination of any potential rival to the throne. 

Now, let’s first reign in some degree of drama. The Byzantine version of the story features 14,000 little boys killed. The East Syrian version claims 64,000, whilst the Copts cite the figure as being 144,000. These numbers are highly inflated, and there is very little chance that they are true. First, a massacre on that order of even 14,000 would have definitely caused a widespread outcry, and would have been recorded in history outside of Scripture. Herod was a particularly brutal tyrant; the man stooped to murdering some of his own children… so it is definitely in keeping with his style of administration. The real number of Holy Innocents, however, is much more properly estimated in the range between six and twenty in town, and an addition dozen or so in the surrounding countryside. Now, this number sounds a lot lower than 14,000. By nature, some of the horror begins to ebb… but should it?

Children have too long been cheap, easy targets for people in power. Sometimes, they are targeted through their education, that they might walk lock-step in line with the teachings of the local nation-state. In other places, they are turned into almost literal toy soldiers, parading around with weapons, and no real understanding of the politics or the cost of war. In ancient times, infants became the target of individual greed or desire – often being abandoned on the roadside to die when unwanted by their parents.

At the risk of turning a cliché, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Today, in every part of this world, children are abused, neglected, and abandoned. They are transformed into agents of the state, and, as we have heard in our own local news this week, they are still abandoned to die when unwanted. 

But what do we, as a society, do to stand up to the continued slaughter of innocents in our day? Many Bible-believing Christians decry abortion, but scream so loudly about social welfare programs that it makes their outrage over abortion look pathetic. Government leaders continue their own indifference towards children in many instances as well – using them as pawns for elections by proposing programs and ‘solutions’ to issues like systematic poverty, hunger, and lack of opportunity which have no chance of doing anything but scoring political points on the way to a new office.

We’d never admit it, but as a society, we are quite OK with having plenty of Holy Innocents dying in our communities every day… all because to many of us, as to Herod, some children are simply an inconvenience; thus their lives become inconsequential.

People think our attitudes towards children and their disposability are rooted in the legalization of abortion. People would be wrong. Our attitudes towards children are rooted in a selfishness… which itself is rooted in our fall from grace in Eden. I suppose we could pat ourselves on the back and say, “At least we come by it honestly.”

But that would be a lie. We continue to come by it because many of those who bear authority in this world care more about their own power and personal gain than they do about the children in our world. Heck, forget people in authority… many parents feel the same way.

How is it that a family has money for cigarettes, but not enough money to feed their kids?

How is it that a nation has enough money to maintain a nuclear arsenal that could irradiate the earth, but not enough money to provide proper food, housing, and clothing for its children?

How is it that an insurgency walking under the banner of religion can convince even the fathers and mothers of children under its influence that the systematic rape, torture, and enslavement of their own children is right and just?

How can our own faith tradition continue to seek ways to run from its own history with children, attempting – in some instances – to find legal loopholes to protect its cash instead of taking ownership of its past failings and making sustained efforts to change?

The answer to all these questions is rooted in the same answer we’d give concerning Herod. The selfish king cared more about himself, his power, and his reputation than he did about those under his banner who were most vulnerable… and so, when they became in inconvenience, he had no trouble exterminating them.

Are children, to us, an annoyance? Well, ask any parent who is being honest and yes, their kids annoy them. They probably annoy them multiple times a day. But when we love our children, when we care for them, when we cherish them, the annoyances are a drop in the bucket compared to the love that would see us fiercely protect and contend for them.

And so, my brothers and sisters, let us pray… pray for children who are marginalized and unwanted; for parents who are so frustrated or so self-absorbed that their children have become perpetual nuisances; for civil leaders who view children as political pawns, disposable tissue, or as cannon fodder. And, friends, let us pray for ourselves… even if we don’t fit into one of these categories. Let us pray that we, for our part, will follow the leading of the Spirit to ensure that we do all that we can, and advocate wherever possible, to ensure that no child becomes an innocent victim ever again.

Fourth Day in the Octave of Christmas

READINGS:
Leviticus 12:1-8
Psalm 84
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:22-40

REFLECTION: “Incomparable Tenderness”

In our Gospel today, it’s been forty days since the birth of Jesus. He is brought by Mary and Joseph into Jerusalem. There, he is to be presented in the Temple, together with offerings so that Mary might be considered ceremonially clean.

In the midst of this special moment, sacrifice is being offered, and prophecy of pain and sorrow echo from the walls of the temple. Simeon, an elderly man who had been waiting all his life to behold salvation incarnate, both praises God for what he has been privileged to behold with his own eyes, and also points out the destiny of Jesus… and the pain that his destiny will inflict on Mary.

And yet, in spite of Simeon’s prophecy, Mary remains at Jesus’ side; just as Jesus remains at our side day by day. She remains a quiet, steadfast presence in his life and ministry, right to the day of his death… and beyond. There is a tenderness expressed through Mary’s presence with her Son… but even her love, her devotion, her determination to remain in the company of Jesus is paled, utterly paled, by the Eternal Father’s tenderness towards us.

In his incomparable tenderness, the Father sends his Son into the world that we may be renewed by the power of the Spirit. The same Spirit that made Mary’s womb fruitful makes fruitful the Church’s womb, the baptismal font, bringing to birth generation after generation of faithful sons and daughters.  That means we are given an unparalleled opportunity to draw close to the One who fashioned the cosmos, and call to him softly and tenderly, with the most loving of words: “Abba”… “Daddy”.

 

I don’t know about you, but my heart melts when I hear my children come to me saying “Daddy”. There is something simple, genuine, and infinitely tender about being addressed so. And, my friends, God gives us the privilege to coming to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit… with such a simple and loving word. This privilege is ours because Jesus came in the flesh. He was obedient to the Law. He lived a life free of sin, reaching out to others even to his death.

Are we willing to come God, today and every day, with such dependence, utter trust, and deep love?

Second Day in the Octave of Christmas

READINGS:
Isaiah 62:11-12
Psalm 97
Hebrews 1:1-6 [7-9]
Luke 2:8-16

REFLECTION: “Simplicity Bears Fruit”

Take a moment and clear your minds of all your preconceived notions of our Lord's birth. We know very little of the minute details concerning the event. We know it took place in Bethlehem, since Joseph was a descendant of King David. We know there was no room for the Holy Family in one of the many guest-houses available in the area. Likely, this was because Jesus birth took place around the time of one of the pilgrimage feast; probably the Feast of Tabernacles. The pilgrimage feasts were principal reasons for a lack of lodging. They were like the Super Bowl, World Series, and World Cup of the Jewish religious calendar. Everyone packed Jerusalem and its environs, and there would literally be no room in the inn for a last minute arrival for something as obnoxiously inconvenient as a census. Bethlehem is only six miles from Jerusalem. Even I could walk six miles for something as important as Passover, Pentecost, or Sukkot! Now, in the interest of full disclosure, Hanukkah, though not one of the Feasts of the Torah, was also popular... so it is possible that Jesus birth fell during this time of year; though it is questionable as to how busy Bethlehem would have been for the festival. Ultimately, we have no idea when in the year Jesus was born... but this is the time of year the Church has chosen to celebrate the mysteries of the incarnation so, until we get a postmarked card that has the details of his first birthday party, we'll just have to be content with that. 

Moving on... Regardless of when the blessed event occurred, Scripture presents us with a group of shepherds in the hills outside of the town. It doesn't tell us where, or how many, or what they were wearing. We don't know the size of their flocks, or what breed of sheep... or goats... they were tending. It simply doesn't matter. They were wise in the ways of animal husbandry, having learned from their fathers and the experience of other shepherds. But they probably had a simple faith and understanding of prophecy. 

And so it was that, at some point after Christ's birth (within a day, we can suppose - depending on what 'nearby' meant to Luke), the shepherds arrive. And they do something simple, yet profound. They come and stare. 

In fairness, they probably did a lot more than that. I am sure they spoke with Mary and Joseph. I am sure they smiled in the direction of the infant Jesus. I am sure they reached out - with permission from mom, of course! - to stroke a lock of hair or, perhaps, to touch his cheek. After all, we have no idea if Jesus was born bald or with hair. But most importantly, they came because the fulfillment of prophecy, the Savior spoken of so boldly by Isaiah and the prophets, had come; and it was their privilege to behold him face to face.

They may not have fully understood things like the hypostatic union, the indissolubility of the human and divine natures in Christ, the divine mode of the Messiah's conception, or the reasons for Jesus' humble entrance into our world. But they understood that when God's messengers speak, it is vitally important to listen, for just over the next hill, redemption, joy, and hope may lay.

The simplicity of faith exhibited by the shepherds in our Gospel reading today gives us hope. For all our wisdom, we're still highly ignorant of much of what is true about our faith, mainly because human language and concepts are not sufficient to explain the Mystery. And that's OK. We don't need to have a highly developed and sophisticated understanding. We need faith. Simple faith.

God will take care of the rest.

The Solemnity of the Nativity of our Lord

READINGS:
Isaiah 52:7-10
Psalm 98
Titus 2:11-14
Luke 2:1-7

REFLECTION: “Never Be the Same Again”

Have you ever seen a Church who emphasized that you were welcome, no matter what? That made a point to say that ‘God loves you just the way you are”? I think that, if we are honest, we are at least aware of such Churches… and you know what; they’re right. God does love us, just as we are, and yes, just as we were on the darkest, most difficult day of our life. He loves us when we are near to him, and he loves us when we are far away. He loves us so much that, in the words of Saint John’s gospel, “He sent his only-begotten Son” that we might be saved. Talk about Good News!

Sadly, sometimes, we tune out the rest of the message. The Gospel becomes a simple affirmation of life, and we forget that there is something after “God loves you just the way you are”. For you see, while God does love us just as we are right now, he is always seeking that our encounters with Christ would change us, profoundly.

This deep passion of the Father’s is laid out for us in our reading this morning from the second chapter of Titus. “The grace of God has been revealed, brining salvation to all people” does not just stop there. The Father seeks a change in our lives: “And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures.” God wants to see change in our lives… change that draws us closer to him, which makes us ever more dependent upon him, and which liberates us from the standards, the ways, the wisdom of the world, and calls us to cling to him in each and every circumstance.

Brothers and sisters, Christ’s coming in the flesh is the ultimate manifestation of this message. In order that we might draw closer to God, God drew closer to us… in a way that profoundly changed the world. If, beloved, if we are walking in the Spirit of God, we will rarely know an encounter with Christ that will not leave us changed, bettered, strengthened, and uplifted.

Today, we encounter our Lord in the manger. He is tiny, fragile, delicate. He is completely dependent on his mother and his foster-father for everything. He who created the very atoms that make up the cosmos was unable to fend for himself. For a point in time, Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, the Creator Word and God of Majesty, was vulnerable… and his vulnerability led him to the cross, the grave, and, ultimately, the sky.

And so it is right, today, that we lift the Lord’s name on high, giving him thanks like never before for what he has done for us. But let our worship today not be limited to song, prayers, and sacrament… instead, let song, prayer, and sacrament play a transforming role in this Christmas day, so that you will leave this place utterly changed, strengthened, encouraged, and uplifted…

And then, come back some time soon, and do it again!

When our hearts are open to the Incarnate Word, we will never, NEVER, enter his presence – in our worship, in our prayers, in our Scripture reading, or even in our quiet cries – and not be changed… because the Christ has come to set us free from slavery to the world, its sinfulness, and its hopelessness… and has brought us to fullness of life and light in the Spirit.