Reflection for August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption
This is a reflection I preached last Sunday at our Emmaus ECC community.
The Magnificat, Mary’s song, is a prelude to the whole Gospel of Luke. It’s reflected again in the first homily preached by Jesus, when he says he’s come to bring good news to the poor, to bring healing and to set captives free.
This same good news is still proclaimed throughout the word, but I now suspect that only a few hear it, really hear it. For anyone, for us, to hear this message we need to go to that place inside ourselves where we are weak, poor and fearful. When we get in touch with that place we find a deeper communion with the oppressed. We enter more deeply into the heart of God, and we begin to hear what God is really saying.
The people who listened most eagerly to Jesus were those who were longing for something, those who were thirsting for something. They were the poor and the oppressed, and could see no way out of their troubles. Mary was part of this group of people, called the Anawim, the little ones, and the Magnificat is her song, and it is also the song of all the Anawim.
God chooses Mary, and in choosing Mary, God chooses the poor, the weak, the marginalized, the exploited, the ones we pass by and don’t even see, and the discriminated against. We learn through Mary and again through Christ that God is on the side of the least ones in society. God is on the side of the poor, the unknown, the passed over and the unseen.
Mary expects change. She expects, not just a destiny with God in heaven, but a new destiny for her people right here on earth. She expects the economic, political and even moral values of her society to be turned upside down.
Mary heard God, accepted God’s love and put her whole faith and trust in God. She is the model for all of us. In giving herself over to God Mary experiences a joyful expectation, not for herself but for her people. This is why she cries out that she is blessed. But blessedness does not mean the absence of pain and suffering. Change does not come without cost, even when God is at your side and walks with you. To really hear God’s message brings joy and hope, and at the same time, should you choose to go with God, can bring risk and jeopardy.
Mary represents all the poor, the unknown, the oppressed and is filled with hope. She is lifted up in a moment of transcendent joy. She is celebrating, as we are invited to celebrate, the in-breaking of God into our world. Through Christ God means to change the very order of society.
We celebrate a God who asks for our whole faith and trust; a God who still asks us to believe that things can be different and invites us to work together so we can transform our world. May we be brave like Mary, and say “yes” to God.
Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration. Jesus takes a few friends up the mountain, where they fall asleep. When they awake they are surprised by the glory of God in and through Jesus. (Luke 9: 28b-36)
My favorite interpretation of the word glory is this sense of overwhelming joy. It is like being in a place at night where there are no city lights, and seeing the heavens filled up with stars. Or like watching the birth of a longed for child. Or like the experience of music that moves you and swells your heart. It is that feeling of being intertwined and connected with everything in all of Creation.
People try in many ways to describe glory. It is hard to put words on this concept, but most of us know it, and there are those rare times when we cry out: Glory Be!
Jesus is drawn up into this overwhelming joy of knowing he is God’s son, and his friends witness this encounter. They are touched by the same joy, and of course they wish to stay in that joy forever. Who wouldn’t. What we come to understand is that the encounters with God’s glory — this overwhelming joy — prepare us for the rest of the journey. This encounter enables us to walk with God. Jesus is prepared by this encounter to go forward to Jerusalem.
It’s too bad that for so many Christianity has become just a religion, and just a matter of believing stuff, or giving mental assent to dogmas and doctrines. Believing stuff is easy and really doesn’t ask anything of a person. Believing stuff does not lead to an encounter with glory. Christianity was never meant to be a religion. Jesus came to us saying: Follow me. As disciples we take on a whole new way of life, a new lifestyle. We become the images of God — the reflections of Love — as we were meant to be from the moment of Creation. When we follow Christ we take a different path from the rest of humanity. We love instead of hate, accept others instead of reject them, forgive instead of hold grudges, stand for peace and not war, share instead of hoard, have a preference for the poor and not for the rich, heal instead of wound, serve instead of rule and generally do all things with compassion.
When you think of Christianity as a mere belief system, it is nearly automatic that there will be arguments and divisions as people fight over what is the correct belief, the correct dogmas and doctrines. Christianity becomes a place of excommunications and threats, and certainly not a place to encounter God’s glorious joy. And so there is constant bickering and fighting between different Christian churches. This is particularly sad because these same Christians ignore the work we Christians have to do in this world. We exist to continue the incarnation of Christ, and to continue the mission of Christ. We exist to bring healing to our world, to lift up the poor, to liberate captives, and to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.
St. John of the Cross says: “We do not know God by thinking, but by encountering.” Take time to be still and know God. Stop thinking about creeds, dogmas and doctrines and instead be friends with God. And then all will be well.
In the Gospel for today, Matthew 13: 24-30, Jesus tells the parable about the weeds planted in with the good wheat in a man’s field. His servants want to pull out the weeds, but the man chooses to let them be in case the wheat might be pulled up with the weeds.
Once I heard a woman telling a story about her child. She said that her child came running in the house with tears streaming down her face. “What’s wrong?” she said. The child cried out, “Daddy’s pulling up all the pretty flowers!” On investigation the mother discovered that her husband was pulling up dandelions. What she realized from this story is this fact: A weed is just a flower out of place.
Sometimes we are quick to look at someone and in our minds think: WEED! Because that person doesn’t fit in with our preconceptions of what someone ought to be like. There is just something about this or that person that makes us uncomfortable. We human beings also tend to be quick to jump to judgment about people and situations without knowing all the facts. And we shout: WEED! We want to hurry and pull out the weeds from our midst.
It’s a very good thing that God through this parable tells us to let the weeds be and not be quick to pull them out of our midst. That person we want to call a weed may be a precious flower in God’s eyes. In fact we Christians believe that every human person is created in the image of God. That means that everyone has that of God within them. The image of God that each person is may be covered over with so many scabs and crusts that we can no longer see God in them. Nevertheless each one of us remains created in God’s image.
Because every human person is created in the image of God each person is due the dignity and respect of their true being. No matter how vile we think they are we need to remember that hidden within is the image of God and treat them accordingly. So there is no place for name-calling, abuse, humiliations, put-downs, cruelty, mocking, scoffing, taunts, heckling, derision or any behavior that disrespects a person’s dignity as the image of God. You are not a Christian if you behave badly toward other people. Christians may disagree with people, protect themselves from certain people, and dislike some people, but they are not to forget who they are and treat people badly.
In light of the above I think we can agree that there are certain people who call themselves Christians, but who do not behave like Christians. For example those in the Tea Party movement who say they are Christians and yet who mock, put down and treat our president with derision are not behaving in a Christian manner. Just saying.
Remember the ancient classic, Paradise Lost by Milton? I especially think of the verse in chapter 1 that says:
“To reign is worth ambition, though in Hell; better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.”
What human beings do creates either heaven or hell on earth. While we Christians pray “Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven,” for the most part people, including many Christians, are bringing hell to earth instead. Except that calling yourself a Christian while bringing hell to earth is to be caught up in deception. Unless you are bringing heaven to earth, you are not a Christian. Heaven is simply doing things in God’s compassionate way. When you are doing things in God’s way you will also be filled up with the signs of God’s presence within you. Christians call these signs the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. When you are doing things in God’s way you bring peace, prosperity and joy to those around you. You lift people up to stand along side you. You care for the least ones as your first priority.
One of the reasons that the root of evil is still greed is that the constant pursuit of wealth brings hell on earth for so many. Those who believe that all is fair in their pursuit of increased wealth crush many under foot and don’t even acknowledge what they are doing. They create hell for others, and there they rule. Getting off the throne of power and washing feet, clothing the naked, healing, forgiving, feeding the hungry, and setting the captives free is something that makes no sense to those who seek power.
It is heaven all the way to heaven and hell all the way to hell. Eternal life begins in this life and simply continues into the next. By your actions you show whether you prefer hell or heaven. Heaven is all about serving others, and letting go of having power over others. It is the lion laying down with the lamb, not eating the lamb. It is sharing what you have so that no one has too little.
My reflections on the verse by Milton arise out of seeing the hell that powerful people are creating right here in America. There is an ever growing gap between the few super wealthy at the top and the poor at the bottom. The middle class gets smaller every day as more people drop down into poverty. Lions roam the earth seeking to devour the lambs. Powerful bankers keep reaping the spoils, and give each other huge bonuses even as small businesses fail because the banks won’t loan them money. Small businesses that would love to hire more workers are not able to expand because they can’t get loans. Banks charge poor people much more than they charge rich people for loans. Banks would rather foreclose on a family’s home than work with them to modify their loan so they can stay in their home. Bankers scheme to find ways to charge more and more fees on credit cards as they also make sure that people must have credit cards to function in society. No matter the regulations, they constantly search for ways around them to make more and more profits. Well and good — just do NOT call yourselves Christians. Admit that you are anti-Christ, being against the ways of Christ. Admit to being lions who prefer to eat lambs, not to lay down with them.
Oil companies pollute our waters and kill marine life with abandon for their profits. In search of wealth people destroy God’s creation. Huge corporations refuse to pay just wages, fire people and take jobs overseas so they can pay even lower wages just so they can take in higher profits for the top few executives. Poor people are exploited and even put into slavery, and children are not exempt from mistreatment.
People tell lies over and over again, and just as those who drummed up lies about Jesus led to his crucifixion, these people crucify people, like Shirley Sherrod, in the media. They are truly filled up with the spirit of anti-Christ. We know that the father of lies is Satan. (John 8: 44) . These people create hell on earth not just for those they crucify but for all of those who get caught up in their lies. They create an atmosphere of hate, distrust and anger. What I cannot understand is how people listen to them, even after they have been caught in their lies so many, many times. It boggles my mind.
How can you recognize the Christians in your midst? They will love other people and wish well to others including their enemies, prefer peace to war, have patience with those who don’t understand them, be kind and gracious to those they meet, will love goodness and focus on the goodness of others, will be faithful to God and to God’s ways, and will have self-control over their worst impulses. They will follow their better angels and will be people who accept others as they are, and seek reconciliation and forgiveness. Since Christ is truth, they seek to be honest people in all their doings.
How do you recognize the anti-Christs in your midst? They will easily give in to hate and anger, prefer war to peace, are constantly rude and impatient with others, are mean-spirited and cruel, will love to hear and share what is wrong and bad about others, will do whatever it takes to get what they want, and will give-in to their worst impulses over and over again. They follow the worst in human nature and are always judging others, holding grudges and dislike people who are different. Since their father is Satan they lie easily and often.
As you can tell, I’m a bit passionate about things right now. It seems that the forces of hell are so powerful right now and people get caught up in these forces. The resistance to the ways of God is strong. Lying has become so accepted that politicians and radio/tv/blog personalities think nothing of telling lies, and people shrug it off. The constant pursuit of more and more wealth by those who have taken most everything already is seemingly unstoppable. The abuse and exploitation of poor people around the world is taken for granted. And so we pray even harder:
Compassionate and loving God, may Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven and may the rule of hell be ended, we pray.
There is a good article in the Time Internet magazine page called “The Vatican and Women: Casting the First Stone.” I recommend this article if you want to have a few more reasons to be frustrated with the Roman Catholic Church. Me, I’ve decided to shake the dust off my sandals as Jesus recommends, and move on into a Catholic Church that values all people, both male and female.
The Ecumenical Catholic Communion (ECC) is where I now find the fullness of what it means to be Catholic. I love their distinctions, for example:
In our communities all the baptized, men and women alike, are given the opportunity to respond to a genuine vocation and to fully participate in the ministerial priesthood. As St. Paul writes, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; all are one in Christ Jesus.” We recognize and are acting to correct the injustice done by the long-standing practice of excluding women from ordained ministry, which unfairly diminishes women within the Church and also within the current world culture. Presently, within many of the communities of our Diocese, women are actively engaged in the ordained priestly ministry and we have already enjoyed benefits of the coequal ministry of women in our faith communities.
Similarly, we affirm those, whether lay or ordained ministers, who are called to serve the People of God in a variety of life states which include people who are single, or have taken promises of celibacy, commitment, or marriage.
Being Catholic means “here comes everybody.” To be truly Catholic a community needs to include all the different people of the local community without excluding those who don’t fit some criteria such as gender, race, sexual orientation, marital status or economic status. I find the ECC to be inclusive and also egalitarian with a genuine concern to make sure that all the people in the Communion have the opportunity to participate in decision making. I also appreciate the way everyone is welcome and invited to participate in the reception of communion, believing that the the sacraments are not a reward for good behavior but a free gift of God. I have long been offended by the Roman Catholic practice of excluding many from the reception of sacraments, especially using holy communion as a controlled and controlling substance.
I still remember being at the funeral of my younger cousin when the priest brazenly announced that only Catholics in good standing could come forward to receive. Some of my relatives around me started whispering, and asking what this meant. I boldly whispered back: it means you can go to communion. I was angry on their behalf and at a time like that, when people were in grief over the death of a beloved family member, and in need of God, they should worry whether or not they could go forward to receive. Some hadn’t been all that faithful at attending mass every Sunday and didn’t feel as if they were in “good standing.”
The Catholic Church is much bigger than the Roman Catholic Church alone and it isn’t right for them to act as if they are the only Catholic Church. There are many other ways to be Catholic and I happen to think the Ecumenical Catholic Communion is one of the best ways to be Catholic.
Before I tell you about my ordination to the Diaconate I want to recommend a post by “A Feather Adrift.” I think it is one of her best, and you really ought to go read it. The title of this post is “I Never Lie; I’m Lying.”
Now on to my ordination. You can see pictures here. The ordination was very moving and while I was prostrate, face down and listening to the singing of the Litany of the Saints, I had the strong sense that my husband was there with me. He was very supportive of my ministry, my book and of my life. It was good to sense his presence with me, supporting me still. Every moment of the ordination was filled with meaning and I am grateful to a bishop who, no matter how many ordinations he celebrates, celebrates each one fully and with care.
The thing that added an extra spice to the whole event was that moments before the celebration we heard about the Catholic News Service article saying the Vatican was classifying women’s ordination as an egregious evil, just as evil as rape and child molestation. I found myself moved to an increased lightheartedness because of this announcement. There must have been a tiny thread still binding me to the Roman Catholic Church because in that moment I was able to snip that thread, and feel totally free to enter into the Ecumenical Catholic Communion. I found myself relieved to no longer be under the jurisdiction of a leadership that so dis-values women as to make a new law that makes their ordination a criminal action. Of course the spokespersons for the Roman Catholic Church are working overtime now to pull back on the way this announcement was made, and to try to say that this law is not meant to be disrespectful of women. Blah, blah, blah… they go on with meaningless drivel because the new law is very disrespectful of women. I suppose, being men in powerful positions, they can’t understand that.
For centuries most of Christianity believed there is just something less about women, something defective, something misbegotten as good ol’ St. Thomas Aquinas would put it. Christianity would say that what women are good for is giving birth to children; let them be content with that; let them be silent and keep to their place, and let them not be seen in the places of men. We’ve come a long way from those beliefs but there is a lingering doubt about women in the Roman Catholic Church. There is also this weird idea that men are one thing, and women are something entirely else. They compliment each other, but they are opposite to each other. Therefore, since the leaders seem to be steeped in magical thinking, they would see women as incapable of being ordained, even should you try. Why? Because, as in the definition of magic, there would be incorrect matter for the formula to work; for the incantation to work. It takes correct matter and form, and the right intention for magic to work you see. Somehow the wild freedom of God’s Spirit is not taken into account.
It is the Holy Spirit that works through our sacraments, all our sacraments, and not magic. And no one and no thing can control the Holy Spirit. From the beginning the Holy Spirit has done and continues to do whatever the Holy Spirit desires to do. See Numbers 11: 24-30 and Mark 9: 38 to see how men have tried in the past to stop the actions of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is freedom itself and cannot be controlled by a Church. Our sacraments are not magic, but are encounters with God through Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. All we can do is pray that the Holy Spirit will be with us, and transform us into the Body of Christ through our sacraments and then trust that the Holy Spirit is answering our prayer.
Besides, women are baptized and every baptism is itself an ordination into ministry. It is out of our baptisms that we approach any other sacrament, and it is our baptisms that anoint us priest, prophet and king. And now there is no male or female, but we are one in Christ. Each baptised person is one in Christ, and it is not that some persons are more one in Christ than others.
There is also this concern about women having power over men. Well phooey… no one is supposed to have power over others if you are understanding Christ, who tells leaders to be as children. We are all called to a different kind of use of power, a power with others. We are to be washers of feet, and those who share bread. We are called to be the Body of Christ, blessed, broken and given away for the sake of others. We are called to raise up the poor, to free captives, to heal the sick and in all ways to share our power with others. The authority and power that the leaders of the Church worry over is the patriarchal power of empire, of having authority over others, and not of Christianity. The leadership became confused once the emperors got ahold of them and made them rulers of men.
Anyway, my ordination was a wonderful transforming event that is still unfolding in my life. I am curious and eager to see where the Holy Spirit will lead me next. Going with God, trusting that God knows where we’re going, is such a marvelous adventure, and anything can happen. You really need to try it some time, if you want an exciting life.
God bless!
On July 10th I am being ordained as a transitional Deacon in the Ecumenical Catholic Communion by Bishop Peter Hickman. Needless to say, I am excited and happy. This move toward ordination is something I wouldn’t do without the support and affirmation of my faith community. While I’ve felt a call to priesthood for nearly all my life, until that call meets the call of community, it doesn’t become truly tangible.
My one regret is that my husband is not here with me to celebrate this stage of my journey. He was very supportive of my ministry, of my book, of my life and I wish he were with me now, in the flesh and not just in spirit. However I am surrounded by supportive friends and community members, and members of the ECC, and I am grateful to them for that support.
The challenge for me is to bring my experience and wisdom into the ECC, and sometimes critique it, while at the same time becoming more of a representative of the Church. It is much easier to spout off what I believe about Christianity while standing somewhat apart from the any particular Church and another when I am seen to be part of one. At least in ECC I’ve found a faith tradition that more closely mirrors my own faith — inclusive and much more egalitarian, where all are welcome.
By the way, if you want to follow me on Twitter go to: http://twitter.com/alcreationwaits . I like to do daily reflections on the readings of the day, and because it’s on Twitter you are guaranteed really short reflections. I also have a group on Facebook for All Creation Waits. The group on Facebook was created as a place to reflect on the book, but also just a place to have conversations. So far it is not a very busy place, so feel free to visit, and see if you can get something started.
If you are a praying person I welcome your prayers for my ordination. In some ways while I am happy about this new stage of my life, I am also somewhat unnerved by it, and wonder what it will mean over the coming months as it is lived out.
There is someone signed into the Friend Thingy on the left! Thanks. Now to see if other’s follow your lead so we can see how this Friend Connect works.
Tomorrow, Sunday June 6th, many liturgical churches will be celebrating the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This day commemorates the institution of the Eucharist. When I was young we called this day “Corpus Christi.” The actual day is Thursday, but most Churches move the celebration to Sunday. I understand that in earlier times there were always processions with the Blessed Sacrament. When I was young we had processions and these processions culminated with Benediction. Today I don’t see many processions in our area, but I’m guessing there are still processions elsewhere. The day is meant to emphasize the real presence of Christ in the sacred elements of the Eucharist.
In some ways, while I believe in the real presence of Christ in the sacrament, the emphasis on Christ’s presence in the sacred elements of the Eucharist can distract us from commemorating the even more awesome reality of Christians everywhere being the Body of Christ. We are the Body of Christ, and as such we are called to be Bread, blessed, broken and given away to others. I love the image of bread because when you make bread you don’t bake it and then stick it away somewhere, but you take and eat it, and share it with others.
For me the celebration of Eucharist is a dynamic action that we are invited into. Through all the movements of Eucharist we are drawn deeper into the Paschal Mystery of Christ and prayerfully, when we are dismissed, we are sent out as the Body of Christ, awakened, renewed and ready for action. We become with Christ ”the living bread which came down from heaven” and go out to alleviate the hunger in the world.
Compassionate God, make it so.
To the left side of this blog you will see this “Friend Connect” thingy. I saw it on a friend’s blog and decided it was a fun thing to add to my blog. I’m not exactly sure how it works so if someone gives it a try, I’d like that.
On another note, I am happy that two groups are reading my book “All Creation Waits” and discussing it, and grateful that they have let me know. If you are starting a group, I’d love it if you let me know. I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of people who are finding my book and buying it. Thank you ! I purposely wrote the book in a style that is meant to be a spring board to reflection and discussion. In this book I share what I believe about Christianity and expect that some of what I write will be challenging and even controversial. I provide questions at the end of each chapter that either a group can use to provide a starting place for discussion, or an individual can use for private reflection. I provide a lot of questions at the end of each chapter in the expectation that at least one or two of these questions will stir up a desire to have a conversation. On a process note, if you are starting a group to discuss this book please know that my purpose is not that every question will be dealt with one after the other, but instead that the group will focus on the questions that they like best, or maybe the questions that challenge most.
It was beneficial to me to write this book and I go back to ideas in this book often when I am reflecting on what to write in this blog. It is also humbling to have my beliefs out there in print for anyone to examine and challenge, especially since I find that there are places where I no longer stay within commonly accepted Christian beliefs. But that is the point of the book. All Creation Waits because we Christians for years and years have missed the point of Christianity. As I awakened to this reality I found that I couldn’t rest until I shared this good news with others. I believe that the only way for our common prayer, the one most Christians pray every single day, to be answered is to wake up and be the Body of Christ we are meant to become.
If you haven’t purchased the book yet, I encourage you to do so and join the discussion. Only if people begin to take Christianity seriously will God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and Creation will finally be blessed in us.
It’s Pentecost Sunday this weekend. This is the feast when we celebrate both the birth of the Church and the sending of the Holy Spirit. This feast day piggy backs on a previous feast that celebrated the fifty days after Passover, Shavu’ot, when the first fruits of the harvest are gathered. It was and is the time to celebrate the giving of Torah.
Remember that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, has been present with us since the beginning of time, so what does it mean to celebrate the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost? For me it is like this. The whole earth is constantly receiving the Holy Spirit, but there comes a moment when we are asked to open ourselves up to the Spirit of God. When Christ breathed on the first disciples, they were asked to “Receive the Holy Spirit” and so they needed to breathe in, take in, and welcome God’s Spirit. I find it interesting that it is after telling them that he is sending them out into the world, just as he was sent, that he gives them the Spirit. Only with the Holy Spirit are we able to follow Christ, and literally become the Body of Christ sent to the world. We become the representatives of God.
In the book of Acts (Acts 2: 1-11) we witness the healing of humanity’s fractured and broken social order; a society broken with hatreds and divisions. The Holy Spirit makes it possible for understanding between different cultures. The main task of Christians is to continue the ministry of Christ — and to demonstrate this ministry in the acceptance, forgiveness and reconciliation of people, and indeed of all Creation.
