Lectionary Readings: Year A – Sixth Sunday in Easter One of the things my friends and I in college liked to do was to use fake church names that let people know that rather than going to church we instead decided to stay at home. You’ve probably heard a bunch of these. “Oh yeah, today…
In The Little Flowers of St. Francis, a collection of stories about St. Francis, his brothers, and the people whose lives he touched, we find a little story about how St. Clare had desired to eat with St. Francis. But St. Francis kept refusing to eat with her. His brothers finally came to him and said, “St. Clare converted at your preaching, and not eating with her seems a bit stiff and lacking in charity.” So St. Francis replied, “Does it seem right to all of you that I should consent to eat with her?” And all the brothers gave a resounding Yes! And so, St. Francis agreed to meet her and her companions with his own brothers at the chapel of St. Mary and the Angels, where St. Clare had performed her religious vows. As they ate, they began to talk about God, and, we are told, the glory of God descended upon all those present to such a degree that they were all in a state of ecstasy.
As I was preparing for today, one of the first things that jumped out at me was the words in the Collect of the Day: “Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life.”
That word “follow” sticks out. When we think of the word “follow” we can see it as no more important than “I follow the news.” “I keep up with, pay attention to, the news.” Maybe we even think that having the news on 24/7 on the television – even if in the background – means that we are “followers” of the news.
Children, it is the last hour! As you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. – 1 John 2:18 When I was growing up, one of the things that seemed to be on everyone’s mind was this notion of the Antichrist, since, according to some big names, Jesus was coming…
Lectionary Readings: Year A, Fourth Sunday in Easter One of the more interesting video shorts that I’ve seen on social media showed how several shepherds – I think it was five of them – got together and let their sheep intermingle. When it was time to go, one of them stood up, called his sheep,…
Have you ever gone to watch a motivational speaker? Someone who has in mind to help you bring out the very best of yourself, to help you achieve more than you are now, and to bring you up to your full potential? That was really more of a thing back a few decades ago, but if you went to a seminar like this, at the end of the seminar you probably found yourself excited about life, about the possibilities of what you could accomplish, or about how your life could improve.
I went to one of these seminars over twenty years ago, and during that time several of us overcame our fears – long held irrational fears – and we began to create new visions of our future, and answer the age old mysteries. In fact, at that seminar, I understood the answer to the mysterious question: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” It was a moment of grand dreams and visions of an exciting future, filled with plans that would improve my life.
Years ago, I was working with a youth group up in Washington, and there was one evening where I couldn’t attend the gathering. On that particular evening, one of the high school girls, who played volleyball, had hurt her knee quite badly. It was swollen, and she was limping around. At one point during the evening, I’m told, the pastor and the kids surrounded her and prayed for her. The youth pastor told me, “It was amazing. As we were praying, you could see the swelling go down, and afterward, she was able to walk without a limp. I’m still just shocked. It’s a miracle!”
And in response, I said, “That is amazing. That’s awesome.” And then I paused, and added, “I really wish I could have been there to see it for myself.” Translation: “Hmmm. Is this really true?” I’ll admit, I questioned that story a bit. Because, after all, “Seeing is believing,” as the saying goes. And in this case, I would really have liked to see it, rather than just taking people’s word for it.
Every single one of us has heard the story – some of us probably hundreds of times. We know what’s going to happen by the end of the story, so we don’t think about it much anymore. The mystery has faded, and the excitement at the mystery of the incarnation – the death and resurrection – seems to have dried up as well.
Because of this, it’s hard to put ourselves into the minds of these women in the Gospel – the two Marys.
Lectionary Readings: Year A, Holy Week, Good Friday In 1883, the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously declared “God is Dead.” You’ve probably heard the phrase thrown about when discussing atheism, because Nietzsche is saying that God is just a social construct used to justify all sorts of evil and violence. If you read his work, you…
Finding God in the Dung Heap
Several years ago, I was riding my bike along a bike path in Tucson, AZ, where I was living at the time. I had been riding for quite some time, and pulled off the path for a moment to rest. As I looked down, I saw a beetle by my front tire, ambling along without…
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