tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88694008224677078512024-03-13T07:44:18.299-04:00HomiliesReflections from the Sisterhood of St John the Divine - A monastic community within the Anglican Church of CanadaSisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-8190021173823941872017-03-27T09:39:00.002-04:002017-03-27T09:44:00.772-04:00Homily for the Annunciation March 25, 2017, The Rev. Frances Drolet-Smith, Oblate SSJD<div class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Isaiah
7: 10–14 Hebrews 10: 4–10 Luke 1.26–38</span></span></div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There’s a little girl in
my congregation named Alyssa. She’s about 10 now, I guess. I
baptised her when she was 5. She’s an amazing kid. On the day of
her baptism she was beaming, I kid you not. When the liturgy began,
she stood in her pew with her family and I asked her “Do you desire
to be baptised?, she replied in a big, clear outside voice, “I
do!”. She has a remarkably keen sense of God’s presence in her
life and she is very open about the frank conversations she has with
God in her prayers. She often up-stages me during the children’s
talk (and sometimes during the sermon) with her astute answers and
profound insights. This past Christmas Eve, as the children were
sharing symbols of the Incarnation with the congregation, Alyssa went
‘off script’ and declared in that big, clear, outside voice of
hers, “Mary was Jesus’ first home”. Just think about that for
a minute – “Mary was Jesus’ first home” – it’s an
astonishingly accurate observation.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Today we hear the story of
the Annunciation; of the angel’s invitation to Mary to become
Jesus’ first home. “You will conceive in your womb and bear a
son, and you will name him Jesus – do not be afraid – you have
found favour with God.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the Hebrew scripture
appointed for today, Isaiah actually foretells this story: Look, a
young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name
him Immanuel. Immanuel – God with us, or perhaps more accurately,
God at home with us. God came to nest with Mary – and Joseph, first
in a stable, then in exile, then in the apartment behind the
carpenter’s shop. But what about now? Where does God live
now? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some years ago, I spent a
summer working as a chaplain in a psychiatric hospital in Montreal.
It was a hard job – one I wasn’t sure I could do. The patients I
was assigned to work with suffered from distressing illnesses that
caused them to hallucinate or hear voices. They were often fearful,
suspicious, frightened. They were all ages – some elderly, some
middle aged. One patient was 22, my age at the time. Her name was
Debby. Most of the time, she sat in the day-room, her arms wrapped
around her, hugging herself and rocking. She seldom spoke, just made
a low moaning sound. One morning, we learned she was being
transferred to a “secure” or locked unit for specialized
treatment, and as the orderly wheeled her away, she asked me
anxiously, “Fran, does God love me?” She was crying and soon, so
was I, and to comfort her, I said, though to be honest, I’m not
sure I believed it at the time, “Yes, Debby, God does love you!”
About two weeks later, Debby returned to our unit. I almost
didn’t recognize her. She was walking upright. Her blonde hair
was combed and gently braided on her shoulder. She was smiling –
actually, she was beaming. She came over to me in the day room with
her arms outstretched. She said, “You were right, Fran! God does
love me!” and she hugged me. I thought, “Finally! I’ve gotten
through to someone!” I asked her how she knew God loves her. She
said, “He told me – he delivers the mail on the locked ward.”</span></span></div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At first I was disappointed
– I hadn’t gotten “through” at all; I thought perhaps I had
been too optimistic, too naive. I guessed that this woman wasn’t
really cured at all – she was obviously still hallucinating,
perhaps even hearing voices, if she thought God was the postie on
the locked ward. And then it hit me. If God can come as a child
born in a stable, then who says he can’t be a postie on a locked
ward? Something in that postie’s manner – did he speak a kind
word? Did he smile at her? Did he treat her like a person, and not
merely a patient? If we believe, as we say we do, that Christ takes
“our nature upon him”, that God has made us in his image, then
aren’t we, like Mary, meant to “bear” God – to bring Christ
to others, not by what we “give” them, but by who we are? Jesus
told his disciples that if they loved him, truly loved him, then he
would dwell within them. And people will know you belong to me, that
you are my disciples, if you show love. Wherever you are, he said, I
am in your midst. So, then, where does God “live” now?</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjAe82l3EXfnU7IatsoEs0riaGR-g93JF1HmrQHgZRS5dzlUAzxDU4MmyuirruAJICHz8oFxr3VoxKk10CzkyaSiGrKpgZadb_NA93Pwnld5OJyQw36pNalqOGkGmEzTtdX88Z-_e7VL0/s640/blogger-image--301903538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjAe82l3EXfnU7IatsoEs0riaGR-g93JF1HmrQHgZRS5dzlUAzxDU4MmyuirruAJICHz8oFxr3VoxKk10CzkyaSiGrKpgZadb_NA93Pwnld5OJyQw36pNalqOGkGmEzTtdX88Z-_e7VL0/s320/blogger-image--301903538.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Rev. Frances Drolet-Smith, Oblate SSJD with retreatant. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well, I think God lives in
a high-rise on the waterfront, in a rooming house on Pleasant Street
near my church and on the sidewalk where a homeless woman sleeps on a
heating grate to stay warm. God dwells in the refugee camp and
in the slums, in the mud hut and in the 4-bedroom house in the
suburbs. God inhabits the hospital room and nursing home,
resides where there is peace and where there is no peace, sits at the
table teaming with food and at the one where there’ll be an empty
place this Christmas. And I hope he still has a job delivering the
mail on the locked ward. </span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes, indeed, Alyssa, “Mary
was Jesus’ first home”. And God continually comes to nest in each
one of us, inviting us to be a place of welcome in the world. Thanks
be to God.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-CA" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
Rev. Frances Drolet-Smith, Oblate SSJD</span></span></div>
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Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-54108887635324099312017-03-15T10:57:00.000-04:002017-03-15T10:57:03.394-04:00HOMILY - Lent 2A, March 12, 2017 Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Lent/ALent2_RCL.html#ot1"><span style="color: #00000a;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Genesis
12:1-4a</span></i></span></a><i> </i><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Lent/ALent2_RCL.html#ps1"><span style="color: #00000a;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Psalm
121</span></i></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Lent/ALent2_RCL.html#nt1"><span style="color: #00000a;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">Romans
4:1-5, 13-17</span></i></span></a><i> </i><a href="http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Lent/ALent2_RCL.html#gsp1"><span style="color: #00000a;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;">John
3:1-17</span></i></span></a></div>
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Nicodemus has been hooked by Jesus.
He’s been watching him, listening to him, wondering about him. Nic
has also heard all kinds of criticism about him from his colleagues –
the Pharisees. (I hope you don’t mind me calling him Nic – he has
come to seem quite real to me, and Nic just seems too formal for
someone I have gotten to know quite well from a spiritual point of
view.)
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Like the rest of the Pharisees (who
were the spiritual leaders of the Jews in Jesus’ time) Nic keeps
the Jewish law impeccably – not only the spirit of the law as given
by Moses, not only the prescriptions in the book of Leviticus that go
way beyond the Ten Commandments in detail and difficulty, but also
all the intricate details of the laws that the scribes wrote as
commentaries on the laws in Leviticus. Nic was a shining role model
among the Pharisees.</div>
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And yet something about Jesus caught
his attention and wouldn’t let it go. Jesus, who always seemed to
be stretching the limits of the law, like healing people on the
Sabbath when no work was to be done; Jesus, who liked sharing meals
with the ritually impure; Jesus who liked offending the social mores
of the day by sleeping on the road with his disciples having no fixed
residence; Jesus who told stories that seemed to make outsiders seem
more moral than the Pharisees, as in the parable of the Good
Samaritan.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We can guess what might have intrigued
Nic about Jesus. Maybe he had become a little discouraged or even
bored with his job studying the commentaries on commentaries on
commentaries about the law. Maybe he was longing for something more
fulfilling in his life, something that would light a fire in his
heart, not just be fodder for his brain. Maybe he deeply needed real
spiritual friendship, the kind that Jesus offered to his disciples.
In other words, maybe Nic is having a vocational crisis. Is he meant
to be a Pharisee – or a follower of Jesus?</div>
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But it’s dangerous to admit this up
front, or even to ask too many questions in public – and so he
comes to Jesus at night when he is less likely to be noticed by his
Pharisee colleagues. And you can hardly blame him. He’s exploring,
questioning, maybe even hoping that this Jesus has something better
to offer, that he might even be the Messiah. But he doesn’t know
yet and so unlike the other disciples he’s more cautious -- he
doesn’t want to burn his bridges until he knows more about this
handsome, charismatic young prophet Jesus.</div>
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He says to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, we know
that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these
signs that you do apart from the presence of God.”</div>
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With the title “Rabbi” or “teacher”
Nic is acknowledging that Jesus has a certain personal and spiritual
authority even though he does not have an official place in the
establishment. But clearly he knows there is more to Jesus than
being a talented Rabbi. He is trying to understand. Like Abram in
our first reading from Genesis, he is responding to a call from God
to leave the place where he lives – not literally, but in terms of
his position and authority – and to go somewhere new, somewhere
unknown. It is a spiritual journey Nic sets out on when he comes to
see Jesus at night.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And what does Jesus say? “Very
truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being
born from above.” Nic takes this very literally, and asks Jesus
how a person can possibly enter into the mother’s womb a second
time and be born again.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Jesus responds by trying to explain
that he is talking about a spiritual birth – a birth that comes
from the Spirit. And he seems amazed that Nic doesn’t understand
this. Jesus tries to help him by saying “The wind blows where it
chooses, and you hear the sound of it but you do not know where it
comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of
the Spirit.”
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<br /></div>
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But this just seems more puzzling to
Nic. “How can these things be?” he asks. Remember he is a
Pharisee, a literalist, and he probably hasn’t had much practice in
understanding metaphors. So he just doesn’t get it. “Are you a
teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?”
Jesus asks. Well, we might feel the same way as Nic if we went to
Jesus and he responded that way.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Nic, like ourselves sometimes, has to
get the truth from his head to his heart, to know experientially that
the Spirit of God cannot be controlled by us. We have no control
over the wind, and even the most talented meteorologists can’t
always predict where it’s going to go next. Likewise we have no
idea how the Spirit might play in our lives, how God might use us, or
what will happen if we respond to God’s call.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Abram couldn’t have predicted how the
Spirit would blow through his life, nor could any of our ancestors in
the faith, ancient or modern. People like Martin Luther King, like
Gandhi, like Mother Teresa – all of them simply responded to God’s
call to go on a journey. They blessed more people than the stars in
heaven. But they couldn’t have known that ahead of time.</div>
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Nor can we. Nor could Jesus. The one
thing we do know is that somehow, mysteriously, we have a part in the
way God works out the divine purpose. The journey God calls each of
us to is a road that leads to the working out of God’s plan, the
Kingdom of God.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And that is summed up by gospel writer
John. After we have listened to this conversation between Nic and
Jesus, we are thrown back on the simple, glorious truth that “God
loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Martin Luther called this short verse
“the gospel in miniature.” And indeed, it sums up everything we
know about God’s self-giving love, about Jesus’ faithfulness and
obedience even to death, about the grace of forgiveness and new life
that we receive from this gift of God’s love.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Abraham left his home to go out into a
new, unknown world, and died of old age. Jesus followed God’s call
for him even though it meant death at a young age. Nic became a
follower of Jesus (at least we assume that because he brought Jesus’
expensive myrrh and aloes to anoint Jesus’ body after the
crucifixion).
</div>
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May we have the faith of Abraham, the
courage of Nic, and the love of Jesus that allows us to say “yes”
to whatever call God puts in our hearts. And may we never forget
that God watches over our going out and our coming in, and will make
us a blessing to all those whose lives we touch.<br />
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Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-32929237885073603512017-03-15T10:55:00.004-04:002017-03-15T10:55:41.494-04:00Homily for Lent 1 - Year A The Rev. Claudine Carlson <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-f7e8aff9-d26e-a31d-662e-9199038237b2" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the sake of clarity. it’s helpful to know that you’ll be hearing a different kind of sermon today. It will be delivered as a first person narrative, and the words you hear come from an unexpected, even shocking source. Though I caution you to be skeptical of the speaker’s spin on what happened, I nonetheless believe that his thoughts offer important insights into the nature of Jesus’ temptations, as well as our own.</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before hearing from our guest preacher, however, I invite you to close your eyes and recall a wilderness time in your own life. A time when you had some important decision to make and were confused about which path to take. A time when you felt very alone as you searched for answers…</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m reluctant to begin my time with you on a negative note, but I consider myself an honest person and need to let you know, right up front, that I object to that lesson you just read. In fact, I find it downright offensive. To begin with, this inaccurate, one-sided account of what happened puts me in a very bad and most unfair light. And next - and this really, really ticks me off -the story doesn’t even get my name right! I’m referred to as “the devil”! The DEVIL!! That’s NOT my name. My name is “Lucifer” and it means “angel of light”. It’s the name given to me by the Lord God, Almighty, for heaven’s sake… and it’s the name my friends call me. So at least that’s straight now, right? Okay. We can move along now.</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me make it clear that I like Jesus just fine. He’s a bright young man with good intentions, but incredibly and dangerously naive. Green as spring grass. He doesn’t have a clue about how things really work on planet earth. Amazing to me how a person with a good brain like his can be so utterly stupid about things that matter… like how to get by in this life. But he doesn’t. And that’s where I can help him - that’s why I tried to help him. After all, I am the “Prince of this world”, and if I don't know how things work and how to get things done here - on earth - then let me assure you, nobody does. NOBODY!</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus had recently been baptized by John when I first met him. Quite the hell raiser, that John was. Way too serious for my taste, but I had to respect his fire. Anyway, Jesus saw this as the beginning of his ministry and, wisely enough, wanted to take some time to think about the “what-happens-next?” sorts of questions. Do some strategizing - to work on a game plan, you know?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Finally I appealed to his mission. Presumably he came to this world for the sake of this world, so I gave him a vision of all the kingdoms on earth - the world he came to help, to “save”. He could’ve had it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">all </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in his pocket if only he’d agree to worship me. Now please understand that I wasn’t demanding complete and total allegiance - I know better than almost anyone that you humans have divided, complex hearts and motivations. I just wanted him to acknowledge that, in the earthly realm, I’m the boss - the “go-to” guy. Recall that I </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">am</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the “prince of this world”. And since he was operating on my territory, it seemed like a reasonable request.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he says He just doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand that you can be an upstanding, religious person and still show devotion to me…. and to the ways of the world </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in which we live! </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> He’s a purist, an idealogue. “Love the Lord your God only”! Good grief, I know plenty - </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">plenty </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- of religious men and women who care more about their bank accounts than they do about God. And they’re fine people - people you’d be proud to call your friends. More than likely, people who already are your friends. But Jesus…. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This man is so </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">frustrating</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! I just couldn’t reason with him. Couldn’t get him to understand - or even listen to - the most effective, time-tested ways of winning people’s hearts and minds… which, of course, is what you have to do if you’re going to make a difference in the world. He wants to help people - fine. But you know and I know that you have to look out for yourself first. He’s not doing that, and so he’s made mistakes - big mistakes. And he keeps making them.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For starters, he hangs around with the wrong people. Seems to just love the down and outs and losers - whores, tax collectors, lepers. He’d rather spend time with them than with the folks who could really advance his career. He also seems to delight in offending the truly religious people who could assist him. He treats the nobodies like they’re somebodies and the </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">real </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">somebodies like they’re nothing special at all. It’s as though he lumps the good people in with the great unwashed sinners of the world. Well, I’ve known a sinner or two in my day, and I can tell you there are much bigger (and better!) sinners than Jesus’ nemesis, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Caiaphas, the high priest. In my opinion, he’d do well to make friends with him…. and to do so in a hurry.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, yes, I’m concerned. But I still have hopes he’ll listen to me…. that it’s not too late. As I said, he’s a bright young man, a quick study. He could turn things around even now if he’d just take my advice. But if he doesn’t, he’s on a dangerous path indeed; in a short time, he’ll be past the point of no return, and even I won’t be able to help him. The clock is ticking and Jesus needs to make a choice. Change course, listen to me, and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">live</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, so that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">his </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">voice will continue to be heard…. or keep on going the direction he’s going. Mark my words, people, and mark them well. If he stays on this current path - doesn’t make an about-face and make it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">quickly</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - he will soon be a dead man.Trust me when I say I’m not exaggerating here. They </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">will </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">kill him and he </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">will </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be a dead man. And let me ask you the same question I’ll ask him when next I see him: Honestly now, of what </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">possible use is a dead man?!?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 17.3333px; font-style: normal;">The Rev. Claudine Carlson </span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1Qb_Cdyd1D-J1FyMXg3bzaFVdAxq-dTBbNBBc_FBhln8gXR5eHoB5eZ7QnB-qzLc0Ma2ecAy6Gb8T0ggFoNBdGkmkCbAVFw3skwZUfBMy1o-IKIf3XCqXfTaSFoZbr5WUeMfSvZSfAku/s1600/claudine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV1Qb_Cdyd1D-J1FyMXg3bzaFVdAxq-dTBbNBBc_FBhln8gXR5eHoB5eZ7QnB-qzLc0Ma2ecAy6Gb8T0ggFoNBdGkmkCbAVFw3skwZUfBMy1o-IKIf3XCqXfTaSFoZbr5WUeMfSvZSfAku/s320/claudine.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Reverend Claudine Carlson, SSJD Alongsider</td></tr>
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Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-53269883025083178652017-03-01T21:32:00.000-05:002017-03-01T21:32:54.994-05:00HOMILY: Ash Wednesday, preached by Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD at Massey College<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Massey College, St. Catherine’s Chapel, March 1, 2017</div>
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Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD</div>
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Joel 2:1-2,29-35<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></div>
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Ps 103:8-18</div>
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Mathhew 6: 1-6, 16-21</div>
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In the Name of God, for the Love of God, to the Glory of God. Amen.</div>
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There was an interesting (and to me really funny) story in the news last Thursday about a 21-year old man who drove his SUV into the streetcar tunnel down at Queen’s Quay. It took eight people to get him out with a special crane that ran on tracks, and the incident diverted streetcar traffic for several hours during the morning rush hour. Lots of money lost and spent for the city and the TTC. And his penalty? A fine of merely $425!</div>
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But why did he do do such a thing the police asked? “I was just following my GPS” he said!</div>
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I think Ash Wednesday – and Lent as a whole – is about exactly that – following our GPS, or recalibrating when we have gotten off track. But the GPS we should be following is what one of my Sisters calls the God Positioning System – not that annoying disembodied voice that hounds you to turn left even if you want to turn right, even if turning left is going to lead you into a traffic jam, or Lake Ontario – or a streetcar tunnel. And when you don’t follow the voice’s instructions it just gets more and more stressed – until finally it gives up in despair and says “recalibrating, recalibrating, recalibrating.”</div>
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<a href="https://ssjdcompanions.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/gps-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="https://ssjdcompanions.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/gps-1.jpg" width="200" /></a>Our God Postioning System doesn’t do that. Its voice is not pushy or insistent. Rather it offers a gentle invitation to recalibrate our lives, to look at what is really important to us and set our course anew. Ash Wednesday, with the ritual of the imposition of ashes, is a reminder of our mortality. We have come from the dust of the earth and our bodies will return there. But that is not the end of the story because we are created by the original GPS – the voice of the creating God who said “let us make humankind in our image.” God’s image is stamped on us. And because we are made in God’s image we too have the gift of creativity and freedom – the freedom to choose which GPS we want to follow.</div>
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The scripture readings for today help us to do that. At first, though, it may seem as if we’re listening to two conflicting GPS voices. “Blow the trumpet,” says the prophet Joel, “sound an alarm – a day of darkness and deep gloom is coming. Call on the name of the Lord – anyone who does will be saved.”</div>
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But then in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says “do not blow the trumpet” – don’t blow your own horn to advertise your piety. Practice your prayer and your care for the poor privately. Go into you room and shut the door and the God who created you, who sees you everywhere, will reward you. And Jesus makes it clear in other places that the reward we will receive is not an earthly reward but the reward of an intimate relationship with the God who created us and loves us</div>
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So which voice do we listen to? Blow the trumpet or don’t blow the trumpet? Well, both of course.Both are proclaiming the same essential message – pay attention to what is happening in the world around you, and position yourself so you are grounded, rooted, in the love of a God who said at Jesus’ baptism, and again on the mount of Transfiguration, “this is my Son, the Beloved – listen to him.”</div>
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Call the community to prayer, Joel says, that we may repent of our preoccupation with things, with what the Hebrew prophets constantly call “false gods.” Call on God’s name, not on the name of wealth or power or greed or ambition.</div>
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Go to prayer yourself, Jesus tells us – enter into that place of intimacy with God your creator where you too can hear God say “you are my beloved son, my beloved daughter.”</div>
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Both these voices of Ash Wednesday call us to a holy Lent, a Lent that is not about false piety or spiritual practices that we undertake just because we think we ought to, but a Lent where the trumpet calls the community to prayer, and where the inner voice calls the individual to prayer, and where individual and community come together to respond to Jesus’ invitation to accept his gift of himself – to receive the bread and wine of the Eucharist, the nourishment we need if we are to stay on course, to know we are God’s beloved sons and daughters..</div>
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And that is what it means to keep a holy Lent. Let me close with a story from the second century Christian literature, from a book called The Shepherd of Hermas.</div>
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"I was sitting on a hillside, rather pleased with myself. I was fasting, as I often did, denying myself food, and getting up very early to climb the mountain and pray. I felt in this way I could repay the Lord for some of the difficult things he went through for me. But then the shepherd approached me.</div>
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<br /></div>
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"What are you doing up here so early in the morning?" he asked.</div>
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"I'm observing a fast," I said, "to the Lord."</div>
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"What sort of a fast is that?"</div>
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"Oh, my usual. I abstain from food. Deny myself luxuries. Get up early. And pray."</div>
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The shepherd didn't look impressed.</div>
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"That's not the sort of fast that pleases the Lord," he said. "That's not what God asks of you."</div>
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He could see the puzzled look on my face.</div>
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<br /></div>
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"Look, God does not want you to deny yourself good things. That is no road to holiness. A true fast is to deny yourself bad things: keep God’s commandments, do what God says, reject evil thoughts and desires the moment they enter your imagination. Reject what is wrong and serve God with a simple, uncomplicated heart. If you do that, you are fasting – fasting in a way that pleases the Lord."</div>
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<br /></div>
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Listen to the voice of your GPS: you are my son, my daughter, my beloved.</div>
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Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-43144078082784375192016-12-29T10:53:00.000-05:002017-01-02T11:07:47.814-05:00Homily, Thursday in Christmas Week preached by Sr. Constance Joanna SSJD<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-CA"><b>St.
John’s Convent, December 29, 2016</b></span></span></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: arial, serif;">Sr.
Constance Joanna</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-CA"><i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A7-11&version=NRSV" target="_blank"><br /></a></i></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-CA"><i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+John+2%3A7-11&version=NRSV" target="_blank">1John 2:7-11 </a><br /><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+96%3A1-9&version=NRSV" target="_blank">Psalm 96:1-9</a></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-CA"><i><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A22-35&version=NRSV" target="_blank">Luke2:22-35</a></i></span></span></span></div>
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“You is kind. You is smart. You is
important.”</div>
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These are the theme words that are
spoken in the beautiful 2011 film The Help. It takes place at the
height of the American Civil Rights Movement in 1963 in Jackson,
Mississippi – ostensibly the worst of all the states for its
mistreatment and persecution of African Americans.</div>
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Aibileen, the black housemaid for a
prominent and wealthy Jackson family, says to the toddler she looks
after, in her southern black Creole dialect: “You is kind. You is
smart. You is important.” She makes the child repeat the words. And
when Aibileen is later fired because she has spoken out against the
injustices to African Americans, she speaks these words to the child
again, and again makes her repeat them. “You is kind. You is smart.
You is important.” As she leaves the house, the toddler screams
after her, “Aibileen, don’t leave.” Aibileen is the only person
in her life who has made her feel special, who has taught her that
she is loved.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The words are in strong contrast to the
institutionalized racism of the south. Somehow Aibileen must have
grown up hearing these words from her own mother – how else could
she possibly have survived the verbal abuse she received from her
white employers? Particularly the “you is kind” part.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But would this white toddler that she
looks after grow up to teach her children that they were special and
loved? Or would she simply interpret the words as an expression of
her own sense of entitlement? Would she be kind as well as smart and
important? That is an issue at the heart of today’s readings.</div>
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In the gospel, Mary and Joseph bring
their child to be presented to God in the temple, and they make the
customary offering required of a poor family – a couple of small
birds. They did what many young couples did at the time. But there
was something special about this child and this event. Simeon, known
to the people in Jerusalem as a holy man who prayed for the coming of
the Messiah, took the child in his arms and praised God in the words
we have come to know as the Song of Simeon and which we sing at
Compline every night:</div>
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He could now die rejoicing because his
hope had been fulfilled:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Lord, now you are dismissing your
servant in peace,<br />according to your word;<br />for my eyes have seen your salvation,<br />which you have prepared in the presence
of all peoples,<br />a light for revelation to the Gentiles<br />and for glory to your people Israel.
(Luke 2:29-32)</blockquote>
</div>
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How that song must have warmed the
hearts of Mary and Joseph – and most likely the child as well. Even
at 40 days old, a child knows when he or she is loved; a child can
feel the meaning of the words “you are special, you are kind, you
are smart.” Even if they can’t yet process the words
intellectually, they know they mean “you are loved.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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And Simeon’s song was not the first
time that Mary and Joseph had heard words about their special child.
Mary heard them from the angel Gabriel. Joseph heard the message when
an angel spoke to him in a dream. Mary heard it again when she
visited her cousin Elizabeth and the child in Elizabeth’s womb
leapt for joy, Elizabeth responding with the words “blessed are you
and blessed is the child in your womb.” They both heard it on the
night of Jesus’ birth, from angels and from shepherds. This child
is special, holy, loved. He will also be kind, and smart, and
important – not self-important but important because he is God’s
beloved and important to salvation history.</div>
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And – Simeon now adds when he blesses
Mary and Joseph – “he is destined for the falling and the rising
of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the
inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce
your own soul too” (Luke 2:34)</div>
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This holy and special child has come to
teach that every human being is holy and special, and that message is
going to threaten the establishment – as it did 2,000 years later
in Jackson, Mississippi. And as it is doing now in Europe and North
America.</div>
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Writing nearly 100 years after Jesus’
birth, and with the hindsight of the events of Jesus’ life, death
and resurrection, someone in the community of St. John wrote:</div>
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Whoever says, “I am in the light,”
while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever
loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person
there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates another believer
is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way
to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness. (1 John 2:9-11)
</div>
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This is a really strong reminder that
while God has created each of us to be unique, special, holy – to
be God’s beloved – we have also been created to share that love,
to love others as God loves us.
</div>
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The toddler’s mother in the movie
declares “I am a Christian woman” and yet she has no respect for
either the lower classes of white people she calls “white trash”
or for black people. But Aibileen demonstrates a love for her own
children and her own people as well as for the rich white children
she looks after and for the ostracized “white trash.” Her love is
universal, and like Jesus it drives her to work for justice.</div>
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Aibileen is clearly a follower of
Jesus, and she lives out Jesus’ teachings. She is also a kind of
Simeon who can raise up a child and say “you are special.”
</div>
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May you be kind, sharing Jesus’ love
with all.</div>
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May you be smart – smart enough to
know how desperately others need your love.</div>
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And may you know you’re important –
not with the self-importance that can cause us to treat each other
unkindly, but with the importance that comes from knowing we are
God’s beloved and are meant to share God’s love in every way we
can.</div>
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-52572063709229817982016-12-27T10:19:00.000-05:002017-01-02T13:10:02.555-05:00Homily for St. John’s Day, December 27, 2016<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Rev. Lucy Reid, Incumbant of St. Aidan in the Beach, Toronto</span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Readings:
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="en-CA">Sirach
15:1-6; Psalm 93; 1 John 1:1-9 John 21:19-24</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It’s
such a privilege and a pleasure for me to be here with you on your
patronal festival. Thank you. And may I wish you all a merry
Christmas and a hopeful new year.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
want to share some reflections that come from the writings of John
Philip Newell on John the Evangelist, or John the Beloved as he is
sometimes called. Newell writes that in the Celtic tradition when
John leans into Jesus at the last supper he is listening to the
heartbeat of God. And, seen that way, Newell writes: </span></span></span></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>He
became a symbol of the practice of listening—listening deep within
ourselves, within one another, and within the body of the earth for
the beat of the Sacred Presence.</i></span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">And
he continues: </span></span></span></span>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Do
we know that within each one of us is the unspeakably beautiful beat
of the Sacred? Do we know that we can honor that Sacredness in one
another and in everything that has being? And do we know that this
combination—growing in awareness that we are bearers of Presence,
along with a faithful commitment to honor that Presence in one
another and in the earth—holds the key to transformation in our
world?</i></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">-Newell,
</span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The
Rebirthing of God</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">, 2014
(Skylight: New York) xvii.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;">In the
passage from Sirach that we heard before the gospel today, describing
the one who seeks and finds Wisdom, it says that such a one “will
lean on her.” This echoes the image of John leaning into Jesus, who
embodied Holy Wisdom. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;">When we
encounter true wisdom, we discover or remember who we are, and who
God is.</span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As
Newell writes, </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The
gospel is given to tell us what we do not know or what we have
forgotten, and that is who we are, sons and daughters of the One from
whom all things come. It is when we begin to remember who we are, and
who all people truly are, that we will begin to remember also what we
should be doing and how we should be relating to one another as
individuals and as nations and as an entire earth community.</i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">John
Philip Newell, </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Christ
of the Celts</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">,
2008 (Jossey-Bass: San Francisco) p7-8.</span></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
contemplative life, as you know better than I, enables us to listen
to the heartbeat of God, to hear our true name, to see as God sees
with compassion and hope. Sometimes the contemplative life simply
enables us to keep calm and carry on in the midst of the messy
brokenness and pain of the world around.</span></span></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
contemplative way helps us all to see the treasure hidden in the
field, the Christ child in the most ordinary of places, the
handprints of God in all of creation.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Newell
shares another image to convey this hidden truth:</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>A
nineteenth-century teacher in the Celtic world, Alexander Scott, used
the analogy of royal garments. Apparently in his day, royal garments
were woven through with a costly thread, a thread of gold. And if
somehow the golden thread were taken out of the garment, the whole
garment would unravel. So it is, he said, with the image of God woven
into the fabric of our being. If it were taken out of us, we would
unravel. We would cease to be. So the image of God is not simply a
characteristic of who we are, which may or may not be there,
depending on whether or not we have been baptized. The image of God
is the essence of our being. It is the core of the human soul. We are
sacred not because we have been baptized or because we belong to one
faith tradition over another. We are sacred because we have been
born.</i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">-
Newell, </span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>Christ
of the Celts</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">,
2008 (Jossey-Bass: San Francisco) 2-4.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">John
the Beloved shows us this golden thread. </span></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">May
we, like him, lean into the loving heart of Jesus, lean into Wisdom,
and listen to the heartbeat of God. Amen.</span></span></span></span></div>
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Read about Lucy Reid's spiritual journey <a href="http://staidansinthebeach.com/lucys-journey/#more-2233" target="_blank">HERE </a><br />
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Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-22435934473701331502016-12-05T20:34:00.000-05:002016-12-05T20:50:05.305-05:00Homily: Advent 2, Year A<div style="text-align: justify;">
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St. John’s Convent, December 4, 2016</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Isaiah 11.1-10<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Psalm 72.1-7, 18-19</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Romans 15.4-13 <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Matthew 3.1-12</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
CHARLIE THE BAPTIST</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” (Isaiah 40.3; Matthew 3.3)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the classic TV animated film first shown in 1965, Charlie is a typical post-modern guy going through an existential crisis as he is growing up. He feels bad about himself: a failure, unloved, ridiculed, alienated from his culture but seeking meaning in his life, desperate to be accepted, longing for unconditional love which he has found not in his peers, not yet in God, but in his beloved and faithful dog. (Don’t forget though that dog is God spelled backward!)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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In 2016 Charlie is just as relevant as he was 50 years ago. It seems as if a lot has changed in western society – and it has – but one thing that has not changed is peoples’ longing for God, for acceptance, for belonging, for love.</div>
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When the story opens, Charlie is feeling depressed. He hates the commercialization of Christmas but doesn’t understand why because he doesn’t really understand Christmas. He goes to Lucy for psychiatric help and the advice she gives him is to direct a Christmas play – she is sure that will give him the “Christmas spirit” (whatever that is) and will get him out of his doldrums.</div>
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But Charlie doesn’t have an easy job keeping a bunch of rude and unruly children focussed on a Christmas play. He probably feels like John the Baptist and would like to yell “you brood of vipers!” except that he doesn’t have the courage to do so. His friends just erode his lack of self-confidence more and he gets more despondent. He decides the one thing that might make the whole play hang together is a Christmas tree. Lucy wants him to get a nice shiny aluminum tree, but he is determined to find a real one – and ends up with the last one on the lot – a straggling, struggling little rut of a tree – rather a projection of Charlie’s view of himself.</div>
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When he gets the tree back to the auditorium where they’re rehearsing the play, all the kids mock him and make fun of the tree before leaving Charlie alone with the tree and Linus. Charlie cries the existentialist cry: “Does anyone know what Christmas is really about?” Or he might say, “is there any meaning to life?” Linus replies by reciting the narrative from Luke about the angels announcing Jesus’ birth to the shepherds.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjuUinXJKFkK3qYWZ8CUgp-pVn5h7Af_JoDtHlELBS9MNxaISo095jZOqGgYgkKEZn32RRHXWqBX37BMhZeoDOlSS2E3QABCZPEYlSQv4Kw9rOSXExWA6JApuOcENc2tAar-yEqPavEpnu/s1600/clip-art-charlie-brown-christmas-tree-tree-only.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjuUinXJKFkK3qYWZ8CUgp-pVn5h7Af_JoDtHlELBS9MNxaISo095jZOqGgYgkKEZn32RRHXWqBX37BMhZeoDOlSS2E3QABCZPEYlSQv4Kw9rOSXExWA6JApuOcENc2tAar-yEqPavEpnu/s320/clip-art-charlie-brown-christmas-tree-tree-only.jpg" width="284" /></a>Charlie regains enough composure to take the tree home to decorate, thinking that will help. The single ornament he puts on it makes the tree lopsided, even more ridiculous looking and he thinks he has killed the tree. But with Linus taking the lead, the other kids show up and take the decorations from Snoopy’s doghouse (presumably with Snoopy’s permission) and decorate the tree. The story ends joyfully with everyone singing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” and it reminds me of today’s passage from Romans:</div>
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May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15.5)</div>
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The little community of “Peanuts” has come together against all odds, overcome their differences, and harmoniously giving glory to Jesus. Charlie, in his vulnerability, has led them to that place of reconciliation and rejoicing.</div>
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Charlie, it seems to me, is a lot like John the Baptist, the “voice crying in the wilderness” which is the theme of the second Sunday of Advent. He is the one among the children who has a passionate longing for the coming of the Messiah, though he would not use that word. He knows there is something more that the values of the society he’s living in.</div>
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The same was true for John. He came proclaiming repentance in preparation for the coming of Jesus, “the one who is greater than I”. While Charlie wasn’t asking people to repent in the same way, his mission was certainly to prepare the way for Jesus, to open his own eyes to the truth of what Christmas is about and to get others to see. His seeking Lucy’s help, his agreeing to direct the play, his looking for a real tree instead of an aluminum one, were ways of preparing the way – both for himself, to get himself out of his depression, and for his friends, family, and schoolmates.</div>
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And that tree! – Isaiah tells us that the coming Messiah is the branch of Jesse – another way of saying the descendent of David. “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,” says Isaiah, “and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him . . . “ Charlie the Baptist’s tree reminds me of that branch of Jesse – just a small branch, a sapling really, like the tiny human born in a stable. Charlie’s tree reminds us of what great beauty can grow from something unremarkable – even “despised, forsaken, rejected” as Isaiah describes the Messiah in another place.</div>
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And on that small branch of Jesse, we read, will rest the Spirit of the Lord – the spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.</div>
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And his coming will bring healing for people and renewal for creation: the wolf and the lamb, the leopard and the kid, the calf and the lion – all will lie down together in the peaceable kingdom – “and a little child shall lead them.”</div>
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The little child in Isaiah reflects Jesus, the sapling, the little shoot from the root of Jesse. But it also reminds us of Charlie the Baptist or John the Baptist. John was, after all, only a few months older than his cousin Jesus. The vision of the Messiah was passed o to him from his parents Elizabeth and Zechariah. And so the grown-up John started as a sapling himself, a shoot form the roots of Elizabeth and Zechariah – one child preparing the way for another.</div>
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And what of us? Each of us is called to be a baptist, a forerunner – perhaps not literally baptizing people but certainly preparing the way for them to become followers of Jesus.</div>
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And how do we do that? I think the experience of Charlie and his friends can teach us a lot. We stick together. We help each other. We try our best to live in peace together just like the lion and the lamb. And after all is said and done, even when we give each other a hard time, even in conflict and hurt and misunderstanding, we help each other through the rough times, decorating a tree for someone who has hurt us or whom we have hurt when they are at the end of their rope as Charlie was, and allowing the beauty of the sapling to grow out of an unlikely beginning.</div>
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“They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain” Isaiah goes on to say. “For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.”</div>
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May each of us be open to be used by the Spirit to bring the knowledge of the Lord to those who are desperate to know about God and the Son and the Spirit. May each of us nurture the Jesse tree we have been given. And may we stand tall and straight, like beautiful trees ourselves, so that we may be signs of the coming Reign of God.</div>
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-36115282243971412452016-07-02T21:50:00.001-04:002016-07-02T21:51:17.630-04:00Canada Day preached by Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD<p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Homily: Canada Day</span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">St. John’s Convent, July 1, 2016</span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD</span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s5" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; font-style: italic;">Isaiah 32:1-5, 16-18</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; padding-left: 36px;"></span><span class="s5" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; font-style: italic;">Psalm </span><span class="s5" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; font-style: italic;">85:7-13</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s5" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; font-style: italic;">Colossians 3:12-17</span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; padding-left: 36px;"></span><span class="s5" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; font-style: italic;">John 15:12-17</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Canada Day is a special time for celebrating the goodness of our country – its values </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">of openness and inclusivity, it</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">s commitment to human rights and dignity, its courage in coming to grips with the dark side of its past </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">(</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">as with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">)</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, it’s leadership on the world stage in economic and social progress.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But it’s impossible to maintain that spirit of gratitude, or to celebrate this wonderful country, without an awareness of the unprecedented suffering of people in so many parts of the world, the increase in protectionism and nationalism in so many places including directly south of our border, and the violence that reigns in so many countries in place of democratic freedoms. </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">It makes me a little nostalgic for better times – or at least what seemed better at the time. </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">When I ive</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">d</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> in Detroit back in the 1970s, one of the most popular things to do at the beginning of July was to go down to the </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">International </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Freedom Festival </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">on the Detroit River. It </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">took place on the weekend closest to July 1 and July 4</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> and celebrated both Canada Day and U.S. Independence Day. It was fun to see p</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">eople </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">celebrating</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> on both sides of the river, in Detroit and Windsor</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">.</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> There would be a carnival atmosphere in both cities – both countries – with thousands of people celebrating the great value of freedom that we all felt was shared by Canada and the US. Barges in the middle of the river were the site of fabulous firework displays, and if you got tired of what was going on in one city you could get in your car and drive across the the bridge or the tunnel to the city on the other side. No one had to have a passport in those days to cross between the U.S. and Canada.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">T</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">he </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">International </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Freedom F</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">estival </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">no longer exists – beginning in 2007 it was split into two different events, one in Windsor and one in Detroit. To me that’s a sad commentary on what we understand as shared values of freedom and democracy, and </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">it </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">reminds me of the discouraging way in which </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">not only the U.S. but so-called free countries around the world are reacting to migration and the refugee crisis by putting up walls of regulations that we believe will protect us from each other.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I am so grateful to live in Canada, where we have enough walls of regulations ourselves but </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">at least </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">where many people – I woul</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">d hope most – are still open to</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> welcoming the strangers, refugees, people who know longer have a country of their own.</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">And yet we too are in danger of being sucked into the radical protectionism and nationalism that we are seeing in so many places around the world.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">The readings today call us to something different. The passage from Isaiah presents a vision of rulers who will reign with righteousness, with justice. The imagery in the passage is all life-giving: they will be “like a hiding-place from the wind . . . like streams of water in a dry place . . . like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.” And the rulers will no longer be fools </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">or villains; </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">they will exercise</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> good judgement. They will speak “readily and distinctly” – we might say truthfully and transparently. What an amazing vision.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Sometimes I think we </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">have caught it here in Canada</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, but sometimes I worry that we could so easily lose that vision which is so beautifully and seductively described in the psalm: </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">“my people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.” God will “give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">”</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">T</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">his does not happen magically or without struggle and courage. Paul speaks, in his letter to the Colossians, of our responsibility to help bring about this vision of peaceful government and</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> wise and generous leadership. </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">”As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindne</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">ss, humility, meekness, and pat</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">i</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">e</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">nce. Bear with one another . . . forgive one another . . let the peace of Christ rule in your hearst . . . and be thankful . . . teach and admonish one another . . .” And above all, Paul says, be grateful: “with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">In other words, a peaceful and just country comes from peaceful and just citizens</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> – and grateful ones</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">. We bear a responsibility in our own small spheres to treat one another the way we wish world leaders and countries would treat each other, not closing down our personal borders, not being isolationist, not being fearful of other people, not looking out just for ourselves.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Jesus </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">knew about the fear of those who are different. He knew about the fear that rises in our hearts when we are asked to welcome others into our midst. He knew about the courage needed to stay open to those who hate and fear you. And in the last days of his life, as he was walking with the disciples in the vineyard, he told them, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” That is the ultimate sacrifice demanded by the kind of leadership that Isaiah described. We lay down our lives – perhaps not physically (at least not often here in Canada) but spiritually and emotionally – to welcome the stranger.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">The events of these past 10 days have left me (and I’m sure many of you) feeling overwhelmed by evil in our world, and as we anticipate the events that will unfold this summer</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> in the U.S.</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, our courage can be shaken. Archbishop Fred Hiltz, writing about the attacks on the airport in Istanbul, called our church to prayer:</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s8" style="margin: 0px 36px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Join me in praying for all who travel and for all whose work is ensuring their security and safety.</span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s8" style="margin: 0px 36px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Let us remember before God all the victims of the bombings in Istanbul and their loved ones who grieve.</span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s8" style="margin: 0px 36px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Let us pray all those seriously injured an</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">d</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> traumatized and those who tend them in hospitals.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s8" style="margin: 0px 36px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Let us pray too for all who are perpetrators of religiously-based violence and the chaos it brings.</span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s8" style="margin: 0px 36px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Pray for conversion of hearts.</span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s8" style="margin: 0px 36px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Pray that the world be free of such crimes against humanity.</span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s8" style="margin: 0px 36px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Pray that we all live by the counsel given by God through his servant Micah: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindne</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">ss and to walk humbly with God.”</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I would add to this our prayer for the people of the United States as they move into the Republican National Convention in Cleveland which opens July 18 and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia the following week, that somehow the people of the United States may </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">have generous and wise hearts in the decisions they make.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I would add </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">also prayer for the discussion and vote on changes to the marriage canon that will come to our own General Synod next week, that our church may </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">show itself to be generous and</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">open and</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> inclusive.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"></span><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> </span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I would add prayer for Great Britain and the EU as they struggle with </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">the outcome of the Brexit vote, that they may resist the xenophobic extremist groups and continue to maintain a stance of openness to refugees, immigrants, and the dispossesed of their own country.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And for the hundreds of thousands of refugees desperate to get into Europe, thousands of whom have died in the Mediterranean.</span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">And finally, thinking of that freedom festival </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">in Detroit/Windsor,</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I leave you with the words inscribed on the Statute of Liberty in New York Harbour, because I think they express the very best</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">vision </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">of what </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">both our countries can be.</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">The words come from a poem written by Emma Lazarus in 1883</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">, and they were paraphrased in the litany we used this morning</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">. </span></span></p><p class="s8" style="margin: 0px 36px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">"Give me your tired, your poor,</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br></span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Your huddled masses yearni</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">ng</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> to breathe free,</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br></span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">The wretched refuse</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"> of your teeming shore.</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br></span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,</span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><br></span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">“Wretched refuse” – hard words, describing the way many people still treat refugees. “Desperate migrants” might better describe it today. May the USA and Canada and all countries </span><a name="_GoBack"></a><span class="s6" style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px;">be inspired to lift their lamps beside the golden door of safety, generosity, and welcome.</span></span></p>Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-86395804805644987902016-05-07T01:06:00.001-04:002016-05-07T01:16:18.913-04:00Homily for the Feast of St. John in Eastertide preached by The Reverend
Frances Drolet-Smith, Oblate/SSJD<p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">May 6, 2016</span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">John 20: 1 – 8 </span><span class="s5" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">1 John 1:1-9</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Have you noticed in </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">the </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">resurrection</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> narratives</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">,</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">that there are a lot of p</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">eople </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">running </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">in these stories? </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">They are either running from the tomb, to the tomb, or back </span><span class="s7" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; text-decoration: underline;">to</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> and forth </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">from</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">, the tomb. </span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">In John’s telling, Mary runs </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">from</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> the empty tomb to find Peter</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">,</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> the</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">n he and the</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> other disc</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">iple, the one whom Jesus loved, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">go racing back there, running neck and neck. The other disciple, who </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">in some</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> translations, is also known at the Beloved Disciple, actually beats Peter to the tomb. But </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">then he stops, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">just</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> at the opening, and</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> Peter goes rushing past him, straight to the </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">finish line</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> inside the tomb.</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Now, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">I know it wasn’t actually a race to see who got inside the tomb first. But that </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">tidbit </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">about the Beloved Disciple </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">kind of</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">throwing the race</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> is</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> an interesting </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">bit of </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">detail that the</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> writer of the story thought</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> worth mentioning.</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">While it may seem somewhat comical to us hearing it retold in our own day, all of this running thither and yon speaks to me of the sense of urgency, of the </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">panic, fear, maybe even dread</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">, that those first disciples must have felt</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">,</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> just 3 days after the worst day of their lives. </span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Mary Magdalene had been</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> first on the scene, and when she discovers the great stone </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">re</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">moved, she imagines the worst and</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> goes in search of Peter (</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">the already perceived leader of the group, despite his denial and </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">disappearance)</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> and she tells him. And so </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">that’s when </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">he and the other disc</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">iple, the one whom Jesus loved, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">scramble back there, jostling one another</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> on the way</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">. Surely w</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">e can identify with their</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> eagerness</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">. The evidence that something </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">untoward has happened</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">, is laid before</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> us</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">. Peter enters </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">the tomb first. With the same kind of forensic detail we have come to expect from the myriad of crime shows on television these days, there is a thorough description of the scene: the linen wrappings are there. The cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">isn’t</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> lying with the </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">rest of the </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">linen wrappings but was rather, rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple also went in. While the statement doesn’t say so in so many words, it is clear that </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">nothing else is in the tomb.</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">An extremely interesting fact is recorded in the witness statement: the other disciple, who</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">as has </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">already </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">been established,</span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">reached the tomb first, not only went in – he also “saw” (presumably meaning, that there was no </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">body</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">) – and he</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> believed</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">. </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">However, i</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">t’s not immediately clear </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">what</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> it is that he believed</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">.</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"></span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Had we read on another 2 verses to </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">kind of </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">finish the </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">though</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">t</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> or the </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">paragraph, we would have heard that “</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.”</span></span></p><p class="s8" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s8" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">These verses make</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> it clear that neither Peter </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">n</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">or the other disciple can </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">as </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">yet </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">comprehend the full implications of what they’ve seen</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> – and they won’t, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">until </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">they</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> connect it with the scriptures. </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">When they</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">return home to the rest of their company, all they can verify</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> is </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">that the tomb is </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">in fact empty</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">.</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Although</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> w</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">e can i</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">nfer from other passages in this Gospel</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">of John </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">that what the beloved disciple now believes is tha</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">t Jesus is who he </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">says he is;</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">verse 9, the verse we </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">didn’t </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">read, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">suggests that even in this belief, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">at this</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> point</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">, he</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> lacks</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> the proper</span><span class="s9" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">context </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">for understanding </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">that </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">what</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">they have witnessed is no mere disappearance – it i</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">s resurrection.</span></span></p><p class="s8" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">What </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">we</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> see unfolding here is the </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">very </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">essence of our </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Christian </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">faith</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">. </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">T</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">he resurrection is central to </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">us</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">,</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">for without it, we cannot, with any integrity, gather here and proclaim faith in a God who created us, a God who knows and loves us, who calls us by name and hears our cries, who </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">forgives with redeeming love, who </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">welcomes us </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">into the fold </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">with loving arms. </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Our God, the Keeper of Promises.</span></span></p><p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Though the</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">re is still some debate as to</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> the dates of when the Gospels were written, they were most assuredly completed before the close of the first century and </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">were </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">therefore </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">written by eyewitnesses or under the direction of eyewitnesses.</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> Likewise the epistles, the letters to the various </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">emerging </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">churches</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">,</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> give us </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">singular</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">ly enticing </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">snapshots </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">into the life of </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">early Christians; </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">for they chronicle</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">their </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">maturing faith</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">. In the portion from t</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">he first Letter of John we hear</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> a compelling statement from an eyewitness, reflecting on his experience: </span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s10" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">“what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—</span><span class="s10" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="s10" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it</span><span class="s10" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">; </span><span class="s10" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.</span><span class="s10" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="s10" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">We are writing these things so that our</span><span class="s10" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;"> </span><span class="s10" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">joy may be complete.”</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s11" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Imagine receiving that on a postcard from Ephesus on one of those days when your faith is weak and your resolve</span><span class="s11" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> faltering? </span><span class="s11" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Imagine receiving that message of </span><span class="s11" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">joy and </span><span class="s11" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">encouragement</span><span class="s11" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> on a day when your faith is strong and your </span><span class="s11" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">hope</span><span class="s11" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> buoyant. Wow! What a difference it would have made.</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Eugene Peterson says that </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">“we Christians are stationed at a crossroads. As people of an Easter faith, we are here to affirm the primacy of life over death, to give a witness to the connectedness and preciousness of all life, to engage in the practice of resurrection.”</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">This idea of practicing resurrection comes from a poem by Wendell Berry. He writes: </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">“every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it. Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.” </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">What if we were to really </span><span class="s6" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px; font-style: italic;">live</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> this faith we profess? </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">What if we were t</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">o </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">really </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">believe – and trust with that first century zeal?</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">Today we celebrate this Feast of</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> St. John, the Beloved disciple</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">, who saw – and believed – and practiced resurrection by living fully into the faith he professed. We </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">also </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">celebrate and give</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">thanks for this C</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">ommunity of Sisters which bears the name of the Beloved disciple, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">and with those who today make initial promises, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">with one who </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">renew</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">s her</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> promises, and </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">another who </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">make</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">s</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">her </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">life promises as Oblates of this Sisterhood. Together with Associates and </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">many </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">friends, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">and indeed the whole world, </span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">we</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;"> share the joy of the Resurrection and of our common life together. Amen</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">. Alleluia!</span></span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="line-height: 21.600000381469727px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p><p class="s4" style="text-align: start; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21.600000381469727px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">The Rev. Frances Drolet-Smith</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 16.799999237060547px;">, Oblate, SSJD</span></span></p><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tgnHpd0cHNKcdsO69pcK9pX0AeYHzJ70CoiLAAr0Hc8pxk3ZGdkKH6f5lWBCgilLJlpPIJ7-I9Yre07esGuGyiXQ7xHCIosjFND-ewkXIAi-zWHOy8K20h8bojhvOI1ZvYIUorfRcVdJ/s640/blogger-image-1228961399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tgnHpd0cHNKcdsO69pcK9pX0AeYHzJ70CoiLAAr0Hc8pxk3ZGdkKH6f5lWBCgilLJlpPIJ7-I9Yre07esGuGyiXQ7xHCIosjFND-ewkXIAi-zWHOy8K20h8bojhvOI1ZvYIUorfRcVdJ/s640/blogger-image-1228961399.jpg"></a></div><br></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br></div>Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-7025895233017480192016-05-02T17:36:00.000-04:002016-05-02T17:56:51.910-04:00"Community and Healing" - Homily for Easter 6c - Oblate Triennial Conference<div style="background: white; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">St. John’s Convent, May 1, 2016</span></b><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;"><br /><b>Homilist: Sr. Constance Joanna SSJD</b></span><span style="color: #646464; font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /><br /><b>Readings:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=329220526" target="_blank"> </a></span></b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;"><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=329220526" target="_blank">Acts 16.9-15</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=329220594" target="_blank"> </a></span><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=329220594" target="_blank">Psalm 67</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=329220647" target="_blank">Revelation 21.10,22 - 22.5</a> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=329220736" target="_blank">John 5.1-9</a></span></div>
<br />
It is wonderful to have this amazing family altogether for a week. I have heard both Sisters and Oblates comment that it’s a bit like a family reunion, and it’s true. It’s a family has changed and grown over the past three years. We have lost some dear Oblates, including those who were among the very first. We have lost some Sisters too. But we have gained new Oblates, and new Sisters. Our Alongsider program is healthy, and we are looking forward to welcoming both new Alongsiders and the first crop of Companions in September. The Spirit is surely moving among us.<br />
<br />
And we see that movement of the Spirit quite dramatically in our readings for this morning – readings that speak to us of community, of growth, and of healing. Growth and healing (whether individual or corporate) always take place in community. And that is a truth that goes back to the Hebrew scriptures, when God established a covenant with the Jewish people. The theme of covenant community – or intentional community as it’s often described today – is woven throughout the Hebrew scriptures and comes to a new flowering in the New Testament.<br />
<br />
The gospel narrative today is about community, or more accurately, about a man who is without community but finds it with Jesus. The man has been sick for many years. Because he has no friends or family to help him, he is unable to get into the pool which has the healing waters. No one has reached out to help him.<br />
<br />
When Jesus asks him if he wants to be made well, the man does what so many of us do – instead of saying “Yes!” he gives reasons why he cannot be healed – no one will help him be the first to get into the water when it is stirred up, he says. What does he mean? Well, the story behind the Pool of Siloam is that every so often an angel stirs up the water to make it turbulent, and the first person to get into it is the one who is healed. The image of turbulent water is a potent one in scripture. It is always associated with generativist, healing, and new life. And it’s a major theme in some of the key stories of the Easter Vigil – the creation story in Genesis when the Spirit of God moves over the face of the water, the story of Noah and the flood, of Jonah on the turbulent sea, of the Exodus. Today’s story reminds me also of Jesus calming the storm at sea – a story that so captured the imagination of the gospel writers that we actually have 6 different variations on it in the different gospels.<br />
<br />
The healing properties of the pool at Beth-zatha and the importance of the water being disturbed is a clue that something important is going to happen to the sick man. But interestingly the healing happens without the aid of the water.<br />
<br />
True miracles happen when we become aware of the presence of God in our lives. And that is what happens to this sick man. The promise of the turbulent water hasn’t helped him. For 38 years he has waited his turn to get into the pool when it is stirred up, and he has never made it. But the miracle happens when God walks into his life in the person of Jesus. He doesn’t even need to get into the water. We might think he has missed a kind of baptism. But the presence of Jesus trumps all ceremony, all magical beliefs about angels stirring up the waters. It even trumps the sacraments.<br />
<br />
Jesus simply ignores the water and says to the man, “Stand up, take up your mat and walk. “The man obeys. He trusts Jesus, and simply does what he is asked. At once he is healed. And because he is healed he no longer has to depend on his illness. He no longer has to beg. He is one of those people who discovered how following Jesus brought him into a community of love, where the healing power of Jesus has a ripple effect far beyond even the examples we have in the gospels.<br />
<br />
The early church began like that, with a group of friends and disciples who tried to follow the way of Jesus after the resurrection, and that’s why we read from the Book of Acts during the Easter season. The community of the first Christians was not so different from this little band of disciples here in this chapel this morning. It wasn’t so different from loving families, or strong parish communities in which people care for each other as well as those outside the church. The early Christians became Christ for one another. They brought resurrection to one another. They allowed God to work in them and through them.
And that is where the miracles come in. When we have our eyes open, we can see the presence of God everywhere, and when we are aware of the presence of God in our lives, then we can be open to being healed ourselves and also open to bring that healing love of God into the lives of others.<br />
<br />
Today’s reading from Acts describes a dramatic example of that. After the resurrection, the disciples had focussed primarily on spreading Jesus’ message within the Jewish community, and Peter was a leader in that mission. But then along came Paul, a Jew and a Roman citizen, and once he was converted to Christianity, he felt a strong call to share the gospel with the gentiles – those outside the Jewish community. So in today’s reading it’s significant that Paul has a vision – a message from that Holy Spirit really – that he should go to Macedonia, in Greek or gentile territory.<br />
<br />
When Paul and his companions come into Macedonia, they go to a place of prayer down near the river (there’s that water again!), and find a group of women there with their leader, Lydia. We are told that “the Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul,” she and her household were baptized, and she invited Paul and his companions to come and stay at her home. Lydia was a mother, the spiritual head of a household that would have included a large extended family, probably not a nuclear family as we might envision it’s the number of people who were baptised was probably quite large.
Lydia was responsible for that extended family, that new Christian community. She was also a merchant, we are told, a dealer in purple cloth. Like so many mothers of today, she had to multitask, looking after children, a large household, and her business. Even more, she was a missionary of sorts, helping to spread the gospel to the people in Macedonia, and undoubtedly getting other women in her circle involved in making the church inclusive of gentiles.<br />
<br />
What does this have to say to us in the church today? I think it is a call to us to get outside our comfort zone, to take our part in making our Christian communities welcoming and inclusive places – even more, reaching out beyond our communities to those outside the church.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7GBjKCyBjvM1Ul3FtcepVslVKcrJZSSidGuvd9p7Z7CuN1S5cNh2ioBiHqXfUrIkSK80dcKHiwH6cLZ8oeW0o9154JRUNKCbJmHVQxZteLpAUdH7EkKKIf16Xx5PaNFNjAM3qwaLqgV6/s1600/SSJD-SrCJ-2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV7GBjKCyBjvM1Ul3FtcepVslVKcrJZSSidGuvd9p7Z7CuN1S5cNh2ioBiHqXfUrIkSK80dcKHiwH6cLZ8oeW0o9154JRUNKCbJmHVQxZteLpAUdH7EkKKIf16Xx5PaNFNjAM3qwaLqgV6/s320/SSJD-SrCJ-2015.jpg" width="179" /></a>And in all of this, Jesus is here in our midst. All we have to do is recognize him. He is here in the faces of each other. He is here in the love we share with each other and those who share our journeys through life. In a special way he is here in the bread and wine of the Eucharist. Unlike the man by the pool of Beth-zatha, we do not now see Jesus in the flesh. But we know him in his risen body, and so we celebrate his presence in the sacrament of thanksgiving – the Eucharist. And we pray for healing and unity – in ourselves, in our churches and communities, in our world. As we receive the bread and wine of the sacrament we anticipate that time when the sacraments are superseded by Jesus himself.<br />
<br />
In the reading from the book of Revelation John gives us a vision of that time.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb... </blockquote>
This vision of the holy city, without a temple, without sacraments, with only the presence of God and the tree of life – is a vision of a restored Eden, but more than that, a vision of the unity, reconciliation, and peace that we so long for in our world and so desperately need to pray for. I’d like to end with a prayer for the fulfillment of that vision, taken from the last verse of my favourite Eucharistic hymn.
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So, Lord, at length when sacraments shall cease,
<br />
may we be one with all thy Church above,
<br />
one with thy saints in one unbroken peace,
<br />
one with thy saints in one unbounded love;
<br />
more blessèd still, in peace and love to be
<br />
one with the Trinity in Unity.</blockquote>
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-24521859471377534012016-03-25T20:56:00.000-04:002016-03-28T11:50:20.859-04:00At the Foot of the Cross<div class="s5" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-top: 0px;">
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<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">
<a href="https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://images.sharefaith.com/images/3/1236800855478_168/img_mouseover3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sharefaith.com/category/cross-clipart.html&h=388&w=248&tbnid=0JIjEVQLxL9iNM:&docid=4C105zJeqEEP1M&ei=Cyb0Vp3nM8r1jgSMpr_oAQ&tbm=isch&ved=0ahUKEwjdmKnM7tnLAhXKuoMKHQzTDx04ZBAzCEwoSTBJ" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
</a></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.17in;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The
following was written by the Rev. Canon C. Russell Elliott who lives
in Wolfville, N.S. He has had a long and creative ministry; nearing
his 99</i></span></span><sup><span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>th</i></span></span></sup><span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>
birthday, he is still active and sharing his faith and love with all
he meets. He has had a long association with the Sisterhood. His wife
bore his first two children – boy and girl twins – at the
hospital in Springhill, N.S. in the 1940s under the capable
management of Sister Anna, SSJD. He has been a faithful Associate of
SSJD for over 70 years.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.17in;">
<span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>We
print the following with Fr. Elliott’s permission and with
thanksgiving to him.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.17in;">
<a href="https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://images.sharefaith.com/images/3/1236800855478_168/img_mouseover3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sharefaith.com/category/cross-clipart.html&h=388&w=248&tbnid=0JIjEVQLxL9iNM:&docid=4C105zJeqEEP1M&ei=Cyb0Vp3nM8r1jgSMpr_oAQ&tbm=isch&ved=0ahUKEwjdmKnM7tnLAhXKuoMKHQzTDx04ZBAzCEwoSTBJ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://images.sharefaith.com/images/3/1236800855478_168/img_mouseover3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sharefaith.com/category/cross-clipart.html&h=388&w=248&tbnid=0JIjEVQLxL9iNM:&docid=4C105zJeqEEP1M&ei=Cyb0Vp3nM8r1jgSMpr_oAQ&tbm=isch&ved=0ahUKEwjdmKnM7tnLAhXKuoMKHQzTDx04ZBAzCEwoSTBJ" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.17in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRKd0Q1D7R-4orl45_KJc0SXIVdvCgnP6nYOa6iMU4t-xgkjH7sFL5magckZ2vCBQL0fJfzm7wt5U5NdlbcXKkvcj0AJUc7ZuCwCtDfxRRkkTNeS4MwrSZaDTGuDKyQYt_zsjjiF7-YUC/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-03-25+at+12.03.55+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlRKd0Q1D7R-4orl45_KJc0SXIVdvCgnP6nYOa6iMU4t-xgkjH7sFL5magckZ2vCBQL0fJfzm7wt5U5NdlbcXKkvcj0AJUc7ZuCwCtDfxRRkkTNeS4MwrSZaDTGuDKyQYt_zsjjiF7-YUC/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-03-25+at+12.03.55+AM.png" /></a><span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 20pt;">AT
THE FOOT OF THE CROSS</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.17in; margin-top: 0.17in;">
<span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Whatever
else Lent may include it is inevitable that eventually I stand at the
foot of the Cross. The Book of Common Prayer indicates that from the
fifth Sunday onwards is Passiontide, fixing attention upon the Cross,
its pain and promise, the Collect or daily prayer asking simply that
God may “mercifully look upon thy people”. On Good Friday I am
still standing at the foot of the Cross in profound prayer. I feel
those eyes looking down upon me, now from the Cross. There are no
words, there are no names, there are no reproaches, there are no
promises. Yet I hear them all, I know what they tell me. I listen
with my heart, I hear deep in my soul, I feel in my inmost being. I
am shattered and torn apart, I am burned and battered, I cannot die
and I dare not live.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.17in;">
<span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">That
Man on the Cross, I once saw him weeping over the city – Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, how I tried to draw you safely, like a hen gathers her
brood under her wings, but you would not come. He once told
disciples, like me, that he is the first in a new kingdom, though
there is no first there, all are free to care for everyone else –
he even told Pilate that the kingdom is not of this sinful world. I
heard him rebuke Peter, and me, for superficial loyalty. I saw him
weep again when the death of Lazarus so deeply touched the heart of
the sister. This morning I heard him promise to a thief – to me
too? – ‘thou shalt be with me’. As the eyes closed and the head
dropped, I heard a voice, from somewhere, maybe from my own throat:
Make no mistake, this man is the Son of God.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.17in;">
<span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">From
wherever my own today’s personal Golgatha is, I find my quiet way
to my home. The original Lent measured forty hours from death on the
Cross to life at first Easter appearance. My soul counts quietly from
darkness to light, from death to life. In the Garden, if I hear a
voice call my name, as He once spoke to Mary, I know that all is well
between us once more.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">
<a href="https://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://images.sharefaith.com/images/3/1236800855478_168/img_mouseover3.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sharefaith.com/category/cross-clipart.html&h=388&w=248&tbnid=0JIjEVQLxL9iNM:&docid=4C105zJeqEEP1M&ei=Cyb0Vp3nM8r1jgSMpr_oAQ&tbm=isch&ved=0ahUKEwjdmKnM7tnLAhXKuoMKHQzTDx04ZBAzCEwoSTBJ" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">
</a></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" lang="en-US" style="margin-bottom: 0.17in;">
<span style="font-family: "berlin sans fb" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 20pt;">Alleluia! Alleluia!</span></span></div>
</div>
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-84636985375404853772016-03-24T15:56:00.000-04:002016-03-28T11:56:54.667-04:00Maundy Thursday March 24, 2016 by Sr. Debra Johnston, SSJD<div style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-top: 0.9em; padding: 0px;">
<span style="line-height: 1.3em;">Let us pray. </span></div>
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Gracious God may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight for you are our strength and our redeemer. Amen. </div>
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I expect that the Passover meal that Jesus ate with his disciples in that upper room on that last day before his betrayal, trial, crucifixion and death must have held an atmosphere that was similar to that of the first Passover that Moses ate with his dear ones in Egypt. As we recall that first Passover, I imagine that in the midst of hopeful anticipation for a better future, there would have also been felt, an underlying tension. While seated at table secure in the knowledge that the lintels of their homes were marked with the lamb’s blood. While confident that the angel of death would pass over their dwellings,<em> I wonder</em> --- were they able to hear the death cries of the Egyptians. </div>
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Originally there had been the nine plagues. Had each of them ended with a promise broken? Regardless of what had been, a wondrous and terrible thing was happening around those first 12 tribes on that night. That wondrous yet terrible thing would ultimately result in the Pharaoh finally letting the people go. It would also result in the deaths of the entire first born of Egypt. Life and Death; this is the paradox of the Cross. It is the paradox of the Passion. Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again! </div>
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History reveals that the Exodus was not without hardship. I realize what a total and complete understatement this is! Freedom for the people of Israel would come through an experience of the wilderness that would require them to journey through the difficulty of learning a new way of being. Physically they had been liberated; it would take a longer time, --- perhaps 40 years, probably longer -- for their minds to be liberated from thinking as slaves to living as free. History also reveals that God gave the Israelites tools to help them in their transformation. These same tools have been handed down through the ages and given to us. Recall that it was shortly after Israel’s departure that Moses was given the Ten Commandments. It was by these commandments that they were to live. Among other things these commandments were intended to help transform and more clearly define their relationship to God and their relationships with one another. God’s signature of love for all God’s people was revealed ‘<em>in, with and around</em>’ the Ten Commandments. </div>
<div style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-top: 0.9em; padding: 0px;">
I have to confess that when I was preparing for tonight and thinking of the Exodus and the hardships that the people of Israel had faced and would continue to face. My mind also moved to the people of our time. Most of us in the western world cannot comprehend the fears, injustice and abuses that are faced by much of our world’s population. For the most part we live in safety with freedom.</div>
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I found myself envisioning God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses and then I envisioned the tablets themselves. I saw that these specific instructions from God to God’s people, contained life. They revealed the kind of support for all life that I believe God’s wants us all to share in. </div>
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As I thought of this I recalled a scene in the movie ‘Schindler’s List’. This movie is a true representation of the life of Oskar Schindler. He was a business man who believed that he would take advantage of the economic situation in Germany at the beginning of the Second World War. His motives at the beginning of the movie were purely selfish. However as he learned what was happening to the Jewish people around him, he provided work for them in his factories. His factories became a place of refuge and safety for them. </div>
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At one point Schindler was negotiating to have his factory workers moved to a new munitions factory, (One that would never produce weapons that actually worked) when their train was rerouted to Gross-Rosen and Auschwitz concentration camps. When Schindler heard of this he took all of the money he had made and bought the freedom for the people who had worked for him in his factories.</div>
<div style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; line-height: 1.3em; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-top: 0.9em; padding: 0px;">
Itzhak Stern was Oskar Schindler’s right hand man. He was the one who helped Schindler compile the list of names. It wasn’t until the list was almost complete that Stern realized that Schindler was in fact paying for the lives of each individual on the list. It was then that Stern held up the list and with his hand gently circling its perimeter said, “The list is an absolute good. The list is life. All around its margins lies the gulf.” In total there were 1,200 names of men, women and children on the list. </div>
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<em><strong>Maundy is an English form of the Latin word for commandment. The primary theme for today is Jesus’ new commandment to ‘love one another</strong></em>. </div>
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On this night we remember that on the night before our Lord’s crucifixion Christ by his actions, --- <em>instituted command</em> --- and words, revealed a new unconditional signature of God’s love for all. It came when Jesus got up from the table, took off his outer robe, tied a towel around him-self, poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, --- <em>it came in his gift of bread and wine, his body and blood</em> --- and it came when Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Jesus’ love for his followers was and is a transformative love. It is demonstrated both in his example of servant hood and in his gift of himself in Holy Communion. When Christ commands us <em>to love one another as he has loved us</em>, his command is that our love toward one another ought also to be a transformative love. </div>
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Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” The mission of the first disciples, of the early church and for us is to emulate for one another, even in the midst of confusion, chaos, our own fears, hatred and death this divine, transformative love. Our Lord knew that like the people of Israel, his followers in every generation would ultimately --- at some point along the way --- experience a spiritual wilderness that would require them to journey through the difficulty of learning a new way of being. Each generation is called to learn and embrace the new way of being that is revealed to us in our Lord’s command to love. Every time we encounter another individual the Christ love within us ought to affect change. It is not by our own merit that this happens; it is by our willingness to let Christ work through us that this happens. </div>
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Tonight we remember that as their ancestors had done so many centuries before Jesus in his time, with his dear ones also gathered for the Passover meal. They gathered with hope and anticipation for a better future yet in the midst of the underlying tensions of their time. </div>
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We too gather in this place, in this troubled time, with Christians around the world, looking to God in trust and hope, and with thanksgiving. We know that the paradox of the cross and passion of our Lord remains and we believe that life and resurrection is victorious even in the midst of this paradox. </div>
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For us, it was on this night that the Passover feast became the feast of our Lord. It is in this sacramental feast of our Lord’s body and blood that we participate most intimately in Christ’s love. Remembering our Lords Last Supper with his disciples, we eat the bread and share the cup of this meal. Together we receive the Lord’s gift of himself and participate in that new covenant which makes us one in Christ. The Eucharist is the promise of the great banquet we will share with all the faithful when our Lord returns, the culmination of our reconciliation with God and each other. Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again! </div>
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In this Lenten season we have heard our Lord’s call to intensify our struggle against, sin death, and the devil – all that keeps us from loving God and each other. This is the struggle to which we were committed at Baptism; God’s forgiveness and the power of God’s spirit to amend our lives continue with us because of God’s transformative love for us in Jesus, our Saviour. Amen.</div>
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-81301712575778829182016-02-28T08:00:00.000-05:002016-03-01T13:13:57.341-05:00Homily for Lent 3c - God the Gardener<b>God the Gardener </b><br />
<b>Homilist: Sr. Debra SSJD</b><br />
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<b>Readings</b>: <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=323855447" target="_blank">Isaiah 55:1-9</a> • <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=323855475" target="_blank">Psalm 63</a> • <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=323855512" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:1-13</a> • <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=323855543" target="_blank">Luke 13:1-9 </a><br />
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Inch by inch, row by row </div>
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Gonna make this garden grow </div>
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All it takes is a rake and a hoe </div>
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And a piece of fertile ground </div>
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Inch by inch, and row by row </div>
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God will bless these seeds we sow</div>
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God will warm them from below </div>
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When God’s tears come tumblin' down</div>
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<i>Songwriter: David Mallett </i></div>
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<i>(second verse paraphrase Sister Debra SSJD) </i></div>
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My Aunty Dot was one of the best gardeners I ever knew. She loved the land and she tended it. She knew every plant intimately. As a child I used to like to stroll through the gardens in the evening with her. We would walk along the rows and every now and then she would reach down to take some soil in her hand. She would sift it through her fingers and encourage me to do the same. Another time she would bend down to lovingly touch the leaf of a plant or to encourage a bug along its way. Her touch was so gentle. I remember the comments she would make, her voice was soft and she would smile with a glint in her eye, “Oh those potato bugs they’re at it again.” Or, “That creeping charley, I wish it would creep right out of here.” Still everything has its place in the garden. If there were no weeds, we would have no job.<br />
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Now, I am not a gardener. My interest on those walks was not so much the plants as it was simply being present with my Aunty Dot. I knew intuitively that my Aunty Dot loved me and was as present with me, and as in tuned with me, as she was with the stuff of the land that she loved.<br />
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I received a deep sense of acceptance, peace, encouragement and hope from my Aunty Dot as we walked among those rows of carrots, potatoes and beans. Those early evening strolls became an oasis. They were if you will<i> a coming to the water</i> time for me.<br />
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In the book of the prophet Isaiah we hear these words, “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you that have no money, come, buy and eat.” “Listen carefully to me and eat what is good. Incline your ear and come to me. Listen so that you may live.” In this passage, Isaiah is speaking words of comfort and hope to the exiled people of Israel. He is encouraging them to come and eat the good food that is being freely offered to them by God. This food is the Word of God; the promise of God.<br />
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The situation that the people of Israel find themselves in made it difficult for them to hear the Word of God and feel God’s presence among them. These were tough times for the people.
They were a conquered, deported nation, living on the edge of the Babylonian empire. Pain, fear and uncertainty were the order of the day. This was not a “<i>feel good about yourself time in their lives</i>”. They needed to hear a Word of comfort and grace. Isaiah, on behalf of God offered them the assurance that they were not alone. Isaiah proclaimed that God was with them, God’s Word was all around them. They were to do everything in their power to listen to God.<br />
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God, understanding the desperate nature of their particular thirst for peace, invited them to come to the water where they could be refreshed and where they could also feed upon God’s grace.<br />
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If we can accept that the true nature of God is to offer comfort to the hurting, water to the thirsty, and rest to the weary than we can also accept the words that Christ spoke to those who came asking about the Galileans that Herod had had slaughtered and the eighteen individuals who had died when the tower of Siloam had fallen on them.<br />
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The people wondered what the Galileans and the 18 individuals had done to warrant such tragic punishment. Jesus understood that the inquires questions were not based on any kind of remorse or concern for the ones who had died, it was based on simple curiosity and a healthy dose of cultural insensitivity. Jesus said, if fact they did nothing wrong. And in Christ like fashion he told them a story. The story is told of a vineyard owner, a fig tree and a gardener.<br />
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See this fig tree; it wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. Fig trees are supposed to produce figs, but this tree wasn’t. It wasn’t following the rules of a fig tree. And so the vineyard owner came in, angry at the tree for its lack of production, and called for the tree to be completely uprooted, chopped up and used for firewood. After all, this was a good for nothing fig tree. It did nothing but take up space, take valuable nutrients from the soil and waste the vineyard owner’s time. The vineyard owner of this particular vineyard wanted a fig tree that was a maker and not a taker. </blockquote>
Having heard the story we ask, “Where is God in this story?” Do we view the nature of our Creator God through the lens of the vineyard owner, or through the lens of the gardener? We already understand that we are the fig tree.<br />
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If we see God through the lens of the vineyard owner, that we conclude that the nature of the Divine is a nature that punishes us for not doing what we are supposed to do, who sends tragedy and calamity our way when we mess up and who is always waiting to pounce on us; angry at our sin, our lack of production, and our lack of fruitfulness?<br />
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If in fact we see God as the vineyard owner, how do we also see Jesus? If God is the vineyard owner and Jesus is the gardener do we view the primary role of our Lord as standing between us an abusive father’s rage, saying, give them one more chance, one more year to get their stuff together.<br />
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I believe the vineyard owner reflects the wisdom of the world. This is a wisdom that measures value in how good we are and how well we follow the rules. It is a wisdom that says our value is in how much we produce for the vineyard owner, how much profit we make for the person in charge, how much we are perceived as putting out for families, congregations, and communities. It is a wisdom that says if you are not a maker, then you are a taker and so you are a good for nothing. It is a wisdom that sees a vulnerable tree and demands that it be uprooted and thrown into the fire.<br />
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Actually I believe God is the gardener who says no to the wisdom of the world.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Homily by Sr Debra SSJD</i></td></tr>
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God is the gardener who proclaims value not in terms of what we have, what we have done, or how good or bad we have been. God the gardener tells us, “All that doesn’t matter. What matters is how much God cares for us. What matters is that God loves us as we are.”<br />
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And so in this passage we come to understand that God cared so much for us that <i>not only was</i> God <i>not</i> going to send punishment down on us for mistakes made, that God <i>not only</i> was <i>not</i> going to uproot us when life seems to have sapped everything from us, but if fact our creator God was going to get down in the dirt, in the muck, in the hard places with us and there we would come to know God in the person of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.<br />
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And so Jesus encouraged the people, in the midst of the news of tragedy, not to look to place blame on the victims of violence, the victims of hunger, the victims of poverty, the victims of grief, the victims of suffering. He instructed them not to try to explain away tragedy by finding a convenient place to put the blame for it. And he demanded that they not put this on God. Our God is not a vineyard owner who has come to get even.<br />
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In fact, amid tragedy, if we want to find God, we are to look where the suffering is because God is there suffering with us. This is the message of the Incarnation. God is with us in all things and through all things. In this parable, Jesus is telling us that God, when we feel most lifeless and hopeless and worthless, isn’t going to leave or forsake us or send us to the fires. Rather, God is entering into our lifelessness, hopelessness and worthlessness with compassion and love. God sees us and desires to raise us up from the dirt and give us peace. God is always working with us, tending the soil and creating life where life has been damaged and where lifelessness abounds.<br />
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As a child, I used to stroll through the garden in the evening with my Aunty Dot. As we would walk along she would reach down and take some soil in her hands. She would speak softly. She was the best gardener I ever knew; ---- actually, maybe not the best. Amen.
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-64097282708957288642016-01-06T12:00:00.000-05:002016-01-08T00:28:25.365-05:00Epiphany - January 6, 2016Epiphany 2016 - 25th Life Profession Anniversary – Sr. Constance Joanna<br />
Homilist: Bishop Linda Nicholls<br />
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Say the word, Epiphany, in a church context and everyone has memories, images and ideas that leap to mind<br />
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from relief that Christmas is over and a new Year has begun,<br />
to memories of bath-robed children in ill-fitting crowns
tripping down the aisle of a pageant,<br />
to paper stars and singing ‘We Three Kings’,<br />
to feeling a sense of delicious excitement that Jesus – as a babe –
was recognized by these foreign strangers –
a promise and sign of his reach to all the world. </blockquote>
Yet these are very Western Christian memories. Epiphany was once the primary celebration of the incarnation before separating Christmas and Epiphany and the revelation of Christ at Epiphany was attached far more to the baptism of Jesus alongside the visit of the magi and the wedding at Cana as signs of Christ’s universal reach – a focus that remains in Eastern Christian traditions while we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord on the following Sunday. In Ireland (according to Wikipedia!) Epiphany is known the Women’s Christmas – when they rested and gathered to celebrate, hosted by others (I rather like that one!). In parts of Europe Epiphany incorporates an ice cold plunge into frigid waters – sometimes ducking in 3 times as a sign of the Trinity and washing of sins. Epiphany is known and remembered in many ways….. with the primary focus always the revelation of Christ.<br />
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But today I want to let light shine through another aspect of Epiphany as we celebrate it in the context of this 25th Anniversary of Sr. Connie’s life profession in this community. For in the stories of both Christmas and Epiphany there is the element of lives changed when the revelation of Christ is personally received in the midst of following one’s vocation. Lives that become a sign for others even when many pay no attention. For the birth of Jesus hardly caused a ripple for most people – did the owner of the manger even notice the new baby? If he did – was it more than just a ‘congratulations’ – and ‘When are you leaving?’. It is clear that no one else noticed – Herod had to summon his priests to see whether scripture could shed light on the magi’s question of where to find the king!<br />
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Yet, shepherds in the fields – following their calling – their vocation – were curious enough; open enough; to wonder as they heard the angels and seek out the child. They were amazed, told their story & glorified God ….and were changed. The magi – astronomer/astrologers from the east – were following their calling – their vocation – when the event of the star called them to undertake a long, undoubtedly arduous journey into a foreign land. They arrive and offer expensive gifts – seeing in this child, in an obscure village, the King the star had indicated in their understanding of the skies. We love these stories – they are full of very human details but also of almost magical elements that indicate their place as symbolic of much more – a star that stops over a house; strangers travelling long journeys to greet a baby; rough shepherds hearing angels in a field. They tell us that the encounter with Christ is for everyone – and is found in the midst of our daily work and vocation and will change us – will call us to do things we never imagined and teach us to see the world through the eyes of God.<br />
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Epiphany may be the outward revelation of Christ to the world – as symbolized by the visit of the magi; the baptism in the Jordan; the wedding at Cana – but it is also the revelation to very specific people – shepherds, magi, you and me - and Connie. Through the gospel stories we see people who meet Jesus and are changed – Zaccheus; Samaritan Woman; the sick; Matthew; James & John & Peter & all the disciples….begin lifelong journeys that they could never have imagined. Some we only hear encountered Jesus once, but others are changed by their repeated engagement with him – especially the disciples.<br />
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For us too – it is not a once in a lifetime experience – but one that continually - daily - calls us in the midst of our vocation – sometimes into new ones – sometimes into more depth of one already chosen. In fact, Epiphany is the lifelong process of encountering and re-encountering Jesus and responding.
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Connie encountered Jesus in her family in another Christian tradition - then called as a teacher – sharing the joy of literature and growing in her faith through her life in the parish of the Episcopal Church and community. Her encounter with Christ however grew in her into a different kind of commitment – a call to live out her recognition of Him through life in this religious community – and within the community to living it out in different responsibilities for community life. Could she have imagine that her response would lead her from teaching English in a university to hospital administration, to stewardship development, to overseeing this community as Reverend Mother, to creating a space for young women to explore their vocation and encounter Christ afresh! Could she ever imagined all that?<br />
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Epiphany is the icon of the celebration of the continuous revelation of Jesus as Lord that invites our response as we grow and deepen in understanding.
It is simply reflected in the final verse of the hymn – <i>In the Bleak Midwinter</i>….<br />
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What shall I give him? Poor as I am.<br />
If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb.<br />
If I were a wise man I would do my part….<br />
but what I have I give him – Give my heart. </blockquote>
Epiphany invites us to recall the revealing of Christ to the world in different ways – from the universal as seen in the visit of the magi to the very particular – our own hearts and vocation. We celebrate the ways in which Connie has responded to that revelation – in offering her life, her heart, her gifts of talents and leadership through the visible witness of religious community. This is not the end – but simply a moment to rest and give thanks! Before carrying on ….opening heart and mind to encounter Christ again – and be led to new adventures in this life of faith.<br />
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Thanks be to God!
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-31068910777582707372016-01-03T12:00:00.000-05:002016-01-03T22:22:53.769-05:00Christmas 2 and St. Thomas Beckett - 3 January 2016HOMILY, CHRISTMAS 2 and ST. THOMAS BECKETT<br />
St. John’s Convent, January 3, 2016<br />
Sr. Constance Joanna<br />
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Readings for Christmas 2:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=318877648" target="_blank">Sirach 24:1-12</a> / <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=318877674" target="_blank">Wisdom 10:15-21</a> (CP 392) / <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=318877699" target="_blank">Ephesians 1:3-14</a> / <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=318877729" target="_blank">John 1:10-18</a> </li>
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I can hardly start this homily without stating the obvious: that 25 years ago today I made my life profession of vows in this community. The 6 1/2 years that led up to that date, and the 25 years since, have brought untold blessings to me and perhaps the greatest blessing of all has been to learn the ambiguity of darkness and light – that what seems most dark, fearful, and foreboding in life may hold the germ of the brightest light, and that that what seems easy and enjoyable and satisfying may bring with it the darkness of stuckness and lack of growth.
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Seeds germinate in darkness, and too much light too fast or too early can kill tender young shoots. Too little light can stunt growth. I think of that line from Psalm 139: “darkness and light to you are both alike.” God uses both darkness and light to nudge us out of complacency and self-satisfaction toward the self-giving that we long for but are afraid of. And God uses both light and darkness to bring us to a healthy self-love and confidence as well.
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Another way of saying this is that as Christians we give ourselves to the paschal mystery in which life leads to death and death leads to rebirth. That cycle is what the Incarnation really is about. God gave up divine life to take on human flesh, lived among us, was executed as a traitor, and rose again to give us new life. The Nativity is not synonymous with the Incarnation – it’s just the beginning. And my journey to Life Profession and since has been an adventure in learning the truth of this.
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The reading this morning from the Prologue to the Gospel of John, is read multiple times during the Christmas season, and each time it carries deeper meaning. Reading it today, on the second Sunday of Christmas, and on the third of January, I can’t help but see its relevance to the life of Thomas Beckett, whose martyrdom we observe today.
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John says of the Word made Flesh: “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
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The darkness can never overcome the light, finally, although Thomas Becket had to struggle with the ambiguity of dark and light. In T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, that profound play about the martyrdom of Becket, three tempters come to Becket to try to compromise his absolute obedience to God, mirroring the temptations of Jesus in the wilderness
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And then comes an unexpected fourth tempter, who represents the real struggle for Becket – the temptation to martyrdom. Becket knows that Jesus’ death on the cross was not the result of a desire for martyrdom but rather the inevitable outcome of his obedience to God. But he struggles with discerning whether his refusal to give in to the King’s demands is obedience to God that may lead to martyrdom, or an unholy desire to be a martyr? To put it in Thomas’ words in the play, “The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason.” That is perhaps the central discernment for us all – and maybe that is one reason I’m so fond of Thomas. He gives me the courage to live with ambiguity, but to know that ultimately darkness will yield to light.
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January 3, 1991 was not a feast day – it was a feria on the church calendar. But then I was given an unexpected gift. A few months after my Life Profession, in April, we had a Community Day and made some changes to our calendar of saints. There used to be a group of special days we observed in the week of Christmas – the feast of St. Stephen, Deacon and first Martyr of the church, was on December 26. St. John of course was on December 27. December 28 was the feast of the Holy Innocents – who might actually be called the first martyrs even before Stephen. And December 29 was the Feast of St. Thomas Becket. We decided at that Community Day to follow the lead of the Canadian church’s new calendar, which moved all those feast days out of Christmas week to make way for the special readings related to Christmas. And so I inherited Thomas Becket on January 3.
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But I wish we still kept those martyrs’ feast days in Christmas week because they remind us that the Incarnation is more than Christmas Day, that we are called to follow Jesus in dark and light, life and death.
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And I will let Thomas Becket’s own words in his Christmas sermon make this point better than I can. That is, his sermon as T.S. Eliot conceives it, which is said to be based on the actual sermon Beckett preached on Christmas Day in the year 1170. I have shortened it a bit at the end.
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<i>Dear children of God, my sermon this morning will be a very short one. I wish only that you should ponder and meditate the deep meaning and mystery of our masses of Christmas Day. For whenever Mass is said, we re-enact the Passion and Death of Our Lord; and on this Christmas Day we do this in celebration of His Birth. So that at the same moment we rejoice in His coming for the salvation of men, and offer again to God His Body and Blood in sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world. It was in this same night that has just passed, that a multitude of the heavenly host appeared before the shepherds at Bethlehem, saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men'; at this same time of all the year that we celebrate at once the Birth of Our Lord and His Passion and Death upon the Cross.<br />
</i><i><br /></i><i>Beloved, as the World sees, this is to behave in a strange fashion. For who in the World will both mourn and rejoice at once and for the same reason? For either joy will be overborne by mourning, or mourning will be cast out by joy; so it is only in these our Christian mysteries that we can rejoice and mourn at once for the same reason. 'But think for a while on the meaning of this word 'peace.' Does it seem strange to you that the angels should have announced Peace, when ceaselessly the world has been stricken with War and the fear of War? Does it seem to you that the angelic voices were mistaken, and that the promise was a disappointment and a cheat?<br />
</i><i><br /></i><i>Reflect now, how Our Lord Himself spoke of Peace. He said to His disciples 'My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.' Did He mean peace as we think of it: the kingdom of England at peace with its neighbours, the barons at peace with the King, the householder counting over his peaceful gains, the swept hearth, his best wine for a friend at the table, his wife singing to the children? Those men His disciples knew no such things: they went forth to journey afar, to suffer by land and sea, to know torture, imprisonment, disappointment, to suffer death by martyrdom. What then did He mean? If you ask that, remember then that He said also, 'Not as the world gives, give I unto you.' So then, He gave to His disciples peace, but not peace as the world gives.<br />
</i><i><br /></i><i>Consider also one thing of which you have probably never thought. Not only do we at the feast of Christmas celebrate at once Our Lord's Birth and His Death: but on the next day we celebrate the martyrdom of His first martyr, the blessed Stephen. Is it an accident, do you think, that the day of the first martyr follows immediately the day of the Birth of Christ? By no means. Just as we rejoice and mourn at once, in the Birth and in the Passion of Our Lord; so also, in a smaller figure, we both rejoice and mourn in the death of martyrs. We mourn, for the sins of the world that has martyred them; we rejoice, that another soul is numbered among the Saints in Heaven, for the glory of God and for the salvation of men.<br />
</i><i><br /></i><i>Beloved, we do not think of a martyr simply as a good Christian who has been killed because he is a Christian: for that would be solely to mourn. We do not think of him simply as a good Christian who has been elevated to the company of the Saints: for that would be simply to rejoice: and neither our mourning nor our rejoicing is as the world's is. A Christian martyrdom is no accident. Saints are not made by accident. Still less is a Christian martyrdom the effect of a man's will to become a Saint, as a man by willing and contriving may become a ruler of men. Ambition fortifies the will of man to become ruler over other men: it operates with deception, cajolery, and violence, it is the action of impurity upon impurity. Not so in Heaven. A martyr, a saint, is always made by the design of God, for His love of men, to warn them and to lead them, to bring them back to His ways. A martyrdom is never the design of man; for the true martyr is he who has become the instrument of God, who has lost his will in the will of God, not lost it but found it, for he has found freedom in submission to God. The martyr no longer desires anything for himself, not even the glory of martyrdom. So thus as on earth the Church mourns and rejoices at once, in a fashion that the world cannot understand; so in Heaven the Saints are most high, having made themselves most low, seeing themselves not as we see them, but in the light of the Godhead from which they draw their being.<br />
</i><i><br /></i><i>Amen.</i></blockquote>
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-12262341756591660032015-12-25T07:00:00.000-05:002015-12-27T20:43:19.585-05:00Homily: Christmas Day, 2015 by Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD<ul>
<li>Isaiah 52:7-10 - <i><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=318266731" target="_blank">read online here »</a></i></li>
<li>Psalm Canticle 3 – Isaiah 12.2-6 - <i><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=318266809" target="_blank">read online here »</a></i></li>
<li>Hebrews 12:1-12 - <i><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=318266841" target="_blank">read online here »</a></i></li>
<li>John 1:1-14 - <i><a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=318266874" target="_blank">read online here »</a></i></li>
</ul>
John’s gospel is always about signs – he records events in Jesus’ life and reflects on them as signs of the breaking in of the Reign of God. Many of the signs John identifies are familiar to us – turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana, knowing the personal history of the Samaritan woman at the well, walking on water, raising Lazarus from the dead, feeding the 5,000, and several healing miracles.<br />
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The incarnation of God as the Word made flesh is not identified as a “sign” by John, but that is what it is. John does not tell the birth story like Luke does or even allude to it like Matthew does. He approaches the birth of Jesus from a theological perspective: the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” and “the light shone in the darkness and the darkness could never put it out.” For John, the light that Jesus brought into the world is a sign that God has indeed come to live among human beings. And it’s real light. John saw the joy, the peace, the healing that Jesus brought into peoples’ lives. He experienced the lightness of heart that comes with intimate friendship. He saw signs of the coming Reign of God – healings, people helped to see both their sin and their potential, the darkness of the mentally ill flooded with the light of reason, the darkness of the man born blind as he opened his eyes to the light.<br />
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And John also saw the light in the context of the darkness of the world around him – the political posturing, the deadly power of the Roman occupation, disease and hunger and homelessness. And into all that darkness came the light of God’s love.<br />
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Reading the gospel offers us signs of hope in a troubled world. So does reading the occasional stories of random acts of kindness which our newspapers and TV and radio news offer us when there is a little extra space after telling of the random and planned / targeted acts of violence. And I receive great hope from hearing the stories of people who come here on retreat, or my students, or the many other people we are all privileged to walk with in their journeys of faith.<br />
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I was very moved recently when I read the story of the 18th-century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, an American poet who wrote “Christmas Bells” – what we know familiarly as “I heard the Bells on Christmas Day” because his poem captures the tension that we live with today.
There are several popular tunes for this poem, and I’ve chosen the one by John Calkin, the first person to set this hymn to music, and I think is the most familiar or at least the easiest to sing. Let’s sing the first two verses:<br />
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I heard the bells on Christmas Day<br />
Their old, familiar carols play,<br />
And wild and sweet
The words repeat<br />
Of peace on earth, good-will to men! </blockquote>
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And thought how, as the day had come,<br />
The belfries of all Christendom<br />
Had rolled along The unbroken song<br />
Of peace on earth, good-will to men! </blockquote>
Very hopeful isn’t it? Longfellow is offering us a comforting and happy picture of Christmas Day in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He becomes even more ecstatic in the third verse:<br />
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Till ringing, singing on its way,<br />
The world revolved from night to day,<br />
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime<br />
Of peace on earth, good-will to men! </blockquote>
Christmas night is over, and the day comes. Light comes. And strangely the tone of Longfellow’s poem changes as well. Or perhaps he had been feeling melancholy all night and the poem was an attempt to buoy his spirits. His son was seriously ill. His wife had died tragically in a fire a year or two before. The Civil War was raging in 1863 with no better effect than to slaughter a generation of young American men of both races.<br />
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And so Longfellow went on to pen the next two verses – the ones that are never printed in books of carols and never sung or printed in a Christmas card:<br />
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Then from each black, accursed mouth<br />
The cannon thundered in the South,<br />
And with the sound
The carols drowned<br />
Of peace on earth, good-will to men! </blockquote>
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It was as if an earthquake rent<br />
The hearth-stones of a continent,<br />
And made forlorn
The households born<br />
Of peace on earth, good-will to men! </blockquote>
You can just feel Longfellow falling into the grips of despair – as so many people do at Christmas, when the expectations for cheerfulness are high and we encounter times when we don’t feel at all cheerful. Let’s sing the next verse which describes his feelings:<br />
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And in despair I bowed my head;<br />
“There is no peace on earth," I said;<br />
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song<br />
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!” </blockquote>
At this point, according to Longfellow’s biographer, he heard the bells actually break out in Cambridge, as the churches began to call people to worship. And a miracle occurred – a sign of God entering the heart of a man – and he penned the last verse, which includes the lines:<br />
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“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;<br />
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail, </blockquote>
This may seem glib – moving from utter despair to joy at the sound of a peal of bells. But it is so often like that with us. We do not know how or why God breaks into our world, into our personal lives, into our fragile, frightened hearts – but God does. And it doesn’t take much to recognize a sign of God if our eyes and ears are open to it. Maybe the water we drink is often wine and we don’t notice it. Maybe God is raising people from the dead everywhere but they or we don’t notice. God is healing all the time, but we are often looking elsewhere and miss the moment.<br />
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Hope comes from attentiveness, from listening with the ear of our heart, looking with the eyes of faith at what is happening around us, seeing the signs – for instance of hundreds of people in this country welcoming refugees into their homes, churches inviting the homeless for Christmas dinner, intentional friendships formed among Christians, Muslims and Jews in our city.<br />
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And then the sound of a church bell may not sound so glib after all. It’s a little like the ending of Dickens’ <i>Christmas Carol</i> when Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning after his night of frightening confrontations with the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. He wakes to a whole new world, sees with completely new eyes that there is real goodness in the world. And interestingly, it is the bells in the city of London that most express Scrooge’s ecstatic happiness. Dickens says:<br />
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Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, his was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. The father of a long, long, line of brilliant laughs! </blockquote>
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“I don’t know what day of the month it is! said Scrooge. “I don’t know how long I’ve been among the Spirits. I don’t know anything. I’m quite a baby. Never mind. I don’t care. I’d rather be a baby. Hallo! Whoop! Hallo here!” </blockquote>
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He was checked in his transports by the churches ringing out the lustiest peals he had ever heard. Clash, clang, hammer, ding, dong, bell. Bell, dong, ding, hammer, clang, clash! Oh, glorious, glorious!” </blockquote>
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And Scrooge learns it is Christmas Day.<br />
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Longfellow’s final stanza may be a little more reserved than Scrooge’s wild elation, but it is just as joyful. As we sing the final stanza, may our eyes be open to see the signs, the miracles around us, right now – the peace that we will shortly offer to each other, the bread and the wine offered by God at this table, the Christmas dinner to follow, the sharing of fellowship with friends old and new. And may we always keep our eyes and ears – and especially our hearts – open to God’s invasion in our lives. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . . and the darkness could never extinguish it.”<br />
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Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:<br />
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;<br />
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,<br />
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”</blockquote>
<i>Homily: Christmas Day, 2015 St. John’s Convent Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD</i>Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-441237872917000102015-12-06T12:00:00.000-05:002015-12-08T14:51:27.495-05:00Homily: Advent 2c Sunday, December 6, 2015 - preached by The Rev'd Andrea BudgeyWith the coming of Advent, our lectionary presents us, every year, with the image of John the Baptist, the foremost messenger of the coming of Jesus into the world. Luke describes John's appearance on the scene with a quotation from that familiar and dramatic passage from Isaiah: “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God ' ”. “Prepare the way of the Lord...” In Advent, we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ, trying to be attentive to the great mystery of the Incarnation in our own lives, but there's more to it than that. Luke situates John very firmly in a historical context, reminding us that this mystery is revealed not only spiritually, but in the broader, messier world around us. <br />
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I suspect that we don't often analyse this passage, with its grand metaphors of divine landscaping, very closely: we're not meant, I think, to picture God's coming into the world as a levelling which will transform the physical, or even spiritual, vistas of our earth into a vast and undifferentiated plain, eliminating diversity and gradation, but rather, I believe, to imagine a transformation and reclamation of the human landscape on the principles of God's justice. We know, when we stop to consider, that many, many people in our society are trapped in dark vales of poverty and despair which they are powerless to escape unaided, faced with sheer cliffs of marginalisation and prejudice and indifference which they cannot scale alone; the paths before their feet are strewn with obstacles of illness, malnutrition, and bureaucratic delay. To fill the valleys to a level from which people can actually emerge safely, to make the heights passable, and to sweep away the jagged stones which cause our brothers and sisters to stumble, is to prepare the way of the Lord. To make straight the highway, to render it both just and true, is a work which can begin in charity, in small efforts of mending and realignment, but it is ultimately and inescapably a work of prophecy, of advocacy and exhortation. <br />
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This is a work to which we are called as a church, to advocate for the oppressed and the vulnerable, to name injustice and to strive for transformation, and it's very concrete. For example, parishes in this diocese are being asked, at their vestries this year, to adopt a motion which addresses the calls to action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, committing themselves to education on First Nations issues, calling on the federal government to establish an inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and asking the provincial government, in consultation with First Nations peoples, residential school survivors, and the churches, to develop mandatory curriculum on residential schools and the contributions of Aboriginal peoples to Canada. This is, admittedly, more prosaic language than that of Isaiah and Luke, but it is the same message: when we can overcome our genteel reluctance to let the spirit of our faith become incarnate in the flesh of the body politic, we may know ourselves to be participants in preparing the way of the Lord.<br />
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We do not labour at our prophetic tasks in preparation for the arrival of a God who is absent from us. The God in whose name we exercise justice and strive for equity is with us, a light the darkness cannot overcome, working in us – in our hearts, our minds, and our bodies – to achieve the purposes of the kingdom. John the Baptist, who would never know – in this life – of the saving death and resurrection of Jesus, was given the prophetic gift to name him as the Son of God. John came, we are told, that all might believe through him: prophecy demands transparency to the light of God, an effacement of self, and a clear sense of one's own identity in relation to God. When he is asked to identify himself, John's first response is “I am not the Christ” – the prophet knows him- or herself to stand over against God, and points always away from him- or herself and toward God. John gives way to the One who comes after him, and admits his own ignorance and doubt: twice he says “I myself did not know him, but...” Prophecy is an unfolding process of attention, obedience, declaration, and self-effacement. It is also a process – and here John is a very explicit example – in which we understand that we ourselves may not see the fulfillment of the promises we proclaim, or the full realisation of the work which God commands to and through us. This is something crucial to the work of justice and advocacy: however gratifying it may be to see a result from our efforts, the virtue of prophecy is measured on a far larger scale than our own quest for visible “success”. The task of proclaiming and preparing God's kingdom is in itself a gift, part of our invitation to enter into the life of God, the invitation which comes in the Incarnation. Christ comes to us, every moment of every day, calling us to live and love and work in him, surrendering ourselves and our preconceptions and our fears in harmony with his perfect self-offering and glorious resurrection. Let our Advent prayer today be for the gifts of the prophet – attentive discernment, humble obedience, fearless proclamation, and true self-effacement – that our lives may bear witness to the light, and manifest God's presence and love and justice in the world which waits for the coming of the kingdom.Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-48075217340033479622015-11-29T12:00:00.000-05:002016-01-03T22:13:00.437-05:00Homily: Advent 1C, November 29, 2015 preached by Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD<div style="text-align: justify;">
St. John’s Convent</div>
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Jeremiah 33:14-16<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Psalm 25.1-9</div>
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1 Thessalonians 3.9-13<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Luke 21.25-36</div>
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Each Thursday morning a group of sisters and Alongsiders meet at 7 am for group lectio divina. Lectio divina (divine or spiritual reading) is a way of hearing scripture that comes out of the Benedictine tradition – it is not Bible study and it’s not discussion – rather it’s a prayerful listening “with the ear of the heart” as St. Benedict would say. We listen to the Word of God speaking to each of us, now, in a personal way, in our lives today, this day, this very hour. It’s a helpful spiritual discipline for an individual, but doing it as a group carries special blessings.</div>
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Each week we focus on the gospel for the coming Sunday. Three different people read a passage from three different translations. The first time we each share a word or phrase that grabs our attention. On the second reading, each of us shares something about how the passage touches our lives today. The third time we each share how we believe God is challenging us. We don’t respond to each other. We just listen. And our hearts expand as we hear God’s Word expressed in different translations and in the lives of the others in the group. For me it’s a little like hearing a symphony, where the central theme of a movement is repeated by different instruments in different keys and different harmonies. A symphony grows from the individual voices of each instrument, and in the same way this communal reflection on scripture helps us absorb and respond to the richness of God’s Word more deeply than when any one of us prays the scripture alone.</div>
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And there is a good theological reason for that. We are created to live in community. The centrality of community for the Christian life is conveyed eloquently in the reading from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians this morning. ”May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may God so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”</div>
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Paul encourages the young Christian community in Thessalonica to grow in the Christian life through their relationships with each other. The Thessalonians, and all the other churches to which Paul and his companions travelled in the early decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection, were being built up and formed more deeply in the Christian life as they lived and worshipped and cared for each other and for the poor and sick and hungry around them. They believed that Christ would return in their lifetime, and that nothing was more important than living as Jesus had taught them.</div>
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The gospels were written out of that early Christian community life. All the gospel writers were rooted in one community or another, and they all took for granted certain accepted truths – including that the world would end and Jesus would return before their generation had died out. But after two thousand years of waiting, we’re still here, so what can this possibly mean for us?</div>
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To answer that, I go back to our group lectio. This past Thursday, as six of us gathered to listen with the ear of our hearts to today’s gospel, some of the words and images that came to the surface were these:</div>
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Signs . . . Stand up . . . All the trees . . . Leaves . . . Be on guard . . . Be alert . . . Stand</div>
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As I was praying with the gospel later, in preparation for this homily, those images kept coming back to me. They bring a message of hope in a passage that actually begins rather ominously, as though Jesus could foresee what was happening today with the war on terror, violence in our cities, the frightening impact of global warming and other environmental disasters. “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of sea and the waves. . . . Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.”</div>
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Of course Jesus could foresee what would happen in our time because it was also happening in his time. Even the star which guided the magi to Bethlehem was a sign of something unusual in the heavens, and terrorists were hardly a new thing even in Jesus’ day. So this passage is very contemporary. Except for that bit about seeing ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ – where does that come from? No one has yet seen it in 2,000 years except perhaps some people we would consider half-crazed with religious enthusiasm. In spite of the predictions the ‘son of man’ has not returned and those who prepare for the end of the world have continued to be disappointed – or perhaps relieved.</div>
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So how can this passage be a source of hope to us?</div>
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First it proves over and over again that no human being can predict the end times. Only God knows, and our task is simply to be faithful to our commitment to follow Jesus in the best way each of us can do that, and to be agents of hope to one another – to stand, as the gospel says – to stand and to put forth new shoots like the trees in spring. Hope is not an easy thing. It requires realism and compassion. It needs to be as intentional as any spiritual discipline. Stand up – be alert – hope. And we do that together, as a communal spiritual practice.</div>
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Second, there is a way in which we do see the ‘son of man’ coming in power. Wherever the church, the body of Christ, is faithful to the gospel message, Jesus is there. Jesus is there in the midst of terrible tragedy whether domestic or local or international, whether human-made or of natural causes. He is there in the response of those who invite refugees into our country. He is there whenever one human being reaches out compassionately to someone in pain. He is there in the courage of our military and police and ordinary people who risk their lives in moments of grave danger.</div>
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And most of all he is there with a message of hope. After all the terrible predictions in this gospel passage, we come back to those strong words of hope:</div>
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Stand tall – like the trees. See the leaves – new life and growth.</div>
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Don’t be afraid. Be alert – pay attention to the signs and stand in the strength of God.</div>
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All these images imply community. Leaves don’t exist alone. Paying attention to the signs always happens when people listen to each other – just as we do in our group lectio. Not being afraid happens when there are others we stand with, and the same with being alert – we need company to do that.</div>
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These are strong messages of hope in scary times. We are a community. We are the body of Christ. As we enter into this Advent time of preparation for Christmas, when we remember the first coming of Christ, we do so with the advantage of hindsight. We know Christ has come. We know Christ has been crucified and risen. We know Christ does come again and will come again. And we know it together.</div>
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”May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. And may God so strengthen your hearts in holiness that you may be blameless before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”</div>
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-80583536196637081092015-09-29T19:44:00.000-04:002015-09-29T19:44:52.694-04:00Have Salt! - Sr Constance Joanna - 27 September 2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">HAVE
SALT!<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Homily
for Proper 26, Year B</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">St. John’s Convent, September 27, 2015</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Sr.
Constance Joanna, SSJD</span></div>
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<ul>
<li><i><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29 - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=310569663" target="_blank">read this passage online »</a></span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Psalm
19:7-14 </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=310569701" target="_blank">read this passage online »</a></span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">James 5:13-20 </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=310569728" target="_blank">read this passage online »</a></span></i></li>
<li><i><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Mark
9:38-50 </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=310569758" target="_blank">read this passage online »</a></span></i></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I remember vividly one day when I was about 9 or 10
years old and in Sunday School. Our teacher was presenting a lesson from the
first letter of John in which he says “Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). She
went on to interpret the passage as saying that only those who love God or
acknowledge Jesus as their Saviour are able to love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I knew immediately and intuitively that she was wrong.
My father claimed to be an atheist, but he was one of the most loving people I
knew. He was the one who let all the neighbourhood kids play on his grass, who
would get down on his hands and knees and play wheelbarrow with kids, who
helped the neighbours with work around the yard or repairs in their house, who
made things for us kids, who took me to Cleveland Indians ballgames and told me
stories of his growing up as a kid in Sweden.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I just knew that the love he shared with us came from
God even if he didn’t know that. And that Sunday School teacher could never
make me believe that my father was unloving just because he wasn’t a Christian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In fact the point John is making in his letter is that
anyone who loves IS born of God and knows God – whether or not that person is
consciously aware of being loving, or aware of the source of their love. My
father’s loving nature came from God, and I knew that even as a child.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This is exactly the point that Jesus is making in
today’s gospel. In fact he goes further and says that if we reject those who
are doing good because they do not have the same theology or Biblical
interpretation or social and moral views that we do – if we reject them for
that reason, we are in fact judging them and shutting them out of the circle of
God’s love. We are called to do the opposite – to invite everyone into the
circle of God’s love, into the community of the body of Christ, whether we
agree with them or not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It reminds me of the song by Gordon Light, “Draw the
Circle Wide.” And a little poem by Edwin Markham, an American poet of the early
20<sup>th</sup> century:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“He drew a circle that shut me out -<br />
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.<br />
But love and I had the wit to win:<br />
We drew a circle and took him In!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It also brings to mind the recent kerfuffle in the
media when the Archbishop of Canterbury announced there would be a Primates’
meeting in 2017 and he was inviting the Primate of the Anglican Church in North
America – the collection of traditional Anglicans who removed themselves from
the Episcopal Church in the USA because of its liberal stance, including on
issues related to homosexuality. The ACNA drew a circle around itself that
excluded the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada, and now the
Archbishop of Canterbury is drawing a circle that takes them in – not
necessarily a redefining of the Anglican Communion though I suppose that could
happen – but at least an enlarging of what we might consider ecumenical
boundaries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This is entirely in keeping, it seems to me, with
Jesus’ words in today’s gospel, in which he chides the disciples and his other
listeners for their judgmentalism and exclusivism. “Whoever is not against us
is for us” is the heart of the first part of our gospel, which is fairly
complex because it is actually made up of three sections that at first don’t
seem related to each other. But each one builds on the other and also expands
the point of the first reading this morning from Numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In the reading from Numbers, a young man complains to Moses
that two men, Eldad and Medad, who have not been properly commissioned, are
prophesying in the camp. Then Joshua complains as well. But Moses says to them,
“Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put
his spirit on them!” Or as Jesus says, “no one who does a deep of power in my
name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Moses and the young man are just like Jesus’ disciples
– jealous of people who are exercising a spiritual gift without having been
officially commissioned by the religious authorities to do so. Both Moses and
Jesus say, “draw a circle that takes them in!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And the second section of today’s gospel develops that
message. Whoever puts a stumbling block in the way of “one of these little ones”
may as well be thrown into the sea and drowned. Who are the little ones and
what is the stumbling block? The little ones may refer to the unlearned, the
untaught, the uninitiated, or the unloved – or those people who are casting out
demons in Jesus name but are not part of the group of his followers. They are
vulnerable, like children, and they need to be nurtured and brought into the
circle, not excluded. And the stumbling block is our exclusivenes, our
judgmentalism, our requirement that they do things just like us – even our
focus on getting people to believe like us or come to our church when we are
empowered to meet God with them, where they are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus uses the image of “little ones” or children several
times in the gospels to demonstrate that God especially welcomes those who are
vulnerable and fragile including the poor, the lonely, the sick, the homeless,
the hungry. They may be innocent or unlearned, but they have spiritual gifts to
share with all of us. As a matter of fact, just a few verses before today’s
passage, we read of how the disciples were arguing with each other about who
was the greatest, and Jesus put a child in their midst and said, “</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever
welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.” Whoever – anyone – not
just he initiated, not just the officially religious. In fact the religious,
including the disciples, were the ones most likely to dismiss the child and the
uninitiated but gifted casters out of demons.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The third section of the gospel is the climax of
Jesus’ teaching in this section of Mark’s gospel: “For everyone will be salted
with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season
it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This is challenging. Not only are we not to be jealous
of those who have spiritual gifts outside of our circle. Not only are we to pay
attention to God’s little ones, the most vulnerable. Not only are we are to
accept everyone who shares their love with others, and not to judge them. We
are called to be salt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Salt is both a preservative and a flavour-enhancer. It
can make other things taste salty but there is no way salt can be made salty
once it loses its saltiness. It represents, in other words, the origin, the
wellspring of our faith, the Godseed planted in us. We are to preserve it and
nurture it but not hoard it or it will become useless – it will lose its
saltiness. We are to give it away in acts of kindness and compassionate service
to others, to sprinkle it over those God sends us to care for in God’s
name<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>-- and that includes the little
ones, the ones outside our circle however we might define our circle. This is
how we play our role in helping to build the kingdom of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Have salt in yourselves,” Jesus says, “and be at
peace with one another. Have salt in yourselves – that is, keep yourself both
interesting and flavourful. Nurture the spiritual gifts God has given you,
share them with God’s little ones, and honour the spiritual gifts of others. Be
at peace with one another rather than jealous and competitive. Salt enables the
whole community to live together in peace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So our challenge in today’s gospel is threefold:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">to be salty enough – courageous and loving and
adventurous enough – to share the gospel of love</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">to create peace among one another</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; text-indent: -0.25in;">to let others also share the love of God even
when we think they’re doing it the wrong way.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in .4in .8in 1.2in 1.6in 2.0in 2.4in 2.8in 3.2in 3.6in 4.0in 4.4in 4.8in 5.2in 5.6in 6.0in 6.4in 6.8in 7.2in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">How desperately our church and our world need the gift
of salt, of acceptance, understanding, compassion, peace and love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one
another.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-71590283904018653812015-08-11T18:58:00.000-04:002015-08-11T19:02:11.825-04:00Homily for the Feast of St Clare by Sr. Doreen McGuff SSJD<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
She was born in 1194 into a wealthy
Roman family – a successful businessman father and a devout</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZziXx6fAjohKZOUuRc83tzIkhRYFHxBdALiegF1NXjmXRScQcChuw2YojLnVLWJ8U0UnH5C1v-8CzN55krHLxG1xNjfUO_zkCMqMazd3R5A-gY5LaoN7D0eJ9fWYkRD0dMCgEvRPkmeR-/s1600/11169406_10153198477115310_6035384618207810178_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZziXx6fAjohKZOUuRc83tzIkhRYFHxBdALiegF1NXjmXRScQcChuw2YojLnVLWJ8U0UnH5C1v-8CzN55krHLxG1xNjfUO_zkCMqMazd3R5A-gY5LaoN7D0eJ9fWYkRD0dMCgEvRPkmeR-/s320/11169406_10153198477115310_6035384618207810178_o.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sister Doreen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
mother.
At the age of 18 she heard St. Francis preach, awakening a desire in
her to give herself completely to God. In 1212, at the age of 18,
with St. Francis’ aid she joined a Benedictine order. Her own
sister, who took the name Agnes, joined her and shortly thereafter
they moved to a small building next to the church of San Damiano,
where others joined them. They became known as the “Poor Clare’s”
an enclosed community who embraced “joyous poverty” and whose
ministry was to the poor and poverty-stricken families that lived
around them or came to them for help. Clare’s own life was an icon
of contemplation and compassion.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
She has always been an intriguing,
favorite saint for me! She is a contradiction – a marvellous
integration of that passionate and romantic – yet deeply
compassionate and realistic down-to-earth spirituality that stirs my
own soul to try to respond ever more openly and authentically! Who
amongst us has not at life profession taken up the ring inscribed
with the happy song “my Beloved is mine and I am His” and felt a
profound and deep stirring in the depths of their being. A saint
like Clare continues to inspire me to keep fanning that initial joy
into life – that passion and compassion in my response to Jesus
call to arise, my love, my fair one and come away – follow me.
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clare wrote: “happy she who is drawn
to Jesus whose beauty eternally awes, whose love inspires love, whose
contemplation refreshes, whose generosity satisfies, whose gentleness
delights, whose memory shines sweetly as the dawn, whose fragrance
revives the dead, whose glorious vision will bless all the citizens
of that heavenly Jerusalem.” She encouraged her sisters to: “look
into that Mirror (Jesus) and study well your reflection – this
Mirror – behold his poverty, his humility, his unspeakable love,
his indescribable delights in you, his unending riches and honours
which will draw you …”</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Clare would respond to the Message
translation of Luke’s annunciation “Good morning, you are
beautiful, inside and out, with God’s beauty . God is with you”
– and she would call her sisters to rejoice in this greeting daily
in their own lives and proclaim this same message to those who came
to them. Clare would understand the words “love me tender, love me
true, never let me go” and she would call her sisters to rejoice in
God’s tenacious love and to reach out to each other and to the
world with that same radical love. Clare would echo the words read
in the Song of Solomon today – My beloved speaks and says to me:
arise my love, my fair one, and come away – Clare knew where her
treasure was, there her heart was also.</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Tonight at Evensong we will sing the
Canticle of Clare – a canticle that sums up Clare’s life and her
gift of encouragement and prayer for us: <span class="sd-abs-pos" style="left: 6.15in; position: absolute; top: 6.84in; width: 132px;"></span>
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">Place your mind in the mirror of eternity.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">Place your soul in the splendour of glory. </span>
</div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">Place your heart in the icon of the substance
divine</span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">Contemplating, be transformed into the image of
the God-head itself.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">Taste and know the hidden sweetness of God for
all time existing to be found by those who love</span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">The sacred banquet which all may share, if they
dare – </span>
</div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">All it costs is everything, a heart open,
longing, tasting, giving.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">Place your mind ……</span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">Taste and know the hidden sweetness of God
whose beauty is endless and whose love inflames our love</span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">Whose contemplation refreshes us, brings us joy
–</span></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black;">All our being overflows with You, O most Holy,
fragrant Lover</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Place your mind ….</div>
</div>
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-76663989138710320742015-06-21T08:00:00.000-04:002015-06-22T10:18:39.441-04:00National Aboriginal Day - 21 June 2015HOMILY: NATIONAL ABORIGINAL DAY
<br />ST. JOHN’S CONVENT AND GEORGE ON YONGE,<br />JUNE 21, 2015
Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD
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<br />
<ul>
<li>Sirach 43:1-12<i> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=301982585" target="_blank">read text online here »</a></i></li>
<li>Psalm 136:1-6 <i> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=301982615" target="_blank">read text online here »</a></i></li>
<li>Romans 8:19-30 <i> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=301982637" target="_blank">read text online here »</a></i></li>
<li>Matthew 5:1-12<i> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=301982661" target="_blank">read text online here »</a></i></li>
</ul>
<br />
Our readings this morning are about God’s work in creation and in history. And as we look around at our own world, we must all feel deeply what St. Paul says in the reading from Romans:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God . . . We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labour pains until now; and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.</blockquote>
What has God been doing in creation and history? Why do we look around and see war and torture and injustice and murder? Especially right here in our beloved country of Canada.
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But maybe asking what God has been doing is the wrong question. As Paul says, the creation – and God – look for the children of God to be revealed – to stand up and be counted – to respond to God’s invitation to be co-creators of the new creation; to accept our responsibility to be agents of peace and justice.
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Today we are celebrating National Aboriginal Day of Prayer – a day first set aside in 1971 by the General Synod of our national church to pray for the indigenous peoples of Canada. The date was chosen because the summer solstice falls on June 21, and for generations it has been a sacred day for aboriginal peoples, on which they celebrated their culture and heritage.
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The other mainline churches followed suit, and in 1996, Governor General Romeo Leblanc declared this day a national day to recognize the contributions of Aboriginal peoples to this country of Canada. But our church was the first to recognize the importance of this observance.
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Now the church has not always been a leader in society – quite often the church lags behind the secular culture, especially regarding issues of inclusion and justice. But over the past several decades the Anglican Church of Canada has taken some prophetic leadership in redressing the abuses of the residential schools and the government policy of assimilation with which the churches have often been complicit. The development of an alternative dispute resolution process for claims of former residential school students is one example, and Robert Falby, the former Chancellor of our Diocese and Prolocutor of General Synod who died just last week, was one of the architects of this process. Another example of our church’s leadership was the vote at General Synod in 2013 to repudiate the “doctrine of discovery” – the belief that the Europeans who migrated to this land had a right to dispossess those already living here. Our church has also created new structures for allowing indigenous Anglicans to have a measure of autonomy within the church structure, and has been a voice for justice in the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
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Why is this so important today? Because we have just seen the completion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which has been in progress since 2010. Like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa that followed the deconstruction of apartheid, our TRC has listened to the stories of people involved in the residential school system. The truth-telling has provided healing in many ways, but it’s only the beginning, and you need only to read the papers these past weeks to recognize the difference between healing and reconciliation. As many people have noted, individuals may find healing, but reconciliation is different. Reconciliation between immigrants to Canada (and that includes everyone who has come here since the 16th century) and the aboriginal peoples of Canada can only happen when there is justice for all: when our school curricula include the role of aboriginal peoples in our country’s history; when our justice system takes seriously the disappearance and murder of hundreds of aboriginal women; when land claims are taken seriously, when a just system is in place to give inhabitants of the land some say in its use for resource extraction, when all forms of racism are eradicated. When we, who are as St. Paul says the revealed children of God, accept our baptismal responsibility to work for justice and peace.
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So much of this sounds like bad news. We have come so far, but we have so far to go – how do we keep from giving up in discouragement?
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Well, Paul counsels hope: while the creation waits in longing for our adoption as children of God – we wait with hope, “for in hope we were saved” he says. And then he goes on with so many encouraging words: “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”
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God sighs with us, God too longs for a day of justice for all people – whether it is the aboriginal people of Canada, the innocent people murdered in Syria, the victims of war throughout the Middle East, the young victims of racism and carding in our own city. Jesus came that we might have abundant life, and in his own walk to the cross, he carried our human frailty and sin on his back. And he continues to walk with us.
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No matter how unjust things may be in our national life, our local communities, or our personal and family lives, Paul reminds us that “we know that all things work together for good for those who love God.” God does not create war and murder and injustice. But if we are open to the Spirit of God interceding for us, God can use us to create good out of all that has gone before.
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And so in our prayers today we acknowledge our complicity in the injustices in our world, we pray that we may be agents of healing and wholeness ourselves by being open to the Spirit praying in us and showing us how we may help, and we celebrate the contributions of our aboriginal Canadians.
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We must not forget that today is also Father’s Day. As we give thanks for our own fathers, for their contribution to our lives, we remember our grandfathers and great-grandfathers, and all those ancestors in faith who have shaped our lives for good. While not all people have been blessed with good and nurturing birth fathers, all of us can point to father figures in our lives who have blessed and guided us. That is a value very strong among aboriginal peoples. In fact one of the most important routes to reconciliation with our aboriginal brothers and sisters is to do everything that we can – as a nation, as a church, as individuals, to strengthen the bonds of family life that were torn apart through the residential school policies.
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There was an inspiring article in <i>The Globe and Mail</i> last week written by John Ralston Saul, the co-chair of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship and a prophetic voice in our country for justice for all immigrants to Canada. He is also the husband of former Governor General Adrienne Clarkson. In his article about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, he quotes the former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Georges Erasmus, in an earlier report on aboriginal justice:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Canada is a test case for a grand notion – the notion that dissimilar peoples can share lands, resources, power and dreams while respecting and sustaining their differences. The story of Canada is the story of many such peoples, trying and failing and trying again, to love together in peace and harmony. But there cannot be peace or harmony unless there is justice.</blockquote>
In the gospel today, in what we know as the Beatitudes – the Blessings – Jesus lays out his vision for the Reign of God. Blessed are the peacemakers, the merciful, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst for justice. That includes us all, aboriginal and immigrant, fathers, mothers, children. All of us are called in our Baptism to work for the Reign of God – to be peacemakers, to bring mercy, to comfort those who mourn, to support those who work for justice. That is a charge to us as Christians, and a message of hope.
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And so we end with Paul’s reminder that “we know that all things work together for good for those who love God” and that we ourselves, who profess to love God, are called to be agents of love, healing and reconciliation for others.
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-7427717369893451952015-06-19T08:00:00.000-04:002015-06-22T10:10:23.109-04:00Anything you can do, I can do betterHomily by Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD<br />
Friday, June 19 in Week of Proper 11 Year B<br />
<ul>
<li>2 Corinthians 11:18, 21b-30<i> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=301981775" target="_blank">read online here »</a></i></li>
<li>Psalm 34:1-6 <i> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=301981803" target="_blank">read online here »</a></i></li>
<li>Matthew 6:19-23 <i> - <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=301981845" target="_blank">read online here »</a></i></li>
</ul>
When I read the passage from Paul’s letter to the Christians at Corinth – who were always troublesome to Paul because they were so competitive and argumentative – I remembered a song that was popular when I was young: “Anything you can do, I can do better; I can do anything better than you.” It was from the popular musical <i>Annie Get Your Gun</i>.
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<blockquote>
I can shoot a partridge
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With a single cartridge.
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I can get a sparrow
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With a bow and arrow.
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I can live on bread and cheese.
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And only on that?
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Yes.
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So can a rat!
</blockquote>
Paul sounds like he’s engaging in the same kind of competition as the Corinthians – my pain is worse than your pain, my scars are brighter than your scars. He really does lay it on. But then so do we. You think you’re busy? Look at my schedule! You think you have problems? Listen to <i>my problems</i>. And if we don’t say it, we think it. We hear someone complaining and we might be too polite to say “come on, get a life, look what I’m dealing with and how well I do!” – but we often think it.
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But Paul is not just engaging in a competition with the Corinthians here. He is saying that there is a <i>different</i> kind of boasting, a boasting of weakness in order to show his strength comes only from God. And who among us hasn’t learned that we become stronger when we are weak, that our worlds may expand rather than shrink when we deal with limitations – because our vulnerability allows us to move beyond the superficial comforts of life to an awareness of what is <i>really</i> important in an ultimate sense. The churches that are thriving are those in Africa and Asia where people are suffering war and violence. The churches that are shrinking are in the most affluent countries, including our own. There is something about vulnerability and privation and suffering that we don’t seek, but when it comes to us it helps us understand what is really important in life.
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And that is what Jesus is talking about in the gospel. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” – what you have in your home, your church, your city, your country – that is what you value. If we look around our own city, it would seem that decisions have been made and are being made on the basis of helping those who improve the city’s economy. Our treasure is in our large corporate buildings, our transportation system such as it is, our retail stores.
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But what happens when values clash? When the truckers, for instance, lobby for the hybrid version of the Gardiner expressway so trucks can move easily through the city’s centre, while others lobby for a street-level boulevard that will improve people space with more green space and access to the waterfront? It’s not as simple as that, but just that one small example shows us what Jesus is talking about – where your treasure is, there will your heart be also – is our treasure consumer goods and building projects and financial investments – or is it in people, relationships, aesthetics, health and welfare for all the people of our city?
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And our churches also make decisions on the basis of what people most value – is it our buildings and memorial windows? Or is it reaching out to the kind of people Jesus served – the poor and homeless and hungry and disenfranchised?
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And what of ourselves? Where is <i>our</i> treasure? What is <i>your</i> treasure? Look at the way you spend your money, your time, your energy, and you’ll know the answer to that question.
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And that is what Jesus is saying at the end of the gospel – <i>look</i>. The eye is the lamp of the body – it illuminates our treasure. Jesus is offering us eternal life, now – intimacy with God, a relationship of love. That goes far beyond the satisfaction we receive from our material possessions. “If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” If you <i>look</i> with the eye of your heart and <i>see</i> the treasures around you – in friendships, in relationships, in the beauty of our environment – your whole body, your whole life will be full of light – and it will be like that light Jesus told us not to hide under a bushel basket – it will be a light that will bring love and compassion to the world God loved and Jesus died for.
Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-86067354013151329212015-05-17T18:12:00.002-04:002015-05-17T18:12:47.886-04:00Installation of Sr Elizabeth, SSJD - homily by Bishop Linda Nicholls - 6 May 2015Scriptures:<a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=298899799" target="_blank"> Exodus 33:18-23 »</a> / <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=298899829" target="_blank">Psalm 92:1-2, 11-14 »</a> / <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=298899888" target="_blank">1 John 1:1-9 »</a> / <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=298899921" target="_blank">John 20:1-8 »</a><br />
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Sr. Elizabeth, you have been called by this community of Sisters to step into leadership in a new way as the Reverend Mother – to serve this community over the next five and possibly – by the grace of God and the willingness of the Sisters - for ten years. It is an honour – a privilege and a daunting responsibility! I am told that when new bishops were elected, Archbishop Lewis Garnsworthy would lean over during the applause and whisper – “Enjoy it – it’s all downhill from here!!” Leadership today in any faith-based institution or community …is challenging to say the least.<br />
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There are those outside the faith community who say the church and its ancient traditions are irrelevant, outdated and will die. The Sisterhood has wrestled with such questions of its place throughout its history – even from its origins in Toronto when only one parish in the diocese wanted to connect in any way with a monastic women’s community with Anglo-Catholic practices! Yet I have watched personally over the last twenty years of that history as SSJD has, guided by its leaders, made challenging and radical decisions – not for the sake of comfort but for the sake of faithfulness. You moved the whole mother house of the convent to this location; opened and closed houses in Montreal, Edmonton, Victoria; changed your practices around wearing the habit; established an order of oblates and shifted your relationship with St. John’s Rehab Hospital. These years were simply a continuation of the ways in which the Sisterhood has responded to the needs around the community since 1884 while retaining its core practices of faith and community life. That is what is needed now - faithfulness to the values and heart of Christian faith expressed in prayer and action through the charism of this community. At times that faithfulness has taken you into ministries of teaching, missional outreach, caregiving, pastoral care, hospitality and more recently into spiritual direction. You have faced changes with courage – though not, I know, without some internal controversy and on occasion, pain. <br /><br />A recent article by Rachel Held Evans – now Episcopalian formerly an evangelical in the USA …commented on the trend to be ‘hip and cool’ in church worship – coffee perking at the back of the church, the most up-to-date music and technology, etc. She quotes blogger, Amy Peterson, who says – ‘I want a service that is not sensational, flashy or particularly ‘relevant’ I can be entertained anywhere At church, I do not want to be entertained. I do not want to be the target of anyone’s marketing. I want to be asked to participate in the life of an ancient-future community.”<br /><br />Well, monastic communities offer a space that is welcoming, non-judgmental, and open yet rooted in that ancient-future community living. You are living what Amy is talking about – that ancient-future way of worship and connection with God and God’s purposes.<br /><br />So today we gather to install Sr. Elizabeth as Reverend Mother of this ancient-future tradition and community on St. John’s Day, your Easter season Patronal festival. In the readings for this day we hear some key messages for Sr. Elizabeth and for the community. The passage we just heard in 1 John carries the heartbeat that, to me, is at the center of all faith life, and especially in this community. “We have heard – we have tasted – we have seen concerning the word of life….. so that you also may have fellowship with us…..so that our joy may be complete! “<br /><br />This community is made up of people who have met Jesus – and want to live in such a way that others may come alongside in fellowship which in turn completes your joy! It is a hopeful invitation into life. You as a community are a sign – an icon – of all who have seen and touched and tasted the word of life in Jesus Christ inviting others through your ministry of hospitality, pastoral visiting, spiritual direction – to come alongside in fellowship and in that fill your joy.<br /><br />We also heard the moment when Moses meets God and desires to experience God’s glory. Moses was called into leadership to take the Israelites from Egypt out into the desert. He has taken them from a life of slavery but the future promised land is not yet in sight and they have been recalcitrant – complaining - rebellious – frustrating - (Not that the Sisters of SSJD could ever be recalcitrant – rebellious – complaining or frustrating!!) Moses now needs encouragement. The past looks better than the future….and Moses needs confirmation for himself of the bigger picture of God’s purposes by being touched by God’s glory. <br /><br />There is a high toll on the leader – to stay focused on hope & purpose and not look for the quick fix to the questions of survival. Moses was called to be the steady, patient leader in the face of grumbling and to keep the people focused on their purpose and calling to take them to their destination. Moses needed to be grounded in his relationship with God in which he had a glimpse of God’s glory – in the same way as the disciples did in such moments at the Transfiguration, during the resurrection appearances and at the Ascension as they were prepared for leadership.<br /><br />Therefore, Sr. Elizabeth – as you take up the mantle of leadership for this community remember these grounding principles for your ministry.<br /><br />Before you were a Sister – before you were Assistant to the Reverend Mother – before you were a teacher – wife – mother – you are a child of God – Beloved of God. You will need to remember this each day when the burden is too great; or the frustrations too large; and even when the joys are bursting on you. <br /><br />Then also remember your first calling by baptism to be with and to serve God. The baptismal covenant speaks of all the elements that are part of your community life – eucharist, scripture, prayer, confession. Spending time in prayer is built into your daily life – but leadership can nibble and gnaw at its time. Be firm and faithful to the disciplines of your baptismal calling as you have chosen to live them in community at SSJD. Give yourself time to touch the glory of God in your heart and soul so that you will have the strength you need for the journey of leadership.<br /><br />Thirdly, remember that you are not alone. Moses quickly learned on his journey that he needed others to share leadership and appointed them. No leader serves alone. We serve in community with others whose gifts and skills complement and support our own. To return to 1 John - “we” have seen, tasted, touched….,not ‘I’ have seen, touched, heard. We share responsibility together. You are surrounded by the great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12) and these earthly colleagues who each share a part of God’s vision for SSJD – have been called to this community, have been touched by God’s glory and are also faithfully trying to live out that calling. Draw on their gifts, their prayers, their support - and remember to laugh and play together. <br /><br />This Sisterhood has the gifts it needs in its roots and history, its commitment to community, and in its leadership to face the challenges ahead. It is grounded in the love of God that has been known, heard, tasted, and seen in Jesus that binds this community together. You will find your joy – individually and together – as you faithfully live this ancient-future calling and are for the rest of us, an icon of all that we are also called to do and be in this ancient-future church.<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;">
Bishop Linda Nicholls</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>Diocese of Toronto, Anglican Church of Canada </i></div>
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Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-7236129394789296252015-01-18T12:00:00.000-05:002015-01-24T17:25:20.458-05:00Homily by the Rev. Andrea Budgey - Epiphany 2B<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Go and Listen” “Come and See” </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Homily by the Rev. Andrea Budgey Sunday, January 18th, 2015 </span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Readings</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=289137176" target="_blank">1 Samuel 3:1-10 »</a> • <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=289137225" target="_blank">Psalm 139:1-6,13-18 »</a> • <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=289137262" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 6:12-20 »</a> • <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=289137286" target="_blank">John 1:43-51 »</a></span></div>
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Many of my colleagues this morning are wrestling with today’s epistle, trying to present it in a way which is accessible to the hearers while remaining faithful to the text. I hope you’ll forgive me, however, if I don’t spend a great deal of time this morning here on Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians to “shun fornication”, and focus our attention, instead, on the other texts we have before us...</span><br />
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“Go and listen”. In our Old Testament reading, the boy Samuel has been dedicated to the service of God since before he can remember, trained in attention and obedience, but he's still not prepared for God's call to him out of the darkness. He needs his master's guidance to recognise what's going on, and to know how to respond to God. Eli is blind – physically blind, and blind to the wickedness of his adult sons – but he still understands about listening in the darkness, even if his own darkness has been silent to him for a long time, and he accepts the idea that his family will decline, and the talented, holy child in his care will eclipse him, because he recognises the channel by which the prophecy and the judgement come. What he's trying to teach Samuel, when the boy wakes him in the middle of the night, is the receptivity of the contemplative, a kind of “naked intent” toward God, characterised not by praise or petitions, not by asking God for anything, but by pure attentiveness, mindfulness, a temporary withdrawal from distraction and even from human relationships to wait on the utterance of God in the soul. “Go and listen”, says Eli. </span><br />
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“Come and see”. Unlike Samuel, Nathanael isn’t undergoing any specialised training – not that the Gospel tells us about, anyway – and his first response, when Philip comes to him, full of excitement about the Messiah, seems cool, almost flippant, as if he’s trying to take the wind out of Philip’s sails. And that, in a way, makes his reaction to meeting Jesus even more surprising: when Jesus recognises him, Nathanael immediately changes his tune, and calls him “son of God” and “king of Israel”. What has happened to produce this apparent over-reaction? I think Nathanael probably recognises in this encounter the experience of God which today’s psalm describes: “O Lord, you have searched me and known me; you know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away”. We learn to love God because we have first been loved by God; we learn to recognise God, and to begin to know God, when we realise that we have first been known by God in our very making. Jesus promises Nathanael more wonders to come: the sight of angels ascending and descending upon the son of man. This image conjures up the dream of Jacob in the wilderness, the ladder between heaven and earth, but in the Gospel, of course, it is Jesus who becomes the ladder, the point of contact between our earthbound existence and the fullness of life in God. </span><br />
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There's a temptation to treat these two stories of the Old and New Testaments as contrasts, as opposites: Samuel obeys the call to “Go and listen”; Nathanael the call to “Come and see”; Samuel hears God as a mysterious voice in the darkness, while Nathanael meets God incarnate, and is drawn into personal relationship with God in Christ; Samuel becomes a prophet, proclaiming the bad news of God's disapproval, first to his master, and then, often, to the people of Israel, while Nathanael is called to be an apostle, preaching the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. These comparisons are not without some validity, of course, because in Christ's Incarnation God is revealed to as in as full a way as we are able to comprehend, more fully than ever before. (You may have noticed, by the way, over the past few weeks, the way the readings of this season present this revelation of Christ in a series of events of which become less impressive, but increasingly comprehensible: we start with angelic messengers at Christmas, and wise men with exotic gifts at Epiphany; then there's a baptism with a voice which not necessarily everyone can hear, depending which Gospel version of the story you read; this week, there's a very human meeting, and simple recognition between two people). I think it would be a mistake, though, and an over-simplification of scripture, to imagine that the new ways of knowing God which are made plain to us in the Incarnation somehow simply replace, or wipe out, the old. We are indeed called to encounter Christ on a very human scale, in our daily lives, and our relationships with other people, but that does not mean that we are to ignore our dreams and our visions – whatever form they may take – or that we aren't meant to listen for the “still, small voice” which speaks to us in the quiet of prayer, or even in the silence of emptiness. We need both to “come and see”, in the company of others, and to “go and listen” in solitude and mystery. And we are to be both apostles and prophets, called to proclaim the hope of the resurrection, and the fullness of new life in Christ, in our worship, and in the very patterns of our lives, but also called, when we see the image of Christ in any human person degraded by violence, oppression, poverty, or injustice, to be, like Samuel, prophetic, and to name the wrong, the bad news, so that the good may drive it out. </span><br />
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Samuel goes to the person he most trusts to advise him, and gets precisely the advice he needs to make him receptive to the word of God. Nathanael isn’t necessarily looking for advice, and at first he doesn’t even take his friend seriously, but he is receptive enough to follow him, to humour him, and I like to imagine, (although the Gospel doesn’t say so) that it was because of their friendship – the mutual love which connected them – that he did this, and met the shock of recognition which transformed his life. The same experience can come to us when we least expect it, when we do something reluctantly for a friend or a relative – or a stranger – out of love, and discover suddenly that God has walked into the relationship and recognized us.</span>Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8869400822467707851.post-49890056332733174562014-11-30T12:00:00.000-05:002015-01-24T17:23:50.548-05:00 Homily: Advent 1B - St John's Convent - November 30, 2014<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Homily: Advent 1B St.
John’s Convent, November 30, 2014</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: Calibri; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=285187858" target="_blank">Isaiah 64:1-9</a> / <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=285187889" target="_blank">Psalm 80</a> / <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=285187911" target="_blank">1 Corinthians 1:3-9</a> / <a href="http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=285187935" target="_blank">Mark 13:24-37</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the name of God, to the Glory of God, for the love of God. Amen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Advent is the season of the church year when we wait for the coming of the Christ, the Messiah. It is a liturgical way of expressing the deep human longing for God. Even those who don’t know or believe in God long for whatever gives meaning to life. They long to be free of anxiety, of family strife, of the pressure of competition in the work place or school. They long for peace and fulfilment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And don’t we all? The passage from Isaiah gives expression to our deep longing for the end of terror and sadness. The prophet sounds as if he could be talking about our own time:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We all fade like a leaf,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is no one who calls on your name,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">or attempts to take hold of you;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">for you have hidden your face from us,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yet, O Lord, you are our Father;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">we are the clay, and you are our potter;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">we are all the work of your hand.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There is such poignancy in those verses – such grief, and yet such hope. God is the potter, and we are the clay. We trust that God will not abandon the work of the divine hand, from the stunning splendour of the cosmos to the delicate beauty of human life – my life, and your life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We can so easily get discouraged because we don’t see results. But everything good comes from waiting, and Advent is a time of waiting. It takes seeds time to germinate, babies nine months to mature so they can safely be born, years for the first flush of infatuation to deepen into true love. Even a good baked potato takes enough time in the oven to soften, to develop flavour and texture. And we too need time as we learn to trust in the work God is doing in us and among us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Advent is like a womb, or an oven, or rich soil where this can happen. It is a sacrament of waiting, and that is the beauty of the liturgical year. We get to start over again, become pregnant again, wait for that child again – the God-child who wants to be born again and again in us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And in our world. The readings this morning seem gloomy and frightening. And that is because the only way to let the God seed in us come to maturity is to let go of what we are deeply attached to and that we allow to take the place of God in our lives – like our need to control our own lives, to protect ourselves from other people, to acquire more and more stuff, to fill our rooms and homes and offices with things that we think we need. It takes time to recognize that God wants to be born in us, and then it takes time for God to woo us away from our attachments and addictions. It takes even more time for God to be born in our world, where all the same destructive tendencies are acted out on a global scale in the form of addictions to power and control, to violence and anger, to self-protection and fear.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Jesus was only too aware of this human suffering, too aware of where his own life was leading. The thirteenth chapter of Mark’s gospel draws heavily on the imagery in Daniel and other Old Testament and apocryphal books that described visions of the end times. People took the imagery of cosmic destruction literally, and there was good reason. Forty years after Jesus’ death Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the entire city of Pompeii under molten lava and ash. Earthquakes devastated the Greek peninsula. There was war and famine and so much terror that the Roman historian Tacitus said that the gods seemed to be bringing vengeance rather than salvation to the Roman Empire – not unlike the mood of the reading from Isaiah, but without the hope</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And so using this imagery, Jesus says to pay attention to the signs. Just as the fig tree tells you that summer is near, so cosmic events will be a sign of the second coming. Just as the landlord going on a trip provides for someone to take care of his house, so we too are enjoined to be prepared, to be ready.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two thousand years later we still wait. We see warning signs in environmental destruction, climate change, cosmic disturbances. But even more we see the signs in attitudes of our culture that are quieter and more subtle and insidious. What images would Jesus use if he were here today? I fantasize that he might say something like this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">From the economy learn this lesson: when you see people standing in line from midnight till 6 am to get the bargains on Black Friday, then you know the end is near. When you see ads promising a Black December, with bargains promised right through Boxing Day, know that the end is near. When you see people sleeping on the streets in one of the richest cities in the world, you know the end is near. When you see celebrities and politicians brought down for drug use and sexual assault you know the end is near.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think Black Friday is a far more prophetic term than we might at first think. I read somewhere that the phrase was coined in Philadelphia back in the 1980s because of the chaos that the shopping frenzy caused in the city on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The term later came to have a more positive interpretation because it was the day when merchants got their books in the black after eleven months of being in the red. But to me Black Friday is an appropriate sign that our culture has succumbed to the belief that all our problems can be solved by money and material things. It is a black time in human history when we should believe such things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We can’t be saved by money or things or power or public acclaim. We can only be saved by accepting our baptismal challenge to help bring about the reign of God in the way Jesus models – to heal the sick, visit those in prison, serve the poor, help the hungry and homeless, bring hope to the despairing, and pray for those overcome by the addictions of our society.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And above all to keep alert, to watch for the signs of hope. Tend the God seed in you. Stay awake, Jesus says – not because I am going to destroy you if you are in the middle of a shopping frenzy when I come again, but because you might not recognize me. Stay awake so that when I show up in your life – as that quiet inner voice, or that friend who consoles, or that new opportunity – you won’t miss me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake”!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><i>- </i></span>Sr. Constance Joanna, SSJD</span><br />
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Sisterhood of St. John the Divinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14019463134440578659noreply@blogger.com