Kids, Youth and Faith

My last sermon at St. Paul's.

2010-04-11T15:26:00.000-04:00

Thomas gets a bum rap, being labeled as “doubting” Not that he didn’t doubt, but his doubting wasn’t unique—the other disciples doubted too. Thomas’ doubting, as told by John in today’s Gospel, just gets more airtime, being read the second Sunday of Easter every year. But there’s plenty of doubt in the other Gospels. In the 24th Chapter of Luke, when Jesus appears to the others in the locked upper room on Easter night, he asks why “doubt has arisen” in their hearts? In these early days of Easter doubt isn’t the sole property of Thomas.

Doubt isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a human thing.
Doubt isn’t denying, it’s not condemning. It’s a time of bewilderment, a time of question---doubt comes when things aren’t clear---when all the evidence isn’t yet in or all the evidence hasn’t crystallized in our brains yet. Doubt is common when all that we know to be—the order of our world---is shattered.

When I lived and worked as a psychotherapist in suburban Chicago I served on a disaster response team. Our job was to mobilize in natural and human made disasters, being among the first responders to the scene. One Labor Day evening we were called out to a railroad crossing in a nearby village. A last blast of summer festival had been going on and a group of high school kids were hanging out by the railroad crossing when an express Amtrak train came down the track, striking and killing a local high school sophomore. I had the difficult task of informing the girl’s mother of her death. When given the terrible news, the mother calmly looked at me and said, “No that’s impossible, she was at the movies.” In that instance she was denying reality---then it hit her and she fell to the ground, sobbing. For those first few moments, she doubted the message I had delivered. She doubted that anything this horrible could possibly happen, but soon her brain began to assimilate it and the tragic truth became clear.
But it’s not only bad news that can be met with doubt, good news can be equally difficult to fathom.
Whether it’s the people on tv who’ve won the publishers’ clearinghouse, or finding out you’ve gotten the job of your dreams or hearing that the cancer is gone----good news can take some time to sink in.

Doubt buys us time for the joy to fully engage, it buys us time to gird ourselves against the bad.

Doubt gives us time to catch up to the reality of our lives.

And in those first few hours, those first few days following the crucifixion, the reality of the disciples’ life wasn’t pretty. The king they loved they denied, the rulers they feared they defied. It wasn’t a good time to be one of Jesus’ followers…so when they hear from Mary Magdalene that Jesus is alive do they run out looking for him carried by this thrilling and joyous news?
No, they remain paralyzed by their doubt, immobilized by their fear, stuck in their shame. Remember they had abandoned and denied Jesus. They had let him down in his greatest hour of need. And now he was alive? Uh oh. Human nature would dictate that the disciples must have feared that Jesus’ would be MAD. The disciples while thrilled that Jesus was alive, may have had some trepidation about seeing him again. But this time the disciples could not run and hide. For even while huddled behind locked doors, Jesus appears, not in anger or disappointment but in Peace and Love. He doesn’t say How could you? He says Peace Be With You. He doesn’t re-hash their failings of the past week, but commissions them to go out and spread the Good News of Peace to the world. Jesus accepts their failings and loves them. Jesus rejects their fear and loves them. This is radical. This is shocking. This can take some getting used to!
And even though they had heard it hundreds of times before, even though we hear it, week in and week out, this simple message of love peace and forgiveness is really difficult to understand; it can be difficult to accept.

Thomas, along with the other disciples, needed to see the reality of Jesus’ resurrection before they could "get it." Their doubt wasn’t a lack of faith, it wasn’t that they didn’t believe, they just didn’t understand.

Thomas’ doubt bought him time to comprehend all that had happened, so that, when he saw Jesus for himself he could proclaim, “My Lord and My God.” Thomas’ doubt led his faith to a place of understanding. Thomas, given time, Got It.

Today, the emotional roller coaster of Holy Week is over, we’ve proclaimed Christ risen, we’ve shouted Alleluia, we’ve rejoiced in the new light of Christ.
Today we sit back, along with Thomas and the other disciples, fully aware of what we are capable of---killing God in the flesh—and aware of what God is capable of: peace and forgiveness. This astonishing realization of what we can and sometimes do and what God always does, is shocking and takes some getting used too.

So today we begin the process of clearing the doubt from our hearts and minds and embracing the Truth as given to us through Jesus Christ. The truth that we’ve been entrusted with the same task Jesus gave the disciples: to go out into the world seeking and serving Christ in everyone we meet. To offer peace and forgiveness to everyone: those we may not understand, those we may not even like and even those who may scare us. Today, as Jesus sends his disciples out into the world, I am reminded of what brought me through the doors of this Cathedral church nine years ago: the promise that this place offered hospitality healing and hope. It is promise that you fulfilled and a promise I know you will continue to fulfill. It has been a joy to be among you as a parishioner and it has been an honor and privilege to serve you as priest. Thank you.
AMEN.

Easter Vigil 2010

2010-04-04T19:49:00.000-04:00

+Some of you have heard me mention that, several years ago, a 9 year old girl asked me why we go through Holy Week every year. After all, she said, we know it works out in the end! Of course we do know how the story ends and tonight we stand at the dramatic and glorious climax of the Holy Week Drama—an empty tomb, a risen Christ—but, as I told that young lady a few years ago---we must walk through the drama of Holy Week each and every year because although the story doesn’t change, we do. We need the reminder, we need the journey. To paraphrase a history professor I had years ago, why does history repeat itself? Because people change. We need the same old story to guide us in the new varied and divergent paths our lives take. We change, God doesn’t. We forget, God remembers. We stray, God remains steady.

And so we journey….from the triumphal march into Jerusalem, to the loneliness and despair of the garden, the bitter trial, the agony of the cross, the silence of death and finally, the joy of resurrection. What a walk!

Tonight we heard the story of salvation. From the first glimmer of new light we heard of God’s saving efforts throughout the ages, from the Red Sea to the dry bones, from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, from Gethsemane to Calvary, from life to death and life again.
Tonight we have been given in clear and certain terms: A New Life in Christ. In a few moments, Elijah Michael Cumbo-Burris will, through his baptism, be sealed as Christ’s own forever. And through this sacrament of Baptism each of us will renew our commitment to Christ as well as our commitment to see Christ in all whom we encounter. How easy it is for us to lose our way. How easy it is for us to forget.
So, how does Elijah, as he begins his life in Christ, remember the promise of Easter amidst the inevitability of Holy Week. How do any of us keep an Easter faith in our own personal Holy Weeks, our own moments of doubt, despair loneliness and fear?

Elijah will do well if he remembers the lessons of Holy Week throughout his life. I think we all would do well to remember what we’ve learned through this Holiest of weeks.

Palm Sunday: triumph has different meanings. I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect when Jesus marched into Jerusalem. No doubt many of the disciples thought that in Jerusalem, Jesus would topple the civic and religious structure of the day. I’m not sure any of them thought victory could come from the cross and the tomb. Elijah, don’t expect that the victory of your life will always look how you think it will. Sometimes victory comes swaddled in rags, born in a barn and killed like a common criminal.

Maundy Thursday. It’s important to take time for fellowship. Sit with family and friends—break bread together. The bonds formed over the dinner table are fierce and will hold, come what may. Sometimes, words are not needed. Sometimes those we love simply need someone to sit with them, to bear witness to the pain they are enduring. We can’t take pain away from others, but we can be a silent witness. Elijah, never underestimate the power of your presence.

Good Friday: There will be times when your beliefs will be challenged, when you will be tempted to deny what you believe to be true and right because it isn’t popular or it’s too scary to stand up for what you know to be true. Elijah, stand up for what is right as best you can, and when you falter remember that God stands at the ready, waiting for you—for all of us-- to come home where forgiveness always reigns.

Holy Saturday. Where is God? As Benedictine nun and author Joan Chittister says: “The importance of Holy Saturday lies in its power to bring us to the kind of faith the spiritual masters call “mature.” Holy Saturday faith is not about counting our blessings; it is about dealing with darkness and growing in hope”
Elijah, there will be days when you will feel utterly alone and bereft. Know that deep within that sadness, at the very bottom of the well of loneliness there’s a small still voice weeping with you and for you, sharing in your pain. You may not feel it, but know that it is there and that you can count on it. None of us is ever alone, no matter what.
Easter—the Resurrection— Just as quickly as you find yourself in the depths of despair you will find yourself relieved and released from the pain. Suddenly it will be gone. The sadness will lift and joy will again reign. For as you journey through your Christian life Elijah, you will have ups and down. You’ll have your share of Easter joys and Good Friday losses. But---and this is the most important lesson any of us can take from our Christian journey----Holy week always ends in Easter, Darkness always gives way to light, and sin always loses out to grace and truth and love. Alleluia, Elijah and Alleluia to all of us--The Lord is Risen Indeed!
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Sermon for Lent 4c: God's Prodigious Love

2010-03-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

Today’s Gospel begins with Jesus being harangued by the Pharisees…so what’s new, right? They’re ticked off because he’s been cavorting with sinners, hanging out with the wrong people, doing things he shouldn’t have been doing. According to the social mores, as established by the Pharisees, Jesus was breaking all the rules. Like I said, what else is new?
And, as is his custom, Jesus answers the charges with a parable.
The parable of the prodigal son is said to be the most famous. This is no surprise really--- we all know this guy don’t we? We all have a sibling, co-worker, neighbor or friend who is just like the Prodigal Son. A pain in the youknowhat.
But, Methodist pastor and author Grace Imathiu (“imayathu”) reminds us of prodigal’s actual definition. Prodigal doesn’t mean problem and prodigal doesn’t mean loser. Prodigal means to give or yield profusely and extravagantly. A prodigal person is someone who does things in a BIG way. Prodigal is the root for prodigious as in, “the rest of the country thinks Buffalo gets a prodigious amount of snow, when we know that Syracuse is really the Prodigious Snow Capital of the New York.” This young man did his rebellion prodigiously.
But, back to these prodigal people we know—you know, the person who squanders their money, their good will, their responsibilities….all to the chagrin of you and me. We’re like the elder brother aren’t we? We do things the right way. We take care of business. We follow the rules, do what’s expected of us and when these prodigals saunter in and out of our lives we’re resentful, bitter, exasperated…maybe even whiny. It’s annoying-- they get the party don’t they? They get the fatted calf, the jewels, the nice clothes….the hugs.
Many of us here today are thinking about the prodigals in our lives. A few of us are even admitting— to ourselves-- that we, at times, are the prodigal.
Regardless of whether we are the lost who has been found or the always here and feeling taken for granted, we have a place in this story.
Barbara Brown Taylor has written a number of reflections on this parable. One is entitled the Prodigal Father. Other folks have written about the Prodigal Elder brother. It seems people have different interpretations of who is the recklessly extravagant one in the story.
The father, according to Taylor is the reckless one. After all, in ancient middle eastern society, the father did not run after a wayward son, meeting him on the road---where everyone could see—and lavish him with love before the boy could even utter the most base of apologies. A father in Jesus’ time did not forgive without penance. It just wasn’t done. But in this story it was done. Because that’s how Jesus’ parables go---they take what is expected and do the unexpected.
Others have referred to this as the parable of the Prodigal elder brother who is reckless in his rejection of his younger brother and abundant in his resentment of his father. This older brother has a prodigious amount of resentment, hurt feelings and disappointment.
And of course we have the younger brother, the original Prodigal who so boorishly grabs what isn’t his to grab and goes off to live a life of fast living and lousy investments, only to find himself sitting in the actual and spiritual filth of a pigs.
But, in the end, he hits rock bottom, he “comes to himself.” In 12 step lingo this is called “admitting you are powerless and your life has become unmanageable.” You see, in the practice of the 12 steps one cannot move forward with recovery until one has sat in that hog slop, has come to realize the complete mess our life and then -- ever so slowly-- ask for help. Our prodigal son does just this. And in the wisdom that comes when you have nothing left to lose, he knows this help will be his for the taking if he simply goes home and asks for forgiveness.
Now it can be debated whether the prodigal was really sorry---perhaps he was really hungry, really tired and really scared—but was he really sorry? We don’t know. We’re not told.
Because it doesn’t matter. In this parable, in the 12 step groups and in our life with God, amendment of life doesn’t begin with awareness of how sorry we really are. No amendment of life begins with admitting that we’re powerless, that our way hasn’t gotten us where we want to—should be. Our way has gotten us in our own version of a pig sty envious of the food given to the hogs and sure of only one thing: that we’re NOT where we want to be. So we trudge home, ready to beg for forgiveness, not because we really mean it, but because we really NEED it.
And lo and behold, what happens? What happens to the Prodigal in our story? He, before he can utter his well rehearsed apology, before he can beg his father to at least give him an opportunity to be one of his slaves, his father races out to meet him, lavishing him with kisses and brings him home to a fancy robe, beautiful jewelry and a sumptuous feast.
This is not as uncommon as we may think. When that AA member attend their first meeting, full of shame and fear, before they can even tell their tale of woe and despair they hear it in the stories of the others sitting around that table. So without uttering a word, they are given a cup of coffee a smile, a hug and are told: it’s ok, you’re safe now. Welcome home.
And you know what happens when we stray and become lost, finally returning to trudge up the steps of this Cathedral and settle into a pew? We hear the words of the Prodigal Father who says to the Prodigal Elder Brother--the one who doesn’t quite understand or like that his wayward brother is being treated like a prince---- “he was lost and now he is found”—we hear that we’re loved, our sins forgiven and we’re invited to join in the feast of our Lord, where we hear: “Now there is rejoicing in heaven, for you were lost and now are found, you were dead and are now alive in Christ Jesus our Lord”(BCP pg 451, The Reconciliation of a Penitent) .
For all of us have and will get lost. And each of us can and will be found. And when we are? That’s when the party begins. +

Sermon for Lent 2C

2010-02-28T17:07:00.002-05:00

**this sermon is based, in large part, on an essay written by Kae Evensen in the 2.23.10 issue of The Christian Century

+I am no astronomer but I do know that the night sky, the beautiful wash of stars we see above are actually the stars as they existed thousands and in some cases millions of years ago, The light which emanates from these stars, most of which are millions of miles from earth can take many thousands of light years to reach earth. Now be careful…if you are anything like me, trying to wrap your brain around this information may make you dizzy. The bottom line is, the light produced by the stars Abram gazed upon? It quite possibly has not reached earth yet. The light, which holds that promise of God, has yet to arrive. God’s promise is still unfolding!! God was and is and is to come, and just when we think we’ve gotten a handle on what this whole God thing means to us, we hear something like the speed of light and what that means about the sky we think we are seeing as it is RIGHT now, and our whole perspective is blown to bits.
Homiletics professor and Lutheran pastor Kae Evensen says that the light of that sky, the sky of Abram and Sarai, the sky of Genesis, the sky of that promise, that first covenant of God, is the promise of things to come. All that has happened from Abraham and Sarah to Mary and Joseph to all our ancestors, to all those who have walked before us, fuels what is to come.
Even the doubts.
Abram, a man of deep faith who clearly had found favor with God, had doubts. The world, as he experienced it, was often overwhelming. We hear it today, after his encounter with God, when Abram falls into a deep sleep and a “deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him.” Abram was scared out of his wits. Abram, was having a dark night of the soul. A night so dark, that even the promise of God couldn’t keep the fear at bay.
Oddly, I find this comforting. That all of who have come before, even the greatest prophets of all, had doubts. Jesus himself had doubts. The human condition promises that we’ll doubt, we’ll fear, that we’ll have our share of dark nights and terrifying dreams. And so, like many who have come before us, and, I’m sure, those who will come after, we try very hard to keep those fears and doubts ---which lurk just around the corner of our consciousness—at bay.
And we do this by being busy, by keeping the volume of our lives turned way up. We do this by avoiding silence, by resisting the quieting of our souls.
The nature of our humanity is to fear the silence, to resist the dark and to recoil from the reaching out of God’s embrace. But, as one author has put it: God’s habit is to draw near. God does not want to and will not stay out of reach in the heavens.
While it may be difficult for us to fathom the extent of God’s love for us, I think the metaphor of mother hen, which is used several times in scripture and is referenced by Jesus in today’s Gospel, is helpful. For whether you are a mother, or have witnessed the love a mother has for her children , this image rings true. Have you ever gotten in between a mother and her chicks, cubs, pups, child? Have you ever mistakenly suggested to a mother how she may better parent her child? Have you ever, whether inadvertently or not, ticked off a mother?
It isn’t pretty.
Because a mother’s love for her child is an instinctual gut level love. There isn’t anything intellectual about it. It just is.
God’s love for us is the same: God desires nothing more than to gather us—each of us---under the loving expanse of God’s wings, protecting us from harm, holding us close.
It’s warm under those wings, cozy….but before you know it, that warmth, that coziness begins to stifle, our own reach feels stymied and we struggle to break free and to wander out on our own. And God, like any loving parent, let’s us go because God knows that is just what we need to do….for God also knows that one day, when perhaps we’ve wandered just a tad too far and we no longer feel sure, when we’re engulfed in a deep darkness, when we no longer feel safe, we’ll come running back, eager to scurry under those outstretched wings, ready to feel the comforting embrace of our creator.
Jesus’ use of this image comes as he laments all that Jerusalem has seen all that Jerusalem has done, and all that has yet to happen there to him. Jesus cries this lament with his face firmly turned toward that city of his forebears, that city which destroys prophets, that city which has rejected God’s love time and time again. I don’t know how much Jesus knew about his fate in Jerusalem. Yes, he knew that he would be martyred there, and perhaps he even knew that his friends would abandon him one by one. But I wonder, did Jesus realize how much all of that would hurt? Did Jesus realize how painful abandonment is, how scary loneliness is, how dark the night would become in Gethsemene?
Did God know how much all of this would hurt Jesus? Did God know how much that hurt would pain Him?
Does any parent?
This vulnerable flesh and bones incarnation of God had a dark night. This God in the person of Jesus, felt the terror of Abram. Jesus felt the loneliness of an existence where God can seem so far away, so absent. And Jesus, this God made man, knew how terrifying silence could be. But Jesus also walked through that dark night. Jesus endured that silence and came out the other side. Jesus dove into the depths of death, emerging from it so that we, no matter how lost we may feel, no matter how scared we may be, no matter how mad we may act, can look into the night sky and remember that no matter how far we feel from God, God is, always has been and always will be right here. Sometimes we just have to get quiet enough, still enough and sometimes, scared enough, to notice.
In the darkest of nights, we need only look to the stars and realize that the light we see from those stars is the light of Abraham, it is the light of our ancestors. No matter how lost we may feel, how lonely it might seem how long and hard the road is, we have the company of all those who have gone before us, all those who, themselves, had many a dark and lonely night. And somewhere, through the darkness, they, too were warmed by the light of those who had gone before. +

Life Happens in the Valley TranSfiguration Sunday 2010

2010-02-14T16:02:00.002-05:00

Today is a day of bookends. With the Transfiguration of Christ we have a glimpse-- along with Peter, James and John-- Christ’s glory, to be fully revealed on Easter morning. But with the Transfiguration and God’s proclamation that this Jesus is His Chosen and we are to listen to him reminds us of God’s anointing of Jesus at his baptism. On this last Sunday in Epiphany, the season of Christ manifested in the world, on this Sunday before Lent, our 40 day journey to Calvary; we look ahead, we glance behind and we take stock of where we are in our own faith journeys, considering how Christ’s glory is manifested in our daily lives.

Episcopal priest Adam Thomas, writing in a recent issue of the Christian Century magazine, says that the Transfiguration isn’t so much about the change in Jesus’ appearance, or about the appearance of Moses and Elijah, or even about the proclamation of God in the cloud. …instead, says Thomas, the Transfiguration is about how a glimpse of the Holy, an experience of the Divine, transformed the disciples, and how it can transform us. There is no doubt that exposure to the Holy, to the Divine, casts a physical change—Moses’ skin shone, Jesus’ face and clothes glisten with a whiteness beyond description—but the real change, the everlasting change, is what happens internally, spiritually, when one confronts the sacred--is in the presence of the Holy. What matters is how that experience changes us, how we carry that experience with us in our day-to-day lives.
According to Biblical scholar Fred Craddock, mountain top experiences are fine and dandy , but where the rubber really meets the road is what happens when we come down off the mountain, when we enter the valley; where the light has faded, the sheen dulled and the dirt and grime of daily life takes over.
Craddock and Thomas are on to something here…because Christianity isn’t about mountaintops, it’s about valleys. If it was about mountaintops then Jesus wouldn’t have been born in a barn, to peasant parents from a backwater town. If our faith was about mountaintops Jesus would not have been executed like a common criminal, hung on a tree, mocked and scourged. If our faith was all about mountaintops Jesus’ followers wouldn’t have been a doubting band of disciples who fell asleep at a drop of a hat, doubted at the slightest turn of fortune or denied their teacher in times of greatest need. No this faith of ours is definitely the faith of the valley. This faith of ours gets lived out in our day-to-day lives because Christianity is less about fancy and more about simple.

Unfortunately we often forget that even down here in the valley, sacred things happen all the time. The Holy can pop up anywhere.
The retired Bishop of Maine, Chilton Knudsen, recently posted an article about her visit with Rev. Fernande Sanon Pierre-Louis, the only woman priest in Haiti, principal of Holy Trinity School and a survivor of last month’s earthquake. Bishop Chilton visited Mother Fernande in Montreal where she is recuperating at her son’s home. Chilton remarked that, while visiting this woman of grace and courage, she felt as if she should remove her shoes, for surely, to quote Bp Chilton, it was Holy Ground where this simple unassuming woman of God walked. The sacred isn’t usually glamorous and the Holy needn’t be in some transfigured glory. Usually, God is just right here, walking with us on our journey through the valley of life.
But, who can blame Peter for wanting to erect tents, to freeze the moment of glory atop the mountain, to linger in the wisdom and wonder of Elijah, Moses and Jesus? That’s far more appealing than going back down among the demanding, misunderstanding crowds. Peter must think—this is it…Jesus will be crowned King and soon all the oppressors, the high priests, the governor and the emperor will be brought down to their knees and they, this rag tag band of tentmakers, fishermen tax collectors and women will rise to glory, led by the King of Kings. Once again Peter says the right thing but then does the wrong thing. Because Peter, just like all of us, sees the Transfiguration but fails to feel the transformation.

Everyone has experienced this in one form or another---we have some momentous experience—a moment when we feel that we have been truly touched by God and we swear, we swear that this is it, we will change our ways, we’ll never forget this, we’ll turn over a new leaf…but it doesn’t last. It doesn’t last because the high of that moment, the amazing moment of awareness that shining moment of enlightenment cannot be sustained. It can’t be sustained because it isn’t on the mountaintop where life happens, it’s down in the valley.

That’s why our Gospel reading today is so long. The designers of our lectionary allow us to end the Gospel reading just as Jesus James John and Peter are heading down the mountain, but today we keep going, we listen to the “rest of the story. “ They arrive at the foot of the moment to a throng of people, especially a father crying out to Jesus to heal his demon-afflicted son. A healing the other disciples had been unable to achieve.

And it is here, at this point of our Gospel lesson, that the true meaning of transformation becomes clear. All the experiences of the Holy, all the sacred feelings, all the Transfigurations will not heal this world. What heals this world is a people who do as God directed on the mountain, to Listen to His Son, his Chosen One. We are to love one another as he loves us, we are to love our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind. We are to find the sacred in the mundane, we are to find the holy in the ordinary and we are to be transformed by the routine. For our faith is not the faith of royalty, it is the faith of peasants. Ours is not the faith of the powerful, it is the faith of the weak and it is not the faith of the mountaintop it is the faith of the valley.
So today we put our alleluias away for awhile and we live into the fullness of the incarnation as we journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, the cross and the tomb. Today we climb off the mountaintop of the nativity and the Epiphany to walk this walk in the valley, not a walk of despair and hopelessness but a walk of faith, faith that we are following the Chosen One and that we, along with him, are God’s beloved.

Amen

The Exquisite Love of God, Bursting Out All Over Epiphany 2 Yr C

2010-01-17T15:44:00.002-05:00

Mom. C’mon. Stop It. Mom, just leave me alone. It’s a familiar drill. A young adult accompanies his mother to a family event—Thanksgiving, Christmas, a funeral, a wedding---and mom wants junior to show off for the guests. …..the mom is proud as can be and wants the world to know. The son is mortified, preferring to remain in the background, to do his familial duty and then get out of there. Conflict ensues. It’s a drama played out over and over again in our lives.
The Wedding in Cana is no different. Mary feels for the host, who has run out of wine and sees a perfect opportunity for Jesus to reveal his glory and help the host save face. A fully human family conflict played out within the Holy Family.

This story of water being turned into wine is one in a series of Epiphany tales, beginning with the visit of the magi and ending with Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountaintop. Each of these stories point toward one truth of Jesus’ nature—his divinity…but today’s Gospel does something more-- it also discloses his humanity. Jesus responds to his mother with the irritation common in most young adult-parent relationships. While the miracle aspect of this story garners the most attention, the wedding in Cana also serves as a post script to the nativity story, proof that Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine.

Besides today’s Gospel, another familiar story illuminates the fullness of Jesus’ humanity within the fullness of his divinity: the Boy Jesus in the Temple. You remember that story---Jesus and his family travel to the temple for the Passover . As the family heads for home, Mary and Joseph realize Jesus isn’t with them,. Three frantic days later they find him sitting among the teachers, discussing and asking questions. Jesus is incredulous when his mother rebukes him for worrying them feeling that her hysteria was an over-reaction. A typical adolescent response to the worry of a parent.
So, while becoming aware of Jesus’ divinity---the promised messiah--is the usual task in Epiphany, we musn’t forget his humanity.

Since Advent we’ve been told that this was going to happen, a boy, born of a woman would come among us as the Son of God. Fully God, Fully Human.
But hearing this and “getting it” are two different things.
And, that’s what epiphanies are all about ---getting it.

Getting that Jesus is God in the flesh. Getting Jesus feels all that we feel, experiencing the world as a human , while also, through his divinity, transforming us into something altogether new.

And that’s where the miracle at the wedding comes into play. That’s when this miracle—this sign as John calls it---shows us that through the very human person of Jesus, God has chosen to dwell among us, to experience his creation first hand. At a wedding.

But, the wine is running out and the wedding host is in danger of being shamed in a very public way. Although Jesus doesn’t feel that his time has arrived, he acquiesces and saves the day.
But, the miracle at Cana isn’t done simply to save the wedding day….it’s done to show us that this Son of God is here to save us in a completely new way.
The water used in the miracle is in large stone jars used for Jewish rites of purification---a cornerstone of the old covenant… From the restrictions of the old emerges the hope and joy of the new.
Much like new wine bursts old wineskins, God, through Jesus bursts out of the old in a big, abundant and extravagant way. It wasn’t that Jesus created a few extra bottles of wine out of water. Jesus created gallons and gallons of wine---exquisite, fabulous wine, out of those stone jars. This first miracle of Jesus is not just a little something. It’s a whole lot of something big. It’s abundant and it’s bursting out all over.
Because that’s what God gives us. Not just enough, but plenty. Not just ok, but exquisite, not just ordinary but extraordinary.
God as among us in Jesus is abundant, all encompassing and never ending. And through Jesus, we’ve become vessels for God’s love in this world.

Do we understand this? Do we get it? Have we had this epiphany? Does the story of Jesus at this wedding help shake us out of our old way of thinking---does the promise of God’s extravagant abundant love as symbolized in the gallons of exquisite wine—help us realize the truth: That with God and through God we can---and we must---bring hope to the world? Do we get that we CAN make a difference by allowing ourselves to be vessels of God—bursting with an abundance of grace, truth and love?
Jesus walked among us to show us that we, each of us, is a vessel for God in the world. Each and every day we have opportunities to be an overflowing, bursting vessel of God in the world. Whether it’s a kind word to a lonely neighbor, a helping hand to a hurting child, reaching out to a refugee or a donation to Episcopal Relief and Development to assist the rescue work in Haiti, the world always has room for more of God’s love.
For if there is one thing we can take from the humanity of Jesus is that when God’s creation hurts, as the people of Haiti do today, God hurts. And if there’s one thing we can learn from the divinity of Christ it is that each one of us, through prayer and action, can make the devastation of Haiti, the hurting throughout this world bearable.

Today, through the manifestation of God in the person of Jesus Christ, we have the ability to show others the abundance of God’s grace.

May God among us through the person of Jesus Christ give us the strength and the determination to burst out, overflowing with God’s abundant exquisite and extravagant love.

Amen.

Baptism---a thought or two.

2010-01-09T18:25:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest pleasures of the priesthood is administering the sacrament of baptism. There is the wonder of an infant--all soft and sweet and full of potential-- but then there's also the joy a baptism brings. It isn't that many of us think this baby is doomed to eternal limbo without the sacrament, there is no sense that this little baby has sinned in any way shape or form...no the joy is that "thing" babies bring to the table. Innocence? Possibility? The miracle of life? I don't know what it is specifically, but I do know that, for me, when that child is sealed as Christ's own forever, it is very hard for me to maintain my composure. Of course he is already Christ's own forever, but by publicly annointing him, I get the immense privilege of proclaiming that to the world. The day this doesn't choke me up is the day I should hang up the collar.
God bless Colin and all the innocent, beautiful children of this world.

Named by God, Sealed in Christ--Feast of the Holy Name January 1, 2010

2010-01-01T19:03:00.000-05:00

+Toward the end of seminary my liturgics professor decided it was time to share some horror stories of being a priest….of the time he spilled an entire chalice of red wine down a brand new, very expensive altar frontal. Of the time instead of throwing a fistful of dirt onto a casket in a graveyard he threw his prayer book, of the various and sundry mishaps common in baptisms—screaming babies, throwing up babies, babies who are so wiggly you pray that you won’t drop them into the font…but one story really sticks out for me. He said that often, especially at a big service like the Easter Vigil when you can have a number of baptisms, and especially nowadays when children are given unfamiliar names, you can, as the priest—or the Bishop---forget the name of the child you are baptizing. It eventually happens to everyone—we have a brain cramp--but this professor of mine said he had a sure fire way to get you out of this awkward situation—just as you are about to administer the baptism say to the parents and Godparents, in a booming and God like voice: “Name this Child.” Now besides getting the priest out of a sticky wicket, this action can be very moving for all involved. This act of initiating the child into a faith while also naming the child, is reflective of our Jewish roots. You see in baptism we, like in the Jewish rite of circumcision, commit the child to our faith tradition and we name the child. These two actions: the naming and the commitment are, for good reason, linked in the circumcision and baptismal rites. For our name says a lot about us, as does the way we choose to worship our creator. Through the action of circumcision and the action of baptism those who love us are saying, this is who this child is and this is how he or she will be known. The commitment to an identity is sealed through our naming ceremony, and the ceremony is determined by our faith. So whether the tradition is of the old covenant or the new, the naming ceremony is important.
The story of the incarnation, the coming of God in the flesh to dwell among us—is all about the old leading us into the new. For the incarnation was then and is now, an ever-unfolding event. We don’t know what will happen next, neither did Mary and Joseph. They had been given snippets but the reality of it all was still unfolding for them. We’re told throughout the Nativity story that, Mary pondered all these things in her heart. No doubt wondering, what in the world does all this mean, what will happen next?
Out of their faith, Mary and Joseph commit themselves and their son to a new way, a new life. Through their repeated acts of faith Mary and Joseph set forth a chain of events that takes us from the wood of the crib, to the wood of the cross, from the Covenant of Moses to the New Covenant of Christ.
Progressing from the old into the new is an appropriate theme for this, the first day of a new year. Mary and Joseph as they have throughout this Advent and Christmas journey, are leading the way out of the old and toward the new. Mary and Joseph follow the traditions of their faith by circumcising and naming their son on the eighth day. But besides honoring the traditions of the old this action also gives us a glimpse into the new--for by calling their son Jesus instead of the more traditional Joseph, Mary and Joseph respond to the directive of God given to them through the angel Gabriel….honoring the old while opening the way for this new thing---this God coming to us in the flesh--Jesus.

Through their faith Mary and Joseph risked everything to follow God’s directive…even though it would take their son from the stable in Bethlehem to that hill in Calvary.

How easy it would have been to ignore Gabriel’s directive, to name Jesus Joseph and to return to Nazareth to raise him with his brothers and sisters a carpenter’s kid, a faithful Jew. A good and simple man. But Mary and Joseph didn’t do this. When asked to name their child, they gave him the name which was given to them. A name which held no family connection, a name they wouldn’t have chosen on their own. A name which from that day forth, became a name to be written on the hearts of generations of the faithful. A name which allows us a glimpse of God, and allows God a glimpse of us. A name which serves as a window between this world and the next, a name which saves us. …a name which seals us as God’s own forever. A name at which every knee shall bend and every head will bow. A name which is written on our hearts and in our souls, a name we carry as we strive to be instruments of God’s justice and mercy in all whom we encounter.
Mary and Joseph took the old: a traditional ceremony of circumcision and naming to unleash something altogether new: the promised messiah, a savior for all people.

Through the actions of the Divine and the response of the lowly today we have been given a new name, we have been marked, sealed as God’s forever. Today a child has been named and through that name God has come to dwell among us, to save us and to shine upon us, forevermore. +

Christmas Day, 2009: "It's Just for You."

2009-12-26T09:46:00.000-05:00

“What’s this?” “A present for you.” “For me?” “Yes, it’s for you.” “Why?” “ Because I love you very much.”
I’m not sure of the exact words, but this is a reasonable facsimile of a conversation I had with my niece, probably 18 years ago. It was either Christmas or her birthday and I was giving her a present. Presents were kind of new to her, and she didn’t quite get that this was for her. To keep. She was delighted beyond belief with the gift. But it wasn’t the doll or the book or the toy, it wasn’t even the thrill of receiving a gift from another. No for that little girl it was (and I might say, still is for the 21 year old woman she has become) the love which led me to want to give her something. That’s what gave her such a thrill. Out of that love came her unbridled innocent response of joy: “For me? Especially for me?”
Re-reading today’s Gospel story reminded me of this . For what struck me was that this gift as announced to the shepherds in the field that night, is a gift given just for each of us, out of God’s immeasurable love.
And that, the expression of God’s love for us through the birth of Christ, is what the Christmas story is all about.
We hear it loud and clear in today’s Gospel.
-But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. No need to question, no need to doubt, there is Good News to be had, and it is especially for you and especially for me, and especially for everybody!
-To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This isn’t just a telling of some removed event --no today a savior has been given to us-- especially for you and especially me.
Luke continues: -This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger."
This savior, this babe wrapped in cloth and lying in a feeding crib is not some out of reach messiah available only for the rich and the powerful, the devout and the pious. This child is especially for us. Especially for you and me.
It is really hard to imagine isn’t it? A messiah not only for the Jews, a savior not only for the Gentiles, a Redeemer who redeems everyone, not only the most pure of hearts, a Lord not only for the most devout but also for the most lax among us, the lost, the doubting, the hurt and the angry. This messiah whose birth we praise today is a gift given especially to you and me. Especially for each everyone of us.
Like Alyssa all those years ago, it’s hard to accept this gift… how did we deserve this wondrous gift?
Of course we didn’t, we haven’t. This gift of Jesus is not anything we earn, it’s not anything we deserve. It is given to us out of love.
And like Alyssa, The appropriate response is to squeal with glee.
And like the shepherds, the appropriate response is to go searching for this savior and to look upon the baby with great awe and wonder.
And like Mary and Joseph the appropriate response is to love this child with all our heart and with all mind and with all our soul.
So this Christmas story is not just a story about how Jesus came into the world…it’s a story which reminds us that God has given us a gift beyond all measure and God picked it especially for you and for me.
But not unlike, our own children who will play with their new toy for a week or so and then discard it, we too can forget and discard this gift. But even if we stop noticing it, even if we cast is aside, this gift never goes away, this gift is always with us, because God, through the birth of Christ is right here, right now. God was here yesterday, God is here today and God will be here tomorrow. Whether we notice or not.
That’s the wondrous thing about this Christmas gift-- no matter how many times we forget the gift of Christ, no matter how far back on the shelf we place it, no matter how long we go between remembering it, this gift is always there, ready for us to notice again, ready for us to unwrap again. And every time we notice, every time we unwrap it we’ll find that it’s still the perfect gift, it’s still exactly what we wanted, exactly what we needed.
That’s the miracle of this Christmas story, that even though our needs vary person to person, year to year the gift of our Savior fits us like a glove. For unto us this day a child has been born and onto that child we may lay our hopes and our dreams, our sorrows and our concerns, our happiness and our despair. For on this day, in the city of David, a King has been born and this king, is a gift which is ours for the unwrapping, and the only requirement for accepting it is that we strive to love each and every person as much as that baby and the God who gave him to us, loves us.
So Merry Christmas and enjoy your gift of Christ, given especially for you. +

The Magnificent Counter-Cultural Mary, Advent IV Year C

2009-12-23T15:05:00.000-05:00

+Did you know that in some circles the Virgin Mary is considered and insurgent and that her song, subversive?
Well, In Guatemala, during one of the autocratic regimes which have ruled there, reciting the Magnificat, Mary’s Song , is against the law. It is deemed so subversive---so intent on undermining the established order—that it is literally against the law to use it in worship.
Now Mary is certainly a lot of things—the Holy Mother, The God Bearer, a stalwart disciple of Jesus, usually depicted as quiet, devout, humble and simple. But an insurgent, subversive?
But the reality, when you think about it, is that Mary was pretty radical--for through Mary, God did one of the most subversive acts of all-time—the incarnation.
In choosing Mary God just did what God always does----surprising us all with an unlikely, radical and counter-cultural move. While everyone expectantly waited for the coming of the Messiah in a great show strength and glory, God chose a simple girl, from a backwater town, under compromising circumstances, to bring the Savior of the world to us. God is not one to announce his activity with trumpets and fanfare. God, you see, appears to us in the mundane, the ordinary, the difficult and the messy. Because the mundane, the ordinary the difficult and the messy is all part of who we are and God cherishes us—all of us, in all conditions, neat and tidy, messy and chaotic. God doesn’t come to us all great fanfare and fuss because God simply wants to be with us in our ordinary daily lives. God wants to dwell where we dwell and that is, more often than not, pretty ordinary, maybe even mundane!
Anyway, if God had announced the coming Messiah through a polished PR man instead of the wild and wooly locust eating animal skin wearing John the Baptist, we would have noticed wouldn’t we? We would have prepared, wouldn’t we? We would have cleaned up, tidied up and been open to receiving the messiah wearing our Sunday best and hiding the messiness of our lives. Through Mary, God shows us, yet again, that it’s the messiness of our lives, as well as the neat and tidy of our lives, in which God dwells. God loves us. Lock stock and barrel, all of us….and to show us that unconditional and all encompassing love God chose Mary as the vessel for His Incarnation. God appears in an unassuming and completely surprising manner==
God just kind of sneaks up on us--hiding, as the saying goes, in plain sight.

And if the incarnation itself, God taking on human form, is not radical enough, God accomplishes this through two women---WOMEN-- talk about hiding in plain sight—who would pay any attention to these women--one too old to be a mother and another too young? Two women who, by all appearances were devout God-loving women living their lives as normally and unassumingly as one can imagine. It is through these two devout, unassuming, God-loving kinswomen that God chooses to subvert the order of all things, through whom God decides to lift high the meek, to encourage and embolden the humble and to deflate the powerful.
It’s one thing to be chosen. It’s another thing to say yes.

Mary and Elizabeth both said yes.

They doubted, they feared, they trembled, they worried and they wondered how and why God decided to tap them, but when given the opportunity to be instruments of God’s subversive and surprising activity among us, they said yes.

Can we say the same thing? Do we say yes when God appears within the ordinariness of daily lives? Do we even see God hiding in plain sight? Do we notice that God is calling out to us, do we realize that God has chosen us?

The opportunities to be an instrument of God in this world are readily available to us. But usually these opportunities require us to shift gears, to repent—to change the direction of our lives….and that can seem too difficult, too overwhelming So instead of grabbing the opportunity to be a God-bearer we turn away, rejecting God, we say no we can’t possibly do it. Not us.

But God, in this surprising and subversive act of bringing the Messiah to us through such unassuming and humble means, is saying, anyone—anyone-- can be the bearer of the Good News. Anyone can help turn the order of things upside down and inside out. God is saying that anyone—all of us, everyone can subvert the order of the world, can scatter the proud and lift high the lowly.

Our task this morning is to hear Mary’s song and to live it out…in all its insurgent subversive and counter-cultural best.

Now I’m not talking about overthrowing the government or telling your boss off…but I am talking about being counter-cultural. By not accepting that in this world of plenty so many live without. That in this world, people will go to bed hungry tonight. That 10% of the people in this country are out of work. That people don’t have access to affordable healthcare. That tonight children will be cold and alone, innocent victims of drug abuse, domestic violence and a myriad of other social ills.
Being counter cultural means we no longer accept that the high remain lofty by stepping on the backs of the humble and the meek. That the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, that the powerful hold onto that power through intimidation. Being counter cultural means accepting that we are all instruments of God and each of us magnifies the Lord by saying yes to being God-bearers and no to the status quo. Being counter-cultural means heeding the message of Mary, by joining with Mary and Elizabeth to rejoice in the gift of their sons.

Our souls proclaim the greatness of the Lord, our spirit rejoices in God our savior for he has looked with favor on Mary, on Elizabeth on you and on me, his lowly servants. +

A Prophet Leads us through Advent....Kicking and Screaming

2009-12-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

+What a way to begin Advent---these readings aren’t the stuff of Christmas carols are they?
Last week Jesus told us to be prepared for we won’t know the time of his second coming-- that we must stand ready, ready for him to come in great power and glory. It was a rough way to begin Advent. No angel visits to Mary, no sweet prose about a babe in a manger. Today the message doesn’t get any quieter, the image isn’t any sweeter. Today we hear from two prophets—Baruch, speaking to a generation of Babylonian exiles some 1400 years before the time of Jesus and John, a New Testament prophet preparing the way for Christ. Baruch tells his generation to be ready, to stand up, to drop the dreary existence of captivity, ready to be freed. John, in today’s gospel, promises release to all who follow him . Release from the despair of the wilderness, relief from the rigors of the Temple, and reprieve from the autocracy of the Empire. Repent, cries John, turn your life around, shed your old ways , for a new way is coming and its time to get ready. Mountains will be laid low, valleys will be filled and the rough road will be made smooth. According to our two prophets today—Baruch and John-- this shift into the new isn’t easy, it’s not painless.

Prophets do not come onto the scene quietly. They shake things up; they shout from the rooftops they set us on edge. A prophet doesn’t fit in, doesn’t tell us what we want to hear. A prophet tells us what we must hear. A prophet is often a pain in our rear. But after a prophet is through with us, we don’t look at anything the same way. After a prophet is through with us, we are different.
John didn’t come on the scene quietly, nor did he tell people what they wanted to hear. To many, I’m sure; John was a pain in the rear!

But John also knew his place, John knew he was simply the opening act for the big show, he was the front man, the advance man for the Messiah. John’s job is to turn us around, to get us to leave the old behind so we are free to accept the new. So John, this straggly looking, wild sounding, peasant from the backwater tells us: repent, turn your lives around, open yourself to the new way which is about to arrive. He’s a different breed of prophet, prepared to help usher in a new legacy, a different way—John was on the edge of something big and he was bound and determined to bring as many people with him as possible.

John stood between two distinct periods in our Christian history— bridging the prophetic voice of the Hebrew scripture with the new voice to come in the person of Jesus Christ. He was a transitional figure with one eye firmly on the past and one eye firmly on the future. Some may have thought he was a prophet ahead of his time, others may have thought he was just plain nuts, but he knew , he knew he was the new Elijah, paving the way for God’s in breaking into the world through Jesus Christ.

And he was going to make darn sure that people would hear his message. A message of both promise and warning.

Promise that the messiah was on his way and warning that we weren’t prepared!

John is telling us, John is imploring us, let go of the old ways. To drop all that weighs us down and with outstretched arms, lift our faces to the sky and accept the coming of the new world. A new world full of God’s love.

Should be an easy ,message to sell, right? We’re all aware that life is more joyful when we allow God’s love to wash over us and guide us. ..so we should gladly and easily turn our lives around shedding all that stands in our way, right? Of course that’s not what we do…we’re human after all and it’s human nature to resist change. Even when it’s good for us! Remarkably, even when we’re in a bad situation, we have a tendency to stay put, to stick with the status quo. Not because we are gluttons for punishment but because we would rather stick with a scenario we know than change to one we don’t. The familiar, even when it isn’t good seems less risky than the unfamiliar.
This is not new.
The people of the Exodus, the people of the Exile all wanted, at one time or another to return to what they knew, even though it was bad for them, because what they knew was less risky than what they didn’t.

We’re no different. We don’t easily repent, we don’t easily change direction, we don’t easily let go of all that is familiar. But to fully receive the miracle in Bethlehem we must take this Advent time of preparation to lower our mountains, fill our valleys and straighten our crooked roads.

We all have them—mountains of doubt, valleys of anxiety, roads crooked with worry. This is no way to welcome the Jesus, but those mountains, those valleys and those crooked roads can seem insurmountable---it may seem impossible to overcome it all, shed it and emerge ready to welcome the messiah.

But John the Baptist in all his railing and ranting, in all his challenges and promises prepares us for this new way, he brings us across the divide from the old to the new. He invites us to emerge from the muddy waters of the Jordan changed, ready to receive God’s embrace of love.
A love born of Mary swaddled in rags, lying in a manger.
So our job this Advent season, amidst all the preparations of trees and gifts, of liturgies and clothing drives of worry. Amidst all our roads of worry, valleys of anxiety and mountains of doubt is to repent: to turn our lives from all that weighs us down, of all that distracts us and turn toward the east and with heads raised high and arms outstretched ready to accept the coming of the messiah.
The image isn’t quiet and the message isn’t sweet, but through Baruch and through John we’ll find ourselves in that barn on a silent night, awash in wonder and bowled over by awe. +

The Thin Place Between Bethlehem and Jerusalem

2009-12-01T19:28:00.002-05:00

This sermon was preached at the Church of the Holy Nativity, Clarendon Hills, IL on Nov. 29, 2009

+This time of year, it gets dark really early. By 3:30 in the afternoon, the sun is in clear descent and by 4:30 or 5:00 night has fallen. The sun doesn’t rise until about 6:30 in the morning. It’s a dark time. The ancient Celtic people, who lived in a similar climate, embraced the encroaching darkness. According to Celtic legend, it’s during these twilight times when the veil between this world and the next is thinnest. During the dusk of evening and the dawn of morning we glimpse that which has gone before and that which is yet to come. The Celts call this the Thin Place.

Late November/early December is a dark and quiet time, but we hardly notice, what with all the Christmas lights, the “all Christmas music all the time radio stations” and the day after Thanksgiving sales.
According to our church calendar, Advent is here. According to the calendar of commercialism, Christmas is here.
I love Advent. Not just for the destination: the birth of Jesus, but for the journey which leads us to that barn in Bethlehem. It’s a remarkable journey. But it’s one easily missed.

Although only four weeks long, a lot gets packed into Advent. We have the story of Mary—a young woman who bravely accepts this pregnancy announced by an angel and by means she doesn’t understand --her loving visit with Elizabeth, her difficult conversation with Joseph—Mary’s grace and fortitude is worthy of wonder and respect. Advent is the perfect time to reflect on Mary-- for without her we don’t have the incarnation. We must have Mary to get to Jesus, so focusing on her is a logical Advent pursuit. And it’s probably what most of us think of when we think of Advent.
But today we don’t hear the joy of Mary’s song , the wonder of her visit to Elizabeth or the courage of Joseph’s acceptance. Today we hear of a different time—a future time when the world we know ends, and a new world emerges.
For Advent is a liminal time-that time which is neither here nor there, a time of transition. We’re betwixt and between…just last week we celebrated Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and now we’re awaiting his quiet birth.
But, as Luke tells us in today’s Gospel, we’re also betwixt and between the life of this world and that of the next.
Because, while anticipating the first coming of Jesus we must keep an eye toward the second.
Today we hear tell of the end times, the end of all things familiar, the destruction of all we know, the end to all that is. We don’t get to Silent Night easily, do we?

Jesus, in this 21st chapter of Luke is full of apocalyptic foreboding. Talk of end times is unsettling. Mark 13, Luke 21, the Book of Revelation…the apocalyptic imagery of the New Testament is hardly the thing of a babe in a manger is it?
But this end time imagery, this apocalyptic language, is an important part of the Advent story.
You see, to welcome in the new, we must shed the old.
Apocalypses are not just global events, ushering in the destruction of the entire earth. We each experience our own apocalypses…private upsets which throw our equilibrium completely off, when all we have taken for granted, all we’re comfortable with is stripped away, leaving us disoriented, vulnerable, at a loss. But without the loss, the new wouldn’t have room.

Today’s Gospel reading from Luke comes toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry, when his own personal apocalypse is imminent.
He knows his earthly life—the first coming, begun in Bethlehem, is about to end in Jerusalem. He wants his followers then and his followers now to be prepared, prepared to live the good news in this world, while ready to move onto the next. Jesus is in a transition time, Jesus is in a thin place.
Advent is just such a place for us.
Advent is a time to tear down and to build up. A time to prepare ourselves for the first coming of Christ-a time to ready ourselves for the love of God which surpasses all understanding. A time-to shed all our preconceived notions, all our worries, all our doubts. You see, our worries, our doubts and our fears block the way of God, our worries our doubts and our fears keep us from the loving embrace of God. Advent is a time to strip ourselves of what was and what always has been, ready to receive what’s new and yet to come.
The miraculous birth of Jesus in a barn during that silent night two millennia ago was an apocalypse, an end of time. But this apocalypse isn’t all fire and brimstone, all death and destruction. This apocalypse, this end of time, comes to us in all humility, wrapped in rags with no place to lay his head.
You know, with all the lights and noise of commercial Christmas it’s amazing we don’t miss it altogether.
And that’s the point.

Advent calls us, in the midst of all this noise, to empty ourselves of all that keeps us from embracing the love of God sent to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Advent calls us to keep our feet in this world, proclaiming the Gospel and living the Good News, with an eye to the world to come, a world we will meet through the same Jesus, the Son of God born of Mary.

So as we scurry about, shopping sales, hanging lights and singing songs, let’s not forget our Advent task---to stay quiet, stay alert and be aware. For soon a child will be born, a child like none other. A child on whom all our hopes and dreams, frets and worries may be laid.
Happy Advent my friends, may your thin places show you the glory of this world and the glory of the world to come.

Amen.

The Temple Must Fall

2009-11-15T16:51:00.002-05:00

Pentecost 24, Yr. B, November 15, 2009
+So where will you be on Dec 23, 2012? If you believe all the hype associated with the just released movie “2012,” you’ll be witnessing the destruction of the earth—The Earth’s crust collapsing through earthquakes and tidal waves flooding the continents. The apocalypse. The end ,which has been anticipated by humanity for millennia, will be here. Of course the movie is a fictional, fantastical dramatization of the end times. But, regardless of how it’s depicted, the apocalypse brings an end to all things familiar ushering in something altogether new. .Apocalyptic predictions tend to cause panic in some, indifference in others. Dec 2012 is just another in a long line of drop dead dates given for end times. Remember Y2K? Water bottles, canned goods? Kerosene lanterns? People seem drawn to Armageddon. All sorts of books movies and tv are full of such imagery. Even the Bible.

Both Hebrew and New Testament scripture have apocalyptic portions…. Isaiah Jeremiah, Micah, Ezra, Revelation and, as we’ve heard today, the Book of Daniel, the Epistle to the Hebrews and the 13th chapter of Mark’s Gospel (commonly called the “little apocalypse”) all allude to a dark time when a final battle between the evil of this world and the paradise of the heavenly world will occur. Taken in their cultural context, these writings make sense. The Jewish world at that time—mainly the two centuries before and after Christ’s birth—was under siege, with various invaders marauding about. It was a time ripe for writing about the pervasive power of evil. However, to only hear these writings as a response to a particular historical moment in time is, in the opinion of most scholars, a mistake. Descriptions of the end times, pop up in the literature of all cultures throughout all eras, suggesting we should consider what it says not only about people then, but people now.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus, wasn’t just speaking to Peter, James, John and Andrew, he was speaking to us as well.
According to Jesuit professor and author John Kavanaugh , apocalyptic imagery works for every generation because, indeed, each generation experiences its own end of times.

Whenever what we hold as dear—whenever what we experience as fundamental to our way of life is threatened, it feels awful, it is scary and it can seem as if it is the end of the world. And in a way, well it is the end of the world. In every generation and for every people, life as trusted and known is threatened and in some cases destroyed. In our own 20th century history this has happened time and again—the Great Depression, the Holocaust, World War 2, the civil rights fight, the AIDS epidemic have all taken the world to the brink. In these and many other instances, all that those affected held dear, trusted, was torn away, turned upside down.

9/11/2001 was an apocalypse of sorts, as was the financial collapse of last year. To the folks in Ft Hood, Texas last week was an apocalypse.
Today there are people all over the world, in this country throughout this state, within this city and here at this Cathedral whose lives are turned upside down, who are experiencing there own private and personal apocalypse.

Indeed, when all that we consider fundamental—foundational-- to our lives collapses, it can feel like Armageddon, it can feel like the end.
Because when all that we hold dear collapses, it’s an end.

But, and I think this is the point, with each end comes a beginning. Now it’s not always apparent just where and how that beginning will manifest, that’s what makes it so scary, but scripture seems clear---to get to the new we must get rid of the old. The trouble is the old, no matter how flawed, is comfortable—familiar-- and we don’t want to let go of it.
Jesus, throughout his ministry, kept saying, all that you know, all that you think is important, isn’t. You must lose the old way so you are free to embrace the new.
But this transformation, this transfiguration is not easy…it gets messy and is almost always terrifying.

So, what are we to take from all of this? Should we just give up on all that we hold familiar, figuring it will all end in apocalyptic terror anyway? What should we do with all this talk of the end of time? How do we remain open to change, to a new way?
By loosening our grip.
It isn’t about giving up all that we know and all that we hold dear. It’s about keeping it all in perspective. This text is not so much a warning about our own deaths or about the end of the world as it is a commentary on fully living in this world, with an eye to the next . It is easy to get caught up in the deadlines and demands of this life, of rushing from this meeting to the next, of working toward one goal after another. To do that is to give into this world, a world that is destined for destruction, a world which will turn on itself, be it nation upon nation, or the destruction of this planet through our own abuse and neglect. Regardless of how it comes about all the earthly temporal things we work for will, one day, cease. But when all is said and done, and the last smoldering coal of earth’s demise is extinguished-- we will revel in the next world, in the company of the angels, filled and sustained by Love, that unending, never dying, always growing Love of God as known to us through Jesus Christ.

So when we read these apocalyptic stories of death and destruction should we despair in what may be the inevitable or should we celebrate the gift of love given to us through Christ?

When Jesus sits atop the Mount of Olives-- detailing the destruction of the temple—the one in Jerusalem and those each of us erect in our lives—he isn’t lamenting the inevitable of this life, he is proclaiming the Good News of eternal life. He is saying, don’t be afraid to let go, don’t hold onto the past, go boldly into the future, whatever it may bring, loving ourselves, loving our neighbors and loving the source of all Love, God.
So where will we be on Dec 23, 2012? Hopefully wherever we are we’ll be surrounded by, infused with and evoking that Love which is available to us in the birth life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. +

“Faith Trumps Fear, Love Trumps Doubt” Proper 23 Yr B

2009-10-11T17:03:00.002-04:00

+Jesus, looking at him, loved him.
This is one of the most beautiful lines in all of scripture. Jesus looks deep into the soul of the rich man and through his unwavering abiding love, tells him the very thing the man fears: his wealth is standing in his way. His wealth is a barrier to the everlasting life he so earnestly desires.
The rich man hears this and then walks away, shocked and grieving.

I think many of us probably assume that’s the end of the story. A rich man asks for the key to everlasting life but not getting the answer he wants, walks away scheming on how to find a loophole, determined to hold onto his riches. But we’re not told the rest of this story, the gospel just reads that he walks away “shocked and grieving.”

He’s grieving. To grieve is to be fully aware of what just happened, but needing time to process it, to let it sink in. So the rich man may just need some time to adjust. He’s also shocked. Perhaps because a poor itinerant preacher had the audacity to tell a man of his wealth and stature to give it all up ----but I don’t think that’s it. I think he’s shocked that Jesus’ deep gaze saw through to the truth: that even though he claimed to be a faithful man, following the laws of Moses since childhood, he was faithless when it came to his wealth. Instead of taking his wealth and sharing it with others, caring for the least among him, he was hoarding it for himself, not trusting that by doing justice, by caring for the sick the hungry and the oppressed, he would be awarded with riches beyond all measure.
Jesus isn’t saying: wealth is bad. That having nice things is evil. The problem isn’t having wealth, the problem is hoarding it to the detriment of others.

Jesus knew what the rich man didn’t: that his wealth was a gift from God. A gift, which, like all of God’s gifts are not ours to hoard or to hide, but to share. The rich man wasn’t holding onto his wealth because he was evil. The rich man was holding onto his wealth because he was afraid. Although a self proclaimed devout man, adhering to the letter of the laws of faith, the man, like so many of us, is missing the spirit of the law. The spirit of the law, the spirit of our faith demands that we not just proclaim our faith, but that we live it: not letting our fear and our doubt hold us back.
Wealth doesn’t keep us from everlasting life. Fear does.
As far as I can tell, from Abraham and Sarah, [Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob Rachel and Leah] to Moses, Miriam and Aaron, through Elizabeth and Zechariah, Mary and Joseph to the Jesus of the manger, the cross and the empty tomb, we have been taught that doubt and fear render us lost and alone while faith and hope offer us a joy and peace beyond our wildest dreams.

But even with all these examples of faith trumping doubt, of hope over fear, we still doubt and we still fear.

We have a choice. We can doubt and fear or we can hope and dream. But we can’t do both. With every doubt we whittle away at hope and with every fear we squelch a dream. If the rich man really had faith in the laws of Moses he was following why did he seek out Jesus? Would a man of wealth and stature track down an itinerant preacher from the backwater if he was full of hope? I think his own fear and his own doubt had whittled away at his faith….I think the rich man was, in spite of all the material goods and social stature he had attained, empty. And he looked to Jesus to fill him--to adjust a ritual, to explain some law—so he could go on his way, happy and content. But as is usual with Jesus, the man didn’t get what he was looking for, he got what he needed. Jesus didn’t tell him how to better profess his faith, Jesus told him to live it.

The Gospel demands more than professing a faith once a week at church. The Gospel challenges us to live it. Jesus wasn’t just talking to the Rich Man, Jesus was talking to us.

The challenge of living out our faith requires us to ask: what helps us spread the good news and what hinders us? What’s important to us, what’s our heart’s desire for St Paul’s Cathedral?

Is it our building our music and our liturgies? Or is it to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and free the oppressed?
Hopefully it is both.

You see, our building, our liturgies our music don’t keep us from living the Gospel message but neither are they the Gospel message.

We don’t have all this stuff [the building the choirs…] because it’s nice, we have all this because it feeds us, strengthening us to do the work God has given us to do. We don’t ask you to pledge so we can keep this building, these choirs and these liturgies going for the sake of entertainment or aesthetic pleasure, we ask you to give money so we, as a community of faith, enriched, emboldened and empowered through our worship in here can do the work of God out there. We ask for pledges so that we can make St. Paul’s Cathedral more than a stop on an architectural tour, more than a nice venue to hear a concert, we need your pledges so we can continue to be a beacon of light for the people of Buffalo, so we can continue to offer hospitality healing and hope to all those we encounter—those who walk through our doors and those we encounter when we walk out of them.

We’ve been given all of this as a sacred trust, not an evil indulgence. Our job isn’t to fear losing it, but to rejoice in what it is-a loving testament of thanks to God, designed to strengthen us to go out, living the good news of Christ in the world.

As we enter into this stewardship season at St. Paul’s Cathedral we aren’t asking you to pledge out of fear, we’re asking you to pledge--commit your time, your talent and your treasure --out of hope. Hope that together we, as a community of faith, will be faithful live-rs of the Word for generations to come. AMEN.

The Courage of Letting Others be First

2009-09-21T15:46:00.000-04:00

Proper 20, Year B. Sermon preached at St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo New York, 20 September 2009

I must be getting old. As I drive around the city I find myself rolling up my windows so I don’t hear the rude and disrespectful language being tossed about on the street. Young people, middle aged people, older people…there doesn’t seem to be an age limit.

Sometimes I wonder what’s happening in the world. Politicians, entertainers, sports figures and regular people seem to have reached new lows when it comes to respecting the dignity of every human being. Never before have we seen such disrespect on public view, whether it be on the stage at music awards, the tennis courts of the US Open or the floor of a joint session of congress. These past few weeks have caused me to question the decorum of our culture.

But then, just when I wondered where civility had gone, where respect lost its way and where dignity became something to avoid instead of embrace, I am buoyed by flashes of grace.

After the debacle, which was Serena Williams’ tirade at the US Open, there was still a final match to be played. After Kim Clijsters won, we saw her 18 month old daughter Jada, delighting in seeing herself displayed on the gigantic video board at the tennis center. She really couldn’t get enough of it….it wasn’t some self serving look at me, it was simple joy at being able to see her mommy and herself up on the screen. There was something so innocent and sweet about the scene. Through the genuine joy displayed by this child the distasteful tirade of the previous day melted away and I was transported to a simpler place, transported to a fundamental truth of faith: that our life is a miraculous gift from God intended for our joy. God wants us to embrace life as innocently and joyously as a child.

In Jesus’ time a child was not necessarily embraced as an exemplar of innocence. Children really had no status, and when he tells his disciples to receive the kingdom as a little child, he is being tremendously counter cultural. To assume the position of a child was to lower oneself to a status no one would voluntarily ascribe to. Children fell in the same category as all the other near-do-wells he hung out with: women, tax collectors, Gentiles. But the point Jesus is trying to make is not that we should give up our dignity willy nilly, but that we should, out of our dignity, offer dignity to everyone else. Not just those who we feel have earned it,, but everyone. People we love, people we don’t love, people who are like us, and people who aren’t. Everyone. No Exceptions.

Sgt 1st Class Jared Monti understood this, he lived it and died it. Sgt Monti was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor this past week, for valor displayed on a battlefield in Afghanistan. Sgt. Monti not once, not twice but three times ran directly into enemy fire attempting to rescue one of his men. Many soldiers would have sent an underling to do the job, but when another soldier said he would go attempt the rescue, Monti stopped him saying, “no he is my guy and I will get him.” He didn’t get him, but he died trying, and as he lay mortally wounded this Sgt. First Class from Massachusetts first recited the Lord’s Prayer and then said :
“I’ve made peace with God. Tell my family I love them.” Then he died. His final earthly act was to offer praise and thanksgiving to God and his family. Monti’s actions were selfless and brave.

Jared Monti lived Jesus’ message as heard in today’s Gospel: "Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all." For Jared, the last must be first and the first will be last. Jared Monti was selfless.

Today we recognize Sgt Monti as a hero and we grieve for his family…the image of his heroics help counteract the boorish behavior we’ve witnessed elsewhere. The reality is that the actions of Serena Williams, congress-people, church leaders get far more press than the actions of Sgt. Monti and the thousands of other people who follow the lessons of our faith every day. Why?

Because our culture seems to embrace another gospel, the gospel of me first. Of fleeting glory, of striving to be number one no matter whom we may step on to get there. A culture of denigrating the next guy for our own gain.

This human tendency to focus on earthly things is noted in today’s reading from the Letter of James: “For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there will also be disorder and wickedness of every kind….conflicts and disputes come from our cravings, cravings which are at war within us.”

Envy and self ambition breed disorder…..when we covet that which is not from above….when we covet earthly glory , we become disordered, angry and bitter, and these negative feelings block us, they cloud our judgment leaving us ranting on tennis courts, in the halls of congress on the street corner, in our churches and living rooms. When we become focused on the glory of the world instead of the glory of God, our thinking becomes distorted, our minds jumbled. It is the task of each of us to clear our minds to stop railing at one another, to stop jockeying for position and stop trying to out do the other guy. It’s time for us to reject the projected behavior of our culture and embrace the behavior of the innocent, the brave, the dignified of our world.

Now we needn’t beat ourselves up for being more of this life than the next…even the disciples were caught up in the status and prestige of this world, more concerned with who was the greatest among them instead of listening to the greatest of all. Jesus was saying to them and to us : do as I do, be servant to all, for in that servant-hood you’ll find the key to everlasting life.

The unbridled joy of a child, the unwavering loyalty of a friend and comrade, the grieving hearts of mourning parents remind us that to be first in the kingdom of God we must respect each other, cherish each other and delight in each other. Perhaps our final hymn today, “Tell Out My Soul,” a hymn of the Virgin Mary, no doubt the most selfless person of all, puts it best: “put proud hearts and stubborn wills to flight so the hungry can be fed and the humble lifted high.”

Amen.

Reading the Bible Again for the First Time

2009-09-17T14:13:00.000-04:00

Our Bible study for the fall is using the book mentioned above, by Marcus Borg, as our guide. Last night was the first meeting and our discussion was, as usual, wide ranging, animated and great fun.
We will skip next week as it is Chicken BBQ day and a couple of us can't make it through that and the study....;-) so our next meeting will be WED. SEPT. 30 7PM- 8:30 PM at MY HOUSE. (note change in location). See you then!

The Pharisees Weren't Such Bad Guys

2009-08-30T13:49:00.001-04:00

The Pharisees weren’t such bad guys. It’s easy to ridicule them, to laugh at them. After all, they are often the targets of Jesus’ harshest retorts and we, having 20/20 hindsight can snicker and say, “How could they have been so blind?”

But you know we often wear the same blinders as the Pharisees. They were appalled that Jesus ate with sinners, unclean people, and tax collectors! Don’t we all have that friend—that person your other friends just don’t ‘get” that person who maybe doesn’t quite fit in? Others may never understand her, but you do, you see something they don’t and so you continue to hang out with the outsider. You see them differently than others. You see beyond what may appear on the surface. For whatever reason you’ve taken a closer look-- you’ve opened your heart to theirs and they’ve open their heart to you. Out of that trust comes friendship. A friendship you wouldn’t have if you hadn’t taken the time to listen, to look and to fully see.

But to those who haven’t taken the time, your friendship with this person remains incomprehensible and hard to take. It seems wrong.

To the Pharisees, Jesus’ actions—his choice of friends, his teachings and his apparent disregard for the rituals of the Jewish faith—were incomprehensible, hard to take and wrong. Jesus was taking everything they loved, everything the held dear, everything they knew and messing with it. When all that you hold dear, all that is familiar and comfortable is threatened, its really easy to become hopping mad.

We in the Anglican tradition, in the Episcopal church are all too familiar with such feelings. The ordination of women, the “new” prayer book, the consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson. People walked out the doors of this Cathedral because of such changes. Every denomination has these upheavals, every religion, every organization. Changes move us out of our comfort zones, and in this fast paced always changing world, comfort zones are important…comfort zones can be, dare I say, sacred.

Sacred cows. We all have them. Families, societies, religions, and parish churches in downtown Buffalo have them. The Pharisees had them too. A sacred cow is simply something which a group has determined to be untouchable, tamper proof, free from editing. Sacred cows generally develop over time and when asked to explain the origin of the sacred cow, we often just shrug and say “well we’ve always done it this way.” Because what matters isn’t how or why it started, what matters is that the action, whatever it is, has been sanctified through tradition.

Our liturgies are full of such traditions. Regardless of the original purpose, our liturgical actions, so familiar to us, have taken on the aura of sanctity.

A great deal of what we do here on a Sunday morning was at one point functional. Processions became a way to move large groups of people from one place to another in an orderly fashion, Sanctus bells helped mark actions happening just out of the congregation’s view, candles provided light before electricity, etc. Over time, though, these actions moved from functionality to sanctity.
But you see, many of these things are enhancements .Our worship is enhanced by candles, music, beautiful vestments and this glorious building. Enhanced. Not validated. Not necessary. Enhanced.

We set aside this place this time and these ceremonies—these instruments of our faith-- to be nourished in our faith, strengthened to do the work God has given us to do.

We get into trouble when our special clothing and music, our candles and bells, our incense and chanting becomes the end instead of the means. We get into trouble when we confuse our rituals with our faith.

And that is exactly what Jesus was saying to the Pharisees in today’s Gospel. Washing of hands is a way to respect God, to consume the gifts of God with reverence and humility. But washing of hands is not what makes something holy. What makes something holy is our full and complete faith in God and the trust that all we need is available through God. To be truly holy we must open ourselves up to that trust, we must release the stranglehold we have on our hearts and allow the Love of God to take up sole residence deep within us. If, after doing that, we engage in rituals to keep us focused, to place us in a holy state of mind, fine….but we must begin with our faith written on our hearts, for if we don’t begin there then our chanting, our kneeling, our processing, our vestments, our vessels and our glorious surroundings become, to use the words of our patron, St Paul, “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal,” not signifying much of anything.

Jesus wasn’t against ritual, Jesus was against rituals that miss the point, rituals that usurp instead of enhance the Holy.

As I wrote this sermon Friday morning, the services for both Lt. Charles Mc Carthy and FF Jonathon Croom were being held around the corner at St. Joe’s. What I witnessed as each funeral cortège carried their bodies to the cathedral was a ritual which was steeped in the Holy, much pomp and circumstance, signifying something. A ritual which displayed the brother and sisterhood of firefighters the world over, a ritual which helped me remember that nothing is as holy as a person who will run into a burning building to save his brother or sister. Those firefighters who lined the streets in downtown Buffalo on Friday know what is sacred, they know what is Holy-- the rituals they employed to honor the lives of their comrades, helped us all to see the Holy. No doubt Jesus, heartbroken with the rest of us was also pleased, for these men and women clearly get what ritual is all about.

Jesus was telling the Pharisees then and is telling us now---don’t lose sight of the forest of faith for the trees of ritual. For it is the act of meeting the holy, it is the act of opening ourselves fully to the presence of God, which is sacred.

AMEN.

Are You Going to Eat That?

2009-08-10T08:02:00.001-04:00

Sermon for Pentecost X
Last Sunday I was having brunch with old friends. Our table bustled with the joyful noise of family: Cousins poking each other, sisters laughing, a mom and dad overseeing the whole display, brimming with glee. I was privileged to be part of this gathering, not being related in any technical way with the group. But there I was, invited into this family, through love. At the end of the meal, my friend Mark reaches over and, with a piece of toast, sops up my leftover egg. In some circles this may be considered crass or rude, but it wasn’t. No this was an act of love. An intimate act of familiarity between good friends. No worries about social mores, of what others may think---just one person being drawn to something the other has. This wasn’t a hostile acquisition. This man, whom I love like a brother, reached across in the familiarity of old friends and absorbed what I had left. It was one of the most intimate and loving acts I have ever witnessed. We laughed about it remarking, “he just couldn’t stand seeing that leftover yolk sitting there, he had to eat it.” Mark was drawn to what I had and, in our mutual love, he felt comfortable enough to take it. And I felt comfortable enough to give it.

While much grander than any egg yolk on a breakfast plate, God’s love also pulls, beckoning us to partake.

The German theologian, Karl Rahner describes this attraction, this pull, this being drawn toward as fundamental to our human nature. As Rahner sees it, the Holy Mystery which is God, indescribable, unidentifiable, difficult to grasp, is so attractive to us that if we just stop trying to explain, quantify and tame it allowing ourselves to be taken in to be drawn, we will find rest in the loving embrace of God.

The problem is, according to Rahner, while this draw toward the Holy Mystery is part of our human nature, within our DNA, so is our desire for definition, prescription and certainty. We may feel a tug toward God but before giving into that pull we want to dissect, inspect and diagnose it.

That’s what was happening in today’s Gospel , smack dab in the middle of what is known as John’s “Bread of Life Discourse.” Jesus is explaining that he isn’t just some itinerant preacher from the backwater of Galilee, son of Mary and Joseph….no he is God’s Son, God in the flesh sent to us by our creator who is so drawn to us, so wants to reach us that he came to walk among us, to bring us home.

It’s easy as we hear these gospel excerpts to get caught up in the earthly image the words depict: Jesus’ flesh is the Bread of Life, a bread we must partake of to enter into eternal life with God. Not an easy image—it never has been. The early church was often accused of cannibalism—I think it’s easy to understand why. To this day it’s a popular way for detractors to condemn Christianity in general and our own Anglican belief in the Real Presence at Eucharist in particular, but to get caught up in that minutiae is to miss the point.

As Biblical Scholar Ray Brown states: The Jesus of John used language of this world to refer to the realities of the world from which he came.” (pg378 Intro to New Testament).
Jesus is using language we are familiar with to try and explain God. To try and explain a mystery so incomprehensible, so impossible to describe that whenever humans have tried to put words to it, we’ve failed. Speak to anyone who has had a near death experience----they try to explain a bright light, a peacefulness beyond anything they’ve ever known…but in the end they admit--words fail them. The ancient Jews knew the inexplicableness of God so well so they would never attempt to speak the name of God... They knew then, as we know now, that comprehending God’s full nature is beyond us. God’s love is so immense and so all encompassing we cannot tame it, we cannot hold it and we cannot describe it.

And therein lies the tension so clearly described in today’s Gospel reading.
Jesus is talking about all things heavenly, but he is heard with ears firmly encased in all things earthly. Jesus states that he is the Bread of Life. Not the bread of Moses, not the bread of bakers, or the bread of grocery aisles, but the bread of God, the bread of eternal light, the bread of a love so great, so immense, so massive it defies description, breaking free of the constraints of language, it knows no bounds.

Yes, Jesus is the Bread of Life but to receive this bread, to eat of it always we must embrace God in the person of Jesus Christ, allowing ourselves to be caught up in God’s mutual draw: our draw toward God and God’s reaching out toward us. To be caught up in this love means we must empty ourselves of our inhibitions, our worries, our doubts and come to the altar of God to be fed--fed with a love which we don’t earn, a love we needn’t understand and a love we can’t define….a love which, when we let go, will wash over us, a love we can sop up with the toast of our souls, a love which. when we’re open to receiving it, is a never ending meal of sacrifice and thanksgiving nourishing us as nothing else can.

In a few moments we’ll break bread together, presenting ourselves at this altar full of failings, full of questions and full of fear. Leave those here and walk away filled with the Bread of Life. A Bread which, while incomprehensible to each and every one of us, nourishes us in ways we cannot imagine yet so desperately crave.

Amen+

Volunteer Opportunity for Youth

2009-08-07T14:25:00.001-04:00

Wing Fest 2009 seeks help for Kids Fun Zone-
Wing Fest is happy to partner this year with WNED on the Kids Fun Zone and a fantastic special event on Sunday of the festival weekend. In keeping with the long-established literacy theme of the Kids Fun Zone, we are looking for help before/during/after the big Electric Company "main event" at noon on Sunday, Sept. 6 (the national circuit tour is the 5th stop on a 20-city launch of the "reinvented" Electric Company); and for all day on Saturday with a Sesame Street theme and many kids' activities in the "zone" tent for Ready-to-Learn, Sesame St. and Electric Company. Contact me here with your availability and contact info (name/address/ph/email); or for questions and/or more info/donations...

We are seeking:
--Volunteers! Mature 16 years or older; or mature 12-15 with a parent/chaperone--please notify if less than 18 yrs of age and provide parent contact info
We are looking for about 10 volunteers per shift for the Kids Fun Zone area (four hours if possible, minimum 2 hours please) and up to 50 volunteers during the "main event" on Sunday on the park stage
There will be a volunteer orientation at WNED Studios (140 Lower Terrace) from 4:30-6:00 on Thursday, August 27.
If you'd like to volunteer, but can't make the orientation, sign up for a slot and we will send you an info "packet"

--WNY Literacy agency info and giveaways (fridge magnets, key chains, DVDs, stickers, etc.--you know: CHOCHKEYS!)

--Books for kids' book give away. We anticipate needing about 1500 books (new or gently used) with a preference (where possible) for (age 0-12) Sesame St./Think Bright themes like all Sesame St., Martha Speaks, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Super Why, Arthur, etc. Also, books through teen age.

Tasks and activity centers will include:

Set-up and tear down for zone and "main event"
Electric Company Tour event registration
Runners (main stage and kids zone for "main event")
Post "show" interactive audience activities and redirection from ballpark to kids fun zone

Craft table/activity assistance (Monster Mural, picture frame decoration, word games/coloring, jump rope/ball bounce with rhyming songs, prize wheel, crown decoration)

Face painting/tattoo application (adhesive!)

Book give away table monitors/supervision

Please send in your numbers/names/contact info and times for sign-ups weekly so we can track our needs and keep filling slots for full coverage! email me at lva.sherry@gmail.com or fax to the studio at 845-7036 to attn: Pat Ragin.

Can you let us know what you might have in the way of chochkeys, books and service lit asap--with quantities?

If you can think of others to who might be a source for volunteers, please fwd this message and let us know who to contact to follow up.

Finally, if you are serving families, can you help us to publicize the Kids Fun Zone? Let us know if you can post a flyer...we'll send to you via e-file. We are hoping for good weather and a great turn-out!

Hoping to see you at Wing Fest 2009!

Today's Sermon

2009-07-12T19:28:00.002-04:00

We’ve all seen it, some of us have done it, some of us have had it done to us. A parent and child are in the grocery store and the child is talking back, whining or is engaged in a full blown foot stomping, ear piercing temper tantrum. The parent is displaying amazing restraint, exuding a deadly calm as they say, “You know I love you, but right now I don’t like you very much.” In most cases, the love of a parent for a child is unconditional….but the like? Oh that’s conditional…there are times we really don’t like the one’s we love.
Is God, as the ultimate parent, any different? Considering scripture in general and today’s readings specifically, I don’t think so. I know God loves us, but I’m not sure God likes us all the time.
For the most part God liked Amos—
He was a reluctant prophet—God communicated with him through visions and Amos, instead of ignoring the difficult message he received, spoke of it-- for although reluctant, he was obedient, so when given a task from God, Amos followed through. The visions were clear to Amos: God was none too happy with Israel. Established ramrod straight as if on a plumb line they had gone askew and God, well God was disappointed, angry and perhaps at wit’s end. Right then, God didn’t like His people too much.
So God sends this tree dresser, this gardener, a regular guy out to tell the truth: God loves you but God doesn’t like you so much right now. And as the reading tells us, “the land couldn’t bear all his words.”
The people didn’t like what they heard. The people liked being loved, but they didn’t like being held accountable. Sometimes it is really hard to accept love—because with love comes great responsibility, responsibility to nurture that love, to respect it and to heed its demands. So they shut Amos out, they despised him, they rejected him—for they didn’t want to hear what was being said. …they didn’t want to hear that with God’s love comes expectation.
In today’s Gospel we have another instance of not responding to God’s love, of not wanting to listen, resulting in God not liking us too much.
Herod is a sad sap. Remember this is not the Herod of the nativity story, the fearless and rigid ruler who, realizing that a threat to his power had been born, vowed to kill every male child under the age of two just to be certain his rival would never touch him. That Herod was ruthless and sure of himself. This Herod? Not so sure of himself. Herod feared John, he knew he was a holy man for what he heard from John, while perplexing, was somehow appealing. He was drawn to John’s message--but while Herod was King of the land—a man to be respected and feared--he certainly didn’t wear the pants in the family. So although he liked John the Baptist, he feared his wife more, so John was imprisoned—not killed as Herodias desired, but no longer free to roam the Jordan valley with his message of deliverance. John was saved from death and Herod’s wife was placated.…until that fateful night when Herod, so taken with his daughter’s beauty and talent and eager to show his guests what a gracious father he was, offered her anything her heart desired. Then and only then, when faced with the prospect of losing face in front of his guests does Herod follow through on Herodias’ deep held desire: to have John killed. His heart burning with John’s words Herod throws it all away just to look good at a party. By denying what he was feeling about John—by saying no to the gift of John’s prophecy and then by killing him, Herod has rejected God. Herod has taken God’s love and simply said, ‘no thank you.”
We all do that, we deny love in order to save face. Peter did it, Herod did and you and I do it. Every time we sleep in on a Sunday morning instead of coming to church, or stay in front of the tv instead of helping out at Friends of the Night people, every time we decide not to volunteer when asked, every time we don’t pledge, we are denying God’s love. We may achieve a short term gain—extra sleep, more money in our pocket or time in our schedule, but in the long run? In the long run we are poorer for it. God doesn’t like us much when we choose a short term gain over the long term peace and love God offers.
While we can never match the fullness of God’s love, isn’t incumbent upon us to spread the love we do have? Isn’t God’s love, as bestowed upon us a clarion call to love one another? We must, as recipients of great love offer great love back.
Herod couldn’t do that—even when face to face with a prophet, face to face with a messenger from God, his heart burning with a recognition that this man brought him something no amount of fame fortune power or prestige could give him couldn’t do that. He rejected the love of God and killed the messenger, all for a few moments of temporal glory.

Israel in the days Amos, wouldn’t accept God’s love. They doubted, they feared they lost their faith and in so doing, they made God mad. Not mad enough to remove his love, but mad enough to make them mighty uncomfortable . God still loved them, but they were too caught up in the here and now to remember that love and to spread it.
We’re no different.
With God’s love comes great expectations. We must let our hearts burn with recognition, we must set out to love and serve the Lord in all we do. We must gather here proclaiming God’s love and then leave here, refreshed by God’s grace, to show the world that love. For that is what God likes, a people who know they are loved and in turn love each other in His Name. And as the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in downtown Buffalo New York that is our task—to respond to God’s love by working, living and loving in His Name. Amen.

From General Convnetion

2009-07-10T10:12:00.002-04:00

The General Convention of the Episcopal Church is meeting in Anaheim CA for 2 weeks. Periodically I will cut and paste some testimony or news coming out of the Convention. Below is something I received through the Episcopal Peace Fellowship today the "Catherine" who is speaking is not me. If only I could be that eloquent:

Episcopal News Service today reports testimony is overwhelmingly in favor of moving beyond B033 with new legislation.

A YAP Speaks:

Resolution C028 (or: Weddings and Wakes)
On Thursday afternoon, I testified before the Liturgy Committee in favor of Resolution C028, which would direct the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to prepare additional, gender-neutral Book of Common Prayer rites for the celebration and blessing of marriage. My thoughts went roughly like this:
I am a proud Episcopalian, and I am also proud to announce my recent engagement to my partner of five years. We've set the date for 2011, and we want to be married in the Church we love - so, members of the committee, I'm counting on you.
I come from a sprawling Irish Catholic clan, for whom Vatican II is still a radical concept. My family has always treated my partner and me kindly, but with caution and restraint, and this is what I expected when I told them I was engaged. I did not expect my many cousins and aunts to greet the news with an outpouring of joy, but to my astonishment and delight, that is exactly what they did. Finally, I figured it out: They may not understand my sexuality, but they do understand weddings - and this, I think, is the critical lesson to our communion of believers.
I ask you today to submit yourselves to that same startling joy. Marriage is a good thing. It's a sacrament, a blessing, and a cause for celebration, and I believe opening its doors will draw our church together, not tear it apart.
Remember, I'm an old Irish Catholic - we party hardest at weddings and wakes. Please make this decision in time for my wedding, rather than my wake. Thank you.
Catherine

The Parable: Cracked Open

2009-06-15T17:41:00.001-04:00

Sermon Preached on Sunday June 14, 2009

Parables as Jerome Berryman, the creator of Godly Play our church school curriculum says, are difficult to engage and we need to be ready for them. You see parables, when we’re ready to hear and explore them usually tell us just what we need to hear.
Parables are, at their core, morality tales which are dynamic stories, designed for us to re-visit again and again, each time taking a little something else out of them, something different, something more. What we need to hear, not necessarily what we want to hear. Oftentimes they remain closed to us, inexplicable, meaning nothing more than what the story says on the surface---regardless of how hard we try we don’t get it, the insight they’re designed to engender just doesn’t happen. Jesus encountered that a lot as he exclaims, “you mean you still don’t get it?” It’s not uncommon to stay on the top layer of the parable and move on, none the richer for it.

This week I was staying on the surface of the Gospel, ready to preach a fairly typical sermon about how the kingdom of heaven, God’s grace if you will, is like the mustard tree—a large shrub spreading all over and when its gained a foothold? Impossible to move.
But just as Berryman says in Godly Play, sometimes parables crack open and surprise us.
The seeds described in today’s parable, the growing and the mustard are pretty persistent—we’re told the growing seed sprouts and grows without the planter doing anything ---he sleeps through the whole process, and the mustard seed, smallest of all the seeds sown grows into the largest shrub on earth. These seeds have odds stacked against them, yet they prevail, they prevail because they are fed by a faith in God which creates things far beyond our wildest imaginings.
The odds, at times, seem stacked against us. The economy is terrible and our cathedral resources are strapped—we are really hurting. But if something so small, can grow into something so great then what’s stopping us from taking the seeds of our declining Cathedral resources and planting them, nurturing them and watching them grow into something greater than we could ever imagine?

Times are tough, our pledge income is down, our endowment is down, our loose offering receipts are down. Just this week we said good bye to our Cathedral Secretary her job eliminated due to budget constraints. The need in this City is great—the hungry, the homeless, the illiterate, the drug addicted, the mentally ill---there is a steady stream of need knocking on our Cathedral doors. If we can’t balance our budget how will we ever meet the increasing need of the world?
BUT, our donations to the food pantry are up, the Liberian community will graduate 60% more of their high school seniors this year than last, due in large part to the tutoring program we host ,my email request for some help with a Burmese refugee family has rendered very positive response—in the midst of deprivation and decline we have these bright spots.
Some small actions on the part of several of you does make a big difference. And right there---that’s the parable of the mustard seed … even though our financial situation feels weak what we’re able to piece together continually grows into something bigger and stronger than we, individually can imagine. That’s the lesson: each of us here has something we can give and we should for even if it seems meager, joined with others through faith it will grow into something much stronger.
Each of us sitting here today is gaining something by being here. Likewise, each of us here today is responsible for this place—the building, the worship and most importantly each of us sitting here today is responsible for the Word of God, as given to us through the love of Holy and Undivided Trinity. This love, and our work in its name, is what we are all about. Whether it’s giving a world class music education free of charge to children, whether it’s preserving a national historic landmark –a building which draws people in through its sheer beauty, whether it’s offering our space to refugees desperately trying to make a new life in the United States, whether it’s protecting people from the changes and chances of this life through the work of our Hunger Outreach committee---food for the hungry, clothes for the naked, housing for the homeless--or showing a four year old through Godly Play what the great stories of the Bible mean in our daily lives, our ministries at this Cathedral spread the Good News of Christ .
This place and you its people provide, like the mustard tree, a place of healing hope and hospitality to the world. I know it is scary right now and I know it is easy to cut your pledge ---or to not pledge at all—thinking that someone else will pay the bill---but that’s not how it works.
One big seed doesn’t grow into a beautiful house of worship, a variety of ministries to serve the world, a wonderful music program and glorious liturgies. No this place, and all that we do in its name, is sown through the individual seeds of each of us. A dollar here, a dollar there, teaching when asked, hosting when asked, helping when asked---these are the seeds of our faith and when sown together they grow into something more magnificent than we could ever imagine, something more stupendous than we could ever do alone.
In the words of the grace ending Morning Prayer (BCP page 102) remember:
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.
Just like the Mustard Seed.
Amen.

And Then A Miracle Happens

2009-06-07T22:32:00.002-04:00

Sermon preached at St. Paul's Cathedral, Trinity Sunday, Yr B
+
One of my favorite comic strips is The Far Side. One of the best shows a man resembling Albert Einstein standing in front of a blackboard upon which is diagramed some complex equation divided into three steps. Under the heading Step One are scribbles numbers and equations; likewise, Step Three, at the other end of the board, has similar markings. But under step Two, right in the middle of board are just five words: “And Then a Miracle Happens.” I love it----the notion that something so intriguing, an idea so historic, a formula which explains so much…could be boiled down to a “and then a miracle happens,’ is funny…and refreshing.
I empathize with the Einstein figure—how hard it is to explain something which seems so logical to you, yet it is so difficult to convey. No doubt the real Einstein had times when he wished he could just use Step Two! At times what we know so clearly deep inside is almost impossible to put into words.
It’s the same with certain Christian doctrines...the incarnation, resurrection, ascension, the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and The Trinity. No doubt the Bishops in Nicaea at the fourth century council which gave us the doctrine of the Holy Trinity struggled mightily to find the words to describe our faith. Words we recite each week in our Creed, words which, to this day, cause a lot of consternation both within Christianity and beyond.
Let’s face it, it can be very difficult to explain our faith to another. Just because we have experienced it doesn’t mean we understand it. It can be so big and overwhelming that words fail us and we end up with “Step 2:” and then a miracle happens!
Jesus may have felt the same way speaking to Nicodemus…Nicodemus, you see, wasn’t thinking BIG enough, he was so constrained by his adherence to the law and to the ways things had “always been done” that he couldn’t open himself up to understand the full magnitude of what he was experiencing through the ministry of Jesus. Nicodemus, a Pharisee had been raised to follow the rules—rules designed to please Yahweh a distant, all powerful loving yet also wrathful God. But being pleased isn’t God’s ultimate goal--
God’s ultimate goal is to be in relationship with us. Through the ages of prophets, patriarchs and matriarchs God has been trying to reach us—to connect with us. God wants to experience us and God wants us to experience God.
This is the purpose of the Trinity: God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit gives God various routes to us and we, in turn gain various routes to God. A roadmap of sorts*.

The Trinity gives us, and God, a variety of ways to communicate, to connect, to relate.
Some of us connect to the parental “Father God” because we have caring nurturing parents or we long to have a caring nurturing parent---either way, for some of us the image of God as parent, as Father/Mother is comforting.
For others, the fleshy God, the incarnate word of Jesus is an easier image to connect with---a friend, a companion someone more accessible, more real, more tangible for us.
For others, there’s a sense that God is all in all—everywhere, in all things, of all things and deep within us experienced as intuition, inner voice etc. The Holy Spirit, while not physically present, is deep within us, expressing itself in our innermost thoughts, our soul searching and our heart’s desire.
Our heart’s desire, when we let ourselves feel it, is to receive God’s love, to accept God’s pursuit of us. The Holy Trinity comes for us in a number of ways because, beyond all human reason or reckoning, God wants to reach us!
When Jesus says in today’s Gospel “the wind blows where it chooses” I see an image of God in the person of the Holy Spirit, seeking us out reaching into the recesses of our hiding places to offer to us what God most wants to give: Love.
That’s the real miracle of our Christian faith: God so loves us, so wishes for us to accept that love, that God continues to come after us—as we heard in the Gospel: God so loved the world he gave his only Son (John 3:16)- his incarnate self to see and touch and taste that love, God gave us his eternal and all encompassing self, the Holy Spirit, to course through our very being at all times and in all places. This is a miracle indeed…and one we are called to proclaim…if only we could find the right words!
The three persons of the Trinity are traditionally described as Father Son and Holy Spirit but others prefer: Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier or: Artist, Rescuer, Companion and many other permutations to numerous to mention here. It is a challenge to find the right words to describe the mesmerizing, fantastic and most amazing experience of God working in our lives. This struggle continues to this day—not because God is elusive, but because God is so big, so ever-present that language proves insufficient in describing it.
That is why this Cathedral, each Sunday, offers three distinct liturgies utilizing various styles to express our love of God and God’s love for us.
In the course of 4 hours we in-- three distinct ways---proclaim the Glory of God. We do this because as Jesus explained to Nicodemus: We speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen….and what we know and what we have seen of God is so huge and so varied we must use a variety of words and images to express it. And that’s ok, because it doesn’t matter so much how we say it. What matters is that we experience it; that we delve into a relationship with God dying to our limited human roadmap, allowing ourselves to be reborn into the life of “And then a Miracle Happens”---the Holy and Undivided Trinity, One God Creator Redeemer, Sustainer, Artist Rescuer Companion, Father Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen.

*CS Lewis Mere Christianity considers the doctrines of Christianity to be roadmaps to reality

The Descent of the Holy Spirit Gives us Life

2009-05-30T08:07:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is Pentecost, when we remember the moment Christ, sitting at the right hand of God sends the Holy Spirit to fill us, lift us, inspire us, guide us, and at times carry us. We wear red and celebrate the birth of the church, the occasion of us being given the tool needed to carry on and to do God's will in all that we do. Tomorrow, we will welcome the newest member of the Church of God, Jaiden Cooper as he is baptized at the 11:15 Eucharist. At both 9 and 11:15 everyone will be offered a red balloon to carry in procession and hold throughout the day as we welcome the tongues of fire brought to inflame our hearts minds and souls. It is a GRAND day in the church and I hope as many of you as possible will join us. The Holy Spirit is our lifeblood, the Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity who fills us, leads us and follows us. If we let the Holy Spirit have room and if we listen carefully for her direction, her nudging, we will know peace.
Tomorrow we will also recognize our Sunday School teachers and later in the day we'll bid the program a year a final adieu with the annual choir banquet (you don't want to miss the skit---Mother Liza and Mr Bruns in a Name that Hymn contest orchestrated by Ms Rockwood and Mother Cathy.

'Calgon Don't Take Me Away"

2009-05-24T22:07:00.002-04:00

Sermon preached at St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo NY 24 May 2009

+ “Calgon take me away” That is my sister Anne’s favorite saying when life gets too hectic and she’s feeling stressed. Remember that ad campaign from the 1980’s? A harried woman busy at work and at home, she would , at the end of the day finally achieve some sense of peace through the tranquility and solitude of a Calgon bath.
Calgon take me away was a promise of relief from the world, a respite, an escape.
We all have times when the world becomes too much for us and we just want to escape for a while. Bubble baths, vacations, zoning out in front of the computer or the TV, taking a long walk in the woods or along the waterfront, a bike ride through Delaware Park—these are all ways we escape the stress of the world. During the everyday world of our lives, at our jobs, in our classrooms, doing the mundane tasks of housework, yard work etc. don’t we yearn for, dream of and hope for the time of escape—a reprieve from the daily grind of the world? But can we ever find complete escape? We have a respite here and there, get re-charged, revitalized, but it always comes back to the same routine, and soon we find ourselves longing to be taken away again, be it via a Calgon bath or something else. We spend a lot of time trying to divide our lives—separate the necessary drudgery of day to day life from the joy of respite, of vacation, of the weekend.
Today’s reading from John is called Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer. In it Jesus is asking God to help us be in the world, but not of the world. To help us keep our focus on all God has given us, as opposed to focusing on all those earthly items we think we need---commodities vs. love, things vs grace. Jesus knew that we, in our humanity are drawn to things we can earn all the stuff we can acquire, instead of accepting all that is simply given to us.

He prays that God will help all of us see that it is US who make this world so tough. It is us who allow our existence to be divided between drudgery and joy. Yes this world does have temptations, responsibilities and duties which can drain us, distract us and lead us down an unfulfilling path, but the answer is not to leave the world, the answer is to be in the world to be fully in the world and to gather our strength, to refresh ourselves, through the love of God as shown to us in the person of Jesus. How do we do that? How do we stay in the world yet hold onto our faith? Especially when Jesus, our great high priest has just left this world, ascended to be at his Father’s right hand.

At this point in the church year we are in what anthropologists call a liminal state—we are betwixt and between. Right now we are between the glorious miracle of resurrection and the sustaining power of the Holy Spirit. The temporal example of death’s defeat at the hands of the resurrected one has given way to a less concrete guide---Jesus has left us with a promise, a promise that we’ll always have an advocate that if we’re patient and trusting the advocate will come in the form of the Holy Spirit—who is offered as guide, as respite, as hope as re-assurer.

How easy it is, during these in between days to long for the world as it was before---when Jesus was still here, when his wounds were in front of us when the miracle was something to be seen—making it much easier to believe. When the challenge, temptations and struggles of this world could be ignored, could be refused could be run from because we could turn to the Risen One, we could turn to the person of the Resurrected Jesus and he would tell us what to do and where to go.
A time when we didn’t need to rely on each other or on ourselves. A time when Jesus would be there—right there—to guide and direct us until we are finally through with this world and on to the next.
But you see, that’s what Jesus is trying to explain in today’s Gospel-- Calgon doesn’t need to take us away, we need to plunge into the world armed with the love of God as given to us in the person of Jesus, not to endure the world, but to improve the world. Not to deny the world, but to embrace the world, not to wait for the last day when all will be ok, but to live fully into today where we celebrate the gift of life given to each of us at our birth and renewed in each one of us as we come to the altar as a community of faith, eager to be fed.
That’s the point of Jesus’ prayer as heard today---he prays that we will learn from him and be fortified through the love of God so that our presence in the world will help creation not hinder it. Jesus wants us to be instruments of God’s love. Right here on earth. Our job is not to endure this life but to enhance this life. Our job isn’t to bide our time until the last day. We needn’t look for respite or escape. We need to simply practice our faith. Our job is to go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of God’s immeasurable love for us. In this time between Ascension and Pentecost, in between our daily grind and our peaceful vacation respite we are to live into the world and to bring to all those we encounter the peace and love of God, which surpasses all understanding. We can offer the world an eternal respite, something which lasts longer than a bubble bath, provides rest never attainable on a two week cruise, we offer the world what is promised us each week as we are invited to communion: The Gifts of God.
For together we are the people of God. +

Youth Ministry

2009-05-16T09:52:00.002-04:00

After reading a blog entry at:
http://raphael.doxos.com/2009/05/16/genx-ministry/comment-page-1/#comment-11241

I wanted to talk about youth ministry. Am I wrong to think that ministry to teens should focus on those who are no longer teens mentoring current teens? I fear that too much "youth ministry" is an attempt by people who are no longer teenagers holding onto a past which is, due to the passage of time, over.
Life is dynamic. Our job as living beings, is to move toward what's next. God's creation is a motion packed work in progress. No do-agains, no looking back...it's a movement toward the next, using the wisdom gained from what happened before to take the next step, to do the next right thing as best we can.
When given the honor of leading young people shouldn't we keep THEIR interests, THEIR goals, THEIR desires in the forefront? Not ours now and not what we wanted when we were teens? To use the teens of today to hold onto our youth is, at worst, abusive and at best, selfish.

NEXT YOUTH GROUP MEETING

2009-05-08T10:35:00.002-04:00

May 17th after the Friends of Music Concert we will have a cook out and game night. OR instead of games we may need to practice our softball skills as St Martin in the Fields has a trophy which the Cathedral would dearly love to re-claim. Show up May 17th at 4:30 for more details......

Life and Death...interrupted

2009-04-26T18:54:00.000-04:00

Today's Sermon
Easter 3 Yr. B April 26, 2009

Alyssa was four years old when baby brother David arrived on the scene. One day, after David had been in the family for several months, Alyssa asked, “will David be here for Christmas?” “ Yes,” replied her mother. “Will he be here every Christmas?” Alyssa responded. “Why yes, he will be here for every Christmas from now on,” replied mom.
As her eyes opened to this new reality Alyssa responded with an emphatic, “RATS, ” and then marched up to her room, indignant.

New life is disruptive. Not only for older siblings but for anyone encountering something new in their midst.

Whether it ‘s actually a new life---a birth, an adoption a new co-worker or new neighbor the dynamic of a family, organization, or relationship is changed when someone new enters the mix. Our eyes are opened to a new reality, which is unfamiliar and cumbersome. As we get used to it, we may stumble, we may stammer we may even, in exasperation, exclaim: RATS and turn away.

Death disrupts as well. How many times did I, after my own father’s death, think, oh I need to call Dad and tell him about this or that or the other thing…only to be brought up short with the realization that I couldn’t call him. Ever. Family gatherings are not the same when grandparents, parents, siblings or children aren’t there----it changes the whole experience when someone is missing. It too is cumbersome and we may stumble and fall as we adjust [to this new reality].

The apostles, on this long long day of resurrection, experience both the disorienting events of death and then shockingly, new life. All in the same day. It began with mournful yet dutiful Mary Magdalene trudging to the tomb, to finish anointing the body of her beloved teacher. It continued with some disciples lamenting the loss of Jesus and all the events that lead up to the crucifixion as they journeyed toward Emmaus. And then, as we heard last week in John’s Gospel and today in Luke’s the eleven are huddled in the locked upper room, fearful, dismayed and disoriented by the events of the previous few days. The living are trying to regain their bearings following the death of a loved one…trying to figure out what to do next, how to carry on with someone missing.

But, in each instance, the grieving is interrupted, disrupted, and blown apart by the simple actions of the Risen Jesus—to Mary he simply says her name, to Thomas and the others he shows that he is flesh and bones, not a ghost, not a mirage.Through simple gestures of speech, touch and eating Jesus discloses the amazing truth: death has been replaced by life.

And suddenly, everything, once again, is changed. It isn’t as it was with Jesus dead, but it isn’t what it was when Jesus was alive either. It is hard to figure out. Just what is going on? Alleluia Christ is Risen. But what does that mean?

Now what? What do we do?
In a few hours this band of followers have gone from the disruption and disorientation of death to the disruption and disorientation of new life. They are, as we are told in two of our readings this morning, witnesses to these things.

Ask any police officer and they’ll tell you, put three witnesses in a room and you will get three different stories. Not because anyone is lying or being deliberately deceptive but because, when in a scary situation, when shocked by what we see, our perceptions get altered, our memories get confused, we aren’t sure of what it was we just saw. Or, we ARE sure of what we just saw, but we just can’t believe it.
I know that when I see something amazing---something tragic and horrible or miraculous and life giving, I have a tendency to stop dead in my tracks. It’s as if the automatic actions of living—breathing, talking, blinking, and walking--stop. Suddenly there is nothing we can do except gape, mouth open, eyes wide. It is as if we must open all our senses to comprehend what has just happened. The world as we have come to expect it, is changed, perhaps for just a moment, perhaps forever….but it is changed. ..and we need some time to adjust. Was what we just saw really what we just saw?

It takes some time for our eyes to be opened to this new reality.

Our readings early in this Easter season show us a whole group of people trying to come to grips with the disruptive events of life, death and then life again. A series of events unfolding at lightening speed leaving the disciples confused, frightened and seemingly in the dark about the new reality of Easter. But then, the risen Jesus opens their eyes and their hearts burn with a recognition which, while familiar, is also incomprehensible.

Jesus opened their eyes so they could finally begin to see, to comprehend to understand. It was a process of fits and starts as they tried to regain their footing in this new reality. Now it’s easy to scoff at the disciples—how could they NOT see? But truth be told, how often do we not see?

In the collect for today we ask that the eyes of our faith may be opened to behold the redeeming work of God in the world. Have our eyes been opened? If so, what do these opened eyes see?

Don’t we see the Risen Christ in the eyes of our co-workers, in the chatter of carpool kids in the backseat of the car, in the laugh shared at coffee hour, in the wave another driver gives us at the stop sign. You see, when our eyes are opened through our faith we find the Risen One everywhere, in the brokenness of another’s hurt, a hurt we try to soothe by listening, by being present. When our eyes are opened through our faith the risen Christ is found when we bring a bag of rice for the food pantry, when we linger with the elderly neighbor who is lonely. Our eyes are opened to see the Risen Christ when we support our youth and children. Our eyes are opened to the Risen Christ, our hands touch his wounds when we remember that the welfare of the world we live in, the caretaking of creation as bestowed to us by God , is dependent on us living dying and rising to life again every single day. It may be disruptive, it may be uncomfortable, it may be messy, but such is a life with a savior who has redeemed us to be an Easter people.

Amen.

Waiting, watching and remembering.

2009-04-09T21:47:00.001-04:00

Maundy Thursday sermon, April 9, 2009

***The Gospel used at the Cathedral is Luke 22:14-30 as the foot washing is not practiced at St. Paul’s. ***

+Some 16 years ago as my father lay dying my extended family and I gathered round his hospital bed telling stories of the past-- funny stories about George, our dad, grandfather, husband and friend. We laughed and laughed at the memories until finally my mother noticed that his labored breathing had stopped. Dad was gone.

His final journey had been arduous and for the last three weeks of his life he was in the hospital, slowly descending into the grips of death. It was during those weeks and most especially those final days and hours that we had the opportunity to bear witness to Dad’s journey. During those final days we waited and watched with him. Many times there were no words, it was simply our presence that gave him the strength he needed to die. The memory of that waiting and watching with Dad will always be with me and sharing those memories as a family strengthens us, those memories make us who we are. Remembering that time is important because remembering the past helps us navigate the present. Walking with Dad and remembering that walk, is a big part of who I am today. Remembering forms us into who we are now.

Jesus took these two points—the walking with now and the remembering later and made them the focal point of that Thursday evening supper during the first Holy Week. “wait with me. Be with me as I move toward the inevitable. And then, when it is over, remember it all, remember me.” Jesus needed his friends to wait with him, to watch with him, to walk this final walk toward death with him. The week had such a promising start--the triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, but then over the next few days the triumph changed to despair as one by one the supporters fell away, denying him, deserting him, turning on him.
Tonight we meet Jesus halfway through this week, when all the questioning, the fear, the denial and the betrayal has been put in motion. ..the disciples are arguing, debating and gossiping…no one seems t o be paying attention. It’s a Seder, the ancient Jewish meal remembering Jewish people’s liberation from slavery, a story each of the disciples knew, a story integral to their Jewish identity. It’s possible this telling of the Passover story had become rote for them, they were just going through the ritual motions. But Jesus needed them to pay attention because on this night, as he had done so many times in the past, Jesus would take something utterly familiar, something very comfortable and turn it upside down and inside out.

Jesus knew that remembering was a key component of community building and he knew that the community of the burgeoning primitive church was going to need strength, a strength built on the telling of stories, built on the remembering of what came before.
Every one of us has stories, stories which have been handed down to us by parents and grandparents. Whatever the specifics we tell and re-tell these tales because they contribute to our identity, they make us who we are.

Jesus, on this night so long ago didn’t want his friends to forget his story. Not because he was some kind of egomaniac but because he knew the value of telling a story. Just as the story telling at my father’s bedside forged our family and friends into a stronger bond, Jesus wanted his friends to wait with him, to watch with him and then when he was gone, to tell the story, to remember and to be strengthened by the story enough to keep it going. He wants the same for us--for the work Jesus started is not yet finished and we as inheritors of the faith must carry it on. We must ingest these stories of Jesus. And to carry on the work we must claim the stories as our own, not only by telling them but by living them.
That’s why we have the Eucharist every week, because not only do we need to say it and hear it, we need to be it. So we take, we eat and we remember.
In a few minutes after sharing in the Eucharist one last time, we’ll strip the altar, while lamenting the betrayal, loss and despair of the next three days. We’ll strip ourselves bare to feel the pain and loss of Jesus’ death. We do this not because we need to be punished, not because we need to hurt. We do this so we can remember. So we’ll remember not just with words, not just with thoughts, but with actions. For when we strip our sacred space of all that is familiar, when we enter into the darkness of this long night, waiting watching and weeping with Christ, we remember. And through our remembering we are strengthened. Each time we take and eat we are remembering the story and with each remembrance we gain strength. The strength needed to continue to do the work God has given us to do. Amen.

Crying Our Way to Easter

2009-03-30T15:37:00.001-04:00

Yesterday's sermon:
+
Cry. You have to cry.
Crying is a necessary part of life--- for crying—I mean a real good ol’ stomach wrenching sob-fest—is cleansing. It clears our hearts and minds and renews, as the psalmist tells us this morning, a “right spirit within us.”(Psalm 51)
Crying can be very difficult for some people—it represents a loss of control, a weakness that they do not—sometimes for very good reason---want to expose. But without crying, the anguish which fuels the tears is turned back inward where it can slowly eat away at us until we are languishing in darkness with seemingly no way out.
Crying breaks open the anguish, pushing the dark away so the light can shine through…it’s important to cry.

Sometimes we cry with joy, sometimes we cry with rage, sometimes we cry with fear, sometimes we cry with disappointment and sometimes we cry with heartbreak.
Everyone experiences tears and heartbreak, even God.

I am convinced God cries. And scripture tells us, Jesus wept.
God’s heartbreak has been chronicled throughout Lent--covenants made, covenants broken, God disappointed, God heartbroken by his creation.

The heartbreak of Jesus is also known--he wailed with sadness at the death of his friend Lazarus, he wailed with frustration at the money changers in the temple, and he wailed with fear and pain in the garden and on the cross.

Today’s Gospel gives us a hint of this heartbreak-- Jesus asks God if the suffering he is about to endure is really necessary. Isn’t there another way? Another way to change the heart of humanity, another way to bring in a completely different type of love?

No. God is clear, this is what needs to happen. The heartbreak of God at the death of Jesus is needed. The tears are needed, the agony has to happen. Not because we have a malicious, hurtful God, but because sometimes things need to break in order to grow .

This happens all the time. Something breaks and as a result we find ourselves stronger. Don’t you think this economic crisis will, in the end, bring us into a new way of doing business, into a new economic reality, which will be stronger, more resistant to the darkness of greed?

Think about learning something new. Skiing, golfing, the computer, a language. Aren’t the mistakes made while trying something new helpful? We learn from them. And when we learn from our mistakes something new emerges….a light bulb goes off and we are changed. Our mistakes make us different. Our mistakes make us better. Our mistakes strengthen us.

Mistakes, breaking, crying, hurting—all of this is part of our humanity, part of us. It is inevitable that we will break, cry and hurt…and it’s inevitable we will come out of it a little stronger.

You know why Jesus’ ministry was focused on the fringe of society the outcasts? Because—I think-- such people had a lot of heartbreak and their broken-ness made them ripe for growth.

Why is that? Why do we have to break a little to get stronger? Why is it that we have to cry to get clearer? Why is it that we have to hurt to grow?
Because each time we break, each time we cry, each time we hurt we open up more space for God .

And that’s all God needs---space. That’s why my favorite day of the Triduum—the three days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday is Holy Saturday. The day of silence, the day of death, the day of quiet. All the betrayal and agony leads to this empty space, this abyss this loneliness this nothingness. A day when we have been stripped of everything and are able, finally to receive the full measure of God’s love. Because, as Mother Liza reminded us last week in her sermon, we need to receive God. And to receive God we need to be empty. As God told the prophet Jeremiah in today’s Old Testament lesson, this covenant, this final covenant between God and us is written on our hearts, it is inside of us, underneath all the crud we pile up. That’s why we fast, that’s why we quiet ourselves that’s why we discipline ourselves, we strip ourselves so that the love of God can grow from that spot deep within us where God placed his loving touch while we were still in our mother’s womb.

Jesus in his human-ness needed this broken-ness as well. Jesus had agony, Jesus had heartbreak, Jesus shed tears. Jesus in his human nature needed to break, he needed to agonize, he needed to cry---he needed to clear out space for the divine light to shine through. Jesus’ cried out in agony not because he didn’t want to do what he had to do, but because the only way he could do what he had to do was to break his human form so his divine self could shine through. To reach his full stature as The Christ, Jesus had to break.

Sometimes we must break in order to grow. Sometimes we must empty ourselves to be filled. And sometimes we must cry to be cleansed.

That’s our job as Lent winds down….to allow all our discipline of these forty days strip us bare breaking open our hearts and cleansing ourselves with tears. When we do that we allow a new and right spirit to take up residence deep with in us—a spirit of wonder, love and surprise found at the empty tomb on Easter morning.
Because no matter how much we cry, no matter how much we wail, no matter how much we try to avoid it, God loves us so much he gave us his Son to take the human journey with us and for once and for all open up a space wide enough for each of us to enter, stripped bare and ready to receive a new life in Christ. A life cleansed by tears and illuminated with divine strength.

Amen.

Talking to tweens and teens about sex

2009-03-28T20:08:00.004-04:00

From this week's Newsweek:
"What kids think about sex might surprise you, but what they're doing sexually—and when they're doing it—might surprise you even more. In a study this year of more than a 1,000 tweens (kids between the ages 11 and 14), commissioned by Liz Claiborne Inc. and loveisrespect.org, nearly half said they'd had a boy- or girlfriend, and one in four said that oral sex or going "all the way" is part of a tween romance. The parents' view? Only 7 percent of parents surveyed in this study think their own child has gone any further than "making out."

The whole subject of sex is so delicate that some parents put off talking to kids about it, believing their child is still too young, or because they're not sure what to say. They "finally sit down to have the Big Talk," says Dr. Mark Schuster, chief of general pediatrics at Children's Hospital Boston, "and it turns out their teen is already having sex." (The average age of first intercourse in the United States is 16, according to the Centers for Disease Control)
The good news is that there's plenty of evidence indicating that kids whose parents do discuss sex with them are more cautious than their peers—more likely to put off sex or use contraception. They also have fewer partners. Coaching for parents helps, as well. Parents who participated in a training program about how to have those difficult conversations, Schuster reports, were six times more likely than a control group to have discussed condoms with their children. So what did the parents learn? Here are nine "talking sex" tips:

1. Find the moment. Instead of saying "it's time to talk about you-know," let the topic arise naturally—say, during a love scene in a video, or while passing a couple on a park bench. It helps to think about opening lines in advance.

2. Don't be vague about your own feelings. You know you don't want your ninth grader getting pregnant, but is oral sex OK? How do you feel about your daughter going steady or dating several boys casually? Consider the messages you want your kids to hear.

3. Anticipate the roadblocks that a teen or tween might set up. If they tend to say "uh huh," try asking open-ended questions or suggesting a variety of possible ways someone might feel in a relevant situation.

4. Be a good listener. Avoid lecturing and don't interrupt once your child opens up. Restate in your own words what you hear and identify feelings.

5. Help your child consider the pros and cons of sexual choices.

6. Relate sex and physical intimacy to love, caring and respect for themselves and their partner.

7. Teach strategies to manage sexual pressure. It may not be obvious to your daughter that she can suggest going to the movies or a restaurant instead of lounging with her boyfriend on a sofa without adult supervision. Or she may not know she can set and stick to a clear rule (such as no touching below the waist). Discuss the fact that "no means no." A simple strategy like getting up and going to the bathroom can give a girl time to regroup.

8. Don't be afraid to get down to specifics. If your teenage daughter or son is spending every afternoon alone with a main squeeze, and you're simply hoping they're using condoms, go ahead and ask whether they are sexually active and using birth control. You can buy a box of condoms and talk about how to use them—practice on a cucumber. A good laugh won't hurt your relationship.

9. Make the conversation ongoing—not a talk that happens once or twice. For more tips on talking to kids about sex and other sensitive issues, visit Children Now, a nonprofit nonpartisan organization's guide to talking to kids of all ages about sexual subjects. Or The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry's "Facts for Families." "

2009-03-20T12:49:00.001-04:00

This is from the online site: sojo.net
An interesting perspective on the Liberian issue from halfway across the country.

Liberian Deportation Threat One More Reason for Immigration Reform
by Bailey Craft 03-18-2009

The clock is ticking for thousands of Liberian immigrants as the month of March draws to a close. I recently read a story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune concerning the temporary immigration status of more than 3,600 Liberians nationwide that is set to expire at the end of March. Unless an extension is granted by President Obama, these immigrants will face deportation. To postpone the deadline for at least another 18 months would provide Congress with time to consider a permanent solution – legislation providing a path to citizenship.
Liberians were granted temporary status after fleeing the civil war that erupted in their homeland. The conflict lasted well over a decade, and conditions in Liberia remain unstable. Liberia’s fragile infrastructure is not yet ready to absorb thousands of deportees, as it is plagued with housing, electrical and water shortages, as well as high unemployment and crime rates.
As a Minnesotan, this issue is extremely relevant. Minnesota has one of the largest Liberian populations in the nation, and over 1,000 Liberians in my state would be deported if nothing is done. Forcibly uprooting hardworking members of my community will have a devastating impact on these families who have made the United States their home. The sudden loss will negatively impact various sectors, as many are taxpaying home and business owners, students, health care professionals, and members of local congregations. Deportations will further deplete communities ransacked by the current economic crisis.
With Liberia’s current conditions in mind, many parents would face the agonizing choice of whether to leave their children behind in the United States or bring them to Liberia. Families will be ripped apart, and children left with friends or relatives who may not be in a position to provide care. It is unjust to force a parent to have to choose either physical safety or family unification.
Father James Wilson, a Liberian and priest at St. Philip and St. Thomas Episcopal Churches in Saint Paul, asserts, “Liberians go through this immigration nightmare, which I find very disturbing on the basis of biblical social justice ethics that call for welcoming strangers, treating them justly as you too were once strangers or aliens (Exodus 23:9).”
Liberians in our communities have ceased to become strangers; they have lived and worked alongside of us for nearly two decades.
It is imperative to respect the human dignity of these individuals and acknowledge and honor the numerous contributions they have made to our communities and our country.
Action to extend the March 31st deadline is needed now, but this situation underlines the need for long-term comprehensive immigration reform. It is unjust for a nation to allow people to settle and build their lives in the United States for nearly two decades yet withhold the opportunity to become citizens. An extension of the deadline by an administrative order would give Congress time to consider legislation which could provide a path to citizenship. Please join me in calling the White House and urging President Obama to extend the deadline of deportation for Liberians beyond March 31, 2009.
Bailey Craft is a volunteer program assistant at the Minnesota Literacy Council which provides literacy services to immigrants and refugees.

Sermons, Youth and Lent etc.

2009-03-02T10:14:00.002-05:00

Hi all,
Below is my sermon from yesterday, the text was The Noahic Covenant in Genesis.
At Youth Group we discussed Lent and what Lent means to each of us. I was pleased with the conversation about adding things to your life as a very viable option--Lent isn't necessarily about giving things up. But, that said, Nick's giving up his favorite video game is a very thoughtful discipline. Anyway, it was a great conversation, as always.

"God's My Bad"
Lent 1 Year B St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo New York
The Rev'd Cathy Dempesy

“My bad” is a modern day way of saying, “oops, I’m so sorry-- I take full responsibility for this. I screwed up and this is my fault.” This notion of “ my bad” is a good synopsis for today’s reading from Genesis. God says to humanity: “My Bad! I let my emotions get the best of me and obliterated my creation with the raging flood. I am sorry. My bad.”

Every relationship needs to have “my bad” room. Each party in a relationship must be able—and willing-- to say, “oh man that was lousy, I’m sorry” or “you know I blew it, I apologize.” Part of successful couple’s counseling is to teach partners how to have productive arguments. There will be disagreements that’s a given, what matters is how we express those disagreements and how we resolve them so we can move on. A lingering, unresolved disagreement is a quick and potent poison to any relationship. But having the skill --the tools to work through those disagreements is a soothing balm to relationships.

Often when couples come in for pre-marital counseling they cringe at the subject of disagreements—and they sure don’t want to discuss how these fights unfold. They’d rather deny that any discord exists at all. It is then that I remind them that the covenant of marriage is not about never being mad at each other. On the contrary it’s about sticking with each other even when mad. It’s about loving each other in sickness, in bad times, in poverty….it’s about not Bailing at the first sign of trouble (Now obviously there are any number of scenarios where the covenant of marriage must be dissolved—but what I am talking about are regular every day dissapointments, hurt, frustrtaion). Covenants, solemn contracts, oaths, bonds, are designed to keep us together—in relationship-- when we would rather just break apart.
Today God makes just such a promise, an oath to Noah and all the inhabitants of the ark: Never again will God destroy the earth through the raging waters of a flood. Among all the covenants God has made with humanity this one is unique, for this covenant, this promise, was wholly one-sided. As German theologian Gerard Von Rad said, this promise requires absolutely nothing of creation, it places all the limits, all the boundaries on God.
Boundaries on God? Why would our omnipotent, omniscient Creator need boundaries, need limits?
Because God is fully, completely, head over heels, in love with us.
And when one –even God—finds themselves so in love, great passions are stirred. And when great passions are stirred anyone can lose their mind. Even God!…

Have you ever lashed out at the one you love most in the world? We do so, not out of malice but out of confusion, frustration and hurt. When we start loving someone we start building up the possibility—the probability of hurt… God did the same with his creation, the more he loved us, the greater the hurt. Now had God been a distant, uninvolved, disconnected Creator, God never would have been so hurt and wouldn’t have lashed out of that hurt, that disappointment that sadness. But God isn’t distant, God is involved God is connected.
The flood was God’s gut reaction to our behavior. God became so derailed by his love for us, so stirred with passion for us, that he forgot the truth of our human nature—he forgot that we would, eventually, become recalcitrant, ungrateful and forgetful. And when that happened, when we turned our backs on God, out of God’s own frustration and sadness he tossed the whole lot of creation, save those on the ark, back into the chaos of water and darkness...the muck from which he created it all in the first place.

But God so loved us, he cleared the skies, dried the earth and told Noah he’d never again let his disappointment get the best of him, never lash out so violently. God could have just retreated to a disconnected place far from our reach, but instead God stayed with us. In his divine persistence, God stayed (and continues to stay) in relationship with us. In a relationship where God is always ready to receive us, a relationship where all we need to do is show up willing to let go of our temptations, our doubt, our fear, willing to empty ourselves and give God a chance to fill us up.
Clearly, this is hard for us.

And that’s what makes Lent so wonderful. A whole 40 days to focus on shedding all that blocks our way, freeing ourselves to accept a relationship with a God who is absolutely crazy in love with us. This journey of Lent allows us to ready ourselves for the greatest and most miraculous of all the Biblical covenants. This covenant of a new life in Christ a covenant in which God no longer communicates through messengers and emissaries, but comes to us himself, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. God, through His Son, goes where we’ve all gone and will go, to the darkest reaches of our human nature---anger, confusion, doubt, fear and death. From the cleansing waters of our baptism to the terrors and temptations of our wilderness, to the fear of death, God has been there.

This Lenten journey has been taken before….by God, through Jesus, his beloved Son.

Everything that tempts us, everything that derails us has already been defeated by God. Evil threw all it had at Jesus in the wilderness yet Jesus resisted it because he let the peace of God, the understanding of God and the grace of God fill him. Through Jesus, God has defeated our doubts, our fears, our rejection. By filling Jesus with His love, God has given us a way to empty ourselves. In Jesus God has given us a way to toss out all the darkness and to come to Him stripped bare redy to be filled.

May we enter the wilderness of Lent with a willingness to be emptied of everything that holds us back…may our Lenten journey be a time for us to say to God, “my bad. I’m sorry for my neglect, I’m ready to let go, to empty myself of worry doubt and fear and let you, my beloved God, fill my heart, my mind and my soul --because only when empty can we receive the full measure of God’s gift to us, the promise shown in every rainbow, the oath made at every baptism, the vow God made, the covenant which requires nothing of us other than the acceptance that our Creator God is crazy head over heals in love with us.
Amen.

J2A

2009-02-26T18:35:00.003-05:00

Some of you have it scheduled for this Sunday evening. That is a mistake....our next evening meeting is March 22, sorry for the confusion.
BTW, I need to go to Chicago--my sister is having surgery--so I will not be here March 15th.

Ash Wednesday

2009-02-25T10:30:00.000-05:00

From today's posting by Jim Wallis at Sojourners:
Blessèd sister, holy mother, spirit of the fountain,
spirit of the garden,
Suffer us not to mock
ourselves with falsehood
Teach us to care
and not to care
Teach us to sit still
Even among these rocks,
Our peace in His will
And even among these rocks
Sister, mother
And spirit of the river,
spirit of the sea,
Suffer me not to be separated

And let my cry come unto Thee.

- T.S. Eliot,
from "Ash Wednesday, VI"

update for February 22

2009-02-18T16:42:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,
We have acolyte trainings scheduled after the 9 AM and 11:15 AM Eucharists. Allie will be out of town, so no meeting in the youth room...enjoy the brunch on the Walker Room.

Great Gathering

2009-02-15T17:19:00.002-05:00

We had 11 people go to The Church of the Ascension to see the display of icons. Very interesting. Thanks to Fr. Armand Kreft and Ascension's seminarian, Pete Cornell, for their hospitality. And the lunch following at The Towne was great fun. Thanks to everyone!

So Choose

2009-02-15T17:16:00.002-05:00

Sermon preached at St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo NY Sixth Sunday After the Epiphany
The Rev. Cathy Dempesy

When I was a little girl and would go home for lunch—yes we actually did that in the olden days-- my grandmother would say, “go into the bathroom and wash school off your hands.” It conjured an interesting image, as if one could wash a school from their hands. Of course I knew what she meant—clean up before eating! The fact is, if she hadn’t said that it wouldn’t have seemed right---it was part of our lunchtime ritual. It helped move me from the atmosphere of school to the atmosphere of home. When Mother Liza and I sit down for lunch she always has a bottle of anti-bacterial lotion available so we can “wash our hands.” Besides physically cleansing us, these rituals help transition us from one state to another.
Anthropologists agree—rituals are very important and are often the primary identifier of a community. Rituals identify us as a community—churches are full of ritual— as Mother Liza has explained many times, our rituals all have reasons, some clearly defined, others more murky. But one thing’s for sure, our rituals identify us as who we are and within that identity comes a certain security.
In today’s readings the performance of a cleansing ritual was the difference between being fully accepted in the community and being outcast and shunned. To be seen as unclean in the ancient world was to be thrust out of the acceptable and into the unacceptable, from part of to separate from. To be cleansed was to heal from that separation, to be returned to community.

In our reading from Kings, Naaman travels from modern-day Syria to Israel to be healed by Elisha. So great was his desire to
be clean in the eyes of others, Naaman left his Gentile homeland for an unfamiliar Jewish land. Although Naaman was one of the King’s most favored advisors he remained on the outside being viewed as unclean, as diseased., a harbinger of death [The shunning of the afflicted was not just a thoughtless response to illness-- disease was seen as a turning away from life, from the divine, and turning toward death and evil.] . His interest wasn’t in the ritual as much as it was in the end result---being accepted! That’s really the catalyst for most humans---we don’t want to be rejected, we don’t want to be shunned, we want to part of instead of apart from. Because of that, I don’t think the readings for today are about leprosy per se. Nor do I think they’re quaint tales of ancient people practicing shameful acts of rejection. Instead I think they’re parables for us, reminding us that when we separate others from us, we separate ourselves as well. When we shun others, we are shunning God. It is the rejection of the
Kingdom of God here on earth that’s today’s leprosy. And we all have it, in one form or another.
We work really hard to avoid being shunned, to avoid being rejected.
And often, our efforts to be acceptable cause us to shun and reject our own values, our own beliefs. Look at the economic crisis we find ourselves in, isn’t it a result of how, in an effort to get more, to acquire more we created a culture of work-aholics needing to work more and more so as to earn more and more so as to buy more and more. And it doesn’t stop there. To give our kids a jump on others, so they can get into a prestigious

school which will let them get a great job so they can earn more and buy more they’re scheduled from morning til night, often 7 days a week. All of this busyness, this scheduling-- this running turns us from the light of community toward the darkness of division.
I know someone who is always in a rush-- moving a million miles an hour. When asked how she is, her reply never varies: “I’m so busy, I can’t even think.” That’s been the same response for five years. Sure her life, at first glance, is really busy, but is it full? Her kids are involved in a number of activities, she and her partner both work full time, and with three kids, two dogs life gets hectic… but what I see is a flustered disquieted woman who’s just trying to make it through the day. She is, as the television therapist of the 1980’s, Leo Buscaglia said, a human doing, not a human being. When we abdicate being for doing we separate ourselves from each another and from God. It’s the busy-ness which keeps us apart. The primary symptom of our modern day leprosy? Being too busy.
Much how the lepers of long ago needed to shout “unclean unclean” to announce their arrival, so people could deliberately avoid them, I think our busy-ness alerts others that we’re not available for community, we’re not available for relationship….with each other or with God.
We all could use some ritual cleansing, to promote our healing, to rid us of the stuff that separates us from God.
Much like washing our hands disrupts the germs on our hands from forming into a full-blown virus, healing our souls, cleansing our spirits, disrupts the darkness that so seductively tries to overtake our lives.

Maybe we need to, as in today’s Gospel, CHOOSE to be healed, to be cleansed from our form of leprosy. By asking Jesus to choose to heal him, the Leper had already made his choice….he wanted to be healed. It was that desire, that wanting to be cleansed which allowed him to receive the healing power of God. Naaman chose to be healed as well, otherwise he wouldn’t have stepped out of his comfort zone, his community, his culture to travel to a foreign land in search of cleansing.
Both men needed to be receptive to the healing for the healing to work.
The events of Thursday night showed us all how important community is—in one sudden horrific moment in time all our busy-ness stopped and we turned toward one another and toward God seeking solace, support and understanding. In this moment of time in the aftermath of such tragedy, we are poised to be receptive, poised to be healed.
Cleansing, healing of any sort requires that we stop, accept that we need it and want it and then be open to receiving it. Will we carry this lesson past this moment in time? Will we take all that ails us, all that separates us from the lushness of a life full of the spirit and present it to God? Will we choose to be healed and to make this place, St Paul’s Cathedral, a cleansing spring of refreshment for all who desire to be healed? Will we choose to slow down long enough to turn away from all our doing and be with God? As we transition from Epiphany, a season of light to Lent, a season of necessary darkness which prepares us for the burst of light on Easter morning, may we all “so choose.”

Amen.

J2A for Sunday February 15

2009-02-11T09:18:00.003-05:00

This being the third Sunday of the month we will not meet during the education hour, instead we ask the youth to attend the 11:15 Eucharist. afterwards we will head to The Church of the Ascension (North and Linwood) to view their exhibit of icons form other faith traditions. From there we will go to The Towne (Elmwood and Allen) for lunch. Please bring money for lunch. Pick up is at 2pm, at Towne.

It's Astounding

2009-02-01T22:00:00.003-05:00

Fourth Sunday after The Epiphany
1 February 2009
St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo, NY
Mark 1: 21-28

Do you remember the last time you were amazed and astounded? Perhaps it was just recently, when this country nominated and then elected an African American as President, or earlier when the nomination battle was between a woman and a black man. Maybe it was longer ago, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, or when cell phones laptops, and iPods became ubiquitous…..there have been a lot of things invented , developed and discovered in the past 40 years… many of them astounding.
Of course being amazed and astounded isn’t only a reaction to positive things—we are amazed and astounded by horrific things as well….9/11, torture at the hand of Americans, a Roman Catholic priest’s denial of the Holocaust, the utter failure of our financial system in the United States.
Astonishment knocks the socks off of us, throws us off our game, sets our heads spinning….and we see evidence of this throughout scripture. From the act of Creation itself to the wonder of the Old Testament prophets and through to the Good News of the Gospel people have been amazed and astonished. In the NRSV translation the words amazed and astonished occur nearly 100 times throughout the Bible. Biblical folk spent a lot of time being surprised.

It can be disorienting, this being so surprised.

And that disorientation is, I believe, the point. The disorientation of surprise provides an opportunity, an opening for something altogether new to emerge. Without the disorientation, the dizziness and the confusion our well-heeled and hard-wired responses will just kick in as if on autopilot. We’ve all done it, as soon as someone at work suggest s a new way to do something our initial response is to say that won’t work, we’ve tried it before, we’ve never done it that way. The old way, even is it isn’t that effective, is much more comfortable than a new way. Have you ever tried to change a family tradition? Generally this is met with great angst. My poor brother in law suggested a new way for my family to celebrate Christmas and all youknowhat broke out----but the truth is, he was right, we do need to find a new way to celebrate as a family, because I always have to work on Christmas! It would have been a lot easier to just keep it the way it always was, but to do that would be to cut me out of the celebration completely and keep us as a family from trying something new. While he may have felt like the devil incarnate for awhile, our response became more measured and now we’re developing a new tradition to bring us all together on a yearly basis. The surprise of the announcement disoriented us and before we got re-oriented we were on to something new. From our astonished amazement at the suggestion of something different came an ingenuity to create something new.

In today’s Gospel. Jesus does two astonishing things; he teaches not as the scribes, using midrash, but as someone with authority to proclaim something new instead of re-interpreting something old. Then in the exorcism Jesus rebukes the evil sprit and the spirit listened. The witnesses were astounded. And this, their reaction is key to the story. Throughout this Epiphany season we hear various accounts of how the manifestation of Christ came to be. How the Word made flesh infiltrates, impacts and changes the world, as we know it. It begins with the heavens opening up and God’s voice declaring Jesus His Son, as His beloved. It ends with the Transfiguration of Christ on the last Sunday, when God implores the disciples to behold His beloved Son and to listen to him. Epiphany is full of epiphanies of a new awareness, amazing and astonishing, changing us from an old way toward a new.
It is in the upheaval of something altogether new that allows change to gain a foothold.

Is the amazement of the witnesses in the synagogue at Capernaum that day because of God’s love as displayed through Jesus? Or are they amazed and astonished at the bravado of this traveling preacher from Nazareth. Offended by his arrogance, frightened by his new teaching, alarmed that even evil spirits obey him?
What about us? Has the Good News amazed and astonished us into letting go of our fears and doubts or does the astonishment turn us away from God? The lesson today is not just that God so loved the world he sent his Son to be among us…no the lesson today is also about how receptive we are to this gift. Will we let ourselves be so moved, so caught off guard, so astonished and amazed that we will drop our defensives and let the healing power of Christ envelope us, fill us and renew us?

When push came to shove and our economy tanked, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq became unbearable to many of us, we were ready, as a nation to try something new. We were amazed at how our prosperity security and good standing in the world could fall apart so quickly and within that amazement a new thing emerged. An African American President with very little traditional political and governmental experience, but sporting a message which struck something deep within many of us caused us to throw caution to the wind, bigotry to the trash heap so we could embrace a new thing. Out of upheaval, fear and confusion came something fresh…. will we have the staying power to accept this change for good? Or will we retreat to the old ways of partisan politics, with our leaders not so much leading as cow-towing to lobbyists and big donors? I don’t know, I hope this dawn of a new era lasts, but I also know it’s hard to astonish us anymore--
It no longer amazes us that we travel through space or can split an atom, or can communicate instantaneously with texting, instant messaging and twitter. It is no longer outlandish and unimaginable that our leaders become corrupt or that the moral compass of the US seems to have broken. We’ve become immune to so many things…but every Sunday as the Gospel is proclaimed, I pray that we’ll still be amazed that through a carpenter from Nazareth the love of God is presented to the world full of power and grace, surprise and disorientation. Astonishing.
Amen.

The Eucharist

2009-01-30T12:54:00.002-05:00

Sunday morning we will begin our Eucharist planning in earnest. I have outlines from the Church in Wales, The Anglican Church in Canada and other bits and pieces. I think we'll start by reveiwing our current Eucharist and discussiong what each part accomplishes. See you Sunday at 10:15.

YOUTH EVENTS FOR WINTER

2009-01-14T13:53:00.002-05:00

Hi all,
Two things are coming up for the youth of SPC.

1. On January 25th at 4:30 pm we will meet in the church to watch the movie "The Gods Must Be Crazy" with Bantu and Liberian Youth. Please plan on attending. afterwards we will have dinner. Pick up will be at 7pm.

2. I would like us to start working on our own liturgy. On Sundays we will begin planning a youth-Eucharist to be held in the church sometime in February. If you look at your Book of Common Prayer (you know where it is, right?) page 400 there is "An Order for Celebrating the Holy Eucharist." We will follow this format but you will design the specific elements yourselves. The parts we need to design are: Proclaiming and Responding to the Word of God, Praying for the Church and for the World, Exchanging the Peace, Preparing the Altar, Making Eucharist, Breaking the Bread, and Sharing the Gifts of God. There are various ways we can do it and we'll start discussing it this Sunday at 10:15. see you then!

Gaza

2009-01-12T09:07:00.003-05:00

After our discussion last night about the conflict in the Middle East, Gaza in particular, I have excerpted this from today's New York Times:

Sun., Jan.11, 2 PM ET

Israeli troops began heavy fighting in the suburbs of Gaza City before dawn, moving in from the former settlement of Netzarim. Attacks in the Sheikh Ajleen neighborhood killed at least eight people, including two women and two children.

Airstrikes, and naval and artillery shelling continued through the day. Israeli forces are present in the northern section of Gaza, the eastern border and the Rafah border area.

Three rockets were fired from Gaza at Israel in the morning. Two exploded near Beersheva, injuring several people. A third hit empty land.

Casualty figures are difficult to verify, but the Gazan authorities have reported 884 dead, including 275 children, 93 women and 12 medical personnel. That does not include complete figures for Hamas fighters, who have not been taken to hospitals.

Israel allowed a three-hour cease-fire for the fourth day to give civilians an opportunity to seek supplies and medical care. The crossing at Kerem Shalom was open for supplies and Rafah was open for medical aid and patient evacuation. Karni Crossing - the only transfer point for grain delivery - remained closed.

More than 25,600 people are staying in emergency shelters. The United Nations opened four new shelters to meet demand in Gaza City, Jabaliya and Deir al Balah.

Some 500,000 people have no access to running water and the rest of the population has access for a few hours every two to seven days.

Previous days of conflict
JAN. 10U.N. relief operations resume after a daylong suspension prompted by a lack of security for convoys.

JAN. 9Israel and Hamas reject a United Nations call for a cease-fire.

JAN. 8Humanitarian aid deliveries are suspended after a driver was killed and two were injured.

JAN. 7Both sides cease fighting for three hours to allow civilians to access aid

This Sunday January 11

2009-01-08T11:05:00.001-05:00

The Episcopal Peace Fellowship is presenting the Adult Forum, so we will meet in the Walker room to hear this instead of in the youth room. At 4;30 pm we will gather in the youth room for food and games. Pick up will be at 6:00.

Another sermon

2009-01-05T16:29:00.003-05:00

This Christmastide I preached three times, Christmas Day, Holy Name and the Second Sunday in Christmas. The most recent is below:
Adolescent Angst—The Boy Jesus at the Temple
Christmas 2 Yr. B Luke 2: 41-52
January 4, 2009

“But they did not understand what he said to them.” (Luke 2:49) A common refrain from any parent of an adolescent Mary and Joseph are no different as, exasperated, they berate Jesus upon finding him at the temple instead of with their traveling party. Jesus’ parents frustrated scared and bewildered by this eldest son of theirs must have wondered: “what in the world has gotten in to him?” Frustrated that he didn’t stay with his traveling group, not thinking how his actions affected others, scared that they couldn’t find him and had been searching for three days and bewildered by his strange response that of course he must be in his Father’s house---yes frustrated scared and bewildered, a typical response to the vagaries of adolescence.
In this season of incarnation it’s appropriate to think of Jesus as a regular adolescent, acting out in all the usual ways. When removed from the direct hit of dealing with a moody teenager, we can empathize with the difficulty of the teen years-- changing bodies, burgeoning ideas, striving to establish our own identity…. who would go through adolescence again?
A confusing and exciting time for the teen, an exasperating and mind-boggling time for parents.

In retrospect I think most adults would admit that during adolescence they were driven by unknown and mysterious forces, at times feeling as though their bodies were overtaken by an alien being.
In this Christmas season we are called to consider the humanity of Jesus. To fully do this we remember the infant as we do on the Feast of the Nativity and the adult as we do throughout the Gospels of the church year-- but today we are granted a glimpse into the early adolescent Jesus. A Jesus on the cusp of all that adolescence brings—the good, the bad and the ugly….
It’s just human nature to wonder what the growing Jesus was like….what did he think? How did he feel?
Anne Rice’s fictional book, Out of Egypt provides her interpretation of Jesus’ childhood. Reviewer Tamara Butler wrote that Rice's Jesus is “childlike but divine, wise beyond years yet wondering who he is and why he is different from other boys.”
(Library Journal, November 1, 2005)
I bet this is accurate—wondering why one is different from others is a common refrain for many teens---they just don’t feel like they fit in. And that is a tough feeling for anyone of any age. I’ve shared with you before the story of my nephew Bryce’s first day of kindergarten realizing how much his fair

complexion stood out in a class full of predominately Latino students exclaimed: “Rats they’re all brown kids.” This wasn’t a racist statement it was a plea to not be
different. He wasn’t mad they were brown; he was upset he wasn’t brown. Standing out in a crowd is hard. We all try to fit in and if we can’t we employ various coping
techniques. Some of us just try to blend in, taking on the clothing, tastes and opinions of the majority---others of us become so outlandishly different, so intentionally separate that we ostracize others and become even more alone than before.
A burgeoning adolescent can go to both extremes. Often in the same week!
It’s easy for us on the outside to think that this behavior is intentional ---that it’s
designed to drive us—the adults in the picture----insane. This may be true, to an extent, getting a rise out of our elders is a pastime we’ve all engaged in, but I think most sociologists and child development experts will agree that these behaviors are often as mysterious to the adolescent as they are infuriating to us. They are driven by forces which although powerful are difficult to define. I think it fair to assume that the boy Jesus, in his fully incarnate nature, experienced a lot of these same feelings of confusion, distraction, rebellion and mystery. He was trying to figure out

who the heck he was. He knew he was different and this just wasn’t a case of appearance, skill at boyhood games or economic/class standing of his family. He
knew something was REALLY different about him, but so far no one had told him much. Remember, throughout our Advent and Christmas readings we are told that
with each passing oddity—the angelic visits, the shepherds following some wild star and the strange visitors from the east, Mary wouldn’t start talking about it, no we
are told that while she outwardly accepted these events, she also pondered these
things in her heart. Mary was waiting for more to be revealed—so until it was revealed to her that it was time for Jesus to know the truth about his identity she was keeping quiet. But while she and Joseph ponder just who this son of theirs is, Jesus begins to explore his own heart’s desire, his own identity search.
And on that day, his heart led him to the Temple ….to His Father’s house. Now this wasn’t some adolescent dig against the father who raised him--Joseph, no this was Jesus responding to his developing sense of self, leading him away from his earthly family and toward the mystery of his spiritual family. Yes Mary and Joseph were raising Jesus, but he was ultimately God’s Son. Jesus’ birth mother, Mary was an instrument of Jesus’ Father, our Father, God. Jesus had to follow the draw of his identity—that of being the Son of God. If he hadn’t claimed his rightful spot as God’s

Son then we could never claim our spot as heirs to Him as inheritors of the Kingdom of God. So yes, Jesus had to be at his Father’s house and yes that scared the dickens
out of Mary and Joseph as they frantically searched for their boy. Like any parent the safety of their child was uppermost in their hearts and minds and they would not
rest until they found him safe and sound. Likewise, Jesus would not rest until he found his own place of safety, security---his home.
On this day, this day when Jesus is drawn to the Temple, Mary and Joseph have a truth tangibly presented to them—a lesson every parent learns—that the day comes when they must let their child go,. And this day had come—they needed to let Jesus go so he could grow into his full identity.
And by letting him grow, by letting their Son by letting Jesus develop his own identity Joseph and Mary give us a wonderful gift a Savior who leads us to where we must be, at home with God.

Amen.

Photos from Christmastide.

2009-01-05T16:24:00.004-05:00

Feast of the Holy Name

2009-01-01T21:57:00.001-05:00

The sermon for today:
"What's in a Name?"
+
What’s in a name? We’ve all heard children’s names and thought---oh man what were they thinking? There are any number of names which make me think, these parents never thought about what this kid would go through in middle school…there are stories attached to many name choices. My parents had quite a process for choosing names----the name needed to be biblical and if the first name wasn’t biblical then the middle name had to be. Otherwise the middle name was a family surname and on and on. When I was born my older sisters named me. I think my parents were just out of girl names so they gave into my sister’s who wanted to name me after the Chatty Cathy doll. Yes, there are often stories attached to our names.

Jesus’ name was no different, although his story is a little more well-known. At the Annunciation-- the angel Gabriel told Mary:
“and now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus.” (Luke 1: 31). Boom, no reason is given for naming him Jesus, Gabriel just tells her to do this and being a very devout and faithful young woman, Mary agrees.
Not unlike the naming of John when Zechariah and Elizabeth insist on giving John a non-family name, Mary simply agrees to do what she has been told. Joseph in Matthew’s account of Jesus’ birth, is told in a dream to take Mary as his wife, in spite of her pregnancy and to name the son Jesus. Both Mary and Joseph, willing, able and faithful servants do as they are told. Being faithful Jews they continue their obedience on the eighth day following Jesus’ birth by having him circumcised. It is according to Jewish custom on this day, the day of the circumcision, when a male child is named.
Faithful and obedient Mary and Joseph follow their custom and their religious law by ritually naming their son on this eighth day.

Naming. To name something is to take action, to take a stand. We name our preferences, we name our choices, we name our loves.
Naming is a definitive and assertive act. When committed to helping someone, no matter what, we tell them, “just name it.” Just name it and I’ll do it. We encourage people who struggle with standing up for themselves to name their needs—
By naming something---a feeling, a stand, a need, a child we claim it as our own. By following angelic directions, Joseph and Mary do not name Jesus as their own, that would involve a discussion between the spouses weighing the pros and cons of various names and then choosing one which holds significance for them and their own history---no they name him as instructed with a name holding no significance for either of them.

Jesus’ name means, depending on what translation you adhere too—God saves, Jehovah is salvation , or deliverer. But all in all I think we can say that Jesus’ name tells us if we trust in the incarnate God, we will be changed. Forever. For it is through Jesus we encounter God in a personal intimate and very human way. By naming Jesus as God did, we receive a very important message: salvation, hope, deliverance comes through the Son of God. By naming Jesus as directed by God Mary and Joseph do not claim their son as their own. By naming him as directed Mary and Joseph serve as messengers for God’s claim that Jesus is His Son and that his name promises what God intends: that Jesus will save us, Jesus will deliver us, Jesus is God’s gift to us.
By naming Jesus God gives us a way to relate to the Almighty. Remember in ancient Judaism one did not utter the name for the almighty one would not say God. Jesus, not only with his being but also by his naming is a portal to the almighty God, a way to be one with our Creator.

This Feast of the Holy Name is a continuation of our celebration of the Nativity---the Incarnation. By celebrating the Holy Name, by pronouncing Jesus as Lord we are announcing that we are God’s own and we are welcoming God naming us as His own. Today we claim our place, with Jesus, alongside our Father, Abba, God. Forever.

In this New Year’s season of resolutions, of fresh starts, of hopeful plans, in this season of beginnings, in this season of miracles and in this season of claiming one’s name I challenge us all to renew our commitment to a faithful life, a life rejoicing in the power of God’s love for us, manifested through the gift of Jesus, named before he was in the womb, marked as God’s own from the start and given to us to claim as our own as well. Let’s do it, let’s take this day of Holy Name and name ourselves as one of God’s beloved. After all, God has named us his own, isn’t about time we claimed God, through our savior Jesus Christ, as our own as well?

Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T18:34:00.002-05:00

What a whirlwind for everyone at St. Paul's. From Lessons and Carols to the Christmas morning service, we had a lot of things happening at the Cathedral this past week. Kudos to the acolytes, chalice bearers, choirs and pageant participants.
Below is my Christmas morning sermon:

"An extraordinary ordinary event"

My favorite Christmas book is called The Nativity-- Some of you may have seen it—a children’s book it’s best known for Julie Vivas’ whimsical illustrations. One of my favorite drawings is of the Annunciation. The angel Gabriel is wearing combat boots and he and Mary are having tea at the kitchen table. Another fun illustration shows Mary and Joseph leaning against a rock, looking exhausted and thrilled in what appears to be moments after Jesus’ birth. I just love the normality of the book---the Holy Family in regular poses, as regular people, enjoying a perfectly ordinary event…the birth of a child. Children are born everyday and most of these births go off without a hitch. Of course many others do not go so routinely but by and large the miracle of birth comes to many in a very regular way. In so many ways, so did Jesus’ birth. We don’t hear much about the normal parts, the labor pains, the anticipation, the fear and excitement of first time parents, the indescribable joy of Mary and Joseph when they first see their son, the instant love they have for this little fragile human being. But it surely was all there---I mean to really embrace our incarnational faith—our belief that God took on human form—we must believe that this birth, while special in so many ways was, like most other births, ordinary. Because all births both the seemingly ordinary and the extraordinary are special. Ask the most hardened of birth experts-- any biologist, fertility specialist, obstetrician, midwife or maternity nurse---each and every birth no matter how routine, how normal how run-of the mill is unique-- miraculous. Because every birth represents the depth of God’s genius, the reach of God’s creativity and the breadth of our awe at being a part of this wonderful creation. Every birth is a joyous and brilliant event. ..and when a baby is born, everyone wants to hear about it-- is it a boy or girl? How much does he weigh, how long is she? It is a great event and we want to announce it right away….and this birth, this birth of God made man wasn’t any different. God wanted to let the world know. And boy, what a birth announcement it was!

Across the fields of Judea, some shepherds are blinded by the brilliant light of heavenly hosts, a band of angels who have come to tell them the good news of this birth in a barn in Bethlehem. This is where the story of an ordinary birth of this extraordinary baby to willing able and blessed servants takes a turn toward amazing. And awe-inspiring.

No doubt just as Mary and Joseph were getting their bearings, Jesus had been fed, Mary had rested and they were ready to gather their things and head back home, the shepherds arrived. Suddenly the angelic visits to Mary, the dreams of Joseph and the predictions of Elizabeth all start to coalesce. These weren’t fantasies, these weren’t hallucinations, this wasn’t craziness-----this baby, this Jesus, was someone like none before or ever after. This baby, brought to Mary through the Holy Spirit, entrusted to Joseph by God and born like any other baby, was not like anyone else. The birth Jesus shows us the immense power of God—a huge lesson for each and every Christian—and it is easy to get caught up in all the fanfare of the miracle…but we must be reminded, much as Julie Vivas’ teaches us with her simple book of the Naticity, that God is with us always and everywhere---even in the most mundane, the most ordinary of daily events. This is the gift of the incarnation--God is here, and there, and everywhere. We are here and so is God. This simple point, made manifest in that barn, renders life as we know it, changed, forever.

That, to me, is the miracle of this blessed morning. An ordinary event encased in an extraordinary truth: God is here. God is among us. God has brought us His son to be with us…not because we were bad, not because we were worthless, not because we were out of chances. No God came to dwell among us in the flesh to remind us, to teach us, to show us that God is and always will be, right here, right now. In the ordinary things of life, not just the extraordinary.
Yes God is here among us in this beautiful Cathedral on this extraordinary of days with wondrous music, fabulous liturgies and families joined after many months, years or maybe decades apart. And yes, God is among us at those moments of great sadness and loss, when a loved one dies and we gather to say good-bye. And yes, God is with us in the breathtaking sunsets, fall colors, spring blooming and winter peacefulness of fresh fallen snow. But and here is the point of this extraordinary story of an ordinary event—the Christmas story---God is also with us at the grocery store, at work, and in the dreary rainy days which fill our lives.
God is always with us, our job isn’t to find God, our job is to realize that in the midst of all things, God is there….in our best times, in our worst times and most importantly I think, in our most mundane times. Maybe Mary and Joseph were clean and fresh and angelic looking right after Jesus; birth. Or maybe they were sweaty, exhausted, dirty and wide-eyed. I don’t know, but I do know that in their utter humanness, in their utter faithfulness, in their utter willingness, God chose to make an ordinary event an extraordinary gift for all of humankind---a reminder that Emmanuel, God is with us, (Matthew 1:23) has been brought to dwell among us, not because we earned it, not because we deserved it, not because God wanted to teach us a lesson. No God is with is because he so loves us, he just can’t stay away.
So Merry Christmas to you all and may you always remember: Emmanuel, God is With Us.

Amen

The Light Increases

2008-12-14T20:01:00.002-05:00

Today's sermon, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo, NY
The spotlight can be seductive.
After my oldest nephew was born my family spent an inordinate amount of time just watching him on the floor. Being a somewhat smart-alecky teenager at the time, I remarked, “what in the world did we do before we had him?” As if to say, really folks is this how we are going to spend our time, watching a baby? Of course we all do this, a baby draws us, we are attracted by their newness, their innocence, the shear miracle of conception, gestation and birth. We can spend a lot of time in awestruck wonder, watching this little human. And this is perfect for the baby because she learns about the world through us. In her world, she is the center and all that exists exists within her field of vision and touch. So with our undivided attention her belief that she is the center of the universe is repeatedly reinforced. A baby is, by her very nature, ego-centric. There is a certain sadness when a child learns that they aren’t actually the center of the universe. Of course there is also sadness…and annoyance…. when a child never accepts that they aren’t the center of the universe. And we all know adults for whom this revelation remains elusive. We all know ego maniacs, we all know people who seek the spotlight, who hunger for power and rejoice in being the top, the number one.
Our society actually encourages ego-centric behavior. It is as if American culture is developmentally still a toddler.
The spotlight is seductive and it takes a rather mature and restrained person to resist that seduction.
Now I don’t know about you, but I have never thought of John the Baptist as mature and restrained. But upon reflection I realize that in today’s Gospel this is exactly what
he was exhibiting---mature restraint. He was being proclaimed a prophet and thought by many to be the messiah. He had the ear of the rich and powerful, he could have taken that attention, that spotlight, and kept it all for himself. Yet he didn’t. When pushed to tell the authorities who he was, John demurred. He wouldn’t talk about who he was-- proclaiming instead who he wasn’t. “I am not the messiah” “I am not.” “ No. “What do you have to say for yourself John?” And even when he finally answers them, he uses the words of Isaiah not his own. He doesn’t toot his own horn, he steps out of the spotlight—to prepare the spotlight for the actual Messiah, the true and full light of the world. John dims so that Jesus will fully shine. He decreases so the Light of the World can increase.
The Gospel of John is full of this light imagery. For the evangelist darkness is the enemy of light and the coming of Jesus Christ is the ultimate defeat of all powers of darkness. The shining light vs. the encroaching darkness. These Advent readings of Jesus and John the Baptist , come during a time of great darkness---December brings us the shortest of our days. Daylight is in short supply leading up to the winter solstice, but there is hope amidst the dreariness, for with the passing of the winter solstice our days actually begin to lengthen…the light begins to win out over the darkness. [many thanks to Fr. Paul Lillie for the insight into the relationship between the solstices and the nativity dates]
While the arrival of the Christ comes amidst a darkness which is beginning to wane, in an interesting juxtaposition, the Nativity of John the Baptist is celebrated in June, just a few days after the summer solstice, or the day our daylight begins its slow trek downward….when the long brightness of summer daylight begins to wane.
John and Jesus are inextricably linked with light. From his leaping in Elizabeth’s womb at Mary’s visitation, the role of John the Baptist is as a witness to the light and just as the daylight lessens leading up to the darkest and coldest December day John decreases leaving the spotlight for the true Light of the World, Jesus the Christ. A Light which to be fully experienced, must be shared. Our role as we witness the coming of the Messiah, the Light of the world is to share this light---to invite others into the warming rays of salvation. Yes, to fully experience the true light of the world, we must give it away.
. John the Baptist teaches us a hard lesson today—a counter cultural message of voluntarily stepping aside, of humility. A counter cultural message of minimalism decreasing so that others may increase. A counter cultural message of staying true to a vision, regardless of the seductions in one’s path. My nephew did not grow up to be an egomaniac. He learned that he was not the center of the universe, he learned that the spotlight was not for him, he learned that he was part of a much greater whole whose task it is to be a witness to the true light of the world.
It’s a tough transition to make—to realize you are not the center of the universe….but generally we all make that transition and assume our supporting role in the greater whole.
We don’t quit and say “hey if we can’t be the star then forget it, we won’t play..” No, we learn to find our place in the greater community and fulfill our role in that community the best we can. This is what John is teaching us today---yes he needed to step aside so that the light of the world, Jesus Christ, could shine without cloud or blemish---but he did not disappear, he did not quit. He continued to witness to the light, all the way to his death.
To be a Christian Community we cannot hog the spotlight proclaiming to the world like so many of the fallen from grace tv evangelists that we ourselves are the way and the truth--but we also cannot sit passively by just wondering at the miracle and blessing of it all. As a Christian community we must witness this light. As a community we must determine our roles within that witness and then fulfill those roles to the best of our ability. As witnesses to the miracle in a barn in Bethlehem and as witnesses to the miracle of the empty tomb we must prayerfully discern how best to proclaim the gifts God so graciously bestows upon us, not to glorify ourselves, but to glorify the Light of the World.

Amen.

Pizza night at Casa Di Pizza

2008-11-17T14:56:00.006-05:00

We had a great time last night--the photos show a chicken wing with a thyroid condition, Allie and Casey peering over the table after too much pizza and the boys being boys.

SCHEDULE CHANGE

2008-10-28T11:39:00.001-04:00

The Casa Di Pizza outing has been changed from November 2 to November 16. we will meet at Casa Di Pizza from 5:00 pm -6:30 pm. THANKS!

Ordination

2008-10-07T17:18:00.006-04:00

Well it happened. I have posted a couple of photos.
It was a whirlwind of activity and I am very thankful to all of you who helped out--the girl choristers who sang, Juliette, Doug, Cullen and Greyson who served. Allie who read....it was great, thanks, Cathy+

UPDATES UPDATES UPDATES Sept. 2008

2008-09-10T15:16:00.005-04:00

Hello to all,
Today I mailed out a letter to all the J2A parents. Yesterday a letter went out to all the Godly Play parents. I have enclosed both below.

J2A letter:
9 September 2008
Dear ,
Welcome to the 2008-2009 youth program year at St. Paul’s Cathedral. This year our youth programming will have some added features. For those of you new to the youth group, and for you returning veterans, read carefully as the schedule is full!
Sundays during the education hour (10:15 am-11:00 am) meet in the youth room at 128 Pearl Street. Those who have been confirmed will meet with Allie to read the paper and discuss current events. Those who have not been confirmed will meet with Deacon Cathy in her office to discuss the Gospel of the day.
On the third Sunday of every month (September 21, October 19, November 16 and December 21, January 18, February 15, March 15, April 19 and May 17) we invite all the youth to attend the 11:15 Eucharist and immediately following the service we will go to Spot on Delaware for coffee and conversation.
On the first Sunday of every month ( October 5, November 2, December 7, January 4, February 1, March 1, April 5, May 3) we will have an evening gathering, meeting from 4:30pm-6:30pm for social and service time. Once every few months we will serve at Friends of the Night people, but the other months we will go bowling, skating, to the movies or whatever else we come up with. We ask for a parent to volunteer for each of these evening outings (including FOTN). The volunteer parent will help organize the event, arrange transportation, figure out costs etc. Please email, call or talk in person to Deacon Cathy about signing up for your Sunday.
Ongoing The cathedral is going to host a number of activities for the youth of the Liberian Refugee Community. We will offer tutoring, cultural literacy events, pot lucks and movie nights. Any youth who needs to complete community service hours will get credit for participation in these events, in addition to the satisfaction which comes from reaching out to those in need. This program is in its infancy so more information will become available soon. We’ll keep you posted.
Enclosed you will find a short write up about our youth programming philosophy.
Please do not hesitate to schedule an appointment with you to discuss the youth programming at St. Paul’s.

Faithfully,

The Rev. Deacon Cathy Dempesy

J2A Insert:
What in the World is J2A?
J2A is short-hand for Journey to Adulthood. Our job, as a congregation, is to walk with our young people as they take this journey from childhood to young adulthood. It can be a precarious, exasperating and scary journey, but it can also be surprising, refreshing and amazing. Everyone takes this journey, every child, every parent. Even Mary and Joseph took it with Jesus, as wonderfully related in Luke’s Gospel:
When Jesus was twelve years old, he and his parents went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor. (Luke 2:42-52)
The Journey to Adulthood Program operates on two basic premises:
1. Manhood and Womanhood are free gifts from God to be celebrated, explore and cherished.
2. Adulthood must be earned.
Our goal, here at the cathedral, is to offer our young people (grades 6-12) a safe space to explore their identity and a nurturing place in which they can grow into a mature faith. This is accomplished through the development of a community, study of scripture and application of basic Christian tenets in day to day life.
J2A is based on the principles of relational youth ministry which maintains that ministry with youth is based on adults taking an interest in the young person, being interested in who they are, what they think and what they feel. Additionally this ministry acknowledges that as adults we are role models for our teens and that by being faithful members of this faith community, we model a Christ-centered life for them. All of us at the Cathedral must take an active interest in our youth, they need us and we need them.

Calling all Youth Group Parents

2008-09-03T14:12:00.000-04:00

An informational meeting about J2A will be held at my home Thursday September 4 at 7pm. Call or email me for directions. See you then!

The Black Knight

2008-08-12T09:24:00.002-04:00

I saw this film the other day and I was blown away. I have never gotten into the DC Comic characters and my closest association with Batman was the tv series which was a lot of camp and little substance. This movie had a lot of substance---the commentary on the ability of just about all of us to turn to the "dark side." It was an uncomfortable movie to watch because in the name of good a tremendous amount of bad occurred.
Anyone else see it? It is quite violent so I don't think some of you should see it, but the older ones I am sure have seen it and have comments, right?

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

2008-07-29T12:08:00.001-04:00

Slated to begin on Monday, VBS is cancelled. Why? No one registered. I am sad, but what can you do? I needed to order supplies and food so I needed to make a decision today. Mother Liza and I decided to cancel.

Lambeth Conference

2008-07-25T09:42:00.002-04:00

An excerpt form Bishop Robinson's Blog:
"I began Thursday morning in prayer with the Franciscans, and continue to feel blessed by their hospitality and their witness. It's a good thing I began that way, because what next befell me was one of the agonies.

Since arriving in Canterbury, I had not yet visited the Cathedral. I went nowhere near the place on Sunday's opening service. The ever-anxious leadership had provided the Cathedral security guards with a large photo of me, posted at the security checkpoints, presumably to keep me from "crashing the gates" of the opening service. No one believed that I would be true to my promise to the Archbishop not to attend.

On Thursday, knowing that the conference attendees would leave early in the morning for London -- for the MDG walk, lunch at Lambeth Palace, and tea with the Queen -- it seemed like a good, low-profile time to make my own pilgrimage to our Mother Church. I told no one of my intentions to attend -- except I had my security person follow the properly courteous protocol of alerting the Cathedral to my visit. I had him also seek permission for a videographer to accompany me on my visit for a documentary to be released sometime in 2010. We were informed that the videographer could NOT accompany me or film me inside the Cathedral. Fair enough. We were told that he could accompany me to the gate onto the Cathedral grounds, and, standing in the public street, could at least film me walking into the Cathedral through the gate's archway.

We contacted Cathedral security to let them know of our imminent arrival, as had been requestd. When we got there, we were met by a gentleman, representing the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral, I think. He intercepted me and told me that I could not be filmed walking into the Cathedral (even from the public street outside) after all. The reason he gave took me by surprise, rendering me speechless (an uncommon experience for me!). "We can't have any photographs or film of you entering the Cathedral," he said, "because we want this to be a church for ALL people." Presumably he meant that my being seen walking into the Cathedral would cause others not to want to come.

This was one of those breathtaking moments when you just can't come up with the right thing to say. The rest of the day I thought of all the things I SHOULD have said. Like, "so you mean that I am not included in 'ALL people?!'" Or, "isn't this MY cathedral too?!" Or, "so what am I, chopped liver?!" The moment was so surprising, after having been so forthright in our notification of our visit and going through all the channels to ensure courteousness, I just couldn't come up with anything to say except, "okay," and accede to his wishes.

We were taken to the Cathedral's visitors office, where we were introduced to Theresa, a competent and warm guide who provided me with a wonderful, informative and hospitable tour of the Cathedral. But I simply couldn't shake the feelings engendered by the previous "welcome" a few minutes before.

The Cathedral, of course, has its own voice, and its towering arches, art, altars and promenades tell a wonderful story of Christian witness over the centuries. Three distinct architectural styles attest to its construction over a very long time. Its Augustine's Chair points to the first Archbishop of Canterbury's primacy at a much more precarious time than our own. The ancient nature of this building points to the Church's survivability over time, and I found this particularly moving and comforting, that even through THESE times, God promises to protect the Church such that "even the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

As for nearly every other pilgrim, I found the altar at which Thomas a Becket was slain particularly moving. Since I had last been there, some thirty years ago, a modern sculpture had been added above the alter. It depicted the sword, used to accomplish this "murder in the cathedral," broken in the act of doing its dirty deed, flanked by two other swords. The three of them together formed a kind of three-cross Golgotha on which our Lord was slain. An already poignant place, made even more powerful by the work of an artist. I knelt to pray there and found it hard to leave. The witness of the saints, standing firm against the powers of this world, continues to inspire.

Young people, from all over the world, staffing their own version of the Stations of the Cross, implored me to come down to their witness in the crypt of the cathedral. True to my experiences with countless young people "on the Fringe" here, they shake their heads and wonder why the Church is tearing itself apart over an issue that is simply not an issue for them. Their comforting words of support mean the world to me, and in that moment, provided the REAL welcome at Canterbury Cathedral I needed."

(From: www.canterburytalesfromthefringe.blogspot.com)

For those of you who don't know, Bishop Robinson was not invited to the Lambeth Conference of Bishops, a once a decade meeting of the Anglican Bishops from across the globe. He has traveled to Canterbury to be in the area and to be a witness for all people who have found themselves marginalized over the two millenia of the Church---people of color, women, people living with disabilities, children, gay and lesbian people etc etc. This excerpt explains an interaction the Bishop had with a staff person at Canterbury Cathedral, presumably sent out by the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral.
The message Jesus gave again and again in the Gospel was that the people on the fringe, the outcast and the "assumed by others to be sinners," were the people in whom the Kingdom of God could be found, alive and well.
God bless Bishop Robinson and the people of New Hampshire, for having the courage to do that which always needs to be done----walk the walk and hold your head high, knowing that you (us, ALL OF US) are loved by the Creator God. Yes, God loves the Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishops who feel hate and terror, Bishop Robinson and everyone people don't like, don't understand, don't value and don't want to consider. Everyone.
Thanks for listening to me vent. For 40+ years I did not think I could pursue my dream and deeply held desire to be a priest in the church. Because of thousands of people who had the courage to say no to exclusion, I will, God willing, be made a priest in this broken church which is trying to forge its way through this broken world. By alerting you to +Gene Robinson's words, I am saying, thank you.

Cathy
Other really interesting blogs from Lambeth include:
www.ourlettersfromlambeth.blogspot.com (The Maine Bishops write reflections each day)
Episcopal Life online also offers a variety of views from Lambeth www.episcopalchurch.org/episcopal_life.htm

Are you able to read this?

2008-07-21T07:18:00.003-04:00

If so, you are better off than a lot of people in Western New York. Not being able to read is a huge handicap--it is completely preventable and, thankfully, completely treatable. Helping with literacy is not just for older people. Youth can help too. And, as a matter of fact, we NEED youth to help. On Wednesday July 30 at 6:30 pm J2A will meet at Literacy Volunteers of America (1313 Main Street, Buffalo) to have a game night with the Bantu Youth Council AND learn how we can help other youth with tutoring. Join Us!
More specific information about all the literacy opportunities can be found in the post below. Thanks.

THE GATHERING IS FROM 6PM-8PM, my mistake, sorry!

LITERACY PROGRAM

2008-07-15T13:03:00.003-04:00

Lots of people have inquired about becoming a volunteer for literacy. The "Steps to Becoming a Literacy Volunteer" exceprted below is from www.literacybuffalo.org:

Tutors Section
Becoming a Literacy Tutor - Requirements & Benefits - Steps to Becoming a Literacy Volunteer - Tutor Forms - Orientation Schedule
Steps to Becoming a Literacy Volunteer:

Step 1:
Contact Literacy Volunteers
Call us at 716.876.8991 to register for a new tutor orientation that will familiarize you with what we do and why we do it. You can also stop by our office at 1313 Main Street in the city of Buffalo to sign up or email us at info@literacybuffalo.org

Step 2:
Attend an orientation.
During the brief orientation (1.5 hours), we’ll share some of our many, inspiring success stories and explain the many ways you can choose to get involved with our organization. At this orientation, you will be asked to sign up for a training workshop for Adult Tutoring or Youth Mentoring. (This orientation is optional if you wish to become a Youth Mentor. You must, however, pre-register for the training workshop.)

Step 3:
Attend the workshop training (16 hours total).
At Literacy Volunteers we provide you with the knowledge, skills and materials to help you tutor a student in a one-to-one setting. Workshop dates and times are scheduled with the convenience of the tutor in mind (flexible hours and weekend workshops are readily available). We ask tutor trainees to kindly pay a $35 registration fee for the workshop. This fee helps us continue to offer the programs and services of our not-for-profit organization. (The Youth Mentoring program does not require a workshop fee.)

Step 4:
Coordinate your schedule and get matched with a student!
Our staff will match you with a student based on your preferences (time, location of tutoring, etc). During the workshop training, you will be asked to specify these preferences.

THIS WEDNESDAY JULY 16

2008-07-14T13:25:00.002-04:00

Meet in front of the cathedral at 6:30 pm for a walking tour of downtown, we will end at the marina and fly kites, eat ice cream and relax. We will be joined by my friend Sherry Byrnes who does literacy work with the Bantu Youth Council. Members of the council will be our guests. Email or call me ASAP to tell me if you will be coming. Thanks!

An Article About the Literacy Program

2008-06-29T20:22:00.001-04:00

"These are people who are incredibly strong and have survived unbelievable things.” Sherry Byrnes, family literacy coordinator
Somali Bantu teens find a welcome in Buffalo

By MADELEINE BURNS NeXt Correspondent Updated: 06/25/08 7:11 AM
Imagine... You’re a young teenager. Your country has erupted into civil war, There’s fighting, violence, genocide, enslavement, and you witness unspeakable horror. You make it to a faraway refugee camp, but may find yourself separated from your family. Finally, in a desperate international relief effort, the United Nations rescues you. You’re sent to another country, and although you’re finally out of danger, everything about your new home is different and bewildering. You cannot read, write or understand your new language, and nobody understands the language you speak. How can you possibly survive?
You no longer have to imagine.
This story is a reality for thousands of Somali-Bantu children and their families. They fled their native Somalia to Kenyan refugee camps and have ultimately been placed in the United States. More than 13,000 Somali Bantu refugees now live in the United States, and some call Buffalo their home. The majority of the Buffalo families reside on the East and West sides of the city, and their school-age kids attend Buffalo Public Schools.
Omar Mberwa, tall, athletically built and soft-spoken, reflects upon adapting to the United States. “When we first started out here, it was hard for me to make friends,” he says. “It was hard to communicate with people, with American people.” Now wearing jeans and a brightly colored T-shirt, he looks like any American teenager.
Maryam Bakar still wears her traditional African dress and headscarf, called a hijab. She agrees with Omar. “When we came here, everything was different. The houses, the people, the clothing, the food,” she says. “So we had to get used to it, and it was really hard.”
“When I came here, I was shocked,” says Yusuf Abdi in excellent English. “I was like, ‘Hey, this is not what I was told back there!’ I was told that in America, you pick up money off the ground!”
“These are people who are incredibly strong and have survived unbelievable things,” says Sherry Byrnes, family literacy coordinator at Literacy Volunteers. “To come halfway around the world from a tropical country, and land in Buffalo, with snow up to their eyeballs.”
Last September, in an effort to assist the acclimation of Bantu teens, Literacy Volunteers teamed up with the Junior League of Buffalo to create the Somali Bantu Youth Council, a committee for those who are a part of, or who care about, the Bantu community.
For the first time in their lives, they have had to “cope with public transportation, health care systems, education systems, you name it,” says Byrnes. The committee focuses on “fun education” through outings, as well as college prep, job readiness, tutoring and leadership skills. So far, there are 14 Bantu teens who meet weekly and make up the Council. They have played indoor soccer, gone to the movies (a first experience for many), attended a play at the University at Buffalo, taken a computer class at D’Youville College and toured the Buffalo News, WBFO radio, Roswell Park and UB.
Unlike many American teenagers who have been raised in a privileged culture, these kids, coming from refugee camps that are grim places, do not take anything for granted.
Ask a typical American teen what are some of the best things about the United States, and you may get answers that range from iPods, to Facebook, to the mall on Friday night. But ask one of these Somali teens what they most appreciate about being here, and the nearly unanimous answer is a real eye-opener: “Water.”
There’s tap water everywhere in the United States, but it’s a huge luxury in Somalia, where clean water is a rarity and people must stand in long lines extending from wells that house the precious resource.
Shaban Muktar is a talkative boy with a great sense of humor who good-naturedly takes ribbing about his height from his peers. One of his favorite parts about living in the United States is the washing machine. “Every time you want to wash your clothes, you just put them in the laundry,” he says. “You do not have to go to the river to wash them, you do not have to use your hands.”
Many other aspects of assimilation into U. S. culture have been enjoyable for the Somali kids. You can find them on the soccer field, the baseball diamond, the football field, at the bowling alley and in the swimming pool. You might spot them at the Anchor Bar, wolfing down Buffalo chicken wings. Maybe you’ve heard them playing piano and violin, or have read something they’ve written. Perhaps they’ve even told you how much they hate snow.
“This project is so amazing. Doors are opening. These kids are going to succeed,” says Byrnes. As part of the Council’s agenda, the teen members created a presentation for the Junior League, to tell their story. They declared, “You need knowledge to succeed.” To gain that knowledge, they believe, schooling and education is of the utmost importance.
“I didn’t know English. It was hard to understand English. It was difficult to learn English,” says Ali Mohamed, a polite teen with a mile-wide smile who attends Grover Cleveland High School. “But here, in the United States, every
day we go to school. We get books, we read, we understand, we learn.”
With education comes a chance for success, believes Yusuf, who is enrolled at Lafayette High School. “I’ve gained a lot of opportunity in the United States,” he says. “There is communication, the opportunity to be educated. I have the right to go to school, I have dreams that here I can accomplish. Everyone has their own goal, and it’s possible,” he continues, “That’s what I love about the United States.” Yusuf aspires to be a neurosurgeon, and has received recognition for his volunteer work in the community.
The teens realize that not all in the United States are fortunate. Maryam believes the fabric that makes up communities is actually stronger in Africa than it is in the United States. “In Africa, there are not as many homeless people” she says. “It is easier to be taken care of and be a part of a community [in Africa] even if you do not have an education.” The teens also have observed that crime and violence exist here, as it does in Africa.
On the positive side, Salim Musa points out that most American food is delicious. He also likes the easy mobility here. In contrast to the need to walk everywhere in Africa, he observes, “you can drive, just get in a car and visit people! There are good roads here, so you can travel easily.”
Bilal Musse discusses something almost every American has access to: a telephone. “When you wanted to talk to somebody, there were no phones,” he says of Africa, “you had to go and get the person.”
As the Bantu Youth Council grows, its message of acceptance remains strong and clear.
“One can look at them and think of them as so exotic and different from us because of their experience and where they come from – and if you’re really small-minded, because of the color of their skin,” says Byrnes. “But guess what? They’re just like us.”
Madeleine Burns is a sophomore at City Honors.

Ceasar's Work or God's?

2008-06-26T09:27:00.002-04:00

In today's New York Times the Opinion section has a blog on campaign issues. Today's installment has an interesting piece on the religious views of John McCain and how his perspective is often in conflict with the more reactionary views of the conservative, right wing "Christians" who make up a vocal portion of the republican party. While a prisoner of war, Mr. McCain lead many worship services for his fellow prisoners. One day, preaching on the Gospel, he said this, regarding the work of God and the work of humanity (Caesar):

Here’s Mr. McCain’s description of a sermon he delivered :

One day I talked about the parable of when they asked Christ whether they should pay taxes and he held up a coin and said, “Render unto Caesar, etc.” My point was and still is that when we were flying in combat, we weren’t doing God’s work. We were doing Caesar’s work. So for us to go to prison and then ask God to get us out was not fair to God, to our religion, to our beliefs and to ourselves. It wasn’t a miracle that sent a SAM [surface-to-air missile] to hit my airplane. It was a guy, a technician at a SAM site.
I think it was important, a little bit for the stability factor, that it wasn’t God who was going to perform a miracle, end the war and bring us home. It was men. It was Caesar. I think the majority of those guys felt the way I did but we just had some, just as people turn to faith healing and that kind of stuff, we had some of that. A lot of times I would pray for strength and I think sometimes I got it. Pray for patience to get through the next minute when things were bad. I just don’t think it’s fair to expect too much out of what is basically not the Lord’s business."

Interesting.

Bisons Game and Sunday

2008-06-23T10:43:00.003-04:00

Hi all,

The Bisons game is this Friday. I have the tickets so you caneither pick them up from me before Friday or meet us at the cathedral at 7pm.

On Sunday, Fr. Paul wants to discuss icons with you, meet in his office at 10:15 AM.

I was approved for ordination the priesthood (yahoo!) so mark your calendars for September 28 at 3pm. I am looking for volunteers to serve as acolytes, let me know if you are interested!

UPDATES UPDATES UPDATES

2008-06-18T11:46:00.005-04:00

This Sunday is the Unity Walk. Father Paul and I are walking and we would love some company. We'll leave from the cathedral after the 11:15 Eucharist.
Bisons Game is Friday the 27th at 7:35 pm. I have the tickets so if you want to meet us at the game, pick your tickets up form me on Sunday or stop by the office during the week. So far I know that the following folks want to attend: Allie, Fr. Paul, Jayson, Kathie and Tim, Eli and his step-dad John, Doug, Casey and their folks,Cullen and maybe two friends of his, Juliette, Ellie, Greyson, Jordie and their mom and dad, and two new people at the cathedral, Chris and Jen. anyone else? all it costs is a $10 donation to the National Federation for Just Communities. Call or email me ASAP if you want to attend.
It's summer and I would love to see you in any of your sports events---but I need your schedules!

well it rained. And I cried

2008-06-02T10:32:00.002-04:00

Clearly we are snake bit when it comes to kite flying....but after all the hoopla only two of you came last night, so I guess our Sunday evening gatherings need to be retired for awhile.
We will next gather for the Bisons game, against the Scranton/WB Yankees on June 27 at 7:35 pm. If you are planning on attending, let me know ASAP. Thanks.

Go Fly A Kite

2008-05-27T21:15:00.002-04:00

We have Youth Group this Sunday, June 1 from 4:30-6:30. We will fly kites. If it rains, I'll cry.
Hey I am preaching Sunday morning, so come to church too and let me know what you think.
Allie completed the Buffalo Marathon. 3 cheers for her!

An interesting quotation

2008-05-15T20:03:00.000-04:00

Nothing is so important as human life, as the human person. Above all, the person of the poor and the oppressed... Jesus says that whatever is done to them he takes as done to him. That bloodshed, those deaths are beyond all politics: They touch the very heart of God.-

Oscar Romero

March 16, 1980

J2A Information

2008-05-13T09:27:00.002-04:00

Hi all,

Too bad we got rained out of our kite-flying extravaganza, but never fear we have rescheduled for June 1 at 4:30.
On June 22 we will join Father Paul and some of the 20's 30's group in the NFJC Walk for Unity. The NFFJC is the National Federation for Just Communities and it works locally to combat racism, bias and discrimination in schools, the workplace and the church (yes even the church has racism bias and discrimination. Sad but true.) It is a 3.5 K walk around Elmwood Village. see me on Sunday for brochures and pledge sheets.
Also, the Bison's game outing for this year has been set: June 27th. It is a Friday night so there will be fireworks afterwards. I will have a notice in the Bulletin beginning this week.

Finally, THIS SUNDAY May 18, Mother Liza will present the adult forum on the differences between Rite I and Rite II. Instead of meeting in the Youth Room, we will meet in the Walker Room to hear her presentation. The Youth Room will not be open during this time.

See you Sunday!
Cathy

2008-05-05T07:06:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone,
two more days of school for me! It has been an incredibly busy few weeks, but a lot has happened. Most importantly, Confirmation! I was very proud of all of the youth who were confirmed. Few people know how much work you put into getting ready...but Allie and I know, as do your parents and Fr Paul and Mthr Liza.....and we are all exceedingly proud. Way to Go!

I have two things to post today. One is an article from this morning's Buffalo News. Think about living on $9.25 a day--read the article and then try it. Here it is:
Understand poverty by living in it
Charity Vogel Buffalo News May 5, 2008Updated: 05/05/08 6:37 AM
Nine dollars. One quarter. That’s what it looks like up close, this horrible, hydra-headed beast called poverty that casts its malevolent shadow over Western New York.
Nine dollars. One quarter.
Wake up in the morning with that much money to last a whole day, and you’ll quickly realize how far it doesn’t go.
It’s not even three gallons of gas.
It’s not enough to feed a family on fast food.
It’s not enough for a pair of kids’
shoes at Target.
It’s the bread and the milk and maybe
the lunch meat, but not the strawberries or the cottage cheese or the vitamins.
Yet in Western New York, that $9.25 figure is the harsh reality that many people — too many — live with, day in and day out.
Buffalo, today, is a city of the poor. One in three adults lives below the federal poverty line, which is in the $10,000 range for a single person and $21,000 for a family of four. (Dividing the first number by 365 days yields the $9.25 per day sum, after deductions are made for the average Buffalo rent payment and per-diem clothing cost.) Right now, 43 percent of children in Buffalo are growing up in households that are poor.
But knowing those facts and really understanding them are two different things. Which is why this week presents us a tremendous opportunity.
Starting today, the Homeless Alliance is asking regular folks in Western New York, for the first time, to conduct a grand experiment in what being poor is really like.
The challenge is to live on a poverty-line budget. To see for yourself what being poor looks and feels and tastes like.
You get $9.25. Subtract a few bucks if you plan to drive a car, another few if you want to watch cable TV or have Internet at home. (For complete rules for the challenge, see http://wnyhomeless. org/sitepages/programs_education. html.)
By the time you factor in your daily routine — which, let’s face it, most of us take for granted — you’ll have a dollar or two left for meals, if you’re lucky. Because I have health insurance and a cell phone, I sank $3 in the hole before spending a cent on food.
“It’s frightening,” said Devan DeCicco at the Homeless Alliance. “Some people think poverty here isn’t as dire as it is. Folks are going to find that if you attempt to live on this budget, you just can’t do it. And that’s scary.”
Poverty is peculiar. It reveals its ugliness in the biggest things, and the smallest.
It’s not having a roof over your head, or ignoring a chest pain because you don’t have health coverage. Or, as novelist John Scalzi wrote, “having to keep buying $800 cars because they’re what you can afford, and then having the cars break down on you, because there’s not an $800 car in America that’s worth a damn.”
But poverty is in the little things too. Like thin sweaters from the dollar store that pill and sag after one washing. Peanut butter on white bread for lunch, every day, because anything else won’t get you and your kids through the week.
And $9.25 in your pocket, morning after morning, with nothing else to get you through until bedtime but stamina.
“Beans,” said Caroline Degnan, coordinator of the South Buffalo Food Pantry, as she watched a senior citizen in a red sweatshirt and a young man in blue jeans put a few rolls into a plastic bag. “Beans you can do a lot with. Or macaroni and cheese. You can make French toast for breakfast, it’s cheaper than cereal, even though eggs are $3 a dozen now. You can maybe buy a bottle of syrup for it, at the dollar store.”
Nine dollars. One quarter. For you it’s a challenge. For them, it’s called life.

Secondly, here is my sermon from yesterday:

Easter 7 Year A
Newcomer Sunday, St Paul's Cathedral, 4 May 2008

Are we there yet?
Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaddddddddddddddd how much longer?
Drive faster. Aren’t we there yet? Don’t talk, drive!
Those were the pleas of my sisters and I as we drove along on our yearly family vacation south to the Ozarks, or north to Wisconsin. We would leave before day break, I think in the hopes that we four girls would sleep away half the drive. That never worked and before the sun was all the way up, we were chomping at the bit, ready to get to where we were going. We wanted to be there now. We were done. Done riding, done waiting.
Take a breath, enjoy the view my dad would say. He’d invent games for us---who could see the state capitol dome first , how many cows are in the field. How many different state license plates could we spy. It didn’t work. We weren’t buying this waiting game. We had a goal and we wanted to reach it. Now.
I don’t know about you, but I haven’t changed that much. I am impatient. I want it now. When I began seminary, graduation and ordination seemed a lifetime away. And here I am, two more days of school, one ordination down and God willing, one to go. The time of preparation is ending, I am almost at my destination. Almost, not quite yet. One thing the ordination process has taught me is patience. Patience with a process which is completely out of my hands.. This process has taught me a major lesson: it isn’t just about the destination, it is about the journey.
That’s what my dad tried to teach us 40 years ago and it’s what Jesus tried to teach the apostles---pay attention to the journey, realize that the getting there is just as important as the goal. The getting there is not to be rushed through, not to be hurried, it’s not something to endure, It’s something to experience. Because within the journey one finds grace.
Do I remember the specifics of those vacation destinations? Nope. But I sure do remember those journeys. I can recall the taste of cold water in a thermos, of buying bottles of Pepsi from a gas station vending machine. The poking and prodding of the four of us in the back seat. The smell of mile after mile of corn fields in downstate Illinois. All of those memories are full of grace.
And one day, one day I hope the youth who were confirmed Thursday night will reflect on their journey which led them to that night. Perhaps one day those will be grace-full memories. Perhaps one day they’ll realize it wasn’t just the goal of confirmation, but the journey of faith they took to get there.
Think about the apostles. What a journey they had been on. From the first murmurings about this itinerant preacher proclaiming a new way, to the gathering of the twelve, to the debates about who this Jesus was, to the frustrating parables and riddles with which Jesus taught. The miracles, the healings, the feeding, the preaching. The questions. And then those final days in Jerusalem, the trial and crucifixion, their teacher, dead and buried, and then remarkably resurrected to walk, talk and teach them some more. And now this, after 40 days Jesus again says good-bye. This time for good. But not before leaving them with the promise of one last gift: the Holy Spirit will fill and fuel them as they spread the Good News to all the nations. With that they were ready to go.
Not so fast, Jesus says, not so fast. The journey will be long, the journey will be hard. Strengthen yourselves through prayer; nourish yourself within your community before heading out to do the work you have been given to do.
Take time to enjoy the view, to contemplate the next step, to savor all that has happened on this journey. Getting ready is all part of it.
No doubt this was annoying. Like us kids on the drive to vacation, like our youth preparing for confirmation, the apostles had their sites set on the goal and they wanted to be there. NOW. He gets them all riled up and ready to go and then tells them to wait. Jesus knew that waiting, pausing, gathering strength through prayer is a key part of the journey.
How often in the Gospels are we left with, “and then he went off to pray.” In the middle of chaos and uncertainty, when any reasonable person would have panicked, Jesus would retreat, regroup and refresh through prayer. And this is what he wanted the disciples to do—to regroup, to reflect, to honestly consider what was to come, to pay attention to the journey instead of just focusing on the destination.. He didn’t want them to miss a thing.
I don’t want us to miss a thing either. All of us are on a journey, collectively we , as this Cathedral parish ,are on a journey with very specific goals: affordable housing, a literacy program, a thriving music program, a continuation of glorious liturgies. Individually we all have goals, to get a promotion, to see our kids do well, to have the wedding go off without a hitch, to be healthy and happy.
Our journeys to this place have been varied too. Some of us have been part of other churches,other denominations, other faiths or none at all. Some of us were born and raised in Buffalo, others are later transplants. Some of us are here for the first time today, others are long-time members. Regardless of how we got here , we are here now and although it may not be our final destination, we may have many more goals to meet, many longer journeys to take, we are here right now and you know what?. right now, gathered in this glorious house of prayer, at the corner of Church and Pearl, We’re right where we need to be. All of our journeys have brought us here where, together, we are pausing to pray, to refuel before heading out to do the work we have been given to do, We may want to hurry up and get to where our plans are taking us, we may want to hurry and resist the honesty which comes through pausing and praying.
We may not want to wait. But Jesus is calling us to do that. Jesus is calling us to embrace the gift of today, a life in Christ where the destination may not be clear, the journey may be long and the wait hard to take, but before we get caught up in all of that Jesus is telling us to gather, pray and wait.
Are we there yet? No we aren’t, but just look at the view.

2008-04-23T11:24:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone,
Sorry it has been awhile since I posted, school is heading down to the wire so I have been swamped. a few updates:

the 30 hour Famine run by the Niagara Youth Group was great. They had a good time and we talked about doing something together with them in the coming year
Speaking of lock-ins and overnights, would any of you be interested in doing a lock-in overnight this summer? We would pick a theme, like world hunger, world peace or some other topic and we would do activities related to that topic while staying overnight in the Cathedral. Let me know.
Doug Giordano is doing Happening next weekend (May 2-May 4) so we need to reschedule the youth group social gathering. Does May 11 work for folks?
On May 4 we will have a newcomer's brunch, if you have any friends who might be interested, bring them that day. We'll have a table just for us and I am preaching that day. Food and a sermon, what more could people want?
This Sunday, April 27, Grey, Jeremy and John are serving. Grey does bells, Jeremy serves and John is crucifer.

Several Things

2008-04-11T21:46:00.003-04:00

The 30 Hour Famine is NEXT weekend. We had a mis-print on our calendar at the Cathedral.
I am now on Facebook. I feel like a complete nerd. But there you have it.
I think last week's cookout and walk were fabulous--thanks for making it fun.

See you all Sunday! Juliette and Cullen are acolytes at 9 AM.

THIS SUNDAY'S J2A

2008-04-03T16:54:00.001-04:00

We're having a BBQ and croquet. OK, I know it isn't that warm out yet, but let's cook out anyway. Hot Dogs Hamburgers and Veggie Burgers. I'll provide the pop, Ellie already bought the food, so all we need is dessert!

2008-03-31T11:41:00.002-04:00

Myesha and Noel wanted to be at J2A. That's why we scheduled it for last night. Then they realized that they couldn't be there last night, and last night was a really terrible time for both Cathy and Allie. So we changed it to next Sunday, April 6, which would be our regular time anyway. Confused? Me too. Next Sunday 4:30 pm-6:30 pm.

HELP!!!!
I need someone to help in the nursery on Sunday April 13. Noel will be the only nursery worker in town and we need to have at least one other person. Contact me if you are interested. The nursery is open from 8:30-12:30.

PIPER
We batted around some ideas for fundraisers to help Piper. The ideas on the table are: A Garage Sale, A Book Sale, A BBQ, a Recylcing Drive. We need to decide by next Sunday so think about it and be ready to discuss it Sunday morning.
Also it is time to firm up your confirmation sponsor--it cannot be one of the clergy (although I will stand with you as a clergy representative) and it cannot be a family member (although you can have siblings or cousins, you just need another person from the Cathedral congregation.). Email or call me if you have any questions--thanks!!!!!

Phew!!!

2008-03-27T20:14:00.003-04:00

Sorry I have been a bit out of touch. Holy Week was really busy and this week I am at school Monday through Friday.
A couple of things:
Sunday is our monthly social gathering--4:30 pm-6:30 pm in the parish house.
Saturday (I know I am working backwards) is the EYE event at St. John's Grace--it is a dance and it costs $5 to get in. It runs from 7 pm to 10:30 pm. Cullen and John are going.

Hope to see you all this weekend!

Finally, I gave a sermon on Holy Saturday, here it is:

JESUS IS DEAD

Jesus is dead. He has been laid in the tomb.
Where is the good news in that?
Surely disbelief filled all those who loved him.
Peter plagued by his guilt of being the denier.
Judas dead by his own hand.
The beloved disciple, wracked with grief.
Mary of Magdala, inconsolable.
And then there’s his mother. Is there a pain worse than that of a parent who has lost a child?
Where is the Good News in that?
It is all so sad.

But this morning we aren’t here to lament, we aren’t here to weep, we aren’t here to mourn.
No, we gather this morning to marvel at Jesus. Not at his miracles, not at his stirring rhetoric, not at his parables. Not at Jesus, Son of God. No, we gather in our quiet exhaustion to marvel at Jesus the man. For today Jesus has made the most human of journeys. Jesus
has plunged into the depths of death. He has fallen into the abyss of nothingness, of desolation and of loneliness so that, once and for all, we will never be alone. Because Jesus has been, is and will be everywhere we could ever go.
Think about it. Feeling abandoned? Jesus has been there. Been spit upon? Jesus has been there. Been denied by your own? Jesus has been there. Raged in frustration? Jesus has been there. Jesus, on this Holy Saturday has been everywhere. For today he has descended to the dead. Today he looks death square in the eye and says, no
more, no more will death be a thing to fear, a thing to worry about, a thing to hate.
Never again do we have to feel the loneliness of Mary. Never again do we have to feel the abandonment experienced by Job. Never again will we be shrouded in the darkness of Jonah. Never again will we wail our laments alone. Because today Jesus has filled the last of our emptiness, today Jesus has plummeted himself into the abyss of darkness, despair and death so that each of us, when we inevitably fall into those dark spaces of our minds, into those hells of our humanity, into the depths of grief, is not alone. Jesus has been there. And Jesus remains there.
For Jesus, the son of the living God, the Word made
flesh, the author of our salvation has been to the heights and the depths of our human existence so that we will never again be alone. So today in the quiet solitude of this day of rest, be comforted in knowing that even as his body lies in the tomb, Jesus is with us. Tomorrow, next week next month or next year when you feel the desolation of pain, the fear of abandonment or the despair of grief,--the ups and downs of our human existence--know that you are not alone for Jesus, our Jesus, has been there too and will not, no matter how much we resist his love, abandon us. And today? Today that is good news indeed.
Amen.

Palm Sunday

2008-03-12T11:15:00.003-04:00

This week Cullen and Eric are the two youth acolytes at 9 am.
At Confirmation we will finish our discussion of the Eucharist by going through the Eucharistic Prayer. Be prepared--you may be asked to play the role of priest---

Below is the sermon I was supposed to preach at St. Phillip's Church last Sunday. But they were closed because of snow so I am preaching it tonight at their Lenten study:

Lazarus Laughed.
Lazarus Laughed?
That’s the title of a play written by Eugene O’Neill: It is the playwright’s thoughts about what Lazarus did upon his resurrection. And the first thing he thinks Lazarus would have done? Laugh.

When my friend Lynn tries to tell a joke she starts to laugh about halfway through. Usually you never hear the punch line but it doesn’t matter if you don’t hear the rest of the joke, you’re laughing right along with her, because laughter is contagious.
My nephew, John, who has cerebral palsy can’t speak. But boy can he laugh. He has this deep down, belly laugh which shakes his entire body. He has tipped over laughing so hard. No one can resist that laugh when he gets going. His laughter is infectious.

People who are depressed have a hard time laughing. The trigger in the brain which causes laughter is broken, so laughter doesn’t come easily.
Can you imagine that? Not being able to laugh? Rarely if ever tossing your head back howling in laughter? Laughter is good for us. It is a medically proven fact. Laughing is contagious, infectious and absolutely necessary to our health

Now, laughter isn’t an unfamiliar action in the Bible, Sarah laughed when she heard God tell Abraham that she—at 90 years old—would have a baby.
Absurd! Outrageous! Ridiculous! How could such an old couple have a baby?
But they did, and they even named him after laughter-----translated
Isaac means “God laughed.” Surely, God laughed, right? After all it was indeed outrageous, unbelievable and quite comical for a baby to be born in such a circumstance.

But babies do that don’t they?

They bring smiles, giggles and laughter.
We call them bundles of joy.
Think about a baby’s laugh-- Isn’t it the greatest thing? The worst day at work melts away at the sound of a baby’s giggle. It is pure and full of delight.
It’s a little bit of heaven right here earth.

So to me it makes sense that Lazarus, upon exiting the tomb, laughed. I bet it was a low guttural chuckle building up to a good ol’ belly laugh. In the play, all Lazarus does for the first day or so after resurrection is laugh.
When he finally speaks Lazarus says he laughed because, after death all he heard was laughter. The laughter of Jesus filled his heart.
Laughing Lazarus proclaims that there is no death, there is no fear, there is only life and that life is full of laughter. Lazarus has been to the other side and what he saw there was a life full of laughter.
Nothing else, just eternal life and laughter.
In the play, Lazarus exclaims:
Laugh! Laugh with me! Death is dead! Fear is no more! There is only life! There is only laughter!

Yes, Lazarus laughed.
But Jesus? Jesus wept.

As Jesus saw the sadness of all those who loved Lazarus, he was overcome with sorrow. Was it remorse for being late, for not being able to save his friend?
Or was it sadness at the lack of faith displayed by Mary and Martha? They both had yelled at Jesus---“if you had been here, he wouldn’t have died.” Talk about guilt. They were laying it on Jesus. But that wasn’t it, he wasn’t guilty or ashamed or remorseful. He was sad…sad that people were still so afraid of death, sad that people still didn’t get it.
Jesus said it as clear as can be:

I am Resurrection and I am Life.
Jesus, through his Father, and through the Holy Spirit, assures us that there is no death, no end, just life eternal.
That’s the whole point isn’t it? Christianity 101: believe in Christ and have eternal life.

But, really, why would Lazarus laugh?
Because it was so absurd that he had been brought back to life?
That could be it.

But in the play he laughs is because that is what heaven is full of: laughter. God laughs all the time, and so everyone else does too. After all, laughing is contagious. But back among the living on earth? Lazarus’ laughter was not funny. Those first few days outside of the tomb everyone was trying to snap him out of it: Lazarus, stop your laughing, there is nothing funny about what happened to you.

But Lazarus says he laughs because there is nothing to fear. Death is not the end; death is not the enemy, death is not scary. Death, says Lazarus, is really nothing at all. Now that is a pretty outrageous thing to hear: death is nothing at all! Death is certainly something for those who have experienced it, those who have lost a loved one or someone who is struggling with the imminent death of a loved one.

So when Jesus calls Lazarus out from the tomb, he is telling him that it isn’t time yet, that he has more to do on earth. So Lazarus comes back. With a new attitude, one free from fear. One free from death. For death is just a human construct, it is of human design. Life, a life in Christ, a life in love with our Creator God—is not complicated. It is simple. Let God’s love wash over us. Be tickled by that love.

I think this story is telling us to die.
We must die.
We must die to death.
Jesus wept because that is what we don’t get .We don’t get that dying is just another step toward the full glory of God.
At baptism, we are figuratively plunged into the deep, into the depths of a life without living, of an existence marred by sin and sorrow and regret. But, during the Easter Vigil when new Christians across the world emerge from those waters and are sealed as Christ’s own forever they are alive in a new way. Christians have died to the old way and been born into the new.

In a little while when we approach the altar for the nourishment of communion we must die to everything we fear-- everything we cling to. At the Eucharist we let go of this world and are transformed into the new world of everlasting life.

When Jesus told Lazarus to come out of the tomb! He was telling him to die, die to the shackles of a life without hope, die to a life filled with fear, die to a life with limited love. And Lazarus did, he died to all of that and was born anew to an everlasting life full of indescribable happiness. He was born anew to a life full of eternal love and never ending laughter.

This is what we are called to do, tonight at communion, tomorrow at work and next week at the grocery store. We are called to die to all the petty jealousy, the fear of each other, the old hurts and resentments Because nothing, not death, not dry bones, not doubt and not despair is enough to keep us from the giggling, chuckling never-ending love and laughter of God. That’s why Lazarus laughed and why we should too, for the joy of a new life in Christ is contagious, infectious and absolutely necessary to our health. So join me in chuckling at death, giggling away fear and embracing a God who laughs and loves us forever. AMEN

For Sunday March 9

2008-03-04T11:56:00.003-05:00

This past Sunday we didn't have Confirmation class, because of some scheduling sanfus. This coming Sunday, March 9, Fr Paul will discuss the Eucharist as I will be at St. Philip's Episcopal Church. Youth preparing for Confirmation will meet with Fr Paul in the Youth Room, youth not being confirmed meet with Allie in my office. 10:15 am-11:00 am.
Our next social gathering will be March 30 from 4:30 pm-6:30 pm. Any ideas for an activity are welcome--let me know.

This week's social gathering

2008-02-27T10:47:00.002-05:00

We have a request to make our own pizza this week----so we will meet in the Walker Room to make pizza. 4:30 pm. I need folks to bring ingredients!!
Also, bring your favorite board game. I have Monopoly, Outburst (my personal favorite) and Pictionary.

HAPPENING!
Happening #23 is May 2-4, 2008. It is open to anyone in High School. If you are interested, see me, I have registration forms.

For Parents of Confirmation Kids

2008-02-26T08:54:00.002-05:00

I know you all would like a copy of our curriculum. I am not using a curriculum beyond The Book of Common Prayer. All the confirmands have been given their own copy of the BCP and I want them to bring them to class each week. I have emphasized with them that the Confirmation Liturgy is an adult re-affirmation of the Baptismal vows taken on their behalf when they were infants (or young children) To that end we have reviewed what I am calling The Examination portion of the Baptism Liturgy (BCP pages 302, 303). We have defined what each question is actually asking and then tried to answer the questions. It would be useful to review these questions with the kids as their answers (and the struggle to get there) were profound and thoughtful.
We will now embark on an investigation and explanation of the Eucharist.
Please provide me any and all feedback! Thanks.
God's Peace with You All,
Cathy

2008-02-20T09:46:00.002-05:00

The next social gathering has been changed to March 2 at 4:30 pm.
Remember, we are doing J2A lessons at 10:15 every Sunday morning and the Sunday evening gatherings are just for fun. Confirmation now meets in the Youth Room at 10:15 am and the older kids meet with Allie in my office at the same time.
Servers this week: John and Jeremy Fithian. Meet me at the altar by 8:40 am for instructions. Thanks.....Cathy

Next social gathering

2008-02-14T07:26:00.002-05:00

March 9, 4:30-6:30 we will gather for another relaxed evening. We can watch another Pink Panther movie, we can do something else. What do you think?

Servers for this Sunday, February 17th at 9 am:
Casey, Doug, Juliette and Ian.

latest sermon

2008-02-07T20:15:00.001-05:00

Transformed by Darkness
Preached at Parkside Lutheran Church on the Last Sunday in Epiphany, Year A, Transfiguration

Do you remember, as a child, not wanting Christmas to end? I distinctly remember late in the afternoon on Christmas thinking, oh no a whole year before we get this again. I felt the same way on my birthday . I guess it is a human tendency to hold on to the good as long as we can. To keep what feels like the best thing ever locked up in a keepsake box to never let go. We like to capture those moments, don’t we? I can’t help but think this year, wasn’t it just Christmas, how can it almost be Lent? I want Epiphany to last longer. I am not ready for Lent!
Today, in the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus, As soon as Peter sees Moses, Elijah and Jesus, he wants to hold onto the moment. He does not want it to get away. He immediately says, ok let’s pitch some tents for them so they can linger here and we can have more and more of this glory. Before Peter can even get one sentence spoken he’ s interrupted.
God says, oh no Peter, you aren’t going to hang onto this moment, this is my Son and I love him You’re going to listen to him on this mountaintop and you’re going to listen to him down there, in the valley, when all the glory and wonder will be attacked and defiled. God knew the joy of this mountaintop experience would quickly be followed by trial and tribulation. Such a quick turnaround was hard to fathom, but it happened.

And here we are, just getting the last of the Christmas decorations put away, the wreath, the crèche, and the last of the lights tucked away in the attic. The wonder of Christmas which folds so nicely into the events during Epiphany—the Holy Name, the Baptism of Christ, The Presentation of the Infant Jesus at the Temple. Christmas and Epiphany were so short, can it possibly be time for that fateful trek to Jerusalem? I don’t want to go! I don’t want to hear anything more about this suffering, this crucifixion, this death. I want to linger in the wonder and joy of miracle births, glorious baptism and fantastic miracles. I am not ready for Lent.

But then again, who is ever really ready for Lent? Lent can be hard. Lent can be sad. Lent is nothing like Advent, when we get to spend a few weeks in hopeful anticipation of a miracle in Bethlehem. No Lent is about absence, it is about denial, it is about suffering.
Or is it?
Lent may be all of those things, we certainly do pare down our ornaments in the church, we stop saying Alleluias…it is not a big party time. But is it really nothing like Advent? I wonder.
Advent is about anticipation, anticipation of how Joseph will respond to Mary’s news of her pregnancy, how a baby born in a barn will grow up to save the world. Advent anticipates the wonder of Christmas. But Lent is about anticipation too. Not the mistletoe and eggnog type of anticipation, but anticipation nonetheless. Anticipation of the long night in Gethsemane, the agony on the cross, the desolation of Holy Saturday all leading to the miracle of the empty tomb.
In Advent we hear many Bible readings about the end of time, battles raging between good and evil, fire and brimstone. In Lent we hear of Jesus’ long trek into Jerusalem, of him getting mad in the temple, of Jesus being disappointed by his friends, of him retreating to the mountaintop for quiet prayer. Advent and Lent are full of difficulties, so why go through this at all?.
Why do we even need this anticipatory time?
Why not, in this age of instant gratification don’t we get rid of the preparation time, the time of anticipation, the waiting? Why don’t we just go right into Christmas and Easter?
Because without waiting, the event loses something. Without struggle the accomplishment doesn’t mean as much, without being thirsty the water just doesn’t taste so good. Without the cloudy days, the sunny days lose a little luster.
In San Diego, it is sunny 360 days of the year. Now that may sound appealing to Buffalonians in February, but my sister, who lives there, says that it can get a little tiring. She likes it when she visits our family home in Chicago where the weather, like here in Buffalo, changes day to day. The sun, she says, seems brighter in Chicago. There is something about the sun shining after days of gloomy clouds which makes the sun seem so much brighter,. So much warmer. So inviting. There is something about putting the baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas, instead of at the beginning of Advent which makes Christmas feel more special. There is something about Easter morning when all that we have denied ourselves in Lent, or extra disciplines we have added, feel so worth it. So much like we really worked toward something. The struggle makes the accomplishment that much sweeter.

Have you ever taken off in an airplane on a dark stormy day and a few minutes after take-off the plane enters gorgeous glistening blue skies? Or have you ever been struggling to find the right word, or get a series of numbers to add up just right or struggled with that last ingredient in a recipe? It can seem so muddled so confusing and then suddenly it all becomes clear, that perfect word comes to you, the last digit in-putted adds up to the right answer, a pinch of basil makes the whole recipe work.

Revelation comes out of this confusion, out of this darkness.

Today’s readings are full of experiences shrouded in doubt and darkness suddenly clarified and glorified in brilliant light. Moses climbed the mountain, and came back down, transformed. Elijah, climbed up the mountain and came back down, transformed. Jesus climbed the mountain and came back down transformed. But to get there, to get to the mountaintop they each had to battle through the darkness of doubt and despair.
Mountaintop revelation does not come without its costs. It isn’t easy getting up, it isn’t easy coming down. But life, life happens down here, not on the mountaintop. Life happens between Christmases, between Easters and between Feasts of the Transfiguration. Life happens to you and to me day in and day out. Our lives aren’t full of huge revelations; our lives have clouds and fog, with glimpses here and there of bright light. Yes, our lives have hope but they also have despair… our lives are full of ups and downs. How many of us can say we have had mountaintop experiences? I hope a few of us, but most of us haven’t and quite possibly won’t. So what do the mountaintop experiences of today’s readings have to teach us?
That life is full of paradox-- that good seems to come out of bad, that darkness is followed by light, that confusion leads to revelation.
To get to the mountaintop, Moses had to enter a dark cloud. At the Transfiguration God’s voice came out of a great cloud, Jesus’ resurrection occurred from within the dark desolation of a tomb. There is something about the dark, the gloom, the clouds, the emptiness. It readies us for awareness. A sunny day followed by a sunny day doesn’t have nearly the impact of a sunny day after a cloudy day. To truly appreciate a gift we need to remember what it was like before, what it was like without that gift. The disciples, on the evening of Easter Day were walking along the road to Emmaus lamenting the defeat of their hopes and dreams in the crucifixion of Jesus. As Jesus walked along with them, he let them lament, he let them wallow in their loss and then, after breaking bread with them their eyes were opened and they saw that indeed it was true, He was Alive. Could they have seen him without their lamentations of woe? Sure, but would he have seemed so brilliant? No. If I held onto Christmas, skipping Lent, and moved right to Easter, would Easter happen? Probably. But would it mean as much? I doubt it. Because life just doesn’t happen on the best days of our lives, on the mountaintops , it also happens in the valleys, in the sunshine and in the clouds.
So go ahead, revel in Christmas and Easter, in your birthday and in your memories of glories past. Just remember that in the inevitable darkness of despair, a light will flicker and then-- when you least expect it--flash into the brilliance of your own transformation, your own transfiguration. Because that is what our faith gives to us: a transforming, transfiguring lamp shining in the darkness. AMEN.

2008-02-05T14:39:00.000-05:00

Last week's acolyte training was good, thanks for your participation. For those of you who missed it, we will have a second training in March. Stay tuned!

This week Greyson, Eric and Doug are the youth scheduled for serving at 9am.
Confirmation class--we get back together after what feels like forever. This week's question is: what keeps you close to God?
Youth Group with Allie. We are talking about sharing a Lenten discipline. Speaking of disciplines, tomorrow Lent begins. I know a lot of people give something up for Lent and if that helps you in your relationship with God, great. For me, since I was a teenager I have added something during Lent. One year it was flossing my teeth. I have been doing it ever since. This year I will say Compline every night before bed, and I will buy six mosquito nets from Episcopal Relief and Development (one for every week of Lent). What will you do?

See you Ash Wednesday!

Deacon C.

News for the week of January 27, J2A

2008-01-28T07:54:00.000-05:00

Hi all,
What a great turnout last night to watch The Pink Panther Strikes Again. We had a great time. Remember, next Sunday there is no confirmation class as we have the Pancake Breakfast. Check with your parents about buying tickets, if they aren't going to, email me and we will work something out. You can sit with Allie at 10:15 as I will be at Parkside Lutheran Church, preaching. Here's the run-down for this week:
Friday February 1, Candlemas at 700 pm (this is a very cool service and a friend of mine is preaching)
Saturday February 2, Acolyte Training at 1030 am
Sunday February 3, Pancake Breakfast

Confirmation and J2A updates

2008-01-21T08:02:00.000-05:00

Confirmation youth: remember, the Inquirer's Class meets tonight (MLK, Jr. Day) at Mother Liza's house. The adjunct confirmation class we are holding on Sunday mornings is great, we have had lively discussions about the concept of Satan and evil. (I am emphasizing the Examination portion of the Baptism liturgy, reminding the youth that these promises were made on their behalf at Baptism. They will be confirming their commitment to these promises on May 1.) We will not have the Sunday morning confirmation class on Jan 27 (Annual Meeting) or February 2 (all Parish pancake breakfast). We will back at our Sunday morning classes beginning February 9. Here's the schedule for the next few weeks:

January 21: Inquirer's Class 7:00 pm-8:30 pm at the Dean's house
January 27: Annual Meeting of the parish, 10 am-11 am, no classes
J2A social gathering, 4:30 pm-6:30 pm, Parish House
January 28: Inquirer's Class 7:00 pm-8:30 pm at the Dean's house
February 2: ACOLYTE TRAINING, 10:30 am-12:30 pm Walker Room/Church
February 3: Pancake Breakfast, 10:15 am-11:00 am, no classes
February 4: Inquirer's Class 7:00 pm-8:30 pm at the Dean's house
February 10: Confirmation Class 10:15 am-11:00 am, Scaife Room
J2A class for anyone not in confirmation, 10:15 am-11:00 am, Parish House

Black Eyed Peas Where is the Love

2008-01-16T09:00:00.000-05:00

Check this video out. You all probably know about it, but I just discovered it. Fabulous.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJV9EMkv0u4

YOUTH NEWS

2008-01-08T21:57:00.000-05:00

Well it looks like we'll be re-tooling J2A for the rest of this academic year. Following a meeting with the parents last week, it appears that focusing our formal lessons back on Sunday morning and keeping one Sunday evening a month free for just fun--pizza, movies, outings etc. will get us through the rest of the year. So here is the proposed schedule to begin THIS SUNDAY:
All youth interested in confirmation will meet with Cathy in the Scaife Room (the room off the Walker Room in the lower level of the Cathedral) between 10:15 am-11:00 am each Sunday. All other youth will meet with Allie in the youth room at 128 Pearl Street. One Sunday a month we will meet from 4:30-6:30 for a fun event. The next meeting? Stay tuned, I need to check with Allie.
Acolyting. Anyone who is interested in confirmation and is able, is encouraged to acolyte. I know it has been a confusing time for acolytes but never fear--I will be in the acolyte room every Sunday at 8:30. Please be in the acolyte room and robed up by 8:30 am, that way we have plenty of time for a review of your specific duties for that day. Soon, a pamphlet specifically for 9 am acolytes. And a training for you will be held February 2 at 10:30 am. Food will be provided, I promise.

St. Nick and the MDG's

2007-12-09T19:27:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we had a St. Nicholas Eucharist at the Cathedral (photo attached), complete with a visit from the Bishop of Myra himself. Afterward we had a presentation about the Millennium Development Goals....the 8 goals adopted by the United Nations (and later by the Episcopal Church) to work toward eradicating world poverty--and all that poverty impacts--by the year 2015. Today I learned about a prayer being said at St. Paul's Chapel in New York City, a prayer to be recited daily until the goals are met. Here's the article I read about this prayer, written by Barbara Crafton:

THE COUNTING PRAYER: WE HAVE THE MEANS Back in September, an important thing began to happen at St. Paul's Chapel in New York City, the historic 18th-century church that served so many recovery workers after the destruction of the World Trade Center. You may not have noticed it, not right away, it was so simple and so quiet. But it's still happening as I write this, and you're noticing now. It's called The Counting Prayer. People are praying it every day: The world now has the means to end extreme poverty, we pray we will have the will. It takes about three seconds to say it. People are signing onto a pledge to say it daily. Individuals and congregations of all faiths and Christian denominations throughout the world are pledging to say the prayer at every public service of worship. I have promised to say it at Morning and Evening Prayer every day. The prayers are counted and tallied at http://www.countingprayers.org/home. The Counting Prayer will go on until the Millennium Development Goals are met. You know the MDGs, by now: that group of eight means by which extreme poverty and its terrible effects on the human race can be ended. We do not lack what is needed to fulfill them. Our failure to do so is purely a matter of will, and our will can change: that's one of the things prayer does in us. And our will does lead us: when our will has changed, our behavior follows. Because we don't pray for change in the world as if it were a reality external to ourselves. The world isn't outside us; we are the world. We pray to become that thing we wish to see in the world, to become people for whom comfort is incomplete while others still sicken and die from being poor. Perfectly aware that self-interest governs the affairs of nations and the lives of many individuals, we pray for another rule to grow among us: we pray for the world to become as important as the self. People are capable of living this way: ask almost any parent. The Prayer Vigil Counter as of this morning was at 0,000,064,032. The people at CountingPrayers.org say they expect to reach 100,000 by New Year's. They bid us all a blessed Advent. The world now has the means to end extreme poverty, we pray we will have the will.

Ordination: Done!

2007-12-04T13:44:00.000-05:00

Well it is done! I was actually ordained to the transitional diaconate last Saturday. What a great Eucharist! Thanks to all who helped to make it such a memorable day. The youth and kids who were part of the service and sat in the front pew made me really happy. A friend videotaped the ordination and at times, in the background, was the sound of children----a beautiful beautiful noise.

In J2A the next day we discussed the process I went through leading up to ordination. It wasn't until I spoke of the entire process that I realized just how much goes into this--and how many people carried me, and continue to carry me through this process. Thank you!

When I left the "family pew" for the Examination and Consecration I had a distinct knowledge that "this was it" I was walking away from laity and toward clergy. It was very moving for me. I am still digesting the amazing day!

2007-11-25T14:15:00.000-05:00

Today I was honored to preach at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Buffalo's Parkside neighborhood. I spoke about the Millenium Development Goals and how the Gospel compels us to remember those who have less than we do. Afterwards I came home, opened the Sunday paper and saw this column by Anna Quindlen. The column is reprinted below, followed by the text of my sermon. The bottom line? There are a ton of needy people in the world and if we just skipped one latte a week, we could feed an awful lot of people:

Blessed Is the Full Plate
A terrible shortage of food for the poor grips the country. Where is the political will to do the right thing for the hungry?
By Anna Quindlen
NEWSWEEK
Updated: 12:47 PM ET Nov 17, 2007
One of the most majestic dining rooms in New York City is in the Church of the Holy Apostles. After the landmark building was nearly destroyed by fire in 1990, the Episcopal parish made the decision not to replace the pews so that the nave could become a place of various uses. There are traditional Sunday services, of course, and the gay and lesbian synagogue on Friday evenings. And every weekday more than a thousand people eat lunch at round tables beneath 12-foot stained-glass windows and a priceless Dutch pipe organ.
"You can't get more Biblical than feeding the hungry," says the Rev. William Greenlaw, the rector.
Holy Apostles has fed the hungry for 25 years now without missing a single weekday, including the morning after the fire, when the church lay in ruins, still smoldering, and 943 meals were served by candlelight. There's a queue on Ninth Avenue by midmorning; sometimes tourists think there's a wait for some exclusive New York happening until they notice the shabby clothes, piles of shopping bags and unshaven faces that are the small unmistakable markers of poverty.
The poor could be forgiven for feeling somewhat poorer nowadays. The share of the nation's income going to the top 1 percent of its citizens is at its highest level since 1928, just before the big boom went bust. But poverty is not a subject that's been discussed much by the current administration, who were wild to bring freedom to the Iraqis but not bread to the South Bronx. "Hunger is hard for us as a nation to admit," says Clyde Kuemmerle, who oversees the volunteers at Holy Apostles. "That makes it hard to talk about and impossible to run on."
At Holy Apostles the issue is measured in mouthfuls. Pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches. But in this anniversary year the storage shelves are less full, the pipeline less predictable. The worst emergency food shortage in years is plaguing charities from Maine to California, even while the number of those who need help grows. The director of City Harvest in New York, Jilly Stephens, has told her staff they have to find another million pounds of food over the next few months to make up the shortfall. "Half as many pantry bags" is the mantra heard now that the city receives half the amount of emergency food than it once did from the Feds. In Los Angeles 24 million pounds of food in 2002 became 15 million in 2006; in Oregon 13 million pounds dwindled to six. It's a cockamamie new math that denies the reality of hunger amid affluence.
There are many reasons why. An agriculture bill that would have increased aid and the food-stamp allotment has been knocking around Congress, where no one ever goes hungry. Donations from a federal program that buys excess crops from farmers and gives them to food banks has shrunk alarmingly. Even the environment and corporate efficiency have contributed to empty pantries: more farmers are producing corn for ethanol, and more companies have conquered quality control, cutting down on those irregular cans and battered boxes that once went to the needy.
What hasn't shrunk is the size of the human stomach. At lunchtime at Holy Apostles, Ernest is hungry, his hand bandaged because he got in a fight, even though he is sober now and has his own place in the Bronx. Janice is hungry, too, she of the beautiful manners and carefully knotted headscarf, who sleeps on the train on winter nights and walks with a cane since being hit by a car. There are the two veterans, both Marines, with the raddled faces and slightly unfocused eyes of those who sleep outdoors, which means mostly always being half-awake, and that group of Chinese women who don't speak English, and the Muslim couple who sit alone. Mostly it's single men at Holy Apostles. Some are mentally ill, and some are addicts, and to repair their lives would take a lot of help. But at the moment they have an immediate problem with an immediate answer: pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches.
This place is a blessing, and an outrage. "We call these people our guests," says the rector. "They are the children of God." That's real God talk. The political arena has been lousy with the talk-show variety in recent years: worrying about whether children could pray in school instead of whether they'd eaten before they got there, obsessing about the beginning of life instead of the end of poverty, concerned with private behavior instead of public generosity.
There's a miracle in which an enormous crowd comes to hear Jesus and he feeds them all by turning a bit of bread and fish into enough to serve the multitudes. The truth is that America is so rich that political leaders could actually produce some variant of that miracle if they had the will. And, I suppose, if they thought there were votes in it. Enough with the pious sanctimony about gay marriage and abortion. If elected officials want to bring God talk into public life, let it be the bedrock stuff, about charity and mercy and the least of our brethren. Instead of the performance art of the presidential debate, the candidates should come to Holy Apostles and do what good people, people of faith, do there every day—feed the hungry, comfort the weary, soothe the afflicted. And wipe down the tables after each seating. Here's a prayer for every politician: pasta, collard greens, bread, cling peaches. Amen.

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/70982
© Newsweek Mag

"Jesus Remember Me"
Preached by Cathy Dempesy at The Church of the Good Shepherd, Buffalo, NY
November 25, 2007 Christ the King Sunday, Last Pentecost

Christ the King Sunday. Christ as the Ruler, Christ as the Sovereign. That is a difficult image for some. Prince of Peace may be a little easier. But the truth is, I think we should embrace this moniker---Christ as King, Christ as Sovereign—because the point in this label is that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ has completely turned the idea of earthly rulers, of powers, of dominions, of principalities on its ear. We as humans are held hostage by the limits of language. When we hear King we have a number of negative images Better that when we hear Christ the King we hear it accompanied by a wink and a nod. For this king, this ruler, is not about power and oppression but is about peace, reconciliation, and love.

Why do we celebrate OneSunday, the day we reflect on the work of the Church toward achieving the millennium Development Goals—the eradication of world poverty by the year 2015, on a day when our readings are full of rulers, and wrath and mocking? Because the church has a fabulous sense of irony. On the one hand it is the result of power and domination that we have a world of haves and have nots. Power and domination has contributed to the millions of AIDS orphans throughout the world. It is the result of power and domination that there are women who remain enslaved in abusive relationships because they have no access to education, who die in childbirth due to no access to basic maternal health care. It is the result of power and domination which leads to the destruction of our environment through global warming and the waste of our earth, entrusted to us at creation.

On the other hand, it is through the life, death and resurrection of this peasant from Nazareth that we are given the route to righting all of these wrongs. All the powers and dominions of the world do not have a chance in the face of The Christ. Because Jesus, the Christ, the incarnate God, God made human doesn’t play the game.
“If you are the King of Jews save yourself. If you are the Messiah then save yourself!”
We, as humans don’t get it, do we? By not saving himself he saved us. And by not saving ourselves, we save others. Think about some of the basic tenets of relationship success. Sometimes you just back off. Sometimes you compromise. Sometimes you let go. Because sometimes being right isn’t as important as your beloved. By not buying the biggest bossiest car around we may feel a little less comfortable or important, but we will help, in the littlest bit, slow global warming. By accepting higher taxes we may have less of the extras, but someone else will get a little more of the necessities.
So the alleged King of the Jews, the First Born of all Creation, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lord and King of Kings, died on the cross. It wasn’t in a blaze of glory, it wasn’t after a battle royal. They came, they arrested him and he went, peacefully and in a seeming state of resignation. The men around Jesus fled, their King had been stripped, their Teacher had been defeated, their Emperor had No Clothes. They fled. They were scared. The power of the earthly realm had swooped down and destroyed, in their minds, the promise of a new rule, a new kingdom, a new power. So they hid, the denied, they ran. A handful of women remained, including his mother. Did they remain because they knew it would be ok? Did they remain because they knew Jesus would reign supreme? Did they stay because they knew that the empire would be defeated? No. They stayed because this man they loved, this son she had birthed, this teacher they revered, was seemingly defeated. He was beaten, he was abandoned, he was lost. And they would not leave. They couldn’t save him from death, but they could stand with him until the end. They remained his companions. They remained his friends. They remained because the right thing to do was to stand with the one they loved, to make sure he knew he was not alone, that he mattered to them and that they would stand with him until the end. He wasn’t their King, he wasn’t (just ) their savior, he wasn’t their messiah, he was their friend, he was their family. And he was in big trouble. And he was very scared. And they would not let him die all alone. So they stood there. They watched a horrible spectacle, they quite possibly wondered where God was in all of this, they quite possibly felt overwhelmed. No doubt they were terrified. No doubt a part of them wanted to turn and run. But they didn’t. They looked at the horror dead on. They looked, they saw, they witnessed. They remembered.
That’s what we are asked to do through the MDG’s. At the Cathedral a lot of people have mentioned that they have compassion fatigue because we talk about the MDG’s a lot. Our answer? We will keep talking about them as long as there is one child who goes to bed hungry tonight. We will keep talking about them as long as families are dying from very preventable diseases. We will keep talking about them as long as the Haves in our World forget ignore or deny the Have Nots. Because if we do not look at the horror of global poverty, environmental destruction and the spread of preventable diseases like HIV and Malaria, dead in the eye then we are no different than the mocking crowds at the cross, shouting, SAVE YOURSELF. But is that who we really are? We may fall into that behavior, when we cross the street to avoid the homeless person, when we don’t recycle, when we buy and buy and buy for ourselves, leaving nothing for the rest of the world. But at our core that is not who we are. God knows that. Jesus knows that. It’s us who forget.
And who, in today’s lessons teaches us to remember? Jeremiah? Paul? Jesus? Nope. The Thief. A thief. A criminal, a nare do well, one of the other two crucified with Jesus that day. The one who simply says, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He saw the crowds, he heard the taunts and he simply asked Jesus for salvation. Jesus, Remember Me When You Come into Your Kingdom. Not this Kingdom, not the Kingdom of oppression and domination, but the Kingdom of salvation, the kingdom of unfathomable joy, peace and light. The Kingdom of all of Creation, unified and reconciled in perfect harmony, as God intended. Jesus Remember Me.
The question of course isn’t will Jesus remember us, but will we remember Jesus?If we remember Jesus we remember that the thrones, dominions rulers and powers of this world mean nothing.
When we remember Jesus, we remember the least among us.
When we remember Jesus we can no longer keep the blinders on.
When we remember Jesus we no longer accept oppression of the other.
When we remember Jesus we no longer tolerate millions of people dying because of preventable diseases.
When we remember Jesus we no longer accept that women die in childbirth.
When we remember Jesus we remember that this creation, this earth, our island home, is a gift to be cherished and nurtured and loved.
When we remember Jesus, we remember that love, God’s love, was poured out on that cross .
When we remember Jesus we, along with Mary and the other women, along with the beloved disciple, along with the thief, are remembered by Jesus when he comes into the kingdom of equality, his kingdom of abundance, his kingdom of love for all, regardless of thrones, dominions and powers. When we remember the least among us. when we remember the downtrodden, the oppressed, the hated and the despised, we remember Jesus. And when we refuse to accept a world of inequality, a world of terror, a world of abuse, we remember Jesus. And when we do that, Jesus remember us.

Jesus remember us when you come into your kingdom while we remember you as we gaze upon the awesome things God has done with Creation. Jesus as you remember us, let us remember you.

Amen.

Bishop Tutu from the BBC News

2007-11-18T16:28:00.000-05:00

Tutu chides Church for gay stance
Archbishop Tutu rebuked religious conservatives
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu has criticised the Anglican Church and its leadership for its attitudes towards homosexuality.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4, he said the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, had failed to demonstrate that God is "welcoming".
He also repeated accusations that the Church was "obsessed" with the issue of gay priests.
He said it should rather be focusing on global problems such as Aids.
"Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.
"God must be weeping looking at some of the atrocities that we commit against one another.
"In the face of all of that, our Church, especially the Anglican Church, at this time is almost obsessed with questions of human sexuality."
Criticising Dr Williams, he said: "Why doesn't he demonstrate a particular attribute of God's which is that God is a welcoming God."
'Extraordinarily homophobic'
Archbishop Tutu referred to the debate about whether Gene Robinson, who is openly gay, could serve as the bishop of New Hampshire.
He said the Anglican Church had seemed "extraordinarily homophobic" in its handling of the issue, and that he had felt "saddened" and "ashamed" of his church at the time.
Asked if he still felt ashamed, he said: "If we are going to not welcome or invite people because of sexual orientation, yes.
"If God, as they say, is homophobic, I wouldn't worship that God."
Dr Williams has been working to limit divisions between liberal and traditionalist Anglicans that came to the fore following Bishop Robinson's consecration in 2003.
Following his plea for compromise, leaders of the Episcopal Church in the US agreed to halt the consecration of gay priests as bishops, to prevent a split in the Anglican Communion.
In the interview, Archbishop Tutu also rebuked religious conservatives who said homosexuality was a choice.
"It is a perversion if you say to me that a person chooses to be homosexual.
"You must be crazy to choose a way of life that exposes you to a kind of hatred.
"It's like saying you choose to be black in a race-infected society."
F

2007-11-17T08:33:00.000-05:00

On Sunday November 11, 2007 I preached the following sermon at the Cathedral. Enjoy--Cathy

I know that my Redeemer lives. It is a beautiful sentence isn’t it? Too bad Job wasn’t actually referring to God. Actually he was referring to a friend, an advocate, someone to represent him to God, for at that moment in time Job was pretty ticked off at God. But for centuries we have heard this line as a loving statement of faith. And I am all for keeping it that way.
I know that my Redeemer lives. I know it, I know it, I know it. Except for those times when I forget. Sometimes we forget.
Job forgot. Paul was worried that the church in Thessalonica would forget. The Sadducess? They forgot. Jesus? He forgot---not for long, just for a moment when he was so scared on the cross.--- But then before the lament was out of his mouth, he remembered. He remembered that His Redeemer lived.
I know that my Redeemer Liveth, that wonderful solo from Handel’s Messiah. Handel knew that his Redeemer lives and he shouted it to the world through his music.
So even though it may not have been the original intent in the book of Job that phrase resonates with us—Job may not have meant it as we meant it, but the statement works, it will warm us when our choirs sing Handel’s Messiah on December 2 right here at the Cathedral. Even the coldest of December nights are warmed when he hear: “My Redeemer Liveth.” Because it is true.

December, it will be here before we know it. Two short weeks ago it was hard to imagine the cold and dark of a Buffalo winter, but now? Now there

has been snow, we have dug out the gloves; the ice scraper is back in the car. The earth is going dormant, the leaves are dying, and the plants are frost bit, but even in the darkest and coldest of nights, we know that spring will come. We just know it.
Everything around us has died, yet we know that spring will come. We know that the earth will live again. The circle of life.
We live each day to its fullest even though we know we will die. We may weep at the grave of family and friends, but we are not hopeless. For we know we will be together at the last day (John 6:40). The relationship we had with the deceased is not over, it is changed. It is this point the Sadducess are having trouble with, so they challenge Jesus with their long tale of marriages and remarriages [as was the Levrite marriage custom] . To whom would the woman be married in the afterlife? The woman,is a child of God, and in the world to come, that’s all that matters. Because, according to Jesus, it is the relationship we know as faith which feeds and fuels all other relationships. As John says in his epistle, God is love. (1 John 4:8) And all other love flows out of that.
Our ability to have relationships-- to be in relationship with each other-- is because of the relationship God has with us.

God the three in one, trinity, is all about relationships, actually the triune God—father son and holy spirit isn’t about relationship. God is relationship.
The creator God made the heavens and the earth and all the interconnections and inter-relatedness of that creation. That vast expanse of interstellar space? We now know that it is vast beyond all our wildest imaginings. It is

exponentially larger than scientists thought. Yet, in all that vastness there is intricate interconnectedness. The effect of a butterfly flapping her wings in Peru can, 3 weeks later, impact the weather patterns in Tibet. This “butterfly effect” is just one of a whole cadre of discoveries science has made regarding the inter-relationship of creation. Can not recycling your newspaper destroy the earth? Single-handedly no, but in conjunction with other seemingly miniscule decisions? Yes. This interconnectedness is relationship. The ultimate form of this interconnectedness is the trinity—for each aspect of the trinity feeds off the other:
This God the Creator and God the Son in relationship is what fuels our faith. That fuel ,that action between God and Son, God and Creation, Son and humanity—that is the Holy Spirit.—

My ability to love you, your ability to love me, our ability to love one another is God Given. It is the relationship which is God, it is Grace. Grace is the stuff of relationships. The love we feel for others is God. God the Father lovingly incarnated as God the son, lovingly at work within us, between us, above us, before us, behind us, below us is God the Holy Spirit.

In today’s Gospel, The Sadducees were trying to trick Jesus and Jesus did what he was very good at—he beat them at their own game. It was easy for Jesus to do for he knew that the Sadducees were focused on this life, the life we know the life which we can taste touch and see. But Jesus is talking about a greater life—the true and eternal life which is not easily

comprehended. The life which requires faith to grasp. The life which is shown to us day in and day out through our loving relationships.
Jesus understood that the relationships we have on earth are precious to us and I don’t think he is saying that we should scrap it all .
The relationship of Three in One—the trinity-- fills our hearts and souls. It is the action of that relationship which gives us the ability to be in relationship with one another.

Jesus isn’t demeaning our loving earthly relationships—not at all—but he is saying that we must always remember that our ability to be in relationship, our ability to love and to nurture is a gift…a gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon us by God, through Jesus Christ.
If we acknowledge the fact, that it is through relationship God is expressed, then so much falls into place:
The irritating co-worker, the annoying driver, the whiny friend, the belligerent 2 yr old, the impatient spouse—all of these people are in relationship with us, and in that relationship God is working. The Sadducees were in relationship with Jesus, just as Job was in relationship with God—and those relationships are a conduit for Grace. All relationships are potential vehicles for God’s Grace. It is up to us, in our human condition to decide whether we will cooperate with God’s grace. When in relationship we can one of two things: we can head toward the life giving light of God or toward the life draining darkness. When we head toward the darkness we deny the flow of God’s grace.

When in darkness we find many false redeemers: power, prestige, drugs, money, and elitism. In Denying God we embrace all the worst aspects of humanity: anger, hatred, abuse, bigotry, the list goes on.
Darkness begets darkness so once in it, finding our way out is hard. We can’t do it alone. We need help. We need a partner. We need another. We need to be in relationship.
The Church, the one in Thessalonica, as well as this one in Buffalo, is all about relationships. A church of one is no church; a church of one is no community. For the church relies on people, people who gather in faith to rejoice in the relationship we know as God. In this world, we need the church. In this world and in this church, we need each other.

Old Testament theologian Walter Brueggemann has a theory about what we, the modern day church needs to be for the world in the 21st century---what he calls a non-anxious presence. To illustrate his point he reminds us of the role a loving adult plays when a child awakens in the middle of the night
from a nightmare. We go to the child take them in our arms and say, do not be afraid, I am here.
That’s being the light in the child’s darkness: I am here. You are here, together we will be ok, because together we are in relationship and that relationship is God’s grace.
How powerful this can be. What if, when we are blind with rage at another we stopped to think, is this God’s grace?

What if when the government made decisions about the war they stopped and thought that every person they harm, Americans or Iraqis or Afghanis has relationships and that in those relationships is God. Each of these people can be vessels for God’s grace. We must cherish that grace, we must realize that they—all of them---are creatures of God.

They are part of the ever flowing grace and love of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, One God.
What, if when we exchanged the Peace with one another we realized—I mean really realized that we, right then and there in that exchange are doing what God has intended: to connect, to relate, to love.

When we stand together, look at each other and say “The Peace of the Lord Be With You” we are also saying, “Do Not Be Afraid, for I know that my Redeemer, Your Redeemer, Our Redeemer, Lives.”

J2A THIS SUNDAY NOVEMBER 18

2007-11-15T10:19:00.000-05:00

We will meet at our regular time, 4:30-6:30. Don't forget to bring something to drink. Also we need a volunteer to bring dessert---any takers?
This week in the group with Cathy, we will discuss confirmation and go over a list of stuff we need to accomplish before confirmation on May 1. We will also set up a rehearsal time for those acolyting at the ordination. See you Sunday!

Ordination!!!!

2007-11-09T18:59:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is true, on December 1, 2007 I will be ordained a transitional deacon. 6 months or so later, I should (God and the People Willing) be ordained a priest. For so long now I have been consciously trying to NOT get excited, as there were hurdles to overcome, committees to meet with etc. But now the invitations are out, the plans are being finalized and it is official: I am VERY excited.
Not being excited reminded me of trying to act very cool when I was younger---you know pretending that nothing was a big deal, taking everything in stride. Well no longer. I am older and I have decided that I can be excited. Now I won't get too excited because that can get annoying really fast, but I will be excited...I am excited. Be excited with me, OK? Several of the youth from St. Paul's have already agreed to help with the service on way or another....I want as many kids and youth there as possible...so mark your calendars for December 1 at 10:30 in the morning, at the Cathedral. Join me, it should be VERY fun!!!!!!!

Relationships

2007-11-08T07:51:00.000-05:00

I am working on the sermon for this Sunday and it is turning out to be about relationships. Especially about the primary relationship--The Relationship--of our life: the Trinity. Now before you stop reading, give me a moment of your time, especially if you are preparing to be confirmed. The Trinity, as we express so regularly, is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But how does this work? How can God be One yet be three? The basic answer is: well it is one of the mysteries of faith. But that is wholly unsatisfactory to inquiring minds. So, you inquiring minded folks, try this on for size:
God so loved the world, that God needed to be with us in flesh and blood, because God knew that we needed to see, hear and touch God in the flesh to really understand. That taking on flesh, that God made in human form, is Jesus. It took Jesus to explain to us that even when he was no longer walking upon the earth he would still be with us, because God is always with us. Being human beings though, we need more assurance than that. We need some proof! So, as Jesus explains in the Gospel of John: In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. John 14:19-20.
What is Jesus talking about here? What does he mean?The Holy Spirit--the Holy Spirit is in me, it is in you, it runs between us, it is relationship. When you and your best friend have an excellent time together, that's the Holy Spirit. When you and your Dad or Mom really connect, that is the Holy Spirit. When we laugh and laugh and laugh together that is the Holy Spirit. The good stuff in life is almost always stuff which happens between two people, or in a group of people, a family, a bunch of friends. The really good stuff in life is experienced in relationship. And relationship---connecting---is God---God as Creator (Father); God as Son (Jesus), God as Holy Spirit (grace). On Sunday when we were working at Friends of the Night People and we were laughing and saying hi to all of the guests and helping them get a hot meal God was there--with every "Hi, how are you?" and every, "Thank you" and "you're welcome" and every smile we were exchanging grace, we were instruments of God's love, we were, through our connecting with one another, expressions of the Holy Trinity, expressions of God as Creator, God as Son and God as Holy Spirit. God is huge, so God needs a variety of ways to get our attention.
See you Sunday!
PS check out www.npr.org and look up StoryCorps on the Morning Edition tab. StoryCorps is all about relationships!

Casualties of War--Children

2007-11-01T07:53:00.000-04:00

I just saw this in this morning's paper. 2 children killed by US or US supported troops. I am sure hundreds if not thousands of children have been killed in Iraq, but we sure don't hear about it. Children are a gift. To kill a child is the worst type of horror. Pray for the children of our world, those in the path of war, those in the grips of disease, those who will wake up today hungry, scared or lonely.

2 children die in US raid in Afghanistan By FISNIK ABRASHI, Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan - A nighttime raid in eastern Afghanistan by U.S. and Afghan troops sparked a gunbattle that killed three people, including two children, and the military said Thursday it is investigating the deaths.

Civilian casualties have incited resentment and demonstrations against U.S. and NATO forces, though officials blame militants who use civilian homes as cover during clashes. President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with Western forces to do all they can to prevent such deaths.

The latest civilian casualties came as U.S. and Afghan troops were raiding a compound suspected of harboring militants belonging to a suicide bombing network. They were fired upon as they approached late Wednesday in Bati Kot district in Nangarhar province, said Maj. Chris Belcher, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition.

After the clash, a militant and two children were found dead inside the compound, Belcher said. A woman and another child were wounded, he said.

"It is regrettable that the civilian lives were put in danger by the militants and our sincere condolences goes to the families of the deceased and wounded," said Belcher, noting the military has launched an investigation.

A policeman also was wounded during the raid, said Ghafoor Khan, a spokesman for provincial police chief. Three other men from the house were detained by U.S. troops, Khan said.

For Parents

2007-10-29T09:16:00.000-04:00

In the latest edition of The Chimes, I have an article outlining church as not just a building, but a destination. Lately I have been reflecting a lot on my own childhood---being raised in the church---and how that history has anchored me through my life. I certainly don't mean that if your children attend church regularly they will end up being clergy or that they won't have problems! But I am very sure that they will have an extra place to call home, an extra place to feel safe, an extra place to grow up. Our youth program is called Journey to Adulthood for a very specific reason---our kids are growing up and it is a journey. A journey toward being an adult. Take a good look at our world, don't we need some stable, thoughtful, peace loving adults? To get them, we must raise them. That's what we are doing at St. Paul's Cathedral--we are raising some good solid people who have a foundation of faith to carry them through the rough times and to feed the joy of the good times.
To this end, if your child, ages 12-15 is interested in confirmation, call Cathy Dempesy at 855-0900 ext. 231 ASAP. Or if you are interested in learning more about opportunities for children and youth, call the same number.

Halloween Thanksgiving and Christmas

2007-10-24T13:29:00.000-04:00

Tis the season for pumpkins and the witch of Endor, turkeys and thanksgivings for our abundant blessings, Christmas trees and watchful anticipation. Although it has felt a lot more like July than October, in just a few days it will be November and that insidious "holiday rush" will be upon us. The church doesn't slow down at all as we try to keep up with all the secularism of these days. We have already had our Halloween Party (with many thanks to Kelly Giordano, Alma Brown, Kara Schwabel and Ellie Bender who made the day a big success) and we are deep into our plans for the Thanksgiving Eve Eucharist, a St. Paul's contingent at the Turkey Trot, my ordination to the transitional diaconate (thanks be to God!), Advent, that wonderfully anxious time as we await the incarnation, and Christmas. These are the times parents can get caught up in buying the latest fad item for their kids, kids can get caught up in the materialism of an "I need" society and everyone can become irritable and ill at ease. Let St. Paul's Cathedral be an oasis for you over the next 8 weeks--find some quiet time at our 12:05 Eucharists, daily Morning Prayer (9 AM), Tuesday-Thursday Evensongs (5:45 PM), Friends of Music concerts, education hours and, of course, Sunday Eucharist. Our doors are open and our arms spread wide in welcome. Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving and with wishes for a holy, peaceful and mysterious Advent I ask you to take a deep breath and let us, your family at St. Paul's Cathedral, Buffalo, welcome you.
Want to join us for the turkey trot? Want to learn more about our weekday services? Interested in confirmation classes for your youth? Would your children like to participate in the Christmas Pageant? Email me at cathy.dempesy@stpaulscathedral.org

The Question About Health Care

2007-10-17T15:13:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, we had an interesting discussion about the S-CHIP controversy. Here's a perspective from the New York Times.

Political Memo
Capitol Feud: A 12-Year-Old Is the Fodder
·
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
Published: October 10, 2007
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 — There have been moments when the fight between Congressional Democrats and President Bush over the State Children’s Health Insurance Program seemed to devolve into a shouting match about who loves children more.
So when Democrats enlisted 12-year-old Graeme Frost, who along with a younger sister relied on the program for treatment of severe brain injuries suffered in a car crash, to give the response to Mr. Bush’s weekly radio address on Sept. 29, Republican opponents quickly accused them of exploiting the boy to score political points.
Then, they wasted little time in going after him to score their own.
In recent days, Graeme and his family have been attacked by conservative bloggers and other critics of the Democrats’ plan to expand the insurance program, known as S-chip. They scrutinized the family’s income and assets — even alleged the counters in their kitchen to be granite — and declared that the Frosts did not seem needy enough for government benefits.
But what on the surface appears to be yet another partisan feud, all the nastier because a child is at the center of it, actually cuts to the most substantive debate around S-chip. Democrats say it is crucially needed to help the working poor — Medicaid already helps the impoverished — but many Republicans say it now helps too many people with the means to help themselves.
The feud also illustrates what can happen when politicians showcase real people to make a point, a popular but often perilous technique. And in this case, the discourse has been anything but polite.
The critics accused Graeme’s father, Halsey, a self-employed woodworker, of choosing not to provide insurance for his family of six, even though he owned his own business. They pointed out that Graeme attends an expensive private school. And they asserted that the family’s home had undergone extensive remodeling, and that its market value could exceed $400,000.
One critic, in an e-mail message to Graeme’s mother, Bonnie, warned: “Lie down with dogs, and expect to get fleas.” As it turns out, the Frosts say, Graeme attends the private school on scholarship. The business that the critics said Mr. Frost owned was dissolved in 1999. The family’s home, in the modest Butchers Hill neighborhood of Baltimore, was bought for $55,000 in 1990 and is now worth about $260,000, according to public records. And, for the record, the Frosts say, their kitchen counters are concrete.
Certainly the Frosts are not destitute. They also own a commercial property, valued at about $160,000, that provides rental income. Mr. Frost works intermittently in woodworking and as a welder, while Mrs. Frost has a part-time job at a firm that provides services to publishers of medical journals. Her job does not provide health coverage.
Under the Maryland child health program, a family of six must earn less than $55,220 a year for children to qualify. The program does not require applicants to list their assets, which do not affect eligibility.
In a telephone interview, the Frosts said they had recently been rejected by three private insurance companies because of pre-existing medical conditions. “We stood up in the first place because S-chip really helped our family and we wanted to help other families,” Mrs. Frost said.
“We work hard, we’re honest, we pay our taxes,” Mr. Frost said, adding, “There are hard-working families that really need affordable health insurance.”
Democrats, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, have risen to the Frosts’ defense, saying they earn about $45,000 a year and are precisely the type of working-poor Americans that the program was intended to help.
Ms. Pelosi on Tuesday said, “I think it’s really a sad statement about how bankrupt some of these people are in their arguments against S-chip that they would attack a 12-year-old boy.”
The House and Senate approved legislation to expand the child health program by $35 billion over five years. President Bush, who proposed a lower increase, vetoed the bill last week. Mr. Bush said the Democrats’ plan was fiscally unsound and would raise taxes; the Democrats say he is willing to spend billions on the Iraq war but not on health care for American children.
Mr. Bush’s plan could force states to tighten eligibility limits, but it seemed likely that the Frost children would still be covered.
Republicans on Capitol Hill, who were gearing up to use Graeme as evidence that Democrats have overexpanded the health program to include families wealthy enough to afford private insurance, have backed off.
An aide to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, expressed relief that his office had not issued a press release criticizing the Frosts.
But Michelle Malkin, one of the bloggers who have strongly criticized the Frosts, insisted Republicans should hold their ground and not pull punches.
“The bottom line here is that this family has considerable assets,” Ms. Malkin wrote in an e-mail message. “Maryland’s S-chip program does not means-test. The refusal to do assets tests on federal health insurance programs is why federal entitlements are exploding and government keeps expanding. If Republicans don’t have the guts to hold the line, they deserve to lose their seats.”
As for accusations that bloggers were unfairly attacking a 12-year-old, Ms. Malkin wrote on her blog, “If you don’t want questions, don’t foist these children onto the public stage.”
Mr. and Mrs. Frost said they were bothered by the assertion that they lacked health coverage by their own choice.
“That is not true at all,” Mrs. Frost said. “Basically all these naysayers need to lay the facts out on the page, and say, ‘How could a family be able to do this?’ S-chip is a stopgap.”

What Else Should We Be Doing?

2007-09-27T21:20:00.000-04:00

What is it that youth want at church? I am asking a number of my kids this question so if you have a response, let me know. Maybe a better way to ask this question is: why do you come to church? If the answer is because your parents say you have to then answer this: what makes it "not so bad?" I want to do more of what you like and less of what is a drag. I also want to try and get some grant money to expand our programming. What DO YOU think would work?

Also, just a quick thought for tonight: I realized, as I sat in one of my classes this week that God is Enough. I worry about money, I worry about peace in the world, I worry about the safety of those I love...but really I needn't worry....for God is Enough. Just a thought.

The Last Jew in Afghanistan

2007-09-22T13:09:00.000-04:00

This AFP article was on Yahoo today. What would it be like to be the only person in Buffalo to worship at the Cathedral? This article was written by by Beatrice Khadige, she writes from Kabul in Afghanistan:

Zebulon Simentov, the last Jew in Afghanistan, is once again marking the Jewish holy day of fasting in solitude, in a deserted synagogue in the capital of a devoutly Islamic nation.

"I have everything I need for the 24 hours of praying and fasting," Simentov tells AFP before the start of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, at sunset on Friday.
Around two decades ago, there were still about 20 Afghan Jewish families living in Kabul, although all were from Herat -- the largest city in northwestern Afghanistan near the border with Iran.
Through the Soviet occupation of the 1980s, the subsequent civil war and the Taliban's 1996-2001 regime, all went to Israel or moved to neighbouring former Soviet republics -- undoing a Jewish presence built up from the seventh century.
Only Simentov has been left behind, becoming by default the guardian of Kabul's empty synagogue.
The room where he receives visitors was once a prayer room for women. On the wall are pictures of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the late ultra-orthodox Lubavitch rabbi, Menahem Scheerson.
Adjoining this room is the bare-walled "small synagogue" for men, where he prefers to pray.
Simentov, approaching 50, dislikes the "big synagogue" across the corridor -- another large and dirty room in which stands only a platform traditionally reserved for the rabbi.
A cupboard built into the wall faces Jerusalem. Its doors are open and it has been stripped of its treasure, a scroll of the Torah.
The precious document was stolen by a Taliban during the rule of the Islamist movement which was driven from government six years ago by a coalition led by the United States.
The man "wanted to sell it, thinking it was valuable," Simentov says in Dari, one of the main languages in Afghanistan. He says he reads Hebrew perfectly but prefers not to speak it.
"Today that Taliban is jailed at Guantanamo Bay and I am waiting for him to be freed so I can ask him to return the Tables of the Law," says Simentov, who wears a Jewish cap called a kippa, but is otherwise dressed like an Afghan.
Simentov is alone. His wife and two children are in Israel, which he says he has not visited since 1998.
"I have been the only Jew in Afghanistan for two years," he says. Ishaq Levin, the synagogue's former guardian, died from illness two years ago aged around 80.
Simentov says it is not easy to practise his religion alone.
But he has obtained special permission from a rabbi in Tashkent, capital of neighbouring Uzbekistan and home to 15,000 Jews, to slaughter his own meat in the kosher way that can normally only be done by a special rabbi.
Otherwise this former carpet salesman appears perfectly integrated into Kabul, where he is well-known by people who live around the synagogue, and warmly greeted when he is outside.
Jews have lived in several regions of Afghanistan and legends abound about their presence.
One says the Pashtuns, one of the main ethnic groups in Afghanistan, descended from a tribe from Israel. Another says the name Afghanistan comes from Afghana, grandson of King Saul -- the first king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel.