“We must obey God rather than men.”

This sentence, spoken by Peter to the Sanhedrin in today’s first reading from Acts, gives us pause and makes us feel proud to be Christians who speak truth to power. We admire Peter’s courage, knowing that he had acted in a cowardly way before Jesus was crucified, and knowing that this was the same Sanhedrin, Jerusalem’s Supreme Court of the time, that could sentence him to death for blasphemy. In fact, they had already put him and some other disciples in prison for preaching “in his name.”

Yet we also remember that there have been many who have used God as the justification for their actions. So with this first reading on the Third Sunday of Easter, we are firmly set down in a conundrum that has perplexed the whole world, probably from the beginning.

Whom do we follow? And how do we know if they are truthful? And how do we know that what they are teaching and preaching is the truth?

Let’s take a look at the very next verses from this chapter of Acts:

33 When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34 But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35 Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

As Christians, we can look back on over 2,000 years of our history. Not many human enterprises last this long…nowhere near this long. So we must acknowledge the work of the Holy Spirit over this time; yes, even during the darkest days of the Inquisition, the subjugation of untold numbers of “unbelievers,” the holy wars fought against other Christians and Muslims and Jews. Somehow, the Holy Spirit has guided the righteous, in spite of the wicked, so that we can agree with Gamaliel that we cannot fight against the teachings of Jesus. God…and good…has always prevailed.

So let us look at the world today. Many religions, sects, causes, parties, and factions are using God as their justification for dubious and even despicable actions. What are we to do? Shouldn’t we oppose them?

Or then, are we to take the words of Gamaliel and “let them go”? Doesn’t that condone evil?

OK, let’s put that aside for a moment and look at today’s Gospel. The disciples were fishing and catching nothing. Jesus tells them where to throw the net. They catch so much they can’t pull the net into the boat. Peter, hearing from John that the person on the shore who told them where to fling their net is the Lord, puts on his clothes and jumps out of the boat and into the water. Peter gets to shore before the boat and greets the disciples, even helping to drag the net ashore.

And then…

They have breakfast and Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Three times he answers yes, the third time, perhaps, with some unease that Jesus asks him three times.

And the Lord’s reply to Peter’s affirmation is to take care of his sheep and feed them.

Now let’s go back to the Sanhedrin and Gamaliel advice. What to do in the face of unquestioning belief and the preaching of this belief to the masses?

I think that today’s Gospel is teaching us how to respond to leaders – or would-be leaders, or factions that ask our allegiance and obedience.

We are told by Luke in the Gospel passage that we may be judged by our actions in following someone. We see the most enthusiastic follower, Peter, who jumps out of the boat to get to Jesus as fast as he can. He is a true believer. And at some times in our lives we are all true believers…to the point of hasty, maybe even foolish actions, like jumping into the Sea of Galilee. We see the evidence of our belief since we are rewarded: honor, position, power, so many fish we can’t ship them. And we all get together and have a feast with the leadership who feeds us.

But the Holy Spirit is teaching us through Gamaliel: Leave them alone. “For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”

But what is the proof of that? The answer is found in Jesus’ command to Peter: Feed my lambs; tend my sheep; feed my sheep. Take care of all of humanity, even those not of the present sheepfold, as Jesus tells us in John 10:16.

Our question then, to any leader, party, faction, group? Are you feeding and tending to all the sheep and the lambs? Or are you selecting just the special ones whom you want to be with? Does the leader, party, faction, or group make breakfast just for a few people, or for the whole world?

Feed the lambs. Tend the sheep. Feed the sheep.

Ye shall know them by their fruits.

Let us pray. Lord, help us today and every day to have the enthusiasm to jump into our own Seas of Galilee and make haste to feed the lambs of the world. Help us to gather the fruit of Jesus and share it with all we meet. In his name, Amen.

The Lord is Risen! Alleluia!

Today we celebrate the anniversary of our Lord’s resurrection; we commemorate the victory of Christ over the bonds of death and joyously proclaim His return to us and to the world so that we, too, can all be renewed, reawakened from our own spiritual slumber, and be raised up into the loving arms of our Father just as Jesus did nearly 2 millennia ago.  And while we remember and give thanks for this auspicious event each and every Sunday, today we open ourselves up to the bewilderment and the overwhelming emotions felt by Mary as she saw the stone moved from the opening of the tomb and, bending down to look in, finding it empty.   And Peter and all the other disciples who looked in to only find burial linens heaped on the floor, and the soudarion, the face cloth, neatly rolled off to the side.  And then the joy and spiritual ecstasy when they see and finally recognize Jesus right there, in front of them, alive!  Oh what elation their hearts must have felt!

Oh it must have been a marvelous and great joy to have Jesus back with them; and we know He is with us here, now, each and every day— not only just in spirit but in the flesh. But have you ever asked yourself why; why did the son of man need to return in flesh?  The return manifested in spirit alone would have rocked the world and brought joy and salvation to the world; so why resurrect the frail flesh only to have it ascend into heaven and be gone once again?  Of course, the prophesies and Jesus Himself foretold this, but WHY?

The answer is surprisingly simple:  while you can destroy the temple, destroy the ark, destroy the tablets and even destroy the written Word of God in the Torah, the Word, this Logos of God, can never die or be destroyed for it is emblazoned on the hearts of the faithful, it lives in the words of our mouth and the actions of our hands.  It is in everything we see around us from the light of the sun, to the fish in the sea.  It can be twisted and beaten, ripped and bathed in the blood of innocents, it can be dragged in the dust of the streets and soaked with the sweat of the oppressed, it can be nailed up, burned by the rays of the sun, stiffened, faded and crumbled back into dust, but it cannot be erased, it cannot be changed, it cannot die.  It is a Living Word of a Living God, a word made into the flesh of the Son of Man, and as the Word made flesh, this flesh cannot be erased or destroyed, for even if it is tangled in the chains of death, it breaks free and is resurrected to live again.

Our God is a Living and Loving God!  The God of our ancestors is not found in statues made of clay or fine metal, He doesn’t reside locked in a shrine or temple; nor does He have a name, for names are static nouns and stagnant adjectives. When Moses asked “who shall I say sent me”, the reply was a VERB, the state of being: “I am”.  How profound, our God exists in time and space, our God moves and can be seen in actions!  He is a creator, a life sustainer, one who moves in our lives but not as pagan gods who played with humans as one plays with dolls or as pawns in some game, but as a parent, a caregiver, as one who gives life, nurtures it and envelops it in love.  Our Creator lives in us and we are alive through Him; He is our parent and we are His children.  We are brought into life by sacrament of living water of baptism.  Living water which flows and bubbles and gurgles, like a great river which runs over barren ground and brings forth new life and new beginnings, it fills the soil with nutrients, it protects the crops from withering and provides for a bountiful harvest. Our God is a creator and His Word is the Word of creation, of truth, of LIFE and of LOVE.

Our Lord, the Son of Man, was the physical embodiment of God’s Word, a living testament to God’s promise to His people, a living example of what God wishes in return for all that we have been given, the light of truth in a world of lies and darkness.  Jesus came to show us how to forgive, so that we may be forgiven, how to love so that we may be loved, how to be faithful so that we might be living examples of the Gospel, the good news, the TRUTH in the Word of God.  Jesus forgave His detractors, His prosecutors, His false judges and His executioners.  In a final act of altruism and faith He willingly gave Himself to be sacrificed as a benevolent example of God’s love for us and desire to for us to be a part of His kingdom.

Jesus died so that we might be spared the pain and suffering brought by arrogance, self-righteousness and ignorance such as the prodigal son had to endure before he opened his eyes to the truth and was able walk the path of humility and repentance and return home to his father’s embrace.  Jesus was resurrected to show the world that our God lives and His Word lives as an eternal flame of truth and a balm of salvation, and even when made manifest in the frailty of mortal flesh, it cannot be dimmed or suppressed or destroyed, not by time, not by man and not even by death!

Yes, today we celebrate Christ’s resurrection from death’s grip, we celebrate His return to us, we celebrate the fulfillment of the scriptures and yes, we even celebrate the renewal God brings us each Sunday and especially on this Sunday in springtime.  But Christ’s resurrection brings more blessings to light than just these.  It bears evidence to our living God’s eternal and unchanging promise.  It reveals His being moved by even the smallest of needs of His creation whether it be a breeze to carry the downy seeds of a dandelion to fertile soil, nectar for a hungry butterfly, dew on the blades of grass to quench the thirst of a lamb or the feeling of a warm embrace for those who mourn the loss of a loved one.  Yes, even the simple needs of His creation move the Living God.  Psalm 91 tells us “He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. [He] will rescue those who love Him, protect those who trust in His name.  When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”

Today we celebrate the Father’s promise of forgiveness, compassion and love which is so beyond our comprehension that His son gave His very own life so that we might see the truth, forgo the suffering of the prodigal son and directly walk path of the faithful straight into the arms of our loving Father and forever LIVE as His beloved children.

Gospel during Procession: Luke 19:28-40

First Reading: Isaiah 50:4-7

Second Reading: Philippians 2:6-11

Gospel: Luke:22:14-23:56

Do you remember your high school or college homecoming? Remember the parade through campus with the homecoming king and queen wearing sashes and riding on the back of a convertible while people are cheering for them? When I listen to the Procession Gospel on Palm Sunday, this image is what comes to mind when I think of Jesus riding on the back of the donkey as he is arriving into Jerusalem. I envision this arrival as more than people laying cloaks down and exclaiming “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord.” It is a parade of fanfare people acknowledging Jesus as king. But there is a difference between these two celebrations. The homecoming king and queen are elected then appointed to represent the homecoming court, while Jesus’ parade occurs before his passion and resurrection. There is also another major significant difference; when homecoming weekend concludes, the man and woman no longer hold the titles of king and queen, YET Jesus’ kingship lives on forever after his death on the cross.

This theme of kingship after the passion and resurrection carries through into the other readings for today. In the Letter to the Philippians, Paul shares that because Jesus was obedient to the point of death by the cross, “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” In the Gospel after the Second Reading, we read that during Jesus’ passion, the scribes and Pharisees take Jesus before Pilate to be condemned, and the reason was because of the issue regarding whether Jesus was the King of the Jews. Pilate even questions Jesus about this: then we later read that Jesus was mocked by having a crown of thorns placed on his head, and the inscription on the cross stated, “Jesus, King of the Jews.” So in one regard, he was acknowledged as king and praised by the people, yet in another regard condemned to death over the issue by others who felt threatened by him. But we know the victory of eternal kingship is his because of his resurrection.

What does this mean for us today at this current time 2000 years later? Just as Paul stated, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” it is important to spread that message to others in our daily lives and the various ministries in which we participate. During Jesus’ passion, Judas betrays him and Peter denies knowing him three times, so the thought for us to examine is whether we are really going to spread the Gospel and tell the world that Jesus is king, or whether we will betray or deny knowing Jesus through our negative actions. What are you going to do???

“Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan

and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days…”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus has just been baptized in the Jordan River by John. Next, he goes into the desert to fast and pray. These are two very visible actions, which all can see. They are meant for public observation. They are symbols of piety and faith.

But then, Jesus goes alone into the desert.

How then do we reconcile the first reading, bringing the first fruits and presenting them publicly in the Temple, with our Lord’s teaching:

“Whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting.” (Mt. 6:16)

And:

“So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.”

And:

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

There is a time for everything under the heaven, we are told, but the time that we spend in Lent should be between us and our Lord. And the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that we are taught to perform are to help us to learn to speak more directly, more honestly with God. It is not just a period of giving something up or performing certain acts, but a time when we can learn to hear the word of God.

And as the Quakers say, the word of God is a still, small voice within…and sometimes we are being spoken to but cannot hear because of the intrusions of the world.

In the second reading, Paul tells us that “the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.” Again, a solitary state of being…us and God. And what do we have to do to be saved and justified? Confess with our mouths and believe with our hearts. Alone, meaning with no one around; and alone, meaning that’s all that’s necessary.

During this Lenten season we can take up the time-honored practices and abstain, give, and pray. These are disciplines that are done in preparation. Practices that resemble an athlete’s muscle-memory exercises to train the body to strive more completely.

But we can also stop, concentrate, focus, and search for that still, small voice within that is the voice of God.

For that is what Lent is about in one sense: teaching us how to be athletes of our Lord, able to bear hardships, pain, trials and tribulations so that we can win the laurel wreath of peace and salvation. For hardships do and will come and our time in the desert of these 40 days will train our souls, our bodies, our minds to persevere even unto death as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Today Lord, help us to train ourselves for your resurrection, that we can experience it with all the joy that your followers knew when they saw the fulfillment of your promise on the Sunday of Easter. Amen.

Reading 1: Joel 2:12-18

Even now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning; Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the LORD, your God.  For gracious and merciful is he, slow to anger, rich in kindness, and relenting in punishment.  Perhaps he will again relent and leave behind him a blessing, Offerings and libations for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!  proclaim a fast, call an assembly; Gather the people, notify the congregation; Assemble the elders, gather the children and the infants at the breast; Let the bridegroom quit his room and the bride her chamber. Between the porch and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep, And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people, and make not your heritage a reproach, with the nations ruling over them!  Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land and took pity on his people.

Reading 2: 2 Corinthians 5:20 – 6:2

Brothers and sisters:  We are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.  We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.  Working together, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you, and on the day of salvation I helped you.

Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus said to his disciples:  “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.  And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.  Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

I recently went to a funeral for the father of a family friend out of respect for our friend, even though I never met the gentleman. He was cremated, and as I am sitting in the pew looking at the urn, I am trying to picture the man through the few stories I heard about him during the eulogy and pastor’s sermon, yet I was also thinking about that there were just ashes in that beautiful wood box, while the memories in those stories lived on. The body became ashes… a box full of charred particles in a form of dust after the gentleman passed away. Thinking about the ashes did not mean I was not listening to the stories about the man. Everything that was shared by the family and pastor spoke to how the gentleman exemplified the word and action of love. He was always helping those in need, even up to the day that his health no longer permitted him to be active. People around him saw that he was loving and helping not because he expected anything in return or wanted to be noticed, but rather merely doing it because it was the right thing to do. This is what the Gospel for today is all about. Jesus instructs his disciples to live and carry out their faith without having to boast about what they are doing, because God already sees the actions. Going to the funeral helped me understand Ash Wednesday a little differently, as it was roughly two weeks away.

When ashes are placed on our forehead by the priest or deacon, the words that are usually said are “Remember that dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” (Coming from Genesis 3:19) Humanity was created out of dust, and just like the father of our family friend, we will become dust regardless of being buried or cremated. Sure, placing ashes in the shape of a cross on our forehead is an outward sign showing others we profess our faith. That might seem in contradiction with what we are instructed by Jesus, but it really is not! That cross is also a reminder for our selves. Certain aspects of our self must die in order to truly follow Jesus. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent; a season of preparation and conversion, and a time when those ashes cause us to think about becoming a better person. Hopefully at the end of those forty days of Lent, it has not been about giving up candy or just praying more because it is Lent, but hopefully become a better person forever.

I recognize areas in which I need to change and grow, and I can only hopefully become more like the father of our family friend through this growth process. When receiving ashes on my forehead, I am going to think about that gentleman who was all about love, instead of it just being a cross on my forehead for others to see that I am beginning my Lenten journey. When you receive those ashes, what will it be about for you? Will it be an outward sign, or a reminder that some aspects of us must die in order to more closely follow Jesus?

“So let us pray… Father, as we embark on our Lenten journey, help us wear our ashes as symbols of desiring to more closely follow your Son.  Through that same Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever;  Amen.”

“Have you been saved?”  “Are you born again?”  “Have you found Jesus?”  “Have you accepted Jesus as your personal savior?”    I think we all have been addressed by such “evangelistic” greetings while we were at work or shopping or even at social gatherings.  I may be alone in this, but I find these phrases to be cliché, disingenuous, annoying and counterproductive.  It is not that I am embarrassed to be a follower of Christ, or to proclaim His Gospel out in the world (after all I do wear a habit as a sign of my faith and God has all but given me a tonsure), it is more that such phrases imply that you do not know Jesus or the good news.  To my ears they are saying “I know Jesus better than you do, let me save you or you will go to hell”.  Now, I know this is a bit crass, but conversations that begin with “Have you…” always seem to progress to stories of how great their church is, how Paul said this or that, how they are helping the lost sinners like homosexuals or how they helped bring some poor family over from a developing nation and let them cut their lawn or work on the church.  And during these “conversations” I often wonder, “where is the good news?  Where is the Gospel of God’s love for everyone, and our call to love each other?”

Jesus asked us to go out to the entire world and spread the good news, teach the Gospel to all people; this is the call to evangelize.  But asking someone if they are “saved”, or “found Jesus”, this seems to miss the point.  The Gospels tell us that God so loved us His children He sent the Son of Man to fulfill the old law, establish a new covenant based on altruism and forgiveness, to preach the truth and then to be sacrificed so that All HUMANITY should be saved.  If the Gospels were a Hallmark card they would read “I love you, I forgive you, all I ask is you do the same to each other as a sign that you love Me too.  Love, your Creator”.

There are many places throughout the Word of God where the faithful to whom the light of the word is given and are blind to it, while those “not chosen” see it as bright as day.   This season of Epiphany exemplifies such realization of the Messiah to the “gentiles” amidst the ignorance of the chosen people.  John so poetically tells us:

“He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:10-14)  What a glorious message, the Son came not for those chosen by race, or by declaration of man nor even lineage (for we are all God’s children), but for all those who open their hearts to the truth and live the Word.  In another example, Luke tells us that Jesus read from Isaiah in His home town synagogue:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”  And said to those present: “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4: 18-19, 21)  Again what great news Jesus shared to those who proclaim to believe in the word, and how said such news fell on deaf ears and whose eyes had been blind to his light.

A few days ago, while shopping at the local big box grocery, a lady came up and inquired about my habit.  She said “I know you are a man of God, please tell me what this means and about your church”.  And so I shared about being a Dominican, about being an Old Catholic, about our church’s foundation being the Gospels, about how we strive to accept everyone and anyone just as Jesus did.  She then asked “what about homosexuals?”  I replied “We are all children of God, EVERYONE is accepted, especially those marginalized by the mainstream.  We do not judge others as that is NOT our job, only God knows what is in a person’s heart and we trust that God will take care of His own.”  She then asked “Do you believe that people who commit suicide go to hell?”  I said “I believe in God’s grace and mercy, He knows what is in the heart of those suffering, those with mental illness, those in the dark depths of depression and pain, He would not forsake one of His own”.  She finally smiled and told me her husband took his own life, she and her son were the ones who found him.  She struggles with a rare neurological condition, she has tried to end it many times, her children are struggling with it all and she feels now that God is calling her to share her trials, her message to help others.  I agreed and encouraged her to find a place, any place and to share her journey and her discoveries not only to help her heal, but to help others find a path to healing and that this is what God wants and this is why she is still here.

A moment of my time to listen, a few words exclaiming the good news to one who really needed it, an acknowledgement of her pain, suffering and stumbles in life with a reassuring it’s ok, that’s a lot for anyone to deal with, followed by the guarantee of God’s grace, forgiveness and love, and rounding it up with a firm “you matter, you have a gift and calling from God and you will make a difference in someone else’s life”.  For me, this is evangelism as Jesus would have it done: to live s Paul says, we are all of one body, no single part is the body, but the body is made of all the parts, and if one part is sick, the body is sick; to heal the part is to heal the whole body.  No body can be complete without all its parts and, therefore, no part is any greater or lesser than the other.  Hence, evangelization is not saying “I am already part of a magnificent body, don’t you think you should join me and be great too”, but, instead the message is “Truly you are valued part of a magnificent and great body, we are blessed by you and hope that you too are blessed by us.  Come; let us rejoice with all other parts so that none may ever be forgotten.”