Category: Sermon

Transfiguration

TRANSFIGURATION:

1. change in appearance: a dramatic change in appearance, especially one that reveals great beauty, spirituality, or magnificence.

As I shake off the dust from the past holiday celebrations, and begin looking forward to Spring, with its promise of freshness and vitality, I find myself thinking of two words: change, and beauty. There is something about that quiet time between the joyful celebrations of Christ’s birth, and His rising from the grave after three days that inspires me to want to clean the cobwebs and clutter from hearth and home and make a change in many areas of my life. When we read the Gospel appointed for today, Mark 9:2-9,  we have an excellent example of those two words: change and beauty:

2After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. 4And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 5Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6(He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 7Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 8Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. Mark 9:2-9 (NIV)

Yes, this passage is ripe with visualization, but when we look beyond the glossy special effects, we also find so much meaning. What resonates with me is one word: “frightened”. Here are pious men, who walk daily with Jesus, and yet in the face of His transfiguration, their first reaction is fear. How many of you, when you meet old friends, have seen this same fear in their eyes when you tell them of how God’s love has transformed your life? Or do you see confusion, or worse apathy?

Not too long ago I was relating to a close friend about my journey of faith, and how I wanted to have a better understanding of God’s purpose for my life. During my monologue, this very masculine male broke down in tears; tears of worry, of fear, as if I had announced that I was embarking on a trek into a hostile land, and with no map to guide me. The more I tried to reassure him that I am, and will continue to be ok, the more his reaction confused me. He was afraid for me, as if my transformation was something bad, but then I realized his fear was coming from a place of uncertainty. He could not know how God’s love changed me, and his lack of knowledge about Jesus’s teachings caused him to be afraid. This was what Peter felt, as he saw the reaction of James and John, when they witnessed Jesus’s transfiguration. They didn’t know why Jesus changed, so they reacted with fear and confusion. Only after they heard God proclaim Jesus as His son, did they understand the situation.

As I continue to learn and grow in my faith, and as I share my journey with others, I find my friends and family reacting in different ways. They react with fear, and also anger, as if by changing I’m not the same person they know and love. But if I can only communicate to them that, yes I am still me, and any change they witness is only positive, never negative. Where once I was lost, wandering along a rocky road of addiction, now my steps land on the solid rock of salvation. Where there lived a person consumed by self-hate, now there is a beautiful creature, marveling at her wings of splendor, ready to take flight when the Master calls her, and ready to fly! Of course here I can speak eloquently of my transformation, my transfiguration, but how to share this with loved ones?

Then, I hear that voice, I hear God whispering in my ear, such as he did to those gentleman who were afraid, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” And I know He will provide me with the words to best communicate my thoughts to those I love, to show them how His love has truly changed me. And in that moment I really understand the beauty of change, and how those two simple words convey so much, and are the key to a happy life. As the old sayings go, “Change is inevitable” and “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Well for me, I am glad to change, despite reactions from others, and it is only in God’s love that I have truly felt beautiful.

The Sixth Sunday of Epiphany – Fr. Seraphim McCune

2 Kings 5:14 (Catholic Public Domain Version):

1 Naaman, the leader of the military of the king of Syria, was a great and honorable man with his lord.  For through him the Lord gave salvation to Syria. And he was a strong and rich man, but a leper. 2 Now robbers had gone out from Syria, and they had led away captive, from the land of Israel, a little girl. And she was in the service of the wife of Naaman. 3 And she said to her lady: “I wish that my lord had been with the prophet who is in Samaria. Certainly, he would have cured him of the leprosy that he has.” 4 And so, Naaman entered to his lord, and he reported to him, saying: “The girl from the land of Israel spoke in such a manner.” 5 And the king of Syria said to him, “Go, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” And when he had set out, he had taken with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand gold coins, and ten changes of fine clothing. 6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words: “When you will receive this letter, know that I have sent to you my servant, Naaman, so that you may heal him of his leprosy.” 7 And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his garments, and he said: “Am I God, so that I could take or give life, or so that this man would send to me to cure a man from his leprosy? Take notice and see that he is seeking occasions against me.” 8 And when Elisha, the man of God, had heard this, specifically, that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent to him, saying: “Why have you torn your garments? Let him come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 Therefore, Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots, and he stood at the door of the house of Elisha. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will receive health, and you will be clean.” 11 And becoming angry, Naaman went away, saying: “I thought that he would have come out to me, and, standing, would have invoked the name of the Lord, his God, and that he would have touched the place of the leprosy with his hand, and so have healed me. 12 Are not the Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, so that I might wash in them and be cleansed?” But then, after he had turned himself away and was leaving with indignation, 13 his servants approached him, and they said to him: “If the prophet had told you, father, to do something great, certainly you ought to have done it. How much more so, now that he has said to you: “Wash, and you will be clean?” ” 14 So he descended and washed in the Jordan seven times, in accord with the word of the man of God. And his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child. And he was made clean.

I am focusing in on this passage because this is the first Bible passage I can remember being read in a Christian church. I was fourteen at the time, but the lesson I have to share today was very much lost on the Mormon teenager I was back then. I’ll get back to the Naaman the Syrian in a minute.

As a Mormon, if you are in church even as little as once a month, you are heavily indoctrinated. There is no searching of the Scriptures to “see if these things are true.” Mormons are, if they know their faith at all, first rate proof texters and eisogetes. And they beat into your head every major point of their distinctives at every turn. Without giving a lesson in counter-cult apologetics here, there is a lot of pride in being one of the ‘chosen few’ who get to go through the secret temple ceremonies, or to be eleveated to the higher ranks of Mormonism’s priesthoods. There is a lot of ceremony and public acknowledgment.

This is how religion in the ancient Near/Middle East was: full of pomp and ceremony and a great deal of public acknowledgment for the one undergoing or commissioning the rite. We see brick on temples in Gilgamesh’s kingdom with the names of sponsors preserved even to today. It is a tradition that has persisted into our time. I have been in Protestant and Catholic Churches alike have stained glass windows or pews with the names of donors emblazoned on them. Mankind cannot resist making pomp for ourselves out of even simple things. We all want recognition. But what does this passage say to us? I posit that this is a decidedly different message that we will extract from this passage.

Naaman is a general, a man who flies in the orbit of the king himself. He has power and is comfortable with it. He is also required to participate in the rites of state, which bring a lot of additional attention to him whether he wants it or not. But even the greatest of us are cursed with mere mortality. We must confront our mortality daily whether we want to or not. Naaman is no different. God has struck him with leprosy. Now we don’t know whether he had Hansen’s Disease or some other skin condition, but in those days any such condition was leprosy and it was believed to be potentially fatal.

What happens? God uses the lowliest. He uses those who will not get in His spotlight, claim any of His glory for themselves. He uses a slave girl who serves Naaman’s wife. Women were very low on the rank structure of most ancient world already, but this slave maiden was the lowest of the low. And she was God’s choice of mouthpiece because no one would give her any credit in the events to follow except for having opened her mouth. “I wish that my lord had been with the prophet who is in Samaria. Certainly, he would have cured him of the leprosy that he has.”

Now in these times, miracles are readily believed in. The peoples of the pagan nations readily and unashamedly paid good money to acquire them. Naaman goes to the king of Assyria and gets permission to go to Samaria to seek the cure he surely wants very badly.

The king not only agrees (who wants to lose friends and valued and talented generals?), but gives out of his own treasury gifts for Naaman to give to his curer: gold, silver, fine clothes – in short everything the fashion conscious and well employed prophet might want or at least enough money to buy copious amounts of whatever he likes. The king wants a piece of this glory, too. It always helps to look like a benefactor to one’s people, after all. Then he gives him a letter to the king of Israel. But when Naaman arrives in Israel, the king rents his clothes and believes himself to be in danger of death!

Now the grapevine might have been a little slower back then, but it was no less healthy. Political news, then as now, was the greatest form of national gossip. The news reached Elisha of what had happened and he sends a letter inviting Naaman to his house. “Let him know that there is a prophet in Israel.” But wait! Isn’t this the same kind of pomp we were just discoursing against? No, Elisha here is humble, too. He does not promote himself, but rather he is promoting his office of prophet as something given by God and that only YHVH of the Hebrews can grant it. It is in Israel, not Assyria, that there is a prophet. He is, in effect giving God the glory.

Naaman comes. No doubt he has figured out that this is the prophet his wife’s slave has spoken of, or at least he has found a prophet who will give him an audience. He arrives and Elisha, who went to the trouble to invite such a dignitary won’t even let him in! How audacious! What a violation of hospitality! Then, not only does he say to stay out, but he tells the leper general to go bathe in the Jordan River seven times to be clean.

What about the sacrifices? What about the gifts? After all, it seems as if Elisha is thinking himself too good for one above his station! Who does this? He is not only deeply insulted, his nationalistic pride has been bruised. Are not the rivers of Assyria better, cleaner, bigger rivers with the gods of his own people living in them? All this effort and dusty travel just to take a bath? What an insult this whole thing must have seemed to Naaman. He was probably thinking of ways to torture and kill that foul little slave girl.

He turns and leaves in disgust. But once again, it was the voice of the lowliest that God used. Naaman’s own slave approached him and asked him what he was thinking. Would not Naaman have done the hardest thing without question had it been commanded? Would he not have bought and slaughtered a thousand bullocks and sheep? Given any amount he could? Crawled on his knees up some mountain to pray? Then why not go take a bath in a nearby river? Why not do the simple thing? After all, what is the worst that could happen? You lose the dust off your skin?

But what did happen? Well we know that his leprosy was cured and he went home clean. But what else happened? Naaman was converted to the Faith. Naaman gave in and set himself, his office, his pomp, his power, his wealth, and his influence aside. He did something very humble. And he obeyed the voice of God.

This is perhaps one of the greatest illustrations in Scripture of the power of faith and humility working together. So powerful was the event that Naaman went back and consulted Elisha about his job, part of which was to help his king into and out of a pagan temple, whose god Naaman no longer worshiped. It is all about God and His power. It is all about being humble, not holding oneself above any other, but rather submitting to God in a way that holds one’s hands out and simply allowing God to put in and take out whatsoever He pleases. If you have an office, remember it is the office, not the person who is important. As a priest, I must remember that while I confect the Holy Eucharist, it is me acting in persona Christi, not me acting in my own person; I have no power in me to do any such thing. Elisha understood that God heals and he was a mere messenger. The slave girl of Naaman’s wife realized her place and while I suspect she would not have chosen it, she used it for God’s glory. In fact, it was the simple words of human concern of a slave girl so lowly as to be unnamed, that brought the conversion and healing of one of the greatest among her people’s enemies and overlords.

If we are humble we may, like we hear in the gospel, hear Jesus say to us, “I am willing. Be cleansed.”

WWJD in a LOL World?

WWJD-What Would Jesus Do

LOL-Laughing Out Loud

What Would Jesus Do?
Lyrics by Steve Wiggins of Big Tent Revival

 Some people just want to survive
And I don’t know about you, but I am alive
Lately it seems that I need a hand
In a fallen world
I just want to stand

What would Jesus do walkin’ in my shoes
Workin’ at my job and goin’ to my school
And I hear people say, “Jesus is the way”
I believe that is why I’m asking you
What would Jesus do?

And as we all know,
Life can be tough
And all that we need is love—sweet love
So where do we go? Well, here’s what I see
To change my world
I gotta change me

     Catchy tune, isn’t it?‼

What would Jesus do, in a LOL world? How many times a day do we use modern technology? Five, ten, twenty or more?  From the time our smart phone alarm chimes in the morning until late in the night, as we crawl in to bed, checking our email for the hundredth time that day, or reading the daily newspaper on our Ipad or Kindle, the modern man or woman can rarely escape  this pervading intrusion into our everyday world.   And even for those few souls who manage to live on a tropical island, or in a hut in the middle of the Amazon rain forest, one can still usually find a Wi-Fi hotspot, Internet Café, or even just an almost obsolete desktop pc, running Windows 98, with a dial-up connection (yes, there are still some of those around). So how best to use this tool?  Or the better question is this, how best to use this tool to spread God’s word?

Of course, in years past, TV evangelism was seen as a very powerful avenue to preach the message of God’s love and salvation. And it was a great success. Witness the rise of Oral Roberts, Jim Baker, Jerry Falwell, and Billy Graham, to name a few. Faithfully following the command set down in Romans 10:17, “So then faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of God”, these gentleman, and ladies, reached out to millions of people worldwide. And through their TV ministries, many people who were lost, or had no faith, were saved and found a renewed spirit in Jesus Christ. This gave those who were unable, or unwilling to attend their local church to feel a sense of community, and to strengthen their faith in God, through daily-suggested bible readings and prayer requests.

But in all this, did anyone stop to think, is there a better way? Shouldn’t everyone attend church, isn’t that what a good Christian does? The better question is this: WWJD? What would Jesus do? More than likely, He would approve the message, but would He approve the delivery method? We would like to think the answer is yes, He would, as stated in Mark 16:15 “And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” No one can argue that is exactly what TV evangelists did, “preach the gospel to every creature.”

Now,  dear readers, we come to modern times, we who are inundated with information overload. Do you often wonder, “How did anyone ever function without their smart phone, Ipad, or netbook?” Would not the world market crash if you forget to check your email like twenty times a day, or would your brain turn to mush if you did not work that Sudoku puzzle on your laptop, when you really should be working? Do you realize that even newborn and very young babies are now being subjected to information overload, whether directly or indirectly through the inattention of their parents?

This is an article, which brings home this point, and hopefully will serve as a wakeup call to a few parents. Yes, we are on a high speed thrill ride (and no, I don’t only mean your internet connection,) and even the author of this blog must admit a certain addiction to her Kindle Fire.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/our-lack-of-focus-requires-attention/story-e6frerdf-1226216788599

So once again, we ask ourselves, WWJD? In a world where information is at your fingertips, your children, who should be listening attentively in class or playing on the playground, are now  texting their friends the answers to that day’s quiz, how would Jesus use this technology to spread his word? Where once He trod on weary feet, now would He be as nimble to type on a tablet, or even an Iphone keyboard? Would He embrace instant messaging, as readily as He once carried a staff in times long past? Or would He feel a sense of disconnect from his people, and be bemoaning the usefulness of living in the information age. Just as in biblical times, we would like to think He would,  once again, be as radical in his ministry, and as the saying goes, “Do His own thing.”

Yes! Yes, that is exactly what Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, has done and is continuing to do. We have progressed from TV evangelism to online ministry, reaching millions of people with just one website, or blog posting. There is no denying the power of the internet.  Have not we all  at one time tuned in to YouTube, to catch a funny video that went viral in an instant? Now we see this same power at work in God’s people, utilizing Facebook, Twitter, WordPress, etc., to once again “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15). Through texting, email, blogs, Facebook, and the latest Android app, the Word is being spread, and for those who are lost, or of little faith, a new life in Jesus Christ is now close at hand.

Now, you naysayers are going to ask, where is the sense of community? Or doesn’t the bible say, “For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them”? (Matthew 18:20) For some, this would literally mean that one isn’t a true Christian, or faithful to the commandments set down by God, unless they are worshipping in a Church, a physical building. But did not Jesus preach, and speak to His people, wherever they were, be it house, synagogue, palace, or outside under a tree? This is exactly what God’s people are doing today, utilizing the internet to spread the message of salvation, fostering a sense of community, and praising God in many ways, and to millions of people who previously may never have known His blessings.

So in this author’s humble opinion, WWJD in a LOL World? He would do what He has always done, spread the message of love and salvation, and let the Holy Spirit, via the internet, guide his children home.

Abiding in Him

The Song of Simeon ~ Nunc Dimittis

“Lord, you now have set your servant free
to go in peace as you have promised;
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior,
whom you have prepared for all the world to see:
A Light to enlighten the nations,
and the glory of your people Israel. “- Luke 2:29-32

A single match lighted in a dark room can reveal much; the Light of Christ, which dwells within us, can reveal characteristics and habits we need to change, with God’s help, and transform us in ways unimaginable so that we may do our Father’s will in everything we put ourselves into. The first step to this transformation is total surrender to Christ. That is, surrendering our will and giving all our cares, worries, fears, anxieties, doubts, and feelings of unworthiness to Christ. This is also, probably, the hardest. Often, I will be made aware of a particular fear or doubt standing in my way of serving the Lord with EVERYTHING I have. I pray about it, surrender and lay it at the Lord’s feet, and then find myself later stressing over that which I had earlier given to Christ! Upon realizing this, I, once again, with fervent prayers, give those concerns back to Jesus. I can admit, for me, it isn’t easy to ‘Give it to God’ and just leave whatever IT is in His Hands.

Psalm 55, in verse 22, assures us that if we cast our cares on the Lord, He will sustain us and he never allow the righteous to fall. This doesn’t mean, when relying 100% on the Lord to sustain us, that we will never FAIL, that is to say, pick up again what we’ve given to God. Sometimes, we even find comfort, as bizarre as it sounds, in our fears, worries, and deep-seated anxieties. Some of us would worry about not worrying!

Simeon, when giving his song in the Gospel of Saint Luke, says something very telling: “… to go in peace as you have promised; for these eyes of mine have seen the Savior…” I believe that we, too, can have that peace the Bible tells us, in Philippians 4:7, which exceeds anything we can understand. However, there are conditions placed on obtaining this peace, if we just look a verse before, Philippians 4:6, tells us what we must do… that step one: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” (NLT) So we see that it is required that we give up our fears and worries and let the Lord handle them for us, then we are told, in verse 7, that His peace will guard our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus.

These verses hold the keys to living a happy life and disposition unaffected by all that the enemy sends our way. To KEEP the peace of God, to have our hearts and minds guarded, we must abide in Christ Jesus. We must make known through prayer our cares to Him and then with an attitude of THANKSGIVING, praise Him for taking the yoke of oppression from off of us. Praying, Praising, Thanking, and Abiding.

If you are living a life filled with stress – when you lie down, they are there and when you rise in the morning, they greet you – I invite you, as we celebrate and contemplate the Presentation of Our Lord – the Light to Enlighten, as Simeon titled Him – to ask yourself if you are allowing the Light of Christ to present to your heart and mind that peace we cannot begin to grasp. And if you are allowing it, but still find yourself utterly miserable with the stressors of your life, then ask yourself where are you failing, that is where are you taking back what you have given the Lord? Are you talking to God as a friend, a best friend, who cares for you and wants your life to be fruit-filled and happy? God put on my heart and continues to remind me that He wants a relationship with us. Yes, we should participate in corporate worship at church, but we must remember that when we leave the church building God is still right there with us. When the bills are piling up, or we have a case of the ‘Mondays,’ or strife just seems too much for us to bear, our God is still RIGHT THERE, with us. He is waiting for us to present to Him all that we are and all that we have, both what we believe to be our assets and those shadows that steal our peace.

If we, as the children of God Almighty, cannot find peace, then how are we to show hope to those who are lost? If God’s adopted sons and daughters cannot achieve happiness, then who can? When you think logically about it, it is obvious that we are meant to be filled with joy, full of peace. What sense does it make for God to send His Son to die in our place, to pay the price in full for our sins, to redeem all who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior yet still live downtrodden, in fear, and full of doubt? Certainly we should look forward to the life of the world to come, but what about now? In the meantime I highly doubt that God wants to see us suffer in mind and hurt in heart. Only when living a joyous and peace-filled life can we make those we meet, who are lost, want to have what we have and wonder how we got it.

And when asked, we can tell them the GOOD NEWS: It’s free, it’s amazing, it’s Christ living in us, presenting Himself through us.

So I invite you to ponder what it meant to the Holy Family, to Simeon, to Anna, to anyone else in the temple that day being told of or overhearing about this child being presented there. And then go a step further and prayerfully ask Christ to shine His revealing light in you, so that you may see that which needs to be laid aside? What does the Light of Christ reveal that we need to present to Him, to lie at His feet, so that He may take it from us and give us His yoke in exchange? What can we lay at His feet with prayers and thank our Father for the purification going on within us, so that we may receive that unfathomable peace and use it to live the life God wants for us and to serve our Him, filled with the Holy Spirit and unfettered by the bondage the enemy? God wills it for us: for me and for you, let us show ourselves to Him and present all we are – good, bad, and terrible, rest in His presence – praising Him with thanks, and let God do the worrying for us! Amen? Amen.

Words

They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching–with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. Mark 1:21-28 (NKJV)

I love words. I am addicted to words. Words are such an important part of life. We are flooded with words – words from the radio, from the TV, from the phone, from fellow workers, from sales people, from neighbors, from noisy children. We are surrounded by words on paper, on the screens of computers and mobile phones, on billboards, pinup boards, signposts and screens. You think about it. There aren’t too many of our waking hours when we aren’t surrounded by words.

And words have power. I was reminded of this yesterday. One of my favorite “downtime” activities is to play “Words With Friends” on Facebook. Brother Joshua and I were playing yesterday morning, and he made the word, “cry,” and scored 12 points. I was ever so glad that he did, because I really needed that “Y” he used. I played “joy” on top of his “cry” and scored 14 points, then made the observation that “joy” tops “cry,” and stated that there was a sermon right there in front of us. How funny that that little episode has led to this sermon!

Today we focus our attention on the words Jesus used to fight a battle as he engaged the power of evil. The scene of this battle between Jesus and evil was in a synagogue. The time was a quiet Sabbath about 2000 years ago. The place was a sleepy little backwoods town tucked away on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had been teaching in the synagogue in words that were straight and direct and loaded with power. Those who listened were amazed because it seemed as if God was talking directly to them through this man’s words. As they were listening intently, all quiet as the teacher spoke to them, a wild man, tormented by an evil spirit, burst into the synagogue and screamed at the top of his voice, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know who you are – you are God’s holy messenger. Have you come to destroy us?”

Who was this man? We have no clue, but I can imagine his anguish, his loneliness, living on the outskirts of the town, rejected and feared by everyone, made fun of by many, and shunned by all.

To the man’s question, or the unclean spirit’s question, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know you are – you are God’s holy messenger. Have you come to destroy us?”

Jesus responded with a resounding “Yes!” With authority, in a no nonsense voice, Jesus spoke the words, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!”

And with a shrill agonizing cry the evil spirit came out of the man, shaking and contorting him violently. This loud scream must have reverberated throughout the synagogue, echoed around the assembly, and the worshippers must have shrunk back in fear at the sight and the sounds of witnessing such a struggle.

Then, silence. I would imagine that the congregation stood in shocked and amazed stupefaction for a few moments, and the man who had had the demon sat or stood where he was, trying to catch his breath, trying to understand what had just happened, and enjoying a calmness, a silence, a peace, that he had not known before.
All too soon I imagine the silence was broken by the amazed cries, the clapping and cheering of the crowd, as they celebrated and talked about what Jesus had done in front of them. The words they spoke to each other, questioning what they had just seen and heard, must have been spoken quickly, with a sense of wonder: “He said….” or “With just a few words…” or “Did you see? Did you hear???”

“Just a few words….” Mark relates to us that with just his word – God’s Word – Jesus has power and authority over evil in this world. He has power over the forces which seek to cripple, distort and destroy human life. A simple word from Jesus can destroy this evil. Jesus is the conqueror over all the evil that paralyzes human life and makes us less than what God has created us to be.

The words of Jesus Christ: we read them, we gather in our churches to hear them, we listen to the words of a Savior who came to free us from the power of all evil that tries to overwhelm us. The words of Christ are as powerful today against evil as they were that day 2000 years ago in the synagogue. Whenever evil seeks to distort and destroy our lives, the words of Christ have power to free us.

So when evil whispers in your ear, “It’s no use, you can’t do it, give up!” we turn to the words of Scripture, and there we hear the words of St. Paul thunder in our ears, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”(Phil 4:13).

When evil whispers in your ear, “You’re alone, there’s no one who cares for you, and no one who will stand by you”, Christ’s words assures us, “I will be with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mathew 28:20).
When evil whispers in your ear, “You’re a failure, no one can possibly love a person like you”, the word of the Lord gives us the strength to carry on. “Your sins are forgiven,” (Luke 5:20), we are told. “The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end” (Isaiah 54:10).

When evil whispers in your ear, “There is no hope and no help or comfort in the face of sickness and grief, a word comes from Christ, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and they know me.” “I will never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15).

When evil whispers in your ear, “You’re going to die and that will be end of you” and terror strikes your heart, Jesus comes with a word, “Don’t be worried and upset. Trust me. I have gone to prepare a place for you,” (John 14:1-4). “All those who live and believe in me will never die,” (John 11:26).

When evil whispers in your ear, “Why bother with the church? You don’t need them; they don’t need you.” Jesus says with authority, “If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget himself, take up his cross every day, and follow me,” (Luke 9:23). In other words, being a disciple is not easy; it’s not about being comfortable, but about giving yourself for the sake of everyone else, just like Jesus did.

When evil whispers in your ear, “There is no point in praying, don’t waste your time. You have better things to do.” The word of the Lord comes to us with authority, “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I will listen,” (Jer. 29:12).

When Jesus spoke that day in the synagogue, the demons fled. When words from God are spoken with power and authority into the everyday circumstances of our lives things happen – sins are forgiven, strength is given to resist temptation, comfort and assurance are given in times of grief, hope and patience and strength are given to see our way through an illness or accident. When Jesus speaks, things happen.

We learn in 1st John 1 that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.” There is a word… Jesus Christ is the word that comes into our lives and defeats the powers of darkness that distort our lives. He can turn back the tide of evil that comes against us.

So when trouble comes into our lives, and we reach the point when we don’t know where to turn, or how we will survive this crisis, or how to deal with all that stress, we cling to the strong word of Christ. It has power and authority. It supports and holds us up through the worst situations. HE has the power. HE has the authority. HE has the strength. Listen with a renewed freshness to the powerful words of Jesus, listen to His voice, and like the people in the synagogue, we too will be amazed. And we, too will know, that “cry is topped by joy.” Amen.

By This They Will Know

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for it is they who will be recognized as sons of God.” – Matthew 5:9 (Weymouth New Testament)

On January the 25th, the WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY began, and here we are as Christians, nearly 2,000 years after Christ gave the Beatitudes to His early followers in the Sermon on the Mount… and as I write this, I wonder:  If I were put on trial today for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me?  Or you?  Would we be convicted not only by our words, but by our actions?  Are we making peace with our neighbors, with the world, with our fellow Christians?  Around 197 A.D., Tertullian, who has been billed by many as “The Founder of Western Theology”, wrote in his Apologeticus, his work defending Christianity and asking Emperor Septimius Severus to allow Christianity to be treated as a legal religion, just as any other sect that existed within the empire at that time.  The Emperor knew nothing of Christianity, except that he wanted it done away with, and so Tertullian took it upon himself to explain, that is to Apologize, Christianity to Septimius Severus and the other magistrates of Rome.  To me, the most fascinating and telling lines Tertullian wrote are:  “But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another… how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death.”

Sadly, in today’s world, we live in a time when people outside the church are certainly not saying of Christians “See how they LOVE each other!”  Sadder still, and more apparent than our lack of love for one another in the Church, are our extreme divisions.  Of the Church today, we’re more likely to hear “Can’t they AGREE on ANYTHING?!” It is difficult enough to be a Christian in today’s times with the influence of so many anti-Christian “role-models”- companies, music, books, websites, ad infinitum, infecting and influencing the minds of so many to turn from God and to run toward what is considered “cool” by so many, that the fact that there are those who claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and who demonstrate such a lack of love and support for their brothers and sisters that it is truly disheartening.  And, sadder still, there are so many fractures and total breaks within the Body of Christ – His Church Universal – that many multi-denominational gatherings, Facebook pages, blogs, magazines and other media do their best to focus on all the differences between their denomination and the denominations of their brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.  Until recently, I was a member of a particular group on Facebook promoting unity between Catholics and Protestants – however, instead of anyone posting anything celebrating what we hold in common and trying to bring about that unity, nearly every post was an argument, Protestants saying “the problem with Catholics is…” or Catholics saying “the problem with Protestants is…”   WHERE IS THE UNITY?!  WHERE ARE THE PEACEMAKERS?!  Can we say, honestly, of ourselves and the Church as a whole, that we can be recognized as– instantly known to be – sons and daughters of God Almighty?

In John 17, verses 20-24 (NIV) “20My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” – Christ Jesus prays that we be one.  This is God’s desire for his Body, of which Christ Jesus is the Head.  When the Lord looks down upon His people, His Church – he doesn’t want to see dissention, argument and down-right hatred amongst the sheep of His flock.  Can you imagine how sad this makes Our Savior?  He came to set the captives free; and now, many of us have put ourselves in chains of our own making with all of this quarrelling with our brethren.

It is time, not just during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, but now and evermore for us to put aside our differences and focus on the fact that we all seek to serve the same GOD: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Yes, we may choose to serve and worship in varied and sometimes drastically different ways, but that should not prevent us from, asSaint Paulsays in Philippians 2:2, “…being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

Let us remember that our Savior told us “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34,35 (NIV) Let us notice that it is a COMMAND He gives us, not a suggestion or a wish… it is an order from our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Let us also agree on this, that we are indeed, as Christians, children of the SAME GOD, who should be striving to the SAME purpose:  serving one another, out of love, to glorify the Lord… the rest are, for the most part, our ego-driven, however well meant, differences.  It’s time we lay aside the differences, at least in our minds and in our concerns with one another, and focus on the LOVE OF GOD dwelling within us and flowing THROUGH US, so perhaps, once again, we can be RECOGNIZED as God’s children by our LOVE and desire to MAKE PEACE.   Amen?  Amen!

Going Fishing

The Gospel According to Mark:

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”  As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea–for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”   And immediately they left their nets and followed him.  As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending their nets.  Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.  Mark 1:14-20 (NKJV)

The sun was just coming up and the fog was floating gently over the shore and the sea.  It was early in the morning. Few people were out and about at that hour, and the only people really active that early in the morning were the bone-tired fishermen who were just finishing another hard night of fishing on the Sea of Galilee. In one boat, two brothers stand while they cast their nets into the sea and drag them back into the boat, hoping to catch a few more fish to send to market. In another boat nearby, two brothers from a different family sit while they mend their nets, preparing them for the next night of fishing, in the hope that tomorrow night’s haul will be just a little bit better.

Their long night of work coming to an end, all the men are anxious to get their catch to market and then go home to get some badly needed rest. But, as they finish their morning chores that morning, a man walks along the shore, just coming into view through the fog.  He speaks:  “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” They drop their nets, and follow.  He calls out to the men in the boats, and again says, “Follow me.”    They, too, drop their nets, and follow…

Simon, Andrew, James, and John dropped what they were doing, left the life they knew and perhaps loved, to follow Jesus.   Isn’t that what we, as Dominicans, as Christians, are called to do?  What a life-changing experience!  The first four disciples stepped out in faith, not really knowing what they were doing or where they were going, to live their lives in a new way, no longer as fishermen, but fishers of men.  Were they ready for that?  No.  When Jesus called them, he used the future tense:  I WILL make you fishers of men.  Like us when we first become Christians, or Dominicans for that matter, we are not always ready for the tasks that God has set before us.

The fishermen of that time were poor, uneducated, common laborers, and not very high on the social ladder.  Yet Jesus chose them to do great things.  They weren’t ready to be great preachers, great writers, or great churchmen, but God is not bound by who we are.  Jesus looked beyond what and who they were to what they would become. The important principle at work here is that those whom Christ has called He enables and empowers to perform the task to which they have been assigned. Jesus did not simply command His disciples to become fishers of men but he promised to MAKE them fishers of men.  As Saint Basil has taught us, it is “not what thou art, now what thou hast been, but what thou wouldst be.”

So how do we get to that point?  How do we get to the place where we are ready to become “fishers of men?”  And how do we know when we’re ready?  Like James and John, we must mend our nets, and prepare ourselves to be fishers of men.  Most of us never feel that we’re ready enough, or good enough, to consider ourselves ready to be fishers of men, but our father, Saint Dominic, laid down in his rule how to continually prepare for that role by way of two of the four pillars of the Dominican Charism:  those of prayer and study.  In Saint Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he teaches us that we are to “pray without ceasing.” (1Thessalonians 5:1).  Prayer is communion with God. Those who know God best are those who spend quality time in God’s presence. These are people who know the secrets and the heartbeat of God. It is not possible to know God when we are occasional visitors into God’s presence. It is not possible to know God if we are the type of Christian who just pops in to God’s presence to say “hi” and “goodbye”. We cannot get to know God if we are the type of Christians who treat God as “fire extinguisher”- who just run to God to put out our fires and solve our problems. God reveals Himself to those who really care; to those who are willing to the pay the price of separating themselves often and long from their workaday world in order to seek Him. “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12-13 (NIV)

Further, through our studies, we learn how to live as Christians, and how God might work through, and be seen in, us.  The Psalmist declared, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” Psalm 119:11 (NIV). He understood the importance of studying and knowing God’s word so that he could live according to God’s will and perfect plan. God has revealed Himself to us through the Bible, and calls us to read and know ALL that He has said.   In 1 Timothy 3:14-17, Paul emphasizes to Timothy the importance of staying the course, continuing in what he knows, believes and lives, for it is God alone who provided divine revelation to the writers of the scriptures and the teachers in which Timothy followed. True learning comes from God’s perfect word, the Bible, and must not be abandoned nor seldom looked into; it provides guidance and encouragement regarding eternal life and, more importantly, offers a glimpse to the reader of the magnificence and majesty of God.

Finally, that people may see a difference in our lives, and in order to cast our nets and to start “fishing for men,” we should reflect such a joy and hope in our lives that others will ask about it, opening the door for us to share the Gospel.  Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Christianity, our faith and our witness, is defined in the eyes of the world by our actions, our attitudes, what we say, and how we say it, as well as the good works that we do.

And so I ask you, are your nets mended?  Have you prepared yourself to be a fisher of men?  What must YOU do in order to simply the call to “Follow me.”?  Let us all continue to prepare ourselves that we may ever cast our nets for our Lord.  Amen.