Category: Sermon

The Holy Eucharist, an On-going Romance by Fr. Seraphim McCune

I have many friends, Catholic and Protestant alike, who wonder why I am so enamored by my belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I am constantly promoting it without reservation (if you’ll pardon my pun). But why? In our day and age increasing numbers of Catholics, Orthodox, and other sacramental Christians are questioning this doctrine – a doctrine that was never questioned until the beginnings of the Radical Reformation. I went the other direction. From a mocking unbelief to utter belief.

It all started in the late 1990’s. I had been raised as a Mormon (a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). The Mormon church denies anything like the sacramental understanding of the Holy Eucharist of historic Christianity.  Like many Protestants, most Mormons mock the Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. I was no different. I looked down over my nose at those ignorant and superstitious Catholics.

In the early 1990’s I converted to Christianity in its Pentecostal variety. Pentecostals generally have no use for sacramental theology, either. Not much changed for me there. Then I began to attend a Seventh-day  Adventist church. Adventists are generally nice people and sincere in their faith, but for them anything whatsoever that they associate with Catholicism is utterly anathema, from the anti-christ. The “wafer god” of Catholicism is not just mocked, but derided as a satanic counterfeit. In short, everything in my Christian experience set me up for just this sort of future.

Back to the late 1990’s. It was November, 1998. I was working grave yard shift in an auto parts supplier factory in northeastern Michigan. We were working 7 day weeks with only an occasional and rare day off. One of those nights I sat up listening to the radio as my wife slept in the next room. I decided that I would find one of those good Christian stations on the AM dial that came in after dark. I stumbled on this pious sounding preacher man and stopped to listen. It was not long before he had started preaching on the rosary and the Blesséd Virgin Mary. That angered me. I believed that not only was veneration of the Saints a violation of the First Commandment, but that the Virgin Mary had absolutely no contact with this sinful world and would roll over in her grave if she could see the “worship” all those awful Catholics were rendering her!

I determined right then and there that I was going to start doing my homework, deeply researching Roman Catholicism’s unique claims and I was going to write the tell-all, end-all refutation of Roman Catholicism. But God had other ideas.

      • I was at that same time very interested in the “Celtic Church” (which I mistakenly believed to be a proto-Protestant body). I decided that they were, if I interpreted Thomas Cahill correctly, the precise model that I would offer the reader as a counter-Catholic model from the ancient Church. I had started my interest in the Celtic Church after reading Cahill’s How the Irish Saved Civilization. That had happened about the same time as I had noticed that Protestant churches that had competing claims were always saying that they did things “just like the Apostles did it.”

      •  It was all a big, potent, and very Providentially timed mix. As I said, I had my ideas, but God had His. And they weren’t the same.

      •  As I began to study Roman Catholicism, I read the Catechism of the Catholic Church and kept saying to myself, “They’re right! Oh my gosh, I did not know that!” and lots of similar things. About the same time I began to understand the Roman view of the Eucharist, I also noticed that the pre-Roman Celtic view, as well as that of the Orthodox, the Copts, and other branches of the Christian Faith were all saying the same thing about the Eucharist: Christ is Really Present in the Blesséd Sacrament. I was cornered by the evidence to agree with what I had set out to refute.

      •  It led me to seek out a Celtic church that would have me as a priest. I approached several bodies. Then, a short time later, I discovered the Independent Catholic Movement. I found a body, Friends Catholic Communion, one of whose bishops would take me on as a candidate for Holy Orders. The more I studied, the more I came to love St. John’s Gospel, chapter 6, where Jesus gives His “Great Eucharistic Discourse.” In time I would discover a book on the Real Presence given at the English College in Rome in the Nineteenth Century by an archbishop who was a Protestant convert himself.

      •  In time I would experience three Eucharistic miracles. At the request of Father General Myke Beckett, I am sharing them with you. Please share them with others who you believe will benefit from them or who will at least be respectful of our belief in the Real Presence. If you are so lead by the Holy Spirit, share it with the disdainful. It may be a seed of faith for them, or else water a seed already planted.

      •  First: I was in my apartment in Beaverton, Oregon, just outside Portland. I was saying mass for a small house church we had started. One of our regulars had brought a guest. I counted out just enough hosts for everyone present to receive. The guest declined to receive and when I went to put away the one left over Host, there were two! The extra one was carefully placed in my mass kit as a precious relic of the Faith.

      • The second time: We had been homeless in Bryan, Texas. I had gotten work and with some help we got into a trailer house of our own. I celebrated a mass of thanksgiving the first Sunday in our new home. Again, I counted out just enough hosts for those present (just my family this time). When I went to put the paten away after communing my last child, there was one Host left again! This extra Host was added to the last one. (Eventually, I built two monstrances by hand for them and one was gifted to the Augustinian order I would briefly join as a oblate member.)

      •  The third time was a much more precious story. After getting to Texas, God began to start teaching me about the real meaning of Divine Providence, that is, the care He has for His creation in all things. It was an hard lesson to learn. Part of that lesson was that God does everything He does for multiple reasons. After four and an half years of being either on time or early with our rent, we were cornered into seeking legal help against a property manager who was abusing the lease. In the end it cost us because a vengeful land lord told us we would be able to renew the lease only to be told just days before it came to an end that we would not be allowed to do so.

      •  I fled from Bryan to Austin, Texas to look for new work and housing. Work was easy, but I knew I faced homelessness again. I lived with my best friend in my van for about a month as we prepared to bring my family to Austin. One night as I sat in the van in a grocery store  parking lot eating canned chow mein I realized that we were low on gas. My friend, John, knew where I could get a voucher, but to be there in time (they only took the first fifty people needing help) we’d have to be there at 4:30 in the morning. We decided to sleep in the church parking lot that night. I went to start the van and the starter gave the most horrible grinding noise I have ever heard from a car. I was terrified that my van had just died and I was about to be out of a job.

      •  About an hour later, I got the guts up to try again and the engine turned over just fine. I pulled out with a huge sigh of relief. There was micro-SUV coming at us that I wanted to beat to that left-turn lane (because it was a short green with a very long red after it at the light). I looked back in my rear-view mirror. Mom, Dad, and two car-seated small children. I commented how little tiny plastic SUV’s should be illegal because they are so dangerous in accidents. When I looked up, the light turned green. I pulled out. As I look to my left, there are two headlights coming at me at a tremendous speed – well above the speed limit. I rammed the gas and turned to deflect as much of the impact as possible and told John to “hold on! We’re about to get hit!”

      • I found myself in a chapel with no doors and no windows. The place was candle lit, but did not need the light. There were flowers in the vases at the front, but they were fully alive. In the center of the altar at the front was a monstrance. The host glowed with a light far above the noon-day sun, but not blindingly. There was no awareness of anything beyond this room. I was barely aware of the room as I contemplated the Eucharistic Lord in the monstrance. I began to sing Tantum Ergo in Latin with deep devotion. Then, as my custom usually is, I began to sing it in English. Then the Voice said to me, “Stop. You can’t sing that now.” I began to form the question, “But why?” but before it even formed in my mind the Voice answered me like Isaiah promised (i.e. “Before you call, I will answer”), “You have to go back.”

      •  I suddenly was aware once more of my family, my earthly life, all those things I had “left behind” in coming to this place. I began to cry. I did not want to go back. This place was so beautiful, so peaceful, so desirable. I so did not want to go back! Then the Voice spoke again, “Your family still needs you. They’re not done with you yet. You need to go back.” I knew that this was not an option, and yet there was no violation of my free will. I really don’t understand that, but I just know that it was. “You need to go back,” the Voice said one more time. I acquiesced that my family needed me and that I had to go back.

      •  When I woke up a cop was looking at me and asking, “Are you okay?” Blood was all over my face and chest, but I walked from the accident. I had been hit by a drunk who had hit me at 55+ miles per hour. My 3,300 pound all metal full-sized van had absorbed the impact. When I looked back at the micro-SUV that I was in such a hurry to get in front of, I realized that had I gotten behind them, I would be witnessing the death of the child and probably Dad who was driving. They would at the very least be cut out with the ‘jaws of life.’ God never does anything for a single reason – of that I am sure. God knew that confronted with Him asking me to take the place of that micro-SUV, I would have done it, so He simply put me up front. God compensated me with a personal audience – a visit to Him I could never have dreamed of.

      •  Two days later, as John and I surveyed the damage in the tow yard, we realized that we had totally forgotten about the container of pres-Sanctified Gifts that we had with us. John said, so poignantly, “Jesus was with us in the accident. I have been in a car wreck with Jesus!”

      • And so it was. That day, I went from believing ardently in the Real Presence, to knowing the reality of it. For me, this is no longer a matter of faith. It is not “the evidence of things not seen,” as the writer of Hebrews says.  It is clear and present knowledge for me. When Jesus said, “I will neither leave you nor forsake you,” He meant so much more than we know. “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age,” is no simple platitude. He really meant it.

Am I Good Enough?

Last Sunday, I was received into the Rerformed Catholic Church.  Am I good enough? Here recently I keep asking myself that question more and more. Am I good enough to claim the title, Child of God? Honestly, I am so not worthy, and I find myself questioning Him, (I know, I know, I shouldn’t), as to the reasons He chose me to go forth, and spread word of His grace and love. Surely God, I query, they are others more devout, more spiritual, more willing to do good works?  Oh it’s not that I don’t want to be a worthy vessel of God’s love, but some days I struggle with that big question: WHY? As I look around me at the works of others more spiritual than myself, I just cannot believe my beloved Father, has in His tender mercies, chose me to be a Sister, in the Dominican Order. My fellow Brothers and dear Father Myke Beckett are obvious choices. But ME, nope just could never imagine God’s reasons, then I read the scripture for today, and there is my answer.

Ephesians 2:1-10
2:1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins
2:2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.
2:3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.
2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us
2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–
2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
2:7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God–
2:9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
2:10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Now let us examine this line by line. 2:1 You were dead through the trespasses and sins
2:2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, Don’t know about you, but my trespasses and sins would make one blush, yet He set my feet on a different course, despite my past. And He will you, all ya gotta do is ask. Honestly, its that easy.

2:3 All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. “Like everyone else” I like that because it shows me that despite my past, or your past, God does understand. He gets it, knows we are all human and have made mistakes in the past. Though our sins may be different, it really doesn’t matter now. As long as we acknowledge our past, and ask for His forgiveness.

2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us
2:5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved—Hmmmm, seems pretty self explanatory here. But let’s explore it further, Not only is God showing us mercy, but love and grace. And through such tender blessings, He is making “us alive together with Christ”.  He is lifting us up; wiping away our past sins, such as a Mother would do as she wipes shed tears from a child’s checks, and saving us by His merciful grace. Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?

2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
2:7 so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  When God does something, He surely doesn’t do it halfway. Not only is He promising to save a seat for us in heaven, but he is demonstrating here that He’s in this for the long term.

2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God–2:9 not the result of works, so that no one may boast. Now we come to the answer to my question of WHY. See, it’s not anything you, or I have done or not done, but it is by faith we are saved. You say faith is doing something, to have faith is to believe, and to believe is an action, but seriously folks, is it so hard to believe in a loving God? Yes, I will admit here I struggled with faith for a while, but a funny thing happened. I asked…….I simply asked God to show me how, and He did, in so many ways that I am still amazed at his power and love. And let me also mention here that one word, GIFT. See you and I have been given a gift by God, one that keeps on giving, and He further goes on to state that this gift is not the result of our works, it just is simply a gift from God.

2:10 For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. He made us to do his work, no other purpose, But its for good works, and is to be our way of life. “For we are what he has made us”……….this is a powerful message here. You and I were not created by accident; we are not just here on earth for any purpose. We are “created in Christ Jesus for good works”, meaning our lives have purpose, and direction.

There’s my answer as to WHY me? I am here for God’s purpose, not my own. I was saved by faith and not by anything I’ve done or didn’t do, and I am not alone. I now know why He chose me, all that’s left is to praise Him for the love, and grace He has shown me, and to share this message with His children.

WORDS!

WORDS!  KNOWLEDGE! POWER!

How many of us have heard the trite phrases “Knowledge has power”, or “the power of the written word”?  Yet have you ever stopped to think where in history these phrases come from or if they actually mean something?

“Knowledge is power” is a quote by Sir Francis Bacon, from Religious Meditation of Heresies, 1597. This quote means to say that the more knowledge you have, the more you can do, which leads, in a sense, to having power.  Said during the Age of Enlightenment, when many new theories and ideas were being formed, meaning if you had more knowledge, you were able to think for yourself, which was in itself a powerful thing to do because in those days, people just accepted what the ruler of the country said and would not challenge them.  How far have we come?

“Power of the written word” The quote “The pen is mightier than the sword” is a famous line from the 1839 play Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy. Though it’s well known today; its meaning is not new and there were many others who wrote of the power of the written word.  Take Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) who said “he feared hostile newspapers more than he did a thousand bayonets”, as an example.

As I ponder on this day’s bible passages:

1 John 5:9-13

”9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.again”.

I am once again reminded how something seemingly so innocent, merely words, black marks on a white paper, can have such power. It constantly amazes me how what originally started out first as a way to pass on history to future generations, has now become almost a weapon in our modern times. Do I speak of weapons of mass destruction, do I speak of some unknown biological virus, do I speak of some new modern technology device? No, I speak of, and about, simple words. Whether spoken, as in biblical times, or flung out in cyberspace, via e-mail or the latest android app, mere words now have such unimaginable power.

Yet in our past, and in God’s time, words had more power than even today,

“13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. “

Words have the metamorphic ability to build up or to destroy. They can help transform those who are weak, discouraged and cowardly to become strong, encouraged and courageous. They can also tear down a person; causing a person to become weak, cowardly and discouraged.

Words have the ability to transport us in time. There are a few specific incidences in the past where I received a compliment for something I did. I can easily go back in the memory of my mind to those events. I can also just as easily remember words that I would much rather forget.

The power of words is limitless. Their ability to tell a story is only as limited as the persons ability to tell it. With words we can describe places, communities, creation, worlds and universes that have been, are yet to and perhaps never will be discovered; apart from the adventure that takes place within the imagination of our minds. As in the following biblical passage, this could not be clearer.

John 17:6-19 (NIV)

 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.  Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you.  For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.  All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them.  I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of[b your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.  While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by[c] that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”

“Your word is truth”~what a powerful message, even for today. How many of us are lost, seeking an answer to our internal turmoil, or external political, societal struggles? And yet, though many reject the truth, the word, an answer to what truly ails us, ails society, has already been spoken, and written. All we have to do is seek, and read, His words.

I Am the Vine, You are the Branches Fr. Micheal Brown, RSJ

“I am the vine, you are the branches.”

These are simple words, and a simple concept.  But like so many things that are simple, it can be difficult to express.  Jesus says he is the vine, the vine through which all things come to be.  Like the vine Jesus is the basis from which we all spring.  It is through His grace and mercy that we are here, and that we raise from the dead on the last day.

Last week we spoke of being a Good Shepherd.  We talked of how Peter, the very rock that Jesus would build his church upon, was not a good shepherd at first.  Peter denied Christ three times on the day of His arrest.  That is not the action of a Good Shepherd.  But, with faith in Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit Peter did indeed become the rock that the church was built upon.  He became the Good Shepherd.

So it is with us.  With the help of Christ we also can become good shepherds.  As Christ is the vine, and we the branches, it is through our faith in Him, and our prayers for both guidance and wisdom that we allow Christ to transform us.  As we think upon this simple statement, let us consider the rose.  Does a rose grow only through the nutrients it absorbs through the soil?  No, it needs those nutrients, but without sunlight from the branches the vine will die.  So it is with Christ.  He gives us the Holy Spirit, as the vine gives the nutrients, and we give him our faith, as the branches give sunlight.

Wait you say, there’s something missing!  Indeed there is.  With the rose it’s the water, which flows both ways.  Both from the branch, and from the vine.  With our relation to Christ, it’s the love.  Which also flows both ways.   Christ showed his love for us by spreading his arms on the cross, and dying for our sins.  How do we show our love of Christ?  By our works.

It is through our works that we express both our love, and our faith in Christ.  And what works should we do?  Those same works that Christ did.  Preaching and teaching the gospel, caring for those that society has pushed to the outskirts.  Healing the sick, comforting the grieving.  Living lives of simplicity and faith.  These are the works that Christ asks us to do.  He doesn’t demand anything outrageous, or difficult.  Or does he?

You decide.  Are the works Christ asks us to do more than you are willing to perform?

Living Simple to Simply Live!

Well its 3 am, and I am once again running my To-Do list through my head. That’s when it hits me……….maybe I have to re-evaluate my priorities, pare down my list of to-dos.  It was then I had a revelation, I’m in the midst of too much clutter. That’s my problem, too much STUFF in my life. Too much clutter in my home, too many people depending on me for something, too much mental chatter in my head. I’ve always envied those people who can throw or give away their belongings, and live simply. I’m also a big fan of TV shows such as Clean House, or Extreme Home Makeover. Wouldn’t it be great if someone came in to your home, cleared out the clutter, and then remodeled the inside of your home so it would appear new again? My only problem with that is, I so do not want my stuff, clutter, etc. put on display for a national audience. Its not that I’m ashamed of my home, but I’m a very private person and to know millions of viewers are staring at what’s in my fridge is a little bit disconcerting.

As a nation of consumers, I’m sure you all can relate to this……..instead of fixing something that is broken, such as a cell phone, computer, or a major appliance, we usually go out and buy another. Or if you are an avid reader like me, you already own more books than you can possibly read in a lifetime. Or maybe you have a hobby, or two, but lament the lack of time needed to enjoy them. You see where I am going, before long you simply have too much stuff in your house. And we haven’t even talked about the children’s clutter.  Maybe your spouse is the one who collects Mickey Mouse memorabilia and now is running out of storage room for such trinkets.  But all this adds up to clutter, and in time you may find it all becomes unbearable.

Then there is the mental noise, or clutter, we all carry around in our heads. It’s either the voice of your conscience telling you to please put that donut down, and save your diet, or maybe it’s a small voice from your childhood. This one I think we all hear at some point in our lives, the one telling us we aren’t pretty enough, smart enough, or maybe even just saying, Why Me? Or maybe you hear the voice of a parent, always nagging in the back of your mind, like a broken record.  Then there is that To-Do list mentioned earlier, the one that seems to be keeping me up way past my bedtime. What’s sad, is most of the items on my mental list are tasks that I really don’t have to do, but feel I should. Some days my life is filled with more should do’s, instead of want to’s. I imagine your days mirror my own in this respect.

I sometimes wish I could escape all this mental and physical clutter. Just shuck it all and live possibly as I imagine a monk does, cloistered in a monastery.  But I know for me it’s not an option, but maybe possibly an idea for a spiritual retreat. I would miss some of my busy, cluttered life, but definitely not all of it. And then there is the actual noise of living in a city that seems to contribute to my sense of overwhelming clutter.

You ask……where is all this leading? Well in my own meandering way, I am trying to confess something here. And maybe this isn’t the place, and since God is all-knowing, and hears my pleas, He already knows this, but I feel we all in some way can relate to my dilemma. As I am reviewing my mental list, I realize that here recently I’ve let the busyness of life, the plethora of a cluttered home, and nonsensical mental chatter, to slowly intrude in my personal relationship with my Father. Yes, I know as the loving Father he is, I am forgiven, but still I realize this is not a good thing.  In Psalm 46:10 we are told, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God”. Well, I have been far from still, and yes I can come up with many reasons why I get caught up in life, but that really is no excuse.

Then as I glance around my home, it comes to me that not only should I clear out some of the mental clutter, but maybe its time to do my own version of Clean House.  See, I’m not the most organized person, so all my precious books are helter skelter, and being a bibliophile, I have a ton of books. More that can be read in a lifetime, and yet the stress of not being able to enjoy them as much as I would like, adds to my sense of unease. I feel, for me, that all this STUFF, has gotten in the way of living a life of intent and purpose. I’m a huge fan of, shall I say it, How-To books on living simply, or de-cluttering your home.  But as stated in Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Isn’t this exactly what it means to live simply? To cut the physical and mental clutter, to not be “conformed to this world”?

How can we focus on God and his purpose for our life, when we are constantly distracted by things in this world? So where to begin……..we all know about de-cluttering our home, but what about the mental chatter? Maybe the first step is praying to our Father, beseeching His help, and then we can begin to clear the cobwebs from our overloaded lives, and focus on what’s really important. Knowing God, learning all we can about His grace and salvation, discerning His will for our lives, and in the process, becoming a true child of Christ. As I learn, pray, and talk with others on this same rocky path, I know I am not alone, and help is only a prayer, or phone call away.

Lent 1: Keeping Up With the Joneses?

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. 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.” Mark.1:9-15

Like Jesus we are often taken into the wilderness, although in a more superficial way. We are tempted by the pressures of society to “keep up with the Jones’.” We value ourselves only when we compare what others have that we don’t. We strive to be better than our neighbors, and to show that we can outdo them: My car is better than theirs. My house in larger than theirs. Our financial restraints are tested daily if our neighbor acquires self-recognition through their possessions, and we soon find ourselves pursuing the same task, regardless of the cost.

The cost of this is often is our spiritual guidance and our spiritual lives. No longer do we think of the message of God. In reality our material satisfaction overshadows who we are within our souls. We do not acknowledge the simple things in life. We fail to love ourselves and others in the name of greed. We must learn to be content with who we are and look at how we can share with others the Good News that represents the message of Jesus. Our failure to accept what we have, true friends and a loving family, divides us as God’s children. We soon find ourselves trapped in the constant upheaval of modern society. We lose our ability to relate to others the way Jesus does.

We must look at our neighbors as people we can turn to in a time of real need, and to look at ourselves as people to whom they can turn. Who cares how big their house is, or how new their car is? Jesus doesn’t care! He simply wants us to love and respect one another.

Some day we might need to open our doors to our neighbors and should expect the same in return. We must ask ourselves why we live the way we do. When will we change? Who is looking out for us? There are times in every one’s lives when we discover that we are lost. Take me for instance. When I was in high school, I found myself following others as a way to fit in. I had few friends but when someone approached me as a potential friend, I quickly attempted to give answers on various issues that I thought they would like to hear, such as “Do you think so and so is pretty?” or “Have you tried this? or that?” Not to be ridiculed, I would respond with” no, not really” and “yes I have done this or that.” What was my purpose? Why did I need to lower my expectations? I never wanted to feel like an outcast, but to be seen be part of the group, I went along with them, so I could fit it. It took me time to realize that my lack of spiritual guidance, created an emotional scar on who I was as a person.

So, I took the time to re-evaluate what was important to me. In my effort to “fit in” with God’s plan I had to look deep inside myself and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and my select friends, I was able to build a life for myself. Embracing others allowed me to see my true friends and how, in their strength, they would accept me as I was. I no longer used my opinions to harm others, but used the common sense of a good Christian to learn and to share in the goodness of others. To this day my true friends are my equals and we care not for who has what, or who knows whom and so forth. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit, that all of our friends and family create a lasting foundation on which to build a purposeful life.

Over time I was able to repent from my judgmental ways, knowing that God will be there for me. The good news that Jesus shared with his disciples will always live. It is for us to take this news and grow from it. Our hearts and minds will open up to their fullest and in essence we will love ourselves and others unconditionally just as Jesus does. Remember, it is not our material items that make us, but our ability to live and share the good news.

I challenge you, as we strive to become more Christ-like during this Lenten season, to concentrate not on the material things in life, but on the spiritual, so that you, too, may hear the words, “This is my beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Amen.

Dirty Faces In Holy Places

Fine, powdery, dark gray and black ashes, smudged onto our foreheads in the shape of a cross, for all the world to see, and then imagine what we’ve been doing…. looking like we bumped our heads while cleaning out the fireplace, and forgot to wash that part of our faces…

Just a few ashes…symbolizing more than most of us realize as we go through the motions of Ash Wednesday.  What do we say to people who ask us the obvious question:  What IS that on your head?  Why do you have black stuff on your face?

Why WILL we participate in this strange custom this afternoon or evening?  What DOES it mean?

The spiritual practice of applying ashes on oneself as a sign of sincere repentance goes back thousands of years. Frequently in the days of the Old and the New Testament, when someone had sinned, he clothed his body with sackcloth and covered himself with ashes. [Jer. 6:26]  The sacramental that we are observing today arises from that custom, the spiritual practice of observing public penitence.  Church history tells us that the liturgical practice of applying ashes on one’s forehead during the Lenten Season goes back as far as the eighth century. This was accompanied by different forms of fasting, prayer, sacrifices, charity towards others, etc… The writings of St. Leo, around 461 A.D., tell us that during the Lenten Season, he exhorted the faithful to abstain from certain food to fulfill with their fasts the Apostolic institution of forty days.  In the days of the Old Testament, many tore their clothing as a sign of repentance.

Today, we use the ashes as a reminder of who we are.  The Bible tells us that we came from the dust and to the dust we shall return.  The first human was formed out of the dust of the earth by God and then God breathed life into that dust.  That is a powerful image.  One that is meant to remind us that without the breath or Spirit of God moving in us, we are just like these ashes: lifeless – worthless.

The ashes that many of us will wear today are meant to be for us symbols of our repentance and signs that we truly seek to follow in God’s path.  The people in the Biblical stories probably put the ashes on top of their heads – so why do we, instead of putting these ashes on our heads, put them in the sign of the cross on our foreheads?

We do so because it is a reminder of how we are sealed for Christ.  In most churches when a baby is baptized the minister or priest uses oil to mark the child with the sign of the cross.  The mark of the cross is a mark of ownership.  Again, when we are confirmed, we are marked as the Lord’s own forever.   The ashes of Ash Wednesday  remind us that we are Christ’s – that he died so that we might live.  These may be just a few ashes but they mean a lot.  They are a symbol of our need for God.  We are nothing but dust and ashes apart from God.

But what about Lent itself?  What is it?  Why do we have this season?  Most of us were taught that the lengthy period of Lent was one of penitence and fasting, a time provided for those who were separated from the church by their sins, so they could be reconciled by acts of penitence and forgiveness.

For most of us, Lent is the time of sometimes painful self-examination, during which we scrutinize our habits, our spiritual practices, and our very lives – hoping to make ourselves better, trying to make ourselves worthy of the love of God.  We “step up” our prayer, fasting, and self-denial in order to remove worldly distractions from our lives. And we take on Bible study, classes, and service projects in order to add meaning and depth to our existence.  For some children, Lent means no sweets, for teenagers, less time on Facebook. For adults, it may be consuming less meat or alcohol, or attending that Lenten course offered by the Church.

However we go about it, the goal is pretty much the same: Lent makes us ready for Easter. Quite simply put, we are better able to appreciate Resurrection joys come Easter Day by enduring these Lenten disciplines now.

The Old Testament Lessons, the Psalm appointed for today, and today’s Gospel Reading (Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 or Isaiah 58:1-12  • Psalm 51:1-17  • 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10  • Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21) all tell us the “how” and “why” of Lent.  But then, there is Paul.  Saint Paul tells is, right off the bat, in the very first verse of the Epistle for today, to “BE RECONCILED TO GOD.”  Nowhere does he say, “Observe a Holy Lent, THEN be reconciled to God.”  Not after enduring a forty-day fast. Not after lengthy Bible study. Not even after prayer, but now, here, today: Be reconciled to God.  Paul not only invites us to be reconciled to God, he actually beseeches us. That is, he pleads, implores, presses, begs, and demands. “We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. … Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation.”

If we but recognize this, if we are but reconciled to our God NOW— and THEN work toward our Lenten goals of fasting, of prayer, and of penitence; if we seek to discipline ourselves during Lent, and make those disciplines into daily habits, we will not only most assuredly have the Holy Lent we all desire, but will come to live a more holy life in general.  And isn’t that, really, what Lent is all about in the first place?  Amen.

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.