Blessed Francis of Capillas, O.P.

The 17th century was a period of great missionary activity. Many martyrs shed their blood on distant shores. Dominicans and Jesuits contributed a great share to the blood of martyrs. Among this glorious company, the Dominican Francis de Capillas has become the type and exemplar of them.

Francis was born in 1608 in Old Castile, Spain.  Nothing is known of his childhood. He entered the Dominicans at Valladolid at age 17. The Spain of his youth was still ringing with the missionary zeal of Saints Louis Bertrand, Philip de las Casas, and Francis Xavier; the report of the martyrdom of Alphonsus Navarette (June 1), in Japan, was news at the time. Perhaps the bravery of these men helped to fire the young Francis with apostolic longing, for he volunteered for the Philippine mission while he was a deacon.   In 1631 at the age of 23, he left Spain and was ordained in Manila. Here, at the gateway to the Orient, the Dominicans had founded a university in 1611, and the city teemed with missionaries traveling throughout the Orient.

The young priest labored for 10 years in the province of Cagayan, the Philippines, where heat, insects, disease, and paganism made life very hard. But it was not hard enough for Francis. He begged for a mission field that was really difficult; perhaps, like many of the eager young apostles of that time, he was hoping for an assignment in Japan, where the great persecution was raging. He was sent to Fukien, China, where he worked uneventfully for some years. Then a Tartar invasion put his life in jeopardy. He was captured by a band of Tartars and imprisoned as a spy.

Francis was subjected to a mock trial. Civil, military, and religious officials questioned him, and they accused him of everything from political intrigue to witchcraft. He was charged with disregarding ancestor worship, and, finally, since they could “find no cause in him,” he was turned over to the torturers.

He endured the cruel treatment of these men with great courage. Seeing his calmness, the magistrates became curious about his doctrines. They offered him wealth, power, and freedom, if he would renounce his faith, but he amazed and annoyed them by choosing to suffer instead. They varied the tortures with imprisonment, and he profitably used the time to convert his jailor and fellow prisoners. Even the mandarin visited him in prison, asking Francis if he would renounce his faith or would he prefer to suffer more. Being told that he was glad to suffer for Christ, the mandarin furiously ordered that he be scourged again “so he would have even more to be glad about.”

Francis was finally condemned, and was beheaded on 15 January 1640.  He was beatified on 2 May 1919 by Pope Pius X.

 

 

 

 

The Feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton~ The Very Rev. Lady Sherwood, OPI

Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Liturgical colour: White.

Reading 1: 1 JN 3:7-10

Responsorial Psalm: PS 98:1, 7-8, 9

Gospel: JN 1:35-42

Today we come together as a church to commemorate the Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, my order Name Saint. Throughout Biblical history and even throughout the world still today, we come across people who endure much suffering within their lives and who, regardless of this, remain strong and devout in their faith. Today we remember St Elizabeth, whom is one such person from whose life, heart and devotion, we can take much inspiration and use it as an example within our own spiritual lives.

Elizabeth was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be Canonized to sainthood.

Elizabeth was born as Elizabeth Ann Bayley in New York city on the 28th August in the year 1774, and she was a child of the Revolutionary war. She was raised Episcopalian which was the faith of her parents.

Elizabeth married at the young age of only nineteen, to William Magee Seton, who was a young but wealthy merchant and together they parented five children.

Elizabeth had a very deep faith and concern for the poor even as a young woman and she shared this devotion with her sister-in-law, Rebecca Seton, with whom she became very close friends. Together, Elizabeth and Rebecca would undertake various missions for the poor and needy of their region and they adopted the name of the ‘Protestant Sisters of Charity` for their mission work.

Elizabeth’s life changed after only four years of marriage and became rather burdensome in nature. Elizabeth and her husband were left with the responsibility for seven half-brothers and sisters of William’s father when he died in the year 1798.

Elizabeth suffered further in the year 1801, when her own father with whom she had a close relationship, especially since the loss of her mother at aged only three,   himself passed onto the care of the Lord.

Then yet again she suffered after only a further two years, when both her husband’s business and health failed. Filing for bankruptcy, Elizabeth and her husband sailed to Italy to help his health and to try to revive his business.

Whilst in Italy, Elizabeth suffered even further, as William’s condition worsened. He was quarantined and subsequently died of Tuberculosis in December of 1803. Elizabeth remained in Italy for several months after his death and during this time, was more fully exposed to the Catholic faith.

Elizabeth returned to New York city in June of 1804, only to suffer yet again with the loss of her dear friend and sister-in=-aw, Rebecca Seton, the very next month.

At only thirty years of age, Elizabeth had endured the loss of so many who were close to her and she seemed to have the weight of the world upon her shoulders. Even throughout all this, Elizabeth still remained fervent in faith.

The months ahead were life-changing for Elizabeth and she seemed ever more drawn to the Catholic faith and to Mother Church, much to the horror of her friends and remaining family who were firmly Protestant.

Elizabeth Ann Seton was received into the Catholic Church on the 4th March 1805. Her conversion cost her dearly in the areas of friendship and in support from her remaining family.

Elizabeth relocated to the Baltimore area and there she established a school for girls. She also founded a religious community along with two other young women and she took vows before the Archbishop Carroll as a member of the Sisters of Charity of St Joseph. From this time forward, Elizabeth was known as Mother Seton and she left a legacy of care and education for the poor. She even established the first free Catholic school of the nation.

In so many ways, the journey into the Catholic faith, helped Elizabeth to much more appreciate and to embrace her faith even more profoundly. Elizabeth was willing to endure all things to follow Christ. In her journal, she even wrote, ‘If I am right Thy grace impart still in the right to stay. If I am wrong Oh, teach my heart to find the better way’.

Many of us who have chosen the Catholic faith have experienced some setbacks and have had to endure issues with relationships, but for this brave and devout woman of faith, the cost was even greater.

Elizabeth died aged 46 on January 4th 1821 from Tuberculosis and was Canonized on September 14th 1975.

On this your special day, St Elizabeth Ann Seton, Pray for us!

O God, who crowned with the gift of true faith Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s burning zeal to find you, grant by her intercession and example that we may always seek you with diligent love and find you in daily service with sincere faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

 

Amen.

Blessed Zedislava, O.P.

Born of a warrior race to noble parents in the diocese of Litomerici, Bavaria , Zedislava lived in a fortified castle on the borders of Christendom, in an age when the fierce Mongol hordes were the world’s worst menace. Her whole life was spent surrounded by  the sounds of clashing arms, and the moans of the dying. The gentleness and purity of her life stand out in surprising beauty against the dark background of a warlike and materialistic people.

Zedislava learned Christian charity early in life from her mother, who taught her not only the secrets of preparing medicinal herbs but also the healing balm of prayer. Going each day to the castle gates with alms and medicines for the poor and the wretched who crowded there for help, she was soon well acquainted with human misery. Cheerful, prayerful, and alert to see the sorrows of others, the child became a light of hope to the miserable. Because of her sweetness and natural charm, she was able to teach many lessons to those about her.

As a child, she is said to have fled from her home for a time to live as a hermit, but she returned to live a more normal life that included an early marriage to a soldier, the duke of Lemmberk, who, like her own father, was a rich nobleman in command of a castle on the frontier. The couple produced four children. Zedislava cared judiciously for her own family and lavished great care on the poor, especially the fugitives and victims of the Tartar invasions.

Her husband was a good man, but a rough and battle-hardened soldier who liked nothing better than the clash of swords. He may have treated Zedislava badly and he certainly tried his young wife’s patience and obedience in a thousand ways. He insisted that she dress in her finest gowns and attend the long and barbarous banquets that pleased him so. (In return, she tried his patience because of her generosity towards the poor.)

Being of a retiring disposition and much given to prayer–and having a family and a large castle to care for–she found this a real sacrifice. However, obedience and patience had been an important part of her training, and she taught herself to spiritualize the endless trials that would beset the mother of four children in a medieval fortress.

The Polish missionaries, Saint Hyacinth and Blessed Ceslaus, brought Zedislava the first knowledge of the new religious order which had begun but a few years before. Saint Dominic, had met them in Italy, where he had gone to have his order approved. Zedislava was the first Slavic Tertiary of the Dominican Order.

Enchanted with the possibilities of an order that allowed her to share in its benefits and works while caring for her family, Zedislava threw herself into the new project with enviable zeal. She encouraged her husband to build a hostel for the many poor pilgrims who came homeless to the gate. She visited the prisoners in the frightful dungeons, and used her influence to obtain pardons from the severe sentences meted out to them. She fed and cared for the poor, taught catechism to the children of the servants, and showed all, by the sweetness of her life, just what it meant to be a Christian lady and a Dominican Tertiary. On the occasion of a Mongol (Tartar) attack, when homeless refugees poured into the castle stronghold, her calm, invincible charity was a bulwark of strength to all.

With her own funds, Zedislava determined to build a church (Priory of Saint Lawrence) where God might be fittingly worshipped. As an act of zeal and penance, she herself carried many of the heavy beams and materials that went into the building. She did this at night so that no one would know of her hard work. Zedislava experienced visions and ecstasies during this time. She also received Holy Communion nearly every day in an age when this was not customary.

Her death came soon after the completion of the church in 1252. The mourning people who knelt by her deathbed could see evidence of her strong Christian virtues in the monuments she had left: her children, her church, and the inspiration of a saintly wife and mother. She consoled her husband in life and appeared to him in glory after death, which strongly encouraged his desire for conversion. Numerous miracles are ascribed to Saint Zedislava, including the raising of the dead to life.  She was beatified in 1907 by Pope Pius X.

Memorial of Blessed Stephanie of Quinzanis

Born to pious parents in 1457 in Soncino, Italy,  her father became a Dominican tertiary while Stephana was very young. She was taught the catechism by the stigmatic Blessed Matthew Carrieri who lived at the nearby Dominican convent. Even though she was too small to understand, he told her that she was to be his spiritual heiress.  She began receiving visions of Dominican saints from age seven, at which point she made vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.  Carrieri died when Stephana was 14, and soon after he appeared to her in a vision and she received the stigmata.

She became a Dominican tertiary at Soncino at age 15, and was devoted to caring for the poor and sick. She founded a community of Third Order sisters in Soncino, and served as its first abbess. Her counsel was sought by many,  including Saint Angela Merici, Blessed Augustine of Biella, and Blessed Osanna of Mantua.

Although she had no formal theological training, she could discuss mystical theology at the most profound level. She could read the hearts and minds of the people around her, and had the gift of prophesy and healing. She lived in a nearly continuous fast, and inflicted severe penances on herself. Stephana accurately predicted the date of her own death.  She died of natural causes on 2 January 1530, and was beatified 14 December 1740 by Pope Benedict XIV.

Keep the Faith! St. Stephen the Martyr ~ The Very Rev. Lady Sherwood, OPI

Reading 1 ACTS 6:8-10; 7:54-59

Responsorial Psalm PS 31:3CD-4, 6 AND 8AB, 16BC AND 17

Gospel MT 10:17-22

Liturgical colour: Red.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!  We have just celebrated both Christmas eve, and only yesterday, we celebrated Christmas day itself, the Wonderful feast of the birth of Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour. We have reflected upon the little newborn babe in the crib,  we have sung “silent night” and “Hark the Herald Angel’s Sing”, amongst other hymns, Carol’s, and no doubt festive non religious tunes of all varieties as well, and we have heard the tidings of peace, joy and salvation to all the world. And suddenly today, in stark contrast, we are clothed in blood-red vestments, we hear of the bloody death of Stephen, and of Jesus’ warnings of persecution, death, and hatred for his name’s sake. So, Is there a connection between Christmas and the first Holy martyr Stephen? How are we to make sense of this dramatic sudden contrast? Does it mean we shouldn’t take the beauty and the peace of Christmas too seriously? Does it mean that Christmas is merely a wonderful story, but that the reality is indeed extremely different…?

Not at all!! The long tradition of the Church in celebrating the memorial of St. Stephen the day after Christmas does not serve to demote Christmas in any way whatsoever, but to continue it, to strengthen it, and to manifest more clearly in our hearts the important meaning of the Christmas celebration. Jesus became mankind, he became born as an earthly child, so to in in his adult earthly years, to sacrifice himself for us and for our salvation.  He wanted as he wants today and always, for us to give him his rightful place within our hearts.  So after Christmas, the birth of the small Jesus, we contemplate also the birth of the Church,  because Our Lord was and is the Church, he was the church as a child.

Now when Jesus comes to dwell in our hearts, that cannot remain without effect upon us.  When Our Lord  and Saviour, who can do all things dwells within us, he transforms our hearts, and thus makes a difference in our attitudes towards one another and toward life.  St. Stephen’s life is an excellent example of this. As one of the first deacons he had a double task. He was assigned to the service of the tables, to the “service of love” to the poor, so that the Apostles would have more time for their preaching. But Stephen also had the gift of preaching, and so he would also perform the ministry of truth. Stephen, trusting in Jesus, devoted himself whole-heartedly to the tasks entrusted into him. He was stoned to death because his preaching of Jesus as the Son of God was considered blasphemy. Now, we might think that if Stephen, had been far more considerate of the understanding and passion of his Jewish brothers for the oneness of God, and had spoken more carefully about Jesus, that he would not have been stoned, that maybe he could have continued to preach about Jesus, and that by doing this,he could have done more good….

But St. Stephen make no compromises concerning the truth. He proclaims the Jesus who revealed himself and the one truth whom he had come to know. But he does not proclaim this truth by way of any violence or hatred, but in instead in the acts of love and self-giving. Until the last moment he forgives the men who kill him. As Jesus prayed for those who killed him, so St. Stephen prayed, “Lord, do not count this sin against them!” And his witness, his death was fruitful for us as members of the Church. The remembrance of this witness, for example, probably helped Saul later to accept Christ’s message as the truth, and to later become the great Apostle Paul.

St. Stephen is an excellent example to us of true and unwavering faithfulness to Jesus, an example of holding fast to the truth in love. This is an example of the way we all should and want to go within our lives. This path of truth and salvation is not always easy. It is not always easy to avoid deviating from the correct path in one way or another. Sometimes one hears that faithful Christians, in order to be tolerant of others, must abandon the claim to truth, that they must not proclaim or hold the faith as truth or even as true, for that to some, may lead to intolerance and to hatred. But the example of St. Stephen shows us clearly that the world needs the witness of the truth, and that it is possible to preach this truth with steadfast conviction and yet without  any violence or hate, but in the acts of love and self-giving.

Let us pray to Jesus, who came into this world as a child for our sakes, that we have the courage and the wisdom to profess our faith in our family life, in our workplaces, in our society, wherever we are, in a convinced and convincing loving manner, as St. Stephen did. Amen.

Peace Has Come! The Rt. Rev. Jay Van Lieshout, OPI

Blessings and peace to you my brothers and sisters on this most auspicious solemnity of the nativity of our Lord!  It is amazing how swiftly the seasons have flown; last Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Pentecost, Kingdom Tide, then Advent and now we once again rejoice in the birth of our Savior.  As I sit and reflect on God’s message given us through these seasons, I am drawn to the promise of each Sunday in Advent: Hope, Love, Joy and Peace.  I am especially inspired by the Sunday set right at the cusp of Christmas tide, the promise of Peace (I would like to mention in some traditions the 4th Sunday in Advent is Love; though seemingly different, Peace and Love are sides of the same coin, for how can you have Love without Peace, and without Peace how can Love exist?)

Isaiah (9:6) promises the Messiah would come as a Son of Man, God’s son, given to us and all authority in heaven and earth will rest upon His shoulders and He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace.  How wonderful a gift to have a Lord who brings to the world not extravagance and glitz, but the simple gift of Peace.  As I reflect on this gift, I consider the biblical concept of Peace (in Hebrew salom) and its four equally glorious aspects.  Peace reflects wholeness in body and health, harmony in relationship with each other and with the Creator, prosperity and fulfillment in spiritual and worldly life and the absence of conflict, war and strife.  When greet one another or extend our farewells and extend our wish for Peace in their lives, what better blessing can there be?  What better way to show agape love than through extending our wish for Peace!  And from where does all Peace emanate but from our Heavenly Father and Creator, who so loves us His children as to send down the ultimate emissary and vessel of everlasting Peace, His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Peace came down from heaven in the form of this precious child, the world was seemingly devoid of Peace.  It was a  nation occupied by foreign forces, civil rulers fighting over power, spiritual leaders fighting for control, and all three suppressing the people so as to procure and maintain wealth and power. Turmoil predominated, the people (especially the poor and weak) were just expendable pawns in the political, social and religious power plays.  The tree of Jesse was seemingly extirpated by evil, and yet out of this darkness, it brought forth a shoot, a Son was given, a child who’s light would bring about change, validate all people, disburse the wicked and topple corrupt governments through acts of Love and the gift of heavenly Peace.  Rejoice, Alleluia!

Brothers and Sisters, today I look around and hang my head.  For even as the church bells chime commemorating the Savior’s birth and its ancient promise of Peace and good will, just as in the old familiar carol, I say “There is no peace on earth… for hate is strong and mocks the song of Peace on earth”.  We too live in trouble times, reminiscent of a time when a small child was born two millennia ago.  The weak are persecuted, people are marginalized, civic and religious leaders fight for money, power and control.  Lies are the new truth, animosity is norm and self-righteousness is the new Gospel.  Just the other day I saw a post where a christian religious leader bought an expensive car and lavish gifts for his wife (to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars) and people defended this extravagant display of wealth born from the hard labor of his parishioners even though members of the community go hungry or homeless.   Similarly, a bishop publicly posted on social media animosity towards gay priests, even though his fellow priests who have been supportive of him through the years happened to be gay.  How disheartening it is to see such things cloud the light, the good work, the Good News of God’s church.

Life is dynamic, yet the more things change, the more they stay the same.  Today, just in times past, children of God are wandering through life like sheep lost in desert looking for their shepherd to bring them home to peace and safety.  We as the Church, must stand up and be this shepherd for Christ, gathering up these lost sheep, feeding and caring for them both body and soul.  Like St. Peter, we are called to be the rocks on which Christ’s Church is built, a church which is strong, resilient and steadfast against the temporal tempests which blow through life.  Our lives and corporal acts of worship must be steadfast beacons of Peace, Love, Hope and Joy which guide the lost sheep to the verdant pastures of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth.  Let us rejoice in the rituals and traditions handed down to us from our church fathers and mothers.  It is time to once again live the solemnities, feasts, celebrations and religious ceremonies which are the life blood of His church throughout the year. We must eschew the trappings of populous spirituality rich in its entertainment value and poor in substance, instead focusing worship being the promises of the advent season upon which the word of God is inscribed and from which the Light of Christ shines forth: Hope, Love, Joy and Peace.

Brothers and Sisters, the world needs the promise of our Lord’s nativity  now more than ever; not just on December 25th, but each and every day throughout the year.  We must carry the Peace and Love which comes from the Christ child in our hearts and offer salom to every person we meet and to all whom we bid farewell. We must remember, WE are the Church, we are the bearers of Peace and Love in the world, shepherds to God’s lost sheep and each time we open our salom to those we meet, especially the poor, the weak, the ostracized and those different from us, we pay homage to the Christ Child Himself, born of Mary, swaddled and laid in a manger.

 

Shepherds-Another Christmas Sermon ~ The Rt. Rev. Michael Beckett, OPI

After 2000 years of Christmas sermons, in hundreds of languages, in different countries throughout the world, and by way of innumerable faith traditions, is there anything new or original left to be said about Christmas, and what it means, that hasn’t been said before? Perhaps not. However, like re-reading that favorite book for the 17th time, or watching that favorite movie or television show for the 358th time, even when you know exactly what comes next, what the very next word is going to be, often we find a new meaning or a new slant on something that is as tried and true as Christmas itself.

And so it is with me this year. This Gospel reading recalls the story of the angels bringing the news of Christ’s birth to the shepherds. Now, we all know that story. We’ve heard it many times over, and those of us who cherish “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will always, in some ways, hear Linus quoting from Luke, no matter who is reading that passage of the Bible to us. We know the story. We SEE the story in every Nativity scene we pass by. There is almost always a shepherd near the manger carrying a lamb on his shoulders and another lamb or sheep to be seen somewhere hanging around. It’s always seemed to me that the sheep and the shepherds were just THERE, minor players in a Christmas play, the “extras” assigned to the kids who didn’t quite measure up to the roles of Mary or Joseph; they enter stage left, ooh and aah over the baby, and exit stage right, singing “Go tell it on the mountain”, singularly unimportant and taking secondary roles to the more illustrious wise men (who in reality weren’t there at all) and most definitely playing supporting roles to the Holy Family, or just standing around as so much scenery, contributing to the mood and filling up the bare spots in the Nativity scene. I overheard a conversation recently that made me really think about the shepherds. While visiting some friends, their cat jumped into the midst of the family crèche and knocked over the obligatory shepherd. It was chipped. The younger daughter of the family was somewhat distressed, and to make the little girl feel better, the mother said to her, “Don’t worry about it, Honey. It’s just the shepherd. He’s not all that important.” I didn’t think much about it at the time, but when reading the Scripture appointed for today, it struck me. Not all that important? But weren’t they? Who WERE these shepherds? Why were they there in the first place? Why did THEY get the news of Christ’s birth in such a spectacular way? Who were they that they should be eyewitnesses of God’s glory and receive history’s greatest birth announcement?

In Christ’s day, shepherds stood on the bottom rung of the Palestinian social ladder. They shared the same unenviable status as tax collectors and dung sweepers. Only Luke mentions them. When the twelve tribes of Israel migrated to Egypt, they encountered a lifestyle foreign to them. The Egyptians were agriculturalists. As farmers, they despised shepherding because sheep and goats meant death to crops. Battles between farmers and shepherds are as old as they are fierce. The first murder in history erupted from a farmer’s resentment of a shepherd. Smug religious leaders maintained a strict caste system at the expense of shepherds and other common folk. Shepherds were officially labeled “sinners”—a technical term for a class of despised people.

Into this social context of religious snobbery and class prejudice, God’s Son stepped forth. How surprising and significant that God the Father handpicked lowly, unpretentious shepherds to be the first to hear the joyous news: “It’s a boy, and He’s the Messiah!” What an affront to the religious leaders who were so conspicuously absent from the divine mailing list. Even from birth, Christ moved among the lowly. It was the sinners, not the self-righteous, He came to save. So is it really all that surprising that the first announcement of Christ’s birth was to the lowly shepherds on Bethlehem’s hillsides?

Consider the events leading up to Christ’s birth. Mary was barely 15. Christ was born to an unwed mother, Mary, a servant girl; Mary the young woman who delivered while only betrothed to Joseph. He was born in a stable, a cave! A holy God being born to a couple no different than immigrants, far from home and in a strange city, in a place where animals were kept. A couple who couldn’t even find a place to stay, turned out of every inn! It’s all too bizarre.

Yet this is the God we experience. This is our claim; This is the meaning of his very name: Immanuel, meaning “God with us” — with us not just in nice times, but most especially in the times of our lives when we are in the caves, and stables of our lives, when we are turned out of the places we’d like to be, when we are at the lowest of low points, when we are out in the dark, and in the cold like the shepherds.

Our God, the God who comes to us in the person of Jesus Christ, is the God of the oppressed, the repressed, the depressed; the God of the sad, the grieving, the sorrowful; the God of the lonely, the lowly, the poor, the God of the Shepherds; the God of the despised, the destitute, the dejected. Our God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who stood with the enslaved Hebrews in Egypt, who led them out of Egypt to a promised land of freedom. Our God is the God of widows and orphans and stranded travelers. Our God is the God who doesn’t stay neat and tidy and spotless, but comes and stands beside us in our times of deepest need, who comes among us as the child in the dirty manger and the God of the shepherds on the hillside. The God we’re speaking of dares to join the unsuccessful, the failures, the dispossessed, and the downtrodden; the God of the Shepherds.

Wherever there is suffering, our God is there. He stands with Zacchaeus, the despised tax collector, and with Bartimaeus, the blind beggar. He is with us when we face cancer, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments. He is with us when we face amputations, operations, loneliness, the loss of a loved one, or even death itself. The God of the manger and the Shepherd is Immanuel, God with us. At our deepest times of loss and need, in the dirtiest and most embarrassing parts of our lives, God is with us, His rod and His staff, they comfort us. It is God who glues us back together when we become, like that figure in my friends’ Nativity scene, chipped, flawed, and much less than perfect.

And it is up to us, to demonstrate the love of God, the God of the lowly, the downtrodden, to the world. We, like the shepherds in the Christmas story, are to be the ones who are to proclaim the good news “which shall be to all people” to all the people of the world. It is our responsibility as Christians to be the instruments through which God can work in this world. As was most famously stated more than four centuries ago by Saint Theresa of Avila:

Christ has no body but yours,
no hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

My very favorite Christmas carol, “In the Bleak Midwinter,” includes the lines, “What, then, shall I bring him, empty as I am? If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb. If I were a wise man I would do my part. What can I give Him? I can give Him my heart.”

Won’t you, this Christmas, give Him your heart? Won’t you, like the shepherds in the children’s plays of the Christmas story, be one to “go tell it on the mountain, over the fields and everywhere” that Jesus Christ is born? Amen.

Christmas and Sacrifice ~ The Rev. Dcn. Scott Brown, OPI

What are you sacrificing for Christmas?


HEB 10:5-10

Brothers and sisters:
When Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.'”

First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.”
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, :Behold, I come to do your will.”
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this “will,” we have been consecrated
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

 

When Christ came into the world as the baby born in Bethlehem there were shepherds watching over their flocks by night just outside of Bethlehem. Those shepherds raised sheep and lambs, some of which were no doubt used for sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem. Sacrifices that were commanded by God. Sacrifices that were offered to God as an atonement for sins. But those sacrifices themselves didn’t forgive the sins of God’s people. As a Lenten hymn tells us, “Not all the blood of beasts On Israel’s altars slain Could give the guilty conscience peace or wash away the stain.” Those sacrifices themselves didn’t wash away the sins of God’s people, and yet God’s people went home with the assurance that their sins were forgiven, not because of the sacrifices themselves, but because of the One to whom those sacrifices pointed. They pointed to Jesus, the “Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” As that Lenten hymn goes on to tell us, “But Christ, the heavenly Lamb, takes all our sins away, a sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they.” Sacrifice what you want for Lent, or even for Christmas, but keep in mind that your sacrifices can never make you right with God. Your sacrifices can never give you better standing with God. How often aren’t we tempted to think that they can? When it comes to how much we go to church? How much we put in the offering plate? How much we volunteer our time and talents? God’s people in the Old Testament often felt the same way. It often led them to go through the motions, worshipping God with their lips, while their hearts were far from him. They missed the point, and it even came to the point where God told them, “stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. I cannot bear your evil assemblies. They have become a burden to me; I am wearing of bearing them…I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.” Yet even in his anger, we see his love, telling his people, “Come now, let us reason together, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” It doesn’t matter how much you give of your time, talents, or treasures. It doesn’t matter how much you go to church or Bible class or even how much you volunteer. These are all good things, but if these things aren’t motivated by God’s love for you, you’ve missed the point. John makes the point when he writes, “we love because he first loved us.” Looking back on our lives, we can probably think of the many good things we’ve done for the wrong reasons. Serving because it was expected of us. Helping because no one else stepped up to do so. Volunteering because no one else seemed to care. Showing up because we were afraid of what people might think if we didn’t. We may have put a lot of time and effort into these things, but if these things weren’t motivated by God’s love for us, Paul tells us, “I am nothing and I gain nothing.” Isaiah tells us, “all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” No matter what we do, our sacrifices cannot save us, but thankfully Christ’s sacrifice alone saves us. He took the filthy rags of our righteous and unrighteous deeds and he carried them to the cross where he washed them and us, making us clean through his holy precious blood. The innocent one became the guilty one. The righteous one became the unrighteous one. Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted by God who, “made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Though his perfect life, his innocent death, and his glorious resurrection, our unrighteous garments have been removed and we’ve been clothed in the garment of Christ’s righteousness. Because of Jesus, we are at peace with God. Peace with God doesn’t begin with what you do for God, rather it begins with what God has done for you. On the night of His birth, the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Glory to God in the highest that he sent his Son to be our Savior. The Savior who said, “Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.” Jesus came to do God’s will to forgive the many times we haven’t. As we learn in Catechism class, God’s will involve His Word being shared with all people. God’s will involve all people being saved. God’s will involves living a holy life. Loving God and our neighbor perfectly. How many times have we failed to do this? How many times have we spoken words that hurt others? How many times have we made sacrifices in life to the point where it hurt? If we’re honest with ourselves, we see how our sins are many and our sacrifices are few. For the times we went about life with the attitude of, “my will be done,” we can be thankful that Jesus always went about life with the attitude of “thy will be done.” Love God and His Word. “Thy will be done,” perfectly by Jesus. Even as a teenager, he never grumbled and complained when mom or dad said it was time to go to church. Love and serve your neighbor. “Thy will be done,” perfectly by Jesus. He never looked the other way or made excuses when the opportunities to help and serve were placed before him. He wasn’t afraid to tell people to repent and believe the good news of God’s forgiveness. In his active obedience, he kept the law perfectly for us. In his passive obedience, he willingly died for our sins against it. Out of love for us, he allowed himself to be led away in chains like a criminal. Out of love for us, he allowed soldiers to drive nails through his hands and feet. Out of love for us, he was led like a lamb to the slaughter. Whereas we are all like sheep that have gone astray, the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. As the perfect Lamb of God, he offered his life on the cross to take away your sins and mine and the sins of the world. He perfectly fulfilled the will of God, and “by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” No matter how much or how many, the end result of our sacrifices would have brought God’s wrath and punishment in hell. But the end result of Christ’s sacrifice brings us grace and every blessing here on earth and for all eternity in heaven. Through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, we have been made holy through the blood of Christ. Through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus, our sacrifices take on a whole new meaning. They’re not done to earn heaven, but rather to thank God for His gift of heaven. Jesus is the reason why we make sacrifices to give God the very best in our time, talents, and treasures. To say thank you to God for the treasure of salvation that is ours in Jesus! Working through Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit has given you the gift of faith and the realization that our greatest treasure in life is Jesus. The work we do together as individual Christians, as members of a Christian congregation. The sacrifices we make in our lives, our schedules, our home, our church, our school, our preschool, our Sunday School, and our youth group programs are done to connect people to Jesus and keep them connected for time and eternity. What are you sacrificing for Christmas? May any of the sacrifices we make be done out of thanks and praise to Jesus. Sacrifices that come from cheerful hearts praising God for all the wonderful things he has done. This Christmas will find people making sacrifices to give their loved ones a Merry Christmas. Companies competing for your time, attention, and money. Something we’re far too often too eager to give. But the sacrifices we make for the things of this world will last us for just that, if that. But the sacrifices we make for God’s Word and God’s Work will last for time and eternity. The sacrifices we make to share the sacrifice of Jesus with others will result in people enjoying the glories of heaven one day. With that kind of attitude and mindset, no matter what happens this Christmas, you will have a truly Merry Christmas indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Repent! Rejoice! Gaudete! ~ The Rt. Rev. Jay Van Lieshout, OPI

Brothers and Sister: Blessings to you all on this 3rd Sunday in Advent!   Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete!  Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!  And how good it is in this penitential season of introspection and preparation for the coming of the Lord, to turn our hearts with anticipation to joyous prospects of the return of the bridegroom.  What’s this you ask, joy in a season of repentance?  Amen I say to you, how better to prepare ourselves for the coming of the bridegroom then to sing praises and thanksgiving for all the Creator has given us; after all, are we not to be the torch bearers of the light of Christ into the darkness of the world and preachers of the Good News?  How good can the news be if its bearers trudge from place to place covered in ashes, donning sack cloth and and emanating an air of personal unworthiness?

Gaudete: iterum dico, gaudete, for the Lord has done great things for us! Our Creator knows of our imperfections and loves us just the same; when we, in our flawed nature, stray from the righteous path and commit transgressions, the Creator does not get mad or hold a grudge against us, but grieves with disappointment for our failings.  Then, when we repent, are we not forgiven and joyfully welcomed into the kingdom with open arms?  This is the Good News John the Baptist announced as a prelude to the coming of the and the Message Jesus Christ brought at His nativity, proclaimed in His ministry and sealed by His sacrifice on the cross.

As John preached repentance and prepared to baptize the faithful, they in turn asked what they should do so that they might be saved; his response surely must have bewildered them.  Surely they expected to be told to make an offering and sacrifice at the temple; yet they were instructed to share their bounty with those in need, to use fair and honest business practices, and to not blackmail or falsely accuse the innocent.  Would not offerings be better made at the temple to win the Lord’s favor than to give them to the poor or a stranger?  As we are told in Hosea (6:6) the Creator desires “ mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.”  The Creator’s institution of sacrifice was to be a lesson in willingness to offer up what you have to the will of the Creator and an exercise against sins of hoarding and greediness.  Initially, for the small nomadic families, the practice would have demonstrated that giving up a portion for God’ work would not be a detriment but a blessing to the family, therefore, altruism and hospitality to a wandering stranger as the fulfillment of God’s will also provide blessings.  As populations grew and settled into cities, caring for the needy became centralized as a function of the temple and so communal sacrifice predominated with its many legal impediments and corruption flourished.  The Creator sent John to “make straight” the righteous path and bring the people back to the concept of hospitality and altruistic sacrifice as an individualize responsibility.  Jesus Christ made the final an ever lasting blood sacrifice by offering up Himself as the eternal and everlasting example of individual altruism, grace and the Creator’s love for humanity.

So on this 3rd Sunday in Advent, as the prophet Zephaniah has proclaimed: “Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!  The LORD has removed the judgment against you, The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; he will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love,” (Zep 3:15, 17).  The Good News is we are all loved by our Creator and Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice so that those who repent their transgressions and share their bounty with those less fortunate,will receive forgiveness and everlasting salvation in God’s heavenly kingdom. Brothers and Sisters, shed that air of sack cloth and ashes, lift up your heads, hands and hearts, sing praises of joy and thanksgiving for all that the Lord has done.  Radiate the hope, love and joy of the light of Christ as your carry the Good News to all you meet.  Repent and share your bounty with the strangers in need among us so that they too may cry out: “Gaudete in Domino semper: iterum dico, gaudete!”

Is God Calling You? The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe ~ The Rev. Shawn Gisewhite, OPI

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Luke 1:26-38

December 12th, 2018
Fr. Shawn E. Gisewhite, OPI

 

Today we are here celebrating our Lady of Guadalupe, who has also been proclaimed the patroness of the Americas, the Empress of Latin America, and the Protector of Unborn Children. Around the world, and especially in Latin Communities, Christians will bring their best to this celebration with great music including Mariachis, dancing, roses and candles, inspiring and moving readings, and traditional Latin foods. What an appropriate time in the life of our Country for our Lady to come and remind us that she is not a mellow, mute virgin, but that she is a warrior, who from the very beginning has challenged the establishment, the dark forces of the world.

Not only she has been a symbol of unification, she has also been an active participant in the fight, “la lucha,” against oppression, unfairness, and social injustice. She was present, “presente” in The Mexican War of Independence, and the Mexican Revolution. Both wars were led with flags including an image of our Lady of Guadalupe.

Guadalupe also served as an icon and a symbol for farm-workers in their fight to gain union representation and recognition of their rights. A fight led by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta. Referring to Guadalupe, Dolores Huerta Said that “she is a symbol of faith, hope, and leadership.”

We have also seen the Guadalupe image in the marches in Los Angeles, advocating for fair immigration reform, and against deportation.

In what we consider to be very challenging times for women, immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ, and for people with disabilities…Guadalupe is ready for action!

In the US, elected officials, both Left and Right, are leading our country down a dark path.  Our political system if ripe with greed.

Greed is not a value of God’s world.  God’s world is full of love and compassion.  God’s economy is simply God’s plan to distribute itself into humanity.

In God’s intention to distribute itself to many people in mass production, and free of charge, God has also assembled its administration. The administration that God needs to bring itself into humanity.

I don’t know if you checked CNN or FOX News today, but God released a list of people in his Cabinet. God’s cabinet includes:

Chief Strategist: Jesus of Nazareth
Secretary of State: John the Baptist
Chief of Staff: Our Lady of Guadalupe
Secretary of Defense: Mahatma Gandhi
Secretary of the Department of health and human services: Desmond Tutu
Ambassador to the United Nations: Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Co-secretaries of Agriculture: Dolores Huerta and César Chavez

We are an integral part of God’s mass production system too, and to become active producers the qualifications that we need are two: Spiritual Poverty and Humility.

Today, both in the lesson and the Gospel, God gave us two examples of human beings like you and I who changed the world in response to God’s call.
God decides to incarnate, to become human among us in the person of Jesus, through this low-income teenager, who lived with her parents, and who was engaged to Jesus, and who was probably not that highly educated.

In the story of Guadalupe, we hear that Guadalupe chose Juan Diego- a farmer, native Indian, low-income, probably not that educated, to challenge the existing system of oppression represented by the conquerors, and the highly bureaucratic Church.

Were both of them expecting these calls? Apparently not from the way that they initially reacted.

The Gospel said that Mary was much perplexed by the words of the Angel, and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then she said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

And Juan Diego’s response to Guadalupe was “I earnestly beg you, my Queen, that it be one of the principle ones, those who are known, respected and esteemed, that you send to take your message, so it might be believed. Because I am a farmer from around there, I am rope, I am a ladder, I am the excrement of the people, I am a leaf.”

In this season of Advent, a season of expectancy, what is leaping inside you?

Is it is a desire to fight to overcome homelessness?  To protect the rights of women and children, the disabled, the LGBTQ Community, of legal immigrants?  A desire to give up what you have (fancy clothes, a comfy home, a luxury car, a prestigious job) to help those less fortunate?

If this is the kind of call that you are experiencing, like Mary and Juan Diego, you may ask ourselves, why Me? I can’t, these things are too big for me!
If you feel that desire to act, do not be afraid, I encourage you to answer like Mary and Juan Diego did:

“Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” “My dear Lady, I will not cause you affliction; I will go willingly to fulfill your will; in no way will I leave it aside nor will the task be difficult. I shall go to do your will, though I may not be listened to with a good Disposition. I will talk to them even if they don’t believe me”

Through Baptism we have all received the same Spirit that Jesus received to fulfill his mission, the same Spirit that moved Mary and Juan Diego to say yes to their call. So, we have what we need to accomplish our mission – the Spirit of God that was given to us by God’s grace.

Brothers and Sisters, if Mary and Juan Diego lived here in the USA now in December 2018, would they be fearful?  Would they be fearful because of who they are as a woman, minority, colored, low-income, and uneducated?  Sadly, I expect that the answer would be, “Yes.”

And today, not by chance, God has brought to us one of the key members of God’s cabinet, Chief of Staff Our Lady of Guadalupe, a warrior that through history has been at the forefront of the fight for social justice, for “la lucha.”

She does not want to be enclosed in an office. She is ready to walk with us in every march, and demonstration, resisting the dark forces that are threatening God’s economy of love and compassion.

Let us ask her to lead us in this difficult times in the life our country.

Amen