Gospel text for Sunday 31 July 2022

Mark 6:14-29     Now King Herod heard of [the teaching of Jesus], for Jesus’s name had become known and some were saying, “John the baptizer has been raised from the dead and that is why the powers work through him.” Yet others said, “It is Elijah” while others said, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets [of old].” But when Herod heard of it, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.”

         For Herod himself had sent men who seized John and bound him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, for Herod had married her. For John had told Herod, “It is not right for you to have your brother’s wife.” Now Herodias had a grudge against him and she wanted to kill him. But she could not. This was because Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous man and a holy man and he protected him and listened to him, though greatly perplexed; yet it pleased him to listen to him. 

         Now an opportune time came on Herod’s birthday when he gave a banquet for his courtiers and commanders and for the leaders of Galilee. And Herod’s daughter Herodias came in a danced, pleasing Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish and I will give it to you.” And he swore to her repeatedly, “Whatever you ask me, I will give to you, even half of my kingdom.” And she went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask?” She replied, “The head of John the baptizer.” Immediately she returned to the king with haste and asked, saying “I want immediately for you to give me on a platter the head of John the Baptizer.” The king was deeply sorry, yet because of his oaths and the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier under orders to bring John’s head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison. And he brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl and the girl gave it to her mother. When John’s disciples heard, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb. 

 

Reflection           Worried about evil? Here is how it works.

Slave to his fear of people’s judgment King Herod does not have the courage to live his convictions. Although he knew John the Baptizer to be a “righteous and holy man,” when his pride and power are on the line, Herod orders John’s head be given on a platter to his daughter. Fearing his guest’s judgement were he not to satisfy his daughter’s egregious demand, Herod is subject to the work of evil through him.

By contrast, John the Baptizer, a wilderness wandering preacher,  dares to speak truth to power by calling out Herod for marrying his brother’s wife Herodias. Being a man who lives by faith not fear, John is confident in his convictions and  veritably glows in contrast to the cold footed King Herod.

Fearful people capitulate to social pressure to conform. Believing their source of strength is in themselves or with other people they bow to political squeeze  and aim to execute whoever threatens their sense of security, safety, esteem, power or control. Consequently the fearful become vehicles for the work of evil. It is not that the people are evil, rather, they are vulnerable to evil working through them when they live in fear.

On the other hand, when we choose to live in faith we find confidence and conviction in something greater than themselves. Finding faith with God (or Yahweh, Allah, The Light, the One, the Mystery...)  gives us the freedom to remain calm  in the face of threats to our security, safety, esteem, power or control. Being faithful we are free rather than slaves to the working of evil through us. 

Eight years ago we witnessed a show of faith in Charleston, South Carolina when the Emmanuel American Methodist Episcopal Church responded to the murder of their senior pastor and eight other church members who were gunned down during a Bible study. Rather than eat the bait of evil and set off riots and a race war, the leaders and people of the AME church chose to respond with calm confidence, which they were free to do because they live in faith, not fear.  

Four days after the tragic shooting during the Sunday morning service at the AME church, the Rev. Goff pierced the hearts of the people in his church and across the nation when he preached, “Some wanted to divide the races - black and white and brown - but no weapon formed against us shall prosper.” Outside the doors of the church hung a banner that read, “Holy City… let us be the example of love that conquers evil.” Choosing faith leaves no room for the work of evil’s hateful hand.

This is what the families in Lancaster, Pennsylvania did seventeen years ago following the hateful shooting of their ten young daughters in an Amish school house. This heart breaking incident shocked the nation, with strangers contributing more than  four million dollars to support the Amish families. For many of us, even more stupefying than the massacre of ten girls between the ages of six and thirteen years was the Amish community’s response to their tragedy.  

Almost immediately following the shooting the grandfather of one of the girls who was killed expressed forgiveness to the killer while other Amish folk visited and comforted the killer’s family. In the midst of unspeakable loss and grief, the Amish community refused to react with fear, anger, blame or seek retaliation. Instead they chose to respond with compassion which they were free to do because they choose to live in faith, not fear, which leaves no room for the work of evil’s hateful hand. 

In Luke’s gospel we see Jesus nailed to a cross, hanging between two criminals. We are stunned by his shocking words, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23.34) I believe Jesus’ remarkable words are intended not only for the criminals flanking him but also for the disciples who abandon him and all who participate by their action or inaction in his brutal suffering and death. Jesus chooses to live by faith leaving no room for evil’s hateful hand to work through him.

We live in a world at war with our selves and one another. We have tuned our ears to hear insult and offense. We have set our minds to mine for misdemeanor. We screw up our eyes to find someone to blame for our wounded feelings. We harden our hearts to the suffering that abounds around us. We engage litigious means to execute retribution. We fail to follow the way of faith driven conviction commanded by God and embodied by the folks in Charleston, Lancaster, and Jerusalem. 

I believe we are at a crossroads in our community, our country and our world. Evil seduces us in the marketing of excess and tolerance of abuse. Evil thrives when we shade our eyes to lies and bow to corruption. Evil succeeds when we choose fear rather than faith as the standard for our lives. 

The only way I know to overcome fear is to choose faith, faith in something greater than ourselves that some call God, Yahweh, Allah, Mystery, Light, Divine Presence. Here is the thing. Choosing faith is not a once and done endeavor. It is a day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute commitment to choose faith in the face of whatever shows up on this wild journey we call life, because when we choose faith there is no room for evil to work its hateful way through us.

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Gospel text for Sunday 25 August 2019

Asylum Seeking Families 

Welcomed to freedom and rest in Tuscon's new Casa Alitas Welcome Center

Luke 13:10-17        Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Reflection         “Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)

Keeping the Sabbath holy means extending freedom and compassion to all people and all creatures; ox, donkeys, livestock, resident aliens and slaves. No one is to be denied rest, peace, dignity and freedom, even if it is only temporary. Apparently Jesus felt an urgency to fulfill this God given mandate. Offering healing to the long suffering woman could not wait until Saturday night. Jesus is living according to the spirit of God’s law.

I suspect Jesus calls the leader of the synagogue a hypocrite because in the leader’s dogged adherence to the letter of the law he has lost sight of the spirit of the law. If the root of the law is affirmation of the holiness of life and that everyone deserves to be set free, then what possible justification could there be to allow anyone or anything to suffer by being bound, or tied, to the letter of the law? Sometimes we simply cannot wait to do what is right.

This week I received a letter from the Rev. Delle McCormick, retired UCC minister, describing her experience meeting one mother and her daughter at the Casa Alitas Welcome Center, the Tucson site for hosting the newest asylum seeking guests to our country. Rev. McCormick writes,  “The single mom from Guatemala had a college degree, a "good job" with the Ministry of Education. One day after work she was met getting off the bus by a person who ordered her to deliver two "packages." She declined, knowing the packages most likely contained drugs or weapons. The next day when she got off the bus, the same man handed her a picture of her 4 year-old daughter, and said the child would be dead the next day if she didn't deliver the packages. That night, the mom left her job, her bank account, her home, her family, her culture - her whole life, she said - and fled, taking three weeks to make her way with her daughter to the US border. Sitting before me was a person who, without notice, left her whole life behind for the sake of her daughter. Imagine.” *

Sometimes we simply cannot wait to do what is right.

This Guatemalan mother broke who knows how many laws, laws constructed with good intentions to support and protect people and nations.  Nonetheless, can you see Jesus reaching out to help this woman? Can you hear him saying to officials who are swift to remind him of all the laws she has broken and that he too is breaking the law by helping her, "You hypocrites! Would not each of you leave your career, your home, your bank account, your country, everything you know to save the life of your child? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound with threats to the life of her child, be set free from this bondage, on the sabbath or any other day of the week?”

Luke’s text invites us into a complicated conversation. A conversation with which we cannot cease to wrestle. How do we live between the letter and the spirit of the law? Which laws assist us in leading a Christian life? If we believe the root of the law is affirmation of the holiness of life and that everyone deserves to be set free, what actions shall we choose to put flesh on the bones of God’s law today? Compassion cannot wait. 

• Visit ccs-soaz.org. for more information about Casa Alitas Shelter Programs

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Hebrew Testament text for Sunday 29 July 2018

2 Samuel 11:1-15        In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” So David sent messengers to get her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period.) Then she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house, and wash your feet.” Uriah went out of the king’s house, and there followed him a present from the king. But Uriah slept at the entrance of the king’s house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “You have just come from a journey. Why did you not go down to your house?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah remain in booths; and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field; shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do such a thing.” Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day. On the next day, David invited him to eat and drink in his presence and made him drunk; and in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.

In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”

Reflection        From the Biblical perspective, life unfolds in history in the ongoing relationship of humankind with God. God is always present and humans are always free to choose whether they turn toward or away from God.  Within this landscape, sometimes David turns toward God and sometimes he turns away. In the later case David inevitably experiences the consequences of his choices. Bathsheba’s baby dies. David’s sons adopt the misguided ways of their father; brother raping daughter, daughter becoming victim of incest, brother murdering other brother,  and son leading a coup d’etat against his father. (We think we have family issues!) David’s house is undone. His ill conceived behavior has galvanized waves of after-shock.  

As Rabbi Sachs, a British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher and theologian, succinctly states, “The future is not pre-scripted. The prophet warns – not predicts – of the future that will happen if we do not heed the danger and mend our ways. The future depends on us and the choices we make.”

The youngest of eight sons of Jesse, David rises from the status of a mere shepherd boy to great power through a series of unprecedented events. Even when jealousy turns King Saul against him, rather than kill his would-be persecutor, David chooses to respect the King and seek reconciliation.

David is a beacon of light and hope for all people. And, his series of choices to act toward the good did not preclude his succumbing to self-serving gratification and digging ever deeper into the wounds of moral turpitude. As people of God we believe we have freedom of choice and our choices have real consequences. Returning to the wisdom of Rabbi Sachs, “If the people keep faith with God and one another, no force on earth can defeat them. If they do not, no force can save them.”*  

Much as King David did,  I believe the United States ascended to the heights of great power by being a beacon of light and hope for all people; by extending compassionate aid, engaging in liberal commerce and fostering respectful diplomacy. At the risk of being exceedingly simplistic, also much like King David, I believe the United States is vulnerable to self-serving interests and is unwittingly tumbling down the black hole of moral turpitude. 

Every breaking news moment  we hear of “corruption and abominable acts,” we witness the downward spiral of entertainment, media, public figures and officials into scandalous social, sexual and political exploitations.  Every hour breeds more excuses and cover-ups of the preceding hours’ faux pas. Do we choose to tumble down this slippery slope or do we choose to turn toward good?

As people who find our identity in our “with God life,” how are our choices moving us toward God and one another? As people who live in a country singularly identified with the words inscribed at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!,” How are we doing? What shall we choose?

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*  https://mailchi.mp/rabbisacks/listening-to-the-prophetic-voice-a-thought-for-tisha-bav?e=b849e08f60

Independence Day lections for Sunday 1 July 2018

Hebrews 11:8-16      By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a  place that he was to receive as an inheritance; and he set out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he stayed for a time in the land he had been promised, as in a foreign land, living in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith he received power of procreation, even though he was too old-- and Sarah herself was barren-- because he considered him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one person, and this one as good as dead, descendants were born, “as many as the stars of heaven and as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.”

All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

Reflection       As I see it, church and state cannot possibly come into alignment given the incredible diversity of understanding in our country of who or what or if there is God and what constitutes moral or ethical behavior. We will never all be on the same page. Nonetheless, as citizens and friends, strangers and immigrants in this country I believe we can agree that there is one boulder that bridges the divide between church and state. Freedom.

Just a few weeks before the Revolutionary war two hundred and forty three years ago,  Patrick Henry spoke to the House of Burgess in Virginia urging the delegates to join efforts for Independence from Great Britain. His words, “Give me liberty or give me death” echo through the centuries as a battlecry for freedom. We hear Henry’s words in Moses’ demands to Pharoah, “Set my people free.”  We hear Henry’s words in Jesus’ proclamation, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me… (having) sent me to proclaim release to the captives.” (Luke 4.18) We hear Henry’s words in Abraham Lincoln’s confrontation of “the monstrous injustice of slavery.”  We hear Henry’s words in Nelson Mandela’s, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

Today we face a challenging question. Do we believe in freedom enough to do whatever it takes to respect and enhance the freedom of others? As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so eloquently wrote,  “We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.”

The fourth of July is Independence Day, celebrating freedom of the American colonies from Great Britain in 1776. Public displays of patriotism abound; flags, fireworks and parades, bar-b-ques, watermelon and baseball games, simple ways Americans celebrate their gratitude for the freedom we enjoy, the American way.

As we look forward to this government paid holiday I find myself scratching my head and wondering “How well are we walking on this land of the free, enhancing the freedom of our sisters and brothers? How free are the poor to access health care and reproductive information? How free are people to work and businesses to engage in free commerce? How free are women to access pay and position equal to their male counterparts? How free are employers to hire whomever they choose? How free are our LGBTQ friends and neighbors to pursue their happiness?  How free are folks to protect themselves and not participate in things in which they do not believe? How free are men to express vulnerability or uncertainty? How free are refugees, asylum seekers and migrants to find safe haven and make a better life in this country? How free are each of us to speak and expose unpopular truths? How free are we to tell people in power what they do not want to hear?”

Do you hear this litany? When we ask all of these questions we realize, they do not line up  on one side of the political aisle nor do they align with a particular religious perspective. Even within our Christian tradition people of good faith see different ways to move toward what they believe is good. There is no simple prescription for freedom. The one thing we may say is, if freedom is freedom at all, it must be freedom for all. Returning to Mandela’s words, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” 

How then shall we “live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others?”

As people of God we locate ourselves in a with God world. That means we act decisively to make God’s presence known among all people, especially the poor, weak and marginalized, the strangers and enemies. As people of God we privilege relationships over personal gain. It is not all about me. It is all about we. As people of God we not only have compassion for the suffering but we also act unconditionally to offer them relief. And so we ask ourselves, am I making God’s presence known by respecting and enhancing the freedom of others?

Freedom is not free. It may well cost our lives or land us in prison. But the desire for freedom was sufficient for our ancestors to take the risk, cross the pond and enter this unknown land. The desire for freedom was sufficient for our fledgling nation to wage and win a revolution against Great Britain. The desire for freedom was sufficient to ignite the mass protests of the civil rights movement culminating in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The desire for freedom compels us to action.

The thing is, if we want freedom we must stand up for it and, like our ancestor Abraham, be willing to step onto new ground without knowing where we are going. And yes, this does create disorder, shakes up the status quo. So by faith we must stay the course, even when it means  like our barren sister Sarah we must wait through our old age to bear new life. And yes, like Abraham and his descendants we may well die before receiving the promise of the city of God, but as people of God we continue to pave the way of respect and access to freedom for all people. 

In our lifetime we may never see the City of God fulfilled, but every word we speak and every action we take will either add to its foundation or tare it down. Let me suggest before we speak and before we act we would do well to ask ourselves, “How do my words and my actions respect and enhance the freedom of others?” 

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Gospel text for Sunday of the Passion 29 March 2015

Mark 14.1-15.47 

As this week’s gospel text is exceedingly long I invite you to click on the below link to read it in its entirety. 

http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearB_RCL/HolyWeek/BPalmSun_RCL.html#GOSPEL2

Reflection       What do you think about the notion that each one of our life stories is a variation on the theme of Jesus’ story? Some of us were planned from birth, others, not so much. Some were welcomed to the world with gifts, ( I don’t know about frankincense and myrrh, possibly a silver spoon) others driven into hiding. All of us are “tempted.”All of us encounter “other” people; the sick, wealthy, poor, wise, powerful, weak, fearful, bold. A few of us have friends who really know who we are but most people only think they do. We have families who love us and misjudge us; civil and religious officials who try to tell us who and how we ought to be. And, if we dare to pick up our cross and live our lives by faith rather than fear, by love rather than power and privilege, there is every chance we will be misunderstood, spit at, persecuted and possibly killed. 

Jesus is not a parable, a metaphor or an analogy. Jesus is a living, breathing, human person who experienced the full range of messiness and temptations with which life is fraught. This is essential because if Jesus was not a real human person than his story has little to do with us. But, like the rest of us humans, Jesus lived and breathed and found his being in relationship with God. 

Please hear Jesus’ words from the gospel according to John. "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”  (John 5:19) "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of the One who sent Me.” (John 6.38)

Jesus’ relationship with God the Father is the hallmark of his identity and of his way of life. It is into this relationship of unspeakable intimacy with God that each and every one of us is invited. As faithful Christians we are intended to experience a qualitatively new reality in which moment by moment, day by day we submit our will to the will of the One, Holy and Living God. When we no longer live to satisfy our inordinate desires for safety, security, affection, esteem, power and control we are free to live our lives as an expression of God’s love. Likewise, we are free to lay down our lives into the hands of our Father God.  

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Gospel text for Sunday 6 July 2014

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30        Jesus said to the crowd, "To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

`We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.'For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, `He has a demon'; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, `Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."

At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Reflection   Caught between a rock and a hard place. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Basically Jesus is saying, nothing pleases these people! They hear great music and do not respond with joy. They witness great suffering and do not respond with sadness. All they do is sit around in coffee shops, flaunt their intelligence and complain.    Quite the social commentary two thousand years ago and today.

But Jesus does not leave us there, stuck between the proverbial rock and hard place. Jesus offers a way into freedom. “Come to me… take my yoke… learn from me…” The thing is, we cannot come to Jesus when we are caught up in the local social political commentary. We cannot take from Jesus when we are full of our selves. We cannot learn from Jesus when we rely on our intellect. 

Still, there is a way to freedom. We come to Jesus when we are as infants; artless, guileless and unpretentious. We take from Jesus when we yoke ourselves to him, finding our identity in him even as he finds his identity in God the Father.  We learn from Jesus when we empty our selves of our intellects. In the words of the ancient wisdom teacher Lao-Tzu, “A wise man has no extensive knowledge; he who has extensive knowledge is not a wise man.” (Tao te Ching, c550 BCE) 

Another wise man, Pope Francis, wrote, “If one has the answers to all the questions, that is proof that God is not with him. It means that he is a false prophet using religion for himself. The great leaders of the people of God, like Moses, have always left room for doubt. You must leave room for the Lord, not for our certainties; we must be humble.” How might our world be transformed if everyone prayed for the grace to be “gentle and humble in heart?” How glorious if althogether we found “rest for our souls?” 

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Gospel Text for Sunday 22 June 2014

Matthew 10:24-39       Jesus said to the twelve disciples,  "A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

"So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

"Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

"For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one's foes will be members of one's own household.

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”

Reflection       

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord!

Unnumbered blessings give my spirit voice;

tender to me the promise of his word;

in God my Savior shall my heart rejoice.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his Name!

Make known his might, the deeds his arm has done;

his mercy sure, from age to age to same;

his holy Name--the Lord, the Mighty One.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of his might!

Powers and dominions lay their glory by.

Proud hearts and stubborn wills are put to flight,

the hungry fed, the humble lifted high.

Tell out, my soul, the glories of his word!

Firm is his promise, and his mercy sure.

Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord

to children's children and for evermore!**                                                                                    

This great hymn says it all. If only I would be as forthright in my speech when I leave church on Sunday! That is what Jesus is instructing the disciples and us to do, “Have no fear…  What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.” We are to “tell out” our souls, to make known the wisdom and truth revealed to us.  In the words of Ken Wilber, “shine your headlights into the eyes of the complacent.” ***

Jesus knows this will not be easy. Speaking deep truth of the soul stirs the pot, unsettles the peace, even puts us cross-ways with family members. When we speak truth, though we may still experience fear, it is no longer fear that is driving the ship. Fear becomes a mere emotion in the great vessel of freedom. 

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” Like Jesus, Nelson Mandela calls us to action, to stand on rooftops or whisper in strategic places and demand the dignity and care of all of humanity. Now, let us find ways to dignify the migrant women and children left at bus stops in Tucson and Phoenix without resource to care for themselves. 

Supplies may be dropped off Catholic Community Services, 140 W. Speedway, Tucson, AZ, north entrance, on Monday-Friday, from 8:30 am – 5:00 pm. Please do not drop anything off at Casa Mariposa or the Greyhound Station because they do not have the space.

         

instant ramen soup (cup of noodles)

bottled of water and Gatorade

bananas (good potassium)

flavored Pedialyte for dehydration

sweaters or hooded sweatshirts for children and adults

socks for children

children’s blankets

diapers (size 3 and 4)

sanitary supplies (sanitary napkins especially needed)

toothbrushes and toothpaste

clean stuffed animals

Beth Lowry, of Casa Mariposa, has asked those wishing to volunteer to attend a Volunteer Orientation/Training on Saturday, June 21st, from 11 am – 1:30 pm at Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church located at 1300 N. Greasewood Road, Tucson, AZ.

** Words: Timothy Dudley-Smith inspired by The Song of Mary (Magnificat) (Luke 1:46-56);

Words © 1962, Renewed. 1990 by Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188. 

*** Ken Wilbur, One Taste: Daily Reflections on Integral Spirituality, p35

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Gospel text for Sunday 7 April 2013

John 20:19-31       When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Reflection      I imagine the room was stuffy and thick with fear. The disciples pacing, crouching, peeking out a small window opening. They were locked in for fear that they too would be persecuted and crucified for being friends with Jesus, for being part of that stange Jesus movement that was in opposition to the status quo. I wonder if the disciples were also locked in because they were horrified with themselves, mortified that in the end they all abandoned their friend and teacher, Jesus. 

Every year during the Good Friday liturgy when we recall to heart the story of Jesus’ passion and death we sing or hear the haunting lyrics of the old spiritual “Were you there when they crucified my Lord...?” Twelve times we repeat the question... were you there? were you there? Every year I imagine myself standing there, helpless, hopeless, watching. But this year I realized my answer was no, I was not there. I was not there when Jesus was crucified because Jesus is crucified by my absence, not my presence. Jesus is crucified when I, like the disciples deny I know him, fail to proclaim my faith, forget to love my neighbor and hide in my little skin house afraid to allow the fullness of the Light of Christ to shine through me.  So when I read the story of the disciples hiding I can smell the fear and taste the remorse throbbing behind the locked doors of their hearts. The only thing I can imagine that would set them, and me, free are Jesus words, “Peace be with you.” To feel the peace of the Lord in my heart is to know that even though I abandon him, he never abandons me. That is the peace that passes all understanding. That is the peace the risen Lord restored to the broken hearts and troubled minds of the disciples that “evening on that day, the first day of the week, (when) the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear...”

The promise of Easter is fulfilled when the Peace of the Lord arises to set us free, to unlock the door of our hearts and unleash the chains of our minds. Alleluia!

Gospel Text for Sunday, August 22nd

Luke 13:10-17

Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day." But the Lord answered him and said, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?" When he said this, all his opponents were put to shame; and the entire crowd was rejoicing at all the wonderful things that he was doing.

Questions for engaging the text:

- What do I observe" What am I seeing" Does this passage raise questions for me?

- Is anything attracting me, drawing my attention, or repulsing me?

-What response is emerging within me? What is my response to what is attracting me?***

-In what ways might I specifically act on my insights in the world

I really want to hear from you. Thank you for clicking on "Comments" below and adding your responses.

Grace and Peace, Debra

*** 1st three questions taken from The Art of Engaging Holy Scripture curriculum (see resources)