Collaboration

Much has been in the religious news this past week about the resignation of the Archbishop of Warsaw over his alleged collaboration with the former communist government of Poland. I have been thinking about this topic this week and have come up with a question. Is collaboration always bad?
If church leaders collaborate with the government of their country to keep the church alive and safe is that a bad thing? Should the church stand up against all forms of oppression and take their licks as the come down the pike? With same sex marriage here in Massachusetts the day could come when the state tells us clergy that we have to perform the marriages. Now I agree that this is truly fantasy, but it could happen. So what do we do?
I don’t have any answers, only questions to ponder and I also pray that I will never be put into this situation.

29th Sunday After Pentecost

Colossians 3:4-11
Luke 17:12-19

This Sunday is also known as the Sunday of the 10 Lepers.

In the Gospel passage today we see Jesus encountering 10 lepers who have come to see him. They see him and they say, “Have mercy on us.” Now, unlike other healing passages in the Gospel the healing does not take place right away. He tells them to go and show themselves to the priest. Lepers were unclean and therefore set apart from the community so the illness would not spread to others. If they were healed of this illness, they were to go to the priest who would certify that they were in fact clean and could return to the community in which they lived, or another one. As they went on their way they were healed, or as the Scriptures say, “they were cleansed.”
One of the guys realized that he was now clean, and turned around and started to praise God. He returned to Jesus and fell on the ground. Jesus says, “were not 10 cleansed? Where are the other nine?” To make matters worse this man was a Samaritan, the scourge of the day. So only the unclean to begin with returned giving praise to God. He tells the mean to go that his faith has made him whole. But what of the others? Did they get their illness back? We do not know, but I would hazard to guess that they did not.
God gives us gifts each day, and some times we thank him for them and sometimes we do not. Does he take them away from us? Of course not. However we need to thank God for all that he has given us and will give us each and every day. Let us be the one that comes back and says thank you and not one the nine who could not even bother to give thanks to God.

Wright’s Chicken Farm

If you happen to find yourself in Harrisville Rhode Island then you have to take a trip to Wright’s Chicken Farm. I had the opportunity to go there last night with some of the guys from the firehouse where I am the chaplain. First I have to say that it was great to be able to spend time with these guys and their families on a much different level than I usually do. Second, strap on the feed bag because gluttony is the name of the game at this place.
The place is the largest restaurant I have even been too it seats about 2000. You sit down, order drinks, and the food starts coming out. All served family style you get salad, pasta, french fried potatoes, and of course chicken that just falls off the bone. And it just keeps coming. You sit a long tables with paper on them and as soon as one group leaves the army of serves comes from the back to clear and reset the table for the next bunch of hungry people.
I wish to thank all of the chickens that gave their life so I could feast yesterday. I am still full and it is 7:30am the next day. I have a feeling I will be back to this place. The best part of the whole deal is that it is only 10 bucks a head for all of this in this economy that is a great deal!
Thanks Wright’s!

“Have a good one”

Recently as I have been out and about, the people in stores and other such places say to me after I make my purchases “have a good one.” Now I consider myself and educated person but I cannot for the life of me figure out what that means. Have a good one what? What ever happened to have a nice day, or come back soon? No we have to be hip and trendy and say have a good one. Maybe during the final blessing after liturgy tomorrow I will just turn to the people and say “Hey, have a good one!”

St. Kentigern

(Or MUNGO)
Bishop, founder of the See of Glasgow, b. about 518; d. at Glasgow, 13 January, 603. His mother Thenaw was daughter of a British prince, Lothus (from whom the province of Lothian was called); his father’s name is unknown. According to Jocelyn’s life of Kentigern, the saint was born at Culross in Fife, and brought up until manhood by St. Serf (or Servanus) at his monastery there; but Skene shows that this connection between the two saints involves an anachronism, as St. Serf really belongs to the following century. At the age of twenty-five we find Kentigern (the name means “head chief”, but he was popularly known as Mungo — in Cymric, Mwyn-gu, or “dear one”), beginning his missionary labours at Cathures, on the Clyde, the site of modern Glasgow. The Christian King of Strathclyde, Roderick Hael, welcomed the saint, and procured his consecration as bishop, which took place about 540. For some thirteen years he laboured in the district, living a most austere life in a cell at the confluence of the Clyde and the Molendinar, and making many converts by his holy example and his preaching. A large community grew up around him, became known as “Clasgu” (meaning the “dear family”) and ultimately grew into the town and city of Glasgow.

About 553 a strong anti-Christian movement in Strathclyde compelled Kentigern to leave the district, and he retired to Wales, staying for a time with St. David at Menevia, and afterwards founding a large monastery at Llanelwy, now St. Asaph’s, of which he appointed the holy monk Asaph superior in succession to himself. In 573 the battle of Arthuret secured the triumph of the Christian cause in Cumbria, and Kentigern, at the earnest appeal of King Roderick, returned thither, accompanied by many of his Welsh disciples. For eight years he fixed his see at Hoddam in Dumfriesshire, evangelizing thence the districts of Galloway and Cumberland. About 581 he finally returned to Glasgow, and here, a year or two later, he was visited by St. Columba, who was at that time labouring in Strathtay. The two saints embraced, held long converse, and exchanged their pastoral staves.

Kentigern was buried on the spot where now stands the beautiful cathedral dedicated in his honour. His remains are said still to rest in the crypt. His festival is kept throughout Scotland on 13 January. The Bollandists have printed a special mass for this feast, dating from the thirteenth century.

Spring (?) Cleaning

Today I began the process of cleaning out the old stuff. It is amazing how much “stuff” one can accumulate in such a short period of time. I have been here for less than three years but I have amased a lifetimes worth of stuff.
So I started by going through the files. It’s funny that I saved the stuff that I did. When in seminary I had this view that the notes that I took in class would be nugetts of wisdom ala Thomas Merton. I saved all of my notes in order to refer back to them when theological questions came up in the parish. Today was the first day I looked at most of that “stuff” since I placed it in the file cabinet. It is kind of nice to look at the pile that will make its way to the recycle place and out of here.
So that’s one room, only three more to go!

Blog nominations

Okay, not being one that’s wants to heap praise on oneself, if you might be of the mind to do something like this you could nominate this blog at the following site. It would seem that the best fit for this blog would be under the “topical” category. Thanks for reading.

Heat

In my last post there was frost on the ground now today, at not yet 9am, it is 60 degrees out and the temp will be going up. What do we call this Indian Winter? Very strange weather we have been having this year.
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