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Sermon: Guided in Prayer

Posted on by Fr. Peter

John 17:6-19

In the life of one who claims to be a Christian, prayer must be central. When we arise in the morning or before we close our eyes at night, prayer should be on our lips. Before we undertake any task, be it personal or communal, we should offer that task in prayer to God. Christians are or at least should be a people of prayer.

But what is prayer? Prayer, simply put, is conversation. It is a sacred conversation between you and God. The language can be formal or informal. The prayers can be spontaneous or memorized. We can pray with Scriptures like the psalms, or we can pray through the singing of hymns and other songs that bring praise to God. And we can pray by using our very lives as prayer.

If we look through Scripture, especially the Gospels, we will see that prayer is central to the community. Jesus prays often and encourages others to do the same. Jesus left us the perfect prayer, the prayer we say in almost every worship service, the Lord’s Prayer. The critical thing to remember is the words are not as important as the intention behind those words. If we are sincere in our prayer, then that prayer will be pleasing to God.

Now, prayer is not magic. That is not how it works. I was reminded many years ago that all prayers are answered, and sometimes the answer is no. I am not going to get into why this happens or that happens or why this prayer is answered, and this prayer is not. It is a mystery that we are not supposed to understand. But when we pray for ourselves, for the world, and for those who have asked us for prayer, our intention should be that our prayer is heard by God, which it always is, and that the prayer is granted according to the will of God. God’s will is not always our will, and sometimes that is difficult to understand.

In today’s Gospel lesson from John, Jesus is praying to the Father. We are near the end of the story here, and he is about to ascend, and so he is praying one last time here on earth for those he will leave behind. Jesus knows they are ready, but he also knows what they are about to experience, and he is asking God to protect them. Not to keep them from what is going to happen but to protect them whilst it happens.

There is an interesting line here in verse 11. In his prayer, he says that he no longer of the world and will be leaving to return to the Father. Jesus prays for the protection of his friends. But he prays not for their protection from danger, as I have already mentioned, but he prays “that they may be one, as we are one.” At this moment, Jesus is praying for the unity of the Church, for the unity of the witness of the Church, the unity, the oneness that Jesus shares with the Father is the essence of the trinitarian relationship.

So, this should give us pause to ask a question, are we one? I don’t mean are we one homogenous Christian Church, no, and I don’t think we need to be. But are we of one mind?

Jesus came into a world more than 2,000 years ago that is not unlike the world we live in today. There are the haves and the have nots, and the haves want to make sure they continue to have at the expense of those who have not. Jesus preached a radical message of love and inclusion of all, and the Church needs to be a place where that radical theology is lived out.

In verse 14, Jesus says, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world.” Yes, the world will hate us; the world does hate us because we preach and live a radical form of living that goes against everything that the world wants us to be. The world wants us to care only for ourselves, even at the expense of others. The world wants us to take everything we can, even if it means we leave some with nothing. And the world wants us to justify those actions by saying things like, “they are lazy” or “they need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” All of which flies in the face of the radical message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is not easy to be counter-cultural, but it is what Christians are called to be.

How can we come here and praise God on Sunday and then curse our fellow humans on Monday? How can we come here and praise God from “whom all blessings flow” if when we leave, we support policies and politicians that do not lift up the most vulnerable? How can we come here on Sunday and praise God, who is the bridge builder, and then on Monday cheer as we continue to build walls that separate? And how can we come here, lift our voice and our hands in praise to a brown-skinned, nappy-headed, poor carpenter from the middle east and then stand by and watch the rights of those who do not look like us or love like us, or believe like us be taken away?

To be a Christian is to be a person of action!

I read a quote one time, I cannot remember where I read it or who wrote it, and I searched for it this morning whilst I was preparing these words, but it goes something like, “I prayed to God to ask why he has done thinking to help the poor, and God asked me the same question.” I started this by saying that prayer is a conversation. Conversation requires a sender and a receiver, one who talks and one who listens. How often in our prayer do we spend time listening? Is our prayer a laundry list of things we want and people we want to pray for, or is it that and then a time when we say, “speak Lord, your servant is listening.”

It is great that we pray for the world and for the alleviation of all the nastiness in the world, but what are we doing about it? We may not be called to march; we may not be called to protest, but we are being called to do something. We find that something when we take time to listen to that still, small voice urging us on to make this world a better place.

I often quote Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, because he has a way to take all of the complex theological issues and boil them down into things that we can understand. Bishop Curry says, “The way of Jesus is the way of love. And the way of love will change the world.”

Let us resolve to leave this place today and be more loving toward one another because that love will spread, and that love will change the world.

Amen.

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Are you my friends?

Posted on by Fr. Peter

John 15:9-17

Are you my friends? This is the question that Jesus is asking in this week’s passage from the Gospel of St. John. Jesus does not really ask this question, but he does go about telling those listening and those us reading what it takes to be his friend what the criteria will be used.

For more than a year, I have been working towards membership in the Mayflower Society. If you are unfamiliar, the Mayflower Society has as its members’ direct descendants of passengers from the Mayflower. To join, one must prove their linage to one or more passengers. One does this by researching the various lines in one’s family tree and producing birth, death, and marriage records for each of those persons. After a year or more research, I am still unable to become a member because I am missing one document, a birth record from the 1700s. As frustrating as this is, to join, I have to follow the rules.

Each club or organization one wishes to be a part of has membership rules. Some, like the Mayflower Society, have stringent regulations. Thankfully, the rules to be a friend of Jesus are not so strict and are within the grasp of everyone.

“If you keep my commands you remain in my love.” Notice that Jesus says, “my commends.” Further on, Jesus comments that he has “kept my father’s commands and remain in his love.” But Jesus does not leave us hanging; he tells us exactly what his command is. “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” It really is that simple; just love everyone!

We, humans, have made all this so complicated. We have established a system designed not to build bridges but to build walls. Many, many churches focus not on what will teach the love of everyone but rather on what will separate people. Jesus told us that to be his friend; we must love everyone. Jesus never even says we must worship him; he simply states love, everyone.

The great spiritual writer Thomas Merton has this to say about loving others, “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether they are worthy. That is not our business, and in fact, it’s nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself with render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy is anything can.” We love people for their sake, but we also love people for our own sake.

Jesus’ command to love everyone has nothing to do with acceptance of their actions or choices. My guess is they don’t really care if you accept them or not. Jesus’ command to love everyone comes from the fact that each of us contains the divine spark, the Ruach, the very breath of God. When God was creating all that we see, God created most everything by speaking it into existence. God spoke, and there was light. God spoke, and there were trees and plants. God spoke, and there were animals.

When God created humanity, God took the dust from the earth with his very hands. God fashioned humanity in God’s image, and when God had created humanity God breathed God’s breath into the nostrils of humanity and gave life to God’s creation. Humanity is the only portion of creation that God breathed life into. This is the Imago Dei, the Image of God, and we love others because, just like us, they contain the very breath of God.

I know I am a little late to the game with this, but in the last year or so, I have become acquainted with the greeting “Namaste.” Quite simply, Namaste means the divine in me greets the divine in you. It is an acknowledgment that whatever else, we all contain a bit of the divine. I believe that we can all benefit from greeting one another with Namaste.

Bishop Michael Curry, the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, says that I think summarizes this exceptionally well. Bishop Curry says, “The way of Jesus is the way of love and the way of love will change the world.”

Friends, let us spend more time loving everyone and less time worrying about what this one or that one is doing. Just love people for who they are because that is the way God loves you!

Amen.

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Scripture Mediation: Abiding in Love

Posted on by Fr. Peter

John 15:1-8

My wife and I have begun working in our back garden. We started last year ripping out old plants and turning over the planting beds to make way for new growth. This year that task continues, but we have decided to expand our garden to make room for vegetable plants. I am not sure how many or what varieties we will plant, but the way has been cleared for this year and for future expansion.

Most of what we dug, we moved to other locations in the garden, but some plants we gave away, and some tossed on the pile. The garden has been overgrown from lack of attention over the years, and we are working to reclaim planting beds from invasive plants. It is not an easy decision, but sometimes, other plants have to go for the health of other plants.

In the Gospel passage appointed for today from the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the image of pruning a vine. The pruning of plants is an essential and healthy part of gardening. By pruning plants, the energy of the plant is redirected chiefly to the growth of that plant. If dead or sick branches are removed, the plant will come back stronger and healthier.

Jesus uses this image to help us focus on our spiritual life. Whatever does not bear fruit in our spiritual life, whatever is sick or dead in our spiritual life, cut it off and dispose of it. To have a fruitful spiritual life, we need to be operating at our best, and that cannot happen if we are carrying things that do not bear fruit in our lives.

Our bodies are made up of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual if one part of our body is not functioning properly, the other parts will also not work properly. To remain healthy, we need to adopt a healthy lifestyle. There are hundreds of books and articles on the topic of keeping our bodies in their shape. Do this exercise, eat this food, cut out that food, and all the rest. We spend thousands of hours and thousands of dollars each year on our physical body, but what of the mental and spiritual?

Many folks work with a personal trainer or nutritionist to get their physical bodies in shape. If you desire to get your spiritual life in shape, work with a spiritual director, guide, or coach. Just as the personal trainer will help you work with this machine or that machine, the Spiritual Director will assist in getting your spiritual life tuned to its highest potential.

To have proper balance in our lives, all three areas have to be working at their best. Just as we cut things out of our physical lives, we should do the same in our spiritual and mental lives. Getting our spiritual life in tune takes time and daily practice. Just like our physical bodies, our spiritual needs to be conditioned, so take it slow and build up over time.

Friends, take time to get your spiritual life in shape. Prune away those things that do not bear fruit in your lives, and you will see a difference.

Amen.

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Scripture Meditation: Enfolded by Love

Posted on by Fr. Peter

John 10:11-18

On Tuesday, I had the honor of presiding at a funeral for a hospice patient. He died in December, and due to COVID restrictions, the family decided to wait until this past week for his funeral. This is becoming the new normal, and it is delaying or extending people’s grief. But we all must do what we must do these days.

Last Sunday, after I spent a little time with you, my family gathered at a beautiful spot for the internment of our parents. My mother died in 2018, and my father died the following year, but it was not until Sunday last that we put them in their final resting place.

Like many folks, I tuned in last Saturday to watch the funeral of His Royal Highness Prince Philip. It was a wonderful tribute to an amazing character, and it reminded me again of the pageantry that is England.

I share these experiences with you to illustrate that it does not matter if you are a Prince or a Plumber; in the end, we all go out the same way and with the same prayers. At all three services, the 23rd Psalm was used:

“The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want….” You know the rest. This Psalm brings me much joy and much comfort.

Today, on the Church calendar, it is known as Good Shepherd Sunday, and this Sunday gets that name from the Gospel reading from St. John that we just heard. Jesus says to those listening, “I am the Good Shepherd.”

Sheepherding is an incredibly difficult, lonely, and boring business, which is more so during the time of Jesus. Shepherds would stand for hours upon hours in the same place, watching their sheep. If the heard was large enough, hired hands would be brought on to help but, since they did not have a vested interest in the heard, maybe they did not pay as close attention to the job.

The Shepherd has one job, keep the flock safe. There are many predators of sheep, and it is Shepherd’s job to keep those predators away, to not put the sheep into situations where the predators can get at them, and make sure they have adequate food and water. If all of this is provided, the sheep take care of themselves. Sheep are not the brightest animals that God ever created, but for the Shepherd, they are his life.

When Jesus spoke to the crowds, he always used images that they would understand. The people in the audience were fisherman, shepherds, and tradespeople. When Jesus spoke, he wanted them to understand what he was saying. They did not always get it, but they would have understood the images he was using.

In the Gospel, Jesus says that he is the Good Shepherd and that the Good Shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. He says that the hired hand does not care about the sheep the same way the Shepherd does and that when he sees danger coming, he runs off. On the other hand, when the Shepherd sees trouble coming, he must place himself between the sheep and that danger.

One of the more complex theological concepts I struggle with is the atonement, the idea that Jesus had to die as repayment for our sins and the sins of those who came before us. I struggle with this because, in my mind, this does not jive well with the image of God being love. As a parent, I cannot understand how anyone would intentionally cause harm to their child, and God is no different. My theology teaches me that the so-called “repayment” for our sins was not the cross but the cradle, that the long since the strained relationship between God and humanity was restored not with the death of Jesus but with the birth of Jesus.

So, what’s the deal with Jesus dying then? I’m glad you asked.

Looking through Scripture and following in the steps of Jesus, we are witnesses to acts of love. Jesus heals out of love. Jesus feeds people out of love. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead out of love. Jesus taught us to love, love God, and love others. The incarnation of Jesus Christ, the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us, was God’s love for creation. Jesus came not to die in some grizzly death but to show us a new way to live. Jesus came to show us the way of love.

Jesus willingly went to the cross as the ultimate expression of love. Jesus went to the cross because he is the Good Shepherd that is protecting the sheep from danger and that danger is not loving. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and we are the flock, and love is protecting us from danger.

Friends, the message of Easter is not death and life; the message of Easter is love! The love that Jesus showed by willing going to his own death, he did not have to, but he went to show us what love can do. Jesus stretched out his arms on the hardwood of the cross not to repay some debt but to show us the way of love. God is not the God of smiting and retribution causing hurricanes and tornadoes to wipe people out, God is the God that created everything out of love, and the greatest expression of that love is that the Shepherd is willing to lay down his life.

As we continue in this service and as we continue with our week, let us look for ways that we can be love to those around us.

Amen.

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Scripture Meditation: Christ Among Us

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Luke 24:36-48

Imagine yourself in a locked room because you are fearful of what is going to come next. You are still trying to make sense of what has happened over the last few days when, as Scripture relates the story:

“Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your minds?”

I love this line, “They were startled and frightened…. Jesus said to them, why are troubled…?”

How many times in our lives have we been troubled that might have been taken away with someone saying to us, peace be with you.

Why are we troubled?

You just walked through a locked door! But Jesus says to them, Peace, it’s me, look at my wounds and see for yourself. Then he gets to the real reason for his visit; he was hungry.

Peace be with you. In all the gospel stories of the Resurrection and first appearances, Jesus says to them; Peace be with you. In a way, this is a reminder back to the Palm Sunday story. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, a humble beast as a sign of one who comes to bring peace.

I can only imagine how I would have felt to be sitting there, scared for my life, knowing that my friend was dead, and then poof, there he is right in front of me. I believe saying Peace be with you is the least he could do at that moment.

But Jesus is just that; he is the one who brings peace. One of his titles is the Prince of Peace.

Like many people around the world yesterday, I watched the funeral of HRH Prince Philip. I was struck by the image of the Queen, dressed in black, sitting all alone in the chapel for the funeral of the man she spent all her adult life with. She sat there as they brought his flag-draped casket in. She sat a listened to readings and the prayers. And she sat and watched as they carried him to his resting place.

Funerals are not for the dead; funerals are for those of us left behind. Funerals are designed to help us cope with the loss of the one we loved. Funerals are supposed to bring some level of peace in our world that is swirling all around us. I hope she could find a little peace yesterday that will help her in the days and weeks to come.

Many times, in Scripture, Jesus comes on the scene and brings this peace that passes all understanding. One of my favorites is the story of the disciples on their boat and in a storm. They wake and are frightened, and Jesus is still sleeping. They wake him, and he brings calm. Scriptures tells us that Jesus calms the waves of the water that was tossing that little boat around.

There was another time, again on the water, when the disciples saw Jesus walking toward them. They were frightened that what they saw. I mean, who wouldn’t be? But Jesus brought calm and peace to them at that very moment. When Peter decided he wanted to walk on water as well, and when he began to sink and cried out, Jesus reached out and brought calm to his life.

But what about our own lives? Are there times when you could use a little peace?

In my life, when things are going crazy, I turn to prayer. Over the years, my prayer life has been good and not so good. It is the time when my prayer life is good when I make the time to read Scripture each day that a sense of peace comes over me. I will not say life is perfect in those times, but it seems that the little things don’t bother me as much.

Finding peace these days is not always easy. Sometimes I feel like those first disciples hiding in that upper room with the door locked in fear of what will happen next. Sometimes I am afraid to open the door because I am not sure what is on the other side. In those times, we need to ask Jesus to come into our midst and bring that peace.

My prayer for us today is that we can find that peace in our lives or that we can be that peace for another.

Amen.

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Scripture Meditation: Marks of Faith

Posted on by Fr. Peter

John 20:19-31

They had just lost their friend and mentor. They watched him brutally murdered. They watched in horror but could do nothing to stop it. Their entire world has been turned upside down. Scripture tells us that they were locked inside because they feared that the authorities were coming for them next. One of them, probably sitting in the corner all by himself, was coming to grips with his denial. No one knew what to do next.

Then, like a flash, he was there. The friend they saw murdered just hours before was standing there right in front of them. How did he get in? Is he a ghost? How can this be we saw him die? The questions running through their heads must have been overwhelming. Maybe it’s the wine. Perhaps it’s a lack of sleep. But here he is. Scripture tells us he simply says, “Peace be with you.”

The familiar greeting of their friend. But how can this be? He died. We watched them put him in the tomb and roll that enormous stone over the opening. The door was locked, yet here he is, standing right in front of us talking. Maybe it’s a dream.

Then “he showed them his hands and his side.” Jesus, is it really you? But they still had questions, but no one wanted to ask. They rejoiced that their friend had come back to them. He said to them again, “Peace be with you.”

Scripture says, “he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” Reminiscent of Genesis when God, after having created humanity, breathed life into the nostrils of his creation. At creation, God’s breath animated humanity, and now, Jesus, who is God, is breathing the breath of God in the form of the Holy Spirit to animate them for the mission. It is complete; the relationship between God and humanity has been restored to what it once was.

But for some reason, Thomas was not present. Scripture leaves no clue why Thomas was not with the rest that first night and we can only speculate. When Thomas returns, Jesus is gone, and the others tell him what had happened. How can this be? We watched him die. Scripture tells us that Thomas said, “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.” Thomas wants proof.

It took a week for Thomas to get the proof he was looking for. Thomas sat with his doubt for a week. The others gave him space and did not deride him or make fun of him for his questions; they simply let him be. Thomas needed time to process it all, and the others gave him that space.

Then it happened. They had gathered again, and this Thomas was with them. I am sure he cleared his calendar, for he was not going to miss it this time. Maybe it was belief, and perhaps he wanted to prove the others wrong. Whatever it was, it drew Thomas to that place, that place of memories of happier times just a few weeks before.

Then it happened. No flash of light. No trumpet blasts. No smoke. Only Jesus, standing there. “Peace be with you,” he said to them. Then he turned to Thomas. Jesus knew he had questions. Jesus says to him, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”

But Thomas does not touch Jesus. He looks at Jesus and says, “My Lord and my God!” Notice what happens next; Jesus asks him a question but does not wait for an answer, “Have you believed because you have seen me?” He does not scold Thomas for his lack of faith; he uses this time to teach more. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

Thomas is all of us who have questions. This story is essential as it shows that it is okay to question, have doubts, and want proof. Faith is believing without seeing, and that is not easy. We are being asked to consider something that there is no proof for, nothing that can be seen or examined. Thomas had the opportunity to touch the risen Jesus, but what he saw was enough for him.

After Jesus healed the young man, the man’s father said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” This should be our prayer; help us in our doubts, and in those times, we find it hard to believe. We do not have to believe everything we were taught as children or that we hear as adults. However, the one article of faith that it is crucial to believe is that God loves each of us and forgives each of us.

I find great comfort in these words that Paul wrote to the church in Rome, and I pray they bring you some comfort. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Amen

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All is Forgiven: A Meditation for Easter

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Mark 16:1-8

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Mark 16:6-7

But go and tell his disciples and Peter… This is an often-overlooked verse and part of the resurrection story, but it is one of the most important. Just a few days before, Peter denied Jesus three times. He was asked if he was with Jesus or if he knew Jesus, and Peter, the one who would eventually become the chief of the Apostles, denied Jesus. But, after the resurrection, Jesus forgives Peter and wants to that point truly clear.

Forgiveness is the point of all that Jesus has done and continues to do.

It seems that at times we forget that forgiveness is what it is all about. Our relationship with God had been broken, and that relationship has been repaired. The stone of our hearts has been rolled away, just as that stone was rolled away from the tomb of Jesus. We need to empty our hearts from all that keeps us from fellowship with Jesus and with each other. 

This past week, we walked with Jesus as he approached his death. We witnessed Jesus coming in triumph into Jerusalem and the cheering crowd. We were with Jesus as he washed the feet of those who had been with him from the very start. We were with him when he gave himself to us in the Eucharist and told us to “do this” in remembrance.

We were with him in the garden, his most human moment when he pleaded with his father in heaven to provide another way. And we witnessed the example he left for us in his words of “not my will by your will be done.”

We were with him when the tone of the week changed, and one of his own betrayed him and handed him over to those who would kill him. We were there with him through all of it, including the moment when he died.

And all this Jesus did willingly not for his own sake but for ours. Jesus endured all this not as a sacrifice but as an expression of love and as a reminder of God’s love for us and that we are to love each other.

Easter is a reminder of what love can do. Easter reminds us the love requires us to empty ourselves and make room for others. Easter is a reminder, not of what we have done for that is whipped away for all time, but Easter reminds us of our potential and what we can do.

Jesus turned the order of this around. Jesus reminded us that he is the fulfillment of all the law and all the prophets, and Jesus left us a new commandment, we are to love God and love each other. We are no longer just to live for ourselves, but we are, to the extent we are able to live for others. The sacrifice that we are now to make is the sacrifice of love.

But our journey is not over; it is only just beginning. Our task is to take that love that Jesus taught us out into the world and to make it a better place not for some but for all. At the Last Supper, Jesus said, “take this all of you…” All of you, not just some of you. Take this love, all of you, this love of God, and know that you are forgiven.

Amen

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Palm Sunday: Entry Into Jerusalem

Posted on by Fr. Peter

John 12:12-16

Today we begin our Holy Week journey. We begin the week with shouts of Hosana, but by the end of the week, we will be shouting Crucify Him! Crucify Him! But we also cannot and should not despair because we know that in the end, love wins, and death is destroyed, and that makes the journey and the pain of the coming week worth it.

We see Jesus coming into Jerusalem riding on the humble donkey. This is an essential part of the story. This is a day of contrast, and we see the contrast in the way Jesus enters the city. When a conquering king would come into the city, he would ride on a horse, usually a large horse that would make it truly clear that he held all the power.

But here comes Jesus, being hailed as King but not riding on a horse but coming in on a donkey. The donkey is a humble beast, and if the King arrives on the donkey, it signifies that he is coming in peace. Jesus is being hailed as King, but he is not the King of power and wealth but rather the King that brings peace to the world.

Regardless of how he entered the city, he was being hailed as King, which made the establishment extremely nervous. Jesus had been this guy in the background for a long time, and he is gaining the attention of the religious and the political establishment. Not long ago, he caused quite a ruckus in the Temple when he turned the tables over, and now, he is coming into the city being proclaimed King.

Those in power do not like to give up control. When their power is threatened, they do all sorts of things. They create false situations that cause people to feel that they will somehow lose power as well. People in power can get others to believe whatever they say for no other reason than those in power. The religious authorities stayed in power by keeping the people down and subservient to them. But Jesus knew what he was doing.

Jesus had to stir the pot. Jesus had to get the religious and political folks nervous about what he was doing. Jesus needed them to get so worried that they had no other choice but to put him to death. So, he brought attention to himself in a grand way.  Go big or go home!

Now, we all know the end of the story, so I want to look in a different direction. We will talk a lot over these next few days of salvation, redemption, sanctification, sacrifice, and many other Holy Week themes. But salvation did not happen on the cross; salvation happened in the cradle in Bethlehem.

We need to go back to the beginning of the story, way back to the time of creation itself. God created humanity and placed humanity in the garden. God walked, physically walked with humanity at this time, but, as we know, something happened, and humanity was placed outside of the garden, and God no longer walked with creation. There was a distance between God and humanity. I don’t want us to dwell on the why but only that it happened.

God tried to fix this relationship, but it was not until God sent Jesus, his son, to show humanity a new way, the way of love. The moment Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God and humanity’s relationship was restored, for God once again walked with humanity. Salvation came into the world not through the cross but through a tiny baby. Salvation came to the world not through violence but through love—the love of God for all of creation.

The crucifixion was necessary, but not for the sacrifice but for love. Sure, God could have done things a different way, but the way of love is a way of obedience and sacrifice. Jesus willingly went to the cross; everything he did, he did willingly. All of the pain and anguish was not some blood sacrifice to pay a debt owed to God because of something that happened “in the beginning,” but instead, it was all for love. Love requires a sacrifice; love requires death in a sense, a death to self and our ambition.

Jesus came to show us a new way to live and a new way to act, and that is the way of love. Jesus died on that cross as an ultimate expression of love. Jesus was hanging on that cross, with his arms open wide, signifying that all are welcome in the kingdom of God, not just a few select people but everyone.

As we walk the way of love this week, let us keep in mind that everything that we will witness was to show us a new way of living and a new way of interacting with each other. And remember the new commandment that Jesus gave to us, love one another.

Amen

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The Friday of Sorrows

Posted on by Fr. Peter

The Friday before Palm Sunday is set aside as a time to recall and meditate on the Blessed Virgin Mary’s sorrows. The Friday of Sorrows is the day to remember Mary’s physical, mental, and spiritual pain upon seeing what was done to her Son.

I believe that the Reformation went too far in its reform of traditions surrounding Mary and her life. She was and is the mother of God, the Theotokos, the God-bearer, the one who brought Jesus into the world. Of all of the women of her time, God chose Mary for this honor. The Reformation has all but erased her role in all of this, and for that, I am sad.

As I wrote about just before Christmas, yes, Mary did know. Mary knew in her heart what was going to happen. She may not have known all of the details of the events of Holy Week, but she knew that her Son would eventually die. But the knowledge that death is coming does not make it any easier when it finally arrives.

In my work as a hospice chaplain, I deal with death and grief daily. The philosophy of hospice is to prepare the patient and the family for a good end. But all of the preparation in the world does not make it any easier when your loved one slips away to the other side.

Of all the images of Mary in art, and the one that shows her true sufferings is in the movie the Passion of the Christ. In that movie, we see Mary, from a distance watching all that is happening to her Son. She is present for his trial, for his whipping and beating, and yes, she is there for his crucifixion and death. She is present but cannot do anything to stop it. She, like Jesus, has consented to the will of God at that moment in her life.

As we prepare to follow Jesus during the coming days of Holy Week, let us not forget the one who gave him birth and the pain and sorrow she felt.

O LORD in whose Passion, according to the prophecy of Simeon, the sword of sorrow did pierce the most loving soul of thy glorious Virgin Mother Mary: mercifully grant that we, who devoutly call to mind the suffering whereby she was pierced, may, by the glorious merits and prayers of all the Saints who have stood beneath the Cross, obtain with gladness the benefits of thy Passion; who livest and reignest with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

Collect for the Friday of Sorrows

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