Christmas I (John 1:1-18) In the beginning was the Word.

All things in this universe of matter, energy, time and space have a beginning. All things in this universe are subject to the law of cause and effect. And all things in this universe reflect a pattern. That pattern can be described by the physical laws that govern the universe.

Modern science generally confines itself to observation, description and experimentation within that pattern. The ancient Greeks asked themselves what they considered was a logical question. If everything in the universe has a beginning and it subject to the law of cause and effect then what caused the universe? What is the First Cause of all things? What is the uncaused cause of the entire pattern and process?

The answer the Greeks proposed is the logos. The logos is the uncaused cause of the pattern of cause and effect. Based on observation of the natural world, the Greeks proposed that the pattern of the universe, of nature, derives from a transcendent and eternal pattern. That pattern reflects in the universe as being rational, active, dynamic, creative and spontaneous. That pattern, the logos, is the Word.

When the beloved apostle John introduced the story of Jesus to the Greek speaking world, he used this concept of the logos, the word. John boldly declares that Jesus of Nazareth is the logos, the eternal transcendent Word, appearing and embodied at a particular time, place and person.

John reflected on an esoteric philosophical concept and personalized it. John personalized it because John experienced the logos in person. And, John formed his experience of that person, Jesus, in the context of his mother Mary’s wisdom and insight.

The Bible is a book of human observation and human experience. Moses and the prophets record their impressions of human behavior in the context of their relationship with God. The Biblical writers never directly present rational logical proofs for the existence of God. What they do is to record their experience of the world as it is in the context of their experience of the God who is.

The Christian Faith is an experience of life in the context of a personal relationship with the Logos, the Word of God made flesh in Jesus Christ. John the Beloved invites the people of his time and all time to enter into this personal relationship.

The apostle Paul comments on this reality when he reflects: the Greeks seek rational analytical proof. The Jews seeks miraculous demonstrations of power. God offers a personal relationship with himself in Jesus Christ.

John encourages us to experience God not just speculate about God or demand favors of God. John and Mary demonstrate a new way of living in the context of the logos, the Word of God. That experience of a new way of living is love. For Mary it started with the love of a mother for her son. For John it was the love of a friend. For both, Jesus met them within the love they could experience and then invited them to experience the infinite and eternal love of the Holy and Blessed Trinity.

The Logos, the Word of God, the transcendent pattern of the universe is the Love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit that creates, sustains and transforms the universe and each of us. The logos is universal, it is particular and it is personal. The pattern of love embedded in the universe  is three fold. That pattern is love of God through worship on the Seventh Day, the day of real presence. It is the love of others through acts of compassion and charity. Human frailty and human need is a pattern by which we participate in divine compassion. And, there is love of self through personal transformation in the beauty of holiness. Our ability to choose, grow and transform is the third strand in the three fold pattern of love that gives form to the universe.

The three fold pattern of Love is worship, compassion and personal transformation. It is in that pattern and process that Jesus meets us, reveals himself to us and unfolds the infinite and eternal Great Mystery of the Trinity and the Incarnation.

John invites us to enter into a new life and a new way of living in a personal relationship with Jesus, the Word of God made flesh.

 

Christmas 2012 (Luke 2:1-20)

Mary gave birth to her first born son.

At Christmas, a young working class woman named Mary reminds us that God is real, God is personal, God is Jesus Christ.

Throughout history people have speculated about God. Is God real? Is God one? Is God many? Who is God? Is there God? Is God whoever I want or need God to be?

From time to time I hear people say: if God is real then where is God? If God is real then God must prove the divine existence to my satisfaction.

Moses reports that the answer God gave him to these questions is: I am. I am who I am Moses. I am nothing like anything you can imagine. I am not defined by your speculations, needs or desires. I will not be constrained by your politics, philosophies or ideologies.

Mary reports that the answer God gave her is: Jesus.

Jesus is the I Am made real and made personal. Jesus is the assurance of God to Mary and to all people everywhere that God is for us. God is with us.

The infant Jesus reveals that while God has many attributes: omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, and so much more- God is not any of these things. God is the infinite and eternal I am who reveals that he is love.

Mary reminds us: do not look for God amongst the rich and powerful. Do not define God from the place of fear, self-will or pride. Look for God in the stable outside Bethlehem. Let God define himself in his only begotten Son, Jesus.

The revelation of God as Love cannot be contained in a book, a ritual or a spiritual discipline. The revelation that God is love can only be embodied in a person: Jesus.

Love is not a law to which we submit. Love is not a prophet who authorizes holy war. Love is not serenity now meditation that seeks to detach the mind, heart and will from this world. Love is an ongoing personal relationship we experience.

God becomes real to us in the relationship God invites us to experience. The relationship began with the birth of Jesus. The relationship gives us a new life and a new way of living. The new life is eternal. The new way of living is the way of faith, hope and love. It is the way of goodness, kindness, gentleness, compassion, humility and grace.

In Jesus the timeless touches time. In Jesus the infinite intersects space. In Jesus the eternal God who is love reveals himself to us as we make a real choice to respond to his invitation to be in a relationship with The Beloved.

Holy Mother Mary speaks to us from her throne in Heaven. She reminds us that she gave birth to a child at a particular time in a particular place. She asks us to ponder the imponderable truth that this child, as weak and as helpless as all infants is the fullness of God in human flesh. Jesus is that fullness of God. His mother Mary reminds us that God is real, God is personal, God is Jesus.

Mary gave birth to her first born Son. She named him Jesus. The universal Lord of Love. The universal savior and forever friend of all people everywhere.

 

 

Christmas 2012 (Luke 2:1-20)

Mary gave birth to her first born son.

At Christmas, a young working class woman named Mary reminds us that God is real, God is personal, God is Jesus Christ.

Throughout history people have speculated about God. Is God real? Is God one? Is God many? Who is God? Is there God? Is God whoever I want or need God to be?

From time to time I hear people say: if God is real then where is God? If God is real then God must prove the divine existence to my satisfaction.

Moses reports that the answer God gave him to these questions is: I am. I am who I am Moses. I am nothing like anything you can imagine. I am not defined by your speculations, needs or desires. I will not be constrained by your politics, philosophies or ideologies.

Mary reports that the answer God gave her is: Jesus.

Jesus is the I Am made real and made personal. Jesus is the assurance of God to Mary and to all people everywhere that God is for us. God is with us.

The infant Jesus reveals that while God has many attributes: omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, and so much more- God is not any of these things. God is the infinite and eternal I am who reveals that he is love.

Mary reminds us: do not look for God amongst the rich and powerful. Do not define God from the place of fear, self-will or pride. Look for God in the stable outside Bethlehem. Let God define himself in his only begotten Son, Jesus.

The revelation of God as Love cannot be contained in a book, a ritual or a spiritual discipline. The revelation that God is love can only be embodied in a person: Jesus.

Love is not a law to which we submit. Love is not a prophet who authorizes holy war. Love is not serenity now meditation that seeks to detach the mind, heart and will from this world. Love is an ongoing personal relationship we experience.

God becomes real to us in the relationship God invites us to experience. The relationship began with the birth of Jesus. The relationship gives us a new life and a new way of living. The new life is eternal. The new way of living is the way of faith, hope and love. It is the way of goodness, kindness, gentleness, compassion, humility and grace.

In Jesus the timeless touches time. In Jesus the infinite intersects space. In Jesus the eternal God who is love reveals himself to us as we make a real choice to respond to his invitation to be in a relationship with The Beloved.

Holy Mother Mary speaks to us from her throne in Heaven. She reminds us that she gave birth to a child at a particular time in a particular place. She asks us to ponder the imponderable truth that this child, as weak and as helpless as all infants is the fullness of God in human flesh. Jesus is that fullness of God. His mother Mary reminds us that God is real, God is personal, God is Jesus.

Mary gave birth to her first born Son. She named him Jesus. The universal Lord of Love. The universal savior and forever friend of all people everywhere.

 

 

Advent 4 (Luke 1:39-45) Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

All grace flows through Mary.

All grace flows from God. Mary is the conduit of grace. She is the mother of God incarnate, Jesus, who is the grace of God.

In Mary God the Father sent God the Holy Spirit to facilitate the unification of humanity with divinity in God the Son.

After centuries of preparation, Israel brought forth a single woman who the archangel Gabriel recognized was full of grace. Grace is the unmerited favor of God. It is God’s universal gift to all people of all time. It is an unconditional gift. Yet, few people choose to receive the gift. Some of us ignore it. Some of us reject it. And some of us are indifferent.

The call to repentance is the call to receive God’s unmerited favor.

The call to preparation is the call to walk in God’s unmerited favor.

The call to worship is the call to be immersed in God’s unmerited favor.

By her own choice Mary lived in the center of divine love. By God’s sovereign grace, Mary became the center of divine love. She is the holy mother of God, the Hagios Theotokos, who says “yes” to God.

For nine months she bore the incarnate co-eternal Son. She became the Temple of the Beloved of the Father. She offered her mind, heart and will to God with the words of surrender: Let it be. Let it be according to Thy will. Let God be God. Let His will be sovereign. Let his love shine forth into the universe, this planet and my body and soul.

This surrender of love in love and with love forms who Mary is.

She is, as her cousin Elizabeth stated: blessed among women. She is unique as the Theotokos, the holy mother of God.  She is representative of God’s chosen people, Israel. As God chose Israel to be the instrumentality of His plan of salvation so God chose Mary to accomplish that call.

Of all the people of her time and all time, Mary knew that God just doesn’t have love, God is love. Mary knew she had not been called in power to power, in pride to pride, by self-will to self-will. Mary knew she had been called from a people, a tribe and a family who had been called. She knew by faith she had been called in grace for love.

Mary was the first to experience the new life God gives in Jesus Christ. That new life is union with the Father, through the Son, by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Mary walked in the new way of living. It is the way of joy, sorrow, glory and Light.

Mary knew and experienced the Real Presence of Divine love and holiness in Jesus Christ. For thirty years the Holy Spirit prepared Jesus through Moses, the Prophets and Mary for his brief but intense public ministry.

Moses issues the call to worship through the Law. The prophets repeat the call to worship in the invitation to repentance and preparation. Mary lives the call to worship as she becomes the Theotokos.

Mary is always the Holy Mother. She nurtures, teaches, preserves and protects by grace through faith in Love. As she helped Jesus through infancy, childhood, and adolescence to adulthood so she helps us. She is the universal mother of grace channeling the universal unconditional love of God in Jesus Christ to every human being on earth.

In her humility she embraced the new life and entered into the new way of living. The new way of living is the immersion of the soul in the infinite and eternal love of the Holy Trinity. St. Elizabeth recognized this and by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit proclaimed to Mary and to all people about Mary: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.

 

 

Newtown candle light vigil 12/16/2012

Thank you all for being here this evening. Welcome to those from our various faith communities. Welcome to those from the wider Newtown community. Welcome.

For many of us this time of year holds the theme of light shining in the darkness. In my tradition we hear the ancient words: the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never overcome it.

It isn’t always easy to accept this. It is sometimes easier to believe darkness is stronger than light. Our ancestors in the Northern Hemisphere struggled with this belief, this fear that darkness would overwhelm light.

They held this fear in a very real and physical way as the winter solstice brought an ever encroaching darkness into the world of nature. People who observed nature from the perspective of reason and faith asserted that darkness of the winter solstice will always yield to the light. They devised religious rituals to reassure the people of their time that there is a balance in the natural world. Darkness has not and will not overwhelm light.

That is why many of us in the northern hemisphere light candles or display lights at this time of year.

There is another form of darkness in the world. We are here tonight to ponder the mystery of that darkness. It is the darkness of separation. It is the darkness of violence. It is the darkness of sudden unforeseen tragic death.

People have been asking two basic questions about this darkness. Why and What. Why did this happen? What can we do to prevent it from happening again?

These are good questions. They are also difficult questions. In the world we have created for ourselves there are no easy answers to these questions.

There is another more basic question we might ask. How? How could one solitary individual inflict so much pain, suffering and death in so short a period of time?

The answer to that question is easy to answer but difficult to hear. The answer to the “how” question is one semi-automatic weapon of mass destruction. The answer is a weapon specifically designed to kill as many people as possible in the shortest possible time. The deeper question is should we even make such weapons of mass destruction?

I remember an old song. It is called “Stop in the Name of Love.”

At the risk of offending your beliefs I have to repeat the refrain of that old song as I ponder the reality of the mass murder in Newtown, CT by a solitary individual wielding one of these perfectly legal and easily accessible weapons of mass destruction.

To those manufacture these weapons I say: Stop. Stop in the name of love. Stop. Think. Consider the cost in suffering, death and despair. Make a different choice. Choose love.

To those who sell these weapons I say: Stop. Stop in the name of love. Stop. Think. Consider the cost in suffering, death and despair. Make a different choice. Choose love.

To those who possess these weapons I say: Stop. Stop in the name of love. Stop. Think. Consider the cost in suffering, death and despair. Make a different choice. Choose love.

I appeal to choice and I appeal to love because it is clear that I cannot appeal to law.

As a Christian priest I remember how a teen ager named John became Jesus’ best friend. I remember how Jesus, as he was dying on the cross, asked his mother Mary to complete John’s spiritual formation. He asked his mother to do this because he knew she lived and moved and had her being from the place of Love. He specifically committed that one teen to her because he knew that teen wanted to live and move and have his being from the place of love.

Jesus did this because he knew how one person can change the world.

John would later share with the world what he learned from his best friend, Jesus, and from Holy Mother Mary. John wrote: God is love. God just doesn’t have love. God is love.

God is love. He who loves is born of God. By this do we know we are of God: that we love one another.

As a priest of the living Lord of Love I appeal to all of us here tonight to choose love.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way. Love transforms fear into faith, anger into hope, pride into humility. Love is the missing term in the unbalanced equation of individual rights and social responsibility.

It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness. Light the candle of love. Love is the one thing in our midst that is infinite and eternal. It may seem counter intuitive to say that. It is as counter intuitive as the statement: the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never overcome it.

Light the light of love here and now tonight. Guard that light. Nourish that light. Cherish that light.

Every new morning affirm: I choose the light of love in my thoughts, words and deeds.

I choose love. I choose life.

With all respect to our elected officials, they can only work with law. It is clear the solution to darkness is not more law. The solution to darkness is more light. The solution is our personal choice to live and move and have our being in the light of love.

Moses once said: behold I place before you the way of life and the way of death. Therefore, choose life.  Jesus’ best friend, John, extended the words of Moses under the instruction of Holy Mother Mary and said: Choose the light of life by choosing love.

The message I want to bring to you tonight is love. Love alone will enable us to find the courage to move through this tragedy into a new way of living.

If we choose love we choose God. If we choose love we choose patience, courage and kindness. If we choose love we gain everything in the midst of loss.

Light and only light shines in the darkness. That light tonight, tomorrow and always is love.

 

 

 

Advent 2 (Luke 3:1-6) Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.

If you want to visit the arctic you need to prepare for the cold. If you want to visit the tropics you need to prepare for the heat. If you want to experience God you need to prepare to meet Jesus.

Moses and the prophets understood this. Through careful observation of human behavior they came to realize that most people most of the time are not interested in God. Most people most of the time ignore or reject God.

Moses draws two important conclusions about human nature. The first conclusion is that God created human beings in His image and likeness. The image and likeness of God are love and holiness.

The second conclusion is that human beings have separated from God. We have not only separated from God we are stubbornly and willfully lost in separation.

The prophets declare that God designed humanity to walk with Him on a journey through this universe of matter, energy, time, and space. It is a journey that manifests the infinite and eternal love of God in the present moment. Sadly, through our own choice the journey we choose to take manifests fear, anxiety, pride and despair.

From time to time when I am using my GPS unit to find an address I hear the words: Sorry to inform you but you are going the wrong way. You need to turn around follow the directions more closely.

The last of the prophets, John the Baptist, brought this message to his generation. It is a message for all generations. John reminds us of the prophet Isaiah’s warning. We are off the path God invited us to take. We are not following the directions God gave us in the Bible. We are headed in the wrong direction. We are lost in a detour that keeps us trapped in the arrogance of self-will. We are going in circles of self-indulgence and self-deceit.

The path is straight. The detour spirals away. The path is illuminated by God’s word in the Bible. The detour very gradually and almost imperceptibly moves from light to twilight to darkness. The path is narrow to provide safety and security in the midst of temptation and danger. The detour is wide and broad and open to all manner of threat disguised as opportunity.

The prophets declare to us: prepare! Take personal responsibility for your life. Assume responsibility for your relationships with God, other people and the image and likeness of God imprinted on your soul. Your path is your choice.

The prophets teach us how to prepare. Make God’s paths straight. Avoid the detours. Trust the directions. Keep moving forward in the light to the light on the straightway of the light.

The Bible is the set of directions we need to take the journey. The Bible is not the journey. It is not the Way. The Way is Jesus. The journey forward is the personal relationship we cultivate with Jesus.

Jesus offers to meet us at the altar of sacrifice on the Seventh Day of Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Do you make the way into your heart and mind and will straight for him to meet you at the appointed time and at the appointed place?

Jesus sends us a teacher in the person of the Holy Spirit. Do you make the way into your thoughts, emotions and choices straight for the Holy Spirit by reading, studying and memorizing the Bible?

Jesus walks with us in the present moment of our lives. He walks with us in joy and sorrow, in pleasure and pain, in victory and defeat. Do you make your way with him straight through faith, hope and love?

It is your choice to take the one true straight path into the light of life. It is your choice to take one of many broad and enticing detours into the darkness of death.

On this second Sunday of Advent the last of the prophets cries out to us: Prepare. Make a choice. Set your course. Choose wisely.Walk in the light. Walk in the Way God has set before our species and each of us as individuals. It is the way of life. It is Jesus.