Fr. Manger, Sunday, September 10th
First about the second collection: Bishop asked for a second collection today for Hurricane victims and I had that announced last week. I forgot that we had envelopes for a second collection for Religious Education today. We will have a second collection. If you give an envelope for religious education that will go for Religious education regardless of which Sunday you drop it in the basket. The loose change and loose checks in the second collection today will go for hurricane relief. If you were confused by all this and later wish to donate to hurricane relief please put it in some other kind of envelope and bring it or put it in a collection so we know the purpose of your gift. We can get money to where it should go if we know why you have given it.
 
A] In the passage from Ezekiel we hear God addressing the prophet: I have appointed you a watchman. If I tell you to warn the people, you should warn the people. Those who are doing evil shall suffer the consequences but if you do not warn them I will hold you responsible.
          R] The responsorial psalm nicely follows up on that important theme:  If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
which is to say us  if the warning has been given hear the word.
 
B] In the lesson from Saint Paul we are reminded to Love our neighbor as we love our self.  The important part today to think of is to love yourself, and also to love your neighbor.
 
C] The gospel for today makes application of these two lessons. There is instruction about behavior of authority in community.
 
We hear, if your brother sins against you. Speak to him. And now we need to use the words of our liturgy, you are a watchman for yourself, and if you see or feel a bad thing happening to you, you must love yourself by giving a warning to the one who has offended you. And it will be loving your neighbor as well because he should not be hurting you in the first place.
 
If that does not work, to make a change and it happens once more,  it is bad for him, he was wrong, but if you did not warn him it is also bad for you as the watchman who did not speak up.
Not speaking up is like giving tacit permission to continue doing what he is doing.
 
What is tacit permission? The word tacit means silent. When something is going on which is wrong, and you remain silent your silence gives permission for it to continue. If the watchman is silent, he is giving tacit permission.
 
When a person in authority, the father of a family, sees the children at table throwing their food at one another, if he laughs and says nothing about it being wrong, then they have learned a new procedure at table. Sit down and throw your food. If it hits dad, they surely will be lined up for punishment. But they will be confused because they had been given tacit permission to throw their food, because Dad was silent and did not object the first time it happened.
 
If eventually the person does not listen, take one or two others to confront the person. Like if someone has a drinking problem, or a drug problem or some behavior which seems to be repetitive, you need to have a sit down with the person with more than one voice, several voices, to illustrate the extent of the problem…it is called an intervention. The extra voices are needed because the person has already made up excuses for his or her behavior and a greater confrontation needs to be made so that many voices are showing that the person’s judgement is faulty and destructive. He just may come to his senses in time to start reversing that behavior and stop his offenses. 
 
Now this process does not work with God. You can’t get the community together to tell God that you are tired of hurricanes, so he should stop doing hurricanes. He, of course, is going to say that is the way the world works. He might also add that he made an imperfect world for us which had lots of really great things but still not perfect. We hunger then for a perfect world which is yet to come.
 
He does expect us to learn the world and how it works and accommodate ourselves to nature’s rough edges, from weather, disease, harmful interaction with animals and other aspects of nature. 
 
An old joke about a guy stranded on top of his roof from flood waters prays to God for help. A truck comes by offers help and he says  he is waiting for God. A boat comes by he tells that fella he is waiting for God’s help, a helicopter comes by as the water is almost covering the entire house and he tells him he is waiting for God. So he prays once more and blames God for not answering his prayer, so God tells him that he sent three rescues for him and he did not go.
 
To me the part of that story that is important to tell is that it tells us that God is very interested in saving us from trouble. The story well represents the saving power and love of God working though other people. After our hurricane Harvey so many people were washed out one way or another and they were looking for help, for the power to be turned on, for City water to be turned on for help in getting out of flood waters, for food and water and clothes and shelter when a house was flooded, and so many came to rescue and help and provide saving remedies.
 
If we were to explain this to the children and tell them to draw a nice picture of people helping with good things and behind them draw the face of God looking down and putting His hands with all the saving working going on.  Boats pushed by God’s hands. Houses being rebuilt with God’s hands, people being rescued by God’s hands, God turning on the good water for our houses. The pictures would be priceless and the Theology would be accurate.
 
It is a good thing to celebrate the saving acts of God. Help comes eventually when  we are helplessness and powerlessness.  We experience the desolation, but what we should remember well, and celebrate, are the saving acts of kindness, rescue, and comfort.
 
The bible itself in one way or another is a record of the saving acts of God. Theologians call it the History of Salvation. It is the treasure of the Goodness of God being enacted in the human experience. It shows how God is needed and celebrates His saving acts.  The prodigal son wanders off, there is mention of his troubles, but much more is told of the welcome home, the father running, the ring, the sandals, the cloak, the fatted calf, the party celebrating his return. There is more joy over what was lost and found.
 
We need to record the continuity of God’s saving acts in our own personal lives and treasure the goodness of God. This Bible is not a list of disasters which the world has experienced, it is a record of saving acts. The disasters we are allowed to forget, the saving acts are to be remembered. In fact they were written down to be remembered and treasured, and copied page after page over and over, centurary after century, published into many books and put on every library shelf shows that they were most important. Make a book of God’s help and saving actions.  
We have been taught to put the kindness of God in a book not to be forgotten. Forget the records of devastation, Record goodness. Draw a picture of it.  Tell a story about it. We come each week to celebrate Eucharistia, the giving of thanks. Put those acts of saving on the table each week. Put in the stone of memory the record of the salvation flowing from the hand of God.
           
            At St Anne’s rectory, we gave room and board to two priests flooded out. Parishioners whose homes survived found ways to help others who were less fortunate in need of help, and that is another part of this gospel to apply. Where two or three are gathered in my name I am there with you helping those in need of help.  And you don’t have to wear a Cajon army t shirt or Catherine Drexel shirt it even works if you have an aggie hat. You are Christ at work helping your brothers.
          We are decided that cluttering up the campus with give away items was impractical since there are places the public knows to go to for water and food and housing. I encouraged those who wanted to do something to lend a hand to places where they knew help was wanted. And now many of you have a list of people who were totally devastated and have to start over. It will give the coming months lots of opportunity to show your charity and find resources for your friends and neighbors. It is a good work.
 
          The campus is now clean for school to start on Tuesday. The work of children assist is very important. The Bible and adult study program and RCIA all will start this week.. We will be praying no doubt for many who were hurt by Harvey and the terrible things to happen with the new Hurricane Irma and the trouble it causes.  Yes there is good Christian work to do. Good Friday


April 14, 2017
Fr. Manger
 
We listen to this story about the passion and death of Jesus, and we have heard it many times, I would like to quote just one sentence. It was Caiaphas who had counseled the Jews  that it was better that one man should die rather than the people.
 
Don’t try to find some thread of justice in the trial of Jesus, like how they found evidence against Jesus . All of that puts veils on the underlying motive and force of the determination first of one man, then coupled by those whom he convinced to end the life of Jesus. The whole thing was not about this or that being wrong it was about the need for Jesus to die. It all flows from that one leak in the dyke, that one stolid determination. Pilate could find no wrong and then crowds just shouted irrational yells calling for crucifixion. It is so awkward. It dosen’t make sense for people to shout crucify him. We hate it we don’t want to give it voice.
 
As we go through this narrative it is placing us in the terrible position of rejecting goodness. It is trying to demonstrate for us that our sins are rejecting the goodness that God lays in front of us. But we are blind to it. You say that you can see but you are blind.
 
Yesterday, Father Jamail presided at the Holy Thursday Mass. He washed the feet of twelve people.  He said that this is what the Eucharist was all about. Probably not one of those 12 got up this morning and said This is a great day Father Jamail washed my feet. More likely it was not a memorable experience.  And yet it was and it is. You see it was Jesus who washed those feet. Father Jamail washed feet, not because it was nice to imitate Jesus, and give a lesson. He was a Priest ordained by the church taking part in a ritual commanded by the Church, to take place all over the world for all time, to take the place of Jesus in that ceremony and wash the feet as Jesus did. In that church ceremony, he was Jesus washing the feet of those 12 people.  Father Jamail washed as the church commanded just as Father Jamail forgives in the confessional as Jesus and the church commands, just as Father Jamail  gives his body, the body of Christ as food for to eat and empower us to be like Jesus washing feet.
 
The washing of feet is more important than we imagine, you see, it changes things.
When Jesus was brought to the Sanhedrin and asked about his mission. Caiphus should have knelt down and washed Jesus feet. He should have opened his ears and his eyes to the goodness that Jesus was. 
When Jesus was brought to Pilate, and questioned, Pilate should not have washed his own hands but the feet of Jesus.
When a scared 12 year old boy in mexico is running from a drug cartel and comes to a wall as he goes north and there is a space in the wall and he puts his foot through, are we there to wash his foot?
When a rich man leaves his mansion, gets into his car and drives to the gate protecting his property and there is a beggar, does he stop his car and go wash the feet of that beggar whom God has placed there.
Three months  before his birth with feet fully formed a developing child hears the struggles of his mother not knowing what will happen and he sticks his foot out, will she wash it?
Are we only going to wash the feet which are the same color as ours, only if they are already clean, already from our family and not the family next door?
There is a leader in North Korea  who is patiently waiting for a very important  person from America to come and wash his feet, and bring with him ships loaded with food and clothing  and medical help for the poor and desparing.
Can we go to the prison and wash the feet of those who need to know that today Jesus was in prison. Can that water on those imprisoned feet, that living water instill and break through the entanglements of their poor upbringing and crime to know that God does forgive them if they reach for that forgiveness and cleansing.
Isn’t it interesting that although scripture is silent about it, that on the way to calvary we celebrate a young girl with a towel coming to dry the face of Jesus in his agony.
 
A couple of weeks back we had the Lenten Ecumenical service here at St Anne’s. Ministers of six Christian churches were here in the sanctuary. We should have washed each other’s feet. However, it might have been a complicated affair getting up, siting down, bowls and water,  so we replaced that with other gestures of friendship, a sign of peace, joining in praise song, and prayer were our ways to showing that are not worst enemies but fellow Christians who want to publish Christ and the goodness of God. In fact we should not have worst enemies at all, but wash the feet of all.
 
All of us are born not knowing how to wash but others lovingly took the task till they could train us to do our own washing in private. Later when there are times of troubled health and need of surgical attention and medicine the feet are in need of washing again.  Everyone feet.
 
Today we look to Jesus on the cross. He was raised  up high, and from there he feels rejections and abandonment and yet he washes. From there he is overlooking our sins because we don’t know what we are doing.
He wants us to join him as forgiving people.
So in this ceremony today.
It is because his blood was coming from him to wash,  on this day it is that the Church community brings before the  Heavenly Father who is receiving this awesome sacrifice the long list of serious intentions. 
These are not some ideas we made up in the back room before the ceremony, but these are a list of intentions which the church has published for ceremonies over the whole world to cover all the places that need scrubbing.
We are making a total wash with giant machines as we recite with the whole church all those situations that require the blessing, the forgiveness, the publishing of the goodness of God, the solemn intention of this service.
 
After that In this ceremony
It is because of Jesus washed us from his cross that we assemble to venerate the cross on which he offered final prayers for us and forgave.
 
Finally, In this ceremony.
It is because we continue to be weak and in need of support then we come to share in communion with him and each other, the bread of life for the continuing journey on our mission.
 
Oh there is a collection for the holy Land.