The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body & Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) 6/3/18-Deacon Clint Elkins A traveler stopped at a Tourist Information Center and asked the information clerk about the area. He wanted to know if this was a healthy place. The clerk replied, "It sure is! When I arrived here I couldn't even talk & didn’t have the strength to walk. I had to be carried from place to place, someone had to feed me and I had very little hair on my head. Look at me now! I have a full head of hair, I jog five miles a day, I can take care of myself as well as anyone and, as you may have noticed, I have no trouble talking." The tourist was impressed and asked how long have she had lived here. The clerk replied, "All my life. I was born here." It seems like a good number of us is on a health binge, and statistics are beginning to show that lots of people are reaping the benefits. More than sixteen centuries ago, St. Augustine wrote: "You are what you eat." And you don't need me to tell you that in today's society that ancient maxim is now being taken more seriously. In most newspapers, the size of the "Food Section" has grown enormously. The book shelves are bulging with diet books, there's the infomercials with all sorts of loose weight & eat healthy programs & probably hundreds more. Whether it's Ultra Slim Fast or Nutri-System or Weight Watchers or whatever, it’s clear that more and more people are turning to good nutrition. More and more of us are looking to enjoy the benefits of a well-nourished body. The Medical Community's advice for better health is through exercise and diet and people are paying attention. People are shaping up and improving their physical condition, which is’t to say, that people are improving their quality of life. We may be enhancing our physical life, but are we enhancing our spiritual life? We may be living longer, but are we living better? In a physical way we may be enhancing our image, but are we enhancing our spiritual image and creating a personal image that provides us the same faith, hope and love that Jesus wants to convey to His followers? The New Testament want us to understand that if we feed on the Lord Jesus, our Bread of Life, we will be nourished as in no other way. But are we paying attention? On the last night of His life, Jesus met with His disciples for the Last Supper. He wanted to do something that would make it possible for them to continue experiencing His Living Presence after He had gone. For this reason, He took the bread and wine, (which would have been on the table of every good Jewish family at that time of year) and shared it with the disciples. In John's Gospel, Jesus says, "The man who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in Him.” John doesn't tell the story of Jesus all over again, as in the first three Gospels , but his method is to take one incident or one saying and develop it so that we can understand it better. For example, his entire Sixth Chapter develops the theme of Jesus as the "Bread of Life." John tells us that because God is a Gracious God, Jesus comes to us in many different ways. He comes to us through history, in historical events, through the beautiful world of nature, through people & in countless ways, but John puts a lot of emphasis on one very special way, through the "Lord's Supper" as the Bread of Life. In one of Rembrandt's etchings, there’s no halo around the Lord's head, but there is one around His hand. Critics have debated Rembrandt's reason for doing this, but us, His hands are holy and sacred. Jesus used His hands as instruments of service, to heal the sick, transform death into life, give sight to the blind, to bless, break and give to His disciples the five loaves and fishes that fed thousands. In today's Gospel, we heard that Jesus used His Holy & sacred hands to take bread and give it to His disciples, saying, "Take, this is My body". We’ve come to celebrate Christ, our Bread, as our own personal & priceless Gift from God and as the most valuable Gift we can share with others. If you care about your husband, your wife, your children, your parents, the people you work with, the people whose lives you will touch this week, there are a lot of things you can and probably will do for them, but nothing can help them as much as this Bread of Life which is yours to share with them. This is what we are called to share with the world because we are disciples of Jesus Christ and we are sharers of the Bread of Life. We have to ask ourselves, how many people have we shared this Bread with lately? What the world needs now is Christ, the Bread of Life. It needs the integrity of His Presence and if we feel it and know it, then it’s not ours to hoard, but to share. We can't talk about Christ and then go out and live the kind of empty, destructive life others may be living. We've got to reveal the integrity of His Presence in the way we live. May our Almighty Lord, bless you, protect you from all evil and bring you to everlasting life… Deacon Clint Elkins: 2nd Scrutiny (4th Sunday of Lent) How is your Lent going so far? Believe it or not, we’ve passed the halfway point & that’s the reason I’m wearing a rose, not pink, colored stole instead of purple. Just remember, Jesus “rose” from the dead, He didn’t “pink” from the dead…. We do the color switch when we pass the halfway point, as a kind of mile marker to let us know how far we’ve come and how far we have to go. The old Latin name for this Sunday was “Laetare” Sunday, one of the Latin verbs for “Rejoice”. That’s why I’d like to think out loud a bit this evening about what cause the Church sees in this solemn penitential season. And an even wilder thought, I’d like to spend some time thinking about how that Lenten joy might relate to the Sacraments that our Elect will be receiving. The Scrutiny’s from last week, today & next week are teaching us about our baptismal promises. The Samaritan woman at the well isn’t so much about the woman believing in Christ but about the woman fulfilling her role in proclaiming the Gospel, she reminds us that our baptism commits us to a life of evangelization. The story of Lazarus isn’t so much about Jesus raising him from the dead, but having faith in Christ when it looks like death has won. Today’s Gospel tells us that we are committed to a life of faith and trust. It’s not so much as the man being healed, but seeing as God see’s, reminding us that we are committed to a life that reveals His vision of constant conversion. If we are really sincere about asking God to open our eyes and see as He sees, then we have to change the way we live so our lives can reflect God’s point of view, not ours… Here’s an example of how life changes when you’re given a new perspective, some of you might be able to relate. A few years ago, I got my first pair of glasses. When I stepped out of the Doctors office, the first thing I saw was a stop sign, clearly. I knew what it was, because it was red & an octagon. That may have been a little more than you wanted or needed to hear, but I saw the trees, birds and even the cracks in the roads, clearly. Being able to see the details & intricacies of nature and stop signs and their true beauty is how God sees us. In the first reading, God told Samuel that He doesn’t see as we see. We can only see part of the picture, what’s on the outside, but He sees deeper, into the heart and sees all of our potential. Jesus told the blind man, “You have seen the Son of Man, you’ve seen the Christ; the one that’s speaking to you is He.” What if each of us could put on a pair of “God Glasses” and be able to see the intricate & detailed beauty of everyone we encounter? How would we act when we encounter our co-workers or how would we treat our parents, kids, spouse, friends or even our enemies? Imagine if every time we encountered each other and every time we talked to each other, we see and hear Christ. Our world would be different, don’t you think… Our Elect are here today and in 3 weeks, they will step up into the Sanctuary. They’ll be wearing a white garment & will be given the light of Christ. They’ll be anointed with oil as a priest, prophet & king and they will stand with us, at this table to give thanks, break bread and drink wine, becoming with us what they eat, the Body & Blood of Jesus Christ. Dear Elect, you are here in the midst of us and in a few minutes, you & your sponsors will walk up to the altar and we will pray that God’s light heal the dark places of your lives and strengthen each and every one of you. Your baptism will change you and your identity. It will change the way you see and the way you act in the world. It’s the duty of the baptized to be imitators of Christ and to see as He sees. We will stand with each one of you, not to judge, test or evaluate you, but to give you the courage and strength that you will need to face those dark places. We’re going to ask God to help you see those moments of weakness and failure as God sees them, not as reasons to condemn you, but as opportunities to love you with a greater love. Seeing you as God sees you, we give thanks, because you are a sign that God is still making things new. Fr. Manger, First Sunday of Lent, February 18, 2018 In the readings today we have the story of Noah, the flood and the promise of God with the rainbow. In the gospel we hear of Jesus being taken to the desert and he emerged proclaiming the kingdom of God is at hand. Noah was away, isolated for 40 days and nights in the ark, Jesus was away isolated for forty days and nights in the desert. Noah told by God to prepare a place of refuge from the storm waters and social sinning; Jesus brought by the spirit away from others and social agenda. Noah had a lot of work cleaning up the ark, Jesus had to repel devilish temptations. Noah and Jesus both were likely very tired of the trouble it was taking day after day. The story of Noah’s, quest resulted in saving his family and nature’s animals; Jesus trip prepared for the salvation of all. Noah emerged from the ark with a sign of God’s promise of help and companionship. Jesus was ministered to by the angels and announced the coming of God’s reign to be with us. St Peter’s letter for us today gives some personal applications. Noah was rescued from the flood in the ark, we are rescued in the waters of baptism from the consequence of eternal disaster. Just as Jesus was rescued from death by the Spirit of God, so we are rescued and Noah was rescued by the spirit of God. The rescue is actually God’s work but we have some cooperating work to do as well. Noah had to learn to build an ark, we have to build our spiritual life fixing our hunger for God and adjusting our life path and kindling our love for our creator and redeemer and the Spirit of God. Those are three points. These are three important tasks to cooperate with God’s salvation: fixing our hunger for God; adjusting our life path; and kindling our love for God. FIRST. We have to build our spiritual life by fixing our hunger for God. This hunger is a gift, given to us, as is our hunger for earthly food. But how we eat makes a difference. We can substitute our hunger for God for hunger for drink and drugs or fashions and buying things and gaming. When that happens there is little hunger left for God or it is forgotten and covered over. The hunger for addictives needs to be re-directed to a hunger for a higher power. It is a question of what we put on the plate which feeds our mind and heart. When lent comes we think of giving up something. Fasting is our way of being in the desert with Jesus. We let down on parties and some forms of play, like with internet games and gossip and other distractions which are not desert companions. Solid reading and physical discipline are good ideas. Those things are more gentle but the serious giving up are the addictives of drunkenness and porno compulsions, and destructive gossip, adultery and stealing. These are the things which totally wreck our hunger for God and unfortunately put the focus totally aside in devastating and destructive pursuits. The second point is to work on setting our path straight. This takes some real thought about managing our life properly. Trying to get more clarity on What is our call from God and are we on the path to answer and fulfill that call from God in our life. This is a matter of serious prayer and discernment. Jesus gives the perfect example as he went to the desert to reflect on his new call at his baptism experience at the waters of the Jordan. He had the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He went to the desert to reflect on it and to consider what he was to do and how to go about it. It was not an easy work since the devil wished to distract and rechannel his focus and energy away from God’s purposes and end result. We find the same challenges as well to claify our mission from God. The third part of lenten journey is Kindling our love for God. Generally this is helped when we exercise God’s love for the poor and those unable to respond, that is to love his unwanted. To put love where there is no love. That is what God wants to do and he needs hands and hearts to help. It is like being the altar server lighting the candles for Mass. You bring light were there is no light but the light is not from a match and wick, but from your compassion and the love you give. So as your give love unconditionally to the people God wants love given to, He is helping you to love Him as well at the same time. Parents certainly have that experience of finding love being drawn from them as they open their hearts to their children. Bullet points:
STORY “One man lost a valuable watch while working in an icehouse. He searched diligently for it, carefully raking through the sawdust, but didn’t find it. His fellow workers also looked, but their efforts, too, proved futile. A small boy who heard about the fruitless search slipped into the icehouse during the noon hour and soon emerged with the watch. “Amazed, the men asked him how he found it. “‘I closed the door,’ the boy replied, ‘lay down in the sawdust, and kept very still. Soon I heard the watch ticking.’” POPES WORDS The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation of anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades. This is a very real danger for believers (too). Many fall prey to it, and end up resentful, angry and listless. That is no way to live a dignified and fulfilled life, it is not God’s will for us, nor is it the life in the Spirit which has its source in the heart of the risen Christ. The joy of the gospel fill the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. I invite all Christians to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Those words of the Pope are surely the call of lent. Deacon Clint Elkins: 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time 2/11/18-Year B Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46; 1Corinthians 10:31-11:1; Mark 1:40-45 I remember hearing about a little old lady listening to a group complaining about their problems. She asked that they write down the trouble that worried them the most and put it into a jar and then asked that each one of you to draw out one of the papers and by all the laws of probability, they would have something new to worry about. The complainers did as she asked and in the end, all of them, without exception, wanted to have their own troubles back! In the Gospel, Jesus runs into a man who would have traded his trouble with anybody, because he had leprosy. He said to Jesus, "If you want to, You can cure Me." Jesus is moved with pity and stretches His hand out, touches the leper, and says, "I’ll do it, you’re cured", and he is cured. In Biblical times, the word leprosy meant several kinds of mangy, scaly, skin diseases, not Hanson’s Disease that we know today and I’m not sure if today's leprosy ever occurred in Biblical times that degenerates nerves, causes loss of sensation, muscular movement and the loss of extremities such as fingers, toes and nose. Nevertheless, the man was troubled because he was afflicted with a skin disease that caused him to be ostracized by his people. Under the Jewish Law, extreme measures had to be taken to prevent the spread of these diseases. The afflicted person was isolated from his community and couldn’t go to other settled areas and had to warn to other people about their condition, but the disease was curable, and the leper would be able to go back to his life in the community after a priest had verified his cure and performed the purification rite required by law. Jesus' mission is symbolized by Him reaching out to the lepers, the untouchables, the outcasts, the poor and the oppressed. And should the day arrive when the physical disease of leprosy no longer exists, the leper will remain in Christian thought as a symbol of God's saving Grace and as a challenge to Christian compassion. The greatest challenge to our compassion is to find Jesus where He always waits for us, among the outcasts. The Book of Hebrews reminds us, that Jesus died outside the gate to sanctify the people by His blood, so we have to go to Him outside the camp, bearing His insult, because we don’t have a lasting city and we’re seeking the One who is to come. The Christian who remains within the camp, refusing to reach out to the least of Jesus' brothers and sisters, has missed the whole point of the Gospel proclaimed by the one "who is to come." A while back, a bureaucrat organized the National Association of Professional Bureaucrats. The motto of the organization is: "When in charge, ponder; when in trouble, delegate; when in doubt, mumble." That’s funny, but the humor goes away when we realize how often we respond like this to the demands of our Christian ministry. We are guilty of the excessive pondering of endless discussion when there is something we can do now to reach out to the people who are "outside the camp." There are times when we delegate our ministry of compassion to others, whether it’s to the Government, the Church or simply to the other guy. What about the times when we mumble pious pronouncements on the questions of social justice? God calls His people to be a trumpet, to be a light on the hill, to be the salt of the earth, not to a bunch of people mumbling about how things ought to be. Believe it or not, we are all potential outcasts and are vulnerable to the disease of feeling alone and/or unwanted. Maybe some of us here are suffering or hurting this way. Maybe you are hurting because someone you thought loved you has let you down and you've suddenly discovered, that the other person doesn't know you at all, or you’re in desperate need of funds and there’s no one willing to help you or you’re so alone, that you want to cry out the same way Jesus did on the Cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Maybe you’ve forgotten that God is closest to you at the moment of your deepest hurt. He’s reaching out to you, to touch you in a healing way. Let His love come to you and touch you at the very point that you’re hurting and let Him give you a new kind of strength, way beyond that of your own. God is here for you and when He hears you cry out, "Why have you forsaken me and let me down", He doesn't ponder, delegate or mumble, He reaches out and offers you the Grace and the strength to become whole again. He teaches you to understand that it’s in the crucible of doubt and loneliness that you are shaped and prepared for your ministry of love and for your fulfillment in love. The message of God's love that Jesus gives to us is unqualified and the message we receive is the message we are commissioned to deliver to our each other and that is, "I love you" -- period. Let today be the day that we remember the joy of realizing, at the deepest level of our being, that we are loved by God and are not abandoned. We’re commissioned by God to discover the real meaning and purpose of our lives by loving one another. May the Almighty Lord bless you, protect you from all evil and bring you to everlasting life. 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. |