Meditation Moment in Eastertide ~ Monday, Week 4 '23

May 1 ~ Feast of:

 Sts. Philip and James

Jesus, Fisher of Souls,
       You called these everyday-men to give up their ordinary lives to follow You, and they did.  Without completely understanding all that You were about, they trusted, they believed, and they grew into all that You wanted them to be. Even though there was uncertainty, they sometimes squabbled, asked frustrating questions, and they were occasionally fearful, You reached their hearts, and minds, and bodies. You molded them into Your earthly legacy that comes down to us today.  
      Thank You, Lord, for the example of these men. They remind me that, as an ordinary everyday person who doesn't always understand everything, with You as the Cornerstone of my Faith, I am also part of the continual building on the foundation they began, living in and through all that You taught. In this Easter season, help me to know You more clearly, love You more dearly, and follow You more nearly, each and every day.  amen. 

      Saints Philip and James are on the Anglican/Episcopal Church calendar today, two of the original 12 Apostles called directly by Jesus to follow Him (see Mark 3:13-19). What little we know of Philip is that he lived in Bethsaida, in Galilee, the same town as Peter and Andrew. After meeting Jesus, Philip told Nathaniel that Jesus is "the one about whom Moses and the Prophets wrote" (see John 1:43-51). 

    We don't know much about James except that he is the son of Alphaeus and he is called James the Lesser ~ and he is not the son of Cleopas, nor is he James the son of Zebedee who is known as James the Greater, nor is he considered to be the author of the Letter of James in the New Testament. 

    We do know that they were pretty ordinary guys called to follow an extraordinary man. It appears from some of the discussions all the Apostles had with Jesus at one time or another that they weren't always swift on the uptake. Jesus was a bit impatient at times with their lack of "getting it" (see John 14:8-9a) but they ultimately understood and, as Jesus said they would, they received the power to heal, and preach, and teach in His name. They were each an integral part of the foundation that Jesus laid and He, the Cornerstone, called them, and us, to continue the work after His resurrection.

  

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Meditation Moment in Eastertide ~ Saturday, Week 3 '23

To show the love that we have for Him, we ought to serve and love every rational creature and extend our charity to good and bad -- as much to one who does us ill service and criticizes us as to one who serves us. For, His charity extends over just men and sinners. 

~ St. Catherine of Siena*

Our Risen Lord Christ, 
       We need Your help, more than ever, to live into Catherine's description of Your Great Commandment. Keep us conscious of the lives we touch and the impact we have whether intended or not. When we love and forgive with You in our hearts, it is the right place, and the right time, to remember the Teachings You give to us all.  amen.

*Catherine [1347-1380] was a Third Order member of the Dominicans, a lay person, not a vowed member of the community but an adherent to its principles and rules. She was also a Scholastic Philosopher and Theologian. Named a Doctor of the Church (one who has shown significant importance in theology and doctrine) by Pope Paul VI in 1970 along with Teresa of Avila, the first two women so named to one of the Roman Church's highest honors. Only 33 at her death, Catherine's profound spiritual writings and tremendous political influence were highly exceptional for her times and she remains greatly respected today.

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Meditation Moment in Eastertide ~ Friday, Week 3 '23

 the mythical Phoenix

  rises from the ashes of its previous life

I get knocked down

But I get up again

You're never going to keep me down

~ Chumbawamba

If there is anywhere on earth a lover of God who is always kept safe, 

I know nothing of it, for it was not shown to me. But this was shown: 

that in falling and rising again we are always kept in that same precious love.  

~ Julian of Norwich*

Dear God of Skinned Knees, Bruised Egos, Grieving Hearts, 

Pain-Filled Bodies, and Damaged Souls,

       I've been hit hard here and there ~ more than some, less than others ~ and then life goes on in its way until the next bump, or fall, or smack-down and I pick myself up, dust myself off, and life goes on again. Some days, though, I do have to fight back the quiet fears of what's next while the world turns on its axis, the sun rises and sets, and the seasons change. I know You are here with me, I don't know how I would have gotten this far without You. And as long as I have breath within me, I will try to remember to turn to You in those inevitable times. But, could you give me a nudge now and then? Sometimes I need it to get myself out of the dark. Better yet, send me off to help someone else ~ then I'll get out of my own stuff and let Your light shine. amen.

*Julian of Norwich [1342-ca 1416], was an English Anchoress ~ a hermit who lived in, and was sometimes permanently enclosed in, a small cell attached to a wall of the church ~ whose life consisted of daily devotions, prayer, devotional reading, and writing. She is considered to be one of the most important mystics in all of Christianity. Her manuscript of Revelations of Divine Love - also known as the Short Text - is thought to be the oldest surviving book written in English by a woman. She is probably best known for her words that with God, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."

 

 

                

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Meditation Moment in Eastertide ~ Thursday, Week 3 '23

 Prayer of the heart is prayer of the total person, body, soul, and spirit. But since the heart is the place of the Divine indwelling, prayer of the heart is praying in which it is not only I that speak, but it is the prayers which Christ and the Holy Spirit are saying within me. 

Those who attain prayer of the heart have the experience of being prayed in. 

~ Kallistos Ware*

Lord and Spirit of my Heart ~
    It's true, then. I have felt You here, within me, but I was afraid to recognize You, to acknowledge You, and I have also denied to myself that I have felt You. It hasn't happened often but I would like it to happen again, and, more often. 
   The times of my life when I have needed the most comfort have sometimes been the most difficult to enter into prayer. And sometimes the happiest times distract me from praying my thanksgivings. I'm working on all of that and I ask You ~ I invite You ~ to come into my heart, my soul, and all of me and help me to discover again all that deep prayer can do with and for me. Pray in me, please, and let my heart and soul feel full of You.  amen.

*Timothy Ware [1934-2022] of Bath, England was raised in the Anglican Church and read classics and theology at Magdalen College, Oxford.  In 1958 at age 24 he affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox Church. After much travel in Greece and a significant amount of time at the Monastery of St. John of Patmos and elsewhere, he was ordained to the priesthood and tonsured [shaving of all or part of the head] as a monk in 1966.  At that time he received the name "Kallistos."  He was later consecrated bishop and his career path led him to be a Lecturer in Eastern Orthodox Studies at Oxford University, a position he held for 35 years before retirement.  He authored many books and articles on the Orthodox Christian faith.

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Meditation in Eastertide ~ Wednesday, Week 3 '23

For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

        ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson* 

Holy Creator of Dawn, Noonday, Sunset, and Night,
      How I often go through each day with a particular agenda of things to do, places to go, and people to see without taking a moment to recognize the blessings of my life.  I'm always quick to complain, whine, or moan to You and yet while I might remember an exclamation of  "Thank God!" when something dramatic occurs (such as the birth of a child, an improvement in health, or a disaster averted), I'm less likely to remember to breathe a small prayer of thankfulness for waking, for the light of the day, and for the stars of the night.              
     Whatever the circumstances of my daily life, I always have small moments for which I can be thankful. All I have to do is remember. It's easy enough on Sundays to remember to be thankful for the Resurrection or the Nativity of Your Son, but please help me, Lord, to add thankfulness into my daily life even if only in small ways. While I'm not suggesting that You are the Do-er of everything, I do want to acknowledge the parts of Creation that impact me in positive ways as a thanksgiving for the miracle of life itself. 

     Lord of Heaven, Lord of Life, Lord of All, thank You for this moment, right now! amen.

*Ralph Waldo Emerson [1803-1882] was a noted lecturer and leader of the Transcendentalist Movement of the mid-19th century. With a Unitarian background and Harvard Divinity School education, he came to champion the belief in the inherent goodness of people and nature, and, particularly, that only from truly self-reliant and independent people can genuine community be formed. A well-traveled and well-written life, Emerson forms the backdrop of American intellectual pursuits and long collegial relationships with contemporaries such as Oliver Wendell Holmes, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman, Henry James and other literary luminaries such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and Thomas Carlyle. His work resonates to this day and speaks to much of our current experience and dilemmas.

Photo by Christina Brennan Lee, one Easter Sunday Morning in Rice, Virginia 

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Meditation Moment in Eastertide: Tuesday, Week 3 '23

The Gospel of St. Mark

But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table...

~ Mark 16:11-13, 14a

O Jesus,
      Some days I question everything. I can definitely understand why the disciples didn't believe the reports they heard that You had been seen alive. We can be a skeptical lot. Even though You told them, even though they loved and trusted You, still, it was beyond their experience and their realm of possibility. And now, today, more than 2000 years later I believe it when I read it - after all, these accounts have lasted for all this time. But I need help sometimes. While I can imagine You sitting at my table, when my heart hurts or my head isn't on straight, imagining doesn't always relieve me. Today, I'm fine, my faith is strong and so is my willingness to proclaim the Good News. Tomorrow or next week? Please, in those times, remind me to read again, to be with those so close to you who were also having trouble believing until they finally did. If they could so can I believe, and to proclaim that You are risen! Indeed! amen.

The Gospel of Mark is thought to be the earliest of the four canonical Gospels despite its second place in the New Testament. It has the flavor of a Reader's Digest Condensed/No Frills Book as it chronicles the highlights of the life of Jesus without much of the detail of the others. Biblical scholars disagree on a variety of aspects of this Gospel, especially the ending, and the identity and biography of the attributed author, Mark. Whoever and whatever, the words tell the story of the One we choose to follow. The details in and about the Gospel of Mark make for interesting reading and engaging conversations.

 

St. Mark is remembered on liturgical calendars of many Christian denominations on April 25.

                                            

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Prayers of the People: Living Sheepishly ~ 4th Sunday of Easter '23 Yr A

For Sunday, April 30, 2023, Readings: Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23, 1 Peter 2:19-25, John 10:1-10

   Those who had been baptized devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. [Acts 2:42]

  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still waters. He revives my soul and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake. [Psalm 23:1-2] 

  But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval...because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps...When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten...by his wounds you have been healed...For you were going astray like sheep but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. [1 Peter 2:20b-21, 23, 24b-25]

   Jesus said, "...the one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name...and the sheep follow him because they know his voice...Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep...Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. [John 10:2-3a, 4b, 7, 9]

     Psalm 23 is, without doubt, the best-known piece of Scripture in the world among multiple religions, denominations, and sects, for the believers and for those who have no faith affiliation or belief. The origin is ascribed to King David, a shepherd in his youth, and even through various older and more modern translations, this psalm gives us the moving pastoral image, line-by-line, of the everyday activities of shepherds*, describing in detail how God cares for us. 

     It is also true that sometimes the familiar is too comfortable and we don’t really hear the phrasing as we repeat syllables by rote. Are we contemplating the meaning and call to personal response and action behind the words, whether in this Psalm or any Scripture reading in the Liturgy/Service? We must listen again with fresh ears, minds, and hearts. The beauty and comfort of the Shepherd in Psalm 23 is easily zoned in on while the other readings are more easily left behind. But even this calming pastoral narrative comes with a price. We, who want to know ourselves as true and faithful Christians, must rouse ourselves from complacency, listen for the Voice that calls, and then follow in earnest and in confidence. All we "have" on this earthly plain is temporary, which was never clearer than in the recent and rampant pandemic.

     For Episcopalians/Anglicans, the reading from Acts this week is infused with one of the promises made by us or for us in our Baptismal and/or Confirmation Covenants: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers..."  The statements of belief and the promises of the Covenant are a quick refresher and guide to the basics of true Christian living, and always worth reviewing regularly, whether or not you are of this denominational heritage and practice. [for more information click here: BCPonline for the US version of the Book of Common Prayer - Holy Baptism - and scroll to pages 304-5 for the promises] 

     The rise of online Liturgy/Worship since COVID-19 lockdowns have made regular attendance available to many who are unable to participate in the breaking and receiving of sacred bread and in-person fellowship. Whether we attend in-person or online, or have simply fallen away from either, as we break bread for our meals each day, let us remember to say a simple “grace” as we sit down to eat, even if alone, even if only Thank You for this meal. 

     Personal prayer and the Apostles’ teachings are always readily available to us, and we can meet and greet each other in many ways. One way to pray is by using Psalm 23 aloud and inserting the name and specific pronouns of others, such as, “The Lord is Margaret’s shepherd, she shall not be in want…” Think about printing it out in that form, hand-writing a name throughout and sending it to someone in need; and re-read/pray it often for yourself.

    In the lesson from 1st Peter, we are given the difficult and all-too-current reminder that although we are to suffer what we must, as Jesus in his Passion, we are not to return abuse in kind. We are to realize that by the wounds of Jesus we are healed as we were going astray like sheep, but...have now returned...  Somedays are easier than others with political fervor and terrible violence at a daily high pitch. Yet the Gospel also carries the Shepherd theme and comforts us with another serene image, that of Christ as the divine Gate that opens for all of His sheep for salvation in a safe and abundant pasture. 

    Let us not go astray like sheep but flock together through the open Gate, living sheepishly by our hearts dwelling with the Lamb of God now and forever, in this life and the next. 

*I commend to you a charming and interesting little book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller, for an eye- and soul-opening look at the amazing connections between the Psalm's imagery and real-life sheep farming.

LET US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
 
Leader:  ~ Shepherd of our Souls, our Holy Gate, Your calming pasture is always open for spiritual shelter and encouragement in this life each minute, each hour, each day. As You call us by name, kindle our desire to hear Your voice deep within us and follow Your call to salvation and abundant life, now and for ever.
                                               
                                                 By Your blood we are reconciled
           RESPONSE:           By Your wounds we are healed
 
~ Shepherd of our Souls, as you stood peaceably in front of the political authorities of Your mortal time, grant us courage and confidence to peacefully and persistently urge leaders of this Country, this Community, and this World, to legislate safety, economic compassion, and equity for all people.  We pray especially for: add your own petitions
 
                                               By Your blood we are reconciled
                                             By Your wounds we are healed
 
~ Shepherd of our Souls, anoint the hearts, restore the hope, and give rest from anxiety to all who are suffering in any physical or emotional way, and also to those who risk their lives to give protection, rescue, treatment, and all other forms of care. We pray for those in need…  add your own petitions 
  
                                               By Your blood we are reconciled
                                             By Your wounds we are healed
         
~ Shepherd of our Souls, we entrust the souls of all who have left this life to Your care, knowing that they now dwell in the light of Your House forever.  We pray especially for…  add your own petitions
 
                                               By Your blood we are reconciled
                                             By Your wounds we are healed
 
~ Shepherd of our Souls, we pause in this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions, petitions, and memorials…  add your own petitions
  
                                               By Your blood we are reconciled
                                             By Your wounds we are healed
                     
~ Shepherd of our Souls, Your ordained representatives in our time lead us to Your Gate with glad and generous hearts. They strive by an increasing variety of ways to bring You to us, through the Apostles’ teaching and prayer, and continually evolving options for fellowship. Through Your goodness and mercy, grant them peace, comfort, and stamina to continue Your work among, with, and for us. We pray especially for…  add your own petitions
 
                                               By Your blood we are reconciled
                                             By Your wounds we are healed
                                                                                                        
The Celebrant adds: O Lord our God, we are welcomed always into Your mystical pasture, to live and thrive on the Divine Bread of Life, Christ Jesus. Awaken us again, in these and all times, to follow You along the right paths and enter the Holy Gate to abundant and eternal life, in Your glorious and infinite kingdom. We ask this through Jesus the Christ, our Guardian and Shepherd; and the Holy Spirit, the Wisdom of our Souls; who together with You reign as One God, forever and ever.  Amen. 

 

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