God is radically unselfish as a giver – Matt 5:1-12

Beginning a series on the Sermon on the Mount for Old College.

Seeing the crowd, [Jesus] went up the mountain.  When he had sat down, his disciples came to him and he began to teach them:

“Happy the poor of spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is made up of them.

“Happy those who grieve, for they will be comforted.

“Happy the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

“Happy those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.

“Happy those who practice mercy, for they will receive mercy.

“Happy the pure of heart, for they will see God.

“Happy the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

“Happy those who are persecuted for their righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is made up of them.

“Happy are you if they revile you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you falsely because of me.  Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for thus they persecuted the prophets who came before you.”

God gives.  If I was to sum up the beatitudes we’ve just heard in one short sentence, it would have to be that: God gives.  Comfort, inheritance, justice, mercy, vision, adoption, entry into the kingdom: God gives.  It’s a factual statement, but on a deeper level it’s an exclamation, an exercise of wonder and awe.  It’s a happy statement.  God gives and we are most fully happy, most genuinely ourselves, when we receive. 

God shows us our future in His saints – Rom 8:26-30

Moreau Lucenarium; Feast of St. Antony, Rom 8:26-30.

Sometimes you meet someone and you come away absolutely convinced of the existence of holiness in the world.  Sometimes you meet someone and you come away absolutely sure that they’re either a saint, or incredibly weird.  “Maybe,” you conclude, “they’re both.”  I think meeting St. Antony, whose feast day we celebrate today, was probably that kind of experience.  I mean, the guy did live in a tomb for starters.  People also flocked to him, and St. Athanasius wrote a biography of him, because he was someone whose presence convinced you of the fundamental goodness in humanity, the fundamental goodness that God can draw to the surface.

God perfects us in love – Phil 1:4-6, 8-11.

Moreau Sunday Vespers; Preaching on the Second Reading (Phil) from today's Mass.

“May God who began this good work in you bring it to completion.”  Many of us in this room have heard these words spoken directly to us and many will hear them in the future, whether again or for the first time.  They were first spoken to me by Fr. David Tyson right after I professed first vows.  I hope I will hear them for a final time in April of 2014, moments before the Bishop’s consecratory prayer will make me a priest.  This good work… may God bring it to completion.

God’s is the strength, God is destination – Adv I collect

Preaching on the Advent I Collect for Old College.

Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,

The resolve to run forth to meet your Christ

With righteous deeds at his coming,

So that, gathered at his right hand,

They may be worthy to possess the heavenly kingdom.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

One God, for ever and ever.

Advent is for waiting – if people know one thing about Advent, it’s probably that.  We’re waiting for Christmas, which isn’t very long to wait (and seems even quicker given the decorations we have up in Old College!) and we’re waiting for Christ’s second coming, without knowing how long that will be.  Regardless, we’re waiting.  So why does this collect talk about running?  No matter what the pastor of St. Joe parish might tell you, it’s not a shout out to the St. Nick Six, but a characterization of what Christian waiting looks like.

God strengthens our hearts and raises our heads to live in freedom – Advent 1 (Yr C), Luke 21:25-28, 34-36.

Homily for preaching class on this year's Advent I readings.

What do you want for Christmas?  I want a puppy, but I know that’s not going to happen.  Realistically, I’ll be glad to get some good books, a trip to visit family, and a decent bottle of scotch from the duty free on the way back.  And I’m sure all of us have some simple things we want to get, but maybe we could each think of something we’d want to be rid of too.  For some of us… some just want to be sober for Christmas, to get through the holidays without smoking or to be free of another addiction.  Some of us want to be free of guilt when they take an extra Christmas cookie or of shame when they even contemplate seeing their body in a mirror.  Some of us want to be free of crippling social anxiety, or of a temper that erupts at the worst moments.  For others of us, what we want to be free from might be much subtler: a laziness that thwarts our best intentions, an envy that prevents us from being truly happy for someone else, a need to always be right, clumsiness.  Whatever it is, we want to be free. 

God shakes our world – Matt 28:1-10

To complete my series on the Seven Sorrows of Mary, I closed with the resurrection.

After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.  And, behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord had come down from heaven.  The angel came and rolled away the stone, and then he sat upon it.  His countenance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow.  The guards quaked with fear and became like corpses.

The angel spoke to the women:  “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are seeking Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for he was raised just as he said.  Come, see the place where he laid.  And now, go, tell his disciples that he has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.  See, I have told you.”

Immediately, they went away from the tomb with fear and great joy.  They ran to tell his disciples.  Jesus appeared right to them, met them and said:  “Rejoice!”  They went up to him and grasped him by the feet and bowed down in homage to him.  Then, Jesus said to them: “Do not be afraid.  “Go, tell my brothers to go away to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

~~

Back when I still lived in California, there was a Bible study I’d go to in the rectory of nearby church.  One day, we were discussing some passage and as I was explaining how some aspect of it struck me, suddenly everything jolted.  My first, unthinking instinctive reaction was: “someone’s done an emergency stop.”  Then, I remembered we weren’t in a car… we were in the rectory, and rectories don’t do emergency stops.  It was an earthquake.  Not one that caused any real damage, but enough to jolt us, to spill people’s drinks, to make me joke that God maybe didn’t like that interpretation I’d just offered.  Enough to remind me that the earth we instinctively think of as solid and ultimately dependable is neither of those things.

God blesses us and bequeaths us as blessers – 1 Pet 3:8-9

1 Pet 3:8-9; Moreau Lucenarium.

Imagine you missed out on a great night out last night.  All your friends had an amazing banquet and raised their cups several times in toasts.  But, you knew there’d be toasts to the gods so you didn’t go.  Since becoming a Christian, your social life has really suffered.  And it’s not just that, or that your old friends think you’ve gone crazy for thinking that a crucified Jew could have come back for the dead, they think you’re selfish and mean-spirited because you won’t offer meat to be sacrificed to the local deity.  At times even you wonder if this year’s harvest will be that much worse because of you. Every time you go to the market (which you’re not really sure you should be at anyway, because of all the idols on display), people look at you funny, you’re sure whispering behind your back is about you and occasionally an insult does reach your ears.  And the Christians who welcomed you?  They don’t live like the teacher said they would: they bicker, they’re proud.