Monastic Mumblings, a Friar's Journey

The Visitation of The Blessed Virgin Mary

This day is called the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and today the Church remembers when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth.

Traditionally, it is believed that the Annunciation and the  Incarnation took place about the vernal equinox. This would mean  that Mary left Nazareth somewhere around the end of March, traveling  over the mountains to Hebron, south of Jerusalem, to visit her  cousin Elizabeth, who became the mother of John the Baptist.  The exact date of this feast has moved around a bit over the years but most of the Church celebrates it on the last day of May, currently. This date follows the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25) and precedes the Birthday of John the Baptist (June 24).

This visit is recorded in Luke 1:39-56. Elizabeth greeted Mary with  the words, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of  your womb." Mary responds with the famous song of praise which we  call the Magnificat, beginning, "My soul proclaims the greatness of  the Lord."

This is a very powerful image. Luke tells us that facing each other,  are two very special women. One everyone thought too old to bear a child, yet giving birth to the last prophet of the Old Covenant.  Next to her, is Mary, her young cousin, apparently not ready to have a child, yet bringing the very One Who would sweep in the Kingdom of  God. Can you imagine a more clear example of the great change that was coming?

Feasts of Mary are generally entwined with the saving work of Jesus  but in this case, Jesus Himself, and His cousin John garner attention after their mothers meet in Spirit-filled happiness. In the second part of this little drama, we can easily overlook, the change that is coming and the two men (now babies) are starting their mission. We see a strong foreshadowing of what is to come.

I wonder if St. Joseph accompanied Mary to Hebron?  Did he leave her  there and come back to get her in three months? Perhaps it was  during this time that the angel returned to tell Joseph that Mary's Baby was from God and he should continue with his plans to take as his wife.  Maybe it was in this time that Joseph learned that the Child Mary carried was  the Son of God  (we see this in Matthew 1:19-25).  I suppose I will have to ask him  when I get there! ;)

Father in heaven, by Your grace the Virgin Mother of Your incarnate Son was blessed in bearing Him, but still more blessed in keeping Your word: Grant us who honor the exaltation of her lowliness to follow the example of her devotion to Your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Labels

What do you call yourself ??

 

Pentecost

Pentecost is here and Easter season ends. The name tells us that it is the fiftieth day (pentekoste in the Greek) of Easter, the last day of the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The nine days from Ascension Day to the Eve of Pentecost are the original novena--nine days of prayer. Before He ascended, Jesus ordered the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. After His Ascension, they returned to the upper room in Jerusalem where they devoted themselves to prayer.

Like Ascension Day, Pentecost is its own major event in the history of our salvation since it is the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is the day on which the Church is filled and empowered by the Spirit and, as we read in Acts, begins to grow and bear Fruit, proclaiming the Gospel of the One who died and rose again.

Fr. Thomas Keating tells us that: "The Fruits of the Spirit are indications of God's presence at work in us in varying degrees and forms. Through the Fruits, the Spirit is becoming a reality in our lives. By manifesting the fruits in daily life we bear witness to the resurrection of Christ in a most profound manner. It is not so much preaching or teaching, but our rootedness in the Spirit that communicates Christ's life to the people around us--to our family, friends, and those with whom we work. If we are rooted in the Spirit, these fruits inevitably begin to appear."

So then, how will we choose to live out our vocation as Pentecostal stewards of God's Holy Spirit? Will we seek a full, deep relationship with the Divinity that compels us to move beyond both Church and home to the world beyond? Will we use these Fruits so richly bestowed to ensure that the world He died for is blessed through us?

Be Pentecostal, it is how we are empowered to live the Gospel.

Augustine of Canterbury

Amazing, as it may seem, England was not always Christian. We do know that there was a Christian presence there before the Roman withdrawal of the Legions in the early 300's. Some scholars feel that travelers from the eastern half of the Empire had introduced Christianity initially, and then it spread among the native Celtic peoples of the island group.  Celtic Christianity had its own distinctive variations, and Greek scholarship flourished in Ireland for several centuries after it had died elsewhere in Western Europe.

In the 400's non-Christian Germanic tribes invaded Britain: the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. They conquered the native Celtic Christians or drove them north and west into Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. In spite of the destruction of their world, Celtic Christian missionaries returned to England to preach the Gospel to the Pagans who had conquered them. To make a link to modern readers, here is a question, could Evangelicals do the same should a "Hispanic Horde" "conquer" the USA? I wonder if love would be our motivation. 

During this time, the Patron of my Order, Gregory the Great, (Bishop of Rome) decided to send missionaries, a group of monks led by their prior, Augustine.

On their way, they lost heart and in fear Augustine went back to Rome from Provence and asked that the mission be given up. The Pope, however, commanded and encouraged them to proceed, and they landed in Kent (the southeast corner of England) in 597, and the king, whose wife was a Christian, allowed them to settle and preach.

King Ethelbert's wife, Queen Bertha, daughter of Charibert, one of the Merovingian kings of the Franks, had brought a chaplain with her (Liudhard) and either built a church, or restored a church in Canterbury from Roman times. King Ethelbert himself was a pagan, but allowed his wife to worship God her own way. Probably under influence of his wife, Ethelbert asked Pope Gregory I to send missionaries. This world may never know the influence this godly woman had on subsequent history.

Their preaching was outstandingly successful, the people were hungry for the Good News of salvation, and they made thousands of converts in a short time. In 601 the King Ethelbert himself was converted and baptized.  Then Augustine was consecrated bishop and established his headquarters at Canterbury. From his day to the present, there has been an unbroken succession of archbishops of Canterbury.

In 603, Augustine tried to unite the local Celtic Church with Rome, but without much success. There hadn't been much in the way of cooperation along these lines during the whole of his time in England. Old attachments to provincial customs and practices were simply too ingrained. However, with Canterbury firmly established as the ecclesiastical center of England, use of the Roman Rite and calendar would, after his death be universally accepted.

O Lord our God, Who by Your Son Jesus Christ called Your apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless Your holy name for Your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating Your Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all whom You call and send may do Your will, and bide Your time, and see Your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Casual Friday?

Monk humor... LOL

The Great Temptation

For the last several years an element of American Christianity as been very closely associated with a narrow political platform, and transforming itself into something barely recognizable as historically Christian. 

It appears we have been seduced by wealth and power, and consumed with lust for more. We use our spirituality to clobber the weakest, blame the destitute, and condemn the confused.  Do we truly see the Gospel our highly politicized Church preaches?  would Jesus share it with His disciples?

In the movie "Jesus Christ, Superstar" Simon Zealotes is shown before a mob of screaming fans telling Jesus:
Christ,
there must be over fifty thousand
screaming love and more for You!
And every one of fifty thousand
would do whatever You asked them to!
Keep them yelling their devotion,
but add a touch of hate at Rome!
You will rise to a greater power!
We shall win ourselves a home!

There it is, the great temptation.  Add a touch of hate at Rome.  No matter what or who "Rome" is. Use that hate to climb the rungs of power and might. No matter what, that is NOT the Gospel.  Jesus answers Simon by telling him that neither him, the Romans, or the crowd truly understand that real glory, true power comes in preferring others and giving up our lives in service to those for whom Christ died.  As Jesus in Superstar says: To conquer death you only have to die, You only have to die.

I wonder if the glitzy, American Jesus would be willing to die for someone as sinful as me?

Ascension Day

Here we are, some 6 weeks, but more especially 40 days after Easter. Our Lord has walked among us all this time, but today the unexpected happens.  As the ancient Creed tells us, He ascends into heaven to sit on the right hand of God the Father.   Are these only dry words written on fading parchments or do they have meaning in our lives today? The texts tell us that it was this day that Jesus ended His earthly ministry and left  this world.  For me, the Ascension is a Glorious Mystery. I know perfectly well that Jesus did not go into orbit around the planet, shoot into interstellar space or go behind some cloud to peek around the corner. I understand He Ascended into Heaven, wherever and whatever that may be, I do know that from there He continues His ministry of reconciling the world to His Father. I know that He will come again someday, but far more importantly I know that from the Throne in glory He enables me to begin bringing the Kingdom into this world, every day.

Almighty God, Whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that He might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to His promise, He abides with His Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Martyrs of Sudan

Once in a while, I hear American Evangelicals talking about persecution here in the United States. While true discipleship often creates disagreements and opposition, I sincerely believe that we are quite a distance from anything like the people of Sudan have suffered for the last 20 some years.  Today the Church remembers all the Martyrs of Sudan.  Not a place that is oil-rich for the powerful to be concerned with, but rich in another way; the souls of faithful Christians.  Remember them today.

The Christian bishops, chiefs, commanders, clergy and people of Sudan declared, on May 16, 1983, that they would not abandon God as God had revealed himself to them under threat of Shariah Law imposed by the fundamentalist Islamic government in Khartoum. Until a peace treaty was signed on January 9, 2005, the Episcopal Church of the Province of the Sudan suffered from persecution and devastation through twenty-two years of civil war. Two and a half million people were killed, half of whom were members of this church. Many clergy and lay leaders were singled out because of their religious leadership in their communities. No buildings, including churches and schools, are left standing in an area the size of Alaska. Four million people are internally displaced, and a million are scattered around Africa and beyond in the Sudanese Diaspora. Twenty-two of the twenty-four dioceses exist in exile in Uganda or Kenya, and the majority of the clergy are unpaid. Only 5% of the population of Southern Sudan was Christian in 1983. Today over 85% of that region of six million is now mostly Episcopalian or Roman Catholic. A faith rooted deeply in the mercy of God has renewed their spirits through out the years of strife and sorrow.

From the proposal before the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church

O God, the One Who is steadfast in the midst of persecution, by Your providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church:  Grant that we who remember before You the blessed martyrs of the Sudan, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to Whom they refuse to abandon, even in the face of death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Reverend Jerry Falwell

I doubt that Rev. Falwell and I could have agreed on much in this life, however I do believe that he had a deep faith in Christ.  I pray for the repose of his soul and the grief his family and Church are experiencing.

Depart, O Christian soul, out of this world;
† In the Name of God the Father Almighty Who created you;
† In the Name of Jesus Christ Who redeemed you;
† In the Name of the Holy Spirit Who sanctifies you.
May your rest be this day in peace,
and your dwelling place in the Paradise of God.

Fidelium animae † per misericordiam Dei requiescant in pace.
May the souls † of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Simon of Cyrene, Cross-Bearer

You hear the phrase "carry your cross" or "we all have a cross to bear" but today, the Church celebrates the one human who can literally say he carried the Cross.

As Jesus was staggering under the load, shouldering his cross out of Jerusalem to the place of execution, there was a guy in the crowd coming in from a place called Cyrene. His name was Simon, a Jew from Cyrene, who was in Jerusalem for the Passover. The Roman soldiers picked him out of what was probably a large group of people watching the executions. Why? Was he taller? Did he catch the eye of the Centurion because he looked strong enough to carry the load with out further delay? We will never know. I chose this image to portray the strength of Simon and how he helped the traumatized Jesus.  Click on the link to view the artist's website. We do know that the Romans had a legal right of a soldier to require a provincial to carry his gear one mile for him, and that is probably the law used in this case.

Simon was a bystander, yet he was chosen to act in a powerful drama that he could not know was occurring when he arrived in Jerusalem that day. He wasn't a follower of this Rabbi being executed, he did not know His family, friends or even His message. He was from Cyrene, some distance away in Africa. Plucked out of obscurity by "chance" Simon was compelled to take near center stage at the very Redemption of humanity.

But did Simon just go his on way unaffected? No. Somehow, Jesus in the short time He had with Simon touched him in some profound way that forever changed him. What questions did he ask? Perhaps "who are You" or "why are they doing this"? We know that the Gospeler Mark tells us that Simon was "the father of Alexander and Rufus" without further explanation, apparently taking it for granted that his readers would all know who Rufus and Alexander are. About a century later, the Christian writer Papias tells us that Mark originally wrote his Gospel for the Christian community in Rome. It appears that Alexander and Rufus were well known to, and probably part of, the Christian community in Rome. Also in the Acts of the Apostles, we hear that some "men of Cyrene" are preaching the Gospel in Antioch. Was Simon one of them? We don't know for certain, but it does seem that Simon was converted on that day, carrying the Cross of Christ, and his children followed the Lord after him.

The question is, how does carrying each other's burdens convert us? Do we accept help like Jesus did, or do we try to shoulder our burdens alone?

Heavenly Father, Whose most dear Son, as He walked the way of the Cross, accepted the service of Simon of Cyrene to carry His physical burden for Him: grant us each the grace gladly to bear one another's burdens, for the love of Him who said, "As you did it to the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me," Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Who now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.