Going on Pilgrimage

As we begin our pilgrimage tomorrow to the birthplace of Bernard Mizeki, I am reminded if the words from a song by Enya:

Pilgrim, how you journey
On the road you chose
To find out why the winds die
And where the stories go.

All days come from one day
That much you must know,
You cannot change what's over
But only where you go.

One way leads to diamonds,
One way leads to gold,
Another leads you only
To everything you're told.

In your heart you wonder
Which of these is true;
The road that leads to nowhere,
The road that leads to you.

Will you find the answer
In all you say and do?
Will you find the answer
In you?

Each heart is a pilgrim,
Each one wants to know
The reason why the winds die
And where the stories go.

Pilgrim, in your journey
You may travel far,
For pilgrim it's a long way
To find out who you are...

Pilgrim, it's a long way
To find out who you are...

Pilgrim, it's a long way
To find out who you are...

Tomorrow we travel. I suspect on this journey I will find out more about who I am...


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Maputo

These are scenes from the mission trip to Mozambique.



We learned from a priest (who spoke English very well) about his ministry in rural areas and the communities he serves.


The inside of a local Anglican church.


Preschool education is very important and most churches have some type of educational ministry.


We had bible study, baptism, confirmation and Eucharist in the bishop's apartment. 50 people!



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Let the Mission Begin! - Prayer to Start a Journey

On Tuesday morning - 6 of us set out from Connecticut to make our way to Mozambqiue and a week long mission trip there.

We begin with a 17+ hour flight from JFK in New York City to Johannesburg to Maputo.

I will post as I am able from Africa.

Here is a prayer for the start of our journey...

O God, you called Abraham and Sarah to leave their home and protected them in all their wanderings; Grant those of us who travel now by land and air to Mozambique, a prosperous journey, a time of peace, and a safe arrival at our journey's end. Be to us a shadow in the heat, a refuge in the tempest, a protection in adversity, and grant that when life's pilgrimage is over we may arrive at the heavenly country; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(Adapted from Prayers for the Start of a Journey, Christopher L. Webber, Church Publishing Corporation, New York, 1999)

Feb. 23 Sermon - on Bernard Mizeki

Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your Love in the heart of your holy martyr Bernard Mizeki: Grant to us, your humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in his triumph may profit by his example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

They begged him to leave, but he refused. He knew his life was in danger, but he would not leave those he had been teaching the Christian Faith, to those whom he had given his love. So he stayed, not knowing what would come next. His name was Bernard Mizeki. The year was 1896. Why did he stay?

An Anglican Bishop some 80 years later in an another part of Africa put it this way, “In Uganda, during the eight years in the 1970s when Idi Amin and his men slaughtered probably half a million Ugandans, "We live today and are gone tomorrow" was the common phrase. We learned that living in danger, when the Lord Jesus is the focus of your life, can be liberating. For one thing, you are no longer imprisoned by your own security, because there is none. So the important security that people sought was to be anchored in God.” (from Revolutionary Love by Festo Kivengere)

Bernard Mizeki was anchored in God. He was born Mamiyeri Mitseka Gwambe in 1861 in the Inhambane district of Portuguese East Africa which we know today as Mozambique. When he was about twelve years old, he left his home and went to Capetown, South Africa. In his 20s, he began to attend classes at an Anglican school. Under the influence of his teachers, from the Society of Saint John the Evangelist, he was baptized in 1886 and took on the name Bernard Mizeki. In his schooling, he mastered English, French, Dutch, and several local African languages.

After his baptism, he was trained as a lay catechist, one who taught the Christian faith to others. After graduating, he accompanied Bishop Knight-Bruce to Mashonaland, a tribal area in what is today Zimbabwe. In 1891 the bishop assigned him to Nhowe and there he lived among that tribe. He prayed the Anglican hours each day, tended his garden, and studied the local language so he could talk and pray and teach them in their own language, which also helped him cultivate friendships with the people.

With the chief's permission, he moved his huts onto a nearby plateau, next to a grove of trees believed to be sacred to the ancestral spirits of the Mashona. This angered the shamans when he cut some of the trees down and carved crosses into others. Although he opposed some of the tribal religious traditions, Bernard was attentive to the nuances of their religion and developed an approach that built on the people's faith in one God, and on their sensitivity to the spirit, while at the same time proclaiming Christ. In many ways, he reminds me of St. Patrick and what he did among the Irish, cultivating the faith in similar soil, helping them see the Christian faith in what they already knew.

Sadly, his life would not end so peaceably as St. Patrick’s did in Ireland. In 1896, when tensions reached a fevered pitch in Mashonaland, missionaries were ordered out for their safety. Bernard refused to go. On June 18, 1896, Bernard was killed by the local shaman and his huts and his mission destroyed.

And yet his work did not die with him. His pregnant wife survived and in fact, the first baptisms from that tribe followed his death, including his wife and child. He is revered among African Anglicans and is considered both a martyr and a saint.

In our reading from Leviticus, “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation and say: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. You shall not hate in your heart…You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.”

This was true of the life of Bernard Mizeki. Who refused to go down the road of hate, even when threatened by the local religious leaders. He knew his anchor was in God, that Jesus guided him onward as he loved everyone he was with. He tried to live that holy life in prayer and in love to whom he was called. And like St. Paul, he understood that his work was not for himself…

“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ. So let no one boast about human leaders. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future-- all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.”

The foundation laid by Bernard Mizeki was built upon by many other Christians in African in the decades since his death. He knew he belonged to Christ and he wanted to share that with others, in their own language and customs. And he was trying to live as Jesus had taught. Many shrines were set up to remember his work and his martyrdom.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus said “You have heard that it was said, `You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”

Bernard tried to love his enemies even at the end, worrying more about his wife and those he taught, then his own life. He tried to be as Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

But of course, Bernard wasn’t, nor are any of us perfect. But Jesus calls us to work towards that perfection in how we live our lives. As one person has written on Bernard… “While attaining the highest, he yet comes within the comprehension of the lowest. He is not as saints and martyrs often seem to be – a being of a different order. He brings the crown of martyrdom within the compass of his people's understanding; he is bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh .... He stands for modern Africa. He stands true to type. In all the happenings of his life – save in the manner of his death – he recapitulates the story of countless thousands of his African brothers and sisters.” (Fr. Osmund Victor)

Today, we are called to have a like faith and power of love that Bernard Mizeki had in Jesus, who “proclaimed that he followed the Holy and Loving Spirit, whom we call God and because of this, he had lost all anxiety and no one could ever disturb his peace and happiness.” (from an eyewitness to one of his teachings)

May we who rejoice in his triumph, may also profit by his example, for we walk with him, just as he walked with Jesus, working towards that perfection in that faith and love that drives out fear and anxiety. For we are anchored in God, who indeed helps us live in peace and happiness. Amen.

Prayers for the Ukraine

A Prayer for Reconciliation in Ukraine

O God of grace,
we pray for the unrest in Ukraine.
We pray for those whose love of neighbour
has been destroyed in the bitterness of enmity.
May fear be submerged in compassion.
May distrust be diluted by hope,
as a vision of peace illuminates
darkened minds and hate-filled hearts.
We pray in the name of Christ,
our source of light and love. Amen.

A prayer for the people of the Ukraine

Eternal God,
in your perfect realm
no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness,
and no strength known but the strength of love:
We pray that the people of the Ukraine
may find solace, peace and security
in love which casts out fear,
in respect which restores brokenness
and in the tranquility which heals disorder.
Amen.

(Adapted from prayers by the CofE)


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A Prayer for President's Day

O Lord our Governor, whose glory is in all the world: We commend this nation to thy merciful care, that, being guided by thy Providence, we may dwell secure in thy peace. Grant to the President of the United States, wisdom
and strength to know and to do thy will. Fill him with the love of truth and righteousness, and make him ever mindful of the calling to serve this people in thy fear; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. (Adapted from BCP)


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February 16 Sermon

Forgive the things I've said in haste, O Lord, today,
As evening shadows fold again the light away;
O take away the sting and hurt from hearts, I pray;
And heal the wounded spirits, Lord, in Thine own way! Amen.

I want to begin with an old Cherokee legend…

An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice, "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.

But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times." He continued, "It is as if there are two wolves inside me. One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing. Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Wise Words! They are echoed in our first reading from Ecclesiasticus: We have a choice to make between fire & water, life & death, between a good wolf and an evil wolf inside us.

And yet, is the choice always so easy for us to make?

Sometimes, it’s beyond our choice. Having met one of our moms in the pediatricians office yesterday, her son’s flu will dictate their choice about coming today.

Today, you all made the faithful choice to come this morning, despite the snowy roads, and I hope it wasn’t a difficult decision!

But Jesus takes our decision making even further as he continues his sermon on the mount, to those who were gathered. As we think of the wolves inside us & the choices we make…

"You have heard that it was said `You shall not murder'; and `whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, `You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire.”

Wow! Jesus is not mincing words here. But he is making a strong point. It isn’t just the big sins, like murder that get us in trouble, it’s the everyday sins, anger, insults, the disrespect towards our brothers and sisters. It’s that angry, evil wolf inside us that come out…

“So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”

Set things right, Jesus tells us, or it may get even worse for us. Our gift offerings are important, but so is being reconciled to others, to those we have hurt, to do good.

`You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. `Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and `You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.' But I say to you, Do not swear at all…

Jesus again takes these ideas to the next level. Its not just about adultery, but the lust, the coveting of another that hurts us and others. Its not just the no fault divorce, nor swearing falsely. We must go to the next level, and not swear at all, divorce only for cause.

Our choices will not be easy. But they will be our own. We are confronted everyday with choices: fire & water, good & evil, life & death.

Let your word be `Yes, Yes' or `No, No'; anything more than this comes from the evil one.

I think of the game of Scruples ..Yes, No or Depends...


When we choose, we must be clear, and even if one day we do choose wrongly, we feed the wrong wolf, we can always change and choose again. Let me end with a story I recently read.

A young man was pouring over the selection of Valentine's Day cards at a local gift store. A clerk asked if she could help. "I'm looking for your most beautiful Valentine card," he explained. "Something that perfectly expresses my deepest feelings." The clerk went to a section of cards and pulled out a card that was beautifully embossed, trimmed with lace, and written in an elegant script.

"This is a lovely card," she said and read the inside, "'To my one true love, the light of my life, the song that fills my heart with joy, the very image of beauty and grace. I love you more than I can say.'" The young man was thrilled. "That's perfect!" he said. "That's exactly the special kind of heartfelt message I'm looking for. I'll take five of them."

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus asks us to consider the weight and meaning of what we say - and to realize the chasm that often exists between our words and our actions. Jesus calls us to slow down and reflect on what we wolf we truly feed in our hearts and live out in our actions, for the values of God we hold dear, we need to make our words and attitudes reflect those values.

What will we feed today? “Is it anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego? Or is it joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, forgiveness, compassion and faith?”

Choose this day says Jesus and then come follow me. Amen.

Science & Faith: An Addendum

Having preached on science and faith (see the previous post), I wanted to add an addendum to what I have already said. I believe in theistic evolution, I don’t believe in a literal Genesis (from the first book of the Bible and the stories of creation) as some do. I find the words of fellow Episcopalian Alan Jones, to be near my own…

For the first twelve hundred years of the Christian era the predominant way of interpreting the Bible was allegorical. Metaphor, analogy, poetry were taken for granted as vehicles of deep truths. The great change came when language was refined to be the vehicle of only single meanings. This wasn't all bad by any means. It enabled science to flourish and bring us to an even deeper appreciation of the wonders of the universe. The trouble was that religious people were taken in by the triumph of scientific discourse and wanted theology to sound scientific. It wasn't sufficient to affirm that the Bible to contain deep truths. It had to be literally true to be -- well -- true. Whatever the Book of Genesis is it isn't a scientific treatise but it contains a great story about the glory and mess of being human. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-jones/creationism-vs-scientism-_b_4725340.html)

I also believe that science and religion shouldn’t be compartmentalized so they have no interaction with each other. Science might focus on the “how” and religion on the “why” but in today’s world we need both as we face into the issues of our day.

“Science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.” ~ Albert Einstein

So if science and religion can and should exist together, might they also speak to one another and help each other as we live into the 21st Century and all of the religious, technological and scientific advancements that have taken place. What might they say about…

• Genetically Modified Foods?
• Fracking & Tar Sands?
• Climate Change & Pollution?
• Drought?
• Beginning of Life issues?
• End of Life issues?
• Millennium Development Goals?

These are just a few of the items that the intersection of science and religion should be in dialogue about today. I don’t have the space here to investigate these myself, but I believe we need to hear voices from all corners, and in many cases to tackle the issues sooner rather than later.

"Science is showing us how this grand system works, and religion is beginning to say more loudly that we have a moral responsibility for those vast consequences of our behavior.” ~ Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori

As Episcopalians, we value and believe in the Incarnation, that God is with us in our struggles on our planet. In the incarnation, God who created everything that is, created everything good and places the responsibility of its stewardship on us. May we work together for the betterment of all humankind, and take care of this beautiful planet, our island home, entrusted to us for its care and keeping, so that we can past it on to the generations to come.

Sermon (Feb. 9) - Science & Faith

God of grace and glory, you create and sustain the universe in majesty and beauty: We thank you for all whom you have planted the desire to know your creation and to explore your work and wisdom. Lead us, like them, to understand better the wonder and mystery of creation; through Christ your eternal Word, through whom all things were made. Amen.

This week after the tragic death of Philip Seymour Hoffman and the reminder that our family and friends who deal with addiction live with a constant battle to stay sober, through the days of snow, and the excitement of the opening of the Olympics in Sochi, there was a debate Tuesday night. Anyone watch it?

The debate was billed as Creationism vs Evolution between scientist Bill Nye and creationist Ken Ham. I will admit I never heard of Ken Ham, so I googled him. He is a young-Earth creationist who advocates a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis and believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old. He is the founder of the Creation Museum in Kentucky. I know Bill Nye. My kids watched his videos, “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” He made science fun for them and me.

I did not see the debate live. I have watched only small pieces of it on you tube. What I watched, I found tedious and boring and unconvincing. I have no problem reconciling my faith with science. In fact, I have more problems with those who try to use a literal understanding of the bible to explain everything. I believe in theistic evolution, the idea that our religious teachings about God (in the Episcopal Church) are compatible with modern scientific understanding about biological evolution. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-jones/creationism-vs-scientism-_b_4725340.html and https://www.facebook.com/episcopalscience)

For me, there is no conflict. If polls are correct, 66% of the nation believes in Evolution while 33% believe in Creationism. What bothered me about the debate, wasn’t so much the content, each offered his beliefs on creation. But what struck me most, was how open to change and development Bill Nye’s ideas were and how closed were Ken Ham’s ideas, who said at one point there was nothing going to ever change his mind about his understanding of creation.

As faithful Christians who follow Jesus on the way, our hearts and minds should always be open to new understandings. We should not be a closed book.

One science commentator following the debate said, “’I don’t know’ is an acceptable answer in science. It leads to asking more questions, which leads to more exploration, which leads to more understanding…” (http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/02/06/religion_and_science_answering_creationists_questions.html)

I am struck by the willingness to ask questions, to explore, to say, I don’t know. That is what we should be doing as Christians too. I have a poster that hangs in my office: “He died to take away your sins, not your mind.” By the grace of God we are saved in Jesus Christ. God does not expect us to stop our thinking, our growing, or our questions, because those are important parts of our faith!

So what does Jesus expect?

Jesus said in today’s Gospel reading, "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? You are the light of the world…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."

Jesus expects us to live our lives, to be ourselves (the salt that is already inside us), to let our light shine in the darkness, so that the good works we do, can be seen, not for our praise, but praise to God, for the kingdom of heaven hinges not on our pedigrees or our beliefs, but on righteousness.

Think of what St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God…But we have the mind of Christ.”

It is the Holy Spirit that guides us into belief, into knowing God, to have the mind of Christ. The meaning of life for us is what the Spirit helps us find in our life and our world through God.

As another commentator put it, “Science is more about seeking answers, while faith is about asking questions. Science dwells in the "how" while faith explores the "why." We accept the likelihood that much we think we understand about the world, the universe and about our faith can (and should) change as we learn new things. We understand that faith is more about questions than answers, and that the prime mover in our faith practice is to be more like Jesus in our own daily walk, rather than focusing so much on making others more like us.” (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christian-piatt/ken-ham-bill-nye-debate_b_4731944.html)

Which leads me back to what God is asking of us! The prophet Isaiah, our first reading, God was upset with what the chosen people were doing, whose lives were too closed to others and to God…

“Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God… Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high.” (Isaiah)

Those words also hit close to home for us, of serving our own interests, of quarreling, of no love toward others and not understanding what God has and continues to ask of us.

(Isaiah) “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn…”

Sure sounds like Jesus telling us to be the light of the world…

(Isaiah) “If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness…you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in.”

Our faith in Jesus as we follow his way calls us through our homes & out into the streets, to be the repairer of the breaches in our own lives & the world, through forgiveness, love, and hope. It is time for us “to move beyond the “conflict model” with science and to figure out how to relate our faith in an integrative & imaginative way with science.” (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivare/2014/02/the-battle-rages-can-we-move-beyond-the-conflict-model/)

Science is not our enemy but a useful tool for us on our journey in understanding how things work, not the why we do it, or the meaning behind it.

In the words of a science commentator, “Meaning in life is what you make of it. For me that’s love, beauty, art, science, and learning.” Which is a fine list, but as faithful Christians, our meaning must go beyond that, to fulfill what Jesus asks of us, to Love our God, to Love all our neighbors (as ourselves) and to serve the world. Let us be that salt, that light, that righteousness, through our love, today. Amen.

Autism Sunday

A Prayer for the Autism Community by Vernon Corea

Gracious Father,
Thank you for giving us your Son
To teach us and forgive us.
He suffered and died for us,
And while he was on this earth
He healed the sick
And touched the lives
Of everyone.
We now commit the lives
Of all autistic people in our nation
Into Your loving care.
We ask you to lay Your hands on them
And give them Your peace.
Give them the power of the Holy Spirit
To make them whole.
In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Prayers for Sochi

For the 2014 Olympics & Paralympic Winter Games:

Eternal God,
Giver of joy and source of all strength,
we pray for those
who are at the Sochi Olympic and the upcoming Paralympic games.
For the competitors and their loved ones,
For the many thousands who will support them,
and who will welcome many people from many nations.
In a world where many are rejected and abused,
we pray for a spirit of tolerance and acceptance,
of humility and respect
and for the health and safety of all.
May we at the last be led towards the love of Christ
who is more than gold, today and for ever. Amen.

God our Creator,
we pray for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
We give thanks for the thrill of watching them;
and we pray for all who are taking part.
Give them courage and strength,
wisdom and generosity.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ,
our teacher and our friend.  Amen.

Gracious God,
we pray for Sochi,
welcoming the people of the world to the Games.
We give thanks for its history and
offering a warm embrace to many.
Grant enrichment and friendship and safety
to all who visit and receive hospitality here,
that the world may be sustained
in its journey towards tolerance, understanding and peace.  Amen.

Almighty God,
you created humanity in your image
and delight in our talent, skill and flair:
give us grace to celebrate
the achievements of our fellow men and women.
Give determination and equity to competitors,
gratitude and charm to winners,
grace and mercy to those who do not come in first,
and thankfulness and admiration to observers;
that in all our best efforts
your creation may be glorified. Amen.


Prayers adapted from the 2012 London Games (Church of England).

A Prayer for Super Bowl Sunday

Super Bowl Sunday
By Walter Brueggemann
From Prayers for a Privileged People

The world of fast money,
and loud talk,
and much hype is upon us.
We praise huge men whose names will linger only briefly.

We will eat and drink,
and gamble and laugh,
and cheer and hiss,
and marvel and then yawn.

We show up, most of us, for such a circus,
and such an indulgence.
Loud clashing bodies,
violence within rules,
and money and merchandise and music.

And you—today like every day—
you govern and watch and summon;
you are glad when there is joy in the earth,
But you notice our liturgies of disregard and
our litanies of selves made too big,
our fascination with machismo power,
and lust for bodies and for big bucks.

And around you gather today, as every day,
elsewhere uninvited, but noticed acutely by you,
those disabled and gone feeble,
those alone and failed,
those uninvited and shamed.
And you whose gift if more than “super,”
Overflowing, abundant, adequate, all sufficient.

The day of preoccupation with creature comforts writ large.
We pause to be mindful of our creatureliness,
our commonality with all that is small and vulnerable exposed,
your creatures called to obedience and praise.

Give us some distance from the noise,
some reserve about the loud success of the day,
that we may remember that our life consists
not in things we consume
but in neighbors we embrace.

Be our good neighbor that we may practice
your neighborly generosity all through our needy
neighborhood.


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U2charist 2014

This is the eighth annual U2charist on the “Souper Bowl of Caring” Sunday. The U2charist is an Episcopal Eucharist service that features the music of the band U2, and a message about God's call to rally around the Millennium Development Goals. The music in this service is replete with images of our connection with God and the importance of caring for your neighbor, particularly the most vulnerable and in need. Led by the Global MDG ambassador, Bono, U2 is calling people worldwide to a deeper faith and engagement with God's mission. The U2charist seeks to be an extension of this ministry in our parish.

Listen for biblical and theological references, for traditional Christian imagery and language, as well as for very nontraditional language, used to paint very traditional images of Christian theology. The traditional understanding of faith as an insatiable desire for God is a common theme, and “you” in U2’s lyrics is often indicative of God addressing the human, as it is the person of faith addressing God. "We've found different ways of expressing it…. Maybe we just have to sort of draw our fish in the sand. It's there for people who are interested." – Bono

St. Augustine said, “Those who sing, pray twice.” Join U2 and sing!

The Playlist:

Prelude: Ordinary Love (2013)

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” ~ Nelson Mandela
Opening Song: Pride (In the Name of Love) (1984) – How do we offer our love?

Song of Praise: Jesus Christ (written by Woodie Guthrie, 1961)

Psalm: 40 (1983)

For today's "Souper Bowl of Caring," all monetary donations in the soup kettles and the offering plate will go to the feeding ministries of the Episcopal Bridgeport Deanery; all canned goods will be donated to the Monroe Food Pantry.
Offertory: Nothing More by The Alternate Routes (A Guest Appearance) - 2013

The song “Nothing More” was written in an effort to raise awareness for the organization Newtown Kindness. Newtown Kindness was founded in the memory of Charlotte Bacon and their mission is to promote kindness and acts of kindness in communities. (Fall 2013) The band is from Connecticut.
Communion Song I: One Step Closer (2004) – a song for the journey

Communion Song II: White as Snow (2009) – a song to the Lamb

Closing Song: Beautiful Day (2000)

Postlude: Miracle Drug (2004)

"It feels like God walking through the room, and it feels like a blessing, and in the end, music is a kind of sacrament." - Bono

Candlemas Sermon 10:15 AM

Children's Sermon: The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (10:15 AM)

Today is Feb. 2 – 40 days after Christmas! An old tradition holds that today is the last day for our Christmas celebrations! It’s time to take the tree down & the decorations. Today is The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, our last day to celebrate his birth…let’s hear the story again.

It was a tradition among the Jews that the first boy child born to a family was to be taken to the Temple in Jerusalem. There his parents would make an offering to the Lord, to show that the child belonged to God.

When Jesus was forty days old, Joseph and Mary brought Him to the Temple as was the custom. As an offering, Joseph bought a pair of young pigeons to place upon the altar of the Temple.

Living in Jerusalem at that time was a very holy man, a man whom the Lord had spoken to, his name was Simeon, and he was very old, but the Lord had told him that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah.

One day the Spirit of the Lord urged Simeon to go to the Temple. He went, and was there when Joseph and Mary came with the baby Jesus, to present their offering. When Simeon saw the child, Simeon took Jesus in his arms and gave thanks to the Lord for letting him see the Messiah:

"Lord, you now have set your servant free, to go in peace as you have promised; For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: A Light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people Israel."

Then Simeon blessed Joseph and Mary. He also told Mary some of the things the future would hold, for her son and for her. He told her of the greatness her son would attain, but he added that sorrow, like a sword, would pierce her heart too.

There was also in the Temple a woman named Anna, who spoke with God. She spent all her time praying. And the Lord also revealed to her that the baby Jesus was the Savior who had been promised. She too gave thanks to the Lord, and told the other people in the Temple that the Redeemer had come.

And so it was that a few people who kept close to God knew Jesus was the Son of God, that Jesus was the light of God to everyone... But most people merely thought of him as the son of Mary & Joseph, who came from Nazareth. Today we remember Simeon and Anna and their role in helping us proclaim Jesus.

At the end of the service, I will need your help, so we all can proclaim that light but I’ll tell you more then… 

MDG Sermon

Bono once said, “We have a lot to prove, but if the M.D.G. agreement had not been made in 2000, much less would have happened than has happened. Already, we’ve seen transformative results for millions of people whose lives are shaped by the priorities of people they will never know or meet...”

Indeed, we have joined with Bono and so many others in helping fulfill the 8 MDGs.

An African folktale recalls a woman named Unanana who lived in a hut near the road with her two beautiful children. One day while Unanana was away gathering firewood, a giant elephant with one tusk came, swallowed her children, and ran off with the children inside its belly. When Unanana returned and learned what had happened, she declared, “There is but one thing I must do; I must go into the bush and save my children.”

With a hunting knife and a pot of beans, she went into the bush and found and killed the elephant, to rescue her children and all the other creatures the elephant had consumed. To save her children, there were no limits to what Unanana would do. An enemy had taken them. She had to rescue those she loved.

But sometimes, the elephant is too big for Unanana to take on herself. She needs help. When the MDGs were first put together in the year 2000, the hope was that many of its goals would be accomplished by the year 2015 (next year!) in helping people and countries suffering from extreme poverty, where diseases are rampant and education was lacking, by those who could help. We joined this effort in 2013, to help a community 19+ hours away from us!

We entered into a partnership with the village of Megumeto, Mozambique and its church of St. John. Some moms were running a nursery school for the kids but they didn’t have a building that could hold them. On top of this, their water source was some 5 kilometers away from the village. A long way to walk and carry water!

After hearing about their need in the summer of 2012, we decided to help. We started the first nursery school here in Monroe, and how great it is that we can help another community have its first nursery school. So we raised $5,000. Individuals. The Church School through bake sales and a lemonade stand. Money from the Apple Festival & ECW. Several memorial donations. All came together to help people we have never met, know they have a place in our world. Phase I is done. $5,000 for a Nursery School & a Water collection system. Water, Education - they are part of the MDGs and a start for our partnership. Phase II a well for the village is our next step and who knows what else we can accomplish.

As our own Bishop Douglas put it, “And here is where the church, the body of Christ…can play an incredibly important role in the movement to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Being faithful to the call to God's mission, effecting God's shalom, is what it means to be a faithful follower of Jesus. To join with sisters and brothers in Christ, with people of other faiths, with wider global civil society to be about the repair of the world.

The movement is not about a single quick fix, done today and forgotten tomorrow. It's about building a movement of God's people in response to the Missio Dei. So as Christians, as Anglicans, as Episcopalians, we have a key role to play in the shalom movement of the MDGs. Let's be about it.”

And we are. We shall know more after this month, for we will continue to get to know a community of faith a world away and yet who walk with us, in the words of Micah: as we do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with our God. Amen.

Candlemas Sermon 8 AM

Sermon: The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (8 AM)

Feb. 2 – 40 days after Christmas, today we celebrate the Feast of The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple! An old tradition holds that today is the last day for our Christmas celebrations! It’s time to take the tree down & the decorations. The last of the celebrations of the birth of Jesus.

It was a tradition among the Jews that the first boy child born to a family was to be taken to the Temple in Jerusalem. There his parents would make an offering to the Lord, to show that the child belonged to God.

Besides Simeon on that day and his words, there was also in the Temple a woman named Anna. She spent all her time praying. And the Lord also revealed to her that the baby Jesus was the Savior who had been promised. She too gave thanks to the Lord, and told the other people in the Temple that the Redeemer had come.

And so it was that a few people who kept close to God knew Jesus was the Son of God, that Jesus was the light of God to everyone... We all know of Anna.

She has survived wars and depressions, suffered all manner of intolerance and bigotry, coped with every challenge and disappointment. With her late husband, she worked hard and struggled through lean times to raise her family, seeing to it that all her sons and daughters were educated, established, and loved. Now, well into her ninth decade, her greatest joys are the children of her grandchildren. Anna is a source of joy, inspiration, and grace to her family and friends. Every moment of her long, fruitful life has quietly but brilliantly reflected to all the light of God's love in their midst.

Anna, whose name means "grace" and "favor," walks among us today within our own "temples." For Luke, the elderly prophetess Anna is an icon of the faithful Jew - the "remnant" (Zephaniah 3:12) who awaits the coming of the Messiah and the restoration of Israel's covenant of justice and compassion with God. Luke identifies her as a member of the tribe of Asher, a northern clan of Jews who suffered great hardship during the Assyrian occupation eight centuries before Christ. She is a familiar figure around the temple who devotes all of her time in prayer and fasting in the women's court of the temple.

Anna possesses the wisdom of God that enables her to realize God's presence in every moment; her generosity of heart makes that presence known in the quiet joy and ready compassion she lives. In her graciousness, in her optimism, in her persevering hope, Anna is a prophetess of God's salvation.

There is an Anna in all of our lives: someone who inspires gratitude and teaches compassion by the lessons of her long life. In the wisdom that comes with age, in the love and care they extend to us in their grace and joy, in their faith made strong and unshakable through a lifetime of struggle, the Anna's of our time and place are rays of God's light shining through all of our lives, illuminating the way to God's eternal dwelling place. (Jay Cormier)

Today, we must bear the light of God, and let it shine through our lives…to places of darkness…to be like Anna and help proclaim the Messiah in a world full of suffering.

When the MDGs were first put together in the year 2000, the hope was that many of its goals would be accomplished by the year 2015 (next year!) in helping people and countries suffering from extreme poverty, where diseases are rampant and education was lacking.

Into this hope, we entered into a partnership with the village of Megumeto, Mozambique and its church of St. John. Some moms were running a nursery school for the kids but they didn’t have a building that could hold them. On top of this, their water source was some 5 kilometers away from the village. A long way to walk!

After hearing about their need in the summer of 2012, we decided to help. We started the first nursery school here in Monroe, and how great it is that we can help another community have its first nursery school. So we raised $5,000. Individuals. The Church School through bake sales and a lemonade stand. Money from the Apple Festival & ECW. Several memorial donations. All came together to help people we have never met, know they have a place in our world. Phase I is done. $5,000 for a Nursery School & a Water collection system. Water, Education - they are part of the MDGs and it is a start for our partnership. Phase II a well for the village is our next step and who knows what else we can accomplish. (I will see later in February!)

As our own Bishop Douglas put it, “And here is where the church, the body of Christ…can play an incredibly important role in the movement to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Being faithful to the call to God's mission, effecting God's shalom, is what it means to be a faithful follower of Jesus, to join with sisters and brothers in Christ, with people of other faiths, with wider global civil society to be about the repair of the world.

The movement is not about a single quick fix, done today and forgotten tomorrow. It's about building a movement of God's people in response to the Missio Dei. So as Christians, as Anglicans, as Episcopalians, we have a key role to play in the shalom movement of the MDGs. Let's be about it.”

And we are. We shall know more after this month, for we will continue to get to know a community of faith a world away and yet they are One with us. Like those Moms providing light to their little ones, I pray that we are also helping them with that light in what we have partnered with them. So that all of together can join in with the words of Simeon and Anna:

Lord, you now have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised; For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: A Light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people Israel. Amen.

Thoughts on the MDGs

The Millennium Development Goals were formed in 2000 by the UN.  Their end date is in 2015.  Still lots to accomplish but a lot has also been done.

Some thoughts on the MDGs (from a few years ago)...

M.D.G.’s for Beginners ... and Finishers  By BONO (NY Times)

We have a lot to prove, but if the M.D.G. agreement had not been made in 2000, much less would have happened than has happened. Already, we’ve seen transformative results for millions of people whose lives are shaped by the priorities of people they will never know or meet...

Joining God's mission, Achieving the MDGs: Why should we care? By Ian T. Douglas (ENS)

And here is where the church, the body of Christ generally and the Anglican Communion and the Episcopal Church in particular, can play an incredibly important role in the movement to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Being faithful to the call to God's mission, effecting God's shalom, is what it means to be a faithful follower of Jesus. The MDGs offer a concrete invitation to get on with what God wants us to be about; to join with sisters in brothers in Christ, with people of other faiths, with wider global civil society to be about the repair of the world.

As Anglicans – members of a family of 38 regional or national churches in 164 countries with close to 80 million members – we are part of one of the single best networks to foster and advance the movement to achieve the MDGs. Government, academic and cultural leaders have recognized the key leadership opportunity of churches and of the Anglican Communion in particular.

The movement is not about a single quick fix, done today and forgotten tomorrow. It's about building a movement of God's people in response to the missio Dei. So as Christians, as Anglicans, as Episcopalians, we have a key role to play in the shalom movement of the MDGs. Let's be about it.