Holocaust Memorial Day

January 27 was chosen as the date for Holocaust Memorial Day because it was on this date in 1945 that the largest Nazi killing camp Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated.

Our prayer on this day:

Almighty God, we remember before you this day those killed during the Holocaust (and all other genocides), for the innocents murdered, for those who wrongly used your name to kill, and for those who did not speak up against such injustice. Guide us in our efforts to root out intolerance and prejudice in our world, that we may not make peace with oppression and may stand as witness to those who died. Help us to work towards the day when no one will fall to such a sword. We ask this through him who was executed as a criminal by an oppressive state, Jesus Christ our Redeemer. Amen.

January 23 Sermon (3 Epiphany)

For the yoke of their burden,
and the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.

In the news lately, there are lots of places are throwing off the rod of their oppressors.

In the Sudan, the Southern part of that nation held a referendum on whether or not to secede from the North. The south which has fought two wars with the Northern part of the Sudan, which has endured “decades of slave raids, massacres and neglect from the northern government,” has voted nearly unanimously to secede from the North and form their own country. In the words of MLK, Jr., they have “let freedom ring” in the Sudan.

Elsewhere in Africa, in Tunisia, a popular upheaval has toppled the government and made the president of this Islamic nation flee to Saudi Arabia while the people have continued to protest and want to vote on a new government. All this happened because of the anger over “poverty, unemployment and repression.”

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” And that light is freedom, and the people in Sudan and Tunisia have walked toward that light.. As that song from the Young Rascals put it, “All the world over, so easy to see; people everywhere just wanna be free.”

It is a freedom given to us by God, being worked out again in our world, by people who have suffered, who have sat in darkness and have now seen the light, and want freedom. God is at work in our world.

At a prayer service at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, MO, the diocese has companion relationship with a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the Sudan. Knowing the people who the referendum affects, has made “the prayers for peace that much more urgent.” As one participant put it, “I have to think that's what Jesus wants from us, to not allow violence to become a personless force. In that sense, the relationship we have with (diocese of) Lui is very effective in transforming our lives in Missouri.”

Its when its personal that it touches our heart and truly matters to us. And isn’t that what God did by sending the Son to become incarnate, just like one of us, to make it personal. As Cardinal Mercier put it:

"In order to unite with one another, we must love one another; in order to love one another, we must know one another; in order to know one another, we must go and meet one another."

It is that interaction with one another that helps us see the needs in one another and helps us to reach out.

When he was ten years old, doctors found a malignant tumor in Steven's right leg. His family took him to one of the leading cancer specialists in the country. Ultimately, Steven's leg had to be amputated above the knee. The surgery was successful, and after a brief stay in the hospital, Steven was allowed to go home. It would be several weeks before Steven could be fitted with a prosthetic - but Steven was eager to get on with his life, so he returned to school.

One of the potential challenges Steven faced was the reactions of his classmates. He was concerned that his appearance would be a big deal for some kids. So after talking with his Mom and Dad, Steven decided the best thing to do was talk things over with the kids at school. Steven got up in front of his class and explained his diagnosis and treatment. He told them he was OK with talking about what had happened and encouraged them to ask any questions. Steven also told his classmates that even though his leg had been amputated, he was still the same kid he had always been.

By the end of the day, Steven said that 95 percent of his classmates treated him as if nothing had happened. He felt that taking the time to speak with the other students, openly and honestly, not only helped his friends understand what cancer was all about but helped him develop the confidence and courage to handle the next steps in his treatment as well as whatever new challenges he would face in his life. [Adapted from How to Hit a Curveball by Scott R. Singer with Mark Levine.]

Steven made it personal and brought light to darkness and his classmates responded. For Steven discovered through his concern for his classmates and his own wish to be treated like everyone else, the wisdom and integrity to bring the light of understanding to his anxious classmates and hope to his own struggle.

We too are called to make it personal, to fish for people, as Jesus called his disciples to do. For God never stops calling us. It’s not as if God called us one day and now moved on to someone else. Every day, through so many different events and circumstances in our lives God dares us to go beyond our comfort zone in showing we are his disciples.

In those events, may we discover within ourselves the light of Christ's compassion so that we can share it with those lost in darkness; may we find, within our means, our own "nets" to bring God's grace and peace to our interactions with others, those who are struggling to find freedom and light in our world today. Amen.

January 16 Sermon (2 Epiphany)

At the memorial service held on Wednesday in Arizona, President Obama invited the nation to see our country through the eyes of Christina Taylor Green. In his words:

I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it. All of us -- we should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children's expectations…we commit ourselves as Americans to forging a country that is forever worthy of her gentle, happy spirit.

He put it well. We are all called to make America worthy of our children’s expectations, to forge a country worthy of all those gentle, happy spirits, by what we do. The President’s call to civility and to work towards making our democracy the best it can be, is an invitation for all of us to work for our best and help America thrive.

I think of a plaque inscribed near the Statue of Liberty, written in 1883, describing the immigrants who have passed through Ellis Island to these shores:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles.
From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
("The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus (1883))

It is a wonderful poem that speaks of the symbol of lady liberty who greeted immigrants coming to New York harbor. Who saw the shores of freedom. Who longed for the democracy we have here. Immigrants who had such hopeful expectation of their new life to come. In the days of Jesus, there was a longing for a new life.

“Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

After the baptism of Jesus, there was a hopeful expectation of what was to come. John knew it and so too would his disciples, God incarnate was in their midst. John the Baptist twice proclaims Jesus as the Lamb of God. The second time two of John’s disciples go & follow Jesus. They want to know where Jesus is staying, they want to hear his words, they want to see the Son of God, they have that hope in the messiah, the one they had been waiting for… And Jesus tells them to come and see.

Come and see. It is an invitation to come follow him, to come see what he will say and do. It is a significant beginning for the disciples, a simple invitation and they follow him. And our patron, Peter is named by Jesus in this moment. Come and see and they are changed. In a recent story, it was come and listen and lives were touched:

In a downtown shelter in Boston, the large television set is always on. Shutting it off is like tampering with another country's flag. Lesser acts have led to war. But one humid night, a staff member turned the television off. The shelter's wilting guests - even those who paid no attention to the perpetually flickering images - were stunned. Two women stood at the front of the room, under the dark screen.

Each unsnapped a case, lifted out a stringed instrument and started to tune it. Then they began to play: first, a pair of madrigals, a Mozart duet, some Telemann, a Bulgarian folk tune. The musicians didn't know anything about the lives of their audience. They didn't know who was listening with one ear while hearing voices with the other. They didn't know who was freshly out of prison and who was heading back in, who was momentarily sober and who was never sober. News of the concerts spread and the audiences grew. The musicians - professionals who play in the city's renowned symphony - are not surprised.

One Wednesday a month the television set at the shelter is turned off and the concert begins. Over the months, little windows have opened. The music manages to bridge the unscalable chasms separating people. For a couple of hours - the forgotten, the lost, the desperate, the addicted, and those who struggle to help them - are all the same. [From "The night the television is switched off" by Elissa Ely, The Boston Globe, October 31, 2010.]

Come and see. A democracy longing to be its best even in tragedy, come and see the Statue of Liberty welcoming all to our land and our democracy, come and see lives being touched by Americans reaching out to the tired, poor, huddled masses yearning to breathe free. May our place of worship, St. Peter’s, be a place of such welcome, where people hear about this place and want to come and see, to find God here among these disciples, and find that love and welcome that Jesus sends to all.

Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come.

Rumi’s beautiful poem, is an invitation, and invitation to come, whoever you are. Come sinner and saint. Come wanderer and worshiper. Just come. You are welcome here. Amen.

Prayers of the Week of Christian Unity

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity began in 1908 as the Octave of Christian Unity, and focused on prayer for church unity which begins on the Feast of the Confession of Peter on January 18 and concludes with the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul on January 25. (Wikipedia)

Some prayers:

Lord Jesus Christ, who prayed for your disciples that they might be one, even as you are one with the Father; draw us to yourself, that in common love and obedience to you we may be united to one another, in the fellowship of the one Spirit, through all of our Churches in Monroe, that the world may believe that you are Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Amen. (William Temple (1881—1944))

O God who has called men and women in every land to be a holy nation, a royal priesthood, the Church of your dear Son; unite us in mutual love across the barriers of race and culture, and strengthen us here in Monroe in our common task of being Christ and showing Christ to the world he came to save. Amen. (John Kingsnorth (USPG))

O God, be with thy Church everywhere and particularly in the Churches of Monroe. May she walk warily in times of peace and quietness, and boldly in times of trouble. Do thou remove all harshness and bitterness from amongst us, towards those who walk not in all things with us, but who worship our Lord in sincerity and truth. And all this we ask for the sake of thy dear Son. Amen. (Helen Waddell, 1889-1965)

Prayers for the Feast Days (from the BCP):

Confession of Saint Peter January 18

Almighty Father, who inspired Saint Peter, first among the apostles, to confess Jesus as Messiah and Son of the living God: Keep your Church steadfast upon the rock of this faith, so that in unity and peace we may proclaim the one truth and follow the one Lord, our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Conversion of Saint Paul January 25

O God, by the preaching of your apostle Paul you have caused the light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world:Grant, we pray, that we, having his wonderful conversion in remembrance, may show ourselves thankful to you by following his holy teaching; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Martin Luther King. Jr. Day

Almighty God, by the hand of Moses your servant you led your people out of slavery, and made them free at last: Grant that your Church, following the example of your prophet Martin Luther King, may resist oppression in the name of your love, and may secure for all your children the blessed liberty of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr

Remember, today is a day of service, not just a day off.

Religious Freedom Day

Our Nation was founded on a shared commitment to the values of justice, freedom, and equality. On Religious Freedom Day, we commemorate Virginia's 1786 Statute for Religious Freedom, in which Thomas Jefferson wrote that "all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion." The fundamental principle of religious freedom -- guarded by our Founders and enshrined in our Constitution's First Amendment -- continues to protect rich faiths flourishing within our borders.

The writ of the Founding Fathers has upheld the ability of Americans to worship and practice religion as they choose,including the right to believe in no religion at all. However, these liberties are not self-sustaining, and require a stalwart commitment by each generation to preserve and apply them. Throughout our Nation's history, our founding ideal of religious freedom has served as an example to the world. Though our Nation has sometimes fallen short of the weighty task of ensuring freedom of religious expression and practice, we have remained a Nation in which people of different faiths coexist with mutual respect and equality under the law. America's
unshakeable commitment to religious freedom binds us together as a people, and the strength of our values underpins a country that is tolerant, just, and strong...

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim January 16, 2011, as Religious Freedom Day.

Read the whole thing here. (pdf)

A Thought on Civility

Read this in the NY Times:

Tree of Failure by David Brooks

A couple of excerpts:

President Obama gave a wonderful speech in Tucson on Wednesday night. He didn’t try to explain the rampage that occurred there. Instead, he used the occasion as a national Sabbath — as a chance to step out of the torrent of events and reflect. He did it with an uplifting spirit. He not only expressed the country’s sense of loss but also celebrated the lives of the victims and the possibility for renewal.

Of course, even a great speech won’t usher in a period of civility. Speeches about civility will be taken to heart most by those people whose good character renders them unnecessary. Meanwhile, those who are inclined to intellectual thuggery and partisan one-sidedness will temporarily resolve to do better but then slip back to old habits the next time their pride feels threatened.

Civility is a tree with deep roots, and without the roots, it can’t last. So what are those roots? They are failure, sin, weakness and ignorance.

Read the whole thing. Its worth it.