Remember Love God and Neighbor? That's What Our Faith is About

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 5: 17-19

17 ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfil. ¹⁸For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter,^* not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore, whoever breaks^* one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 

Blog Reflection

One of Christianity's most egregious errors has been anti-semetism. As if there was no Jewish religion before Christ came on the scene.

Many times we Christians forget that the founder of our Faith was a middle-eastern Jewish carpenter who was poor to the point of not having a place to lay his head.   Jesus was not a white English-Anglo-Saxon, wealthy, power driven human being.  Jesus was for Christians God's perfect revelation.  Yet, as we read in the great hymn from Philippians 2: 5-11 Jesus did not deem equality with God as the most important thing.

Here Jesus instructs us that the love of God and neighbor is central to who we are as people of God.  Jesus fulfilled these very instructions by the way he lived his life.  Jesus is telling us in this Gospel to live as he lived.

What are we seeing around us?

Here in the great State of Minnesota, our Republican Legislature anxious to take care of a $6 billion dollar budget deficit are planning to lay that burden on the backs of our senior citizens.  They are planning to cut millions of dollars from senior nutrition programs. Child care cuts proposed that would be harshest on low income families.   I thought caring for families and children was the "pro-life" thing to do.

In our Republican controlled House of Representatives in the United States they have been working to cutting money from Planned Parenthood, public education/television/radio.   Health care is too much of a burden for our federal budget.  We can afford billions of dollars in tax breaks for the richest Americans, while middle class Americans are being denied unemployment benefits, affordable housing and job training programs. 

One individual has rightfully called the Republican Party as the "Party of Scrooge." 

"Are there no poor houses or prisons?"

The Judeo/Christian model that Jesus' example points us to tells us that to love and care for our neighbor in the most vulnerable and marginalized among us is a very important part of being a good follower of God.  Making room for the immigrant to share our land and resources (see Leviticus 19:33,34) and the poor and the disadvantaged is to serve God, God's Self.  (See Matthew 25: 31-46).

Forming a society and a Church that further stigmatizes individuals because of our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression, race, class, religion, language, gender, cultural practices etc, is not the kind of environment that is endorsed by Jesus and the Gospel that we read and study.  Such are misplaced priorities and misguided practices within our great Faith tradition. 

As we continue through this season of Lent toward Holy Week and Easter, among the things we need to do is readjust our priorities. 

In the 2011 Lenten Meditations by Episcopal Relief and Development, the reading for Monday, March 28th has much to say about what I am writing in my blog today.

The Scriptural text was Jeremiah 7: 5-7:

For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, ⁶if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, ⁷then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors for ever and ever.

The people in Judah like to imagine that the presence of the temple will protect them.  It is all that matters, they believe.  Jeremiah comes along and shatters the illusion.  The truth, he explains, is that what matters is how you treat those who are weakest and most marginalized in society.

Aliens-immigrants--matter because they have no support networks in the place where they are settling..  In Jeremiah's society, the fatherless mattered because they lacked the traditional support network for survival.  The widow mattered because she had lost her husband and was alone

Let us all pause today and think about those in our society who are weak and who lack a voice.  let us commit afresh to praying for these marginalized ones and doing everything we can to provide support for them.  (Ian Markham, page 24).

May our prayers and work during this Lent extend to vulnerable LGBT teens who experience bullying in their schools and cities.   Let our Lenten work be about ending our thirst for prejudice and violence on others who are different from ourselves, and embracing all as children of God.

It is that knowledge and fulfilling of the law of God that Jesus speaks of in today's Gospel.

Prayers

Give ear to our prayers, O Lord, and direct the way of your servants in safety under your protection, that, amid all the changes of our earthly pilgrimage, we may be guarded by your mighty aid; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Prayer for Wednesday in the Third Week of Lent, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 50).


Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (Prayer Attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).

Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may do their part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous; to the honor of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for those who Influence Public Opinion, Book of Common Prayer, page 827).

Third Sunday of Lent: Like Flowing Waters, Challenging Conversations Bring Change

Over the past two weeks I think all of us have been amazed and terrorized by the video footage of the tsunami in Japan as a result of the earthquake.  Seeing waves thirty feet high sweeping away whole cities, villages and farm lands just make real about the power of water.  When water is gentle, warm and good, it can quench our thirst, cool us off on a hot summer day, and clean our bodies and clothes.  When water is angry because of a storm there is almost nothing water cannot destroy. 

Water is not the only thing that can be creative or destructive.   Words in the course of a conversation can give life to the people exchanging ideas and information, or they can be as destructive as a tidal wave.

Actions can also be constructive or they can destroy. Our intentions behind those actions can have a wide range of outcomes. At times it is difficult to see in advance how people will judge our intentions within our actions.

Today's readings are about conversations. A conversation between the Israelites, Moses and God in Exodus 17:1-7.  A conversation with the Romans from Paul in Romans 5:1-11.   And a conversation between Jesus and the woman at the well in our Gospel of John 4: 5- 42.

Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.


A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, `Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water."


Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, `I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you."


Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" They left the city and were on their way to him.


Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, `Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, `One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."


Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world."

There was a real issue with women as well as Samaritan people, especially Samaritan women in the time that the Gospel stories would have taken place.  Notice also that the disciples are amazed that Jesus is conversing with a woman. 

As the conversation between Jesus and the woman continues its course, we see the barriers between men and women, nationalities and religious points of view broken down. The woman after her encounter with Jesus began the work of an apostle. She went to the near by town to tell others what had happened in her life. She encountered the God who transforms hate into love. The woman wanted others to know the person who had changed her life for the better.

Among the ways that God's grace changes things for the better is that those who are separated from God's community through prejudice and ideologies that are manufactured by faulty theologies and dogmas find a place to dine at the table of the Lord.

Throughout Christian history we have seen many groups of people being excluded from the Church.  The Bible has been used by fundamentalist thinkers and Ecclesiastical "authorities" to attempt to "legislate" God's grace for the salvation of another person's soul. 

We can easily see through this Gospel that God is not limited to our dogmas or canons.   God's gracious love is always above and beyond our comprehension.

The many social and religious opinions surrounding lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people, as well as women and all the other minorities of humanity have had tragic consequences. Those opinions have left many of God's precious youth to fend for themselves, as the Church has failed to feed the souls and hearts of God's lambs who are LGBTQ

In Paul's letter to the Romans we read that God has saves us through faith.  Not because of anything that we may have done by which we merit God's grace.

Romans 5:1-11 (NRSV)

Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.


For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person-- though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

All individuals including LGBTQ people and others on the margins of society and the Church are among God's redeemed people through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  The living and flowing waters that Jesus speaks of, represents the Sacrament of Baptism through which we are able to share in the Paschal Mystery of Christ and find our salvation and happiness in God's extravagant love.

It is through the flowing waters of the Sacraments that are visible signs of inward grace, by which God communicates and converses with all of us.  Our sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, race, gender, wealth or health status etc are all part of who we are as God's beloved people

God's grace is greater than our prejudices and customs that exclude people who are different from ourselves.  God's grace is greater than any erroneous Bible interpretation.   God's grace does not stigmatize or marginalize.  God's grace does not look for excuses to use destructive rhetoric or violent terminology to oppress people of any type or kind.  God's grace is inclusive and seeks the justice and equality of all who are left out by human error and injustice.

As we continue through our Lenten journey may we pray for the grace to engage in conversations that change the attitudes of prejudice and exclusion to bring about justice, equality and inclusion of all God's holy people, redeemed by Christ's saving acts of reconciliation.

Prayers

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday of Lent, Book of Common Prayer, page 218).

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.  (Prayer Attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).


Look with pity, O holy God, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, page 826).

The Annunciation of Our Lord: God Cannot Save Us without Us

Scriptural Basis

Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Blog Reflection

"It has been said, "God made us without us, and redeemed us without us, but cannot save us without us,"  Mary's assent to Gabriel's message opened the way for God to accomplish teh salvation of the world.  It is for this reason that all generations are to call her "blessed."

The Annunciation has been a major theme in Christian art, in both East and West.  Innumberable sermons and poems have been composed about it.  The term coined by Cyril of Alexandria for the Blessed Virgin, Theotokos ("the God-bearer"), was affirmed by the General Council of Ephesus in 431." (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 288).

The Rev. Susan Russell has said on not too few occasions quoting her Rector Ed. Bacon: "I am sure glad Mary did not wait for the doctrine of the Incarnation to give her yes to God's request." 

I would have to agree and say I am glad Mary did not wait for the Council of Ephesus to be called the "God-bearer" before she consented to the Angel Gabriel's message.

I have written on a few blog posts that I believe that Mary was the first female Priest.  She gave her consent to do the will of God, and offered herself in service to God for all God's people when she allowed God to bear God's perfect revelation in Jesus Christ through her.  She did not wait for some council to give her permission. Though she may not have been sure about everything the Angel may have told her, Mary trusted in God and said yes.  In spite of her insecurities and imperfections.   The labels that society and others had placed on her, she ignored. 

The Rev. Canon Gray Temple in his book: "Gay Unions in Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason" writes:

"I want to suggest one more thought.  If we grasp the single-sex/sex-as-violence-between-unequals gender construction, suddenly Luke's and Matthew's insistence on our Lord's virginal conception begins to make urgent existential sense, something the most liberal among us would be fools to part with.  It's mistaken to debate about biological parthenogenesis-that's anachronistic.  And it's literarily-doltish to ape The Golden Bough and range our Lord's conception alongside pagan semidivinities who are supposed to have been conceived without fathers.  Jesus's birth hasn't got anything to do with that.  What the first and third Gospels want us to know is that Jesus--and eventually his Movement--represent the destabilization of that gender construction--because at the very level of his very tissues, Jesus has no part in it.  And to the extent that we allow Jesus's life to be our own paradigm, you and I in our spiritual rebirths are ourselves virginally conceived.  The Prologue to the Gospel of John say as much....

The notion of the virgin birth is not countersexual.  It is the beginning of God's healing the world's sexuality in Christ.  It is a revolutionary, radical notion, reclaim it from the reactionaries." (Pages 92, 93).

The Annunciation for Christians is the beginning of the end of what we call one person (or group of people) dominating themselves over others.  The words of the Magnificat (Song of Mary) say as much.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in you, O God my Savior,
   for you have looked with favor on your lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
  you, the Almighty, have done great things for me,
  and holy is your name.
You have mercy on those who fear you
  from generation to generation.
You have shown the strength of your arm
  and have scattered the proud in their conceit,
Casting down the mighty from their thrones
  and lifting up the lowly.
You have filled the hungry with good things
  and have sent the rich away empty.
You have come to the help of your servant Israel,
  for you have remembered your promise of mercy,
The promise you made to our ancestors,
  to Abraham, Sarah and their children for ever. 
(From Enriching Our Worship 1, page 27).

More importantly it also as Temple suggests "not countersexual."  Nor is it to somehow suggest that sexuality in and of itself is a dirty thing as too much of Christian history has stated.  Therefore the Annunciation is not an appropriate story to attempt to launch a campaign against a woman's right to choose, or the sexual orientation of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people.  It is also not appropriate to use the Annunciation against the gender identity/expression of transgender people. 

What the Annunciation says to us is to be open to God's call in our lives and to be willing to accept the changes that God by the Holy Spirit may bring.  God as God's Self is not change-less and neither should we expect that the Church and we as ourselves are also not change-less. 

In the Incarnation, God became human so that God could save us as one like all humankind.  We see countless examples in the Bible of how God may have intended to do something, but later changed God's mind. 

How open are we to God's call in our lives?  How willing are we to be the bearer of God in our time?

There are injustices all around us.  Prejudice.  Political, social and religious oppression against all kinds of people, including LGBTQ people.  We see the push for one group of people to dominate another based on race, religion, class, gender, political/social and economical status, health status, immigration status etc.  Addictions gripping many, many people.  We read and hear the rhetoric of bias, cruelty and violence being suggested towards all kinds of people every where.

All of these things and many more are happening around us.  God is calling each of us to do our part to end religious based oppression against other people.  How are we answering that call?

As our Republican House threatens to take away food stamps from the children of labor protesters, and funding for those who make sure that nuclear weapons are taken out of the reach of terrorists, how is God calling us to act on behalf of those less fortunate than ourselves?

How is God calling us to a change of heart, mind and how we take advantage of opportunities to help change our world, communities for the better?

As we continue through Lent to meditate on how God is calling us to prepare for Holy Week and Easter, we would do well to spend some time with Jesus and the Cross and see how one act of supreme sacrifice changed the entire world.   Jesus learned how to sacrifice all because of the example of Mary.  When Jesus spoke those words: "Let it be according to your will, not mine," Jesus was repeating the words of Mary.  "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

For the sake of justice, equality, inclusion and peace may we all learn to say those words and not wait for a Parish or Diocesan Standing Committee to consent.

Prayers

Pour your grace into our hearts, O Lord, that we who have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by his cross and passion be brought to the glory of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the Annunciation, Book of Common Prayer, page 240).

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.  (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, page 99).

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh, and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, page 100).

James De Koven: The Issue of Rituals and the Heart

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 13:47-52 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

"Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

 Blog Reflection

When it comes to the matter of the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, I am more of a high church person.  Although I like more progressive theology and spirituality, I like the celebration of Mass with all the old hymns, sung responsorial Psalms, the full Liturgy of the Word (First Reading, Psalm, Second Reading, Gradual Hymn and Gospel) as opposed to a shortened version of just a First Reading and Gospel Reading.

Ritual's pro side is that we are drawn into a sense of the Divine.   Being drawn out of ourselves and into something the is beyond ourselves helps us to create community with others and realize that what affects one of us, affects all of us.

On the con side of ritual it can also become so routine that we can do things without thinking about what we are doing.  Many who do not like the idea of ritual, often criticize a ritual they dislike, while not paying attention to rituals that they already practice.  Like taking a shower every day, or taking medication, watching a particular television program at a set time every day or week.  Whether we know it or not, like it or not, these are rituals.

James De Koven was a believer in preserving the ritual actions of the celebration of the Eucharist.  The Nashotah House that he was part of was heavily influenced by the principles of the Oxford Movement.  His positions caused him to be loose the consents to be consecrated as Bishop of Wisconsin in 1874 and Illinois in 1875. 

To the General Convention of 1874, De Koven expressed the religious conviction that underlay his Churchmanship: “You may take away from us, if you will, every external ceremony; you may take away altars, and super-altars, lights and incense and vestments; … and we will submit to you. But, gentlemen … to adore Christ’s Person in his Sacrament—that is the inalienable privilege of every Christian and Catholic heart. How we do it, the way we do it, the ceremonies with which we do it, are utterly, utterly, indifferent. The thing itself is what we plead for.” (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 282).

I named this blog post as "The Issue of Rituals and the Heart" because I do believe that there is a connection between the practices of our lives including our worship and the attitudes of our hearts.  When our Liturgical worship and Sacraments are exclusive of individuals based on our own prejudices, we show what is in our hearts in ways that perhaps we may not entirely understand.  We send messages that say something about what is in our minds and hearts in ways that are difficult to explain.  I think the point is not whether we understand or can explain these things, but do we understand that those things are there?

Because the opposite is also true.  When our Liturgical worship and the Sacraments are celebrated beautifully and inclusively it challenges those hearts and minds that are still struggling with our personal and private prejudices as the Holy Spirit speaks to us in the depths of our souls. People who once thought there was no place for them in our churches suddenly find a welcome that even we did not realize was there.

Remember the Holy Spirit does not like to leave us inside our comfortable Pandoras Boxes.   She likes to shake us up some times so that we will see what is within us and challenge us to move beyond where we are, so that the Holy Spirit can "guide us into all truth." 

I think that is why issues like inclusive language, the ordination of women Bishops, Priests and Deacons, as well as LGBTQ people shakes people us and causes many to become uncomfortable.   People do not like their comfort zones disturbed, so that they have to look at those dark places that need the Light of Jesus Christ to help make a difference in people's lives.

I think that is the meaning of Jesus' words that the reign of God is like a net with many different fish.  I also thing the same meaning is there in what is "new and what is old."

If my readers are like me, we all like things the way they used to be in a way.  We like what was old and what made us remember those special moments that gave us a sense of nostalgia.    But for LGBT people, once we come out and start to live our lives as individuals who are open about who we are and who we love, we tend to embrace a whole different sense of what was old and what is new.   Yet somehow what was before, and what is now is still a very real part of who we are.

I think what this commemoration of Jame De Koven challenges us to consider is to examine what is in our hearts as we celebrate our rituals.  Is our purpose to be open to the God who wants to work God the Holy Spirit's power of conversion in our lives, or is it to just find a comfort zone for our prejudices?

Whether our answer or struggle is with one or the other, there is no place in either of those where God's grace cannot meet us and help us to move forward for the benefit of ourselves and the Body of Christ.  God is always our willing and loving Parent who wants more than anything to be close to us in our celebrations and our struggles.   God is our Shepherd who will search us out and bring us from pastures that are dangerous into places that are well guarded by Christ the Good Shepherd.

This Lent as we make our way to Holy Week and Easter we can examine our hearts and minds and place them in the presence of God and ask for the Holy Spirit to help us know where, when and how to move our hearts, minds and attitudes.

Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, the source and perfection of all virtues, you inspired your servant James De Koven to do what is right and to preach what is true: Grant that all ministers and stewards of your mysteries may impart to your faithful people, by word and example, the knowledge of your grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 283).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).

Second Sunday of Lent: Are We Born Again, and Again, and Again? Enough Already?

The Gospel text for this weekend is one that is used and used and used again by evangelistic and fundamentalist preachers.  Billy Graham used it at his crusades.  Every television evangelist including the late Jerry Falwell, the present living James Dobson, D. James Kennedy and every preacher in between and beyond has used this Gospel.

The fact that it is used as much as it is, and to attempt to change lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people, means that there needs to be some revisiting to the text.  To see what it is really saying.  Not just to those few people who use it to abuse people.  But to see what Jesus is really inviting Nicodemus and all of us to consider.

Scriptural Basis

John 3:1-17

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

 "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

"Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

Blog Reflection


Last night I came across a blog post in the most strangest of places.  The news blog World News Daily is known for their anti-gay, anti-liberal attacks on any group that does not agree with them.   So it was quite a shock to open up the following blog story that was referred to on World News Daily, but began in Beliefnet.comBeliefnet.org.

"How I Went From Here to There: Same Sex Marriage Blogalogue."

Rod as I mentioned to you in an email, I thought it might be interesting to start our same sex marriage blogalogue by telling a bit of our stories -- about how we came to our respective positions on the issue.  So, here's my story.  I'm looking forward to meeting you at lunch tomorrow.

I have a couple of vivid memories of the family room -- we called it the "TV room" -- in the house in which we lived until I was nine.  The first was asking my mom about streaking, right during the streaking boom of 1974 -- that would have made me six-years-old.  I think I'd heard the song, "The Streak."  Having been a student at UC-Berkeley in the mid-60s, my mom was quite familiar with nudity on campus (ahem, witnessing it, not participating in it; her senior year roommate was a nudist).

The second is a similar memory.  I don't know what I was watching with my younger brother, Andrew, but the word "gay" was used.  I remember walking into the kitchen, my brother trailing me, and asking my mom what "gay" meant.

It must have been one of those moments when a parent instinctively knows that it's time for a sit-down chat, and that's exactly what she did.  I don't remember exactly how she explained same-sex love to us, but I do vividly remember one thing she said.  "Tony and Andrew," she said, looking at us intently, "I want you to know that your father and I will still love you no matter whom you love.  And you can always bring home, to our house, anyone you love."

I suppose what struck my seven-or-eight-year-old self was that her statement implied that there were families in which being gay was not acceptable, in which family members were not necessarily allowed to bring home the person they loved, particularly if the lovers were of the same gender.

From there, I didn't think much about homosexuality for many years.  I didn't know any gay kids in junior high or high school -- well, at least I didn't know any who admitted they were gay -- the Edina, Minnesota of my youth wasn't the most diverse community.

Of course, I did have gay friends, and I didn't know it.  My best friend in 9th grade, for instance, was constantly being called "fag" by others in the junior high.  I didn't think much of it, since Steve seemed not much different than I.  We spent most of our time together at church, and we were both considered leaders in the youth group.

I lost touch with Steve during high school.  Years later, our junior high pastor, Paul, told me that Steve had recently died of AIDS.  Paul reached out to Steve's family to offer condolences and offer to perform the memorial service, but Steve's dad responded to Paul with vehement anger. He told Paul that he blamed Steve's death on the church and that he would never step foot in a church again."

As amazing as this story is, the comments that follow the blog are intriguing to say the least..  Two comments giving a positive view to what is written in this article. Two additional comments suggesting that the individual who has moved from an anti-gay marriage opinion to a more accepting of gay marriage view is somehow "sick" and even "deranged."

The Gospel story of the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus narrates for us a life changing event for Nicodemus.  The "being born from above" that Jesus mentions, is made clearer in his statement about "being born of water and the Spirit."  Jesus is clearly talking about Baptism here.  The Sacrament of initiation into the company of the Christian Faith.  It is in that Sacrament that we share in the death and resurrection of Jesus as is referenced to in Romans 6: 1-4.

For Episcopalians, the Sacrament of Baptism is preceded by a covenant of vows through which we are asked to "continue in the apostle's teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers."  To "persevere in resisting evil and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord."  To "proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ."  To "seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself."  And, to "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being."   To each of these questions we respond: "We (I) will, with God's help." (See the Book of Common Prayer, pages 293, 294).

Our Baptism is a once in a lifetime event, but one thing we can see from recommitting ourselves to the Baptismal Covenant every time we have a Baptism, especially at the Great Vigil of Easter, I think it is correct to say that we are to be reborn from above all throughout our lives.  We may not go back into the waters of Baptism again and again, but we can return to, and recommit ourselves to the vows of our Baptismal Covenant as often as necessary. 

Whenever we experience a conversion in our lives and understand something we did not before, there is a kind of being born again experience that comes with it.  I believe that we are born again in Baptism. I believe we are also born again, again, and again and any time God reveals something to us that changes our lives.

I believe that coming out as a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer person is a born again process. Any time we move from a place where we keep our true selves locked up to a place of self acceptance and finally allowing ourselves to love as we were created to love others, we have a born again experience.

I believe that moving from an anti-LGBTQ perspective as a Christian to an accepting individual of LGBTQ people is also a process of being born again.    When individuals move from an attitude of prejudice to a sense of accepting and loving individuals who are different than ourselves, we have experienced a grace-filled born again moment.  The Holy Spirit has been busy at work.

As whole church bodies such as the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and others have moved from anti-LGBT to pro-LGBT, those church bodies have had born again experiences.

Born again experiences can be individual or communal events.

I also believe that as LGBTQ people we need to be open to God's Spirit as she leads us to reform our lives.  Our coming out as LGBTQ people is a new beginning and one that can have dire consequences at one point or another.  At some point though, the Holy Spirit wants to call us to grow as LGBTQ people in ways that will challenge and inspire us and others.  To realize that all of gay life is not found in the bars, parties or even the Pride parades as glorious as they are.  A true LGBTQ life that finds meaning and hope, is one that seeks to share the gift of love that we find in and for ourselves, with someone so uniquely amazing that we want to spend the rest of our lives with that person.  A Christian way to live the LGBT life, is to live it, loving other people in the way that God has created and redeemed us to love.  We can be thankful for the gift of our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression, by loving others who are often thought to be unlovable.  We can grow past our own prejudices and sometimes painful memories and ask God for the grace to forgive and move on.

Are we born again, and again, and again?  Enough already?  I hope not.  Because there is so much good that God wants to do in and through us if only we will remember that God so loved the world (including LGBTQ people) that God sent God's Son in to the world.  So that everyone who believes in God's Son may not perish, but have eternal life.   For God did not send God's Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through God's Son might be saved.

I hope we have never had enough of being born again, so that we may be transformed again and again by those famous words.  Amen.

Prayers

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Second Sunday of Lent, Book of Common Prayer, page 218).

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that thy blood was shed for me,
And that thou bidd'st me to come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about,
With many a conflict, many a doubt;
Fightings and fears with in, with out,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, thy love unknown
has broken every barrier down;
now to be thine, yeah, thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come. 
(Hymnal 1982, #693).

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: The Author of Lent and Holy Week Liturgies

Scriptural Basis


Luke 24:44-48


Jesus said to his disciples, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things."
Blog Reflection

Cyril is the one we have most to thank for the development of catechetical instruction and liturgical observances during Lent and Holy Week. Born in Jerusalem about 315, Cyril became bishop of that city probably in 349. In the course of political and ecclesiastical disputes, he was banished and restored three times. His Catechetical Lectures on the Christian faith, given before Easter to candidates for Baptism, were probably written by him sometime between 348 and 350.

The work consists of an introductory lecture, or Procatechesis, and eighteen Catecheses based upon the articles of the creed of the Church at Jerusalem. All these lectures (the earliest catechetical materials surviving today) may have been used many times over by Cyril and his successors, and considerably revised in the process. They were probably part of the pre-baptismal instruction that Egeria, a pilgrim nun from western Europe, witnessed at Jerusalem in the fourth century and described with great enthusiasm in the account of her pilgrimage. Many of the faithful would also attend these instructions.

Cyril’s five Mystagogical Catecheses on the Sacraments, intended for the newly baptized after Easter, are now thought to have been composed, or at least revised, by John, Cyril’s successor as Bishop of Jerusalem from 386 to 417.

It is likely that it was Cyril who instituted the observances of Palm Sunday and Holy Week during the latter years of his episcopate in Jerusalem. In doing so, he was taking practical steps to organize devotions for countless pilgrims and local inhabitants around the sacred sites. In time, as pilgrims returned to their homes from Palestine, these services were to influence the development of Holy Week observances throughout the entire Church. Cyril attended the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople, in 381, and died at Jerusalem on March 18, 386.

Cyril’s thought has greatly enriched the observance of Holy Week in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer. (Taken from Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 274)

The season of Lent, Holy Week and Easter are more about our Baptism and the other Sacraments..  During Lent as we go through our fasting, acts of abstinence, prayer and alms giving, or doing things that help us build on our faith, what we are actually doing is deepening our commitment to our Baptismal Covenant. See the Book of Common Prayer pages 292-294. 

Because we are all human, we mess up.  All of us at one time or another struggle to keep the ideals of what we believe as Christians in our hearts, minds and actions.  We all need a tune-up. 

The things that happen in our lives can really stink.

What Jesus did in his death and resurrection was to help us know that no matter what we do, there is a way to return to God and receive the merciful and forgiving grace to begin over again.   The word repentance means to turn away and do something new.

We know as human beings our intention to turn away and do something new is there, until a moment comes when we are once again tempted by the need to focus on ourselves rather than God or someone else.  The Lent, Holy Week and Easter celebrations reminds us that we can always turn back and try again.  

We owe thanks to St. Cyril of Jerusalem for authoring the beautiful Liturgical celebrations that usher new individuals into the fellowship of God's Church.   Those liturgical celebrations help those of us who have been in the Church for a longer period of time remember that we never out grow our need for the transforming grace of God. 

The transforming grace of God that we are experiencing during these days of Lent, can also help us to better understand what our Baptismal Covenant calls us to. 

Shortly after I attended Creating Change 2011 I reworded the description of this blog to what it now says: "I am a gay Episcopalian who believes that to fulfill the vows of our Baptismal Covenant to "strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human person" we must pray and work together to achieve the full inclusion and equality of all marginalized persons including LGBTQ people in the church and society.  The Episcopal Church's three legged stool of Scripture, Tradition and Reason will be part of each blog meditation to inspire our movement."

Why do I think what I have said in that blog description is important?

Because when I read a story on a blog like JoeMyGod by Joe Jervis about a 28 year old guy who has been arrested because he confessed that he stoned an elderly gay man to death because the "Bible says so", I believe Christians are missing what our Baptismal Covenant is about.  

Our Baptismal Covenant and Christian Faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus is not a license to excuse or provoke such violence.   Yet there are many Christianist churches and groups that feel that the Bible is their reason to scapegoat, discriminate and if necessary kill with every justification. 

There are Christianists who feel that the Bible alone with the philosophy of literal interpretation, without attention to over 500 years of critical scholarship with attention to language, culture, history and application, means that they must oppose the rights and opportunities for LGBT people to marry the person they love.   And there are those who will kill in order to make their case.  There are those who will justify homicide for those who support marriage equality.  And claim that their faith was the reason.

This is not the message of Christianity.  This is not the message of the Bible.  This is not Christianity being the reason for such violence.  This is how individual people use the Christian religion and our sacred text as their reason for these horrific attitudes and actions.  Such is not what our Baptismal Covenant is about.

There are those who also feel that the Christian religion justifies political corruption if necessary to get their way.  To be prejudice towards another person because of their race, class, culture, skin color, gender, religion, economic status, health status etc is what the holy text of the Bible tells them to do. 

To help some understand better what the Bible is and is not, I suggest my readers also check out a terrific article by Kristin M. Swenson that appeared in the Huffington Post entitled: Five Things Everyone Should Know About the Bible.

Lent offers Christians the opportunity to put the Gospel perspective back in to our faith.  The Liturgies of Lent, Holy Week and Easter remind us what is the reason we value the dignity of every human person as we do. 

We value the dignity and integrity of every human person, because God has valued all of us.  God loves all of us just as we are and through Jesus has redeemed all of us to one day share eternal life with God forever.  It is through the mysteries that we will celebrate during Holy Week and Easter, that we have the reassurance that our Faith calls on us to regard every human person as deserving justice and inclusion. 

Prayers

Strengthen, O Lord, the bishops of your Church in their special calling to be teachers and ministers of the Sacraments, so that they, like your servant Cyril of Jerusalem, may effectively instruct your people in Christian faith and practice; and that we, taught by them, may enter more fully into the celebration of the Paschal mystery; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 275).


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen. (Collect for Fridays, Book of Common Prayer, page 99).

 

St. Patrick: The Saint of the Gospel Light of Inclusion, Not the Darkness of Discrimination

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 28:16-20
 
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."





Blog Reflection

While many people are celebrating St. Patrick's Day eating their corned beef and cabbage, drinking beer and marching, there are others who do not share this day with such enjoyment.   LGBT people are still not allowed to march in the largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the country. New York City. 

Rev. Irene Monroe wrote the blog piece "Like Black Church: St. Patrick's Day Parades Are Anti-Gay."

Irish and African-American lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) communities share a lot in common when it comes to being excluded from iconic institutions in their communities.

For LGBTQ African-Americans, it's the black church, and for LGBTQ Irish, it's the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

 St. Patrick's Day has rolled around again, and like previous March 17th celebrations nationwide, its LGBTQ communities are not invited. As a contentious and protracted argument for now over two decades, parade officials have a difficult time grasping the notion that being Irish and gay is also part of their heritage.

Unlike the black church, however, that has and continues to throw the Bible at its LGBTQ community to justify their exclusionary practices, the St. Patrick's Day parade committee uses the First Amendment, debating that they are constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of religion, speech and association, and the tenet separating church and state.

Among the matters that I find very interesting is that each culture that experiences some kind of discrimination upon coming to America, winds up discriminating against another in succession.   The English Anglo-Saxons who stole and destroyed the values and property of the Native Americans, also for many years oppressed the Irish immigrants in places like Boston, Massachusetts and New York City.   When the English Anglo-Saxons were confronted about why they were oppressing the Irish Catholic immigrants they responded with: "They have come to take our communities, jobs, homes and values and leave no room for us." 

Then many years later after many of the Irish people gained quite a bit of their freedoms, what did many of those same people complain about when the Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, South Americans, and other groups came to America?  "They have come to take our communities, jobs, homes and values and leave no room for us."

Likewise what is the argument anti-LGBT people use to deny marriage equality rights?  "They are going to change the definition of marriage and therefore destroy marriage for heterosexuals."

Not to be out done, the LGBT community also has it's share of racial, class and body type minoritizing.   I really find it very ironic that we have to have LGBT Pride, and Black Pride in many locations as two separate events. That kind of thing shows that there is racism and white supremacy within the LGBT Communities.  There are many Caucasian LGBT people who have been known to sneer at the idea of an inter-racial relationship.   Between the bear community and other body types is the complaint about those who are feminine vs those who are butch. Recently Jason and I were at a bear event in which an individual told a drag queen that bears do not like the attitudes of drag queens. We have the stereotypical "twinks" (I really hate that word) vs the bears, chubs and so on.  I know, I call myself and Jason as two gay bears.  Physically okay, that is what we are in the gay community.  But, my personal preference is that we (yes, I am writing to my own hypocritical behaviors and attitudes too) LGBT people learn to see other LGBT people as individuals seeking justice, inclusion, equality and to be able to uphold our dignity.

LGBT people and LGBT people of faith have an interesting dynamic.  There are many who are LGBT who sneer at those members of the LGBT community who practice some kind of faith.   It is as if LGBT people of faith are accused of "sleeping with the enemy."  Yet, LGBT people of faith experience the same discrimination from conservative Christians.  If we aren't getting it from LGBT people who think we should not be involved with any church or religious tradition, we are getttin git from Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics because our sexual orientation and/or gender expression/identity means we are not the kind of Christian they think we should be.

The LGB members of our communities also need to work on our prejudices towards our transgender friends.  Such is the case with the story of what has happened at Equality Maryland.

To understand what this St. Patrick's Day might mean to LGBT people, people of faith and/or just people of good will, I think our Gospel has some important things to remind us of. 

Jesus did not tell his disciples: "Go out and baptized all nations, but not those queers, Irish, African Americans, Native Americans, Muslims etc...."  Jesus said: "Go out and baptize all nations in the Name of the One, Holy and Undivided Trinity."  

Now, I know Muslims and many do not share our common Christian Faith.  And my intention here is not to state the Christianity has some monopoly on the truth.  Because it doesn't.  And there is no justification of violence in either speech or action towards those who do not share the Christian Faith with us.  That also is wrong.

However, for those of us who are Christians, as well as people of good will religious minded or not, we can easily assert that the Christian religion is about justice, equality and inclusion and we would be correct on every level. 

Rev. Irene Monroe concludes the piece from The Bilerico Project with the following:

So I ask, what would St. Patrick do in this situation?

He would unquestionably welcome Irish LGBTQ, especially in a parade named after him.
St. Patrick was a man who used his experience of struggle to effect change.

As a 5th century English missionary to Ireland, St. Patrick was born in 387 and died on March 17, 461 AD. He was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders attacking his family's estate that transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity.

After six years as a prisoner, St. Patrick escaped, but returned to Ireland as a missionary to convert the Irish to Christianity. As a priest, he incorporated traditional Irish rituals rather than eradicating their native beliefs. St. Patrick used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Irish honored their gods with fire, and he superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what we now know as the Celtic cross.

While many parade officials may think they are honoring the St. Patrick's Day tradition by excluding its LGBTQ communities, but like the black church, they will only be dishonoring themselves.

And, truth be told, no one knows how to throw a party or put on a parade like the LGBTQ community.

Christians and people of all faiths and political and social positions need to work on ways of avoiding reasons to exclude each other, and find ways to welcome each other.   In all the struggles of our time, the one thing we learn over and over again, the more we exclude others, the likelihood of us excluding ourselves becomes ever more true.

On this St. Patrick's Day as we celebrate and remember, let us work towards ways of making our lives, communities, churches and such as inclusive as possible. 

Prayers

Almighty God, in your providence you chose your servant Patrick to be the apostle of the Irish people, to bring those who were wandering in darkness and error to the true light and knowledge of you: Grant us so to walk in that light that we may come at last to the light of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for St. Patrick, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 273).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).

O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior, the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Unity of the Church, Book of Common Prayer, page 818).

May the strength of God pilot us.
May the power of God preserve us.
May the wisdom of God instruct us.
May the hand of God protect us.
May the way of God direct us.
May the shield of God defend us.
May the host of God guard us
Against the snares of the evil one
And the temptations of the world.
May Christ be with us
Christ above us
Christ in us
Christ before us.
May thy salvation, O Lord,
Be always ours
This day and for evermore.
Amen.

A prayer attributed to St. Patrick, quoted in Pocket Celtic Prayers compiled by Martin Wallace (London: Church House Publishing, 1999). (Speaking to the Soul, the Episcopal Cafe).

Tuesday in the First Week of Lent: LGBT People are Among God's Holy Partners for Justice and Equality

Scriptural Basis


Hebrews 3: 1-11 (NRSV)

Therefore, brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also 'was faithful in all God's house.' Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. Christ, however, was faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, as on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors put me to the test, though they had seen my works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, "They always go astray in their hearts, and they have not known my ways." As in my anger I swore, "They will not enter my rest."' 

Blog Reflection

Josh Thomas in today's reflection for Lent in 2011 Lenten Meditations from Episcopal Relief and Development writes:

"May I be, as Hebrews suggests, a fellow apostle with Jesus? One who is sent-by God, into this world.  A holy partner with Christ?  A sister or brother to all others?

Is that me? Can I live that life this Lent, and beyond?" (Page 11).

Josh Thomas' question is a good one.  Can we think of ourselves as holy partners with Christ?  If we think of ourselves as holy partners with Christ, what would that holy partnership look like?  What would it mean for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people to be holy partners with Christ?

We cannot answer those questions in quite the same way as straight individuals do.  I know we are talking about equality and inclusion.   But, let's be frank.  We are not there yet.  When a group of party crashers in Queens beat a young teen to death while shouting anti-gay slurs, we have not achieved justice, equality and inclusion just yet.  In fact, such a horrible true story, tells us that we are quite far away from equality.  When Sen. Gillibrand must petition people to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (and I hope you will sign the petition). because the GOP House of Representatives have decided that they will defend DOMA in court because President Obama has announced that he will not, we have not achieved equality.

For LGBT people to be holy partners with Christ this Lent, we must recognize the reality of where we are.  We are among the very people that Christ came and sought out in his earthly life.   We are among those who experience political, religious and social oppression.   We are among those who are marginalized, because Christianists use the cross as their excuse to scapegoat LGBT people.  We need to be holy partners with Jesus so that we may know God's plan for our lives.  

When we think of those two words "holy partners" what might come to our minds?  

As soon as I hear those two words I think of the holy partnership that Jason and I share.  

Jason and I are two individuals who are eight years a part.  We share our lives together.  We share our happy times and sad times together.  We share our faith together.  We love each other physically, romantically, emotionally in spite of those things about each other that we may find sometimes difficult to live with.  Yet, because there is no one who loves me like Jason does, I can live with Jason's love of the Muppets, his computers, his school work, his knitting (all of which he does really well, so I am not complaining).   Jason finds that  no one loves him quite like I do.  That's why he has been so patient with me as I have gone through a year or so of evaluations to discover that I have Asperger's Syndrome (meaning high functioning autism), which is why I am unable to work.   Jason faithfully goes to work every day, and weekly brings home what we need to live on, so that we can have a stable home environment in which to live and love each other.  Both Jason and I recognize that we do not have equality in the Church and society because of laws that are very much unjust and prejudicial.  But, does that stop us from living the best life we can, until such time as we can be legally married?  No.

To be holy partners with Jesus is to recognize that if we are going to have justice, equality and our full inclusion in the Church and society some day, we need to accept the fact that we cannot do this work without God's help.   We cannot achieve equality, justice and inclusion if we allow the anti-LGBT rhetoric of Christianist groups like the Family Research Council, American Family Association, the National Organization for Marriage and Focus on the Family, to determine for us, our faith, life and love as LGBT people. 

While I totally understand that many LGBT people just cannot deal with any religion including and especially Christianity because of the hate of anti-LGBT churches and groups, I simply cannot give those groups the pleasure of knowing that they have taken Jesus Christ away from me.   When I was 16 years old I was baptized with the words: "I love Jesus Christ" on my heart and lips, and no Christianist preacher too full of themselves to realize the hate within their heart and life, is going to take my faith in the God I love away from me.   There have been so many people who have influenced my life in wonderful ways.  But none has influenced me more than my God who came into this world in one man who changed the face of human history like Jesus Christ has.  As I have been through the highs and lows of my life history, there has been one love that has always been there.  Jesus the Christ.  Now that I have recognized that I am gay (actually quite a while back), that I enjoy the company of my partner Jason, and realize that there are other Christians who are LGBT, I know that God in Jesus loves me now, just as much as he ever did.  And no, Pope Benedict, Archbishop Neinstedt, the Catholic church's ex gay ministry Courage,  you cannot take the love of my Lord, and the love my Lord has for me, away from me, just because I live a life that you do not agree with.  And none of you have any business trying to get the State to write discrimination in the the Constitution of Minnesota so that Jason and I cannot be legally married some day.

I believe that is what it means to live a life of holy partnership with Christ as a gay person.   Realizing that no person, group or church board can take from us, what is God's to give.   Our dignity, integrity, value and respect come from the reality that God has made us who we are, and loves us as we are.   God wants to do a work of justice, equality and inclusion for all marginalized persons through those who recognize that we can and do have a right to worship and love God, through helping others like ourselves who are oppressed.   Such as the Japanese right now, who are oppressed by many such as a Christian pastor who believes God told him that God was going to bring an earthquake upon Japan because they embrace atheism.   

LGBT Christians and other progressive Christians with good hearts can look this kind of thing in the eye and conclude that someone who really understands what Christianity is, would never consider saying such a thing.

Are we holy partners with Jesus as LGBT people?   Or do we let the anti-LGBT rhetoric of Christianist groups decide our faith and life for us?   Do we see ourselves as holy partners with Christ to help relieve the oppression and suffering of other groups of people experiencing injustice and oppression? 

Each individual will answer this question differently.  But I do hope that we can all admit that what God has begun in us, no anti-LGBT person or group has any business taking it away from us.  If we have been baptized as holy partners with Christ, shouldn't we continue to live as such?

Prayers

Grant to your people, Lord, grace to withstand the temptations of the world, and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow you, the only true God: through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Collect for Tuesday in the First Week of Lent, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 37).


Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan; Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday of Lent, Book of Common Prayer, page 218).

Compassionate God, whose Son Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus: Draw near to us in this time of sorrow and anguish, comfort those who mourn, strengthen those who are weary, encourage those in despair, and lead us all to fullness of life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen. (On the Occasion of a Disaster, Holy Women, Holy Men, page 733).  

Monday in the First Week of Lent: Whom Are we Serving?

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 25: 31-46 (NRSV)

‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, ³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,^* you did it to me.” ⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.” ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’ 

31

Blog Reflection

St. Louis de Monfort wrote: "I will love my God who lives in my neighbor."  "My God who lives in my neighbor."

Those who see religion from a particular point of view might respond to Monfort's statement: "Is he telling me to idolize my neighbor?"  That is a fair question.   In the Old Testament we read the words: "I am the Lord your God,,, you shall have no other gods before me."  (Exodus 20: 2,3).

When Jesus tells us that whatever we do to those who are members of his family, we do to him, is Jesus telling us to worship him?   When St. Louis de Montfort tells recognizes his God who lives in his neighbor, is he worshiping an idol in his neighbor?

If we see each person as their unique entity with no beginning in someone or something beyond themselves, then the answer to the previously asked questions is yes.   There are religions that would respond yes to the questions I raised.  They are entitled to their point of view.

For Christians however, our answer to those questions is no.  As Christians we recognize that the God that we worship and serve has created and therefore resides in and with our neighbor.  Christians should understand that to not serve our neighbor is to fail to serve God.  Our worship of God in our churches finds it's fulfillment when our liturgical celebrations become the true and living stories of our lives as we serve the God we worship in the needs of our neighbors.  Therefore we are to serve God in our neighors, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people.   We love our God who is in our neighbor in people of other genders, gender identities/expressions, other religions, other languages, other cultures/traditions, races, nationalities, wealth and health status and so on.   We do not draw a line in the sand about who we serve God in, and who we refuse to serve God in, if we embrace the cross of Jesus Christ as seriously as we say we do.

Just in today's news clips all over the internet, we are seeing Jesus in our neighbor being bruised and injured.  A teacher in southern California has been bullying a gay student by writing S for "sinner" on the hand of a gay student.  An individual has stated that God is punishing the country of Japan for atheism by way of the horrible earthquake and tsunami.  A young teenager named Nick Kelo age 13 shot himself after he was bullied for being gay, before and especially after he joined the school band.   We continue to see Jesus told that he has no bargaining rights, as they are taken away from Union workers all over the country.   Jesus' budget for those who are poor, destitute and pregnant continues to be exploited and taken away, while tax breaks for corporations becomes a greater priority.

The voice of progressive Christians is so very important as we work through this season of Lent.  We have opportunities to pray and work for the liberation of Jesus in our neighbor who continues to be assaulted by right wing political scams.  Our prayers and voices for those who continue to be oppressed and marginalized are so very important.

Yes, we are to love our God who lives in our neighbor.  God is so very good to us, so out of thanksgiving to God for God's goodness we should be willing to share that goodness with God who lives in our neighbor.  Amen.

Prayers,

Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully increase in us your gifts of holy discipline, in almsgiving, prayer and fasting; that our lives may be directed to the fulfilling of your most gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever.  Amen. (Prayer for Monday in the First Week of Lent, Holy Woman, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 36).


O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Poor and Neglected, Book of Common Prayer, page 826).

Compassionate God, whose Son Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus: Draw near to us in this time of sorrow and anguish, comfort those who mourn, strengthen those who are weary, encourage those in despair, and lead us all to fullness of life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.  (On the Occasion of a Disaster, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 733).  

First Sunday of Lent: The Temptation of Jesus' and LGBT's Identity

I struggled a lot with the readings for this first Sunday of Lent and how they relate to the justice, equality and inclusion of LGBTQ people in the Church and society.   I consulted many sources from the Collegeville Bible Commentary, Sermons that Work in the Episcopal Church and finally Out in Scripture.   All of them offered perspectives on the meaning of the Gospel story of the temptation of Jesus found in Matthew 4: 1-11. 

The  most important understanding I have gained from the temptation of Jesus that relates to LGBTQ people is that of our identity. 

As I print the Gospel reading for this weekend, I suggest we think of this narrative as being linked with the story of Jesus' baptism that came before the temptation.  In Matthew 3 Jesus has been baptized by John the Baptist.  A voice came from heaven saying that Jesus was God's beloved, with whom God was well-pleased.  To interpret the temptation of Jesus correctly in a way that is so very important to the spiritual and social lives of LGBT and to our activism, we must begin from the point that Jesus has just been told that he is the beloved Son of God.  So through Jesus God tells all of us that we are God's beloved and with us God is well-pleased.

Scriptural Basis

Matthew 4:1-11 (NRSV)

After Jesus was baptized, he was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written,

'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written,

'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Before we begin to unpack this Gospel, we must look to the first reading from Genesis 2: 15-17; 3: 1-7.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God say, `You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, `You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

This reading from Genesis has been used by Christianists to demean women and LGBT people.  There have been plenty of full-blown arguments about whether Eve the woman was responsible for responding to the serpent or Adam for participating with Eve without question.  These theological arguments miss the point of what actually happened.

Why was it that after Adam and Eve took and ate the forbidden fruit that they discovered they were naked and covered themselves up?


The traditional response is because sin came into the world and they were now ashamed of their nakedness.  that is not a completely wrong answer.  However, it is quite incomplete.

The shame that came with their nakedness once their disobedience to God happened, was in that they suddenly saw themselves as shameful people, who were no longer loved by God.   They "covered up" their identity as individuals created in God's image, as their sin of disobedience had corrupted them to the point that they had demeaned themselves as created out of God's love.  Very much like LGBT people as they question their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression.  Adam and Eve no longer saw the beauty of who they were before God and each other.  They hid, as LGBT people do in a closet where the death of who they are, and how they are to love which really is pleasing to God, is trashed, and covered with the "fig leaves" of shame and confusion.

After Jesus emerged from the waters of the Jordan in Baptism, he had a full understanding and sense of who he was.  God's perfect revelation in God the Son, Jesus the Christ.   What is the very first thing the devil tempts Jesus with in the desert?  "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."  The actual temptation here is not Jesus' understandable hunger.  The deeper temptation is not to change the stones into loaves of bread.  Satan is tempting Jesus to invalidate Jesus' sense of his identity as God's Son.  

Jesus' response: "'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'" is awesome in and of itself. It means much more.  Jesus' response is a declaration that his identity of being the beloved Son of God, is because of the word of God that has given him his life, identity and strength to uphold his dignity in the face of the greatest test. 

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people from the moment that we sense that our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression is different from the status quo are for a very long time, battling with a sense of dignity over our identity.  We are told by Christianists and ex-gay groups that if we accept who we are, we "diminish" our sense of being created in God's image.  Organizations like Exodus tell us falsely that "there is no good in a life of homosexuality.  Why?  Because God has said so."  When in fact, nothing is further from the truth.   

What is behind this kind of thinking?  The temptation of Satan on the lives of LGBT children of God redeemed in Jesus Christ  when the devil says: "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus responds as should we: "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"

In other words, do not put God to the test of catching us because we throw ourselves off the ledge of heterosexism to see if an ex-gay group can help us to "pray away the gay."  And that if somehow we fail the system of "change" of an ex-gay group, it is because we did something wrong and God has punished us.    Do not question your identity as a child beloved by God, with whom God is well-pleased, by allowing the evil of Christianists and arch-conservative Catholics/Anglicans to suggest that somehow God does not love us because of our sexual and gender diversity.  

We might even be led by the devil through Christianists to worship the idolatry of their philosophy of Biblical literalism that is full of erroneous interpretations.  Instead of worshiping God as the God of our lives as LGBTQ people, we might be tempted to make the Bible itself our god, instead of the Incarnate Word of God, who is Jesus the Christ.   

Many of us have been tempted by well meaning parents and ministers: "If you will only leave that sinful lifestyle, you might become part of a famous Christian rock band, or tour with a famous evangelist.  You will be known as a great example of God's transforming grace."  

In other words, worship a lie, a falsehood that is paved and disguised by a multi-billion dollar capitalistic enterprise, designed to make hate and bigotry a profitable business.  Worship that, and all will be well.

We cannot honestly and fully love God and build a life of integrity and dignity before God through such greed, dishonesty and personal and spiritual deprivation. 

In this Gospel of the temptation of Jesus is a reminder of the necessity of recognizing, living and protecting our dignity as God's beloved with whom God is well-pleased. 

LGBT people are daily and weekly attacked at the heart of who we are and who we love.  The dignity of our identity within which is how God has created each of us to love ourselves, God and others must be respected as sacred space and allowed to grow.  The beauty of the stamp of God's created wonder in LGBTQ people is so loved and valued by God, that God gave the life of God's Son on the cross to save us from our sins and become God's adopted children. 

Any Christianist preacher, Catholic/Anglican/Orthodox Bishop, Priest or the Pope himself who attempts to distort us about our identity as LGBT people, even if their intention appears loving, have unfortunately become an agent of the devil's plan of prejudice and violent self destruction.   We have every business to say no, and become active in replacing their ill understood ideologies, with the truth of how all of us are loved by God as God's holy people. 

During our Lenten journey to Easter, let us pray that we will be open to the grace of God in Jesus to recognize the dignity and integrity of who we are as LGBTQ individuals.   Let us fast and work towards justice, equality and the full inclusion of all marginalized persons, including but not limited to LGBTQ people.  So that, the full identity of who we all are as God's beloved people, with whom God is well-pleased may be understood and appreciated. 

When we appreciate God's created and redemptive beauty within who we are, we can commit ourselves to the alleviation of oppression, injustice, and inequality of all persons  We will work for the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.  We will see and guard the dignity and integrity of Muslims from congressional hearings designed to target them for the purpose of persecution.  We will do all we can to alleviate the suffering of the people of Japan as they recover from the horrible earth quake and tsunami this past Friday. 

God knows and loves all of us as God's beloved with whom God is well-pleased.  May we not only learn to resist the temptation to trash our own identity, but to work to help others recognize those marginalized by the Church and society as among God's beloved, with whom God is well-pleased.  Amen.

Prayers

Almighty God, whose blessed Son was led by the Spirit to be tempted by Satan: Come quickly to help us who are assaulted by many temptations; and, as you know the weaknesses of each of us, let each one find you mighty to save; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for the First Sunday of Lent, Book of Common Prayer, page 218).

Almighty and everlasting God, you hate nothing you have made and forgive the sins of all who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Ash Wednesday, Book of Common Prayer, page 217).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).


 Ever-welcoming God,
        you invite us to bring all that we are,
        our questions and our failures,
        into your life-giving presence;
    Give us courage to live before you without pretense,
        that we may know the joy of forgiveness and renewal
        without fear of expulsion.
        Amen.  (Prayerfully Out in Scripture).