Saint Mary Magdalene: A Woman of Deep Contemplation, Faith and Inspiration for Change

Today's Scripture Readings

Judith 9: 1, 11-14 (NRSV)

Judith prostrated herself, put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing. At the very time when the evening incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice, and said, "Your strength does not depend on numbers, nor your might on the powerful. But you are the God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forsaken, savior of those without hope. Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all your creation, hear my prayer! Make my deceitful words bring wound and bruise on those who have planned cruel things against your covenant, and against your sacred house, and against Mount Zion, and against the house your children possess. Let your whole nation and every tribe know and understand that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but you alone!"

Psalm 42 (BCP., p. 643)


2 Corinthians 5:14-18 (NRSV)

The love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

John 20:11-18 (NRSV)

Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Blog Reflection

The Church today,  honors a tremendous woman of faith.  Other than Mary the Mother of Jesus, there is probably no woman in the Gospels who's name and person is so easily recognized and denigrated at the same time.

There are many sketchy accounts of Mary Magdalene.  I believe of all of the accounts of the woman who washed the feet of Jesus seated in the house of Simon the Pharisee, only John actually identifies her as Mary Magdalene.  There is some possibility that she was a prostitute who gave up that way of life to follow Jesus more closely.  That possibility has been used to dehumanize women on the part of Christians for way too long.  It never ceases to amaze me how much Christians of all denominations and sects spend on matters below the belly button. 

Could Mary's faith that kept her at the foot of the Cross and/or her unparalleled courage through which she remained weeping at the tomb looking for the Risen Christ that makes many men envious of her relationship of total fidelity to Jesus?

Mary Magdalene shows us just how Jesus turned over the norms of His society.   Women were stigmatized, and poor women who resorted to prostitution for some kind of income were considered unclean and unable to participate in local worship.   Jesus did more than just change Mary Magdalene's life, He lifted her up from the bottom of the social ladder to be an important character in the story of how God brought salvation to the world through His life, Death and Resurrection. 

The month of July 2014 has been a terrible month for women in the United States of America due to the dreadful Hobby Lobby ruling by the Supreme Court.   The ruling is not only bad because of what it does to the dignity of women, but also of how it damages the so called "religious liberty" discussion. When "religious liberty" becomes the means by which we strong arm people into policies that violate the religious liberty of others who do not believe or practice in the way we think they should, we have made religion a burden of slavery.  At that point, religion is a matter of imprisonment and obligation for the sake of conformity.   The Christian Faith loses the argument in "not conforming to the ways of this age, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind" (Romans 12:2).   Why would anyone want to belong to such a lousy way of praying and believing?

Mary Magdalene is a magnificent example of how by God's transforming grace, God impacts not only one life in awesome and unpredictable ways, but entire communities. When one person responds by exemplary faith and action to the movement of God's Holy Spirit, that individual can impact human history with endless benefits.  

The Episcopal Church is approaching the 40th anniversary of it's decision for women to be admitted to ordained ministry.   The wonderful ways that women are taking their places as representing Christ and the Church to preach the Gospel and celebrate the Sacraments, have unleashed countless blessings on the Church and the world.   The contributions of women in the ordained ministry, can be likened to the changes brought by Mary Magdalene's prayer, faith and inspiration for change.

*At the resurrection on Easter Day, Mary's experience of Christ calling her by name in the midst of her pain and anguish, gave her first hand knowledge of God's love for her.  That love gave Mary the contemplative vision of God in the Risen Christ who spoke to her. *(See: The Mystery of Christ: The Liturgy as Spiritual Experience by Thomas Keating, p.73).  The story that she took to those twelve couldn't be believed, because she had been so filled with the experience of God's love, that they just couldn't bring themselves to accept it on word alone.  It was not until they each experienced the loving mercy of the Risen Christ for themselves, did they understand what Mary's experience was like.  Mary was the Apostle of the Resurrection who made believers out of those 12 men.  Her faith continues to inspire millions who attend Easter Day Liturgies all over Christendom.

Mary Magdalene's prayer and life of faith, should inspire us to continue our work to change hearts and minds regarding the marginalization of women, LGBT people and any number of persons in the Church and Society.    If we so choose to do our part to raise up many who are bowed down by prejudice and oppression, we can help people to see the real reason why people could Christians.  That real reason is because Jesus Christ changes lives to become God's Apostles for inclusive love and welcoming faith communities.  Communities that are committed to healing and reconciliation for all people with no exceptions. 

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene
to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness
of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we
may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the
power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 242).

Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us
grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace
with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom,
help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our
communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy
Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, p. 260).

St. Mary the Virgin: A Woman Graced, Tried, and Rewarded

Today's Scripture Readings

 Isaiah 61:10-11 (NRSV)

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD,

my whole being shall exult in my God;

for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its shoots,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,

so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise

to spring up before all the nations. 

 

Psalm 34 (BCP. p.627)

 

Galatians 4:4-7 (NRSV)

When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

 

Luke 1:44-56 (NRSV)

Mary said,

"My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

 

Blog Reflection

As I read through the various traditions of what this August 15th, Commemoration of the St. Mary the Virgin means, I am awestruck by the diversity.  A diversity that is a great source of division among Christians.

For Roman Catholics, today is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Catholics believe that on this day, Mary did not die, but was assumed body and soul into Heaven.  It was a dogma proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in 1945.  This belief is based on another belief by Catholics in Mary's Immaculate Conception.  Meaning she was conceived without original sin, prefiguring the victory won by the death and resurrection of Christ.  Both dogma's suggest that because Mary was God's perfectly created creature, who did the will of God from conception to the end of her earthly life, she who was "full of grace" never experienced death, and was rewarded with a glorious assumption by Mary's Son.

 In the case of what this day means to the Eastern Orthodox, today is the Feast of the Dormition.  In a stunning explanation of the connection of the Feast of the Transfiguration which we celebrated on August 6 and the Dormition, the following comes from the website to St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

Both feasts are connected with death. The Transfiguration comes before the death of Christ and anticipates it. The Dormition marks the death of the Mother of God, and comes after the death and resurrection of Christ. 

About the Transfiguration, we say that the revelation of His glory was the Lord's gift to the disciples Peter, James and John in anticipation of His suffering and death. The revelation of glory was meant to give the disciples something - some hope - to see them through their experience of holy week and to strengthen them in the face of death of their Master. Thy disciples beheld Thy glory as far as they could see it; so that when they would behold Thee crucified, they would understand that Thy suffering was voluntary.... (Kontakion) 

The Dormition of the Mother of God is also a gift. It is a gift of hope because it reveals that in Christ, death is no longer the master and great anxiety of our lives, but is itself subject to the power of His love. The reality and power of the resurrection of Christ is applied to our common human life in the person of the Mother of God. What is proclaimed as Gospel - the risen Christ, the Lord of Life, trampling death by death - is experienced here in the reality of the believer's new life in Christ. For being the Mother of Life, she was translated to life by the One who dwelt in her virginal womb. (Kontakion)

The Commemoration of the St. Mary the Virgin presents us with some interesting spiritual and theological problems as well as much to rejoice in.  The problem as Abbot Andrew Karr, OSB of St. Gregory's Abbey in Three Rivers, MI points out in his blog for today, is that Mary is either deified or made out to be a demigod.  

Mary’s real glory is that she was a human being every much as the rest of us. That is, she was and is a Jewish girl. Mary is, of course, inseparable from the Incarnation of the Word in her womb. Although Mary’s son was (and is) divine, Jesus was (and is) fully human, like you and me. In his excellent book Sheer Grace, Drasko Dizdar says that Mary, far from being a deity or demigod, “is the utterly and simply human subversion of this deification of human “archetypes” into the divine feminine.’” This is what the famous words of Mary in the Magnificat are all about when she says God “has cast down the mighty from their seats and has lifted up the lowly.” If such words simply mean other people become just as mighty as the ones who were cast down, then the words change nothing for humanity. The ones who are raised up are lowly and continue to be raised up only by remaining lowly. The proud are scattered in the “imagination of their hearts.” The rich are sent away empty because their hearts are too full of their desires to have room for God. What is so subversive about Mary, then, is her humanity. While other humans try to make themselves more than human by being movers and shakers, Mary is blessedly content to be human. As Dizdar says, Mary is a whole human being “as God has always intended the human creature to be as creature.” 

Then there is the matter of The Real Mary .  A 16 year old girl in a culture under immense oppression, with religious laws that are represented by as much misogyny as you can get.  Women were property to be owned by some man, with their dignity at the mercy of such a culture.  Yet, she has the most incredible experience with the Angel Gabriel who tells her that she was to be the mother of the Incarnate Word.  She accepts God's will, and she struggles like all of us do, with what exactly God is doing when we are blessed by God's random act of grace to do mighty things.   In her Magnificat, she sings of how God turned over the worlds corrupt structure, and gave life to the lowly, the hungry, and keeps God's promise of mercy.  Yet, as Mary experiences the crushing moments of Jesus' agonizing death, she questions God's purpose, and suffers with her son, and experiences what all parents who lose children do.  The experience of having died an inner and excruciating death as a mother feels in the depths of her womb, because the child who was once part of her body, is dead. 

On the subject of today's Commemoration of St. Mary the Virgin, I would like to throw some things out based on my own experience. I was a Roman Catholic for 15 years and believed very strongly in the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption, her perpetual virginity and the rest. One of the great gifts of being Episcopalian is that we are open to differences of belief and opinion, and even questioning so that we arrive at an authentic faith. So, here is what I now think. It is just as possible that the Immaculate Conception and Assumption did happen, as much as it is possible that they did not. Whether they happened or not, we do know from the Gospel accounts, that Mary received a fantastic random act of grace to conceive and give birth to Christ, who is God incarnate. The human became infused with the divine, and the divine changed forever the relationship between humankind and God. Therefore, Mary is an awesome example of what it means to be a recipient of God's random act of grace, and to live her life, changed forever, by the fruit of her womb. Whether we believe in the Immaculate Conception and/or Assumption or not, I think the important thing is, are we transformed by our encounter with Jesus, the fruit of Mary's womb? How do we respond when we receive a random act of God's grace? Are we truly transformed, or do we return to business as usual? Mary is the example of how to live out that transformation, and receive the reward of God's saving grace. 

Perhaps on this Commemoration, we can pray for God's random act of grace to help us address the issue of climate change, the horrific violence to LGBT people in Russia, Uganda, New York City, and in other places because of prejudice and oppression.   What would we do if we received God's random act of grace to uphold the dignity of women with regards to adequate reproductive health care, job creation and training, equal job wages, protection from exploitation and gender violence?   

If we were to receive such a random act of God's grace, would we truly be transformed, to become a missionary of God's transforming grace?  Or would we just continue with business as usual?

Amen.

Prayers

Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene
to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness
of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we
may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the
power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit
lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for St. Mary the Virgin, Book of Common Prayer, p.242).

 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, p.815).

Proclaim Mercy and Love: Not Make Friends with Oppression

Today's Scripture Readings

Romans 12: 6-13 (NRSV)

We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.

Mark 10: 42-45 (NRSV)

Jesus called his disciples and said to them, "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

Blog Reflection

It's Monday.  The day after The First Sunday after the Epiphany: The Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

I wasn't planning to write a blog post today.  I was not sure I would have anything valuable to contribute today. 

My anger and disappointment began today with the news that the Bishop of Rome has said that "Gay marriage threatens humanity."

No, Your Holiness.  The loving marriage between two people of the same sex does not threaten humanity.  Heterosexism based on ignorance that gives life to homophobia and keeping LGBT people as second class citizens because of religious based bigotry threatens humanity. 

I was further outraged when I read that the Archbishop of New York who has been selected to wear a red hat and become a Cardinal has bashed church rape victims.   It seems to me that cruelty and degradation are being rewarded with an honorary title. 

After I read that the Catholic League wrote that the molestation victims are "cry babies", I decided that I could not not write a blog post today. 

As I was thinking about these events and whether or not I should write a blog post today I was reflecting on John 12: 35.  "Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you."  This verse is used at the end of the third paragraph to the Prologue in the Rule of St. Benedict.  It is the paragraph that talks about getting up from sleep and learning about God's love for us by paying attention to what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.   St. Benedict reminds us "not harden our hearts" which we pray from Psalm 95 every morning in the Daily Office. 

Then I am brought to today's commemoration of Julia Chester Emery.  A woman who devoted herself to the missionary work of the Episcopal Church who helped begin the United Thank Offering.  The work of Julia Chester Emery was to bring the good news of God's mercy and love to the wider hurting world and call upon the Episcopal Church to become actively involved in that missionary work.

Jesus tells us not to lord ourselves over people, but to be in a constant attitude of the willingness to serve others.  Jesus is the greatest example of humility as he gives of himself and all that God is in him in service by giving himself as a ransom for many.  Jesus is telling the disciples that if they want to be anyone of greatness, they have to be willing to help heal the wounds brought about by the misuse of authoritative power and wealth. 

Through today's news we are seeing the misuse of church authority.  When religious power is used to over lord bigotry the results are destructive.  

St. Paul today encourages us to "Let love be genuine" by "contributing to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to the strangers."  

Love is genuine when people like Julia Chester Emery a woman in an age when women are no where near as accepted as they are today is patient in her suffering, but persistent in prayer; works to alleviate the suffering of others all over the world.   Her work continues to bear fruit as year after year Episcopalians all over contribute to the United Thank Offering to continue Emery's work of alleviating the poor and others in need.

As LGBT individuals we are angered and wounded by what we are hearing in the news these days.  We would do well to use our outrage and the cuts we feel to become part of the solution. Just because the religious minded individuals who have said and written the news we are hearing today choose to "follow the advice of the wicked" (see Psalm 1) does not mean we should follow their example.  We should do the good things the Christian Faith calls humankind to do.  Let us make our love genuine and serve the needs of others.  May we outdo one another in showing mutual affection, rejoicing in hope and being patient in suffering.  May we follow the example of Julia Chester Emery in proclaiming God's mercy and love and not make friends with oppression.

May we take the lesson and canticle in Philippians 2: 5-11 from the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus and make it our prayer and desire.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,
who, though he was in the form of God,
   did not regard equality with God
   as something to be exploited,
but emptied himself,
   taking the form of a slave,
   being born in human likeness.
And being found in human form,
   he humbled himself
   and became obedient to the point of death—
   even death on a cross.

Therefore God also highly exalted him
   and gave him the name
   that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus
   every knee should bend,
   in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue should confess
   that Jesus Christ is Lord,
   to the glory of God the Father.

Prayers

God of all creation, you call us in Christ to make disciples of all nations and to proclaim your mercy and love: Grant that we, after the example of your servant Julia Chester Emery, may have vision and courage in proclaiming the Gospel to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our light and our salvation, 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 163).


Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River
Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him
with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his
Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly
confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy
Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, page 214).

Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name
of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart,
we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our
Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy
Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 213).

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. (Book of Common Prayer, page 815). 

Ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi, First Woman Priest in the Anglican Communion, 1944

Scriptural Basis

Luke 10:1-9 (NRSV)

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.'"

Blog Reflection

About this Commemoration

Named by her father “much beloved daughter,” Li Tim-Oi was born in Hong Kong in 1907. When she was baptized as a student, she chose the name of Florence in honor of Florence Nightingale. Florence studied at Union Theological College in Guangzhou (Canton). In 1938, upon graduation, she served in a lay capacity, first in Kowloon and then in nearby Macao.

In May 1941 Florence was ordained deaconess. Some months later Hong Kong fell to Japanese invaders, and priests could not travel to Macao to celebrate the Eucharist. Despite this setback, Florence continued her ministry. Her work came to the attention of Bishop Ronald Hall of Hong Kong, who decided that “God’s work would reap better results if she had the proper title” of priest.

On January 25, 1944, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Bishop Hall ordained her priest, the first woman so ordained in the Anglican Communion.

When World War II came to an end, Florence Li Tim-Oi’s ordination was the subject of much controversy. She made the personal decision not to exercise her priesthood until it was acknowledged by the wider Anglican Communion. Undeterred, she continued to minister with great faithfulness, and in 1947 was appointed rector of St. Barnabas Church in Hepu where,on Bishop Hall’s instructions, she was still to be called priest.

When the Communists came to power in China in 1949, Florence undertook theological studies in Beijing to further understand the implications of the Three-Self Movement (self-rule, self-support, and self- propagation) which now determined the life of the churches. She then moved to Guangzhou to teach and to serve at the Cathedral of Our Savior. However, for sixteen years, from 1958 onwards, during the Cultural Revolution, all churches were closed. Florence was forced to work first on a farm and then in a factory. Accused of counter revolutionary activity, she was required to undergo political re-education. Finally, in 1974, she was allowed to retire from her work in the factory.

In 1979 the churches reopened, and Florence resumed her public ministry. Then, two years later, she was allowed to visit family members living in Canada. While there, to her great joy, she was licensed as a priest in the Diocese of Montreal and later in the Diocese of Toronto,where she finally settled, until her death on February 26, 1992.  (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 186).

The Gospel reading chosen for today's commemoration is so very appropriate.  Jesus chose seventy others included in the twelve he had already called.  Among those seventy there were undoubtedly women.  There were most likely lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning people among those seventy who were sent out.  Given that the region that Jesus lived in there is a good possibility that they were all middle-eastern people, if not very few Caucasians.  How then, has the Church over these two thousand or so years become so narrow minded?  How has the Anglicized Church of a middle-eastern Jewish carpenter become so full of people who want the doors, pulpits, sacraments and places of leadership closed to every body who is not white, male, heterosexual, healthy, wealthy etc?  How very interesting that the first woman Priest of the Anglican Communion was Japanese. And of all years for the first woman Priest, who was Japanese, to be ordained, the year 1944.

As with any new door that is opened, the first woman Priest faced the worst controversy and back lash.  Just as Bishop Gene Robinson has received death threats, hate mail, email and horrible treatment because he is the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal Church.  The outrageous comments that came before and after the ordination of Suffragan Bishop Mary Glasspool by the Archbishop of Canterbury are bitter and not so distant memories for most of us. I remember when Bishop Barbara Harris was ordained the first woman Bishop and all the ground shaking anger that followed that wonderful event. 

The issue of women's ordination to the Priesthood and to be Bishops continues to be a very controversial issue.  There remains many parts of the Anglican Communion that are divided over the issue of women clergy and ordaining openly LGBT individuals as Bishops, Priests and Deacons.

To be open to new things happening in our lives and the Church requires an opening to the movement of the Holy Spirit.  The Life-Giver that is the Holy Spirit never stops moving us to new and exciting opportunities for personal and social transformation.  The Jesus Christ event that we celebrate as Christians opened humankind to going forth from what we have learned to knowing and understanding that God is not finished with us just because we have met Jesus in the comfort of our church pews and altars.  The visit and withdrawal to our churches is to rest in God just for a little while, and then be sent forth as one of Christ's many followers into the world.  Having been fed by the Word and nourished by Christ's Real Presence we are sent forth to make God's Presence real in our lives and the lives of others.  If we leave with our hearts and minds closed to the movement of God the Holy Spirit to teach us new things, then we have left God back at our favorite pew when we exited our churches.  All we have done is used God to politely knock on our Pandoras Boxes while we insist that they remain closed.  But, the Holy Spirit with her gentle and moving grace never leaves us alone with our boxes closed.  She wants to rip them open and take us to new opportunities for the Advocate to work in and through our lives. 

The acceptance of ordaining women to the Priesthood was a difficult change for me.  You see, I had been an arch-conservative Roman Catholic up to the time I left the Courage RC ex-gay group.  When I finally faced the reality that I could not remain a Roman Catholic because I wanted to be true to God and myself about being gay, I chose to visit St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral.  Upon our first two weeks that Jason and I started worshiping there, I was met with my own prejudice by seeing then Canon Cara Spacarelli (now Rector of Christ Church on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC) wearing an Anglican clerics clothing.  As a Roman Catholic I was convinced that the Catholic church's reasons for not ordaining women was correct.  They claim that they do not ordain women because in their minds, women cannot bring about Christ's Real Presence in the Eucharist because they do not share the "maleness" of Christ.  Once I began to open my heart to the Holy Spirit to transform my thinking, I began to reconsider that idea by asking myself the following question. If Jesus first came into the world through the womb of a Virgin Mother named Mary in a miraculous way that cannot be explained, then why can't Jesus also come to us in a way we cannot explain through a female Priest as she offers the Eucharistic Prayer?   I further asked myself: is God really limited to our human thinking, or are we ready to admit that God can do things beyond our limited understanding?  As I employed the gift of Reason into my understanding of Scripture and Tradition it also led me to the belief that Mary was the first female Priest.  She offered herself to the use of God, to bring about through the sacrifice of her will, that wonderful event of God's perfect revelation in Jesus Christ.  And, while all the other disciples fled in fear for their lives it was Mary, who stood at the foot of the Cross with John and offering her son through her own pain and anguish in total surrender to God's will for the salvation of Humankind.  Is that not what a Priest does through her or his work? 

As we recall the ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi as the first woman Priest in the Anglican Communion, let us also ask ourselves what changes is God the Holy Spirit asking us to open up to?  Are we participants in the work of transformation that the Holy Spirit wants to do through us, or are we obstacles in her way?  How can we more open ourselves to the changes that God, the Mother, the Holy Spirit wants to do through our lives?  Be ready for the Holy Spirit to help you answer those questions.

Prayers

Gracious God, we thank you for calling Florence Li Tim-Oi, much-beloved daughter, to be the first woman to exercise the office of a priest in our Communion: By the grace of your Spirit inspire us to follow her example, serving your people with patience and happiness all our days, and witnessing in every circumstance to our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the same Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Commemoration of the Ordination of Florence Li Tim-Oi, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 187).

Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, Book of Common Prayer, page 215).

Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, page 816).

A Reminder of Our Inaugural Address

Luke 4: 16-21 (NRSV)

When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ²⁰And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

So how is the Church doing with the words of Jesus' inauguration address?  This Gospel reading is often used at Confirmations, Receptions of New Members and the Renewal of Baptismal Vows.   It is chosen for those services as a reminder to the candidates and those who are witnessing at this Liturgy that to be a Christian is to see our role in the ministry of Christ and the Church as beginning with this inaugural address in Luke's Gospel. 

Our problem with this Gospel reading is that it challenges our comfort zones.  All of us really enjoy the coziness of our Pandoras Boxes.  When we only surround ourselves with those who make us comfortable then we do not have to step outside of what is familiar and face our insecurities.  As the Church struggles with how to be more inclusive of women, LGBTQ, people of other races, cultures, abilities, religions, languages and abilities etc, all of us struggle with our "need"  to make policies to keep those who make us uncomfortable from participating in the ministry of the Church.  At the heart of Parish and sometimes Diocesan wide policy is a lame ass excuse for prejudice and scapegoating.  

Yesterday we in the Twin Cities Metro area heard the news of the local Catholic Archdiocese telling a local Catholic School to ban pro-gay editorials from their school newspaper.  One of the editorials claimed that the information in the Archbishop's DVD against marriage equality was "unsubstantiated."  The other was an opinion piece entitled: "The Life of a Gay Teenager".   Michael Bayle in his blog post "The Wild Reed" quotes Nick Coleman:

But the saddest part 0f this situation is that school officials also censored a personal op-ed called “Life as a Gay Teenager” written by a BSM student who recently came out as gay — all the while giving lip service, so to speak, to Catholic doctrine that says “Men and women with homosexual tendencies must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.”

Yeah, respect and compassion! Except for that kid in the corner who tried to write a personal essay about his own struggle with suicidal thoughts in the on-going effort to be honest about his identity in a hostile environment of rejection and repression (here’s a link to the censored op-ed). Un-effing believable. The church continues to shoot itself in the foot. But it’s the kids who end up wounded.

I would add that the saddest part of this is how an Archbishop claims to represent Jesus Christ makes use of his authority to place LGBT people into the captivity and oppression of spiritual malpractice and doctrinal abuse.  As such the witness to the goodness and mercy of God is lost, because of one individual who just cannot let go of his own prejudices so that others can experience the freedom that comes with being a follower of Jesus Christ.  Instead of using his office to bring justice and inclusion, Archbishop Nienstedt imposes shame, exclusion and fear.  What truth might we refer to from the Bible to help us understand why this is such an injustice?

1 John 4: 18-21 (NRSV)

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹We love^* because he first loved us. ²⁰Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters,^* are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister^* whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. ²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters^* also. 

We commemorate today Margaret, Queen of Scotland. James Kiefer writes:

Margaret (born c. 1045) was the grand-daughter of Edmmund Ironside, King of the English, but was probably born in exile in Hungary, and brought to England in 1057. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, she sought refuge in Scotland, where about 1070 she married the King, Malcolm III. She and her husband rebuilt the monastery of Iona and founded the Benedictine Abbey at Dunfermline. Margaret undertook to impose on the Scottish the ecclesiastical customs she had been accustomed to in England, customs that were also prevalent in France and Italy. But Margaret was not concerned only with ceremonial considerations. She encouraged the founding of schools, hospitals, and orphanages. She argued in favor of the practice of receiving the Holy Communion frequently. She was less successful in preventing feuding among Highland Clans, and when her husband was treacherously killed in 1093, she herself died a few days later (of grief, it is said).

I am impressed with the work of Margaret of Scotland, though we can see that she like all of the Saints we commemorate, she struggled with her own humanity.  So all of us in the Church regardless of what walk of life we come from or are going to, must acknowledge that we need God and the help of others to live holy lives.  Likewise if we want to be reaching for holiness, we need to be willing to lend a helping hand to those who live in captivity and oppression.

How can we fulfill the call of Christ's inaugural address in spite of all that is imperfect about us?  How might we be missionaries to bring about justice and equality for those who are still second class citizens in the Church and society?  How can LGBT people help bring about freedom for the many captive young people who are oppressed by religious systems that continue to silence them when they tell their stories? 

Each one of us has been called to God's Holy Spirit to bring freedom from captivity and oppression, to give sight to those who cannot see the injustice of their attitudes and behaviors.  We will face opposition from those who want to silence the messengers.   Just because we speak a message people do not care to hear, does not mean we should stop speaking and acting.

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 28, Book of Common Prayer, page 236).


O God, who called your servant Margaret to an earthly throne That she might advance your heavenly kingdom, and gave her zeal for your church and love for your prople: Mercifully grant that we who commemorate her this day may be fruitful in good works, and attain to the glorious crown of your saints; though Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Margaret, Queen of Scotland.  Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 683).

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, 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)

Anyone looking to purchase the books mentioned in this blog can also order them from the Cathedral Book Shop of St.Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  Email Susan at Bookshop@ourcathedral.org. 

Hildegard: A Woman Who Challenged Traditionalism. Why Shouldn't We?

John 3:16-21 (NRSV)

Jesus said, "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. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God."

"Listen: there was once a king sitting on his throne. Around him stood great and wonderfully beautiful columns ornamented with ivory, bearing the banners of the king with great honor. Then it pleased the king to raise a small feather from the ground, and he commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of anything in itself but because the air bore it along. Thus am I, a feather on the breath of God." Hildegard of Bingen.

The movie Forrest Gump begins with a feather blowing through the air, and ends with that same feather being blown through the sky.  The movie is about a man from the earliest age to where the movie ends, about a man who is thought to be completely stupid.  Yet through out the movie, Forrest Gump shows himself to be an extraordinary man.  Though he was developmentally challenged, he went to college, fought in the Vietnam War,  and began a shrimp company after his late friend Bubba.  Forrest Gump often associated with African Americans while the country was still marginalizing them.  And he had a love that although she was exceptionally rude and messed up by drugs, he still loved her, even when she told him she was dying and wanted to marry him before she died.  He became a best friend to his son Forrest and made sure he was out there to meet him when he got home from school.  And then the feather blows away again.

Those of us who are part of minorities whether we be African American, or women, or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning or queer people, or immigrants, we are like feathers being blown about.   Most of the world does not recognize us for who or what we are.  But when we arrive on the scene there are those who see our beauty and acknowledge that we are part of God's green world just as much as anyone else. There are those who look at us and say: "So what?"  There are also those who think we should just be discarded, for we are taking up too much space away from those who are considered privileged.  

Hildegard was a Benedictine Nun who was wise and very generous.  She was disciplined and had a full life.  Though she lived in a time when women were not recognized as equal to men, she participated in the work of preaching the Gospel even when it was not fashionable to do so.  

"She carried out preaching missions in Northern Europe, unprecedented activity for a woman.  She practiced medicine, focusing on women's needs; published treatises on natural science and philosophy; wrote a liturgical drama, The Play of Virtues, in which personified virtues sing their parts and the devil, condemned to live with out music, can only speak. For Hildegard, music was essential to worship.  Her liturgical compositions, unusual in structure and tonality, were described by contemporaries as "Chant of surpassing sweet melody" and "strange and unheard-of music." 

"Hildegard lived in a world accustomed to male governance. Yet, within her convents, and to a surprising extent outside them, she exercised a commanding spiritual authority based on confidence in her visions and considerable political astuteness.  When she died in 1179 at 81, she left a rich legacy which speaks eloquently across the ages." (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 588). 

Anyone besides myself think that Hildegard sounds a bit butch?  An early example of a Transgenderd person.  


We continue to live in a time when individuals are stereotyped and stigmatized even still because of what makes each individual unique.  I am really troubled by the Gospel that is chosen for today's commemoration.  It was most likely translated by someone who had a Supersessionistic perspective of Christianity towards Judaism or Islam.  I totally love verses 16 and 17, but the verses that come after that suggest that those who do not believe in the Son of God are already condemned, it is phrases like that that are so used against those who are not Christians.  They are used by evangelists to persuade non-Christians to convert out of fear.  Conservative Christians get off on suggesting that people should be afraid of God condemning them to hell for not seeing things the way Conservative Christians do.  The phrase "fear of God" has all too often been mistranslated into being afraid of God condemning people.  When in fact "fear of God" really means that God is so deserving of all of our love, that the last thing we would want to do is offend God.  Not because God might punish us, but because God is so madly in love with Humankind, that we should all want to love God back.  Loving God includes loving those who are not Christian, and who are not privileged to be white, male, heterosexual, of one gender in mind, heart or body, healthy, wealthy, speak or write in English, who are not challenged physically, psychologically or developmentally.  Loving our God is synonymous with loving our neighbor as ourselves.


In response to Pope Benedict's statement as he begins his tour of Britain, about atheism and Nazism, commenter Gregory Orloff wrote the words of St. John Chrysostom in the Episcopal Lead.  

"We who are disciples of Christ claim that our purpose on earth is to lay up treasures in heaven. But our actions often belie our words. Many Christians build for themselves fine houses, lay out splendid gardens, construct bathhouses and buy fields. It is small wonder, then, that many pagans refuse to believe what we say. "If their eyes are set on mansions in heaven," they ask, "why are they building mansions on earth? If they put their words into practice, they would give away their riches and live in simple huts." So these pagans conclude that we do not sincerely believe in the religion we profess; and as a result they refuse to take this religion seriously. You may say that the words of Christ on these matters are too hard for you to follow; and that while your spirit is willing, your flesh is weak. My answer is that the judgment of the pagans about you is more accurate than your judgment of yourself. When the pagans accuse us of hypocrisy, many of us should plead guilty."

Pope Benedict ought to reflect on those words. Might not the worst enemy of Christianity be Christians who don't live up to being Christlike?

Christians including those of us who are challenging the Church and society to be more inclusive and accommodating are doing the work of God the Holy Spirit.  During this Season after Pentecost we are trying to learn better the lessons that the Holy Spirit has been teaching us as she "guides us into all truth." (Jn. 16:13). Among the many things we want to be open to is how the Church has been misunderstanding the Bible in terms of homosexuality, bisexuality and transgendered people.  We also want to continue to be open to how the Church has been getting it wrong on the subject of women.  The Bible has been over used to suggest that women are to be subordinate to men.   As Episcopalians who also use the gift of reason as well as Scripture and Tradition, we understand things about women now that we did not a century ago.  So it is with LGBTQ people.

What God asks of us is that we love God who first loved us and gave God's Self up for us in God's Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is the Light who has come into the world to extinguish the darkness of sin that includes prejudice, violence and cruelty.  Jesus does not work to accomplish these things without the help of God's people who have been consecrated to God in Baptism.  That is why Hildegard as well as any of us are so fortunate to be feathers blowing about by the Holy Spirit to help change the Church and the world, one step at a time.

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 19, Book of Common Prayer, page 233).


God of all times and seasons: Give us grace that we, after the example of your servant Hildegard, may both know and make known the joy and jubilation of being part of your creation, and show forth your glory not only with our lips but in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Hildegard, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 589).

O God, you led your holy apostles to ordain ministers in every place: Grant that your Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, may choose suitable persons for the ministry of Word and Sacrament, and may uphold them in their work for the extension of your kingdom; through him who is the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Prayer for the choice of fit persons for ministry, Ember Days, Book of Common Prayer, page 256).

 

Laying Down Our Lives for the Sake of Others

John 12:24-28 (NRSV)

Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.
 
"Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say-- `Father, save me from this hour'? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."

We are very close to the beginning of the Fall season.  It actually is my favorite time of year for many reasons. I love the changing colors of the leaves on the trees.   It reminds me of home in Massachusetts when we would occasionally take a drive up towards New Hampshire or Vermont and see the beautiful foliage.  Fall is also thought of as a time of death and dying.  It is the time when all the summer flowers start to wilt and dry up.  The green grass eventually turns brown.  The bears and other animals prepare to hibernate for the long winter.   Later in November we will celebrate All Saints and All Souls.  The Sunday readings will start getting darker as they predict the end times.  The wonder of nature and the reality of life all play their role during the Fall.

In many ways Fall is very much like the Lent and Easter Seasons.  During Lent and Easter we recall that there is no resurrection without the crucifixion.  So in Fall we are reminded without death, there can be no life.  It is no less scary, but it is something every human person will one day have to come to terms with.

The Gospel for today's Daily Office is the story of Jesus arriving to raise Lazarus from the tomb.  In John 11: 17-29 we read how Martha, Lazarus' sister ran out to meet Jesus.   In the course of their conversation Jesus proclaims himself to be the "Resurrection and the Life" (vs. 25), and Martha proclaims her faith that Jesus is the Son of God.   We will not read about Jesus raising Lazarus until tomorrow, for today, the reading ends with Mary the other sister of Lazarus running out to meet Jesus. Do we live our lives as if we believe that Jesus is the Resurrection and Life? 

Today we commemorate Constance the Nun and her companions who are called "the Martyrs of Memphis."  Constance was part of the Sisters of St. Mary.  She and her sisters along with George C. Harris the Dean of St. Mary's Cathedral ministered to and with those affected by the epidemic of Yellow Fever in 1878.   30,000 citizens had fled Memphis in fear, with 20,000 more were left to face the epidemic.  The City of Memphis saw an average of 200 deaths a day.  "When the worst was over ninety percent of the population had contracted the Fever, more than 5,000 people had died." (All of this information is being taken from Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 570).

Constance along with Dean Harris and many others from the Sisters of St. Mary took care of many of the orphaned children and brought comfort to the sick and hope to the dying, though they faced the risk of getting Yellow Fever themselves.  Even a terrible threat such as the Fever did not stop them from being compassionate and welcoming to Jesus as he came sick and dying to their doors.

In the Gospel that is part of Today's Eucharist commemorating Constance and her companions, Jesus said: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also."   We are told that if we are to bear fruit, we must be willing to give up what is most precious to serve the needs of others.

Last night on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann there was a heart warming interview of a Memphis Pastor Steve Stone who is sharing space with Islamic worshipers who are building a Mosque next door to their church.  While all of this crazy stuff is going on about burning Qurans this upcoming Saturday in Florida and apparently another Pastor is going to burn some in Tennessee, here is a real Christian Pastor who is showing real hospitality and Christian Charity to our Islamic sisters and brothers.   There was no animosity between the two individuals in the interview, just a warm acceptance of each other and an appreciation for each other.  That is so much about what the Gospel is about.  When we allow the fear that is in us about others different from ourselves to fall down and die, new and wonderful life in new and wonderful relationships will grow.

In the last few days, there has been a movement to encourage people of all faiths to consider requesting a free copy or buying a copy of the Quran to show support for our Islamic sisters and brothers.  It is not a bad idea.  Perhaps if we can all take time to learn more about the faith of the Muslims we can also help alleviate the dark myths that conservative Christians are spreading about them.  If you would like a free Quran feel free to go to the web page for Gain Peace.

The Church needs to continue to work towards the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning and queer communities, along with many other minorities.  The Church cannot be the symbol of unity between people, and show itself to be a model of generosity, hospitality and reconciliation if we do not learn to allow our prejudices to fall to the ground and die.  Sometimes we will be called to lay down our lives for the sake of others as Constance and her companions did.  Some of us will be called to lay down our lives and share our spaces with those that we are not quite comfortable with yet.  Since when is being a Christian totally synonymous with being comfortable?  When our fear and ignorance are replaced by knowledge, acceptance and hospitality as difficult as it can be, then true Charity grows and communities that were once separated from each other can find room to share with each other.

Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Proper 18, Book of Common Prayer, page 233).

We give you thanks and praise, O God of compassion, for the heroic witness of Constance and her companions, who, in a time of plague and pestilence, were steadfast in their care for the sick and dying, and loved not their own lives, even unto death: Inspire in us a like love and commitment to those in need, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for Constance and Her Companions, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 571).

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (Prayer for Mission, Book of Common Prayer, page 101).

Jonathan Myrick Daniels: A Seminarian and Martyr Who Took a Risk for God and Justice

Jonathan Myrick Daniels was born in Keene, New Hampshire, in 1939. He was shot and killed by an unemployed highway worker in Hayneville, Alabama, August 14, 1965.

From high school in Keene to graduate school at Harvard, Jonathan wrestled with the meaning of life and death and vocation.  Attracted to medicine, the ordained ministry, law and writing, he found himself close to a loss of faith when his search was resolved by a profound conversion on Easter Day 1962 at the Church of the Advent in Boston.  Jonathan entered the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  In March 1965, the televised appeal of Martin Luther King, Jr. to come to Selma to secure for all citizens the right to vote drew Jonathan to a time and place where the nation's racism and the Episcopal Church's share in that inheritance were exposed.

He returned to seminary and asked leave to work in Selma where he would be sponsored by the Episcopal Society for Cultural and Racial Unity.  Conviction of his calling was deepened at Evening Prayer during the singing of the Magnificat: "He hath put down the mighty from their seat and hat exalted the humble and meek.  He hath filled the hungry with good things.' I knew that I must go to Selma. The Virgin's song was to grow more and more dear to me in the weeks ahead."

Jailed on August 14 for joining a picket line, Jonathan and his companions were unexpectedly released.  Aware that they were in danger, four of them walked to a small store.  A sixteen-year-old Ruby Sales reached the top step of the entrance, a man with a gun appeared, cursing her.  Jonathan pulled her to one side to shield her from the unexpected threats.  As a result, he was killed by a blast from the 12-gauge gun.

The letters and papers Jonathan left bear eloquent witness to the profound faith Selma had upon him.  He writes, "The doctrine of the creeds, the enacted faith of the sacraments, were the essential preconditions of the experience itself.  The faith with which I went to Selma has not changed: it has grown...I began to know in my bones and sinews that I had been truly baptized into the Lord's death and resurrection...with them, the black men and white men, with all life, in him whose Name is above all the names that the races and nations shout...We are indelibly and unspeakably one."  (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, Page 526).

How very interesting that we commemorate Jonathan Myrick Daniels who sites the Magnificat when two days from now, we will celebrate Saint Mary the Virgin.  As I read about this incredible individual, the narrative of his achievements, his conversion, his faith, his interest in civil rights and social activism I was moved by the information that was available. 

The verses from the Magnificat that touched the heart of Jonathan M. Daniels in the New Revised Standard Version read: "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with all good things, and sent the rich away empty."  (Luke 1: 52, 53).  The narrative of the life and work of Jonathan M. Daniels, the work of civil rights on behalf of people of different races, cultures, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities/expressions, challenges, genders etc, is a work that for many who are powerful because of privilege are brought down and those who are not privileged are lifted up.  Those who are hungry for a sense of equality are filled up, while those who were rich with opportunities at the expense of those who were not so fortunate leave feeling empty.   Here in lies the paradox of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and yet it is also at the heart of who Jesus is, and the work of Christians through out the ages.

The message that comes from the Gospel lifts up those who are laid low due to sickness, death, poverty, discrimination and separation from the Church, a sense of community and a society where the wealthy gain at the expense of those who are not.  Where wealth is understood as having property, power, prestige and money, the Gospel challenges us to find our true wealth in a sense of who we are, who we love, whether or not we love at all, and finding true freedom not in monetary things, but in those things that even after death do not die.  Faith for example is something that as we invest time in prayer, the reading of Scripture and the Book of Common Prayer or other spiritual resources, becomes more precious than any gold watch or i pod.  Hope as we ask God to help us get through this difficult economy where corporate corruption and greed have been working hard to take more and more away from people, to keep them going above and beyond what can fill most football stadiums.  When we ask God to give us hope that in the end God is really all we need and will ultimately supply what we truly need, that hope will not disappoint us, because hope in God never dies.  And then there is love.  Love as in God's unconditional and all inclusive love.  God's love is not bound by any race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, lack of wealth, challenge, ability to speak and write in English or any other language or employment status.  God's love is given to us, just by the reality that God has created us in the image and likeness of the Holy Trinity.  God loves us in that great community of love called the Holy Trinity.  It is a love that even our sins do not change.  The fact that we are sinners makes God love us all the more.  God sent Jesus Christ, God's Son to take on to God's Self the sins of the world through the Christ's death and resurrection.    God gave us the Holy Spirit who "guides us into all truth."  (See John 16: 12-13).

These and many other aspects of who we are, are often those things that the world around us ignores or really hates with all fury.  We are regarded as the poor of the world because we reject prejudice and violent oppression of different groups of people.  This was one of the reasons that Jonathan M. Daniels was martyred, and it is one of the reasons why the Episcopal Church and the ELCA face so much rejection from other more conservative Christian churches.  Jesus Christ himself was rejected and ultimately crucified to take on our sins, yes, but also because he loved the unlovable of society and the church of his time.  The lowly were raised up, and the mighty were brought down.

Over the past two weeks since Judge Walker announced that Prop. 8 in California is "unconstitutional" suddenly we have seen LGBT people who were kept low because they were not able to be married, are being raised up.  While those who oppose the legalization of same-sex marriages are brought low and that is why they are so angry and are insisting on revenge.  When the mighty are brought down and the lowly raised up, the mghty that have been brought down have to take it out on those who have recently been raised up.   The Christian Right cannot stand to loose.  They honestly believe that it is in the Name of Jesus Christ and for his sake that they must win.  Because they refuse to see homosexuality as something that is good and holy when shared between people in loving, committed relationships, they must resort to religious, spiritual and political violence to bring LGBT people and marriage equality down.  Progressive Christians and others who stand on the side of marriage equality must continue to have those conversations with people about how marriage equality is a wonderful and good thing.  The voices of people like Bishop Gene Robinson, Fr. Gray Temple, Rev. Susan Russell, Rev. David Norgard and so many more are so very important.  Just as important are the stories and lives of those of us who are LGBTQ so that people will continue to learn and know the truth about being LGBTQ and we can change the fear, prejudice and cruelty into tranquility, acceptance and peaceful relationships.

Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 14, Book of Common Prayer, Page 232).

O God of justice and compassion, you put down the proud and mighty from their place, and lift up the poor and the afflicted: we give you thanks for your faithful witness Jonathan Myrick Daniels, who, in the midst of injustice and violence, risked and gave his life for another; and we pray that we, following his example, may make no peace with oppression; through Jesus Christ the just one, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, Page 527).    

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, 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).