Saint Benedict: Celebrating My First as A Benedictine with You

Today's Scripture Readings

Proverbs 2:1-9 (NRSV)

My child, if you accept my words

and treasure up my commandments within you,

making your ear attentive to wisdom

and inclining your heart to understanding;

if you indeed cry out for insight,

and raise your voice for understanding;

if you seek it like silver,

and search for it as for hidden treasures--

then you will understand the fear of the LORD

and find the knowledge of God.

For the LORD gives wisdom;

from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

he is a shield to those who walk blamelessly,

guarding the paths of justice

and preserving the way of his faithful ones.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice

and equity, every good path;

Psalm 119: 129-136 (BCP. p.774)


Philippians 2: 12-16 (NRSV)

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Do all things without murmuring and arguing, so that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine like stars in the world. It is by your holding fast to the word of life that I can boast on the day of Christ that I did not run in vain or labour in vain.

Luke 14:27-33 (NRSV)

Jesus said to the crowd, "Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."

Blog Reflection

It is almost impossible for me to put into words what this day means for me.  Twenty years ago this upcoming Fall was the first time I visited Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham, Massachusetts.  Glastonbury is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery of the Swiss American Federation.   It was also the first time I ever read any part of The Rule of St. Benedict.  I remember reading what I read and thinking: "What a crazy guy he was!"  Yet, the Holy Spirit did something then. Since that day, no Saint in all of Christendom has drawn my attention or influenced my walk with God the way St. Benedict has.  Even as I have worked my way to becoming Episcopalian, and now a Novice with the Companions of St. Luke/Order of St. Benedict, my ability to put into words the change God has made in my life because of this Patriarch of Western Monasticism never seems adequate.

I do not consider myself to be a humble person.  Perhaps that is why Benedict's chapter 7 on humility in The Rule inspires me like it does. God knows that I need to be brought down quite a few notches to learn to be more hospitable, more accepting of others, and less possessive.  So, to help me out a bit, he inspired me with Benedict's Rule, to remind me that no matter how much progress I might think I have made, I am always starting at the beginning again and again.  That starting point is that God is God and I am not.   I have so far to go.  Benedict gives me great hope as I read from the Prologue: "What is not possible to us by nature, let us ask the Lord to supply with the help of His grace" (vs.41).

The Rule of Benedict is wisdom literature.  It is so appropriate then, that the Liturgy for St. Benedict's Commemoration begins with a reading from Proverbs. Wisdom literature.   The writer as well as Benedict understood that growing in the knowledge and love of God, begins with our willingness to listen attentively by "inclining the ear of the heart" (Prologue as written in Preferring Christ: A Devotional Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict, p.2).   To listen to God requires something of us.  It is having our whole selves open to receive what God may be saying to us, and receiving it with gratitude.  It is more than listening to a radio station to just pass the time.  It is a listening to God with the intention of receiving in faith the "admonition of your loving Father" and "faithfully fulfill" what is asked of us.   If it is our desire to live in reverence to God, then our desire must be nourished by love of God, neighbor and self.  We cannot accomplish such, without taking time to listen intentionally to God speaking to our hearts.

Jesus reminds us in the Gospel that following Him requires us to take into account the serious nature of our desire.  Discipleship is costly.  There is discernment involved.  Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB at last Winter's Trinity Wall Street Institute said: "Discernment is a dangerous openness to God."   It means that we accept what God wants for us as God's will, and we are prepared to let go of our own.   As long as we are attached to things that draw us away from God, it is very difficult to let go of anything so as to serve God faithfully and with a total openness to God's will.  This means we must be as open as possible to the evolutionary God.   The God that is not abstract, or motionless.  But, the God that is ever moving, growing and inviting us into God's work of redemption from one generation to another.

There remain many preachers and teachers of Bible and the Christian Faith that suggest that unless a questioning individual surrenders her/his sexual orientation that is not straight, and/or their gender identity and/or expression that is not cisgender, that one has not given oneself over to God.  LGBT people are continually told that they are dirty, unsaved, unwelcomed and in eternal danger unless they change who they are into who they are not.   This is not the kind of discernment that is part of God's saving grace for any person.  What is a part of the discernment for any person, regardless of who they are, love and the like, is how they are going to live who they are in a way that brings honor to God and respects the dignity of others.   As a gay man, who is partnered and a Benedictine Novice, I can chose to exercise the gifts God has given me, by knowing that I am first and foremost beloved by God.   Then, in that and with that, I can chose to give over my need to manipulate and use my partner, and/or anyone else I am in a platonic relationship with for my own personal pleasure.  Instead, I can see that to pick up my cross and follow Jesus, for me means that I do not engage in useless bar parties, sex parties and/or other avenues that seeks to use the gift I have of being gay to misuse others and disregard their dignity.   When I use the gift of God to love God, others and myself in a way that is nourishing, life-giving and creative of community and relationships, then I can truly say I am happily gay and there ain't no one taking it away.

Furthermore, one of the things I have learned over this past year during my times as a Postulant is that while I love the word "gay" and am happy that I have that gift, it is something that is a dear part of me, but it is not the label that defines me by God's standards.  It is a label created by those who use such a word to discriminate and lower people who are not of a heterosexual orientation into a second class of persons to dehumanize.  Before I am "gay," and in front of anything I might use that word to mean, I am an adopted son, beloved by God through Jesus Christ.   And so is every woman, man or child who is labeled by society and others as LGBT, or African American, Islam, Latino, Native American, etc.

I have been learning this, as St. Benedict addresses me (and possibly you) with the words:

Listen carefully, my son [or daughter], to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ears of your heart.  This is advice from a father [or mother] who loves you; welcome it, and faithfully put it into practice.  The labor of obedience will bring you back to him from whom you had drifted through the sloth of disobedience.  This message of mine is for you, then, if  you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord. (Prologue 1-3 RB 1980, p.15).


Amen.


Prayers

Almighty and everlasting God, your precepts are the wisdom of a loving Father: Give us grace, following the teaching and example of your servant Benedict, to walk with loving and willing hearts in the school of the Lord's service; let your ears be open to our prayers; and prosper with your blessing the work of our hands; 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, p.457).

God our Father,
you made St. Benedict an outstanding guide to
teach us how to live in your service.
Grant that by preferring your love to everything else,
we may walk in the way of your commandments.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O Lord my God,
Teach my heart this day where and how to see you,
where and how to find you.
You have made me and remade me,
and you have bestowed upon me
all the good things I possess,
and still I do not know you.
I have not yet done that for which I was made.
Teach me to seek you,
for I cannot seek you unless you teach me,
or find you unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in my desire,
let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving  you,
let me love you when I find you.  Amen.
(Prayer of St. Anselm, St. Benedict's Prayer Book for Beginners, p.118). 

Ascension Day: Celebration, Displacement and Hope

Today's Scripture Readings

Acts 1:1-11 (NRSV)

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Psalm 47 (BCP. p.650)


Ephesians 1:15-23 (NRSV)

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Luke 24:44-53 (NRSV)

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. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

Blog Reflection

The Ascension for me has always been one of bitter sweet.   The bitterness of Jesus leaving us forty days after His Resurrection.  Why couldn't you have stayed with us, Lord Jesus, as we prayed for you to stay?   The sweetness is found in the answer Jesus gave us in John 16: 7-13a.

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 

Jesus also goes to the right hand of God the Father, taking our wounded humanity in His crucifixion, perfected in His resurrected body, before the throne of God to intercede for us.  All of our brokenness is before God through the timeless intercession of Jesus Christ our only "mediator and advocate" (1 Timothy 2:5).

The Ascension is a day of celebration, displacement and hope.

We celebrate Christ taking up His throne in heaven. Jesus Christ has completed his mission in the work of salvation. Now He goes to God to send us the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  Jesus Christ reigns on high with Angels, Cherubim and Seraphim serving Him in worship and adoration in the Holy Trinity.

The disciples however, experienced a great displacement.  A displacement from having Jesus alive and with them.  A displacement that leaves them wondering what comes next. They have heard Jesus' words in John's Gospel, but as we have seen before, they are quick to hear, but slow to understand.  The sense of displacement leaves them confused, lonely and wondering what to do.  The angel in Acts is almost no help.  They stand there gazing in to heaven, because their best friend just left them for a better place.  They want the heavens to open up and Jesus returns right that moment. Who wouldn't want it that way?   However, it is in displacement, that God does God's best work in and through us. That is what is about to happen on Pentecost.  But, for the time being they have to settle for being displaced.

Displacement is a good place for Christians to be.  It is from a place of displacement that we as a Christian Community can learn trust in God, as well as be open to what God does next.

I have been thinking a lot about displacement since I read a terrific chapter on the subject in the book entitled Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life by Henri J.M. Nouwen, Donald P. McNeil and Douglas A. Morrison. 

Many Christians have the disillusion that Community is about a cozy, warm and non-confrontational existence.   No change is necessary.   As long as we have our favorite pew, sing our favorite hymns and we use the most modern forms of worship to make us comfortable, we are creating a Christian Community.   However, the Christian Community of the Church cannot exist in an atmosphere of static, stoic and being abstract.  It must become a living, breathing and ever changing entity.

As the Church continues to move towards equality, inclusion and acceptance of all people, the resistance we are experiencing is due to the displacement many are experiencing with the changes.   If we have been taught to take the Bible literally in terms of homosexuality, then the moves by church groups and States across the Country to legalize the freedom to marry for LGBT people is a major displacement.  It means becoming unsettled for them, and learning to adapt is no easy task.   We must remember our own displacement when we came out, and had to re-establish our own lives around a new understanding of ourselves.  We were displaced.  Just as those who embrace the anti side are experiencing displacement.  The displacement in and of itself is a wonderful thing.  However, moving Christians to acceptance of displacement and seeing it as an opportunity for growth, takes a great deal of doing.  The resistance to displacement is no reason to discontinue educating people about why ending heterosexism, racism, religious based discrimination, violence and oppression is so very important. 

In his Prayer to Christ, St. Anselm of Canterbury prayed: "Most merciful Lord, turn my lukewarmness into a fervent love for you...."  Displacement is one of the ways by which God answers that prayer.  By displacing us from ideas and beliefs we previously had, and allowing God to remake us into more mature followers of Christ.  When we think of ourselves as settled Christians, we become lukewarm by not allowing the Holy Spirit to move us towards conversion and renewal.   Displacement put into the hands of God in prayer, gives God that opportunity to transform displacement into a fervent love of Christ in all people.

In the Ascension we have hope on the other side of displacement.  In Christ is our hope that the Holy Spirit will come and lead us into all truth.  One of the dangers that Christians must avoid and end, is believing that we have God all figured out. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. The moment we become complacent in our spiritual and communal life, we are no longer a growing organism.  We become a withered and useless weed.  The Holy Spirit wants to continually refresh us with the living water that is Jesus Christ, to help us reach out to one another in charity and love. To see in each other the presence of Christ, so as to practice radical hospitality, to foster healing and reconciliation.   The hope we find in Jesus Christ, becomes the hope of all humankind as we become His living Body, the Church.

St. Teresa of Avila wrote in her famous prayer:
Christ has no body now, but yours.
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours.
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
with compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good.
Yours are the hands, with which He blesses all the world.
You are His Body.

May the Ascension bring us all celebration, while we embrace displacement and look to Christ as our hope.

Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Amen.


Prayers

Almighty God, whos blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ
ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things:
Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his
promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end
of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory
everlasting. Amen. (Collect for Ascension Day, Book of Common Prayer, p. 226).


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 thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen. (Prayer for the Unity of the Church, Book of Common Prayer, p. 818).

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Let us Love God in Whomever God is Found

Today's Scripture Readings

Isaiah 35: 4-7a (NRSV)

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

"Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.

He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you."

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water.

Psalm 146 (BCP., p. 803)


James 2:1-17  (NRSV)

My brothers and sisters, do you with your acts of favoritism really believe in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ? For if a person with gold rings and in fine clothes comes into your assembly, and if a poor person in dirty clothes also comes in, and if you take notice of the one wearing the fine clothes and say, "Have a seat here, please," while to the one who is poor you say, "Stand there," or, "Sit at my feet," have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?

You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.

Mark 7:24-37 (NRSV)

Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, "Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." But she answered him, "Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." Then he said to her, "For saying that, you may go-- the demon has left your daughter." So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened." And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, "He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

Blog Reflection

My very favorite Benedictine Prayer was written by St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109).

O Lord my God,
Teach my heart this day where and how to see you,
where and how to find you.
You have made me and remade me,
and you have bestowed upon me
all the good things I possess,
and I still do not know you.
I have not yet done that for which I was made
Teach me to seek you,
for I cannot seek you unless you teach me,
or find you unless you show yourself to me.
Let me seek you in my desire.
let me desire you in my seeking.
Let me find you by loving you,
let me love you when I find you. Amen
(Taken from Saint Benedict's Prayer Book for Beginners, Ampleforth Abbey Press, p. 118).

I really think words to that prayer is what our Scripture readings are about.   We have all been given so much that is good from God.  Yet, we have not even begun to do what it is that we are made to do.  We need God to teach us how to search for God.

"The person who prays for the presence of God is, ironically, already in the presence of God.  The person who seeks God has already found God to some extent.  "We are already counted as God's own," the Rule [of St. Benedict] reminds us.  Benedict knows this and clearly wants us to know it as well.  A dull, mundane life stays a dull, mundane life, no matter how intent we become on developing spiritually.  No amount of churchgoing will change that.  What attention to the spiritual life does change is our appreciation for the presence of God in our dull, mundane lives.  We come to realize that we did not find God; god finally got our attention.  The spiritual life is a grace with which we must cooperate, not a prize to be captured or a trophy to be won" (Sr. Joan Chittister, The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century, p.6,7).

The problem we face as human beings is that through our up bringing in some cases, our education and influences we make up for ourselves what God is like.  One of the most hideous mistakes of Western art that have depicted scenes of Jesus, the Holy Family, or any other Biblical figures, is that many of them have given us an image of them as European Caucasian people.  On may crucifixes, Jesus is this strong, well muscled, Caucasian man with long (sometimes dark blond) hair and a smooth haired beard and a moustache, with a piece of cloth around his waist.   When in fact, Jesus would have been a dark colored, middle eastern looking man, with rather wiry like hair, a course beard, still quite strong and of course, he was Jewish.  Because of our imagination of what Jesus must have looked like, and how Anglicized he has become, the idea of Jesus being a poor, middle eastern guy is not something many of us like to think about.

We are all asked today, to love God in whomever God is found.  Our readings are about seeing God in those who are very different than ourselves. The reading from James cautions us about violating the law of God by presuming that because someone is poor, smelly and exhibits behaviors that we might find repulsive, that we are think of and/or treat them less important than someone who is wealthy, clean and powerful.  When we fail to receive people who are different, or make decisions about where they should or should not be either in the Church or society, we are failing to live up to the meaning of "loving your neighbor as yourself."

In our Gospel today, we even see Jesus, confronted by the reality of his own humanity having to face within himself the attitudes of his own culture.  Yet, because of the incredible faith of the woman who continued to plead with him to help her daughter, Jesus reveals his relationship with God and does the right thing.  Later, he gives the man who cannot hear, the ability to hear and so reminds us all to allow God to unplug those ears of our hearts so that we may hear the words of God who loves us so deeply, help us to better know and love God in others and ourselves.

As we enter into these 57 days until the 2012 elections we will be bombarded with advertisements and emails about which candidates can best address the problems we have.  We will have many difficult messages to understand, as each party and person, very passionate about getting our vote tells us why she/he/they are the best to address many of our issues.  Many of us will also have ballot referendums to vote on that will affect people in our communities, or even our very selves and families.  What tends to happen in these electoral campaigns that is so disturbing, is the cash that will be spent on promoting a party or a candidate that is not spent on actually helping the poor, the lonely, the disenfranchised, the immigrant and so on.  The candidates themselves, as well as their campaigns make peoples basic human rights part their playing cards to help them appeal to the voters that they are trying to attract.  But, do they actually have what is in the best interest of upholding the dignity of every human person, as their actual aim?  Or, are they just trying to get a vote, and well, later on, it just was a campaign promise.  It really meant nothing more.

Meanwhile, other campaigns will be launching ads full of fear, with horrible things to say about particular parties, issues or candidates.  Such is the case with ballot referendums that will limit the freedom to marry to straight couples only.  They will suggest that same-sex couples want to get married so that we can molest children, redefine marriage relationships and change what is taught in our schools.  Sadly, many will take messages like this very seriously, and deny LGBT people the freedom of marriage equality.   Because they think of Jesus as a non-sexual, non-romantic kind of guy that just prayed and preached hell to liberals, LGBT people and women who have abortions.  Yet, it is very possible to see Jesus as the Erotic-Christ who touched humankind through the incarnation, healed the sick by lovingly laying his hands on them, washing the feet of his disciples, and allowing Thomas to touch the nail marks in his hands and the wounds in his side after the resurrection. 

If we as Christians and as people of good will are going to make our church and local communities a better place, we must be willing to allow ourselves to get beyond our ignorance and prejudice so that we may become a more welcoming and inclusive people.   To do this, we will need to ask for the grace of God, to help us to find God by loving God, and then love God when we find God in others.  At times it will mean putting the needs of others ahead of our own.  Even if it makes us just a bit uncomfortable.  This is not something we can just do.  We need the unmerited grace of God.  It is never too late, nor inappropriate to ask God for this grace.

Whom might God be calling us to love today?

How might God be moving us to love that other person(s)?

How are we doing things in such a way that distorts the message of God's inclusive love of all people?

What truths are we willing to speak, what actions are we ready to take with God's help to strive for peace and justice for all people, and uphold the dignity of every human being?

The answer is probably just a prayer away.

Amen.


Prayers

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, p. 223).


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, p. 815).