Yesterday |
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12:42am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Daily Digest for 2008-11-07 http://tinyurl.com/5m945m |
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12:57am |
Shared 4 links on Google Reader. (Show Details)
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2:07am |
Posted 2 photos on Flickr. (Show Details)
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4:40am | Word, Eucharist, Service, Resurrection |
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4:40am |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: Word, Eucharist, Service, Resurrection http://tinyurl.com/6olmqw |
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5:56am |
Scrobbled 25 songs on Last.fm. (Show Details)
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12:37pm | Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time |
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2:01pm | November 9 – St. John Chrysostom from Homilies on Matthew |
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2:01pm |
Posted a tweet on Twitter.
New blog post: November 9 – St. John Chrysostom from Homilies on Matthew http://tinyurl.com/6br4a9 |
First reading: Wisdom 6:12-16
Psalm: Ps 63:2-8
Epistle: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Gospel: Matthew 25:1-13
Wisdom is radiant and unfading,
and she is easily discerned by those who love her,
and is found by those who seek her.
She hastens to make herself known to those who desire her.
He who rises early to seek her will have no difficulty,
for he will find her sitting at his gates.
We are people who seek. Like explorers of old in search of land and routes beyond the horizon we set out in search of life that is beyond the things we see. And here is the glory and love of our God – He stands before us, in plain sight, not out of reach or cold like stone, but in reach of all who seek. Our God is not a mysterious distant deity beyond the horizon. Our God lives with us.
Solomon wrote what he experienced. Remember that after David’s death Solomon was left among many heirs in competition for the throne. He was young, inexperienced, fearful. God came to him and asked Solomon to declare his desire. Solomon asked for wisdom. Wisdom to rule, to make proper judgments, to be a good king for Israel.
Solomon experienced God as the source and summit of wisdom. He also knew that the source of wisdom was not far away and uncaring, but was God who came to him when he sought. God made Himself apparent – clear to Solomon who sought after God’s help.
Brothers and sisters,
What is wisdom? For us wisdom is this: finding God present among us, and having the faith to build a relationship with Him. Like Solomon we find God apparent and clear because we seek after Him. In our seeking we connect with God in very real ways, ways that touch every aspect of our lives. In recognizing God we prepare an oil stock that will keep our lamps lit forever.
That oil stock is the supply of grace that we carry with us. It is the energy that supplies the light that is in us. That light is our Christian faith. That light is the way we live in testimony to Christ, to His Gospel, and to a relationship that lasts through eternity.
Jesus knew that His love, His presence, His sacrifice, and all His teachings were out of reach for those who refused to listen to Him, to those who failed to seek the wisdom that was right in front of them. Jesus was present to them in the here and now and they missed it. Like the five foolish maidens they met Him unprepared. Their supply of oil — of grace — was empty because they treated people like subjects of the law rather than as God’s people. They hardened their hearts and cast burdens on men’s shoulders, with God as an excuse. They had the law, but came to Christ empty because they only knew the words and the excuses. Knowing the words, they failed to recognize the meaning and power of those words — the Christ that stood in their midst.
Like the five wide maidens we prepare ourselves, not just for the someday, for the end of time, but for the bridegroom who is already here with us. He has asked us to bring our supply of grace and turn it into lives lived in witness to His reality and presence.
With our light before us we are to live lives of faith, lives touched by God, and endowed with a wisdom that surpasses human wisdom. We have cause to be thankful because we have the wisdom to recognize God and to meet Him as a people willing to be energized and on fire with His love, a people working to share His light with those who do not have it.
We know that God comes to us, not because our words and gestures are perfect, but because those words and gestures are an expression of hearts on fire with His grace, hearts set on serving Him in accord with His Gospel.
My friends,
Our hearts yearn for Jesus. We want Him to come to us. We want Him to fill our oil stocks with an everlasting supply of grace. God answers that desire. He is here, ready, apparent, in plain view. God is not far off and He is ready to fill us with His grace. With that grace we take up our lamps, the light of Christ in us, and teach others about Him. We represent Him in all we do, from the way we pray, to the way we live each day. We value His Gospel and we share it, unashamed in bowing our heads, setting our shoulders, and working consistently in hope of life everlasting.
Our work and worship recognize Jesus’ presence. He is here, today. From the doors of this parish we carry the light, energized by grace, into our homes, to the people we meet at work, in our clubs, and in our families. We lives lives built on prayer, scripture, the Holy Sacraments, all of which re-energizing and re-connect us to God. In turn He recognizes our faith and our work, granting us the wisdom and grace necessary to carry the message of His Christ to the whole world.
Let us give testimony to the relationship that lasts through eternity. Let us hold forth our lamps which are at the ready. Let us go forth in joy, with our oil stocks filled, sharing our light. Tell the world: the bridegroom is here, among us — He is the love of God that has forged the new and eternal Jerusalem where we will live in joy and peace in the presence of the Eternal Wisdom. That is His promise to us and His promise is real. Amen.
The symbols of All Souls Day from my home parish, Holy Name of Jesus, Schenectady, NY. These pictures were taken prior to Vespers and the reading of the Rote of the Dearly Departed.
November 8 – St. Dionysius the Areopagite from the Liturgy of St. Dionysius, Bishop of the Athenians
Priest: “Peace,”
People: “And with thy spirit.”
Deacon: “Before” (Ante).
People: “Before Thee, O Lord.” (Coram.)
Priest: “Look, O Lord, upon Thy faithful people, who bend before Thee, and await Thy gift, and contemplate the deposit of the Sacraments of Thy Only-begotten, O God the Father. Take not away Thy grace from us, and cast us not away from Thy ministry, and from participation in Thy sacraments, but prepare us, that we may be pure and without flaw, and worthy of this feast; and that, with a conscience unblamable, we may ever enjoy His precious body and blood; and in a life, glorious and endless, may recline in a spiritual habitation, and may feast at the table of Thy kingdom, and may render to Thee glory and praise.”
People: “Amen.”
Priest: “Peace.”
People: “And with thy spirit.”
Deacon: “With fear.”
Priest: “Holy things to holy persons.”
People: “One holy Father.”
Deacon: “Let us stand becomingly.”
People: “Before Thee.”
Priest: “We give thanks to Thee, O Lord, and with grateful mind we acknowledge Thy loving-kindness; because, from nothing, Thou hast led us forth to that which we are, and hast made us members of Thy household, and sons of Thy sacraments; and hast entrusted this religious ministry to us, and hast made us worthy of this spiritual table. Preserve in us, O Lord, the deposit of Thy Divine Mysteries, that we may frame and complete our life in Thy sight, after the fashion of the angels; that we may be secured and inseparable through the reception of Thy holy (mysteries); performing Thy great and perfect will, and may be found ready for that last consummation, and to stand before Thy Majesty, and may be made worthy of the pleasure of Thy kingdom, through the grace, mercy and love towards man, of Thy Only-begotten Son, through Whom, and with Whom, is due to Thee, glory, honor, &c.”
People: “Amen.”
Priest: “Peace.”
People: “And with thy spirit.”
Deacon: “After” (Post),
People: “Before Thee, O Lord.”
Priest: “O Christ, the King of Glory, and Father of the Age to come; Holy Sacrifice; heavenly Hierarch; Lamb of God, Who takest away the sin of the world, spare the sins of Thy people, and dismiss the foolishness of Thy flock. Preserve us, through, the communication of Thy Sacraments, from every sin, whether it be committed by word, or thought, or deed; and from whatever makes us far from the familiarity of Thy household, that our bodies may be guarded by Thy body, and our souls renewed through Thy sacraments. And may Thy benediction, O Lord, be in our whole man, within and without; and may Thou be glorified in us, and by us, and may Thy right hand rest upon us, and that of Thy blessed Father, and of Thy most holy Spirit.”
People: “Amen.”
Deacon: “Bless, O Lord.”