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Reflection for the 1st Sunday in Lent 2022

Made whole.

He will not break off a bent reed, nor put out a flickering lamp. He will persist until he causes justice to triumph.

Jesus came to fulfill what Isaiah had written about centuries before. Isaiah writes about a ‘bruised reed’ and a ‘smoldering wick.’ Both analogies speak to something at the point of death, at the point of losing everything. 

We previously discussed the fact that the word bruise in Hebrew really meant a very severe injury, injury to the point of death. So too the smoldering wick. We see the light as dying, going out and away into nothingness.

As we journey through this Lenten season we will focus on aspects of our brokenness and what is smoldering within us. We will see how Jesus has taken brokenness and the smoldering away, how He has healed and re-ignited us, such that we may bear great witness; so that we fulfill His purpose every day; that we have life eternal.

It is sort of odd, the tenses of the words used here. We speak of Jesus having already healed us, having already re-ignited us. Yet, we often see ourselves as still bruised reeds and smoldering wicks. Perhaps we do not feel complete healing within ourselves nor the fire, the passion we should have for the gospel life?

It is not uncommon to feel this way. Still, we should set those thoughts aside because we already possess the healing, the re-igniting we desire. We have been mightily changed by Jesus.

As a special blessing we have the example of Kassidy Colleen before us today. Today Kassidy enters the Holy Church through the waters of regeneration. She becomes a full-fledged member of the Kingdom of God which Jesus established.

Regeneration means as it sounds, to be re-made, re-born, made whole, perfected. No matter how many years ago we were baptized, we remain in our regenerated state.

You see, Jesus did not come to leave things as they were, to just hope for some change in the world. As He faced off against Satan in the desert, He drew a clear distinction between what life in the Kingdom is and what life outside is. In the Kingdom the reborn, those with healed bruises and re-ignited flames, place their reliance on God alone. The world’s allurements are nothing to us. We have something so much better, something Kassidy owns today — life in the Kingdom.

We, healed of our bruises and re-ignited to passionately partake in God’s work, see the blessing of this day, a reminder of our own baptism, and this Lenten season. Here is our chance to realize our state as truly healed and re-ignited, to return our understanding to what it means to have been regenerated — made new, whole, and on fire for the gospel, and do each day all that this status entails.

Christian Witness, Homilies, ,

Reflection for the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord 2022

Called to Live Anew

After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying

Anew — it is a word we will focus on for years to come. We together have spent the last decade in a lot of hard work building up this parish, strengthening it, readying it. Now is the time for the next great step, to call people anew to knowing, loving, and serving the Lord and His Holy Church.

Today we are called to situational awareness and the actions we must take.

The gospel passage from St. Luke paints a picture of what occurred on the day of Jesus’ baptism. However, in this account, the discussion between Jesus and John is missing. Also, the actual moment of baptism is missing. We must infer what happened by starting at the after-the-baptism moment.

What we can take from this account is the fact that John baptized a lot of people that day. Jesus, like the rest, stood in line and entered the Jordan to be baptized. Afterward, He, like the rest, filed out of the river and went to the riverbank to pray.

The rest of the gospel focuses on the revelation of Jesus as the Son of God and the revelation of the God as Holy Trinity — Father, Son, and Spirit.

This short gospel snippet, about three-quarters of a single sentence, and awareness of our situations, is a call to action for us.

Now imagine that line at the Jordan. Can you picture yourself standing there in line with Jesus? It would be so cool, so excellent to be there with Him. Many were, perhaps not realizing Who stood in line with them.

We are called to be situationally aware, alert wherever we venture. The bank, shows, movies, the supermarket, work, social events, and even theme parks. In many of those places we face the prospect of standing in line. As such, we who are baptized are called to be Jesus in that line. We represent Him and that carries a responsibility to help the people around us find life anew in Jesus.

You know how it is. In line everyone has eyes cast down, perhaps hoping no one will notice them. Let’s just get the task done and get out. We have the power to turn feelings of apartness and separateness into moments with Jesus. Simply, say hello, how are you. Pass a smile and offer a simple blessing — ‘May God bless you today.’ Then let Jesus take over. Try it!

What happens as we stand in line bearing the image of Jesus, or in whatever situation we find ourselves, is the offering of our time to God in accord with our after-the-baptism call. Let us be situationally aware, not in fear and apprehensiveness, not in trepidation, but in the hopefulness and joy of being born anew as we call others to the same newness of life in Jesus.

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Reflection for the Solemnity of the Baptism of our Lord 2021

True freedom.

The sea beheld and fled; the Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs of the flock. 

This scripture, taken from today’s Alleluia verse, comes from Psalm 114. It speaks of God’s awesome power in leading the people of Israel out of Egypt to freedom. He freed His people from the bondage of slavery, and from being trapped back into it, through the parted waters of the sea.

Thus today, Jesus comes from Nazareth in Galilee with this purpose in mind. He steps into and parts the water, for a baptism He didn’t need, to save people who didn’t deserve it, so we could be truly free. 

Jesus was implementing His Father’s plan to save and free us, for each and every one of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Having no ability to save or free ourselves, Jesus steps into the waters to tie Himself, the sinless one, to the suffering state of humanity and to identify Himself with sinful mankind, “Because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors.”

The scene was dramatic. Large crowds. John preaching. People confessing their sins and being baptized. Then Jesus steps into the water. He rises up, with water dripping from His body, the Spirit descends in the form of a dove and the Father’s voice is heard: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

Today is the next step in the love story that ends our bondage to sin, frees us from ever having to go back, destroys the fear of death, and offers hope for all who chose friendship with God.

This event which we celebrate today publicly proclaims to the world that the Son of God entered the battle to save us from sin and to truly free us. We are freed from eternal death and the power of the worldly who serve the evil one.

The Bible is clear, people break God’s commandments, they serve the world, but have the option to restore their lost and broken intimacy and peace with God. We all have the chance to be free.

True freedom takes true faith. It takes a faith that says no to the world, no to those that would exploit us for their own gain, and no to those who would use the Holy Name of Jesus to further their selfish ends. The world, governments, politicians, and systems cannot give freedom. Rather, freedom comes from an act of faith, our kneeling and saying, Lord, I place my life in Your hands. I repent and desire only to return to You and Your true freedom.

The good news of the gospel is that true freedom is ours for the asking. Once we have asked, we are invited onto the gospel road where we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, proclaim His message, invite those who do not know Him, and celebrate the true freedom that has removed from us any sense of unworthiness, guilt, shame, or condemnation. True freedom!

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Reflection for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2018

Condemned or
free?

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.

Today we witness the baptism of Finley Edward. It is the first step of the sacrament of Baptism-Confirmation by which we enter and grow in the regenerated life. While the two parts of this sacrament, both baptism and confirmation, seem like bookends, they are not. Rather they are steps in a journey, a journey from condemnation to freedom.

What is best and most amazing in the process of Baptism-Confirmation is that by our actions of faith, our proclamation of belief in Jesus and trust in His salvation, and rejection of all sin we are saved and are completely freed. We are changed in the most essential of ways. Theologians call it an ontological change. Really old folks like me were taught that our soul receives an indelible mark – something that can never be undone. This is why we call it what Jesus called it in speaking with Nicodemus – regeneration or rebirth: Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again… Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

Today, St. John reminds us of what we received. We have new hearts and sprits that will not condemn us. They have been freed and that should give us great confidence. At the same time, St. John knew that we know somewhat differently.

While we are able to have confidence, while we have been essentially changed and regenerated, we fall. We fail to keep the commandments of God – the two key ones – to love God enabled by our belief in Jesus because in Jesus we know God, and to love each other. When we fall short in those regards we loose confidence.

When we forget the commandments, are away from the vine, apart from the love of Jesus’ community, we lose confidence. That’s when our hearts condemn us. Yet if we remain on the path of transformation we are freed, and in freedom bear much good fruit.

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Reflection for the Solemnity of the Baptism of Our Lord 2016

Baptism

Help the me in me
to decrease.

John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

In the some Churches the celebration of the Lord’s Epiphany celebrates Jesus’ threefold revelation.

Jesus is revealed to the nations in the visit of the Magi. Jesus and the Holy Trinity is revealed at Jesus’ Baptism: heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” Jesus is revealed to His disciples at Cana in Galilee when He changes water to wine. You have got to love the Church’s celebration especially when you get a three-for-one deal.

In the west we spread the celebration of these events over several weeks. What remains most important is that we maintain focus on the magnificence of God’s coming. Whether commemorated in one day or over several weeks, the importance Jesus’ coming should always be before our eyes. Why so?

We could say that God’s coming to earth is important and magnificent in and of itself. That’s the wow factor – Wow, God is here, walking with us. We could focus on the wonderful teaching and way of life Jesus proclaimed. A lot of people do that even if they don’t believe that Jesus is God. Jesus’ coming and revelation touches each person in a particular way. That’s God’s grace at work in us – drawing us closer each day, entering relationship with us.

Today, two young people will be baptized. They will come forward and will agree to start the journey into relationship with God. They will acknowledge their search for and commitment to God’s revelation in their lives. They will say that they want the world to meet Jesus through them, their words, actions, and way of life.

What we sometimes miss in Jesus’ revelation is the very thing John said: He is mightier, I am not worthy… The Gospel according to St. John is even more explicit in this regard. John the Baptist says: He must increase in importance, while I must decrease…

At its essence, that is what baptism is all about. It is about revealing God as more important than all of my wants and desires. I want God more than anything else. He is all in my life. Fill in the blank: God is more important than my ________. When we do that, we place God at the center of our lives, we become victorious. When we put Jesus front and center and throughout our lives we let Him be powerful and revealed in our lives. It is no longer just me, but Him in me. Then we achieve true joy and glory.

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Reflection for Low Sunday 2015

SnapshotImage

We have true
victory in Jesus.

For the love of God is this, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whoever is begotten by God conquers the world. And the victory that conquers the world is our faith. Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Who is the winner? That is a frequent question in our world. It is also a great worry. We see greater and greater disparity between the rich and the poor. We see working people’s wages remaining the same year-after-year while the very few get more and more. Many may feel like David did at his darkest hour. He recounts in Psalm 13:

How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? 
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

Jesus knew His followers might feel the world winning, evil overcoming good, especially at His trial and crucifixion. That is why in the hours before His arrest He reclined with them at table and taught them. He said: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” He wanted us to share the peace His victory would win.

John echoes the words he heard Jesus speak at the Last Supper telling us that we are now God’s children, begotten and adopted in the blood of Jesus and fellow conquerors by our faith in Him. We have the strongest of affirmations, that no other person is the conqueror of the world but Jesus. We fully share in that victory by faith. No sports star relying solely on his or her physical abilities is a true conqueror; no rich man or woman relying on their skills and abilities in worldly things alone is a true winner. Wealth, wins, being in the 1% is not mark of real victory, only belief that Jesus is the Son of God and trusting in Him as the only source of life, righteousness, and salvation. The world with its allures and false promises for victory has been overcome.

Today, Heather and Alyson make a decision to believe in and trust in Jesus, to be on the winning team, to be victors in Jesus Christ. Because of this decision they will be regenerated, will be born again and made new in the image of Jesus. They will share in His life and by living in a constancy of faith they will overcome death and conquer the world. They, like Thomas, will say before the world that Jesus is their Lord and God and in reply will hear the words Jesus spoke in today’s gospel being applied to them as it is to us: “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Blessed and victorious!

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Reflection for the Solemnity of the Baptism of our Lord

Baptism-of-Christ

Reveal what
has been revealed to you

After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

We know that John preached a baptism of repentance. He was calling all of Israel to repent, starting with washing in the waters of the Jordan in preparation for the coming of the Messiah who was “at hand.”

Jesus obviously had no need for a baptism of repentance. He is God and is without any sin or error. John immediately recognized this as Jesus approached him: John tried to prevent him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?”

Yet Jesus came and insisted.

Jesus was baptized because He wished to cleanse the waters. We are baptized in the waters He cleansed, waters imbued with His grace of regeneration. In being baptized Jesus set an example for everyone who would follow him. After all, if the sinless Son of God would willingly enter the waters of baptism, how much more urgent is it that we be washed in the waters of regeneration.

While these reasons are of great importance to us, and are essential to our salvation, the key reason for Jesus’ baptism is that it was His anointing as King, High Priest, Prophet, and Messiah before all of Israel. In Acts we hear Peter telling Cornelius and his household that at the baptism of Jesus: God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.

Jesus, sent by the Father to inaugurate the Kingdom definitively was anointed by the Holy Spirit and presented before all as fulfilling His office.

The beauty of our Epiphany-tide is that in it we celebrate the moments of Jesus’ revelation. He became known to the poor and lowly through the humble shepherds. The gentiles and the wider world knew Him through the Magi. He became known to all of Israel and took His rightful place through the fullness of revelation at His baptism where the Father called Him “my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” and where all heard it and saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Him in the form of a dove.

In the waters of regeneration we became one with Jesus. He is revealed to us in His word. Through the Church and our family we learn all about Him. We must bring the Epiphany to others; making them aware of what has been revealed to us. Invite and welcome them to the waters of regeneration, to oneness with Jesus, and to a share in His kingdom with us.

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Reflection for the Second Sunday In Ordinary Time

Shirt Wording Cutout

Are we going over?
Yes, yes we are.

Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

Anne Rice, writing about the life of Jesus, describes Cana as follows: “It’s a winter of no rain, endless dust, and talk of trouble in Judea. All who know and love Jesus find themselves waiting for some sign of the path he will eventually take. After his baptism, he is at last ready to confront his destiny. At the wedding at Cana, he takes water and transforms it into wine. Thus, he’s recognized as the anointed one and called by God the Father to begin a ministry that will transform an unsuspecting world.”

We have been following Jesus’ path from His birth, the visit of the shepherds, His circumcision, the visit of the Magi, and His baptism. After His baptism, John pointed out that Jesus was the One everyone expected, the Messiah. He told his followers to follow Jesus. Disciples began to flock to Jesus because some had heard the Father’s voice from heaven and had seen the Spirit descend on Him. Others followed based on John’s word. What a great build-up.

We are at Cana today. We know something amazing is going to happen. This period of build-up has to be fulfilled. We can sense it. It is like being at the top of a rollercoaster, knowing what’s coming next. Yet we are fearful. We might even wonder if we will be stuck without ever going over. Suddenly, we are rushing headlong filled with the thrill of the moment, feeling exhilarated. No fear, only joy.

The disciples were now rushing headlong. They experienced the power of God at work in Jesus. God was among them, what an amazing rush.

Church and the life of faith is more than pretending we were there or sitting on the edge. Each week we live with Jesus by our presence in the community of faith, entered by baptism.

Just as Jesus intervened to help the newly married couple He continues to intervene in our lives. In our weekly worship and Holy Communion we don’t just remember His great deeds, we don’t just retell an interesting story, we become a real and living part of that story. We are there with Him in the very same way His disciples were. We have the same pledge.

We could sit at the top of the rollercoaster with anticipation or fear. Like Ryder, who joins with us in taking that plunge off the edge into the life of faith today, we live a powerful and exhilarating life by going over. Fear is destroyed by joy. Adventure is here. We are transformed and we transform others. We are in the present with Jesus, over the edge, alive.

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Reflection for the Solemnity of the Baptism of our Lord

Baptism

Why should I join?
What does it mean?

“He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

It wouldn’t be unusual to wonder about baptism, what it means. We might also wonder why Jesus was baptized.

For us, baptism is membership in the body of Jesus, the Church – we are made part of Jesus by descending into the water, as He descended into death. With this membership we are promised that we, like Jesus, will rise again.

For us, baptism is washing. We are washed of sin. In baptism we recognize that we fall short of the glory of God. As St. Paul wrote to the Romans “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” We know that we are sinful, no one is perfect and without failings. In baptism we acknowledge our sinfulness and our reliance on God, who through Jesus’ sacrifice washes us of our sinfulness, brings us forgiveness, and welcomes us back – always, no matter what.

For us, baptism is proclamation that Jesus is the Son of God, true God and true man. We proclaim the triune nature of God, Jesus’ sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension. In baptism we proclaim the Creed – stating definitively what we believe by faith. At Jesus’ baptism the heavens were opened. The Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove. The Father’s voice is heard: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” This is God revealed, as He is, plain and simple, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Jesus’ baptism pointed to all these things. At Jesus’ baptism John publicly recognized and declared that Jesus was the One who was awaited, the Messiah, the One who would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire.”

Jesus’ baptism also showed that He identified with sinners. His baptism symbolized sinners’ baptism into His righteousness. In addition, Jesus baptism showed His approval of John’s baptism, bearing witness to it, that it was from heaven and approved by God. Later, after His resurrection, He would tell His followers that by baptizing the many they would be made His disciples. In Jesus’ baptism the reality of God was revealed in testimony direct from heaven.

All the glorious truth of the mercy of God found in Jesus Christ is on display at His baptism. We join ourselves to that glory and truth in our baptism.

In the dynamics of baptism we join ourselves to all the truth of Jesus. We proclaim that God has freed us by His grace and our acceptance of that grace. We declare with all the faith that we have – we are members of His body, and that He is our Lord and God. We are His members – and it means this: That we receive His mercy and glory.

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Reflection for the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Is any kind of drowning good?
Only one, drowning in God.

“one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Today we once again get to experience the most remarkable and beautiful of events, a baby enters into the life of faith, is reborn, regenerated into the life of Christ, an abundant life.

In this most sacred of moments, Julia will be drowned in the waters of baptism, her old mortal self buried, and she will arise from the waters anew as a new person, a person of faith and dedication – a person who now enjoys the promise of eternal life. Julia becomes a member of the Holy Church, the community of faith. She becomes a warrior for Christ.

She will know, though the dedication and work of her parents and godparents, her grandparents, the words St. Paul wrote to the Ephesians – there is one faith, one baptism, one God and Father – who is now hers.

All this requires faithfulness. We certainly gain through the grace of baptism, but it is not enough. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. We need to dedicate ourselves to learning His gospel message; we need to practice His way of life. This cannot happen at home alone, and cannot be carried out on a part time basis.

Everyone who has been baptized is required to commit to the school of faith – the Church. To learn the Word, to put into practice, not just what everyone thinks is a good life, but the true way that brings eternal life; Jesus’ way.

We have chosen – and we all have to choose – to take Jesus’ way of life seriously. Where is He in our life – God, the one Lord over and through all, in all – or just a nice philosopher who is dead?

Our drowning in Christ is serious stuff. If we live out our baptismal commitment, acknowledge our regeneration, we become truly new people, participants and heirs to a life that is eternal, committed members of the body of Christ.

Jesus fed thousands. They wanted to proclaim Him king – but not of their hearts, only of their stomachs. They were not willing to fix their eyes on Him in faith, to take up the commitment to drown in Him so that they would rise to a new life.

Julia enters into new life today through water. For her, for all of us who have committed, we know we have new life; we have Jesus’ promise to back it up. None of the false drowning’s will do the same – none can fulfill their alleged promises. The Lord will give Julia, and all of us, the promised reward for drowning in Him.

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