I've created a new CrossTalk blog. You can find it at http://trinitycathedralsacramento.wordpress.com/.
This is a WordPress blog which will give us more flexibility. One of the features is that posts are sorted by category (listed on the right) so you can go directly to a category of interest. This will be more helpful as we fill the blog out with more content.
Brian
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
on the eve of thanksgiving
Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
The people God led through the desert,
the people who in darkness were shown a great light,
the people whom the Lord redeemed and called forth from bondage,
not once but again and again:
we are those people.
The people who call others forth out of bondage,
out of darkness into light,
out of poverty into abundance,
out of grief into joy,
out of despair into hope,
out of death into life:
we are those people.
The people God showered with manna,
bread in the wilderness,
bread for the journey,
the people God gave an abundant land,
an abundant life,
and a spirit of thankfulness:
we are those people.
Fisher- men and women by the lakeshore,
gathering in and mending our nets;
Seated by the tax-tables;
Thirsting by a well;
Stumbling blindly along a road;
or carrying a cross:
we are those people too.
God’s abundance is not the surfeit of this world’s pleasures,
not the largest or loudest or tallest or richest,
but the wealthiest in other ways:
in the redeeming hand when all is lost,
the recovered sight when all is blind,
the touch of kindness when all is cold.
We are the people of
forgiveness,
acceptance,
love,
grace,
providence,
blessing.
We are the people who experience God as creator, savior, sustainer;
who experience God as JOY.
All this summer and into the fall we’ve heard the story of Moses,
from the bulrushes to a glance across the mountains,
a glimpse of the promised land.
And this unlikely child would lead them,
the people of God,
from bondage to freedom,
from sufferance of Pharaoh to open hand of God—
and he would teach them the ways of God,
as surely as he taught them the ways of the desert.
Seek God’s reign first— put things in their right order of priority—
and live in accordance with the covenant God has made with you.
Do not forget— we did not earn this blessing, this abundance—
he gave it to you, as a loving parent cares for her child.
Remember, and be glad, and thank God.
Throughout the stories of Jesus, he is leading the people on the way—
picking up like Joshua where Moses left off—
guiding the people to the land of promise.
Who better than the Child of Promise to do this for us?
Who better than God’s Son to lead us to his Father’s house?
Who better than God’s revelation to show the way to us?
Who better than the bringer of life, to be our fount of blessing?
Blessed one, bless us,
in the breaking of the Bread,
remind us who you are—
Bread of Life,
and remind us who we are—
those who do not live by manna alone,
not even in the wilderness of wandering souls,
but by the WORD that proceeds from God’s mouth.
He is the Way.
Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love Him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.
—W. H. Auden, From the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio, (October 1941-July 1942).
We are the people
who seek God the Father.
We are the people
who know God in Christ.
We are the people
who live in God the Spirit.
A Litany of Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to God for all the gifts so freely bestowed upon us.
For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea.
For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women,
revealing the image of Christ,
For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends,
For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
For the brave and courageous,
who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity,
For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
Above all, for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and
the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Drawn from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.
Thanksgiving Eve 2008
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and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)
The people God led through the desert,
the people who in darkness were shown a great light,
the people whom the Lord redeemed and called forth from bondage,
not once but again and again:
we are those people.
The people who call others forth out of bondage,
out of darkness into light,
out of poverty into abundance,
out of grief into joy,
out of despair into hope,
out of death into life:
we are those people.
The people God showered with manna,
bread in the wilderness,
bread for the journey,
the people God gave an abundant land,
an abundant life,
and a spirit of thankfulness:
we are those people.
Fisher- men and women by the lakeshore,
gathering in and mending our nets;
Seated by the tax-tables;
Thirsting by a well;
Stumbling blindly along a road;
or carrying a cross:
we are those people too.
God’s abundance is not the surfeit of this world’s pleasures,
not the largest or loudest or tallest or richest,
but the wealthiest in other ways:
in the redeeming hand when all is lost,
the recovered sight when all is blind,
the touch of kindness when all is cold.
We are the people of
forgiveness,
acceptance,
love,
grace,
providence,
blessing.
We are the people who experience God as creator, savior, sustainer;
who experience God as JOY.
All this summer and into the fall we’ve heard the story of Moses,
from the bulrushes to a glance across the mountains,
a glimpse of the promised land.
And this unlikely child would lead them,
the people of God,
from bondage to freedom,
from sufferance of Pharaoh to open hand of God—
and he would teach them the ways of God,
as surely as he taught them the ways of the desert.
Seek God’s reign first— put things in their right order of priority—
and live in accordance with the covenant God has made with you.
Do not forget— we did not earn this blessing, this abundance—
he gave it to you, as a loving parent cares for her child.
Remember, and be glad, and thank God.
Throughout the stories of Jesus, he is leading the people on the way—
picking up like Joshua where Moses left off—
guiding the people to the land of promise.
Who better than the Child of Promise to do this for us?
Who better than God’s Son to lead us to his Father’s house?
Who better than God’s revelation to show the way to us?
Who better than the bringer of life, to be our fount of blessing?
Blessed one, bless us,
in the breaking of the Bread,
remind us who you are—
Bread of Life,
and remind us who we are—
those who do not live by manna alone,
not even in the wilderness of wandering souls,
but by the WORD that proceeds from God’s mouth.
He is the Way.
Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.
He is the Truth.
Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
He is the Life.
Love Him in the World of the Flesh;
And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.
—W. H. Auden, From the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio, (October 1941-July 1942).
We are the people
who seek God the Father.
We are the people
who know God in Christ.
We are the people
who live in God the Spirit.
A Litany of Thanksgiving
Let us give thanks to God for all the gifts so freely bestowed upon us.
For the beauty and wonder of your creation, in earth and sky and sea.
For all that is gracious in the lives of men and women,
revealing the image of Christ,
For our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and our friends,
For minds to think, and hearts to love, and hands to serve,
For health and strength to work, and leisure to rest and play,
For the brave and courageous,
who are patient in suffering and faithful in adversity,
For all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice,
For the communion of saints, in all times and places,
Above all, for the great mercies and promises given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord;
To him be praise and glory, with you, O Father, and
the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Drawn from the Book of Common Prayer, 1979.
Thanksgiving Eve 2008
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After Christmas...
After Christmas…
After Christmas… we put the presents away, recycle the wrappings, and store the boxes in the attic or garage.
After Christmas… the child Jesus grows up.
After Christmas… we try to get our minds around the mystery. Who is this child?
After Christmas… we wonder what will change. What will we do differently? What will we see differently?
After Christmas…
Good King Wenceslas looked out,
On the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about,
Deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night,
Though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight,
Gath'ring winter fuel.
“Hither, page, and stand by me;
If thou know’st, telling—
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain,
Right against the forest fence,
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”
"Bring me flesh, and bring me wine!
Bring me pine logs hither!
Thou and I will see him dine,
When we bear him thither."
The saint in the carol sees a way to serve Christ through the poor – and acts on it. He and his page go out into the snow to invite the man to dine.
In “The Rebel Jesus” (The Bells of Dublin, with The Chieftains) Jackson Browne sings of the irony of warm feasting indoors while the poor starve in the cold:
…And once a year when Christmas comes,
We give to our relations,
And perhaps we give a little to the poor,
If the generosity should seize us,
But if any one of us should interfere,
In the business of why they are poor,
They get the same as the rebel Jesus.
After Christmas… will we see differently? Will we act differently? Will we walk out into the cold in the footsteps of Wenceslas to seek out the poor? Will we speak out on the causes of poverty? Will we be working to transform the world into the image of Christ’s kingdom – a kingdom of peace and not of poverty, of abundance and not of scarcity; a kingdom turned not inward in self-preservation but outward in charity?
Page and monarch forth they went,
Forth they went together,
Through the rude wind's wild lament,
And the bitter weather.
“Sire, the night is darker now,
And the wind blows stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
"Mark my footsteps, good my page,
Tread thou in them boldly;
Thou shalt find the winter's rage,
Freeze thy blood less coldly."
In his master’s steps he trod,
Where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod
Which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
--J. M. Neale (1818-1866), The New Oxford Book of Carols, Hugh Keyte & Andrew Parrott, eds., (Oxford, 1992) #97.
A Franciscan Benediction:
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of all people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain to joy.
May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world; so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.
***
The English word GOSPEL (Anglo-Saxon, godspell, ‘God-story’) is used to translate the Greek euangelion, ‘good tidings’. [Alan Richardson, A Theological Word Book of the Bible (Macmillan, 1950) 100]
As Christ’s hands and voice in the world we strive to proclaim the good tidings of Jesus in our words and embody his gospel in our deeds.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:18)
+
After Christmas… we put the presents away, recycle the wrappings, and store the boxes in the attic or garage.
After Christmas… the child Jesus grows up.
After Christmas… we try to get our minds around the mystery. Who is this child?
After Christmas… we wonder what will change. What will we do differently? What will we see differently?
After Christmas…
Good King Wenceslas looked out,
On the feast of Stephen,
When the snow lay round about,
Deep and crisp and even;
Brightly shone the moon that night,
Though the frost was cruel,
When a poor man came in sight,
Gath'ring winter fuel.
“Hither, page, and stand by me;
If thou know’st, telling—
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?”
“Sire, he lives a good league hence,
Underneath the mountain,
Right against the forest fence,
By Saint Agnes’ fountain.”
"Bring me flesh, and bring me wine!
Bring me pine logs hither!
Thou and I will see him dine,
When we bear him thither."
The saint in the carol sees a way to serve Christ through the poor – and acts on it. He and his page go out into the snow to invite the man to dine.
In “The Rebel Jesus” (The Bells of Dublin, with The Chieftains) Jackson Browne sings of the irony of warm feasting indoors while the poor starve in the cold:
…And once a year when Christmas comes,
We give to our relations,
And perhaps we give a little to the poor,
If the generosity should seize us,
But if any one of us should interfere,
In the business of why they are poor,
They get the same as the rebel Jesus.
After Christmas… will we see differently? Will we act differently? Will we walk out into the cold in the footsteps of Wenceslas to seek out the poor? Will we speak out on the causes of poverty? Will we be working to transform the world into the image of Christ’s kingdom – a kingdom of peace and not of poverty, of abundance and not of scarcity; a kingdom turned not inward in self-preservation but outward in charity?
Page and monarch forth they went,
Forth they went together,
Through the rude wind's wild lament,
And the bitter weather.
“Sire, the night is darker now,
And the wind blows stronger;
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer.”
"Mark my footsteps, good my page,
Tread thou in them boldly;
Thou shalt find the winter's rage,
Freeze thy blood less coldly."
In his master’s steps he trod,
Where the snow lay dinted;
Heat was in the very sod
Which the saint had printed.
Therefore, Christian men, be sure,
Wealth or rank possessing,
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
--J. M. Neale (1818-1866), The New Oxford Book of Carols, Hugh Keyte & Andrew Parrott, eds., (Oxford, 1992) #97.
A Franciscan Benediction:
May God bless us with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that we may live deep within our hearts.
May God bless us with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of all people, so that we may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless us with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that we may reach out our hands to comfort them and turn their pain to joy.
May God bless us with enough foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world; so that we can do what others claim cannot be done.
***
The English word GOSPEL (Anglo-Saxon, godspell, ‘God-story’) is used to translate the Greek euangelion, ‘good tidings’. [Alan Richardson, A Theological Word Book of the Bible (Macmillan, 1950) 100]
As Christ’s hands and voice in the world we strive to proclaim the good tidings of Jesus in our words and embody his gospel in our deeds.
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:18)
+
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Preaching ths Sunday: The Final Judgement
I am preaching this Sunday. The gospel reading (printed below) is Matthew 25:31-46. It is a great reading. In it, Jesus uses an image that was common in his day of final judgment. The picture of the king separating the sheep from the goats was not new or newsworthy. It was rather the criteria for judgment. Two things are noteworthy. First, it is not observance of the Torah or Temple worship, or even membership in a chosen group that is the criteria for judgment. Rather, have you fed the hungry, clothed the naked, etc.
There is another aspect that is more subtle. It has to do with a lack of calculation, a lack of judgment, if you will, on the part of the sheep. They feed the hungry, simply because they are hungry. I believe the sheep in the parable serve those around them as a way of life. Whereas the goats in the parable withhold service because of who it is that is hungry. If they had known it was the king that was in need, why certainly they would have fed him. "When did we see you hungry," they ask the king.
For the sheep, there is no distinction. I believe the deeper meaning of this parable is connected to this looking at others without making distinctions of who should be loved and who shouldn't.
Here's the text:
There is another aspect that is more subtle. It has to do with a lack of calculation, a lack of judgment, if you will, on the part of the sheep. They feed the hungry, simply because they are hungry. I believe the sheep in the parable serve those around them as a way of life. Whereas the goats in the parable withhold service because of who it is that is hungry. If they had known it was the king that was in need, why certainly they would have fed him. "When did we see you hungry," they ask the king.
For the sheep, there is no distinction. I believe the deeper meaning of this parable is connected to this looking at others without making distinctions of who should be loved and who shouldn't.
Here's the text:
Matthew 25:31-46
31 ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left.34Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
37Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” 40And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family,* you did it to me.”
41Then he will say to those at his left hand, “You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in
prison and you did not visit me.”44Then they also will answer, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” 45Then he will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” 46And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Anglican Monastery Destroyed
A stunningly beautiful Episcopal Monastery that was home for seven monks and a spiritual retreat to many visitors and pilgrims was destroyed in the fires in Southern California. Please keep them, and all the victims of the fires, in your prayers. This is from a recent New York Times article:
Read the entire article HERE.
Early last Friday, fire consumed most of the complex where the monks had chanted, studied the stars and welcomed guests from around the world. The next afternoon, they returned to survey the damage.
“We were very quiet,” Brother Joseph Brown recalled in a telephone interview Tuesday. “We just looked around. We were in shock.”
By the time the Tea Fire, in Santa Barbara County, was under control, all that remained of the 60-year-old monastery itself were a skeletal archway, a charred iron cross and a large Angelus bell.
Two small artist’s studios near the main building were intact. An icon of Christ that Brother Brown had been painting with pigments made from egg yolk and mineral powder was still on a desk. A cello sat a few feet away, unharmed. In the chaos of wind and fire, a sheriff’s deputy had moved another monk’s telescope outside, where it remained unscathed.
“In the midst of all this destruction,” Brother Brown, 46, said Tuesday, “miracles happened all over the place.”
“The feelings right now are difficult to describe,” he said. “One of the hazards of monasticism throughout the centuries is we become attached to what we have or where we are. This is simply a reminder that what we are called to is not our stuff. This is a cleansing by fire.”
Read the entire article HERE.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Diocesan Convention 2008
This past weekend I and other members of the Cathedral were in Redding for the annual convention of the Diocese of Northern California. I only took pictures at the end when we were having our closing Eucharist. The teenagers were having a parallel event (fun not business.) They joined us for this last service. I sat with them. Here are a few our my pictures.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
YOU can make a big difference
From parishoner Virginia McNeely:
Did you know that with minimal effort you can help scores of individuals and numerous groups in our community?
We all belong to a number of formal and informal groups and clubs: gyms, book clubs, hiking groups, professional and social clubs, school groups, etc. Each of these groups has the potential to help others in the community, but they need someone to help them to see how. YOU can be that person!
For example, I am a member of Curves and of WeightWatchers, where I’ve shared news about the ministry of Trinity Cathedral with Jedediah Smith School’s BackSnack program. I had encouraged WeightWatchers members to give me their “target foods” (foods that are too tempting) when they cleaned their cupboards, so the leaders at Sierra 2 chose our BackSnack program to benefit from the drive where members gave one pound of food for each pound they lost. Having heard me talk about Jed Smith School, my Curves location owner has had peanut butter drives and has also donated backpacks and clothing for the program. With truly minimal effort on my part, more than 200 pounds of food has gone to help the kids at Jed Smith School. In addition, people have heard about what great work Trinity does and know that this is a caring congregation that they might consider joining.
Take a few minutes to brainstorm what activities and groups you’re involved with. Art? Bread of Life can use art supplies for their community program. Hiking, hunting, fishing? Collect jackets and sleeping bags for the homeless at Loaves and Fishes when your friends upgrade. Reading? The choir is having a book drive; the BackSnack project can use children’s books; the Friends of the Library are always collecting books to raise funds. Scouts or a social or work group? Collect food for River City Community Services by asking participants to bring canned goods to meetings or social events.
As baptized Christians we all show thanks for how good God has been to us by giving of our time, talent and treasure. Think of how you can help others to focus their giving and join you in your ministries. With a little effort you can make a big difference!
Did you know that with minimal effort you can help scores of individuals and numerous groups in our community?
We all belong to a number of formal and informal groups and clubs: gyms, book clubs, hiking groups, professional and social clubs, school groups, etc. Each of these groups has the potential to help others in the community, but they need someone to help them to see how. YOU can be that person!
For example, I am a member of Curves and of WeightWatchers, where I’ve shared news about the ministry of Trinity Cathedral with Jedediah Smith School’s BackSnack program. I had encouraged WeightWatchers members to give me their “target foods” (foods that are too tempting) when they cleaned their cupboards, so the leaders at Sierra 2 chose our BackSnack program to benefit from the drive where members gave one pound of food for each pound they lost. Having heard me talk about Jed Smith School, my Curves location owner has had peanut butter drives and has also donated backpacks and clothing for the program. With truly minimal effort on my part, more than 200 pounds of food has gone to help the kids at Jed Smith School. In addition, people have heard about what great work Trinity does and know that this is a caring congregation that they might consider joining.
Take a few minutes to brainstorm what activities and groups you’re involved with. Art? Bread of Life can use art supplies for their community program. Hiking, hunting, fishing? Collect jackets and sleeping bags for the homeless at Loaves and Fishes when your friends upgrade. Reading? The choir is having a book drive; the BackSnack project can use children’s books; the Friends of the Library are always collecting books to raise funds. Scouts or a social or work group? Collect food for River City Community Services by asking participants to bring canned goods to meetings or social events.
As baptized Christians we all show thanks for how good God has been to us by giving of our time, talent and treasure. Think of how you can help others to focus their giving and join you in your ministries. With a little effort you can make a big difference!
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