ATONEMENT 2021

Gospel Reading – Mark 14:1-15:47  (3.28.21)

Sisters and brothers, we find ourselves in what is undoubtedly the most unique and troubling Holy Week of our lives.  As Christian believers, our intent is to pray, repent and accompany Jesus through his passion and death, as He atones for the sins of mankind.  To follow our Lord requires a contemplative heart that centers itself in identifying oneself with the suffering of the One who willingly came to us for our salvation.

As a child, I fondly remember the Easter Sunday candies, the egg hunts and family gatherings.  For me, that was a time of innocence and purity.  Can anyone argue that life of Christ  was not that of innocence, and purity?  As I became a young man, my experiences of innocence and purity faded into a preoccupation with power, prestige, and pride.  The world seemed to rob me of my childhood memories, but I was complicit in what I perceived to be an injustice and protested. 

A few years later I found myself at a spiritual crossroad and in a gardenlike experience very much like Gethsemane. Feelings of abandonment, distress and fear overwhelmed me.  Perhaps you can relate to a similar encounter?  The tears of confusion that came to me during this time erupted from a place deep within my heart. With a Christ I was unfamiliar with then, these tears cried out, “Help me avoid this, I seek my childhood experience back.”  My life had become a mess of my own doing. The uncertainty that engulfed me pulled me deeper into the garden, but I remained asleep with the others for quite some time.  How long have we slept while God continued to work for our salvation? And once awakened, did we also run away from Him while he prepared to offer Himself for the sins we committed?

Christ’s passion and death made reparations to God; for not some, but for all our sins.  This was an atonement that altered the course of mankind’s future.  Praise God for this.  Throughout the crises that surrounded our Lord in that divine garden, it was amazing to see how Jesus never once protested the terrible injustices that awaited Him.  Throughout, history countless martyrs have followed His path for the sake of God’s love for all.  These saints give us strength and courage.

It is said that “Life is all about choices” and there is much truth to this statement. Can anyone reading this argue that our world has turned itself against God and chosen the idols of power, prestige, and pride?  Make no doubt about it, just as the evil one was present at Gethsemane, he remains invested in our ruin, more so today that at any other time in history. I beg that you do not be distracted.  Atone for sins that pierce His heart.  Pray hard and be an example of innocence and purity today.  I pray that this your Easter experience this year be like your first Easter, your last Easter, and your only Easter.  The Pilgrim.

            

 

                                                                                

ATONEMENT 2021

Gospel Reading – Mark 14:1-15:47  (3.28.21)

Sisters and brothers, we find ourselves in what is undoubtedly the most unique and troubling Holy Week of our lives.  As Christian believers, our intent is to pray, repent and accompany Jesus through his passion and death, as He atones for the sins of mankind.  To follow our Lord requires a contemplative heart that centers itself in identifying oneself with the suffering of the One who willingly came to us for our salvation.

As a child, I fondly remember the Easter Sunday candies, the egg hunts and family gatherings.  For me, that was a time of innocence and purity.  Can anyone argue that life of Christ  was not that of innocence, and purity?  As I became a young man, my experiences of innocence and purity faded into a preoccupation with power, prestige, and pride.  The world seemed to rob me of my childhood memories, but I was complicit in what I perceived to be an injustice and protested. 

A few years later I found myself at a spiritual crossroad and in a gardenlike experience very much like Gethsemane. Feelings of abandonment, distress and fear overwhelmed me.  Perhaps you can relate to a similar encounter?  The tears of confusion that came to me during this time erupted from a place deep within my heart. With a Christ I was unfamiliar with then, these tears cried out, “Help me avoid this, I seek my childhood experience back.”  My life had become a mess of my own doing. The uncertainty that engulfed me pulled me deeper into the garden, but I remained asleep with the others for quite some time.  How long have we slept while God continued to work for our salvation? And once awakened, did we also run away from Him while he prepared to offer Himself for the sins we committed?

Christ’s passion and death made reparations to God; for not some, but for all our sins.  This was an atonement that altered the course of mankind’s future.  Praise God for this.  Throughout the crises that surrounded our Lord in that divine garden, it was amazing to see how Jesus never once protested the terrible injustices that awaited Him.  Throughout, history countless martyrs have followed His path for the sake of God’s love for all.  These saints give us strength and courage in our own gardens of pain, suffering and loss.

It is said that “Life is all about choices” and there is much truth to this statement. Can anyone reading this argue that our world has turned itself against God and chosen the idols of power, prestige, and pride?  Make no doubt about it, just as the evil one was present at Gethsemane, he remains invested in our ruin, more so today that at any other time in history. I beg that you do not be distracted.  Atone for sins that pierce His heart.  Pray hard and be an example of innocence and purity today.  I pray that this your Easter experience this year be like your first Easter, your last Easter, and your only Easter. 

The Pilgrim.

                                                                 

“Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

 This week's Gospel is one of those Scriptural passages that I find to be confusing. There's a bit of a non-sequitur in it; Some Greeks who had come to worship at the Passover Feast ask Philip if they can speak with Jesus. Philip goes with Andrew to tell Jesus, and Jesus starts talking about His Crucifixion.  The Gospel writer makes a point of mentioning that Philip is from Bethsaida in Galilee. 

It makes me wonder how we go from “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” to "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be Glorified." Every time I hear this Gospel passage I want to say "Wait, what? Did I miss something?" Most certainly, I did. In my quest to understand, I look at the clues we're given.

What I discovered: Philip and Andrew are both names that have Greek origins. Bethsaida is the place where Jesus gave sight to the blind man. In Hebrew, the name "Bethsaida" means "house of the hunt." The place where Jesus fed the 5,000 was near Bethsaida. It is perhaps worth noting that the Books of Maccabees tells us about a time when the Greeks occupied and oppressed Israel. 

So how does any of this fit together? Well, if the Greek men were somehow a sign, we can be sure that they weren't a sign for Jesus; they were a sign for us. It's reasonable to assume that the Greek men were Jewish because they were in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. This may intimate a conversion of sorts, because they are identified as Greeks. Perhaps if we are witnessing Greek Jews seeking Jesus, we are to understand that it was now time for His mission to begin to move past the boundaries of Israel. And this is the sign given to us, before His Crucifixion, that the Good News was meant to be spread throughout the world.

Or maybe not. What do you think?

                            + Theophilus 

Hold Up a Sign - John 3:16

 

Some of you may recall the sight we used to have at some sporting events.  In the crowd behind home plate or at the 50-yard line, there was a fan holding up a sign, “John 3:16”.  I don’t recall seeing that too often any longer, and perhaps that says something where we are as people of God.  Perhaps we have lost that sense of the importance of the Scripture verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” 

This day I ask you this question, how important is John 3:16 to you?  I don’t mean you have to have a sign in your living room with that citation so you can see it while you are watching the Met game.  Although us Met fans can use all the Scripture we can get!  No, it’s not about memorizing a Scripture reading, but what do those words mean to you?

First, for God so love the world.  Those can just be simple words, or it can be the most important thing to know in our lives.   The creator is crazy in love with those whom he created.  No matter what the created does, the creator doesn’t give up on the created.  And yet, so often, we, the created, stand in shame and perhaps hide from the creator.  And yet the creator seeks out the created no matter where the created hides.  The creator never stops loving, for indeed the creator is love.  And yet, so often we feel unloved.  We look at our past sins, our past choices and decide we are not worth loving.  In doing so, we not only diminish who we are, we diminish who God is.  We don’t allow God to fully love that which he longs to love beyond measure.

And do we cherish those next set of words, “that he gave his only Son…?”  He gave his only Son.  Anyone who is a parent or who has received the love of a parent realizes that the love of a child is immeasurable.  Our children are our very fiber.  Remember those words in the creed that Jesus is, “consubstantial with the Father.”  They are of the same substance.  When the Father gave us his only Son, he gave us his very being.  He gave us himself.  What a gift!  Does that gift mean anything to you?  He would have given that gift to each of us even if we were the only person to every live. 

And finally, that striking phrase that cuts to the core of our very being.  We don’t want to die, and so we must hear those words, “so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  We are saved!  We are saved from our sins.  We have the promise of eternal life.  All we have to do is believe in him and do everything we can to follow his will.  Perhaps we think we can save ourselves.  Perhaps we think we don’t need a savior.  Perhaps we think we will have eternal life all on our own.  Then John 3:16 is just simply a placard at a sporting event.

The world needs John 3:16 right now, but before we can bring it to the box seats behind home plate or to the 50-yard line, we have to see it in every moment of our lives.  We have to see it and we have to live it.  Where will we go without it?  Where will we be without it?

-          The Servant

 

 

 

I'm Only Human:  Reflection on the Gospel for 3/7/21 (John 2: 13-25)

"I'm only human." 

That is a phrase we often say to explain our flaws and frailties, our mistakes and misjudgments, and our sins. It's simply who we are.

And a temple is only a building, too, right?

After all, it consists of bricks and mortar, or wood, or metal and glass, as the case may be, but is certainly made by human hands. Essentially a temple - or any house of worship - is like any other building.

Yet, Jesus teaches us in today's gospel, that a temple is set apart from all other structures.  It is a place where we encounter God.  A place where we take our human-ness - our flaws, our frailties, our mistakes and misjudgments, our sins -  and receive forgiveness and mercy and purification.  A place where we encounter the holy, so that we can become more holy. And so, a temple - or any house of worship - should be respected as such, and kept clean of unjust activities.

In today's gospel Jesus reminds us that we are more than merely human.  He became a human, like us, so he could call us closer to the divine.  He tells us today that he, though human, will rise again in three days.  He invites us to this eternal life as well.  By his very being he seeks to elevate us beyond our human-ness.

Ultimately the choice is ours to make.  We can accept the invitation or reject it.  We can remain "only human" or we can become temples of the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:29).  Are we to remain simply flesh and blood, prone to sin?  Or are we to be "living stones" to be "built up as a spiritual house?"  (1 Peter 2: 4-5).

In today's gospel Jesus acknowledges our human nature, and, so, knows that though "many began to believe"  they did not fully understand.  Not yet.

And so, this Lent I must ask myself, do I, also, believe, but do not yet fully understand?  What more do I need to do to elevate myself beyond my sins?  Whatever I need to understand, whatever I need to do, I know I cannot do alone.

Today I pray that, as Jesus cleansed the temple to restore it's holiness, He cleanse me as well.  

 

"Call Me Ishmael"