December 28, 2022

Merry Christmas to you!

Today is the Fourth Day of Christmas, and despite most radio stations returning to their regular programming, despite stores having removed Christmas decorations and priced certain items for quick clearance in order to make room for their Valentine's Day product, it is still the Christmas season. It is still the season of joy and light. It is still the season when we recall that “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)

Between December 25, Christmas Day, and January 6, the Epiphany, there are celebrations for the lives of Saint Stephen, Deacon and Martyr, and Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist (and our patron), as well as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ (which we will celebrate on Sunday, January 1, at 9:30).

There is also today.

Today we commemorate the Holy Innocents, the day we remember the slaughter of children in and around Bethlehem on Herod's order after the wise men departed for home without telling him where they found Jesus and his family. In the midst of the Christmas celebration, we have the remembrance of a horrific event. In some places this day has been turned into “Children's Day,” when children are given authority to rule the household, or for children to play practical jokes, becoming a day of merry making for children. Although in medieval England, children were whipped in bed to remind them of the mournfulness of the day.

Despite this becoming a day of festivities for children, this day still commemorates and reminds us of a horrific event called for by an evil tyrant in an effort to put an end to God's plan by killing innocent children. The festivities are only a weak attempt to cover up the horrors of that day.

This day, as much as Good Friday does, reminds us that the powers and principalities of this world will stop at nothing to crush the light of God. This day reminds us that the rulers of this world will not bat an eye if innocent people are victimized, imprisoned, abused, neglected, and killed, as long as the methods used keep the powerful in power and those under their rule fearful of an invisible “other.”

Holy Innocents is not just about the children killed on Herod's order. It is for all people of color who are victimized by overt and covert actions of white supremacy and systemic racism. It is for all women who are abused and victimized by men. It is for all victims of domestic abuse, both men and women. It is for all those who suffer from mental health issues but can't get help because programs have been cut. It is for all innocent refugees turned away at borders and refused help. It is for lgbtq+ people ostracized and abused for being who they are. It is for anyone who suffers at the hands of those in power because they are seen as an inconvenience or a threat.

But Holy Innocents also reminds us that no matter how much people work against God, God always finds a way to keep the light shining. The Holy Family escaped. There are instances when justice wins. The light continues to shine in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it.

Blessings,

December 21, 2022

Christmas Eve and Day are right around the corner. The time we celebrate the birth of Christ, God incarnate, and see God among us with our eyes is upon us.

I picked up several copies of Holy is His Name: Daily Devotions for Advent for people to use during this season of preparation. This devotional is a daily meditation on the Canticles of Luke (the Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria [a song of the Eucharist with its first lines found in Luke], and Nunc dimittis). As we approach Christmas, I thought today's meditation was particularly appropriate, so I include it here in full for this Wednesday in the Fourth Week of Advent.

For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see:

We will not know the time or day of Jesus's second coming. Early Christians knew that this day could be at any moment. In the parable of the ten bridesmaids, Jesus explains that five of the young women brought oil with their lamps to meet the bridegroom. The other five, however, were foolish and did not bring oil. When the bridegroom was late, the wedding party grew tired and fell asleep. At midnight, a cry came that the bridegroom had arrived at last. The ten trimmed their lamps, so that the flame could burn bright and free of smoke. But the foolish bridesmaids had no oil and had to go and buy more. They stumbled back to a closed door and a bridegroom who did not know them.

We must not assume that we are wise and ready for the day of the Lord's coming. We are all sleepers who must awake and meet Christ with a ready heart. While we profess our belief that Christ will come again, there are things to reconsider. The first Christians devoted themselves to the breaking of bread and to prayer. In taking seriously the teaching of the apostles, they held all things in common, selling their possessions and giving their money away to those in need. Without earthly possessions, the early churches entered into a new economy where every need could be met and satisfied.

The need for new life can be found everywhere. We tire of the status quo that only benefits the 1 percent. Abuse in our churches and communities demand of us better systems of accountability and repentance. Wars started for the sake of ego leave us all broken and bleeding. The deluge of sins can leave us feeling defeated and discouraged. But evil does not tell the complete story.

The church continues to wait for the return of Christ the Bridegroom some 2000 years later. If we take seriously Jesus's promise that his return is still just around the corner, what changes will we make in our lives? How do we enter into God's work to ready a broken and grieving world for salvation?

We have seen the Savior whom God has prepared for all the world to see. How might we make him know to the world around us?

May you have a joyful Christmas and blessed New Year.

December 14, 2022

The last time we used incense during the service was on All Saints' Sunday. This is one of the “big” celebrations of the Church, and it is one of five days marked as especially appropriate for baptisms (First Sunday after the Epiphany, Easter Vigil, Pentecost, All Saints' Day/Sunday, and at a bishop's visitation).

During the service, our thurifer, Julia, was having some difficulty with the thurible. She said it was sticking and she was having some trouble raising the cover. And then, just before the final procession, the chain came unhooked. So there we were, trying to open a hot thurible to add incense without a) burning ourselves, or b) burning down the church. Thankfully it all worked out.

In preparation for Christmas Eve, I spent some time yesterday cleaning the thurible. The insides had developed a coating of incense tar that had become sticky, making it difficult to raise the top. The chains for the thurible itself had gotten twisted, and the chain for the top needed to be better secured.

So I took a wire brush and steel wool and gave it a good scrubbing. I didn't get all the tar off, but I did get enough off so the top doesn't stick. I untangled the three main chains, and I (hopefully) secured the lift chain so that it won't come off.

It's not perfect, but I think it'll work. And if I keep up on the cleanings and checking the chains, it should be in good shape for quite awhile.

In the Advent season we spend our time preparing. We prepare for the coming of Christ for the first time in a manger in Bethlehem. We prepare for the coming of Christ for the second time in power and glory at a time to yet be determined. We prepare for the first with any number of activities, events, and gift giving. We prepare for the second through self-examination, prayer, and repentance.

If we aren't careful, though, we might find ourselves like my thurible – burnt, sticky, and coming apart in places.

As we draw nearer to Christmas, take some time to untangle yourself if necessary. Take some time to see where you might be overworked and overdone. Take some time to get reattached to places you find important. Take some time for self-care so that you don't accidentally burn yourself or those around you.

Blessings,

December 7, 2022

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice.

This is the traditional introit, or entrance, for the upcoming Third Sunday of Advent. And while we don't use that particular setting, this coming Sunday is the Sunday of joy and rejoicing.

The first lesson is from Isaiah and gives us an image of the desert rejoicing and blooming. The prophet speaks of the blind seeing and the deaf hearing, of the lame leaping and the speechless singing. He closes out his image by saying that everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

The Psalm gives us an image of justice, food, and freedom given to those who are oppressed, hungry, and imprisoned.

And in the gospel, Jesus tells John's disciples to report that the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised.

So just what is joy? There are a lot of definitions out there, but joy has a particular meaning when tied to our faith. First of all, joy is not happiness. Happiness is an emotion, or a feeling of pleasure, with which we are all familiar, usually coming from receiving something we want or have worked for. I want my team to win and am happy when they do so. I want a new car and am happy when I'm able to make that purchase. The examples are limitless. But joy is different.

Joy comes from receiving the unexpected. In the story of the Prodigal Son, joy and rejoicing come from the unexpected return of the son. In the examples above from the upcoming readings, joy comes to those who are on the margins when they are returned to fullness. In our Christian faith, we should be in a constant state of joy over the unexpected gifts of the Incarnation and Resurrection.

That's not to say we won't have periods of deep sadness or anger or any other negative emotion/experience, because we will. I'm reminded of the final line of the last burial anthem on page 491 of the BCP: So, then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's possession. That is joy – to remember that in life and death, in good times and in bad, we are the Lord's possession.

As we continue our Advent journey, as we continue to prepare for the already and the not yet, let us reflect on what God has unexpectedly given us in these dual gifts of Incarnation and Resurrection, and let us live joyfully in the Lord.

Blessings,