April 2, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . The Ninth Station

Jesus falls a third time

O God, by the passion of your blessed Son you made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life:  Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of your Son our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

A few of the Stations are not scriptural but taken from pious tradition; Jesus falling while carrying his cross to Golgotha is one of them.  While not scriptural, it is theologically correct as it affirms his humanity – for which of us would not fall under the burden of a cross after being beaten and whipped?  And sometimes we do fall under the burdens we bear.

Jesus, Second Person of the Trinity, co-equal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, who was in the beginning, begotten not made, gave us the example of his great humility by taking on human form and by suffering a shameful death upon a cross.  In the journeys of our own lives we will be faced with trials, sorrows, and times of pain.  Through it all, may we continually work to understand the ways of God and be strengthened through his holy Word.  And may we remember that following Christ doesn’t preclude us from suffering but does allow us to share in his resurrection. 

Blessings,

**Stations of the Cross devotions are held every Wednesday in Lent at Noon at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church.  These services are also livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person.  https://www.stlukesbuffalo.church/services

March 26, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . The Eighth Station

Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem

Teach your Church, O Lord, to mourn the sins of which it is guilty, and to repent and forsake them; that, by your pardoning grace, the results of our iniquities may not be visited upon our children and our children’s children; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Jesus, an innocent man, was put to death by the union of religious and political desires – something Isaiah called a perversion of justice.  When church and state are not kept separate, it becomes so much easier to vilify people for “wrong” beliefs and punish them through state-sanctioned violence.  Things like the Spanish Inquisition, Roman/Protestant conflicts from the Middle Ages down through the battles in Ireland, the Salem witch trials, atrocities committed against Native Americans, and attacks against lgbtq people are just a few examples.

When the Church manages to convince governments to be an instrument of God’s wrath rather than of God’s mercy, it has effectively fallen into idolatry and heresy.  Idolatry for accepting the devil’s offer and worshiping power.  Heresy for thinking we alone know the mind of God and are therefore given permission to act as we choose.  These two sins, idolatry and heresy, are the opposite of loving God and neighbor, and from those two sins all others fall.

In this season of Lent, may we mourn the sins of which we are guilty, repent, and amend our lives.  May we repent of the evil we have done individually, and the evil done corporately on our behalf.  And may we make full amendment of life in order to live in a holy relationship with God and our neighbor.

Blessings,

**Stations of the Cross devotions are held every Wednesday in Lent at Noon at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church.  These services are also livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person.  https://www.stlukesbuffalo.church/services

March 19, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . The Fifth Station

The cross is laid on Simon of Cyrene

As they led Jesus away, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus..

After his “trial” by the religious authorities and his meeting with Pilate, Jesus suffered a number of physical traumas.  Roman guards spit on him.  He was whipped, leaving deep wounds on his back.  He was punched and slapped in the face.  A crown of thorns was beaten down onto his head.  He was verbally humiliated.  And then, after enduring all this, the Gospel of John records that he was forced to carry the instrument of his own death to the execution site.

The Synoptic Gospels do not record that Jesus carried his own cross, but they do record that the soldiers conscripted Simon to carry the cross for him.

In our own lives there are times we suffer physically.  There are times we suffer spiritually and mentally.  And there are times we suffer all three at the same time.  Sometimes, like in John, it feels like we are carrying these burdens of ours all by ourselves.  But other times, as in the other three gospels, someone is there to help us.  Don’t be afraid to ask for help.  Don’t be afraid to allow someone to walk with you through whatever struggles you are facing.

This journey may be the most difficult thing you have endured; but as we discovered with Jesus, there is life on the other side.

Blessings,

**Stations of the Cross devotions are held every Wednesday in Lent at Noon at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church.  These services are also livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person.  https://www.stlukesbuffalo.church/services

March 12, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . The First Station

Jesus is Condemned to Death

“As soon as it was morning, the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation; and they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him to Pilate.  And they all condemned him and said, ‘He deserves to die’.”

In the First Station, an innocent man is condemned to death through the machinations and alliances of religious and government leaders looking for an expedient way to dispose of a troublemaker.  His trial before the religious authorities was a kangaroo court where the verdict was already predetermined.  The governmental leaders, not wanting to upset the powerful religious leaders, found a legal way to execute the accused.

In our own day we need to be watchful for, and wary of, the joining of religion and government.  A religion that insists on controlling the government, and a government that insists on one religion, are both dangerous combinations.  We have seen the terrible results of these alliances from the time of Jesus on down through our own day.

May we have the courage to speak out against anti-Christ behaviors.  May we be willing to act counter to mob mentalities.  May we be willing to be condemned for putting Christ first.  And may we respond as Jesus did:  with dignity, compassion, and unyielding loyalty to God alone.

Blessings,

**Stations of the Cross devotions are held at Noon (MDT) at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church every Wednesday in Lent.  These services are also livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person.  https://www.stlukesbuffalo.church/services

March 5, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . The Prayer Boat

At this past Monday’s weekly prayer group, we were talking, of all things, about prayer.  It was said, “Sometimes I think people view prayer only as an emergency lifeline that is used when things get tough.”  They went on to say (and I’m paraphrasing here) that prayer should be the engine that drives everything and not simply the spare tire used when we’re in a crisis.

To which I responded with something like, “Prayer should be the boat we’re in to navigate the waters of life, not the rescue boat that comes to save us when we’re drowning.”

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.  At each service (7:00, Noon, and 6:00) I will invite the people to the observance of a holy Lent.  Part of this observance includes “prayer, fasting, and self-denial.”  As I’ve said before, whatever our Lenten disciplines, they should not be disciplines taken on for the simple sake of being miserable over the next 40 days.  Lent is about making a lasting change that leads to a new life as represented in the new life Easter brings. 

Thinking about this past Monday’s prayer group, prayer and our approach to prayer might be a good Lenten discipline.  Asking yourself how and when you pray, and then giving an honest answer, could be a good place to reevaluate your prayer life.  Do you pray on a regular basis?  Is your primary time of prayer on Sunday morning?  Do you primarily pray when there’s a crisis of some kind?  When you pray, do you spend time listening?  This is not an exhaustive list of questions, but you get the idea.

If you primarily view/use prayer as a rescue boat coming to save us in time of trouble, this Lent might be a good time to get into that boat and use it on a daily basis to help navigate the daily currents of life.

Blessings,

February 26, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Black History Month:  Bishop Michael Curry

Michael Curry was born on March 13, 1953, in Maywood, IL.  Both sides of his family were descended from slaves and sharecroppers in North Carolina and Alabama.  He has a long line of Baptist ministers in his family, with both his grandfather and great-grandfather serving as Baptist ministers.

He tells the story of a time his family was visiting an Episcopal church in Ohio, and that blacks and whites had normally been separated at church services.  However, during this particular visit, both blacks and whites were allowed to drink from the same common cup at Communion.  That incident drove home the belief that in God’s eyes and in the Episcopal church, all people were equal, and that led Curry’s Baptist family to become Episcopalian.

Curry spent time in Buffalo, NY, (and at his last diocesan visitation as Presiding Bishop, thank the Wyoming delegates for Josh Allen) where he was ordained to the diaconate.  He was ordained as a priest in 1978 and served churches in North Carolina, Ohio, and finally Baltimore before being selected as Bishop of North Carolina in 2000.  He became the first African-American diocesan bishop south of the Mason Dixon Line.  He was active in social justice issues, immigration, and marriage equality.  On June 27, 2015, he was elected as Presiding Bishop on the first ballot, becoming the first African-American to serve in that role.

During his time as Presiding Bishop, he launched “The Way of Love” program and was often quoted as saying, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.”  This stance was the basis for his support of marriage equality, saying, “Our commitment to be an inclusive church is not based on a social theory or capitulation to the ways of the culture, but on our belief that the outstretched arms of Jesus on the cross are a sign of the very love of God reaching out to us all.”

Bishop Curry is a dynamic preacher, teacher, and leader who understood “All means All, y’all,” and has never been afraid to stand up for Gospel justice.  May we today have that same devotion to love, equity, and inclusion as our former Presiding Bishop.

Open our eyes, O Lord, to the injustices committed on our behalf.  Awaken us to the unpleasant truths that a whitewashed history tries to cover up.  Free us from the bonds of prejudice and fear.  Allow us to see the value and contributions of those who are different.  And give us the strength and courage to work for justice, freedom, and peace in the face of opposition, while respecting the dignity of every human being.  Amen.

February 19, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Black History Month:  Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglass was born a slave in either 1817 or 1818 on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland.  Having an unspecified birthdate, he chose February 14 as his birthday because his mother called him her “Little Valentine.”

At the age of six he was separated from his family, eventually being sent to serve a white family in Baltimore.  The Mistress of the house began teaching him to read, but then, influenced by her husband, stopped the lessons and hid all reading materials.  Frederick realized that knowledge was the pathway to freedom and taught himself to read and write in secret.  He was eventually given to another owner who had a reputation for cruelty, and he whipped Frederick often.  On September 3, 1838, he escaped to freedom dressed as a sailor and carrying the identification and protection papers of a free black sailor, arriving in Philadelphia with a final destination of New York City the next day.

He was religiously active and spoke out often against the church’s complicity in slavery and their hypocrisy.  Douglass accused slaveholders of wickedness, a lack of morality, and a failure to follow the Golden Rule.  He made distinctions between the “Christianity of Christ” and the “Christianity of America,” considering religious slaveholders and clergy who defended slavery as the most brutal, sinful, and cynical of all.

In What to the Slave is the Fourth of July? he sharply criticized the attitude of religious people who kept silent about slavery due to political expediency or not wanting to offend anyone, and he charged that ministers committed a blasphemy when they taught it as sanctioned by religion.  He considered that a law passed to support slavery was "one of the grossest infringements of Christian Liberty" and said that pro-slavery clergymen within the American Church "stripped the love of God of its beauty, and leave the throne of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form", and "an abomination in the sight of God."

Frederick Douglass became a great orator and writer, and he reminds us that the Church cannot sit idly by in silence when any of God’s children are mistreated, abused, and/or neglected.

Open our eyes, O Lord, to the injustices committed on our behalf.  Awaken us to the unpleasant truths that a whitewashed history tries to cover up.  Free us from the bonds of prejudice and fear.  Allow us to see the value and contributions of those who are different.  And give us the strength and courage to work for justice, freedom, and peace in the face of opposition, while respecting the dignity of every human being.  Amen.

February 12, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Black History Month:  Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., was the son and grandson of Baptist preachers, and became the pastor of a Baptist church in Montgomery, AL, in 1954.  He became the face of the equality movement following the arrest of Rosa Parks when he led the Montgomery bus boycott.

Like Saint Paul, King faced a variety of obstacles and persecutions:  his home was dynamited, he was stabbed, harassed by death threats, and jailed over 30 times.  And on April 4, 1968, he was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, TN.

While in jail in Birmingham for participating in a non-violent equality march, he wrote a response to the public concerns of eight white clergymen.  In that letter he made the following statements:

            Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

            Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider.

            You deplore the demonstrations . . . but do not express concern for the conditions that                                    brought the demonstrations into being.

            Privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.

            Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the                                           oppressed.

            We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was “legal.”

            It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany.

            Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love?

            Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the

                        cause of justice?

The whole letter can be found here, and I would encourage you to read it in its entirety, as we are facing the same issues of division, hatred, oppression, and injustices today that Martin Luther King, Jr., faced then.

We must answer today the questions he asked of the white pastors of Birmingham in 1963: 

Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love?  Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?

His Feast Day on the Church Calendar is April 4 (alternate day, January 15).

Open our eyes, O Lord, to the injustices committed on our behalf.  Awaken us to the unpleasant truths that a whitewashed history tries to cover up.  Free us from the bonds of prejudice and fear.  Allow us to see the value and contributions of those who are different.  And give us the strength to work for justice, freedom, and peace, while respecting the dignity of every human being.  Amen.

February 5, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Black History Month:  Absalom Jones

Absalom Jones was born a house slave in 1746 in Delaware.  As a child he taught himself to read using the New Testament and other books.  When he was sixteen he was sold to a store owner in Philadelphia where he attended a night school for Blacks operated by the Quakers.  He married another slave when he was twenty and purchased her freedom with his earnings.  He was eventually able to purchase his own freedom in 1784.

He attended St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church where he served as a lay minister for its Black membership.  He was an active evangelist and helped to increase Black membership at the church.  This increase, however, scared the parish vestry, and they moved to segregate their Black members into the upstairs gallery.  When the ushers tried to remove them, they all walked out, never to return.

In 1787, Black Christians organized the first-ever Free African Society, with Absalom Jones and his friend Richard Allen elected as overseers.  The Society connected with similar groups in other cities, collected dues to benefit those in need, and built St. Thomas African Episcopal Church, which was dedicated on July 17, 1794.

Parishioners of St. Thomas applied for membership in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania with the following conditions: 1) they be received as an organized body; 2) they have control over local affairs; and, 3) that Absalom Jones be licensed as a lay reader and ordained, if qualified, to the ministry.  The church was admitted to the diocese in October of 1794, and Bishop William White, the second bishop in the Episcopal Church, ordained Absalom Jones to the diaconate in 1795 and as a priest on September 21, 1802.

During his time there, he denounced slavery and preached that God was always on the side of the oppressed and distressed.  The church gained 500 members in its first year.

His Feast Day on the Church Calendar is February 13.

Open our eyes, O Lord, to the injustices committed on our behalf.  Awaken us to the unpleasant truths that a whitewashed history tries to cover up.  Free us from the bonds of prejudice and fear.  Allow us to see the value and contributions of those who are different.  And gives us the strength to work for justice, freedom, and peace, while respecting the dignity of every human being.

January 29, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Prayer

“I choose now to pause.”

I have a number of prayer apps on my phone.  Some are Roman Catholic based and some are Episcopal based.  A couple of them have an audio option, while most of them require you to read through the prayers.  These apps are especially helpful when I don’t have a Prayer Book with me, since the Daily Offices are right there on my phone.  They are also helpful for those times I just want to sit and listen to someone else read through the Office.

I was talking with someone the other day about prayer.  A variety of things came up in that conversation, but there were two things that stuck out in my mind.  The first is that God is not a vending machine and our prayers are not the quarters that we insert.  And the second is that prayer, more than anything else, is the conversation you have with God – it works to deepen your knowledge and love of God while also providing time for you to listen to God.

Those, of course, are very basic ideas about prayer, and we could (should?) spend much more time delving into the topic and practice.

Another thing about prayer that I think is important is that it is intentional.  I hear people tell me all the time that they pray in their car on their way to work, or they pray in the shower, or they pray while they are making dinner, or whenever.  I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, because I have done them all at one time or another.  But how much more meaningful are our conversations when we aren’t distracted by traffic, or time constraints, or boiling water?

When you pray, make it a practice to be intentional.  When you pray, create space in your day to invite God to be with you.  When you pray, make sure God is your priority in that moment.

When you pray, choose a time to pause.

Blessings,

January 22, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . The Bleak Midwinter

“In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, in the bleak midwinter, long ago.” – Hymn 112

A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend and they mentioned that this was their favorite Christmas hymn.  As I sat eating breakfast yesterday, I looked out at the field and mountains with dawn just beginning to break over the hills.  The trees were stark, dark and leafless, deep into their winter hibernation.  The grassy field and mountains were all monochromatic winter brown with the snow from last week’s storm laying hard-packed on the ground.  And as I looked out, this hymn came to mind.

We have come to that point in the year when we start noticing the sun rising earlier.  Morning commutes aren’t necessarily happening in the dark.  We can see that spring is coming.

It occurred to me, though, that the “bleak midwinter” doesn’t take place in the dark.  The bleak midwinter doesn’t take place when we are deep in winter and the sun doesn’t peak over the horizon until much later.  It doesn’t take place when mornings and evenings are dark.

Instead, the bleak midwinter happens now – still in the dead of winter, but when the sun begins to rise earlier.  It happens when there’s just enough light to see the dark and stark trees.  It happens when the only thing you seem to see is one long, monochromatic shade of brown.  It happens when the hard-packed snow doesn’t glisten, but is only a whiter shade of pale.

But here’s the thing about the bleak midwinter:  it happens when there’s just enough light to see the bleakness.  It happens as the light begins to drive back the darkness.

We may be in the bleak midwinter.  The frosty wind moans over earth standing hard as iron when water turns to stone.  But darkness is losing its grip, and light begins to take hold.  So wherever you may be, and whatever bleakness you are facing, know that it will not last because the light is coming.

Blessings,

January 15, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Fire Relief

We have all seen the devastation of the wildfires in California, and while I can’t be sure, I think it will become one of the biggest natural disasters in our history, if not the biggest.  Pictures of lost homes, businesses, churches, and schools are almost beyond comprehension.  And while we know firsthand the devastation wildfires can inflict, we were fortunate to not have the destruction seen in California.

If you are able to financially donate to relief efforts, here are a few links which I think would do the most good:

https://support.episcopalrelief.org/wildfire-2025

https://diocesela.org/fire-response/

https://www.directrelief.org/emergency/california-wildfires/

https://www.cafirefoundation.org/what-we-do/for-communities/disaster-relief

https://www.ncjwla.org/lafire/

https://secure.projecthope.org/site/SPageNavigator/FY25_01_LA_Fire_and_General_Unrestricted_Support_Web_LO_12860.html

A Prayer for Victims of the Fires

Gracious Lord, surround all those who have lost homes, businesses, livelihoods, schools, churches, and family members with your never-failing love.  Give them hope amid despair.  Give them space for mourning and resilience to carry on.  Deliver them from the bitterness of eternal death, and give them the strength of your presence that they may know and find life from death.

A Prayer for Emergency Workers

Lord God, our strong deliverer:  When those charged with responding to crises feel overwhelmed by the numbers of those suffering and the vastness of devastation, uphold them in their fatigue and banish their despair.  Give them comfort, and renew their energy and compassion, for the sake of Jesus in whom is our life and our hope.

Blessings,

January 8, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Sunshine

On January 5 we had our first real snow of the year.  Coming on the 12^th Day of Christmas, I guess, technically, we still got our white Christmas.  But even with the snow, both Sunday and Monday were rather dreary days. 

Yesterday, however, was glorious!  The sky was bright blue, the sun was shining, and the sunlight reflecting off the new snow was almost blinding.  Although the temperature only reached 26, it felt much warmer than that.

One of the things I really love is a calm and bright sunny day after a winter storm.  People smile.  Attitudes are much improved.  And if you have any cleanup to do, the sunshine even makes that tolerable.  In this winter sunshine there was a sense of joy and life in the people I encountered on my walk downtown.

The Christmas season began with the birth of Christ.  The Gospel of John tells us that “in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

Monday was the Feast of the Epiphany, when we celebrate the arrival of the wise men from the East who followed a star to the home of Mary and Jesus in Bethlehem.  They followed a light that shone in the darkness which eventually led them to a life found in Christ Jesus.

Christmas and Epiphany are about the arrival of God’s light in a darkened world. 

This winter, may the light of Christ shine in and through you like sunshine after a winter storm so that you may bring joy and life to all those whom you touch.

Blessings,

January 1, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Silence

[An angel said to Elijah], “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.”  Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.  When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.  Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” – 1 Kings 19:11-13

Today is January 1, 2025.  It is New Year’s Day.  It is also the Eighth Day of Christmas and the Feast of the Holy Name.  There’s a lot going on today.  In addition to continuing the Christmas festivities, this is the day we celebrate the naming of Jesus (taken from the Jewish tradition of naming male children eight days after their birth).  And if you’re like me, to be honest, there are a number of Bowl Games to follow and overeat on chips, dips, and the like.

Despite offices being closed today, there is plenty to do and plenty which to keep us busy.

In the midst of everything – Christmas, New Year’s, our 12^th Night Party, Annual Meeting prep, and, and, and – the above passage of Elijah’s encounter with God popped into my head.

As we navigate all of the busy-ness in our lives, remember to take time and listen for God, remembering that God cannot be heard through the noise of wind, earthquakes, fire, or Bowl Games.  God, it seems, is heard in the silence. 

In the midst of all that is going on, find time to slip away.  Find time for quiet.  Find time for silence.  In that silence you just might hear the voice of God speaking to you.  And in that silence you just might be able to answer God’s question:  What are you doing here?

Merry Christmas,