April 30, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Saint Mark the Evangelist

Last Friday, April 25, was the Feast of Saint Mark; but because the Easter Octave (the first eight days of Easter) takes precedence over any other feasts, his feast day was transferred to this past Monday.

As with many biblical characters, there isn’t a lot of information about Mark.  There are several places in the New Testament where the name Mark appears, but it is unclear if these refer to the same person or several persons.

Church traditions hold that he was one of the seventy sent out by Jesus, was present at the wedding in Cana, served with Paul on his mission trips, was a cousin of Barnabas, that it was at his house where both the resurrected Christ appeared to the disciples and where the Holy Spirit descended on the Day of Pentecost, and that the gospel bearing his name was a result of him writing down the stories and sermons of Peter.

As we move through the Easter season and reflect on the various resurrection stories, I’m sure we all have our favorite (or favorites).  Maybe the Road to Emmaus story touches you.  Maybe you find the story of Mary Magdalene searching for Jesus in the garden to be pivotal.  Or maybe it’s not just one story but the overall whole where you find inspiration.

I’ve always appreciated the ending of the Gospel of Mark:  “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (16:8).  This ending was so unsatisfactory to many early Christians that, at some point, scribes added both a shorter and longer ending to tie up loose ends.

What this original ending says to me (and to all who read it, I think) is that the story of the resurrection doesn’t end with the women fleeing the tomb.  Unlike the other three gospels where there is a definitive end, Mark leaves his gospel open-ended, causing us to ask:  Will we be as afraid as the women, saying nothing to anyone; or will we have the courage to speak of the resurrection?

As we move through the Easter season, may we all have the courage to speak openly of the Lord of life who destroyed sin and death and calls us to live in abundant, radical love.

Blessings,

April 23, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Vacation

Joelene and I are off on vacation this week.  We took the time to head back up to Washington to see her mom whom we haven’t seen since she made the trip out to Maryland several years ago, and I took part of that time to pop over to the west side and see my mother.  Since we drove, we were also able to visit friends in Bozeman, Spokane, and a few points in-between. 

I normally don’t like lengthy vacations because it always seems like I need a vacation from my vacation when I get home.  Laundry needs to be one.  Finances need to be dealt with.  There’s a pile of mail to sort through.  And there’s that inevitable stack of stuff to do sitting on your desk. 

Even with all the stuff waiting for me when I get back, it’ll be good to see our moms again as well as a few friends along the way.

After the busy-ness of Holy Week and Easter, with all the activities you may have participated in and all of the family obligations you may have had, I hope you have a restful week.  I hope you find time to contemplate with joy the resurrection of our Lord.  And I hope you see evidence of resurrection in the world around you.

I’ll be back in the office next week.

Blessings,

April 16, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . Freedom

The function of freedom is to free someone else – Toni Morrison (Feb. 18, 1931 – Aug. 5, 2019)

I came across this quote yesterday morning while eating breakfast.  As we are in the middle of Holy Week with the Triduum beginning tomorrow evening, my first thought went to Jesus.  There are plenty of examples in Scripture claiming Jesus acted to free us from sin and death:

 

            Acts 13:39 – by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free [from their sins]

            Rom. 8:21 – creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay

            Gal. 1:4 – [Jesus] gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age

            Rev. 1:5 – To [Jesus] who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood

 

There are other examples both in Scripture and in the BCP where we hear that Jesus used his freedom, giving himself up to death, to make us free by the power of his resurrection.  In other words, Jesus didn’t use his freedom only for himself, he used his freedom to free others.

We should view freedom in the same way – that our freedom is to be used to free others.  We didn’t do this during the age of slavery in the US.  We didn’t do this when our government banned non-Christians from being elected.  We didn’t do it when we moved Native Americans to reservations.  We didn’t do it when we barred women and minorities from voting.  We didn’t do it when we placed Japanese Americans in prison camps during WWII.  We didn’t do it when we created red line neighborhoods designed to keep minorities out of certain areas.  And the list goes on.

If we are going to be a truly free society, we cannot expect freedoms for me but not for thee.  We must, like Jesus, use our freedom to ensure others have the same freedoms we enjoy.

As we move through Holy Week, the passion, crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Christ, may we work to ensure the freedoms we have are accessible to everyone.

Blessings,

**Stations of the Cross devotions are held every day in Holy Week at Noon at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church.  Today’s service will be livestreamed for those who are unable to attend in person.  https://www.stlukesbuffalo.church/services

April 9, 2025

Wednesday Word . . . The Eleventh Station

Jesus is nailed to the cross

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace:  So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name  Amen.

I came across a video the other day from the Rev. Joseph Yoo talking about the “why” of the crucifixion.  In the history of the Church, there are a lot of reasons put forward about this – things like, “He was the perfect offering to satisfy an angry God,” or “He had to die so he could defeat death,” as well as several others.  I don’t think there is one right way to understand the crucifixion, and neither does Fr. Yoo.

His current take on the crucifixion is this:  What if Jesus died on the cross because humanity keeps choosing violence, power, and fear over love, justice, and mercy?  We see this all the time where people in general, and those in power in particular, choose to follow their fears and commit acts of violence to uphold their power.  We saw it with slavery, in fascist Europe, in the fight against civil rights, and we’re seeing it now.

Jesus offered a way of love, and as he stretched out his arms to welcome everyone into God’s loving embrace, those in power nailed his arms to the cross. 

Love and resurrection will win, and we are on the verge of seeing that on Easter Day.  But even with that assurance, those who utilize violence, power, and fear will do all they can to keep God’s perfect love from manifesting itself in the world.  In these times, may we, like Jesus, stretch out our arms in love.

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

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