Trinity Sunday
Category: From the Rector
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On Memorial Day
Today we remember those who gave their lives in the service of their country. Their sacrifice contributed to the preservation of our national life and, in many cases, the peace and security of other nations. Whether they enlisted or were compelled to serve does not matter. When human beings failed to resolve conflicts by other means, their lives were set apart and sacrificed in the service of their contemporaries and future generations of Americans. That is why we consider their memories sacred.
We denigrate their sacrifice when we take our liberties for granted or use them in self-serving ways. We cheapen their sacrifice when we tolerate people seeking and holding public office using freedom to propagate misinformation and disrespectful behavior to advance any interest. We disrespect their sacrifice when we allow oppression, marginalization, and persecution of members of our society. Every time a member of the American military dies in the line of duty, the value of those freedoms increases and the more determined our generation must be to find more effective ways to wage peace. The government we elected sent them into harm's way. We ignore their sacrifice when we do not insist that our government provide adequate services for the families they leave behind as well as for their comrades who return from the field and their families. That is costly, but it is part of the cost of making war. Hard-won liberties must be exercised responsibly and protected daily by each one of us. That is costly too, yet it is the price of making peace.
When we even glance at human history, it is pretty clear that warfare is the result of somebody wanting something that is not theirs, somebody else defending what is, and utter failure to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Memorial Day is not a time to glorify warfare. It is a time to mourn those whose lives were cut short by the failure of humanity to fulfill our God-given potential for living in ways that make wars unnecessary. Christians, Jews, and Muslims, in particular, have yet to set an enduring example for peacemaking for the rest of humanity. While we have been given the vocation and the teachings to bring peace and lasting freedom to the rest of the world, we have listened to other voices and followed other precepts.
Central to the message of the Bible is the belief that Almighty God created human beings to live in freedom. Just as central to the message of the Bible are examples of how people acting in the Name of God thought combat was the way God wanted to accomplish the liberation of humanity. Jesus repeatedly confronted whatever interfered with freedom and he paid the ultimate sacrifice to secure that freedom for all people in all times. His own disciples had difficulty understanding that he was instituting a kind of liberty that could not be won by warfare but, if embraced, could make wars to cease forever. St. Paul summed it up for those early Christians in the Roman province of Galatia. He wrote to them in their own unique context, but his words are universally applicable: “For freedom Christ has set us free” (Galatians 5:1).
The Episcopal Church has for many years given a special service medal to its members who are
deployed in military service. I have personally presented them to members of my parishes and will continue to do so as long as necessary. The Episcopal Church Service Cross was the first cross to be approved by the U.S. for wear by military personnel. Its circular shape prevents injuries from the ends of the arms of the cross during strenuous physical military activity. It weighs less than a quarter of an ounce. Written on the bars of the cross is the inscription, “Christ Died For You.” If I were facing armed combat, that message would comfort me. But there is a sad irony in it, isn’t there? The same Christ who died for me also died for my enemy. The same Christ who died for me died to keep us from having to kill one another. The same Christ who died for me is revered as “The Prince of Peace.”
Peace and freedom for humanity are God’s desire. Christ came to secure the reign of peace and freedom. You and I are called to live our lives in harmony with God’s reign and God’s desire. We have to learn to so effectively wage peace, with God's help, that warfare will become obsolete. "It is God who makes war to cease in all the world; God breaks the bow, and shatters the spear, and burns the shields with fire" (Psalm 46:10). Can we trust God enough to join God in making war to cease?
I submit to you on this Memorial Day that whenever we are faced with opportunities to wage peace instead of war – in our homes, our families, our communities, our nation, or across international boundaries – we stand upon the shoulders of all those who have died in military operations and under the protection of the Savior of the Nations, Jesus Christ, who died and rose again so that all people in all times might live in peace and freedom. So, I commend two prayers from The Book of Common Prayer for your use today as we remember those brave women and men and as we renew our commitment to the One who calls each of us to participate in the divine peacemaking initiative.
For Heroic Service
O Judge of the nations, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
For Peace
O God, the author of peace and lover of concord, to know you is eternal life and to serve you is perfect freedom: Defend us, your humble servants, in all assaults of our enemies; that we, surely trusting in your defense, may not fear the power of any adversaries; through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
I'll see you in Church!
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About the Paschal Candle
At the beginning of the Great Vigil of Easter a "new fire" is ignited and blessed with this prayer:
O God, through your Son you have bestowed upon your people the brightness of your light: Sanctify this new fire, and grant that in this Paschal feast we may so burn with heavenly desires, that with pure minds we may attain to the festival of everlasting light; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Paschal candle is the first candle to be lighted from this sacred fire. The flame of the Paschal candle symbolizes the eternal presence of Christ, the Alpha and the Omega, the Light of the World in the midst of his people, the Light which darkness has never overcome.The Paschal candle is sometimes referred to as the "Easter candle" or the "Christ candle." The term "Paschal" comes from the word Pesach, which in Hebrew means Passover, and relates to the Paschal mystery of salvation. The tall white candle may also remind us of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night that led the Israelites in their Exodus from slavery in Egypt.
The minister may trace symbols on the Paschal candle.These symbols may include the cross, five grains of incense embedded in five red wax nails,the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, and the number of the current year.
The worshiping assembly then processes into the dark church led by the Paschal candle. The candle is raised three times during the procession, accompanied by the chant "The light of Christ" to which the congregation responds "Thanks be to God". Following the procession, a prayer known as the Exultet is chanted, traditionally by a deacon, but it may be chanted by the priest, a cantor or a choir. The Exultet concludes with a blessing of the candle:
Holy Father, accept our evening sacrifice, the offering of this candle in your honor. May it shine continually to drive away all darkness. May Christ, the Morning Star who knows no setting, find it ever burning–he who gives his light to all creation, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
It is customary for the Paschal candle to burn at all services during the Great Fifty Days of Easter as well as at Baptisms and funerals. It reminds us of the presence of the Risen Christ and his call to the Baptized to bear his light in the world. At Christ Church Cranbrook, we also light the candle atop the enormous and ornate marble Paschal Candlestick in the Narthex at the entrance to the Baptistry. It is an exact replica of the Paschal Candlestick in the Capella Palentina, Palermo, Sicily.
During these fifty days and whenever we see the Paschal candle burning, let it remind us of the words of Jesus:
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 15).
Enjoy this hymn from our Hymnal 1982, sung by the Choir of All Saints' Episcopal Church in Beverly Hills, California. May your Easter life be flooded with light and my you reflect that light wherever you may be.
I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light
I want to walk as a child of the light;
I want to follow Jesus.
God set the stars to give light to the world;
The star of my life is Jesus.Refrain
In him there is no darkness at all;
The night and the day are both alike.
The Lamb is the light of the city of God;
Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.I want to see the brightness of God;
I want to look at Jesus.
Clear Sun of righteousness, shine on my path,
And show me the way to the Father.Refrain
I’m looking for the coming of Christ;
I want to be with Jesus.
When we have run with patience the race,
We shall know the joy of Jesus.Refrain
I’ll see you in Church!
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Managing Our Fear in the Pursuit of Faith
Last weekend, Dr. Richard Blackburn, Executive Director of the Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, was at Christ Church Cranbrook to lead a Healthy Congregations Workshop. The guiding principles of this workshop are derived from the work of Dr. Murray Bowen and Rabbi Edwin Friedman in family systems theory.
“Family systems theory postulates that the operation of the emotional system reflects an interplay between two counterbalancing forces – individuality and togetherness.” Of particular significance is their study of how anxiety affects any emotional system and the individuals in it.
Anxiety is the response of an organism to a real or imagined threat and is present in every person and relationship. Acute anxiety is a response to a real threat and most people usually adapt fairly successfully to acute anxiety. Chronic anxiety occurs in response to imaginary threats and often strains people’s ability to adapt to it.
An emotional system may be a family, a company, a sports team, a governmental entity, or a congregation. Individuals find ways to adapt to the anxieties of the family systems from which they come and bring those behaviors into other emotional systems.
Two key objectives of the workshop were to help each person explore and manage the anxiety in his or her life and to learn to recognize and appropriately respond to anxiety at work in the emotional systems in which they are involved.
An example from the story of our faith is the reaction of the Hebrews when Moses was on the mountain and did not return to them as soon as some expected (Exodus 32). Aaron was left in charge of the people while Moses was away. The people gathered around Aaron and expressed their anxiety about the delayed return of Moses. Instead of responding to the anxiety of the people from grounding in the divine values and principles that shaped them as a people and him as their leader, he reacted by abdicating his leadership role and instructed them to make a golden calf, which they could worship. As a poorly defined leader, Aaron let the anxieties of the herd take charge and proposed a quick-fix solution to the imagined problem they brought to him. When Moses confronted Aaron about what he did, he blamed the people instead of accepting responsibility. He even went so far as to give a completely passive explanation for the idol’s existence: “So, I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off’; so they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Moses himself failed in leadership in the face of the fears of the people at Kadesh-barnea. When the spies brought back a fear-laden report from the land God had commanded them to enter, the people said, “Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear” (Deut.1:28 NIV). Instead of responding to their fear of an imagined threat from the reality of God’s promise of protection, Moses reacted by caving in. The result, as you know, was that the people had to wander around in the wilderness until that faithless generation had died and Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land.
Contrast these two examples with the leadership of Jesus during his temptation in the wilderness, where he responded to Satan by managing his own inner being, during the occasion at Caesarea Philipi when Peter urged him to take another path than the one that would lead to the cross, and during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane when his struggle with anxiety was so intense that he sweated blood.
Maybe Lent can be a time for us to search ourselves and discover the anxieties that interfere with our life in community and our ability to remain calm when others around us are losing their heads. When we do that, the life of the emotional systems of which we are members become healthier and we become more human, because we make better use of the uniquely human part of our brain that allows reason to overcome the reactions that come from the more primitive parts of our brains.
I am aware that many of the things that emerge from those more primitive parts of the human brain are necessary for survival. But when we are faced with imaginary or even potential threats, we have the God-given resources and opportunities to more fully express our humanity. And, as St. Irenaeus once said, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive; and to be alive consists in beholding God.” It is God who calls us to live our lives from divine values and principles so that we can build up the Church, advance God’s reign on earth, and embrace God’s vision of a creation restored in God’s Son.
That’s a worthy objective for the observance of a holy Lent.
I’ll see you in Church!
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An Invitation
On Wednesday of this week, your Priests will read this invitation to keep a holy Lent from the Book of Common Prayer to those gathered at one of our three services (7:00 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 7:00 p.m.).
Dear People of God: The first Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church to prepare for them by a season of penitence and fasting. This season of Lent provided a time in which converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when those who, because of notorious sins, had been separated from the body of the faithful were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to the fellowship of the Church. Thereby, the whole congregation was put in mind of the message of pardon and absolution set forth in the Gospel of our Savior, and of the need which all Christians continually have to renew their repentance and faith.
I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.
This invitation is one you don’t want to decline!
Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent offer the faithful an opportunity to participate in an ancient discipline that promises spiritual growth and health. You'll be a better person and a better Christian if you take it seriously.
According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a forty-day liturgical period of prayer and fasting or abstinence for the followers of Jesus. In case you are counting the days on the calendar, you will notice that there are actually forty-six days from Ash Wednesday until Easter. That’s because of the forty-six days until Easter, six are Sundays. As the Christian sabbath, Sundays IN Lent are not included in the fasting period and are instead "feast" days.
Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a celebration and reminder of human mortality, and as a sign of mourning and repentance to God. Ashes were used in ancient times to express mourning. Dusting oneself with ashes was the penitent's way of expressing sorrow for sins and faults. The ashes used are typically gathered from the burning of the palms from the previous year's Palm Sunday. Here, we burn them to make ashes when we gather for the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper.
What do we do with the Season of Lent? How do we keep Lent "holy?" How does it prepare us for the Easter Feast? The invitation itself provides the answers.
By Self-examination and Repentance
Each of us is equipped with something called a conscience. It is the part of our mind that allows us to distinguish right from wrong, truth from falsehood, good from evil. During Lent, we take more time than usual to examine our consciences and, when we find something for which we are sorry, we repent. One meaning of repentance is to feel or show that you are sorry for something bad or wrong that you did and that you want to do what is right. In Jesus’ preaching, repentance also meant to change course toward the abundant life God offers. We turn from that which leads to death and toward that which leads to new life in Christ.
By Prayer, Fasting, and Self-denial
Any important relationship depends on good communication. Our relationship with Christ is no exception. Prayer is the primary way we communicate with Christ. We pray privately and as a Christian community during corporate worship. If you have fallen out of the habit of daily prayer weekly Holy Communion, Lent is a good time to return to Church! And, by the way, this applies to our children as well as adults. Remember those promises we made on their behalf at the time of their Baptism? They are on this journey with us and they look to their parents and other adults to help them find God's way.
Fasting is a type of prayer. It has sometimes been called “the prayer of the body” because when we refrain from some physical pleasure or craving, our body literally cries out. Those “hungers” remind us of places in our lives where we have substituted things and experiences for what comes only from God. So, our bodies cry out for God to feed our deeper hungers.
By denying ourselves, we also are better able to identify with our sisters and brothers who don’t have shelter or enough to eat or adequate care for their mental and physical health. Self-denial can, therefore, prompt compassion in us and that can lead to seeking ways in which we can reach out to those in need, more intentionally seek peace and justice in our world, and respect the dignity of every human being.
By Reading and Meditating on God’s Word
Lent is a time when we can start or resume a discipline of daily Bible reading. We can follow the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer and the readings provided in the lectionary for those services. We can take the Bible Challenge, or join a Bible study group. We can take the readings for the Sunday services more seriously in the days leading up to or following Sundays.
As Episcopalians, we search the Scriptures through the lenses of tradition and reason. Generally speaking, tradition is the historic and evolving teaching of the Church. Reason gives us the ability to explore, to question, and to apply the meaning of Scripture to the way we live. As we journey through this forty-day season, we can take a fresh look at the ancient texts that have transformed the lives of multitudes and appropriate them for ourselves.
These are the things the Church calls us to do to keep Lent “holy” – a time that is especially set apart to attune our lives to God’s and a time to ask God to do with us more than we can possibly do with ourselves. This holy time helps us continue on the journey with God. In last Sunday's gospel, we heard how Peter wanted to stop the procession when Jesus was transfigured and stood on the mountaintop with Moses and Elijah. But Jesus pointed down the road. We have not yet arrived at our destination. There is more to come and Jesus Christ invites us to continue the journey with him. Then, at the end of Lent, when we reach the celebration of Christ's triumph over death, we'll have a greater appreciation for the depth and power of God's love for us. Please don’t pass up this opportunity.
I’ll see you in Church!
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Worship for Life
Lex Orandi is a worshiping community that gathers on Sunday evenings at Christ
Church Cranbrook for a meal and worship. The experience is sometimes described as "Ancient Future Worship."
Last Sunday evening, Bishop Gibbs and Canon Gettel were with us at Lex Orandi to begin a conversation about the next steps for this worshiping community as their founding spiritual leader, The Rev. Jim Hamilton, goes to another place of ministry in the Diocese of Maryland. It was a very good beginning, with a wonderful openness and lots of listening. The conversation will continue in the coming weeks.
After sharing some of his own spiritual journey with us, one member of the Lex Orandi community said, “Worshiping with this community helps me live my life better.” That was one of the most important things expressed during the conversation. It might be the effect any Christian community should hope to have on the lives of those who worship with them. Reflected in what this pilgrim said is not only the richness and wonder of the liturgy but also evidence of an abundance of hospitality where worshipers are able to be vulnerable and feel at home. They don’t have to “fit in” to feel that they belong because they are invited to be themselves and experience the unconditional love of Christ.
I was reminded of some words from the Preface to Liturgy for Living, written by Charles Price and Louis Weil in 1979 at the time of the publication of what was then the “new” Book of Common Prayer:
The worship of the Christian community, properly understood and done, leads worshipers to act out in their lives the love of God, which is at the heart of our worship. Worship also provides the power and the sustenance, which makes this style of living possible. This Christian style of living, moreover, drives those who are committed to it back to the worship of God, to find forgiveness and strength…When this interdependent relationship is understood, the power of worship is illuminated and the power to live increased.
That is the meaning behind the name of this worshiping community. The Latin phrase Lex orandi, lex credendi, loosely translated, means "the law of praying is the law of believing.” It is an ancient Christian principle about the relationship between worship and belief. An early version of the maxim is found in the writings of Prosper of Aquitaine (c. 390 – c. 455), a Christian writer and disciple of Saint Augustine of Hippo. He wrote, “Let us consider the sacraments of priestly prayers, which having been handed down by the apostles are celebrated uniformly throughout the whole world and in every catholic Church so that the law of praying might establish the law of believing." * The principle guided Thomas Cranmer as he prepared the first Book of Common Prayer and it has guided those entrusted with subsequent revisions.
The love of God at the heart of Christian worship leads worshipers to act out the love of God in their lives. Worship teaches us to live. That’s why the discipline of weekly corporate worship is so necessary for the Christian journey. Our prayers shape our beliefs and our beliefs shape our lives. During the Epiphany season, I often begin the blessing of the congregation with these words from The Book of Occasional Services: "May Christ, the Son of God, be manifest in you, that your lives may be a light to the world."
I hope every person who enters a Christian house of worship and participates in worship with a community gathered there will be able to say, “Worshiping with this community helps me live my life better.” And we can all say an enthusiastic, "AMEN!"
I’ll see you in Church!
* Patrologia Latina [Latin Patristic] 51, pp. 209–10