My Blog

Category: Jackson, Mississippi

  • Strategies for Summertime Spirituality

     

    Memorial Day signals opening of swimming pools, buzz cuts for boys, weekday outings to museums and zoos, homemade ice cream, watermelon season, an upswing in agricultural enterprises, and the beginning of summer vacations. We also start the summer slump in churches across America, with a decline in attendance and anxious messages from church treasurers about cash flow because offerings go down when the people are not there.

    On several occasions, I have tried to counteract the summer slump. Call me a die hard, but I’m going to try again. Any success at all is better than none when it comes to reminding God’s Holy People what our relationship with the world is supposed to be.

    St. Paul put it this way, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2). Jesus called his followers to be light and salt and leaven in the world (Matthew 5 and 13). Light, salt, and leaven are agents of transformation – light dispels darkness, salt adds flavor, and leaven causes the dough to rise. When the agents of transformation are present, things are no longer the same. Through our prayers and our lifestyle, we are God’s change agents.

    With that in mind, I have a few suggestions for how to enjoy summertime while still fulfilling our sacred purpose.

    Maintain the spiritual discipline of worship. If you are home on Sunday morning, your presence in worship with your community of faith helps keep the emphasis on God, both for you and for your fellow worshipers. HERE is St. Andrew's Cathedral's Summer Sunday Morning Schedule. When you are there, you are making a statement – a witness – that God’s reign in your life is not suspended just because it is summertime. Vacationers may be visiting our church while you are out of town. You may also use the time in worship to contemplate the different things you are doing/seeing/experiencing during the summer.

    Find a church in which to worship while traveling.  While you are in a different place, you may discover new friends, new ideas, and elements of diversity you have not known before. Maybe you can bring something back that will enrich the life of your own community of faith. The churches you visit will have an opportunity to extend their hospitality to you and hear about the church you love back home. If you have children or youth who will be traveling with you, ask them to get on the internet and find a church where your family can worship “wherever you may be.” Check The Episcopal Church Asset Map.

    Don’t send your pledge on vacation. The operational costs of your church continue even when you are not there. In warmer locations, such as Jackson, the costs increase significantly because of the need for air conditioning and watering. There is no legitimate reason why church leaders should have to experience anxiety over cash shortfalls in the summer (or anytime of year for that matter). Make it a matter of faithful stewardship to bring or send your contribution before you leave on vacation. Or, if you forget, you may still mail a check or use online banking to get your gift to the altar while you are away.

    Get involved in ministries you don’t normally have time for. If summertime affords you a little extra free time or a slower pace, use some of that time to serve Christ and the Church. Summertime may open up some new possibilities for you in the ministries of the Cathedral or one of our community partners and blessings will flow into our lives.

    Remember us when you are away! We’d love to know what you are experiencing in the places where you are traveling. Social media is a great way to share your experiences and discoveries with us. Cut out and take Flat Andy along and include him in some photos, then post them to @standrewsjxn so we can see.

    Whatever you do, think God! Be intentional about your spiritual journey. Begin and end your days with prayer, so that, in all the cares and occupations of our life, we may not forget God, but remember that we are ever walking in God’s sight. Look for signs of God’s hand at work in the world around you. Habits that affect the rest of your life can be formed during a three-month period. Don’t let a hiatus become a habit!

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

  • Deep Breathing Exercises

    Approximately sixteen times every minute we human beings do something we all take for granted…we breathe. About sixteen times every minute we inhale and exhale air, and we usually do it without a second thought. The process started at birth and will continue until we draw our last breath. Breathing was a deep mystery to the ancients, before we learned about the biological process. And, like all mysteries, breathing has been an integral part of the religions of the Tibetans, the Indians, the Chinese, and the Japanese. It was a feature of the cults of the Egyptians. We see it also in the Bible. The ancient Hebrews used the word wind, the breath, in context with soul. In the Biblical account of creation, we read that, “God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life and he became a living soul.” In the NT, the Greek word pneuma is used in speaking of the human soul. Our word, spirit, is from the Latin verb spirare, which means “to breathe.”

    Jesus gave a breath of fresh air to his disciples. On the first Easter Day, he came into the place where the disciples were, breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” It was this same breath of fresh air the disciples received on the Day of Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection. This Holy Breath in turn came out of the apostles that day as they witnessed and preached so that those around them heard in their own languages. On this Day of Pentecost, I’m here to tell you we dare not take this spiritual breathing for granted because the quality of our breathing affects the quality of our lives – our health, moods, energy, creativity. Likewise, our spiritual lives are dependent upon the breath of God supplying the invisible virtues that are necessary for spiritual health, moods, energy, and creativity. How can we be more receptive to the breath of God?

    First, we can seek inspiration. Most of my life, I have associated inspiration with enlightenment. In a sense, this association is correct. But, in another sense, inspiration refers to something else. When Rhabanus Marurus wrote the Veni Creator Spiritus in the 8th century, he had this “something else” in mind. In this hymn, which has become one of the beloved canticles of the Christian liturgy, we sing “Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire, and lighten with celestial fire.” Inspiration and illumination are segregated in his thought as two essential aspects of the work of the Spirit.

    To inspire is to breathe in. If you want to be more receptive to the Breath of God, take a deep breath. The result will be new life. The psalmist celebrated inspiration: “When you take away their breath, they die…but when you give them breath, they are created, you give new life to the earth…” Corrie Ten Boom spoke of inspiration this way: “I have a glove here in my hand. The glove cannot do anything by itself, but when my hand is in it, it can do many things. True, it is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts. We are gloves. It is the Holy Spirit in us who is the hand, who does the job. We have to make room for the hand so that every finger is filled.”

    And, if you want the Holy Spirit in your life, try conspiracy. The late theologian John Courtney Murray effectively used the word conspiracy in its root sense. The word literally means to breathe together. That’s what Pentecost was – a conspiracy, not in the sense of a sinister gathering for dark purposes, but as a consensus for good, a breaking down of barriers, a breathing together. Have you ever sat with someone else and tried to breathe together? I recall sitting with a group of about 15 people around the bed of my father during the final hour of his life. He was struggling for breath so hard that the bed shook. After the longest time of silence, one man put his hand to his chest and said, “we’re all trying to breathe for him.” In a real sense, we were.

    We frequently breathe in unison when we are singing or reciting a creed or prayer, together. Whenever we join together in the conspiracy of Christian fellowship, worship, and service, the Holy Spirit has a chance to move among us, uniting our hearts and minds in a consensus. And, the breathing that is usually so silent, begins to sound like the rush of a mighty wind. When we open ourselves to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, we are also drawn to one another.

    Finally, for the breathing process to be complete, it has to be respiration. Breathing in is only half of the process. Breathing out is also necessary. We need to pay attention to what we are breathing out because just a second earlier, it was what we were breathing in. If we breathe in hate, it will probably be hate when we breathe it out. If we breathe in peace (as Jesus disciples did) it will probably be peace when we breathe it out.

    If we are constantly putting ourselves in a place where we can breathe in the Breath of God together, it will not be long before we will be breathing out the Breath of God in the world around us. Magnifying Christ and proclaiming the good News of what God has done, offering hope in the face of despair, peace in the face of hatred, comfort in the face of pain and suffering, and the eternal God in the face of the uncertainties of human existence. Elizabeth Barrett Browning once wrote, “He lives most life whoever breathes most air.” Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Let us make a new resolve to join with one another in the greatest deep breathing exercise ever known – to receive the Holy Spirit, let our lives bear the Spirit’s fruit, dream dreams, see visions, and experience the mighty works of God first-hand by becoming one of them!

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

  • The Flesh Became Word

    SAC Ascension Window

    Ascension Window – St. Andrew's Cathedral

    We are in the days leading up to the Day of Pentecost and in a period sometimes known as Ascensiontide. The Ascension (Luke 24:44-53  / Acts 1:1-11) is probably not the best known of the feast days on the calendar, but it is one that takes on increasing depth and importance the more you think about it and experience it.

    The Ascension is not about gravity, or the physical location of heaven, or any of that. It is about God.  In fact, even though it comes toward the end of Eastertide, the Ascension is most closely related in meaning to Christmas. At Christmas we celebrate the Incarnation, God becoming flesh and living among us. 

    What was begun at Christmas is brought full circle and proclaimed again in a different way at the Ascension. In the Incarnation, what it means to be God became fully a part of what it means to be a human being. In Jesus, the human and the divine become united in the person and life of one man. In the Ascension, this human being became a part of who God is.

    It was not the spirit of Jesus, or the essence of Jesus, or the divine nature of Jesus, or the invisible part of Jesus, or the idea of Jesus, or anything like that, that ascended to the Father. It was the resurrected body of Jesus: a body that the disciples had touched, a body that ate and drank with them, a real, physical, but gloriously restored body-bearing the marks of nails and a spear. This humanity has become a living, participating part of Divinity.

    The Ascension tells us that it is a good and holy thing to be a human.  It is so good and holy a thing that God became human. The fullness of God now includes what it means to be a human being.

    So we are able to approach God with confidence and with joy. Because we are not only dealing with the Creator of the universe and the Sovereign of all time and of eternity; we are also drawing near to the One who lived our life, has shared our fate, who knows us, and cares about us.

    I'll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

    P.S. You just can't beat Charles Wesley when you need a hymn for an occasion like Ascension Day!  Here's  the Choir of Tewkesbury Abbey singing his rousing hymn Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise. (Be patient, the audio file loads slowly.)

     

     

  • A Call to Prayer for All People

     


    Next week on May 9, we celebrate the 81st anniversary of the dedication of the Richard Howard Green Memorial Chimes in the West Tower of St. Andrew’s Cathedral. There are eleven bells in this set, the largest weighing 1,685 pounds and the smallest weighing 125 pounds. They were cast by the Old Meneely Bell Foundry of Watervliet, New York in 1936 specifically for our Cathedral. The bells were installed in 1937.

    An inscription is cast on the Great Bell. It reads, “To the Glory of God / And for call to prayer for all people / The Gift of / Richard Howard Green, Junior Warden / Entered into Rest October 1, 1936.”

    Mr. Green was a long and loyal member and vestryman of St. Andrew's. He made provision for the installation of the bells and was active in selecting them. Death robbed him of the joy of hearing them with earthly ears. However the Trustees took responsibility for the installation of the bells and had them named the Richard Howard Green Memorial Chimes.

    These bells are a part of the historic richness of Downtown Jackson, Mississippi. They chime the hour and play a tune several times a day as well as on special occasions.

    Beginning this Sunday, we will resume the custom of beginning worship services in the Cathedral by ringing one of these bells. Following the Prelude, when you hear the bell, it signals that it is time to stand for the singing of the Processional Hymn.

    I’ll see you in Church! St. Andrew's Bells

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

  • What I Like Most About The Episcopal Church

    Eight years ago, I launched a Facebook page called "Unapologetically Episcopalian." My motivation was to provide a safe place where people could share good things about The Episcopal Church during a time when our Church was experiencing quite a bit of conflict. As of today, almost 61,000 people have "liked" this page and shared their love of this Church. Our covenant of conduct there is simple. It comes from St. Paul's letter to the Church at Philippi. "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Phil. 4:8).

    Recently, when I was discussing Unapologetically Episcopalian with someone, I was asked what aspects of the Episcopal Church I value and find life-giving and what about it calls me deeper into my relationship with God. I'd like to share my answer with you.

    EpiscopallogoThe Episcopal Church fosters communities of followers of Jesus Christ where “all sorts and conditions of people” are welcome and no one is an outcast. Those communities encourage each person to be transformed by openness to the wonder and mystery of God’s hand at work in the universe in which we live. Our corporate worship and sacramental life give us sustenance for the spiritual journey and for service to the world.  By promoting the dynamic relationship of scripture, tradition, and reason, the Episcopal Church provides a broad “middle way” that allows diversity, resists dogmatic certainty, and encourages thoughtful conversation about what God is calling us to be and do. Our oneness and our mission are not grounded in uniformity of belief, but in gathering for a feast at the invitation of the One who is the Way, Truth, and Life we seek.

    Because of our roots in The Church of England, The Episcopal Church is also an Anglican Church. As Anglicans, our descent from the Early Church is as direct as that of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. At the same time, we share a common heritage with Reformed churches. There are many desirable aspects of this “middle way” and three of them are especially important in my own journey to find and be found by God.

    The Book of Common Prayer – The Book of Common Prayer is unique to our Anglican heritage and central to our structure and practice. The Book of Common Prayer provides a framework for our common life by providing central instructions in the Christian faith, requirements for our liturgical and sacramental life, and guidance for living as Anglican Christians. Certainly, we have canons that govern many aspects of our corporate life. But our unity is grounded not in polity but in common prayer. The Church forms and shapes us individually as Christians and the prayer book provides the necessary cohesiveness that preserves corporate faith and order.

    Our approach to reading and interpreting the Holy Bible – Avoiding biblical literalism and affirming the necessity of looking at scripture through the lenses of reason and tradition are hallmarks of our Anglican heritage. We read and interpret the Bible for ourselves, but within the context of a gracious and redemptive community where our interpretations are tested and refined using this approach. This helps us avoid not only error but also the narrow judgmentalism and pharisaism that has driven many away from life in Christ. Our approach to scripture helps us explore both ancient truth and God’s unfolding self-disclosure in our own place and time.

    The possibility of following a spiritual path within an organized church – I find myself in company with many souls in this emerging era who are seeking to be a part of a diverse, inclusive, authentic community of believers with whom they can approach spiritual concerns, wrestle with doubt, live with mystery, and cope with ambiguity. People are not looking so much for answers as for other souls with whom they can explore their own stories at the intersection with the story of humanity and with the ancient story of faith in God. The openness of the Episcopal Church to questions, fresh revelations, and ancient teachings is inviting to me and will be inviting to the emerging generation of people on their spiritual journeys.

    It's not a perfect Church. But it has a lot to commend it for anyone seeking an open minded, inclusive, non-dogmatic approach to being a Follower of Jesus Christ.

    I'll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

     

  • Good Shepherd Sunday

    The Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday every year.  Our collect and readings remind us that in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament, the middle eastern shepherd is a metaphor for the divine nature.

    Like the flocks they tended, the shepherds of the Bible were often dirty and woolly, enduring sun and rain for days or weeks on end. But unlike their flocks, they were vigilant and uncomplaining, watching for danger and trouble, providing pasture and allaying thirst.   The shepherd knew his flock as no one else. And the sheep followed him “because they know his voice.” The-Gate-esize-1

    Jesus says, "I lay down my life for the sheep." A little earlier in the Gospel of John, he speaks of himself as “the gate for the sheep.” Some scholars contend that shepherds of the period would often place their own bodies across the small opening of the sheep enclosure at night and during times of danger, risking their lives for the sake of their flock. Perhaps it is this image of the shepherd as human gate that Jesus has in mind with this metaphor, his own presence stretched out and bridging our  insecurities. "I lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:15b). "I am the gate. Whoever enters by me," he assures us, "will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture" (John 10:9).

    Sometimes we are like lost sheep. We live in a world where it is easy to lose direction, to lose our bearings, and to lose a sense of who we are and where we are going. It is easy to go astray. It is then that we are most vulnerable to the “thieves and bandits” of the world. We are also most vulnerable to the more destructive animal instincts that lurk in every human heart, such as hatred, anger, and violence. 

    Week by week, we come to the Paschal Banquet ready to keep the feast, eager to partake of God's abundance, and to be nourished for the journey ahead. But the world is still a dangerous place. The human heart listens for the voice of the Shepherd who brings peace and God’s reconciling love. He is the Living Gate through whom we pass as we come to be fed and as we go back out to feed others in his Name.

    I'll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

  • Seedtime in Mississippi

    MS Farmland 2Last week on a beautiful Mississippi spring day, I drove to Amite and Jefferson counties to do some family history research. On my return to Jackson, I drove through rich farmland where the soil has recently been prepared for planting of the seeds that will result in a bountiful harvest for the farmers who work those fields.

    I also drove on the Natchez Trace where the pine trees on either side of the road were pollinating. It was an amazing sight to see all that pollen swirling in the breeze like smoke. I noticed that all of last year’s cones, which were so numerous just a short time ago, have fallen to the ground. All that pollen and all those seedpods, the warmth of the sun, the rising of the sap, and the wind are some of the instruments the Creator has provided for the continuation of this species of tree. I know it’s about the same for other trees, but observing the pollination of these pine trees provided me with an epiphany on that day.

    NT Pine TreesThose seedpods speak of abundance in nature. These trees produce far more seeds than are needed to ensure the continuation of the species. That’s the way it is with the natural world. The Creator has provided more than enough!

    Speaking of trees and seeds, I’m reminded of Johnny Appleseed. He was a real person, not just a Disney character. I have visited his grave in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. His real name was John Chapman. The inscription on his headstone reads, “He lived for others.” This humble nurseryman went around sowing seeds, planting nurseries and orchards, and preaching. He sowed a lot of seed in his lifetime. His life had meaning and hope because he relied on the principle that “Anybody can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed.” He had a theology of abundance.

    Oh, there are plenty of people in our world who don’t have free access to the abundance God intends for them. Their condition can almost always be attributed to other human beings who have inhibited their access to abundance. How can they help living their lives from a perspective of scarcity when that’s the kind of world others have presented to them? Others for whom plenty is never enough. Others who hoard, control, and withhold. Others who value “mine” over “ours.” These are the ones Jesus to whom Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did not do it to me” (Matthew 25:40).

    Our Christian teaching tells us that God created an amazing universe that is chock full of everything a human being could ever need. Then, God created the human being and gave the human being something that has been given to no other creature, the vocation of stewardship. Loosely translated, God said, “Welcome to my world! Everything you’ll ever need is here. It will sustain your life and give you joy. I’ve created you with godlike qualities so that you can be partners with me in the ongoing process of creation. Now use your special gifts and your unique place as my personal representatives to care for it, manage it, and be sure that nobody is ever deprived of the life-giving abundance of my creation.”

    Episcopal Relief and Development is an agency of our Church that is representing us in efforts to open access to God’s abundance in some very impoverished places around the world. In some of those places, Episcopal Relief and Development uses a kind of micro-financing program that is based on a bartering system. A farmer borrows a bag of seeds, plants them, and returns two bags of seed after the program. Obviously, the crop produces so many more seeds that the farmer is able to pay 100% interest and still have more than enough for food and market. Only God can count that high!

    Equipped with an abundance of seeds, human intelligence and ingenuity, a theology of abundance, and the vocation to be stewards of everything God has provided, just imagine what God can accomplish through us! Pine-cones

    Where is the abundance in your life? Where are the seeds God wants to place in your hands so you can steward them to fruition? Do you have a fear of scarcity that needs to be healed so your eyes can be opened to see how generously God has provided?

    God, who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. -II Corinthians 9:10

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

     

  • The Paschal Candle

    At the beginning of the Great Vigil of Easter a “new fire” is ignited and blessed with this prayer: SAC Paschal Candle 2018

    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 Hebrew word Pesach, meaning 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 or gold wax nails, the Greek letters Alpha and Omega, and the number of the current year. The five nails are symbolic of the five “glorious wounds” on Christ’s crucified body. The Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, remind us that Christ is the beginning and the end of creation. The number of the year represents the “today” in “Christ, the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

    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 a 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 be placed in the center aisle and burn at all services during the Great Fifty Days of Easter as well as at Baptisms and funerals. It reminds us that the Risen Christ was with his disciples for forty days before his Ascension. It also signifies presence of the Risen Christ and his call to the Baptized to bear his light in the world. Sometimes, on Easter, the candle stand is adorned with flowers, as our Cathedral Flower Guild has so beautifully adorned ours.

    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. In 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 may 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!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

  • Holy Week – Reminder of Our True Identity

    In Baptism, we are incorporated into the Paschal Mystery. That is, we are incorporated into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. His life is our life. His death is our death. His resurrection is our resurrection. It is for this reason that Christians observe Holy Week every year. It is a commemoration intended to put us in touch with that life which the world can neither give nor take away. It is a time to look at the Paschal Mystery and to recover our true identity, our authentic self, in him.

    Five hundred years before Jesus rode into Jerusalem, Zechariah prophesied that the Messiah would be a king. Since the time of the Exile, no Jewish ruler had borne the title of king. “Look, your king is coming to you. Rejoice, rejoice, people of Zion” (Zech. 9:9). The time was just right and the people were happy that day to acknowledge it.

    They wished to crown him their king. In their enthusiasm, they missed the paradox. They saw the glory but overlooked the shadow. But Jesus was conscious of both.

    He knew who he was so the acclamations of the crowd did not impress him. He saw that their palm branches cast the shadow of a cross. He sensed that the kingly crown they were offering to him that day would become a crown of thorns by the end of the week. Jesus knew that the identity the world offered was not a secure identity, not a legitimate identity, and certainly not a dependable identity. No, for Jesus, the only true identity is consciousness of who we are in the eyes of our Creator.

    To the disciples, on the next weekend, it must have looked like the world’s biggest failure, a cruel joke. Imagine being sucked in to a group like “the Twelve.” To them “the Way” must have appeared more like a primrose path. Because they were still so dependent upon the things of the world for their sense of identity, they had to be the most embarrassed people around Jerusalem.

    Then came Easter. Out of the tomb came the Risen Messiah with his identity still intact. “He is risen!” is shorthand for Jesus’ message of resurrection:

    Behold, I have overcome the world. Behold, I died and I am alive. Behold, who you are need never again depend upon who you know, what you wear, where you live, what you do, how much you possess, or even what people say about you. Because I live, you will live also. You will experience new life in me and you will be able to face the popularity contest the world is running with confidence that you don’t really have to enter it in order to find out who you are. Here is my crown. It is yours! Take it! And believe me when I tell you that this crown of glory, which is both mine and yours, will never fade away.

    Who and whose we truly are – that’s what Holy Week and Easter are all about.

    I’ll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi

     

     

  • The Way of the Cross – The Path of Obedience

    We are about to observe the last week in the life of Jesus. One of the most poignant passages we will read during this Holy Week is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Church at Philippi:

    Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross.

    Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Phil. 2:5-11

    I am struck by the description of the depth of Jesus’ obedience “to the point of death – even death on a cross.” His journey, especially during the days leading up to the Crucifixion, was a journey of obedience. That gets right to the heart of Holy Week, doesn’t it?

    We know that the journey was not without its moments for Jesus. He prayed about it until he sweated blood. The temptation to take another path, to escape, to avoid the cross, was always there. But he knew his mission and was obedient to the One who had set this path before him.

    By his obedience to that higher vocation, Jesus was able to overcome his inner conflict. By his commitment to the mission entrusted to him, he was able to remain steadfast until he fulfilled it. By his discipline in the midst of confusion, he was able to discern the way forward toward his redemptive objective.

    In the story Ninety-three, Victor Hugo tells of a ship caught in a violent storm. When the storm was at its height, the frightened crew heard a terrible crashing below. A cannon they were carrying had broken loose and was banging into the ship’s sides, tearing gaping holes with every smashing blow.

    Two men, at the risk of their lives, managed to secure the cannon again, for they knew that the loose cannon was more dangerous than the storm. The storm could toss them about, but the loose cannon within could sink them.

    So, too, the outside storms and problems of life aren’t the greatest danger. It’s the terrible destructiveness of a lack of obedience to the highest, best, and noblest dimensions of life that can send us to the bottom.

    The cross could have destroyed Jesus. But it didn’t because in humility he submitted himself to a discipline that kept him within the Divine Will. We could use some of his obedience in our own lives. Maybe some will rub off on us as we walk with him in the Way of the Cross during Holy Week, through the Crucifixion, into the Tomb, and into the glorious Resurrection on Easter. Let’s do it together!

    I'll see you in Church!

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ronald D. Pogue
    Interim Dean
    St. Andrew’s Cathedral
    Jackson, Mississippi