My Blog

Category: Theological e-piphanies

  • A Topic for a Month of Sundays

    In Year B of our Eucharistic Lectionary, the semi continuous reading of the Gospel of Mark is interrupted by a sequence of five excerpts from the sixth chapter of John on the Bread of Life. This happens once every three years and when it does, people in the pews ask why we spend so many Sundays hearing about Jesus Christ as the Bread of Life. It’s a great question and I hope my attempt at an answer will be almost as great, or at least helpful.

    Each one of the three synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – has its own year in the three-year Revised Common Lectionary. John is sprinkled around during Lent, Christmas, and a couple of other times. Because of this, there is no really suitable niche for the important teaching on the Bread of Life. Since our lectionary is a Eucharistic lectionary, it would be inconceivable for those who developed the lectionary to omit this important discourse in the three-year cycle. They decided to interrupt the semi continuous reading of the Gospel of Mark at the point when Mark is about to recount the story of the feeding of the multitude in order to give us John’s more elaborate account.

    We are a Eucharist-centered Church and we need the instruction provided by the Bread of Life Discourse of John’s Gospel in our Eucharistic lectionary. It is so important and so powerful that we devote five Sundays in a row to explore the depth of its message.

    This Sunday, we will read the account of Jesus’ feeding of the multitude at the beginning of the sixth chapter. As we continue to read from this chapter for the next four Sundays, we will examine John’s indirect account of the Eucharist. Bear in mind that in John’s report of the Last Supper there is no mention of the bread and wine.

    The crowds that both witnessed and participated in the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes didn’t really understand that Jesus came to give more than the bread that satisfies physical hunger. In this discourse, he refers to himself again and again as “The Bread of Life.”

    Jesus is inviting everyone to eat this living bread. The bread our Hebrew ancestors in the faith ate in the wilderness sustained them in their journey. The Living Bread, Jesus Christ, is food that sustains the cosmos – not just our tribe, or race, or nation, but the cosmos!

    That means that if we feast at the table with The Bread of Life, we are not the only invitees. There are others, many of whom are not like us, some of whom we don’t like, and plenty with whom we will disagree.

    Several years ago when I was a Canon at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, Texas, I was giving a tour to a confirmation class from one of the parishes in the Diocese of Texas. We were exploring the Chancel and the Sanctuary when some of the youth spotted the needlepoint cushions on the Altar rail. I asked if they could figure out the meaning of the symbols on those cushions. One boy said, “That cross and crown in the middle is probably Jesus and the other twelve symbols represent his disciples gathered around the table with him.” That seemed like a pretty satisfactory answer, until a girl pointed out that one of the symbols looked for all the world like the symbol for Judas Iscariot. “He doesn’t belong here?” she said. “He betrayed Jesus.”

    I pointed out to the class that a number of ladies from the Cathedral had painstakingly and lovingly applied every single stitch by hand on those cushions and that I would be very cautious about telling them that one of the symbols didn’t belong there. “If that’s Judas and they went to so much trouble to include him, I wonder what that might mean for us?”

    After some conversation, one young man said, “Maybe it means that God’s love big enough to include Judas along with the rest of us.”

    My response was to suggest that there will be times when we come to the Altar to dine with Jesus, the Bread of Life, and notice someone we can’t abide kneeling beside us or across from us. “When that happens,” I said, “remember this moment and remember that the same divine Love that welcomes you to this feast welcomes others who need it just as much.” After all, as someone has said, the bread that Jesus gives for the life of the universe (John 6:51) is multigrain.

    John 6:51 says that those who eat of this bread will “live forever.” That is the consistent translation in almost all the versions of the Bible. However, some scholars point out that the literal translation of the Greek text says we will “live into the age.” The “age” – eternal life, abundant life, kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven – is a state of being where we live with God who is both in and beyond time and space. When we feast upon the Bread of Life, we are living into this divine cosmic reality. It nourishes us for the ways we touch and change that reality.

    So, in this banquet, we all become one body not because we all agree or because we all are alike. We become one body because we share in one bread – the Living Bread, Jesus, who is present for us in a wonderful and mysterious way in this banquet that is happening in the here and now and at the same moment in the age into which we are living, with faith, hope, and love. This Bread of Life is our true sustenance. As we are fed, so we are sent to feed others.

    It really is going to be good to spend a month of Sundays on this topic!

    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 Sacrament of Failure

    Several years ago, when I was jogging along the Seawall in Galveston one morning, I noticed that someone had written the following message with chalk in large letters:

    The Race Goes Not Always to The Swift. . .But to Those Who Keep On Running.

    Encouragement! Someone put those words there to encourage people who were running the race. Don’t give up! Keep on keeping on! There is value in the running of the race. There is victory in completing it.

    When Jesus sent the twelve apostles out on their mission, he let them know that not everyone would welcome them. “If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them” (Mark 6:11).

    Encouragement! Jesus gave them those words to encourage them to continue in their mission even when they were not welcomed. A friend of mine once called this “the sacrament of failure.” Jesus gave his apostles permission to fail and an outward sign that would help them leave that failure behind and continue in their mission.

    The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews also knew there is value in running the race to its completion. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

    Encouragement! Both Jesus and the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews intended their words to encourage Christ’s followers to keep on keeping on, because they knew there would be plenty of times when being Christian would be difficult.

    Faith Derickson echoes these words from Hebrews:

    Keep us faithful always to You
    Whatever the path we trod
    That we might run with patience, Lord,
    The race that is set before us.

    And through it all may we praise Your Name,
    For it is only by Your power,
    That we can run with patience, Lord,
    The race that is set before us.

    A missionary people need encouragement to persevere in the work of Christ. He’s in it with us. Every age and mission outpost has its challenges. If we will continue to faithfully put one foot in front of the other, Jesus will provide what is needed to endure and to transcend the challenges. When we fail trying, he will keep us from settling into that failure and help us move on toward completion.

    As my wife, Gay, often reminds me, “Life is not about falling down. . .it’s about getting up and trying again.” Let us always encourage one another to continue in the life and work of 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

    P.S. I did a little online research and found the quote in a number of places with an anonymous attribution. However, I believe it may be a paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 9:11 “Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to the skilful; but time and chance happen to them all.”

     

     

  • Protect the Children First, Then the Border

    On several occasions during the past weeks, I have commented and asked questions regarding the new policy of President Trump that separates children from their parents along the southern border of the United States of America. Several people have asked if I don’t hold the parents accountable for putting these children in harm's way and bringing them across the border. My answer is, “I certainly do.” Here’s what I mean.

    Among the stories that form and shape our faith, there are certain stories that rise to the level of paradigms. Paradigmatic stories in the Hebrew Scriptures and in the New Testament are told again and again to shape the faith of a people. Two of those faith-forming stories directly address the responsibility of parents protecting their children.

    The first is the story of the Hebrew parents of a newborn son in Egypt who placed him in a waterproof basket and hid him in the tall grasses of the Nile because Pharaoh was threatened by the Hebrew slaves due to their large population (Exodus 2:1-10). He had ordered the murder of infant Hebrew children. It was an early example of population control. Pharaoh's daughter, who was bathing in the river, heard the baby cry, found him, and rescued him. She named him “Moses,” meaning “drawn from the water.”

    I hold the parents of Moses responsible for placing their son in harm’s way when a tyrant was murdering Hebrew children. They took extraordinary steps in desperate hope that his life would be spared. He grew up to lead God’s people out of the slavery into which he had been born.

    The second story is found in the Gospel According to Matthew (Matthew 2:13-15). Mary and Joseph had a son and named him Jesus. After the visit of the Magi, King Herod gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, “in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi” (Mt. 2:16). Joseph had a dream in which an angel warned him to flee (Mt. 2:13). So, Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus across the border into Egypt to save him. The life of Jesus was spared while Herod slaughtered many innocent children. 

    I hold the parents of Jesus responsible for placing their son in harm’s way when a tyrant was murdering Hebrew children. They took extraordinary steps in desperate hope that his life would be spared. He grew up to bring salvation not just to his own people, but to all people for all time.

    Beyond these biblical paradigms, there are other stories of parents putting their children in harm’s way in desperate hope that their lives would be spared. For example, English Colonists came to North America in the 17th an 18th Centuries fleeing tyrannical monarchs and undesirable conditions in England. Others colonists came also from other countries, seeking a better life.

    I hold the parents of those colonial children responsible for placing their children in harm’s way when conditions in their homelands had become unbearable. They took extraordinary steps in desperate hope that their lives would be spared and their future brighter.

    History is replete with accounts of parents fleeing danger and tyranny to save their lives and the lives of their children. These parents crossing our border have similar stories. Many of these families are walking and hitchhiking across Mexico in desperate hope of reaching the United States of America, where they will seek asylum and a new and brighter life. I hold them responsible for that. 

    In the past, our government has normally kept families together in detention facilities while their cases were being processed. The exception has been in those instances where minor children appeared to be in physical danger or were unaccompanied. Under this new policy, all children have been separated and placed in 100 detention facilities in 17 states, to remain there for an unspecified period and without a plan to ensure that they will be reunited with their parents.

    The President has signed an executive order to halt his earlier policy of separating children from parents. However, some 2,300 children and youth still remain separated from their parents, some under one year of age.

    Borders are the invention of human beings, not God-ordained. While I do hope our government finds reliable and just ways to secure our national borders, I don’t believe God cares about borders. However, I do believe that God cares about how we treat people who cross our borders.

    There are at least 97 passages of Scripture that address the treatment of foreigners. Here’s one: “When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God” (Ex. 19:33-34). The protection of the rights of aliens under the United States Constitution is grounded in that Scriptural admonition. In numerous instances, God’s people are admonished to care for foreigners, widows, and children. Jesus became indignant when his followers were trying to keep children from him. He commanded them to bring the children to him, “For it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs” (Mk. 10:13-16).

    In our Baptismal Covenant, we vow to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself” and to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” I don’t see how I can honor those vows and stand silent while these children are being separated from their parents.

    Those persons who are trying to bring order out of this chaos and care for these children are doing the best they can under very difficult circumstances. It is the separation from their parents that I believe is causing them harm, not the actions of their caregivers. I raise my voice to call upon our elected officials at every level and in all three branches of government to end the practice of separating children from parents whose only crime is crossing the border of our country.

    Attorneys and jurists are pointing out that these actions are not proportional to the crime. I join my voice with theirs.

    Elected officials are challenging the use of children to leverage immigration legislation. I join my voice with theirs.

    Historians and social scientists are calling our attention to the similarities of statements about criminals among the undocumented immigrant population and historical accounts of the Jim Crow era in our country. They are insisting that lies and hyperbole must not be used to foster fear and bigotry against a class or race of people. I join my voice with theirs.

    Physicians are speaking out about the harmful medical and psychological effects of “captivity trauma,” which these children are experiencing. They are calling for an end to this harmful practice. I join my voice with theirs.

    Our Presiding Bishop and most Bishops Diocesan, including our own Bishop Brian Seage, have spoken out against the policy and denounced it as immoral. Leaders of many other religious bodies have also denounced the policy and called on the government to return those children to their parents. They are also condemning the heretical misuse of sacred Scripture to justify the actions of the state as “ordained by God.” I join my voice to theirs.

    I hold these parents responsible for putting their children in harm's way in desperate hope of saving them and giving them a better life. That's what responsible parents do! For Christians, the family is sacred. This issue is, for Christians, first and foremost a spiritual and moral issue. It has become political because those values have been violated by our political leaders. It's not "who we are."

    Our government leaders have the ability to uphold our laws, protect our borders, and ensure that families are not separated. It doesn’t matter what political leaders put such a policy in place or what political party you belong to. The policy is contrary to the Scriptures and teachings of our faith. Please join me in calling on our leaders to find better, just, and effective ways to secure our borders.

    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.)

     

     

  • 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