Tag: Healing

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Sermon: Monica

We have discussed before that not all saints are born as the holiest of holy people, and many start out as quite sinful individuals. One such Saint is Augustine of Hippo. He is the patron saint of beer brewers because of his past habits before his conversion. Yet, he is now considered one of the preeminent Doctors of the Church, and it would be hard to find anyone who has influenced Christianity more than him outside of the Holy Scriptures. So, how did he go from a bad boy to a saint? There were many factors, but if you asked Augustine, he would probably say, “Momma.” We know her as Monica. However, Monica was not always a saint either.

She grew up in a Christian home, but not all the virtues seemed to be present in her life, and one area of concern ultimately led her to a deeper faith. She was responsible for going into the cellar to get the wine for family meals. As a child, she didn’t partake, but one day out of curiosity, she took a sip. Later, that sip became a cup, and eventually, she drank as much as she could. She was eventually found out by a servant who called her a “wine-bibber,” meaning a drunk. The comment made Monica so ashamed that she never drank liquor again, but she must have passed that taste onto her son Augustine.

At first, she would raise a fuss with him and scold him, but he simply ignored her pleas. However, with the help of a priest, she realized that this approach would only breed frustration and create a rift between her and Augustine. So, the priest suggested she try a different approach, which involved intercessory prayer, fasting, and vigils for her son. Later, she had a dream in which she was weeping over her son’s downfall, when suddenly an angel appeared and said, “But your son is with you.” When she told Augustine about the dream, he laughed and told his mother that they could be together if she would give up her Christianity. She replied, “The angel did not say that I was with you, but that you were with me.” That gave her the hope she needed, and she continued to pray. It took several years, but eventually Augustine converted and became one of the greats.

There is an incident in Mark’s Gospel where a young boy is said to have a demon that throws him down and harms him. The boy’s father brought him to Jesus’ disciples and asked them to heal his son. They tried, but were unsuccessful, so the man brought his son to Jesus, who was able to heal him. Later, in private, the disciples asked Jesus, “Why could we not cast it out?” He answered, “This kind can come out only through prayer and fasting.”

It would be wonderful if every time we offered intercessory prayers for healing, the person was healed immediately—and that can happen!—but more often, healing (which can take many forms: physical, spiritual, emotional) takes time. That was a lesson that both the disciples and Monica had to learn, and it is one we also need to be taught. In faith, we must believe that—regardless of the perceived outcome or lack of result—God is working, hearing the prayers of his people, and fulfilling those prayers according to his purposes.  

Monica did not become a saint because she performed great deeds or died violently as a martyr. Monica became a Saint because she prayed and she believed in God’s promises. That is a practice we can all follow. 

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Sermon: Epiphany 4 RCL B – “Be Silent!”

One of the great comedians was Red Skelton. He could bring down the house without a single foul word, but his wife tended to be the topic of more than a few one-liners.

“Two times a week, we go to a nice restaurant, have a little beverage, good food, and companionship. She goes on Tuesdays, I go on Fridays.

We also sleep in separate beds. Hers is in California, and mine is in
Texas.

I take my wife everywhere….but she keeps finding her way back.

I asked my wife where she wanted to go for our anniversary. ‘Somewhere I
haven’t been in a long time!’ she said. So I suggested the kitchen.”

He does concede that he is also to blame. He said, “The last fight was my fault, though. My wife asked, ‘What’s on the TV?’ He said, ‘Dust!’”

Like all married couples, they had their ups and downs, but there are those special few that seem to transcend the norms. Marriages where there are differences, but the love shared between the two is far greater than all those differences combined. Take a young couple from the Netherlands as an example.

As their names are Dutch, I don’t have a chance of pronouncing them correctly, so we’ll describe them as the Colonel and the Lady. During their lifetimes in the Netherlands, the separation between Protestants and Catholics was severe. Separate schools, hospitals, neighborhoods, and even sections of the cemetery were divided by an eight-foot wall. All of these rules of separation were strictly enforced. 

The Colonel was born and raised Protestant, and the Lady was Catholic. They shouldn’t have gotten along at all, so it created a great controversy when they decided to get married. Their love was greater, and despite the obstacles and objections, in 1842, they wed, living happily ever after for thirty-eight years until the Colonel’s death in 1880. Because he was born and raised Protestant, he was buried in the Protestant section of the cemetery. Eight years later, when the Lady died, she was to be buried in the family plot on the Catholic side, but she had other ideas. She had no intention of being separated from her husband, so she made arrangements to be buried next to the wall that separated the Protestant and Catholic sections of the cemetery. She then had their tombstones constructed tall enough so that a pair of hands could be joined over the top of the eight-foot dividing wall. (A picture is on the front of your bulletin.)

Remember a few weeks back when we talked about signs—as in signs and wonders? I would suggest that these joined tombstones are a sign. Something that is pointing to something even greater. They are a sign that demonstrates how, within the human soul, the love between two people can overcome many obstacles, which then points to how this same love can overcome the barriers between peoples. This love reaches over walls to meet the other and to bring healing to individuals, cultures, and nations. It is a sign that points outward—to something greater than one couple—but it is also a sign that points inward to the soul of each of us. That’s the direction I would like to focus on today—the healing of the soul—because within… it is almost like two people are living in each of us (No. I’m not schizophrenic.) 

This pointing inward relates to what St. Paul says in his letter to the Romans, “We know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:14-15) Within is a side that knows what God calls us to, and within—on the other side of the wall—there is a side that does whatever the heck it pleases. A life with God and a life in the world—both working independently and often having very different desires. However, our goal as a Christian people is to have those two operating together. Not so that our worldly side can drag down our faith but so that our faith and our life with God can cooperate and inform our life in the world. Within, we need to join hands over the wall so that our life in the world and our life of faith are in concert with one another.

For example, working in the world is necessary. We have jobs to do and responsibilities to our families and communities. Working in the world is not a bad thing; it is actually very good and beneficial, but while there, we don’t always act in a manner that reflects what we profess on Sunday morning. In the world, we may gossip, become angry, cheat, be uncharitable toward others, and so on. In our Baptismal Creed, we say we will “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves.” On Sunday, we love our neighbor. Monday through Saturday, all bets are off. That wall, a very solid division between our Sunday selves and our Monday through Saturday selves, keeps those two selves within us separated. What is curious—almost humorous, but not in a funny way—is that when our God side tries to reign in our world side, the world side gets a little bent out of shape.

Think about our Gospel reading. The man with the unclean spirit. What did the unclean spirit say when it encountered Jesus? “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” When our God side attempts to reign in our world side, our world side can sometimes say the same thing. “What have you got to do with us, Jesus? Your day is Sunday! This is a Thursday. Get back on your side of the wall!” That’s not how it is supposed to work. 

Jesus said, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15:19) We must live in the world, but we are from God, so our life in the world must reflect our life in God. Our life in the world and our life in God must reach over that wall and take hands so that they both follow the way that leads to eternal life in Jesus.

Jesus responded to the unclean spirit: “Be silent, and come out of him!” That must also be our response when the world part of us attempts to reign over God within us. “Be silent! You are not the one who rules over my life.” In doing so, we begin to bring healing to our souls. Repairing the brokenness within.

Have you noticed that some people cross themselves during the Lord’s Prayer when we pray, “Deliver us from evil?” Ever wonder why? 

The Lord’s Prayer is given to us in Matthew 6:9-13. The second part of verse 13 is “deliver us from evil,” but looking at the footnotes in most Bibles, you will see that this can be translated in two ways. The first is what we pray it. In that context, evil is very general, and we can take it to mean those bad things or people that come against us. However, the second way of translating the verse is “deliver us from the evil one.” (This is how the Eastern Orthodox churches pray it.) In this case, evil is not general. Instead, evil is very specific and personified. We cross ourselves as a means of blessing and protection from this evil one. Sometimes, as I pray that line, I take a little liberty with it and pray, “And lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one that is within me.” It is a way for me to say, “Be silent!” to the side of me that wants to rule over the ways of God. It is a way for God to reach over the internal wall and take the hand of the side of me that must be in the world and show it the way.

When you sense any voice attempting to lead you from the voice of God, speak to it clearly and boldly, “Be silent!” Then pray, “Deliver me from the evil one,” join hands with Jesus, and live out your faith in every aspect and every day—Monday through Sunday—of your life.

Let us pray: Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the Power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.  Amen.

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Sermon: Proper 15 RCL A – “Madness”

Photo by nikko macaspac on Unsplash

Ol’ Boudreaux had never been up in one of those flying machines until one day when some fella came along offering rides. All of Boudreaux’s friends put down their money and took the ride, but Boudreaux just couldn’t trust it. Finally, when his friends started calling him “chicken” and “scaredy cat,” Bou agreed. He got all strapped in, and the pilot took off. When the flight ended, everyone rushed up and asked how it went. Once he had a little nip and got his nerves back, he said, “It wasn’t too bad, but I never really trusted it, so I never put all my weight down in the seat.”

If I had a favorite televangelist, it would have to be Jesse Duplantis—kind of a crazy southern fella with plenty of stories. When I was living in Montana, Jesse came to the capital city for a revival, and I had to see him, so a friend and I drove up. It was everything I expected, except for the beginning. 

If you’ve ever watched one of the events, you know that they do all the preaching and shouting up front, and then at the end, they start the healing—lots of slapping on the foreheads and all that. However, Jesse did just the opposite. He always talked about “being sick and tired of being sick and tired,” so he had the healing service at the beginning. He said, “There’s no point in you sitting all the way through the sermon feeling sick and tired if I can heal you now.” So, he did.

I thought of that for two reasons. First, today, following the confession and before the peace, we will be offering the Sacrament of Unction—the sacrament of healing. For the record, I will not be slapping anyone on the forehead unless they need it. The second reason for telling you about Jesse is because this is back-to-church Sunday. The youth are back in school, and we begin to settle into more of a routine instead of all the goings on of summer. In a way, today is the beginning, and like Jesse, I thought we’d offer the healing up front instead of waiting.

Much is happening in today’s Gospel, but there is the healing of a little girl. A gentile woman came to Jesus and said, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” A discussion follows regarding Jesus’ mission on earth, but in the end, “‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.”

Unlike ol’ Boudreaux, who didn’t trust enough to put all his weight down, this woman did. Great is your faith—your trust—in God to do those things you ask.

I found a quote in my daily reading. It is from a 19th-century Russian mystic, Vladimir Soloviev. He said, “It is madness not to believe in God; it is the greater madness to believe in Him only in part.” (Source, August 15) It is madness not to fly. It is even greater madness not to put all your weight down. 

If you believe in God, then why do you not trust Him completely? Why do you “believe in Him only in part”? When you call out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David,” do you believe God will answer, or are you putting it out there just in case He’s in the mood?

Last week, I went down to Austin to visit friends. While there, I had a few hours to myself, so I did what we all do—I visited a church to pray a rosary. 

The church I selected was a Maronite Church. They are an Eastern Catholic Church instead of a Western (Roman) Catholic Church. Anyhow, I read up on them on the internet, saw that they were open, and it was only about a mile away, so I decided to walk.

Did I mention it was 105° and there was an excessive heat advisory? Yeah, Mr. Brilliant here. I take off. I arrive at the church soaking wet, sweat running off me, only to discover that the church is locked up tight. Only the office was open, and no one was around. I look around for a few minutes, then sit on a bench in the shade to cool off. Since I was there, I decided to go ahead and pray my Rosary and then call an Uber to get back to the hotel.

I made it through two decades of the Rosary and had not cooled down at all. It seemed I was only getting hotter, so my prayers were very distracted, and I didn’t feel like I could… connect, so I said to Mary, you could send me a nice cool breeze so I’ll know you’re there. It was more a silly prayer than a proper prayer.

About halfway through the third decade, I heard a noise and looked up. It was the priest (it turns out it was actually the Bishop.) He invited me to come inside and finish my prayers, and I quickly took him up on the offer. Somewhere along the fourth decade of the Rosary, I looked up and burst out laughing as the cool breeze of the air-conditioner blew on me. I never really expected Mary to send me a cool breeze, but she did. I believed, but I didn’t really believe. I never really sat down.

When you call out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David,” regardless of whether or not you think your request is silly or not, go ahead and sit all the way down. Know that your words are being heard and that your Father in Heaven is answering. 

Let us pray: O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness, and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of Your presence, Your love, and Your strength. Help us to have perfect trust in Your protecting love and strengthening power so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for living close to You, we shall see Your hand, Your purpose, and Your will through all things. Amen.

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