I have shared a quote from Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey with you in the past: โThe Church is not the society of those labeled virtuous. It is the mixed community of sinners called to be saints.โ Unfortunately, the Church can sometimes be more sinner than saint.
The Reformation in the English Church was more political before it was theological, and the issues between the monarch and the Pope were going on long before Henry VIII, but it very much came to a head during Henryโs reign.
The theological issues had to do with Luther and the protestant message, but the political had to do with who gets to be boss. Would it be the monarch or some guy in a pointy had a thousand miles away? The issue would not resolve itself for years to come, so it was still at play when Elizabeth I ascended the throne in 1558.
There was no love lost between Rome and Queen Elizabeth I, and finally, in 1570, Elizabeth was excommunicated by Pope Pius V. I donโt think it bothered Elizabeth; however, what did bother her was the fact that the Pope said that Roman Catholics living in England no longer had to be obedient to her. What exacerbated the problem was that Mary, Queen of Scots, was in Scotland, and she was a Catholic stalwart and beacon to all those disgruntled Catholics who were no longer required to be obedient. Therefore, Elizabeth feared Mary might raise an army and come against her. We know that Elizabeth would eventually sign Maryโs death warrant, but in the meantime, she enacted several measures attempting to reign in the Catholics.
The first measure was the 1581 Act of Persuasion against the recusants. (A recusant is one who is disobedient.) The act stated that if you were disobedient to the monarch, you would face steep fines (this got the attention of the rich) and imprisonment. However, it did not affect the changes Elizabeth had hoped for, so in 1585, she signed the Act against Priest.
This act stated that any priest ordained abroad since 1559 was automatically deemed a traitor and given forty days to leave the country or face arrest and execution. Furthermore, anyone attempting to harbor a Roman priest was also to be arrested and executed. This is where the three women we remember today enter: Margaret Ward, Margaret Clitherow, and Anne Line.
All three of these women were martyrs, and Margaret Clitherow was the first. Her home was searched, and a young boy who was afraid revealed the priest hole (where priests were hidden). Although pregnant with her fourth child, she was executed.
Next was Margaret Ward. She helped a priest escape prison by smuggling in small pieces of rope, which he wove together and made a proper rope. The priest managed to escape, but Wardโs actions were discovered. Before her execution, she rejoiced, for, as she said, โHaving delivered an innocent lamb from the hands of those bloody wolves.โ
Finally, a raid on Anne Lineโs home resulted in her arrest for the same crime as the others. The priest she was harboring also managed to escape (it bothers me a bit to think of them escaping while these women were dying). She told her accusers she was only grieved because she โcould not receive a thousand moreโ priests to save.
St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, โFor one will scarcely die for a righteous personโthough perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.โ (Romans 5:7) Jesus tells us, โGreater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.โ (John 15:13)
Were the priests that were being saved, good people? I donโt knowโnot my departmentโbut I do know that these three ladies showed the โgreater loveโ that Jesus spoke of. We may never be called on to give our lives in such a way, but we are all called to demonstrate โgreater loveโ to the world by making sacrifices so that the word of God may be proclaimed.
St Bartholomew (c. 1611) by Peter Paul Rubens (Bartholomew is often depicted with a knife that would be used to flay him alive.)
Markโs Gospel tells us, โThen [Jesus] came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked [the disciples], โWhat was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?โ But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.โ
Then thereโs that little episode in Matthewโs Gospel: โThen the mother of Zebedeeโs sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, โWhat do you wish?โ She said to Him, โGrant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.โโ
Like the kings of the Gentiles that Jesus spoke of in our Gospel reading or anyone else for that matter, including the disciples, given half the opportunity and the means to do it, many will seek to hold power, whether for good or evil, so that they can hold reign over others. Still, in looking at this issue of power, I came across a recent study completed by three major universities, which states an even deeper root behind certain individualsโ desire for power. Not only do they want to rule over others, but they also want autonomy. They want no one to rule over them. The study’s authors write: โPower as influence is expressed in having control over others, which could involve responsibility for others. In contrast, power as autonomy is a form of power that allows one person to ignore and resist the influence of others and thus to shape oneโs own destiny.โ (Source) When individuals seek power, yes, perhaps they seek to rule over others, but in many cases, they desire that no one rule over them.
Not only did Jesus tell his disciples that they should not be the ones desiring to rule over others, but he also told them that they should be the servants of all, not seeking their own will, but the will of the Father: โThy kingdom comeโฆ thy will be done.โ
That may sound unfair, but it is precisely what Christ did: โNot my will but Yours.โย As the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, โHave this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.โย That is our goal as well, and as it is the Feast of St. Bartholomew, we can see that it was his also. After witnessing the death and resurrection of Jesus, Bartholomew gave up his life, being first skinned alive and then beheaded. He did so for the sake of the Gospel.ย
Our loyalty to Jesus is not about the power we can gain or wield over others. Instead, it is about His power working in us so that we, through sacrifice, might transform the world around us.
The prayer of St. Theodore the Studite attests to this sacrifice and obedient submission of Bartholomew, so Iโll close with it.
Let us pray: โHail, O blessed of the blessed, thrice-blessed Bartholomew! You are the splendor of Divine light, the fisherman of holy Church, expert catcher of fish which are endowed with reason, sweet fruit of the blooming palm tree! You wound the devil who wounds the world by his crimes! May you rejoice, O sun illumining the whole earth, mouth of God, tongue of fire that speaks wisdom, fountain ever flowing with health! You have sanctified the sea by your passage over it; you have purpled the earth with your blood; you have mounted to heaven, where you shine in the midst of the heavenly host, resplendent in the splendor of undimmable glory! Rejoice in the enjoyment of inexhaustible happiness! Amen.โ
Olโ Boudreaux had never been up in one of those flying machines until one day when some fella came along offering rides. All of Boudreauxโs friends put down their money and took the ride, but Boudreaux just couldnโt trust it. Finally, when his friends started calling him โchickenโ and โscaredy cat,โ 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, โIt wasnโt too bad, but I never really trusted it, so I never put all my weight down in the seat.โ
If I had a favorite televangelist, it would have to be Jesse Duplantisโkind 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 youโve 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 healingโlots of slapping on the foreheads and all that. However, Jesse did just the opposite. He always talked about โbeing sick and tired of being sick and tired,โ so he had the healing service at the beginning. He said, โThereโs no point in you sitting all the way through the sermon feeling sick and tired if I can heal you now.โ 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 Unctionโthe 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 weโd offer the healing up front instead of waiting.
Much is happening in todayโs Gospel, but there is the healing of a little girl. A gentile woman came to Jesus and said, โHave mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.โ A discussion follows regarding Jesusโ mission on earth, but in the end, โโWoman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.โ And her daughter was healed instantly.โ
Unlike olโ Boudreaux, who didnโt trust enough to put all his weight down, this woman did. Great is your faithโyour trustโin 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, โIt is madness not to believe in God; it is the greater madness to believe in Him only in part.โ (Source, August 15) It is madness not to fly. It is even greater madness not to put all your weight down.ย
If you believe in God, then why do you not trust Him completely? Why do you โbelieve in Him only in partโ? When you call out, โHave mercy on me, Lord, Son of David,โ do you believe God will answer, or are you putting it out there just in case Heโs 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 doโI 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 105ยฐ 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 didnโt feel like I couldโฆ connect, so I said to Mary, you could send me a nice cool breeze so Iโll know youโre 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 didnโt really believe. I never really sat down.
When you call out, โHave mercy on me, Lord, Son of David,โ 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.
Although we are not a part of the Roman Catholic Church, we follow many of the practices they have established. Although we are not a protestant church, we believe much of what they have brought to the discussion. We, as Episcopalians, are the โbridge churchโ between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, which means, for the most part, we agree with both. That being said, we do pretty well with either, but the two have some significant differences, so if you ever want to watch a catfight between them, bring up some contentious doctrine and step backโtake for example, Papal Infallibility. Iโve no way of proving it, but my guess as to the cause of this animosity on this topic is that 95% of both groups have no idea what Papal Infallibility means.
What does it not mean? Papal Infallibility does not mean that every word the Pope speaks is infallible and that he is without error. Even the popes agree with this. Pope Francis stated, โThe Pope is not an oracle; he is infallible on the rarest of occasions, as we know.โย
So the Popes are not infallible, but there have been occasions when theyโve spoken and what theyโve said is understood as infallible. This occurs when they speak ex cathedraโโfrom the chairโ of St. Peterโand is a very specific process under strict rules. The exact number of times it has occurred is up for debate, but there are only seven definitive incidents. Two of these involved the nature of Christ; one dealt with matters after death, two more were in response to heresy, and the final two pertained to the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the last that we consider today.
In 1950, Pope Pius XII declared, โBy the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.โ
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It could not be imagined that Mary, whom God had chosen to bear His Son, would allow Maryโs body to be corrupted by death, so she was assumedโcarried upโinto Heaven and now lives the fully resurrected life we will attain on the last day. Some believe that she was carried up before she died, while others say that she died but then was immediately resurrected and carried up. Either way, she lives today as we will one day live.
The Feast of the Assumption fell off the Anglican calendar during the Reformation in England. It returned in the 20th century but has yet to be widely celebrated. Within the Episcopal Church, it remains a high feast day but only takes the general name of St. Mary the Virgin, omitting the word โassumption.โ
Your salvation is not dependent upon your belief in this matter. Still, I believe your faith can be more deeply enriched by at least contemplating it, for, other than Christ Jesus, who else more wholly submitted to the will of God than Mary, the Mother of God?
I want to close with an excerpt from a sermon from an unknown Greek author: โMary stood at your right hand, robed in a gown of gold, with adornment intricately wrought. Just as, being a woman, she was named queen and lady and Mother of God, so also now, standing as queen at the right hand of her most regal Son, she is celebrated in the sacred words of Scripture as clothed in the golden gown of incorruptibility. And so as we gaze upon him who is our king and lord and God, and upon her who is queen and lady and the Mother of God, contemplating them with the clear-sighted eye of our minds, let us repeat again and again unceasingly: The queen stands at your right hand, robed in a gown of gold with adornment intricately wrought.โ (Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, p.165)
Blessed are you among women. And blessed is the fruit of your womb. Amen.
The time came for Acadia, Thibodeauxโs wife, to deliver her twins. All was set as they rushed into the hospital, and everything was prepped. However, the delivery was too much for Thibodeaux, and he passed out cold. It took hours to revive him, but in the meantime, the doctors insisted on naming the babbies. Since Thib was still out, Acadia turned to Thibโs brother, Remi, to help name the girl and the boy.
โMy brother named my kids?!” Thibโs shouted when he woke up. โBut my brotherโs an idgit! He barely knows his own name.โ Pausing and taking a breath, he says, โOk, what he done name the girl.โ
“He named her Denise.โ
โDenise?โ Said, Thib. โWell, that’s not such a bad name. I kind of like it. And what did he call the little boy?โ
โDe Nephew.โ
Even though itโs relatively common, I kind of like my name, but not everyone can say the same. For example, there was Issur Danielovitch Densky. He changed his name to Kirk Douglas. Frances Gum didnโt think her name would sell, so she became Judy Garland. Archibald Leach became Cary Grant. And who do you think Marion Morrison would become? John Wayne.
How great would it be if all it took was to change your name and become rich and famous? Or to become anything you wanted? To become an astronaut, Iโll become Neil Armstrong. To become a famous writer, call me Stephen King. But what about becoming a Saint? Call me Josemarรญa, and Iโll be holy.
In the end, โA rose by any other nameโฆ.โ As the philosopher Alan Watts said, โThe menu is not the meal.โ
Inside all of us is dark and light, and on any given day, one will be more prominent than the other, but the goal of the Christian life is for the light to illuminate every dark crevice and reveal the content of every shadow. Technically, this is known as sanctification.
Simply put, sanctification is the process of becoming holy, allowing the light to shine through every aspect of our lives. There are three major components in the process, and all three are a form of grace given by God: baptism, living a life directed by God, and entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Although some traditions believe that a person must make an adult profession of faith before being baptized, we do notโfor us, that falls into the category of works; that is, you must do something in order to โearnโ Godโs grace. Instead, we believe that baptism is Godโs undeserved grace being poured out on us, providing us โunion with Christ in his death and resurrection, birth into Godโs family the Church, forgiveness of sins, and new life in the Holy Spirit.โ (BCP 858)
The third component, entry into the Kingdom of Heaven, is also a grace, which we have absolutely nothing to do with. For those who believe, St. Paul tells us, โNeither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.โ (Romans 8:38-39)
We can view our baptism and ultimate entry into the Kingdom of Heaven as bookends to our life with God, but that bit between those two events gives us so much trouble. It is grace that allows us to live for God, but the sanctificationโthe making holyโprocess during our earthly lives is not exactly a smooth ride. Why? The light and the dark are both within us.
Remember the parable of the wheat and tares/weeds? God sowed the good seed of the wheat, but at night, the devil came in and sowed the weeds so that when they began to grow, the wheat and the weeds grew up together. That speaks of the world and the people in it, but it also speaks of the soul. The light and the dark, the wheat and the weeds, are both within us. When we apply the parable to ourselves, the difference is that, with God’s grace, we can actually do something about the darkness, those weeds within our souls. That is the process of sanctification in this life. It is the transfiguration of the individual.
โWhile [Jesus] was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white,โ Jesus was revealed in His glory. No darkness. No weeds. Not showing us the process of becoming holy, but showing us The Holy and the true image of God. But He was also showing us what we can become.
Brooke Foss Wescott was a 19th-century bishop in the Church of England. He was also someone whom Archbishop Michael Ramsey admired and studied. Bishop Wescott wrote, โThe Transfiguration is the revelation of the potential spirituality of the earthly life in the highest outward formโฆ. Here the Lord, as Son of Man, gives the measure of the capacity of humanity, and shows that to which he leads all those who are united with him.โ (Glory: The Spiritual Theology of Michael Ramsey, p.59)
The Transfiguration of Christ sets before us a goal for the work of sanctificationโthe work of becoming holyโin our lives, and this work is the means โby which men and women are restored to the image and likeness of God Himself.โ (Ibid.) As Christ was transfigured on the mountain, we seek in our daily lives to be transfigured into the same glory that Jesus revealed on the mountain. So whatโs stopping you?
Charlie Brown and Linus were leaning against the fence, both looking rather contemplative. Chuck then asks Linus, โWhat would you do if you felt that nobody liked you?โ
Linus gives it a thought, then says, โIโd try to look at myself objectively, and see what I could do to improveโฆ thatโs my answer, Charlie Brown.โ
In the final frame, Charlie Brown is not looking so happy and says, โI hate that answer.โ
What is stopping you from being transfigured, from becoming holy as your Heavenly Father is holy? From continuing the process of sanctification? There are many factors, but it seems there are two primary ones, and the first one is that we donโt want to put in the effort.
Most of you know that Iโll be taking a sabbatical next year, and for part of the time, I want to walk the Camino de Santiagoโa short walk of 500 miles across northern Spain. In order to do this and live to tell about it, I will need to get in better shape. More walking, more strength building, losing a bit more weight, etc. In other words, I need to be training. โI hate that answer.โ I really want to walk the Camino, but Iโm not putting in the effort to be able to.
The same applies to being holy. I want to be holy. I want to enter into a deeper relationship with my Savior, but am I putting in the effort? Praying as I should, studying as I should, loving as I should, and the list goes on. We know that we need to put in the effort and practice our faith, training our souls, butโฆ โI hate that answer.โ Why?
The second factor is also as simple but equally challengingโwe donโt want to. Yes, we want to be holy, but we donโt want to change our lives to attain that holiness. Back to the CaminoโI need to lose more weight, but I donโt want to put down the cookie. I like the cookie. Iโm a big fan, and Iโll become an even bigger if Iโm not careful, so I need to put down the cookie. โI hate that answer.โ To be sanctified, I need to be willing to set aside those things in my life that separate me from God. I need to be willing to allow the transfiguring light of Christ to shine and banish the darkness within me.
We will not be wholly sanctified until we enter the Kingdom of God, but if we put in some effort and allow our love of God to override our love of self, then we will progress in our sanctification. Weโll be pulling some of the weeds that are growing up with the good wheat of our souls.
We know the names of Saints like Francis, Josemarรญa, Mary Magdalene, John Paul, and many others. We hold them up as examples of the Christian life, but we also view such a life as unattainable for ourselves. However, we should see the lives of the Saints as something to strive for. In the same way, we should look upon our Transfigured Lord. In seeing Him transfigured, we are witnessing whatโby the grace of Godโwe have the potential to become.
Donโt shy away from this work of sanctification or squelch the desire to attain it. Instead, through your love of God, seek out every opportunity to take steps in the sanctification of your soul.
A few words toward the end of St. Paulโs first letter to the Thessalonians make for a good blessing. Iโll close with them. โMay God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.โ Amen.
Within the Orthodox Church, the Third Sunday of Easter is celebrated as the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers, those women who came to anoint Jesusโ body following his burial. It falls on our calendar tomorrow.
Today, we read of Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, but in reading the other Gospels, you will find different lists of namesโeight in total: the Virgin Mary, Jesusโ mother; โthe mother of James and Josesโ (reportedly, these are the sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, and she was, therefore, their step-mother); Mary Magdalene; Mary, the wife of Clopas; Joanna, wife of Chouza, a steward of Herod Antipas; Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus; and Susanna. (Source)
It is not believed that the Gospel writers got it wrong when listing the women; instead, it seems to indicate that different groups went separately and had varying experiences at the empty tomb. Whatever the case, because of their great love for him, they all went to the tomb to anoint the Body of Jesus, only to discover that the tomb was empty. But, if there was no Body, did that end their work?
In a sermon, St. John Damascus (d.749) wrote for the Easter SeasonโโWhen You [Jesus] did descend unto death, O Life Immortal, then did You slay Hades with the lightening of Your Divinity. And when You did also raise the dead out of the nethermost depths, all the power in the Heavens cried out: O Life-giver, Christ our God, glory be to You. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. The noble Joseph, taking Your immaculate body down from the Tree, and having wrapped it in pure linen and spices, laid it for burial in a new tomb. But on the third day You did arise, O Lord, granting great mercy to the world. Now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen. Unto the myrrh-bearing women did the Angel cry out as he stood by the grave: Myrrh-oils are meet for the dead, but Christ has proved to be a stranger to corruption. But cry out: The Lord is risen, granting great mercy to the world.โ
They could not anoint His Body because He had risen, but there was still work to be done; therefore, โcry out: The Lord is risen, granting great mercy to the world.โย
Their love for Jesus extended into the grave, giving them the courage to go out into the world and proclaim His resurrection. How far does your love for Jesus carry you? Once you learned that He was risen, how did you respond to the angelโs charge to go and tell?
Our work is not nearly done; therefore, as Peter said in our first reading, let everyone โknow with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whomโ was crucified.
There is an old legend of a swan and a crane. A beautiful swan alighted by the banks of the water in which a crane was wading about seeking snails. For a moment, the crane viewed the swan in stupid wonder and then asked, โWhere do you come from?โ
โI come from heaven!โ replied the swan.
โAnd where is heaven?โ asked the crane.
โHeaven!โ said the swan, โHeaven! Have you never heard of heaven?โ And the beautiful bird went on to describe the grandeur of the Eternal City. She told of streets of gold, and the gates and walls made of precious stones, of the river of life, pure as crystal, upon whose banks is the tree whose leaves shall be for the healing of the nations. In eloquent terms, the swan sought to describe the hosts who live in the other world but without arousing the slightest interest on the part of the crane.
Finally, the crane asked, โAre there any snails there?โ
โSnails!โ repeated the swan. โNo! Of course not.โ
โThen,โ said the crane, as it continued its search along the slimy banks of the pool, โyou can have your heaven. I want snails!โ
โJesus put before the crowds another parable: โThe kingdom of heaven is likeโฆโโโฆ a pond with slimy banks and lots of snails (which, for the record, is snail hell, but thatโs another sermon.)
As I thought about these statements of Jesus and the Kingdom of Heaven, I wondered what a first-century Jewish person would have thought. What was their perception of Heaven?
If you go way back to the beginning, it would be easy to see how the Garden of Eden might be the first image of Heaven. โNow the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the groundโtrees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.โ (Genesis 2:8-10)
It sounds glorious, but early Jews did not have an understanding of Heaven or life after death. It was enough to โsleep with your fathersโ and to have your name kindly remembered by others.
However, as the Israelites began to suffer at the hands of their enemies and be hauled off into exile, the prophets began to point to a time when God would redeem His people, and they would live in peace. The Prophet Daniel wrote, โThere will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your peopleโeveryone whose name is found written in the bookโwill be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.โ (Daniel 12:1b-2)
The people waited, but the persecutions and occupations continued, so around 500 BC, the idea of รฒlam ha-ba began to take precedence. This world, รฒlam ha-ze, was understood as an ante-chamber (a narthex or entry room) that leads to the รlam ha-ba, โthe world to come.โ This understanding made attaining heaven/โthe world to comeโ a more personal matter. The things you do right and wrong in this world determine whether or not you make it out of the ante-chamber and into the next world or are kicked out altogether. This view brings us back to the beginning because the world to come was known as Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden. Perhaps a bit confusing, but I found it fascinating.
As we know, in the time of Jesus, not everyone was convinced of the resurrection to the world to come. The Pharisees said, โYes,โ but the Sadducees, who were in charge of the Temple and the sacrificial system, were a negative. Ultimately, for those who believed, there was no definite answer. Perhaps the closest came early in the second century.
Rabbi Joshua ben Leviโs son, Joseph, died but was somehow restored. โHis father asked [Joseph], โWhat did you see?โ Joseph replied, โI beheld a world the reverse of this one; those who are on top here were below there, and vice versa.โ He [Joshua ben Levi] said to him, โMy son, you have seen a corrected world.โโ You have seen a world turned upside down. A world that is far different from the one we live in now.
It is into this debate on the existence and understanding of Heaven that Jesus walks. Jesus said, โI praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.โ (Matthew 11:25-26)
Jesus has just told the parable of the wheat and the tares/weeds and told those listening that the good and evil will grow together. It will not be until the last day when they are separated, but on that day, the Lord will send out the angels to reap the harvest, saying, โFirst collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.โ (Matthew 13:30b)
The scriptures read: โGather the wheat and bring it into my barn.โ And then immediately afterward, we hear our lesson for today, โJesus put before the crowds another parable: โThe kingdom of heaven is likeโฆ.โโ
The parable of the wheat and tares spoke of judgment and blessing. Judgment for those who do not believe and blessing, that is, the Kingdom of Heaven, รฒlam ha-ba, Gad Eden, the world to come, for those who do. But why did Jesus say the Kingdom of Heaven was like so many different things? Mustard seed, leaven, treasure, pearl, and so on? If we go through the list, we learn many things.
With the mustard seed, we learn that the Kingdom will grow from something small and become something that makes room for all the birds of the airโall the peoples of the Earth. The leaven tells us it will be everywhere and a part of everything. The hidden treasure is about how we must work to gain it, and the costly pearl speaks of sacrifice. The separating of the great catch reminds us that not everyone will be allowed entry but will instead be cast out. By telling us all these things, Jesus is telling us that there is a Kingdom that is not of this world and that in that place, our God reigns.
I imagine a rush of words as Jesus spoke about these things, and because of so many parables, he is expressing how incomparable and indescribable.
Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon? The immensity of it is overwhelming. In the movie Grand Canyon, Danny Gloverโs character, Simon, talks about sitting on the rim and looking out. โI felt like a gnat that lands on the [backside] of a cow that’s chewing its cud next to the road that you ride by on at 70 miles an hour.โ Professor of Psychiatry Mark Goulston said, โI can still remember my first experience standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon and looking into it. It was so awesome. It took a fair amount of restraint to prevent me from jumping into it because I was certain I could fly.โ
As Jesus was telling these parables of the Kingdom of Heaven, I can imagine him having this vision of heaven in His mind, much like Simon and Goulston’s vision of the Grand Canyon in theirs as they spoke. It could all be summed up, not in a word, but an expression: โWhoa!โ So much more than you could ever imagine. A world turned upside down compared to this one, full of Godโs riches. By comparison, this world is insignificant.
Rabbi Hofetz Chaim (d.1933) was very influential. A story tells of how he had an American visitor to his home in Poland. The Rabbiโs home was very austere. A simple room, books, a table, and a bench.
The visitor asked, โRabbi, where is your furniture?โ
โWhere is yours?โ replied the rabbi.
โMine?โ asked the puzzled American. โBut I’m a visitor here. I’m only passing through.โ
โSo am I,โ said the Rabbi.
The people in the time of Jesus had a very limited view of the Kingdom of Heaven. They thought of it in terms of the crane looking for snails along the slimy banks of a pool, but it is so much more. It is worth working for and sacrificing for as we pass through this ante-chamber. Therefore, in the words of St. Augustine (or Ignatius, depending on who you believe said it), โPray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.โ The reward far exceeds any price or sacrifice.
Let us pray (a short prayer that is recited at the end of each decade of the Rosary, known as the Fatima Prayer): O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fire of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are in most need of Thy mercy. Amen.
Saint Anne with the Christ Child, the Virgin, and Saint John the Baptist, oil on hardboard transferred from panel by Hans Baldung, c. 1511
Today is one of those not so well known holy days, but it is on the Episcopal calendar: The Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. For the record, there is nothing in all of Holy Scripture about them. Still, early in the second century, there was one who wanted to work out a better understanding of Maryโs life. So they wrote The Protoevangelium of James, which begins, โThe Birth of Mary the Holy Mother of God, and Very Glorious Mother of Jesus Christ.โ
Anna and Joachim are believed to be Maryโs parents and Jesusโ earthly grandparents. This passage is a bit long but helps us understand the feast day.
โAnd, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, saying: Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world. And Anna said: As the Lord my God lives, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God; and it shall minister to Him in holy things all the days of its life. And, behold, two angels came, saying to her: Behold, Joachim your husband is coming with his flocks. For an angel of the Lord went down to him, saying: Joachim, Joachim, the Lord God has heard your prayer. Go down hence; for, behold, your wife Anna shall conceive. And Joachim went down and called his shepherds, saying: Bring me hither ten she-lambs without spot or blemish, and they shall be for the Lord my God; and bring me twelve tender calves, and they shall be for the priests and the elders; and a hundred goats for all the people. And, behold, Joachim came with his flocks; and Anna stood by the gate, and saw Joachim coming, and she ran and hung upon his neck, saying: Now I know that the Lord God has blessed me exceedingly; for, behold the widow no longer a widow, and I the childless shall conceive. And Joachim rested the first day in his house.
โAnd on the following day he brought his offerings, saying in himself: If the Lord God has been rendered gracious to me, the plate on the priest’s forehead will make it manifest to me. And Joachim brought his offerings, and observed attentively the priest’s plate when he went up to the altar of the Lord, and he saw no sin in himself. And Joachim said: Now I know that the Lord has been gracious unto me, and has remitted all my sins. And he went down from the temple of the Lord justified, and departed to his own house. And her months were fulfilled, and in the ninth month Anna brought forth. And she said to the midwife: What have I brought forth? And she said: A girl. And said Anna: My soul has been magnified this day. And she laid her down. And the days having been fulfilled, Anna was purified, and gave the breast to the child, and called her name Mary.โ
Why is this history important? There are many Roman Catholic Churches that are named Immaculate Conception. I would wager that almost everyone, including Catholics, believes this speaks of Jesus’s conception. However, it is speaking of the conception of Mary. It is believed that the conception of Mary without sin is a part of how Jesus was born without sin.
Is your salvation dependent upon believing this teaching? Not at all. It does, however, help us to see how others attempted to work out their faith. Perhaps, we too should be so interested in our faith that we seek more profound answers. It doesnโt mean weโll always get it right, but it does mean we are seeking our God.
Mark it up as an urban legend or an actual event; whatever the case may be, the myth persists: on June 26, 1963, President John F. Kennedy, while visiting West Berlin, gave one of the finest speeches of the Cold War. He said, โTwo thousand years ago, the proudest boast was civis romanus sum [I am a Roman citizen]. Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is โIch bin ein Berliner! [I am a Berliner]. All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words โIch bin ein Berliner!โโ
According to the legend, Kennedy was supposed to say, โIch bin Berliner!โ Not โIch bin ein Berliner!โ In the first, Kennedy is, in fact, saying, โI am a Berliner.โ In the second, he proudly proclaims, โI am a jelly doughnut!โ
I mention this in recognition that we all make mistakes, and hope you will show me compassion for the one I made during last weekโs sermon.
For whatever reason, I got it in my pointy little head that the Parable of the Sowerโseeds that fell on rocky ground, the road, etc.โwas the only time we benefitted from Jesusโ explanations of the parables. If you were just listening to the Gospel, you would have heard I was mistaken. Please accept this as my apology for that misinformationโฆ I am a jelly doughnut. Moving on.
There is a good bit of speculation on what heaven will actually be like and quite a bit more speculation on who actually gets in, but I was wondering, would you allow me to choose for you?
When we were younger, I suppose we all had to endure that humiliating ritual of choosing sides, especially when it came to sporting events during recess or P.E. The teacher always chose the captains of the teams, and it seemed that the captain was always Mr. Jock and he always had his jockettes that he would choose first. When the good picking was over, you knew he and his buddies were no longer choosing who they wanted on their team. Instead, they were deciding who they would rather be stuck with. If it were up to them, they would likely not choose the losers but force them to sit on the sideline, which they did anyways because there was no way on Godโs green earth they intended to jeopardize the balance of world power which hung on the outcome of this particular bout of dodge ball.
Now, perhaps you wouldnโt mind me picking or not picking you for a dodgeball game, but again I ask you, would you allow me to choose whether or not you get to go to heaven? If you are smart, you will answer that question with a resounding โNO!โ I am so desperately in need of Godโs grace myself that I donโt want anyone or anything getting between me and it; however, what I find so curious, is that we donโt want someone to choose for us, but we are more than willing to choose for others.
In our parable today, Jesus tells us that he is the sower of the seed and that the seeds represent the righteousโthe children of God. The weeds sown with the good seed are the unrighteousโthe children of the father of lies. And on Godโs appointed day, He will send his angels to clear the field of weeds and throw them into the fire.
When we get a bit too big for our britches, we mistakenly believe that we are either God or an angel, that we have the knowledge, the right, and by golly, the responsibility to go into that field and pull some weeds because we know who they are. If God is too busy taking care of other business, we will happily step in. Sometimes we step in for what we consider to be noble reasons, โThat person is a heretic! Burn them at the stake!โ While at other times, our reasons arenโt quite so noble.
You wonโt like this storyโStephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and other books, tells of the time on a lovely quiet Sunday afternoon when he was taking the subway through New York City. There were a few other passengers in the car with him, but not many, and all were enjoying the peace of the day. However, at the next stop, a man and his two sons burst onto the train, and the boys created all sorts of havoc. They ran absolutely wild up and down the car, screaming, shouting, wrestlingโdestroying the peace of that Sunday afternoon. I guess Covey thought the father of these two terrorists was a weed that needed pulling, so after a particularly noisy moment, he turned to the father and said, โSir, perhaps you could restore order here by telling your children to come back and sit down.โ
Have you ever been in that place? So confident that you were right and the other person wrong? That you could look at someone with all confidence and judge them? Of course, you have. We all have. We believe we have God’s infinite knowledge and wisdom to make these sorts of snap decisions, but how often are we wrong?
After Covey told this weed to get the terrorist under control, the weed said, โI know I should do something. We just came from the hospital. Their mother died an hour ago. I just donโt know what to do.โ Covey had not snatched out some weed worthy of the fires of hell. Instead, he had only further bruised a broken heart that was in desperate need of the love of God.
Consider the fact that Jesus knew all along that Judas Iscariot was going to betray him. He knew that Judas was a weed among the wheat, but Jesus never threw him out. Instead, Jesus washed Judasโ feet, just as he had washed Peterโs, Jamesโ, Johnโs, and all the rest. Judas betrayed Jesus unto death, yet Jesus never condemned him and allowed Judas to participate in the Lordโs Supper. Question: how many have we renounced for far more trivial offenses by comparison?
In the parable, Jesus tells us we are neither God nor angels. Because we are not God, then we are not the judge. Because we are not angels, we are not the ones called to go into the fields and pull the weeds. We are, however, the grain of wheat, and if our work is not to judge or reap, then what is it? Jesus says, โVery truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.โ
What is our work? Jesus said, โThis is to my Fatherโs glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.โ Jesus says, โYou did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruitโfruit that will last.โ One of the desert fathers said, โIf a man settles in a certain place and does not bring forth the fruit of that place, the place itself casts him out, as one who has not borne its fruit.โ For me, this brings to mind a rather unpleasant thought: if we are not producing good fruit, could it be that we are the weeds? We wonโt entertain that one.
St. Josemarรญa Escrivรก writes, โThe Lordโs field is fertile and the seed he sows of good quality. Therefore when weeds appear in this world of ours, never doubt that they spring up because of a lack of correspondence on the part of men, Christians especially, who have fallen asleep and have left the field open to the enemyโDonโt complain, for thereโs no point; examine your behaviour, instead.โ If the weeds are truly growing amongst the wheat, we must consider that the fault might be ours and that we may be acting like a weed when we should be working on producing good fruit.
Only God chooses who goes to heaven, and thanks be to God for that! But we do have a role to play, and that is to produce good fruit. The person youโve discounted, cast off, considered a weed in this world that must be yanked out, might just need someoneโand not just any someoneโbut you. They just might need you to help them produce the fruit in their own life; therefore, be brave, have patience, and persevere in loving them, bringing glory to Our Father in Heaven.
St. Francis stated this best in a prayer. Let us pray: โLord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. Amen.โ
