Jer 31:31-34
Heb 5:7-9
Jn 12:20-33
In October of 1929, the American covenant collapsed. The stock market crashed precipitously, erasing millions of dollars of wealth. The Great Depression was on. The actions of some of the people, created a prosperity that was tenuous. Greed became the driving force of the economy, and it seemed everyone wanted to cash in. People strayed from what the American covenant was supposed to be, broke that covenant, and watched as the economy they created collapsed like a house of straw. Businesses collapsed and factories closed. Unemployment was rampant. There seemed to be absolutely no hope. Then came the presidential election of 1932 and the promise of a new deal, a new covenant, designed to end the economic distress that plagued not just this country, but the world. I have no intention here of arguing the politics, history, or economics of the New Deal. It was at that time obvious the old covenant had failed and it was time to change, time to re-craft the American Dream, to form a new American covenant. The people of Israel had drifted from their covenant with God. God knew that it was time for a new covenant, a covenant meant to change the people of Israel, a covenant meant to bring them back to knowledge of God, a covenant meant to re-commit them to God, to make them God’s people. This covenant would stand forever, a covenant forged in suffering, death, and resurrection. The covenant made possible by the coming of the Christ and Christ’s commitment to give everything for the people of God. Through the suffering endured by Christ, we live. The covenant forged in Christ’s blood, the covenant ratified by the empty tomb, is the covenant given to us. We become the people of God through this covenant. When we embrace what was done for us we reach for the life that is ours because of Christ’s death and resurrection. The people of America, our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents were offered a new deal, a new deal they seized, a new deal that offered a new life. Now is the time for us to seize again that new deal offered us by God, the new covenant in Christ, the new covenant that gives us new life, life that never ends.
Deacon John
Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Fourth Sunday in Lent
2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23
Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
Eph 2:4-10
Jn 3:14-21
Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you.
What would you do for those you love? What would you do to keep them safe, to protect them? We all make sacrifices for the ones we love, but how far are you willing to go? Would you give up everything? In wartime we always hear these stories, a platoon of soldiers are in an enclosed area when a hand grenade is thrown into their midst. With nowhere to go, ands no time to get there, they are all surely going to die, until one soldier throws himself on the grenade, taking the brunt of the explosion and saving the others. If you were one of the soldiers saved by this act of bravery, this act of love, could you ever forget the one who made that sacrifice? I don’t think it would be possible to forget, you would think of that act, that person, every single day for the rest of your life, a life you have only because of that person. Not only would you never forget, you could never be silent about it. This is a story you would recount to anyone and everyone who would listen. It’s a story you would tell even to those who wouldn’t listen. Silence would be impossible. Each of us, each one of us has been saved by just such an act. Each of us has been saved and given new life by one who came and died for us. The most famous passage of scripture in the world, John 3:16. Watching a basketball game yesterday I saw someone in the stands holding up a sign, John 3:16. For God so loved the world… We have all been given life by the one who lived, died and rose, for us. You would think that we could never forget, but somehow we do. We forget the gift that we have been given, the gift given at great cost, the gift given out of love. We forget, and we remain silent. How can we be quiet about what has been done for us? How can we not tell everyone, everyone who will listen and everyone who won’t? For the rest of this Lent let each of us take time each day to remember, to remember what we have been given, what was done for us. Let us remember and speak out, not afraid or ashamed, but joyful that we have life through the sacrifice made for us.
Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you.
Deacon John
Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 22, 2009
Ps 137:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
Eph 2:4-10
Jn 3:14-21
Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you.
What would you do for those you love? What would you do to keep them safe, to protect them? We all make sacrifices for the ones we love, but how far are you willing to go? Would you give up everything? In wartime we always hear these stories, a platoon of soldiers are in an enclosed area when a hand grenade is thrown into their midst. With nowhere to go, ands no time to get there, they are all surely going to die, until one soldier throws himself on the grenade, taking the brunt of the explosion and saving the others. If you were one of the soldiers saved by this act of bravery, this act of love, could you ever forget the one who made that sacrifice? I don’t think it would be possible to forget, you would think of that act, that person, every single day for the rest of your life, a life you have only because of that person. Not only would you never forget, you could never be silent about it. This is a story you would recount to anyone and everyone who would listen. It’s a story you would tell even to those who wouldn’t listen. Silence would be impossible. Each of us, each one of us has been saved by just such an act. Each of us has been saved and given new life by one who came and died for us. The most famous passage of scripture in the world, John 3:16. Watching a basketball game yesterday I saw someone in the stands holding up a sign, John 3:16. For God so loved the world… We have all been given life by the one who lived, died and rose, for us. You would think that we could never forget, but somehow we do. We forget the gift that we have been given, the gift given at great cost, the gift given out of love. We forget, and we remain silent. How can we be quiet about what has been done for us? How can we not tell everyone, everyone who will listen and everyone who won’t? For the rest of this Lent let each of us take time each day to remember, to remember what we have been given, what was done for us. Let us remember and speak out, not afraid or ashamed, but joyful that we have life through the sacrifice made for us.
Let my tongue be silenced if I ever forget you.
Deacon John
Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 22, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Third Sunday in Lent
Ex 20:1-17 or 20:1-3, 7-8, 12-17
1 Cor 1:22-25
Jn 2:13-25
Rules. We certainly seem to have enough of them. Why should we have so many? Why have any rules at all? We are, after all, free agents, able to do what ever we want. Ah, able to do what ever we want. So I suppose that explains why we have so many rules. We need a guide, something to follow, something to help us understand what we need to do, what we should do. In the first reading we have the basic rules, the Ten Commandments. These Commandments are the basis for much of our law, church and secular. These rules should be so much a part of us that we follow their guidance almost automatically. The only problem is that we don’t. We rebel, we hate rules, we hate being told what to do. We want to make sure we are taking care of number one, and if that involves bending or even breaking a few rules, well too bad. In the Gospel Jesus encounters those who are certainly watching out for themselves, not caring about what rules or norms they may be violating. They set up shop in the midst of the Temple precincts and fleece the worshipers as they go into the Temple. Were they providing a needed service? Yes, they provided the items needed for proper worship and sacrifice. But they were also turning the Temple into a marketplace. They lost sight of why the Temple was there, what the purpose of the Temple and even the purpose of their presence there was. Worshiping God, offering praise to God, seeking help from God, expressing love for God. That was the purpose of the Temple. It was the place to do these things. It was not meant to be a place of commerce and profit. It was meant to be a place about love, God’s love for them and their love for God. Remember that love, and suddenly the rules make sense, the rules do become easy to follow.
Why gather today in Church? Do we come together to worship our God, or do we come for other reasons? There are many things that can be factors in why we gather, rules being one of them. Nothing wrong with that, it is good that we come together, because by coming together and giving ourselves to worship, giving ourselves to God, we begin to understand that there is a better reason for our gathering, a reason that surpasses any other. When this happens the rules have served their purpose, they bring us to God, they bring us to love.
Deacon John
Third Sunday in Lent
March 15, 2009
P.S. On a completely non-theological note I have to say LOUISVILLE CARDINALS, CHAMPS OF THE BIG EAST OVERALL NO 1 SEED. WHOO-HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1 Cor 1:22-25
Jn 2:13-25
Rules. We certainly seem to have enough of them. Why should we have so many? Why have any rules at all? We are, after all, free agents, able to do what ever we want. Ah, able to do what ever we want. So I suppose that explains why we have so many rules. We need a guide, something to follow, something to help us understand what we need to do, what we should do. In the first reading we have the basic rules, the Ten Commandments. These Commandments are the basis for much of our law, church and secular. These rules should be so much a part of us that we follow their guidance almost automatically. The only problem is that we don’t. We rebel, we hate rules, we hate being told what to do. We want to make sure we are taking care of number one, and if that involves bending or even breaking a few rules, well too bad. In the Gospel Jesus encounters those who are certainly watching out for themselves, not caring about what rules or norms they may be violating. They set up shop in the midst of the Temple precincts and fleece the worshipers as they go into the Temple. Were they providing a needed service? Yes, they provided the items needed for proper worship and sacrifice. But they were also turning the Temple into a marketplace. They lost sight of why the Temple was there, what the purpose of the Temple and even the purpose of their presence there was. Worshiping God, offering praise to God, seeking help from God, expressing love for God. That was the purpose of the Temple. It was the place to do these things. It was not meant to be a place of commerce and profit. It was meant to be a place about love, God’s love for them and their love for God. Remember that love, and suddenly the rules make sense, the rules do become easy to follow.
Why gather today in Church? Do we come together to worship our God, or do we come for other reasons? There are many things that can be factors in why we gather, rules being one of them. Nothing wrong with that, it is good that we come together, because by coming together and giving ourselves to worship, giving ourselves to God, we begin to understand that there is a better reason for our gathering, a reason that surpasses any other. When this happens the rules have served their purpose, they bring us to God, they bring us to love.
Deacon John
Third Sunday in Lent
March 15, 2009
P.S. On a completely non-theological note I have to say LOUISVILLE CARDINALS, CHAMPS OF THE BIG EAST OVERALL NO 1 SEED. WHOO-HOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO CARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Second Sunday of Lent
Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18
Rom 8:31b-34
Mk 9:2-10
Terror. Pure terror. That must have been what Isaac felt when he realized the sacrifice was him. How terrifying was it when his father bound him, placed him on the altar, raised his knife, fully prepared to kill him. What did Isaac feel when he was suddenly reprieved? He was spared by God, his father stopped from killing him, and a ram offered in his place. Did Isaac feel relief, joy, gratitude, or was the whole thing just too hard to accept? He should have been dead, but he was alive. Did he feel that in some way he had risen from the dead?
Terror. Pure terror. That must have been what Peter, James and John felt on that mountain top. Before their eyes the one they had been following changed, became dazzling, blindingly bright, hard to look at. Jesus revealed the glory that is God to them, and they were terrified. Perhaps they thought they had died and gone to heaven. When the episode ended, did they feel they had in some way been brought back from the dead? Then Jesus tells them not to tell anyone what they had witnessed until He had risen from the dead. They did keep quiet, they did not understand what risen from the dead meant.
Terror. Pure terror. Something we may feel occasionally when we realize the sacrifice should be us. When we honestly look at ourselves, our selfishness, our failures to love, we should feel terror. We understand that we do not deserve mercy, we do not deserve love, we act in a way that is often totally unlovable. But like Isaac, we are reprieved. Another stands in our place, the one who stood before Peter, James and John and was transfigured. We are saved by the death of Jesus, who dies for us. We are saved by the Christ, who rises from death, who enters new life and gives that life to us, if we are willing to see that we have, like Isaac, been reprieved. When we love as we are loved, we come to understand what risen from the dead means. We rise, and will be able to see the dazzling, blindingly bright glory that is God.
Deacon John
Second Sunday of Lent
March 8, 2009
Rom 8:31b-34
Mk 9:2-10
Terror. Pure terror. That must have been what Isaac felt when he realized the sacrifice was him. How terrifying was it when his father bound him, placed him on the altar, raised his knife, fully prepared to kill him. What did Isaac feel when he was suddenly reprieved? He was spared by God, his father stopped from killing him, and a ram offered in his place. Did Isaac feel relief, joy, gratitude, or was the whole thing just too hard to accept? He should have been dead, but he was alive. Did he feel that in some way he had risen from the dead?
Terror. Pure terror. That must have been what Peter, James and John felt on that mountain top. Before their eyes the one they had been following changed, became dazzling, blindingly bright, hard to look at. Jesus revealed the glory that is God to them, and they were terrified. Perhaps they thought they had died and gone to heaven. When the episode ended, did they feel they had in some way been brought back from the dead? Then Jesus tells them not to tell anyone what they had witnessed until He had risen from the dead. They did keep quiet, they did not understand what risen from the dead meant.
Terror. Pure terror. Something we may feel occasionally when we realize the sacrifice should be us. When we honestly look at ourselves, our selfishness, our failures to love, we should feel terror. We understand that we do not deserve mercy, we do not deserve love, we act in a way that is often totally unlovable. But like Isaac, we are reprieved. Another stands in our place, the one who stood before Peter, James and John and was transfigured. We are saved by the death of Jesus, who dies for us. We are saved by the Christ, who rises from death, who enters new life and gives that life to us, if we are willing to see that we have, like Isaac, been reprieved. When we love as we are loved, we come to understand what risen from the dead means. We rise, and will be able to see the dazzling, blindingly bright glory that is God.
Deacon John
Second Sunday of Lent
March 8, 2009
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