Luke 9:28-36

Every once in a while I need to get my “fix.” Yes, I am addicted to a few things in life, like popcorn. I really love popcorn. Recently I have learned from a popcorn making connoisseur how to make really good homemade popcorn.
I also have to get my family fix on a daily basis: my husband, children, and grandchildren. There is my talking-on-the-phone-to-my-friends fix that I need to do on a daily basis. And, of course, I can’t lie to you: I have a Starbucks fix!
Getting a fix has a bad reputation because it suggests one is addicted to something that is bad for you. For example, a heroin addict needs to get his or her fix. We could, however, be addicted to things that are less dangerous, like for example, good books or Chinese food.
We all have our addictions, good or bad. But I’m here today to talk about our “Jesus fix.” This may be the one thing that brings all of us together, the one thing we all have in common. Most of us have some form of an addiction to Jesus.
The good thing about needing a Jesus fix is that we won’t suffer from physical withdrawals if we have to go a few days without him. Unlike some of our other habits, like surfing the internet or playing on our cell phones, we don’t have to rely on fickle technology to keep in touch with him.
So how do we get our Jesus fix? Some people get their Jesus fix by praying to him. Some, who are of a more mystical nature, get their fix “abiding in his presence.” Some simply get their fix by reading about him, either in the pages of the Bible or in the pages of books written about him.
Can you imagine being one of Jesus’ first disciples, the men and women who actually followed him around and got to hang out with him? How about that for a Jesus fix? Furthermore, can you imagine being one of Jesus’ closest friends? How exciting, interesting, and sometimes perplexing that must have been.
According to the Gospel writers, three of Jesus’ disciples seem to have fit that bill: Peter, James, and John. We often call them “the inner circle.” If the biblical writers had not been so patriarchal and enamored with “male privilege,” they would have included women in Jesus’ inner circle because we know they were there!
Nevertheless, we will stick with the way the story is told. Peter, James, and John have the privilege of hiking with Jesus up a mountain. They go there to pray—to get their God fix.
Mountains are important in the worldview of the biblical writers because God was thought to be up there. Therefore, a mountain got you as close to God as humanly possible. In the modern world we have had to rethink our understanding of where God is because we know “up there” is a lot of empty space, planets, stars, and galaxies.
Still, I don’t think many modern people would argue that there is not something about mountains—and nature in general—that make us feel closer to God. If you want a God fix, a climbable mountain or hill is a good place to go if for nothing more than the solitude it provides.
So Peter, James, and John accompany their friend and leader up the mountainside to pray. While they are praying something extraordinary occurs. Jesus’ face changes and his clothes become dazzling white.
Of course, in the ancient world, no one’s garment was ever “dazzling white.” They didn’t have laundry detergent, bleach, or washing machines, and, more importantly, they were always walking around in the dirt. In that place and time, nothing was very clean by today’s standards.
Frankly, I don’t know why a Madison Avenue advertising agency has not yet picked up on the idea of using this story to advertise their client’s laundry detergent. (Don Draper of “Mad Men” fame would be all over that!)
This story—what we call the “Transfiguration Story”—is like a television commercial with the sole purpose of trying to sell Jesus. Like all good commercials, it employs a little exaggeration while effectively communicating the central truth. And the central truth of the Transfiguration Story is that Jesus is One. Very. Important. Person.
Two of the most important historical figures in the Jewish faith pop out of nowhere: Moses, who represents the Jewish law, and Elijah, who represents the Jewish prophets. A cloud appears, reminding us of the pillar of clouds that led Moses and the Israelites through the wilderness.
The voice of God speaks from the clouds, reminding us of Jesus’ baptism. Not only does God repeat what was said at Jesus’ baptism that he is God’s “beloved” or “chosen” Son, the voice demands, “Listen to him!” Again: One. Very. Important. Person.
Moses and Elijah share something else in common with Jesus: their deaths are shrouded in mystery. There are no bodies to be found.  The book of Deuteronomy tells us that Moses died and was buried in the land of Moab, with this added caveat: “but no one knows the place of his burial to this day.” That’s the story-teller’s way of asking, “Did he really die?”
Elijah, of course, didn’t really die, according to the book of 2 Kings. As if he is hailing a cab, Elijah is picked up by a chariot and horses of fire and lifted up in a whirlwind. What a way to go, right?
And then there’s Jesus, who dies, is placed in a borrowed tomb, and is raised from the dead.  All three—Moses, Elijah, and Jesus—are biblical jabs at the power and finality of death.
We get the point: the storyteller is trying to sell Jesus. To use the language of television commercials, Jesus is a “new and improved” version of the Law and the Prophets, the two pillars of Jewish religion. This is savvy, creative story-telling, enough to make any Madison Avenue advertising agency envious.
The Transfiguration Story is just one of those stories that are rich in imagery and meaning. For me, it is one of the best stories in the Gospels to read when I need a Jesus fix. My face may not change and my clothes may not become dazzling white when I read it, but I am reminded that there is more to life than popcorn and Starbucks!

Annie Watson, ARCWP

Do you feel like we’re getting hit over the head with the message from the scriptures: “Go where God wants you to go.”  “Do what God wants you to do.”  “Be who God wants you to be.”  Many of the people we’ve been hearing about in the scriptures were dubious or scared to follow what they thought was God’s call to them.  But they succumbed after some coaxing and assurance that God would stay with them.  Miracles helped, too.  How about that catch of fish?   It was so big that their nets were almost torn apart!
 
Jesus’ message was clear.  “Come with me and carry on my ministry.”  Jesus was so convincing that they made a leap of faith, dropped everything, including the nets that were full to overflowing, and went with him.  Amazing!
 
Let’s think about those nets.  They were an essential part of those people’s livelihood, weren’t they?  I’m going to tell you a little bit about some other nets.  But you’ll have to finish the story by yourselves because of our time restrictions today. 
 
Helen and I went to the Indiana Women’s Prison Thursday evening and learned from some of the inmates about a project they have to save lives one net at a time.  Remember some of these women have taken someone’s life. They chose this project of making nets to protect infants, young children and pregnant mothers from bites from mosquitoes that carry malaria.
 
The inmates are dedicated to preserving life and giving hope.  They send the nets mainly to sub-Saharan Africa where 90% of the 1.2 million deaths from malaria each year occur.  These nets mean the difference between life and death.
We invite you to learn more about this project.  Take home a paper about it.  We will be talking more about the “One Net – One Life Mosquito Net Project” in the near future. 
 
Where is God calling us, as a community, to follow Christ?  Let’s pray about that as we begin the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP

What does it mean to be called by God? Called to do what?  To whom?
As Christians we are called to live the radical gospel of Christ. Sometimes that call is scary.  It can come in the form of a thought we can’t shake, an idea that seems crazy but won’t go away. 
Here’s a story from a whole different culture from our own.  It comes to us from the Suquamish people of Washington State.  Their young people were getting caught up in the culture of drugs and alcohol.  So the elders started sending them every year along with young people from many other tribes on the traditional Tribal Canoe Journey, a drug and alcohol-free event where Tribes gather and share their cultures.
The canoe journey represents adaptability and reliability, traits necessary inside and outside the canoe, especially with the many Native youth who struggle with substance abuse.  The journey is difficult for the youth and the adults who have spent much time planning the journey and counseling and encouraging the young people.
That’s love in action both for the young people and the health of their tribe and culture.  (For more information see Yes Magazine, Winter 2016, pp. 46-47.)  What a beautiful example of many of the facets of love that Paul so eloquently described in the second reading today! 
Many of us remember that reading from 1st Corinthians from our own wedding, and or from many we have participated in or witnessed.  By the way, Paul spoke those words not as a fluffy pat on the back but as a strong rebuke.  The Corinthians were fighting with one another.  Everything he said love is they were not.
God’s call to Jeremiah was relentless and inevitable.  Jeremiah kept telling God he wasn’t up to the job, but God wore him down saying that God would put words in his mouth and deliver him from harm.
I suggest you continue reading from Jeremiah.  That truth-telling message which the prophet gave from Yahweh shows the depth of God’s love for Israel as a spouse. 
We are sometimes called, as Jesus was, to take an unpopular but loving stand.  It’s usually easier to speak an unpleasant truth among people we don’t know, but among our friends and family, it’s much more difficult.  We are sometimes called from somewhere deep within to invite those close to us to participate with us in unfolding new stories, creating a new story for people on the margins of society and the church, one of hope and justice.
Jesus led the way, reminding his listeners that during the time of Elisha, only a foreigner from Syria was cured.  He was sending the message to his family and friends that their God loves all people, not just them.  Jesus had just returned from a Retreat in the desert and was ready to face people’s resistance to his message.  Luke is warning us, his readers, that in Jesus life he would be experience increasing resistance.   
Maybe that’s a clue for us to expect resistance and to take some time away, in the spirit of Lent, to listen to God’s message for us.  The Holy Spirit will be with us, giving us the ability to lead others to greater love, for both those near us and those on the margins. 
Question: What does it mean to you to be called by God? Called to do what?  To whom?  Do you feel alone, or do you have help and support?
For further reflection:  How does that translate to our St. Mary of Magdala Community?  If you haven’t put your ideas on the chart of dreams for the future of our community, you can do it on your way out today.
As we celebrate the Eucharist together we share in the Spirit of Jesus and move forward in love.

Rev. Maria Thornton McClain

How wonderful that God is bringing us new gifts, insights, to praise God and spread God’s love everywhere!  How comforting to hear that God won’t rest until love and compassion is spread everywhere!  All creation will rejoice when the earth is rich with nutrients, food is plentiful for all, and the air is pure and clean to breathe.  All people will rejoice when peace has spread throughout the land, and people don’t have to live in fear, but can use their God-given abilities to develop even better food, works of art to express beauty, and nations built on justice and love.
The new wine that Jesus gave the bride and groom for their guests is symbolic of all the gifts that God gives us to care for each other and the world we live in.  Jesus himself experienced newness of a deeper understanding of his mission through the message of his mother.  This led his disciples to have deeper confidence and commitment to him which would come in handy before too long.
Mary’s alertness to the needs of the host and hostess of the wedding party reminds me of the event some of us went to the other night at the Interfaith Center.  You may have seen something about it on TV.  It was the reception here in the 1st floor gallery for the display of interactive artwork designed for sightless young children.  One of the leaders of the group is a woman whose child can see things but can’t connect what she sees with any meaning of what it is. 
As we walked around the room, some of us using eye shades that were provided, we could feel how important the sense of touch is to visually impaired children.  Here’s a quote from their newsletter from Emily, the mother of Vance.  “Thank you all for giving me ideas and tips and teaching me how to teach my son.  When he was first diagnosed one of my biggest fears was that I wouldn’t be able to interact with him, that I would never truly be able to understand my son.  All of you that worked with him from the very early days up until now, have showed me just how much potential he has.  Each and every one of you appreciates his sense of humor and his sweet smile.”
Working with visually impaired preschoolers is one of the faces of compassion.    Every time we look around, see a need, ask God for guidance, and act with compassion we are following Mary’s example.  Our Leadership Circle has decided to give this group our tithe for the 4th quarter of 2015. 

Rev. Maria Thornton McClain

Matthew wrote his gospel to the young Christian communities.  It was not to relate details of a happening as to give guidance of how we are to live what Jesus came to transmit to us. “We have observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay homage,” Matthew writes.  Wow!  A new star to make known the birth of a child!  The wise men, which followed that star, would be most likely be from the country of Iran today.  These were unanticipated people from unexpected places who came to pay homage to a child not of their faith or culture.  In our time of political xenophobia, this story contains power and challenge that we look for God’s presence in what is not familiar to us and do not put up a wall that keeps what is unfamiliar out of our presence. 

“Wise Women also came.  They walked in shadows, trusting the path would open under the light of the moon”.  Sometimes, there is no path, no clear direction that we can discern.  So we trust each step that we take on the journey moves us in a positive direction.  The wise women also went home by another route.  Sometimes, in following God we must change directions, find new horizons and encounter new vistas.  On this journey God will be with us.  Always, as believers, we must have one foot rooted in the present and the other rooted in tradition. 

I wanted to share with you the year’s summary from Exodus Refugee Immigration.  This community’s third quarter tithe contributed to Exodus’ work to resettle refugees in the Indianapolis area.  They wrote in their 2015 summary:  “Exodus is honored to have resettled 888 courageous refugees in 2015.  This included 13 Syrians and 16 Iraqis caught in the conflict.  We expect more Syrians to arrive in early 2016 and we look forward to welcoming them.  Our lawsuit against Governor Pence will be reviewed by a judge in early 2016.”  Our contribution helped this city and us live out the gospel imperative to be a welcoming community, city, country. 

Ilia Delio’s new book is: Making All Things New: Catholicity, Cosmology, Consciousness.  In it she writes: “that the Greeks coined the word catholic to describe attunements to the physical order, that catholicity meant living in harmony with the stars.  To live in catholicity was to have a sense of the cosmos or the whole order of things, including the physical and spiritual things.”

After the first few centuries’ catholicity shifted from wholeness to orthodoxy.  There are rules and codes and creeds that we must believe to belong.  That is the church that most of us were raised in.  The remnants of that orthodoxy are still among us in the church!  There is nothing wrong with having rules and creeds to guide us, yet the heart and life of Christianity is in relationships…family, friends, neighbors, students, work associates, nature, the earth, the universe and our Godde, Jesus the Christ who became human.  This Incarnation tells us how much our Godde loves us.  Our gathering, this evening, as we celebrate the memory of Jesus and aware of his risen presence we have an increased consciousness of community and church.   We, tonight, are challenged to continue our commitment to the lived experience of catholicity, of wholeness and consciousness, of following the star in our life that leads to life. 

Francis of Assisi had a great love of Christmas and the Incarnation.  He was the first one to engage the town’s people in Greccio in the first nativity scene in 1223.  When I traveled in Germany and Austria one of the striking elements of the nativity scenes and paintings is that the Christ child was surrounded by the townspeople of that time.  Each person had their trade, family and gifts for the child.  I am sure the homeless and the tax collectors were included in the scene.  How do we embody the Incarnation in our lives that we bring not only ourselves but all of our relationships to the manger?  Have you considered placing your family picture as part of the crèche?   All of them!

Jamie Manson has a great article in NCR: Crèches from the Americas offer an Epiphany on Migration, Social Justice.  It offers another way to engage ourselves, the earth and our life in the Incarnation.  

Final question:  What are we called to today, as citizens of the universe, as followers of Jesus Christ and as members of the Church?  Can we invite the Incarnation to live in us this New Year?

And for our Meditation a Poem by Lutheran theologian: Walter Brueggemann

Epiphany

On Epiphany day,
we are still the people walking.
We are still people in the dark,
and the darkness looms large around us,
beset as we are by fear,
anxiety,
brutality,
violence,
loss --
a dozen alienations that we cannot manage.

We are — we could be — people of your light.
So we pray for the light of your glorious presence
as we wait for your appearing;
we pray for the light of your wondrous grace
as we exhaust our coping capacity;
we pray for your gift of newness that
will override our weariness;
we pray that we may see and know and hear and trust
in your good rule.

Do you know the story of Amahl and the Night Visitors?  I’d like you to think about the story of the Visitation which we just heard (Luke 1.39-45) and compare it to the story of Amahl, which I will share with you now.  What conclusions do you draw about not only who this Child is but what message he brings with him through the events and the characters in the stories? 

Amahl and his mother live in a small house.  He is only able to walk with the help of a crutch.  He is a dreamer and doesn’t always tell the truth.  One evening his mother calls him but he doesn’t listen.  After a while he finally comes in and tells his mother that he saw a huge star, as big as a window shining right above their roof.  Of course his mother doesn’t believe him.  Later that night his mother wept and prayed that her son wouldn’t become a beggar.

Then she heard a knock at the door and told Amahl to answer it.  He did and when he opened the door he saw three splendidly dressed kings.  He calls for his mother to come and see.  Of course she doesn’t believe him until she sees them for herself.  The kings tell them that they are on a long journey to bring gifts to a wondrous Child and they would like to rest at their home.  

The mother invites them in saying that all she can offer is “a cold fireplace and a bed of straw.”  When she goes to get firewood Amahl takes the opportunity to speak with the kings.  He ask them about their life as kings.  King Balthazar answers his questions and asks him what he does.  He responds that he used to be a shepherd but his mother had to sell his sheep.  Now he and his mother will have to go begging. 

King Kasper shows Amahl his box that is his gift to the Christ Child and offers him some licorice candy from it.  The mother returns and tells Amahl to go bring the neighbors so they can properly feed and entertain the kings. 

After the neighbors have left and the kings are resting, Amahl’s mother attempts to steal some of the gold the kings have brought as a gift for the Child.  The kings’ page sees her and shouts, “Thief, Thief!”  Amahl wakes up and sees the page grabbing his mother.  He attacks the page.

Kings Melchior sees what has happened and knows that Amahl’s mother was trying to save her son from having to beg.  The king tells her that she can keep the gold because the Holy Child won’t need earthly power or wealth to build his kingdom.   The mother begs the kings to take the gold.  She has waited her whole life for a Child such as this.  She wishes to send a gift for him but she has nothing to send.

Amahl comes forward.  He has nothing to give the Holy Child except his crutch.  When he offers it to the kings, he is miraculously healed.  With his mother’s permission he leaves with the kings to see the Child and give him his crutch in thanks for being healed. 

What are your thoughts after hearing both of these stories?

Like the story of the Visitation which we heard a few minutes ago this story teaches that Christ is God and has the power to heal and change lives.  In the Visitation story, the people are living examples of hospitality and compassion.  Mary shows compassion to her pregnant older cousin who in turn offers hospitality to her and her unborn son.  God is present though unseen in the boys and their mothers, who are inspired to praise God for the miracles that are happening.  The story of “Amahl and the Night Visitors” demonstrates that same hospitality and compassion.

Salvation has come through the power of God.  It has come through simple people doing what they see is the loving, faith-filled thing to do,  praising God in thanks for God’s gifts to them.  They gave without counting the cost out of compassion born of love. 

We can do no less!  This is the lesson and gift of Christmas to us all!

After the Creed we will go to the altar to remember and participate in the events that brought about our salvation.

Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP

Homilist -- Maria McClain, RCWP 


This certainly has been a week when we’ve needed to hear the encouraging words, “Rise up!” God will take care of everything!  From Baruch’s proclamation that “God is leading Israel in joy by the light of divine glory, escorted by mercy and justice - to Luke’s quotation from Isaiah that “all humankind will see the salvation of God.”

The writers are looking back and refreshing people’s minds about past times when God had saved God’s people and promised to continue to do so always. The Jews remembered and celebrated through their rituals.  They continue to do so to this day.

The liturgy encourages us to live as if we can see and experience the rewards now!   That doesn’t mean that we ignore the bad news we see and hear all around us.  It does mean that we do everything in our power to be the voice and hands of God bringing mercy and justice wherever we can.

That brings me to right here, right now!  Look around.  What does having the elements of the Eucharist on your table say to you?

What does this say to you?  What does this liturgical action feel like to you?

To put some backing to this new practice, let’s listen to the Jesuit Bernard Cooke, saying: “While individuals may have specific functions within the assembly, the entire community performs the Eucharistic action.  If this is so, then those gathered are the celebrant of Eucharist.  It is the community that ”does” the Eucharist.  A community encamps, wherever it happens to rest for this moment in time, around the Christ Presence that infuses our communion, vivifying (bringing to life) our One Body.  The people of God are taking their rightful place as celebrators of the liturgy in the priesthood of believers.” 

Research and archeology have shown us that the Catholic Church ordained women for the ministries during the Eucharist for the first 1200 years of Christianity.   Author, Gary Macy, concludes from his research in Middle Ages manuscripts that, in the understanding of the medieval mind, regardless of who spoke the words of consecration – man or woman, ordained or community – the Christ presence became a reality in the midst of the assembly. “

With these thoughts in the background, we now remember Christ’s actions and proceed to perform what he commanded his disciples to continue in his name at his last meal with the women, men and children who were his disciple.  Then Jesus he put his life into his Abba’s hands, before he went out to his extreme suffering, death, and two days later, his resurrection.

Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP

Liturgy and Soup Supper

The Mass and Soup Supper were held in the 1st Floor Dining Room.  The beautiful icon of St. Mary of Magdala is a gift from Don Treadwell and Doug Garcia.   Many thanks to Don and Doug!

The liturgy was for the 2nd Sunday of Advent.  We sat at round tables with the elements for Eucharist on each table.  The soup was delicious, the breads were very tasty and mostly homemade as were the desserts.  The people who put it together and spent time setting up and tearing down did a superb job.  Congratulations all for a job well done!

Homily – Annie Watson, ARCWP

Do you remember the television game show, Family Feud? A contestant from each of the two families stands in front of one another with their hand on a big button ready to push it as soon as they think they have a good answer to the game show host's question.

The same is true in Jeopardy. While Alex Trebek is giving the answer to a question, the contestants stand there, listening intently, ready to be the first to hit the button and verbalize the question.

In both of these games, hand on button is the contestant's default position. They only have one purpose at that moment, to hit that button as soon as possible. Sometimes the contestants hit the button prematurely before they know what to say. They are willing to risk being wrong in order to be the first to hit the button.

As we head into the Holiday Season, our hands should be resting comfortably on the buttons of grace, generosity, and gratitude, ready to strike at a moment's notice. These should be our default position. Sometimes we show grace, generosity, and gratitude prematurely, which can be risky, but we are never wrong in doing so.

Unfortunately, sometimes people have their hand on the wrong buttons. I have read with interest many of the comments on social media about the recent controversy over Starbuck's red cups. The young man who created the controversy claims to be operating as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and yet rather than soak in the holiday spirit and enjoy a hot cup of Joe, he seems to want to turn up the heat on a bogus and discredited annual event called "The War on Christmas."

In case you missed all the frenzy, this man wants "Christian" customers to enter Starbucks with a gun, order a cup of coffee, and tell the server that their name is "Merry Christmas," just so Starbucks will have to write "Merry Christmas" on their cups.

Sometimes l feel like l missed the lecture on what it means to be a Christian. Rather than our hands resting on the buttons of anger, threats, and intimidation, ready to push those buttons (or pull the trigger) at a moment's notice, shouldn't our hands be resting on the buttons of grace, generosity, and gratitude?

Where are our hands resting as we enter this Holiday season? What buttons are we ready to push?

It is not too difficult to imagine where the hands of Paul and Jesus were resting. Paul's favorite default button was the button of grace, because this was God's default button. "There are no limits to the grace of God," he said. No matter the season or time of year, our hands should always be resting near the button of grace, ready to strike immediately, even prematurely.

Although the concept appeared earlier in Catholic theology, the great Methodist churchman, John Wesley, had a name for what we might consider to be premature grace. Wesley called it God's "prevenient grace."

Prevenient grace is defined as divine grace that precedes human decision. It exists prior to and without reference to anything humans may have done. In other words, even before you and I are ready to hit the buttons of grace, generosity, and gratitude, God hits the buttons for us.

The best way for us to respond to God's grace in our lives is with generosity and gratitude. For Paul, his hands were resting steadily on the plow of generosity. "If you plant sparingly, you will reap sparingly, and if you plant bountifully, you will reap bountifully."

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul suggests our generosity is an imitation of God's generosity, "The One who provides seed for the planter and bread for food," the One who "will also supply and enlarge your store of seed and increase your harvest of justice." God's hand rests on the button-or plow-of generosity, and so should ours.

Paul echoes the same theme in his letter to the Galatians: "The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others­ ignoring God!-harvests a crop of weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life."

Jesus illustrates God's generosity, recorded in Matthew's Gospel. Speaking of default buttons, for Jesus the wrong button to push is the button of worrying and anxiety. There are times when we can't help but push those buttons, and yet our hands should never be resting close to them.

Instead, our hands should be resting on or near the buttons of faith and trust in God's generosity. If God takes care of the birds of the air and the wildflowers of the fields, then it goes without saying, Jesus claims, that God will take care of us. And if God takes care of us, isn't the proper response one of gratitude and generosity toward others?

Hands that are resting on the buttons of faith and trust in God's generosity are hands that are ready to work in the realm of God: "Seek first God's reign, and God's justice, and all these things (food, water, and clothing) will be given to you besides.
Enough worrying about tomorrow! Let tomorrow take care of itself."

This may not be planting season in terms of the seeds of the earth, but it is planting season in terms of the seeds of grace, generosity, and gratitude. This is the season when our hearts almost magically become more open to the pushing of these buttons. Not to sound too ungenerous, but the young man who started the Starbucks red cup controversy apparently loves to push people's buttons. Unfortunately, from a Christ-perspective, they are the wrong buttons. I pray that God will somehow help this young man learn the difference between pushing people's buttons and pushing the buttons of grace, generosity, and gratitude.

We stand over these buttons today, ready to strike them for family, friends, foes, and furry creatures alike. We are ready to strike these buttons even prematurely at times. A life lived with these buttons as our default buttons, a life that errs on the side of these things is a risky life, and yet it is the only life worth living.

Finally, as we gather around our holiday tables to say "grace" this year, let us remember that we can push buttons that don't lead to a "family feud" and put our holiday festivities in "jeopardy. " Amen.

From Prayers of the Cosmos by Neil Douglas-Klotz  

The richness of expression present in the native Aramaic language of Jesus is a treasure that has been lost—or limited only to scholars—for too long.  To discover this treasure, we must challenge ourselves to participate in the prophetic and mystical tradition that Jesus as represented.  It is a far cry from our ordinary way of thinking.  

A tradition of both native Middle Eastern and Hebraic mysticism says that each statement of sacred teaching must be examined from at least there points of view: the intellectual, the metaphorical, and the universal (or mystical).  From the first viewpoint, we consider the face value of the words in question—what so-called modern people normally call the “literal” meaning.  

According to native Middle Eastern mysticism, however, each Aramaic word presents several possible “literal” translations.  “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” could as easily be translated “Blessed are the gentle” or “Blessed are those who have softened the rigidity within.”The word for “earth” in Aramaic also carries the meanings of “earthiness”, “the natural abundance of nature,” and “everything that appears in particular forms.”  To understand how all these relate to one another, we must go further.
 

From the second viewpoint, we consider how a statement or story presents a metaphor for our lives—or the life of a community.  Here we must awaken our poetic sensibility: we must participate in re-creating meaning from several possible literal translations.  With reference to the above saying of Jesus, where are the rigid place in our lives—or in the life of our society?  How do they prevent us from receiving sustenance from the natural abundance of nature?
 

From the third viewpoint, the universal or mystical, one comes to a truth of the experience pointed to by a particular statement.  Here we must go beyond seeing a prayer as an affirmation or petition, or a parable as mere metaphor.  We must embrace the wordless experience to which the living words of a mystic point.  To continue the above example: one faces the question, “What do the words rigid and soft have to do with my experience life, of the cosmos, of God?  What feelings do the sounds of the key words in Aramaic evoke?  How do I act responsibly from this new understanding?”  There are no set answers to these questions: they challenge us to an individual response.

To a native Middle Eastern mystic like Jesus, none of these viewpoints exclude the others.  One holds all the possible meanings of key sacred phrases and prayer and lets them work inside.  

An unnatural division between God, Nature and humanity, unknown to people who lived close to the earth, crept into our language with the advent of modern civilization.  

Some of the difficulty harkens back to the source of our texts—and our thinking.  Most of the English translations of the words of Jesus come from Greek, a language that differs greatly from Aramaic.  Aramaic was the common spoken language throughout the Middle East at the time of Jesus and the tongue in which he expressed his teaching.  (Hebrew was primarily a temple language at this time.)

Unlike Greek, Aramaic does not draw sharp lines between means and ends, or between an inner quality and an outer action.  Both are always present.  When Jesus refers to the “kingdom of heaven,” this kingdom is always both within and among us.  Likewise, “neighbor” is both inside and outside, as is the “self” that we are to love in the same degree as our “neighbor.”  Unlike Greek, Aramaic presents a fluid and holistic view of the cosmos.  The arbitrary borders found in Greek between “mind,” “body,” and “spirit” fall away.

Furthermore, like its sister languages Hebrew and Arabic, Aramaic can express many layers of meaning.  . . . (E)ach word may have several meanings. At firs seemingly unrelated, but upon contemplation revealing an inner connection.  The same word may be translated, for instance, as “name,” “light,” “sound,” or “experience.” 

Confronted with such variety, one needs to look at each word or phrase from several different points of view—the ones mentioned above, and possibly others.  Jesus showed a mastery of this use of transformative language, which survives even through inadequate translations.

In addition, the Aramaic language is close to the earth, rich in images of planting and harvesting, full of views of the natural wonder of the cosmos.   “Heaven” in Aramaic ceases to be a metaphysical concept and presents the image of “light and sound shining through all creation.”

 

 

 
A comparison
 

The Beatitudes (Matthew 5: 3-12) from the King James Version

The Beatitudes as interpreted by Neil Douglas-Klotz

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Happy and aligned with the One are those who find their home in the breathing; they shall find their ruling principles and ideals guided by God’s light.

 

Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

Tuned to the Source are those feeling deeply confused by life; they shall be returned from their wandering.

 

Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.

Aligned with the One are the humble, those submitted to God’s will; they shall be open to receive the splendor of earth’s fruits.

 

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled.

Healed are those who persistently feel inside: “If only I could find new strength and a clear purpose on which to base my life”; they shall be embraced by birthing power.

 

Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.

Tuned to the Source are those who shine from the deepest place in their bodies; they shall feel the heat of cosmic ardor.

 

Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God.

Healthy are those whose passion is electrified by deep, abiding purpose; they shall regard the power that moves and shows itself in all things.

 

Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.

Healed are those who bear the fruit of sympathy and safety for all; they shall hasten the coming of God’s new creation.

 

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Tuned to the Source are those persecuted for trying to right society’s balance; theirs is the ruling principle of the cosmos.

 

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Renewal when you are reproached and driven away by the clamor of evil on all sides, for my sake . . .

 

Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Do everything extreme, including letting your ego disappear, for this is the secret of claiming your expanded home in the universe.

HOMILY

St. Mary of Magdala Catholic Community

October 4, 2015

 

Today’s readings are a good example of how people can turn someone else’s statements around to say what they want them to say, or think they should say.  When we were kids the boys used to use the Genesis second creation story to show us girls that we were made from just Adam’s rib so we weren’t really human or at least not as human as they were.

We couldn’t answer them back because we didn’t know, and most religion teachers didn’t know, that that was not the real message.   Scripture scholars teach us that “the woman may have been taken from the man, but he played no part in her creation, and didn’t even witness it.” Were we taught that the man was inferior to the ground from which he was formed?    I don’t think so!

The writer of the story may have heard of the ancient creation story of the goddess Ninti, whose title in Sumerian, “woman of life,” has the same root as “woman of the rib.”  The pun lost its significance when it was translated into Hebrew.  The poetic construction shows that the author was not attempting an accurate account of the creation of the first couple but sought to focus on their relationship.  We see this theme throughout the scriptures – the critical importance of relationships.

Continuing with that theme let’s look at Jesus’ teaching about marriage according to Mark.  I hope Pope Francis and the other bishops and priests who will be speaking about marriage and the family, will reflect on this part of Mark’s gospel.   Mark is saying that Jesus teaches that husband and wife have equal responsibility.  He envisions a situation where a woman has a right to a divorce, something not in the Jewish law.  This doesn’t make the demands of marriage any easier, but it does put husband and wife on equal footing.  I believe the teaching is the same for gay and lesbian couples.

What about raising children?  In Jesus’ day in Roman society children were not valued.  Because they were not productive, they were ignored, abused, abandoned or sold.  Jesus taught that children are important in God’s realm and an example to others.  Do we bring a positive, encouraging, building up attitude to dealing with children?  Do we carefully protect them from others who don’t treat them with love, no matter who those people are?   Some of us still need to take away our blind spots about priests, seminarians and religious brother and sisters in this regard.

How are we being faithful to the gospel, to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council?  What does it mean to us, St. Mary of Magdala Community?  How can we build up a sense of ownership in our community?  What are we called to be and do in this climate in the Church?  Who are we anyhow?  How do we bring hope to the vulnerable in our families and community?    

Here’s one way to look at it.  We bring hope through the relationships we build with each other.  We bring hope by getting to know each other better so we can learn what each other is doing to bring hope to others in our community: from volunteering for the St. Vincent de Paul Society, to working at soup kitchens, to supporting those hospitality workers at our hotels and conference centers so they begin to get a living wage.

At the same time, we can learn each other’s spiritual and personal needs so we can more effectively fill those needs.   Our Leadership Circle is meeting this week.  We’ll be “firing up our engines” to see what to do first to bring power to the rest of you.  To “fill up our tanks” for our next liturgy on October 18, please bring us some information about what you do to build up a person or people in our community.  We can share that info and see what that means for our own outreach and for who we are as a Christian community. 

Now let’s focus on the Eucharist, that presence of Christ with us, empowering us to be equal partners in lifting up each other and those who are weak and vulnerable.

Rev. Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP

  October 4, 2015

The translations of the readings for this Sunday shed a great deal of light on their meaning for us.  The second reading was from Hebrews.  We used the translation/interpretation from The Message.  The first reading from Genesis 2 and the Gospel according to Mark will be sent to you separately.  The second reading follows;

A reading from the letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 2:5, 8-13)

God didn’t put angels in charge of this business of salvation that we’re dealing with here.

 When God put women and men in charge of everything, nothing was excluded. But we don’t see it yet, don’t see everything under human jurisdiction. What we do see is Jesus, made “not quite as high as angels,” and then, through the experience of death, crowned so much higher than any angel, with a glory “bright with Eden’s dawn light.”  In that death, by God’s grace, he fully experienced death in every person’s place.

It makes good sense that the God who got everything started and keeps everything going now completes the work by making Jesus, who is the Salvation Pioneer, perfect through suffering as he leads all these people to glory. Since the One who saves and those who are saved have a common origin, Jesus doesn’t hesitate to treat them as family, saying to God,

“I’ll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters, all I know about you;
I’ll join them in worship and praise to you.”

Again, he puts himself in the same family circle when he says,

“Even I live by placing my trust in God.”

HOMILY

Today’s Liturgy of the Word leads us to reflecting on the kind of servant leadership Jesus taught, practiced and expects from his followers.   This theme was evident in the Women’s Ordination Worldwide Conference, in Philadelphia, that I attended the last few days.   The conference focused on equality for all people in issues regarding respect for gender differences, ordination of women and married men and global justice.

They reaffirmed our decision to use gender neutral names for God whenever possible.  I heard a challenge to our community to make our liturgies more inclusive in leadership, based on our baptism into a “priestly people,” a challenge we are eager to accept.  It will also help us to be prepared for “priestless” Sundays, led by leaders who are well-prepared and chosen by our community members.  Reflection on these issues and practices led me to realize that there is a vast difference between a hierarchical leadership which we were used to and chaos where everyone is equal but do not have a sense of their role in community for the good of all. 

We listened to speakers with direct experience of sexual exploitation and discrimination, racial inequality and prejudice with seminaries and religious orders of men and women.   Some of the information was difficult to listen to because of the pain that the speakers told about from their own experience and that of others.  A panel of women from several different countries  - Ireland, India, United States, Australia, African - who had been sexually abused by priests and seminarians told of how it had effected their lives and how difficult it was to deal with being treated by church and civil authorities as not worthy of their attention.  A panel of priests who had been laicized and, or defrocked for their support of women’s ordination told of they had dealt with the pain they experienced. 

A women who had done much research on discrimination against African-American women in religious orders in this country, shared several examples.  It was embarrassing to hear that this has gone on and is not completely eliminated.

On the other hand it was wonderful to be with women and men who are strong in standing up against discrimination because of sexual orientation, gender or race.  Roman Catholic women priests and bishops from different groups shared stories and enjoyed each other’s company. 

I got important information about Global Ministries University which I will share with anyone who is interested.

(At mass on Sunday people shared their reflections on the issues which I brought up.  Then we proceeded to the Liturgy of the Eucharist.)

Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP

September 20, 2015

Homily: September 6, 2015


We certainly can experience the gospel within our lives and our daily activity. The mother pleading and begging on behalf of her daughter and not being put off by Jesus' roughness or by being told she was not included in Jesus' mission. She expanded Jesus' understanding of who he was sent to preach to and to include in his mission.  He had to take this in and grapple with it. In the story both she and Jesus are outsiders. Jesus was not being accepted by the Israelites and so he was in pagan territory.  

The man who was deaf and mute is brought to Jesus by a crowd and pleaded for his healing. Jesus took him aside and very human things putting spit on his tongue and touching his ears. Jesus did not do the healing for recognition. He allowed the man and his family because of the healing to be participants in the life of the community.  Illness and physical impairment put one’s family and oneself outside of the community.

The image that both of these Gospels stories bring to me today are the refugees that we see every night on our national and local news.  Parents bring their children in boats, on trains, spending days and weeks and maybe years in refugee camps. They are pleading to the world for their children and themselves that they may have life.  The invitation of the second healing story is for us, the rest of the world.  Will our eyes be open to see and our ears to hear the plight and pain of people without a country.  Will our mouths speak on their behalf? 

This community is one that is very attuned to people in need of a compassionate presence and response.  Each of us is challenged today to discern what is that call is in our life.  For some here that compassionate holding in Contemplation the sick suffering and refugees will be what is asked for.  Exodus, a group in the city that works with resettling refugees, can always use volunteers.  Some here may be looking for an outreach.   Praying the news, as was taught to us by our Carmelite sisters, is another response.  Living deeply in the present moment and attending to those who are with us in that moment is incredibly challenging and does open us to new insights and ways of being.  It informs us of what we must be about.

The readings call us again.  As we wake up each morning we can ask the question, "What is being asked of me today?"  May our ears be open to hear what is mine to do.


Nancy Meyer, RCWP

HOMILY

August 30, 2015, 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Moses told the people,  ”Now, Israel, hear the statues and decrees that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land that Adonai, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.  …”In your observance of the commandments of Adonai, your God, you must not add or subtract from that which I am giving you.”

Note that in those days the Jewish people didn’t as yet have a concept of reward other than in this life.   It wasn’t until Jesus’ time that a whole group of people believed in an afterlife and that sometimes people would have to struggle all their lives and keep the faith without seeing a reward.   Jesus taught by his example and words to love even to death, death on a cross.   That is the basic commandment of God: love God and neighbor as Jesus did, to the end, without expecting a reward in this life.    How each person lives that out is different. 

I imagine Pope Francis is not going to come out with a major teaching that same-sex marriage is acceptable, but he did show that he respects people’s efforts to love in their own way.  He apparently read the books that a lesbian woman sent him about a child having two mommies.  He sent her a letter and an Apostolic Blessing.  Now that’s love.  That’s his interpretation of how to follow the basic law of love of God and neighbor, both for him and for the two mothers!    

What about the loving compassion that leads people to spend their lives helping those who are mentally or physically impaired, addicted to drugs or other substances or behaviors!   What unselfish love it takes for people to help someone like Dee Curry and her efforts to live a healthy, productive life.   Pathways to Housing DC, is a nonprofit in DC that implements the Housing First model among those with severe mental illness.   Housing First offers the most vulnerable, chronically homeless people permanent housing and the supportive services to address mental and physical health, substance abuse, education and family reunification so that people can get back on their feet.  Many times the staff doesn’t see positive results at first or for a long time, though they do have an 85% success rate of keeping people off the street. 

Dee Curry came to them after many attempts to get away from drugs and homelessness.  She is happy to say, “They saved my life!’  In her long road back from chronic homelessness, Dee found navigating social services overwhelming.  The staff at Housing First was there for her every step of the way.  She now knows that she can trust them.  One staff person offered to accompany her to a job interview.  They stayed with her when she went back to drugs and lost her apartment.  They helped her find a way back. They taught her how to stay on a budget.   Now in her third apartment, no longer struggling with addiction, she says: “Finally I feel like myself.”   

Back to Moses and to Jesus, who quoted Isaiah, saying: “These people honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me.”  Jesus was interested in what was in people’s hearts.  He didn’t condemn the Pharisees for their beliefs.  He was questioning their motives.  He was teaching that actions must flow from deep convictions and be genuine expression of one’s praise or gratitude, of one’s need or reparation.  The discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees in Mark was a normal kind of dialogue that well-meaning Jewish people would have and still have over how a particular passage in scripture is best be interpreted. 

Our church hierarchy would do better, as Pope Francis is doing, to dialogue with people in a particular situation on how a law or commandment could best be applied.  That implies that people listen to each other and respect others’ honest point of view. 

Jesus readily forgave people who admitted their failures and were trying to do what was right.  The same thing is true for us.  Christ is always with us when we try to do what is right and speak the truth.  His concern is that his word take root in us.  Like the people in recovery at Pathways, who learn to trust loving people, we need to learn to trust that we are being led to wholeness, and to trust that we can trust our true selves.  At Seeds of Hope in Indianapolis, a home like Pathways, residents are required to keep a journal and spend one hour a day in prayer or reflection, another way to learn how to interpret God’s law of love.

So, there are some things that are essential to wholeness and some areas where we can make choices and need to make choices.  Some things are from God’s laws and are necessary and somethings where we need to discern what is best.  That’s where prayer and reflection come in for us, too.  The most important aspect is to have right relationships: kindness over cruelty, compassion over condemnation.

That’s the whole of God’s law and the key to how to interpreting what it means in a particular situation is to stay attuned to God’s word both personally and as a community through prayer, study and asking questions.

Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP

August 30, 2015

HOMILY - November 3, 2013
31st Sunday in ORDINARY Time
Rev. Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP

Little Zacchaeus was not only a crook, he was a wealthy crook!   We can only speculate as to why he wanted to see Jesus so badly that he climbed up into a sycamore tree.  Middle Eastern sycamore trees are smaller than the North American version, including having smaller and fewer leaves.  So it really was possible for him to find a low-hanging branch and swing up to a higher notch where he could see people passing by on the road.

What attracted him to Jesus we'll never know.  We'll also never know why he risked being injured by people throwing rocks at him.  Everybody knew he was cheating them, but they didn't dare complain for fear of attracting attention of the Roman soldiers.  But whatever led Zacchaeus to run ahead of the crowd, climb the tree and peer down at Jesus, he was immeasurably rewarded.  For Jesus noticed him, called to him, and he came down from the tree a new person.

Let's use this opportunity to reflect on different aspects of ourselves. When we first meet Zacchaeus he seems to be a good example of a person who is focused on himself and his success.  By itself that's not evil, is it?  in today's world, that focus would probably include a person's car, body image, education and other trappings of his or her ego.  There's nothing wrong with that.  These things help people get through an ordinary day.  They're the projection of one's self-image.  However, people tend to think this is their real self and are attached, or even addicted to it.

When somebody like Zacchaeus or you or me is able to move beyond this surface level, this "small self" or sometimes called the "False Self", at the right time and in the right way, it feels like we haven't lost anything.  It feels like freedom and liberation.  Why? Because we sense that we are connected to something much bigger; we no longer need to defend our small piece of the picture.  We're connected to something inexhaustible.   

How do we set ourselves in this direction, away from attachments and addictions of whatever type that show we are stuck in self-pity or on our own success?  Some people go through therapy.  That's fine but it only goes so far.  Good therapy often helps people cope with other "False Selves" they come in contact with.  Psychology can't get into the world of the eternal, the sacred.  As the Jungian psychologist, James Hillman, wrote: 'We've had a hundred years of therapy - and the world's getting worse."  Maybe he's right.  At least he points to the limitations of any system except the biggest.  AA can get into that world somewhat through one's "higher power."
Spiritual Direction can help a person walk the road to ones True Self.  But there's no magic about it.  It takes a lot of searching, honesty, prayer and reaching out in service to others.

Getting back to Jesus, he didn't "cure" people of just their medical or physical problems; he actually "healed" them and sent them on their way or back to join society.  He led people to a whole new experience of themselves: more self-confident, more capable of healthy relationships, new joy, forgiveness of the old self - all recognized through the physical cure.

What has led you to experience life in a whole new way?  Was it a near-death experience, being in the presence of a very holy person, like Mother Teresa, putting yourself through an experience that stretched you beyond where you thought you could go?

Are you still struggling to find your True Self?  Personally, I think some of us find our True Self in degrees as we are led deeper into our relationship with God.  Our False Self doesn't go away.  Zacchaeus still had to make a living.  Hopefully he found an honest way to collect taxes and to relate to people who he had cheated in the past.

As for Jesus, to quote the Franciscan Richard Rohr, "the beautiful body and life that Jesus surrendered on the cross were willingly surrendered not because they were bad or unworthy, but because they were no longer necessary or helpful to the final task."

We gradually find our True Self as we do the work of growing up, of listening and watching for the clues.  At the right time, as Thomas Merton said, "A door opens in the center of our being, and we seem to fall through it into immense depths, which although they are infinite - are still accessible to us.  All eternity seems to have become ours in this one placid and breathless contact."  Wow, how wonderful and frightening at the same time is that!

Zacchaeus was thrilled, but probably just as surprised as everyone else in the crowd, when Jesus invited himself to dinner at his house.   Christ has invited himself to dine with us this evening.  Let's treat him with real hospitality however he comes to us now and for the rest of the day and the week.

Hebrews 12:1-2

"We are surrounded by a so great crowd of witnesses…" probably meant those who had been martyred for their faith in Christ.  Other scholars think it meant their ancestors in the Jewish faith. 

The phrase connects with the next verse that talk about running a race,  keeping one's eye on the goal and persevering to the finish.  In the Greco-Roman world, runners were encouraged by the huge crowd gathered in the stadium watching the race.  Runners would strip themselves of anything that might encumber them.  The goal of the Christian is Jesus, urging the person to strain further.   We are not alone in our struggle. 

However, we are not to glorify suffering.  Some suffering is caused by structures and systemic sin and evil, such as racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia.  Being uncritical of suffering only perpetuates structural and systemic evil. 

Luke 12:49-53

Did Jesus really say: I have come to light a fire on the earth."?  Did he really say: "I have come to bring division."?  The Jesus who came to bring peace.  The division would be brought about by the coming judgment, the challenge of the new age.  In the gospel according to John he says that Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire.  The divisions had already started when these gospels were written.  Many Christians had been thrown out of the synagogues.  It may also have referred to the suffering and death Jesus himself would feel.  It would be physical suffering but also personal when relationships would be severed when disciples would choose to follow his way.

Maria McClain, RCWP

Two weeks ago I was at a national Roman Catholic Womenpriests Retreat, near Philadelphia.   There were 51 of us from all over the country, including one priest from Canada.  The Retreat itself was wonderful but we also had time to share stories of successes in ministering to people of all types.  Today I want to focus on one issue that struck close to home.

I had been thinking, incorrectly it turns out, that on the 3rd Sunday of September both Nancy and I would be in Milwaukee for Irene Senn's ordination leaving you without a priest.  I was looking for what to do about it.  At the Retreat I heard several priests talking about how their communities had members who were chosen by the group to co-preside at Mass in case a priest is not available.  One priest in our own Region has Mass every Sunday and she is the only priest in the state.   She does the same thing.  Several of the priests and bishops kept stressing the "priesthood of the laity" as they talked about their communities.

Supposing that two weeks ago, at our celebration of the feast of St. Mary of Magdala, we were all gathered at the park for the Mass and picnic.  At about 3:45 I began to experience bloating and severe pain in my intestines and felt hot.  I began sweating, and people said it could have been acute appendicitis.   I had to get to an Emergency Room.

What could you have done besides just leave or have a nice picnic?   You could have held a Liturgy of the Word Prayer Service with a shared homily.  Let's put that idea aside for now.

What if there was another option available?  What if there had been people in the group who had been trained to lead the community in celebrating Mass in an emergency and they were able to take over?

They could have divided up the leadership of various parts of the Mass among themselves.  They could have invited the rest of you to join in as you usually do, reciting the words of consecration together.

But where would you have gotten the courage and authority to do this?

What if you had agreed ahead of time that in an emergency, instead of being deprived of the Eucharist, that you could call upon your share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ?  The Vatican II document, The Constitution of the Church, says that "The baptized members of the Church, because they are consecrated by the Holy Spirit, share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ."

In the Introduction to this document, also called by its Latin name, Lumen Gentium, Fr. Avery Dulles, SJ, says that it is not and does not purport to be a definitive document.   He quotes Pȇre Dejaifve who said: "The greatest merit of the Constitution is that, far from canonizing the past, or even consecrating the present, it prepares for the future."  Another scholar called it a "stepping stone."

You also would have learned that, in The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the Council Fathers stated that: "We have lost nothing for not having lived during the time of Jesus' life on earth.  We have everything that the first disciples had to help us believe in Jesus and live as though this faith really makes a difference!      A little further on the bishops stated that: "Because of Christ's assured presence, the Liturgy gives us a unique opportunity to enter fully and honestly into our most right and authentic relationship with God.  Hence, the Liturgy is the most sacred act of human life.  Nothing more significant is ever done."

I'd like you to think about these ideas.  We'll come back to them at our next Mass, either during the homily or after Mass.  This thinking and deciding is a process of discerning what we think Christ would have us do in unusual circumstances.  The Second Vatican Council did not deal with this kind of situation specifically.  But this is 50 years later.   We, the baptized, have grown up understanding better what the "priesthood of the laity" means moving forward.

How does this all connect with this Sunday's  Liturgy of the Word?  All three reading speak about realizing what is really important in life and acting based on that.  Oh, Irene's ordination is September 22nd, which is the fourth Sunday, so not having a priest will not be an issue.  On the other hand, another situation could arise when no priest would be available.  What would be appropriate for this community to be sustained by the nourishment that is essential to building our strength to be Christ in all circumstances of our lives?  What would you choose to do?

With all these thoughts of the priesthood of the laity and focusing on what is most important in life, let us now go to the table of the altar to continue our worship of God through celebrating the Eucharist, the great "Thank You."

Maria McClain, RCWP

Homily by Nancy Meyer, RCWP

The ancient biblical world contained, it was believed, 70 or 72 nations.  So in Luke’s gospel, Jesus sent out the disciples to the whole world, not just to the Israelite communities.   The disciples were to take up the strenuous work of evangelization.   How they are to be is peaceful, gentle and loving in the midst of intense resistance.  They are dependent on the hospitality of the people that they meet.  They were to cure the sick and proclaim that ‘the reign of God is at hand’. 

What does ‘at hand’ mean?  My understanding is that wood crafters lay their tools out in order so that they are ‘at hand’, right here, in the same space when they are required for a particular task.  The reign or the kin-dom of God is right here, at hand, among us, and within us.  So the disciples were to make ready the towns and villages to receive Jesus, to alert that the reign of God was right here with them.  Jesus warned the disciples that the mission would not always go well and so they were then, to move on to another place.

They came back from their mission jubilant at their success and all that they had accomplished.   There have been those moments for us as well, when we focus on the visible result and take false pride in what we think we have accomplished by our own efforts!  Yet Jesus may have thrown a wet blanket on the disciples high spirits and our spirit when he said to them, rather be glad that your names are written in heaven.  Be glad that you have made a difference in someone’s life, something beyond yourself, something bigger than your own self interests. 

That is the Christian formula for success.  Make a moral difference.  Be a part of something larger than yourself.  This is not the teaching of the world’s criteria for success which is: lots of money, power, prestige and consuming a lot. 

One evening the news reported the flood that was imminent from the rising river in river town.  It was the same town that had devastating floods a couple of years earlier and people had just recovered.  The young people were there filling and stacking hundreds of sandbags to protect their town.  A reporter interviewed several of the young workers.  It was backbreaking labor they reflected, yet they had become numb to the pain in their backs and arms because they were part of something that made a difference.  Each one was talking about being a part of something larger than them self.  They felt really good contributing to the saving of their town in an effort that really brought people together.  United in this common cause they worked to lessen the devastation facing them.  They were unified for the common good, a very new experience, it seemed, for some of them.

My oldest sister Charlotte and Dorothy were good friends in high school.  As happens at graduation each went their different ways.  Dorothy entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, taught school and then was missioned to Brazil. 

Dorothy worked on behalf of the peasant farmers there who were sustaining threats from the loggers, ranchers and their hired gunman.  It was the farmer’s land they were after.  Some urged her to leave or crank down her outcry against the devastation of the Brazilian rain forest.   Sr. Dorothy would not leave the poor farmers whose livelihood and land were in peril.  She traveled to their villages over almost impassable mud roads to read scripture and pray together, to uplift their spirits and sustain their courage.  They had each other and they could continue to live in harmony with themselves, the rainforest and their God. 

On her way through the forest to a gathering of farmers, Dorothy Stang was stopped, questioned, and gunned down by two men in February, 2005.  An older woman standing with, praying with, and being with poor peasant farmers is viewed as a subversive activity against the powerful.  That simple activity cost her life.  How you are to be is peaceful, gentle and loving in the midst of intense resistance.  You will be sent as sheep among wolves, Jesus promises us.

Our mission and challenge today is here, bringing the word of the Holy One’s loving maternal presence with us and being attentive to the common good that is desperately being called for in our neighborhoods, city, nation and world.  That is what we are called to discern and act upon. 

Jim Wallis of Sojourners has just published a new book: On God’s Side: What religion forgets and politics hasn’t learned about serving the common good.  I would like to end with the quote from John Chrysostom that Jim begins his book with:

“This is the rule of most perfect Christianity; its most exact definition, its highest point, namely, the seeking of the common good… for nothing can so make a person an imitator of Christ as caring for [ones] neighbor.” 

Nancy Meyer, RWCP

Scripture Readings for the Feast of the Living Presence/Body and Blood of Christ:
1st Reading - Genesis 14:18-20
2nd Reading - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
Gospel - Luke 9:11b-17

When do you experience a sense of awe and wonder? .................

What emotion does this bring up in you? ............ (Gratitude and praise to God)

Would you say that this also is an experience of the Divine? .................

[Note:  On Sunday, we didn't get past this section.  People had so many experiences they wanted to share.]

What other experiences have led people to a sense of awe and wonder?  (i.e. night sky, cathedrals of Europe, works of art and music, crowds of youth gathered in praise of God, in service to those who are poor, etc.)
Where has their gratitude led them?

[We started again here] What about the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, here with us - Christ who is both human and divine!  We come here or somewhere time after time because we believe  in this special living presence of Christ.

Why is this so important?  Why is everything we do here so important - from the opening song, the readings and reflection on those readings, the ritual of the words and actions we use, the music? …………  (Because we need to experience a closeness to the divine - Why? so that we, weak, forgetful humans continue to have the Spirit of Christ, the courage, the faith and eagerness, the love to go out from here to be Christ in our world.)

Every year we celebrate the Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ to renew our enthusiasm for this awesome gift from God.  Every year on this day we read something about who Christ is for us.  This year we read about the ruler-priest Melchizedek who brought special bread and wine to Abram, blessed him in the name of God as a thanksgiving to God for Abram's being saved from his enemies.  In return Abram gave a tithe to the priest as a his sign of thanksgiving. 

Paul's account in 1 Corinthians of the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper uses the ritual formula he received from the faith community, the usual way a religious heritage is transmitted in most cultures.  Paul is showing that he has the authority to hand down the tradition, and that the Risen Christ is transmitting the tradition through the members of his Body, the Church.  

In that tradition, at the Last Supper Jesus showed the lines of continuity between the old and new covenants and making a clear distinction.  He focused on the bread and wine.  Faithful to Jewish etiquette, as either the head of the household or the host, he gave thanks and broke the bread.  Then he began a new covenant, a new bond between himself and his followers.   He identifies the bread as his body about to be given vicariously on behalf of those present. 

Again faithful to Jewish tradition, when the supper was over, Jesus took the cup and pronounced words over it as well.  He identified the cup with the new covenant and with his blood, which like sacrificial blood, ratified the covenant.  Jesus took the idea of a new covenant from a theme from Jeremiah (Jer. 31:31-34) and the blood ratification from the Jewish sacrificial system, incorporated them and reinterpreted them.  He showed that he is the offering himself.  He is giving himself for all who would come after him. Then Jesus charged his followers to repeat this memorial as a participation in his death and a sharing in the benefits that would come from it.

Now Christ continually gives what the dying Jesus gave once for all.  The past, present and future are merged as one: his death and resurrection, the ritual of remembrance enacted by communities of believers, and the future of his coming again.  Talking about awe and wonder - how can we even say these words without being in awe at the awesome privilege, joy and responsibility that is ours?  To show our gratitude to God we are called to be the living presence of Christ following the example of the first women and men disciples. 

Christ, where are you leading us?  The gospel gives us a clue.  See a need, ask Christ what to do about it, and then follow his instructions in a response of love. 

Let's go to the altar together and do what Jesus instructed us to do, asking for the courage to listen and follow the leading of his Spirit.

Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP
June 2, 2013

Homily by Maria McClain, RCWP, Pastor

What a rousing group of readings!  What do you think of that last paragraph of the Gospel?  "Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven.  If you retain anyone's sins, they are retained."  Was Jesus speaking about the Sacrament of Reconciliation?  Was he exaggerating?   Was he saying that the Holy Spirit would make the disciples infallible?  What was he saying?
 
Think of the phrase "body and blood" we use for the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist?   We mean "the whole Jesus Christ" all of him - his mind and heart, desires, intentions, humanity, divinity."  The same is true with the opposites that John uses: "forgiven" and "retained."  They mean the whole authority of a leader or judge - "forgive, " "retain" and everything in between.  Like what?  What about negotiation,  setting priorities, boundaries, choosing leaders, trading, sharing?    In other words, Jesus gave the disciples complete authority to carry on his mission with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
 
That was the evening of the Resurrection.  Then Jesus left them, coming back occasionally for 40 days.  By that time Jews from all over the known world were starting to arrive for the festival of Pentecost (50 days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread)- - one of the three main holydays.  The disciples hid in someone's upper room because they were afraid that they would be killed like their leader, Jesus.
 
When Pentecost arrived, the power of the Holy Spirit, appearing in wind and flame, banished all their fear.  They began to understand that they were being called to embody the ministry Jesus had begun, to internalize it and carry out! 
 
 And by the way, who are you picturing was there?  Just a group of 11 men and Jesus' mother, Mary?   What about the women disciples, like Mary of Magdala and the other Mary?  The other disciples?  One account  (Acts 1:15) indicates that there were about 120 people.  Later in Acts it says that there were  only the eleven Apostles and all were men.
 
What did the power of the Holy Spirit bring?  Obviously joy, enthusiasm, knowledge, understanding, courage.  Some had the power to heal the sick, speak in tongues, travel to the distant parts of the Roman Empire to teach people about Jesus and his mission.  Did they understand everything all at once?  Apparently not.  We read later in Acts they that had arguments, some stole from the general fund and did other things that showed that they didn't get it completely.
 
One thing they did feel was the need for community.  They needed to get together to pray -  to worship God as Jesus had taught them, to pray for guidance, to eat the Bread of Life and drink the Cup of Salvation.  That naturally led them to a love so great that they would die for what they believed and for each other.   It led them to open their eyes and have empathy for those around them, their own community and those outside.  That empathy led them to actions.  That was what Jesus had done.  That's what they would do.
 
We are direct descendants of those disciples.  We have received the Holy Spirit!  We also need community.  We also need to worship God as Jesus taught, eat the Bread of Life and drink the Blood of Salvation.  We need to pray for guidance and show great love for each other and those beyond our community.   We also need to do what people everywhere do when they come to a gathering of family and friends.  We need to have a leader who calls the group together, a group of people who plan liturgies and recruit people carry out the various tasks: from setting up to cleaning up, and everything in between.
 
We're going to be personally recruiting more of you to be an active part of keeping this community alive and healthy, part of the ministries of lector, Eucharistic minister, hospitality ministry, usher and  more, part of visioning the future.  You already tell  others we are available for those who want to be part of an inclusive Catholic community.  We want more people to  know that this is a spiritual home for all people searching for inclusive leadership, language and ministry in the sacramental tradition of the Roman Catholic Church.   We want to be a community that is listening for and following the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
 
Pentecost calls us to gather around the table of Jesus Christ.  Like those Christians at the first Pentecost, we, too, can have our faith enflamed by  the Holy Spirit!   Let's go there together!
 
Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP
5/18/2013

Homily by Maria McClain, RCWP, Pastor
 
"There are some truths that will never change, and the Church is including within the deposit of faith the fact that it cannot ordain women as priests."  This statement was made by Fr. Ronald Lengwin, Spokesperson for the Diocese of Pittsburgh, in the documentary film, "Pink Smoke over the Vatican."
 
A response to that statement was given by Bishop Patricia Fresen who said: "The Deposit of Faith has not been closed off.  The Church has had to admit it was wrong many times.  Think of Galileo."  Another responder mentioned slavery which the Church didn't say was against its teachings  until the late 1800's.  Another responder spoke of the change in the teaching that "money was evil and lending money was a mortal sin."
 
Looking back at the early church we see that strong differences of opinion have always been present within Christianity.  In the early days the important marker was community.  The fact that different cultures had their own theologies was known, but charity was most important.  There was little distinction between clergy and laity.  All were followers of the Risen Christ.  All elected leaders, including the Pope. 
 
About the year 1000 the picture started to change.  With the Western church headquartered in Rome, its goal and image was that of a perfect society, perfectly ordered and, recently, even infallible.  A major separation between clergy and laity began to be enforced.  Laity had no power in decision-making.  Clergy began dressing in elaborate attire like high Renaissance nobility, scandalizing many Christians who were trying to model their lives on Jesus of Nazareth, poor, persecuted and executed on a cross.
 
Today cracks in this system are becoming more and more prevalent.  Even the new pope seems to be in step with breaking  from the past and is making it clear that he is a pope of the people. 
 
But what about the core beliefs, the conditions for membership, that were the problem in the infant Church?  In the chapter from the Acts of the Apostles from which our first reading is taken, there is a discussion among Paul and Barnabas, Peter and James about whether Gentiles were eligible to be members.  Their conclusion was based on Peter's statement that "Just as we believe that we are saved through the grace of Jesus Christ, so are they," and the report from Paul and Barnabas recounting all the signs and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles through them. This was how Gentiles were spared having to be circumcised to be Christian.
 
Do we, as members and supporters of St. Mary of Magdala Catholic Community, still hold to those core beliefs that we are saved through belief in Jesus Christ, and carrying on Jesus' healing ministry?   Are we true members of the Church, or are we outside the Church? 

Let's look at our Creed:

We believe in God who is creator and nurturer of all.

We believe in Jesus, the Christ, who is our love, our hope, and our light.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the breath of Wisdom Sophia, who energizes and guides us in building caring  communities and in challenging oppression, exploitation and injustices.

We believe that God loves us passionately and forgives us everything.

We believe that we are radiant images of God who calls us to live fully, love tenderly, and serve generously.

We believe in the communion of saints, our heavenly friends, who support us on life’s journey. 

We believe in the partnership and equality of women and men in our church and world.

We believe that all are one in the Heart of God.

Here we live our prophetic call of compassion and equality for all.

Amen

What do you see is the same as what would be said in a parish church?  ……….
What do you see that would not be said there?  Why are we different?  ……….
Then there's the rest of the liturgy, the Mass, what is the same? ……….
What is different?  Why?.......
How do we participate in Jesus' healing ministry? ……...
 
The next time we meet to celebrate the Eucharist we will go deeper into this understanding of we, Church, as the Body of Christ.  For now let's remember the words of Pope John XXIII, "Let there be unity in what is necessary, freedom in what is doubtful, and charity in everything."
 
We are forming a community by being here, giving up our own plans to cut the grass, go shopping or Skyping our family.   But becoming one Bread, one Body will take another step: real communion happens when we let go of our demands in order to lighten another's burdens.  That's when Christ's love shines in the Church.  Let's celebrate Christ's love now as we share in the gift of the Eucharist!
 
Maria Thornton McClain, RCWP
5/4/2013

Homily by Nancy Meyer, RCWP

Monday of Holy Week found us with 9 inches of snow…at least at my home.   Winter has to have its last word!   It was Thursday until the greater part of the snow melted and I could take Leisel out to the back yard.  There out of the mulch and dead leaves in my garden where the beautiful deep purple reticulated iris with their fine leaves and pedals.  It was a shout in the cold wind that spring was coming and no wintry weather or snow was going to keep it away forever.  There is a belief deep within us that whispers life is coming again.  Resurrection and new life are a lived reality.

The Gospel this evening seems fitted just for us.  The disciples were gathered in the upper room close to evening.  They were reeling from all the events of the previous days.  Jesus, their Teacher and the one they believed would be their leader was crucified like a common criminal, died, and was buried.  Now the women said that he had risen and Mary Magdala gave testimony of her encounter with the living Jesus.  They had seen the empty tomb.  The disciples were sad, confused, unnerved, withdrawn and paralyzed in this upper room behind closed and locked doors.  They, who had run away, denied Jesus, were there with their emotions and uncertainty. 

Jesus comes in quiet and serenity and bids them Peace.  Peace be with you he says again.  There is no anger, no accusations, no finger pointing, no questions of them…like what happened to you guys when the going got rough?  You left me!  Jesus accepted them where they were…broken, sad, not understanding, confused.  Again he wishes them peace. He shows Thomas his wounds because he needed something more and not just the word of the others.  There was no chiding or shaming.   In their emotional, psychological, physical state of mind Jesus breathed on them the Holy Spirit. 

Is this not what happens to us?  Is this not our story as well?  We close the doors of our hearts and the windows of our mind in our confusion, sadness and fear.  We lock ourselves away in the best security systems that we can find.  When we are in our greatest shut-down self, unforgiving self, ego-centered self the Spirit of the Risen Christ breaks in and says to us Peace.  Peace.

The story from Acts, reflects a Peter that had received that Peace and growth of faith in the Resurrected Jesus.  The poor, sick, lame, were waiting for Peter’s shadow that was healing.  The confused, hurting, poor are waiting for our shadow and the healing that is our part of the ministry of healing to give. 

Once upon a time all feelings and emotions went to a coastal island for a vacation. According to their nature, each was having a good time. Suddenly, a warning of an impending storm was announced and everyone was advised to evacuate the island.

The announcement caused sudden panic. All rushed to their boats. Even damaged boats were quickly repaired and commissioned for duty.

Yet, Love did not wish to flee quickly. There was so much to do. But as the clouds darkened, Love realized it was time to leave. Alas, there were no boats to spare. Love looked around with hope.

Just then Prosperity passed by in a luxurious boat. Love shouted, “Prosperity, could you please take me in your boat?” “No,” replied Prosperity, “my boat is full of precious possessions, gold and silver. There is no place for you.”

A little later Vanity came by in a beautiful boat. Again Love shouted, “Could you help me, Vanity? I am stranded and need a lift. Please take me with you.” Vanity responded haughtily, “No, I cannot take you with me. My boat will get soiled with your muddy feet.”

Sorrow passed by after some time. Again, Love asked for help. But it was to no avail. “No, I cannot take you with me. I am so sad. I want to be by myself.”

When Happiness passed by a few minutes later, Love again called for help. But Happiness was so happy that it did not look around, hardly concerned about anyone.

Love was growing restless and dejected. Just then somebody called out, “Come Love, I will take you with me.” Love did not know who was being so magnanimous, but jumped on to the boat, greatly relieved that she would reach a safe place.

On getting off the boat, Love met Knowledge. Puzzled, Love inquired, “Knowledge, do you know who so generously gave me a lift just when no one else wished to help?”

Knowledge smiled, “Oh that was Time.”

“And why would Time stop to pick me and take me to safety?” Love wondered.

Knowledge smiled with deep wisdom and replied, “Because only Time knows your true greatness and what you are capable of. Only Love can bring peace and great happiness in this world.”

Source [slightly adapted]

The Risen Christ is Love made visible.  We are that visible love of God.  Ours is to live the peace and the message of truth.  Our mission is a holy and awesome one.  Like the disciples we are gathered in this upper room, some confused, some of us sad, some of us fearful, some of us here not knowing or seeing what will be asked of us and some of us in quiet joy.  Together as a community of faith gathered together we are to help the larger church discern its continued mission and to live each day in Love and peace.

Seeing is not believing but rather believing is a way of seeing beyond what can blind us.  This seeing is the gift of the Spirit.  This is our challenge!

End with a quote from St. Francis to his followers:

“You must have peace in your hearts.  Let no one be provoked to anger or scandal by you, but may they be drawn to peace and good will, to kindness and concord through your gentleness.  We have been called to heal wounds, to bring together what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.”