Sunday, June 29, 2014

Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles

God chooses the unqualified and the enemy to be their agents in this world. Not exactly who we look for to be our leaders. Which is perhaps why our institutions, religious and otherwise, seem so unholy. We fill our resumes and highlight reels with the trivial and pointless, and our kingdoms reflect these choices. Our Parent, on the other hand, looks only for faith, hope, and love. And their kingdom is the most wondrous of sights to behold. To them be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

I wonder: Did our Parent shower manna only on those whose relationships bore the proper ecclesial authorization stamps? And did our Brother quiz the crowd members on their political records before offering them his flesh and blood? Is it God who thinks that some of us need to go hungry, or is that one of our issues rearing its ugly head? Well, in any case, this is my prayer: Lord, there is no one who is unworthy of having you as their soul's guest, because that is the way you love. Alleluia!

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

How often do we turn on the evening news only to be greeted by the spectacle of countless brothers and sisters being slaughtered or exiled because they proclaimed the "wrong" name for God? And how often do we turn away from such visions certain in the knowledge that we are better than those who perpetrate such evil? But are we? Yes, we put down our swords, at least the faith-based ones, a few centuries ago. But that has not stopped so very many of us from asserting that the "infidels" will get their comeuppance in the end. "Whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." But then the Trinity wanders into the mix. If we confess that God goes by multiple names and faces, how can we be certain that any of our siblings are worshipping the wrong one? Two thousand years ago, we knew less than half of God's faces. But now we know that we have seen them all? If the Trinity teaches us anything, it is that the Divine One is not an I, but rather a very big we. It also reminds those of us who use the "correct" names that we are still a "stiff-necked people" who do not understand our Parent nearly as well as we think we do. Fortunately, our stupidity, not to mention "our wickedness and sins", has never stopped them from embracing us as their own. "Glory and praise for ever!"

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Pentecost Sunday

"Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained." We tend to view this as a gift of power and authority, but it is not. No, it is a test, a test of our ability to listen, and of our willingness to love. Our Parent has shown us their boundless mercy. Our Brother told us to love our enemies. The Spirit simply offers us the opportunity to live out such mercy and love. She continuously gives us the chance to recognize and act upon the truth that the greatest divine gift is our brothers and sisters, human and otherwise. Will we tarnish that precious gift by abandoning them to the bondage of sin, or will we lift them up with mercy and love into new life? There is no studying for this test. Nor are there any clever tricks to letting go of the anger and fear that hold us back from forgiveness. Our Lord has sent out his Spirit, and if we trust in their mercy and love, she will renew the face of the earth. The choice is ours.

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

"And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." God with us. Always. Not on a throne in some cloud realm, but sitting beside us wherever we happen to be. Not swooping down from above to make everything better, but whispering reminders in our ears of the bountiful grace set before us. Not locked behind mighty fortress walls where only the pure may enter, but wandering the dirty and broken highways of our hearts begging us to accept their love. Yes, God with us. Always.