Monastic Mumblings, a Friar's Journey

Simon of Cyrene, Cross-Bearer

You hear the phrase "carry your cross" or "we all have a cross to bear" but today, the Church celebrates the one human who can literally say he carried the Cross.

As Jesus was staggering under the load, shouldering his cross out of Jerusalem to the place of execution, there was a guy in the crowd coming in from a place called Cyrene. His name was Simon, a Jew from Cyrene, who was in Jerusalem for the Passover. The Roman soldiers picked him out of what was probably a large group of people watching the executions. Why? Was he taller? Did he catch the eye of the Centurion because he looked strong enough to carry the load with out further delay? We will never know. I chose this image to portray the strength of Simon and how he helped the traumatized Jesus.  Click on the link to view the artist's website. We do know that the Romans had a legal right of a soldier to require a provincial to carry his gear one mile for him, and that is probably the law used in this case.

Simon was a bystander, yet he was chosen to act in a powerful drama that he could not know was occurring when he arrived in Jerusalem that day. He wasn't a follower of this Rabbi being executed, he did not know His family, friends or even His message. He was from Cyrene, some distance away in Africa. Plucked out of obscurity by "chance" Simon was compelled to take near center stage at the very Redemption of humanity.

But did Simon just go his on way unaffected? No. Somehow, Jesus in the short time He had with Simon touched him in some profound way that forever changed him. What questions did he ask? Perhaps "who are You" or "why are they doing this"? We know that the Gospeler Mark tells us that Simon was "the father of Alexander and Rufus" without further explanation, apparently taking it for granted that his readers would all know who Rufus and Alexander are. About a century later, the Christian writer Papias tells us that Mark originally wrote his Gospel for the Christian community in Rome. It appears that Alexander and Rufus were well known to, and probably part of, the Christian community in Rome. Also in the Acts of the Apostles, we hear that some "men of Cyrene" are preaching the Gospel in Antioch. Was Simon one of them? We don't know for certain, but it does seem that Simon was converted on that day, carrying the Cross of Christ, and his children followed the Lord after him.

The question is, how does carrying each other's burdens convert us? Do we accept help like Jesus did, or do we try to shoulder our burdens alone? At the same time do we offer help to the helpless? What of the suffering people of Myanmar?

Heavenly Father, Whose most dear Son, as He walked the way of the Cross, accepted the service of Simon of Cyrene to carry His physical burden for Him: grant us each the grace gladly to bear one another's burdens, for the love of Him who said, "As you did it to the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me," Your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Who now lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Pentecost

Pentecost is here and Easter season ends. The name tells us that it is the fiftieth day (pentekoste in the Greek) of Easter, the last day of the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The nine days from Ascension Day to the Eve of Pentecost are the original novena--nine days of prayer. Before He ascended, Jesus ordered the disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there to be baptized by the Holy Spirit. After His Ascension, they returned to the upper room in Jerusalem where they devoted themselves to prayer.

Like Ascension Day, Pentecost is its own major event in the history of our salvation since it is the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is the day on which the Church is filled and empowered by the Spirit and, as we read in Acts, begins to grow and bear Fruit, proclaiming the Gospel of the One who died and rose again.

Fr. Thomas Keating tells us that: "The Fruits of the Spirit are indications of God's presence at work in us in varying degrees and forms. Through the Fruits, the Spirit is becoming a reality in our lives. By manifesting the fruits in daily life we bear witness to the resurrection of Christ in a most profound manner. It is not so much preaching or teaching, but our rootedness in the Spirit that communicates Christ's life to the people around us--to our family, friends, and those with whom we work. If we are rooted in the Spirit, these fruits inevitably begin to appear."

So then, how will we choose to live out our vocation as Pentecostal stewards of God's Holy Spirit? Will we seek a full, deep relationship with the Divinity that compels us to move beyond both Church and home to the world beyond? Will we use these Fruits so richly bestowed to ensure that the world He died for is blessed through us?

Be Pentecostal, it is how we are empowered to live the Gospel.

Litany for Myanmar

Almighty and gracious God, we come to You with our hearts full of prayers both spoken and those that cannot be put into words. As the ancient psalmist wrote You are our refuge and strength, the light in the darkness, and so with confidence we offer our prayers to You for Myanmar, striken by violent powerful winds, rain and terrifying, destructive ocean surges. Gather them and us under Your wings, calm all our fears and keep our faith strong.

Lord hear our prayers.

At a time like this we stand in awe of the power of nature - the wind and the sea - with its terrible capacity to destroy as well as to save and we are reminded of our vulnerability as human creatures who inhabit this vast earth. We bring to You in prayer our questions, our humility and also our trust in this hour of need.

Lord hear our prayers.

We pray for those who grieve the loss of family, friends and neighbors, for those who are injured, those separated and searching for family, for those who have been traumatized.
we ask for Your continued healing presence in their lives and we commend to Your care all those who have died.

Lord hear our prayers.

We give to Your loving care all those who are involved in rescuing people and those caring for the injured in hospitals and clinics. Be especially with all the churches and people as they minister in Your name to the people. May they be the Christ Who serves with wounded hands,and stretch out their hands to serve. Sustain them through this time of tremendous loss and stress.

Lord hear our prayers.

We commend to Your care all those are working in debris removal and cleaning up. We especially pray for those burdened by unimaginable losses and who have found themselves like refugees in their own country. May shelter and clean water and food and medicines and comfort be supplied as quickly as possible.

Lord hear our prayers

We pray for those - especially the poor, who live along the coast and delta and whose livelihoods have been lost or impacted by this disaster and ask that You would raise them up and bless them. We pray for those whose workplaces have become unsafe and who face an uncertain future and ask that they may find the assistance they need

Lord hear our prayers.

We pray for those communities that have been devastated that they may live and learn and support one another and have joy in their lives once again. May this disaster bring people together to rebuild their cities, and to fill their lives with justice, their plates with food and their streets with music,. Bring them peace and healing from all evil.

Lord hear our prayers.

We pray for those traveling, who feel homesick and far away from loved ones and their homes at this time; those who are trying to get in contact with family and who are worried and frustrated and who long to embrace their families. Comfort families across the distance.

Lord hear our prayers.

We give thanks to God for the blessings in our lives, especially the gifts we so often take for granted until they are in danger of being taken away from us - the gift of family, friends, a home, our possessions. Most of all we praise God for the gift of life itself.

Lord hear our prayers.

We also pray for all people of the human family all around the world affected by other natural disasters. O God, Great Shepherd of the sheep, gather us all in Your arms and lead us safely within the one fold of Your love.

Lord hear us, Lord hear our prayer

Ascension Day

Here we are, some 6 weeks, but more especially 40 days after Easter. Our Lord has walked among us all this time, but today what can only be referred to as unexpected happens.  As the ancient Creed tells us, He ascends into heaven to sit on the right hand of God the Father.   Can you imagine the shock among the gathered disciples? Remember no one was used to planes, hot air balloons or any human defying gravity.

Are these only dry words written on fading parchments or do they have meaning in our lives today? The texts tell us that it was this day that Jesus ended His earthly ministry and left  this world.  For me, the Ascension is a Glorious Mystery. I know perfectly well that Jesus did not go into orbit around the planet, shoot into interstellar space or go behind some cloud to peek around the corner. I understand He Ascended into Heaven, wherever and whatever that may be, I do know that from there He continues His ministry of reconciling the world to His Father. I know that He will come again someday, but far more importantly I know that from the Throne in glory He enables me to begin bringing the Kingdom into this world, every day.

Almighty God, Whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that He might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to His promise, He abides with His Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

The Early Abbots of Cluny 30 April 909

One of the exciting things about living in the times we do, is to see all the renewal that is surging through the Church. Sure a lot of people give in to the sensation that our culture and Church is going to 'hell in a handbasket', but if you have eyes to see, there are marvelous things happening all about us.  One, I feel, is the emergent tribe, and all the excitement that comes with it. If you have the time, take a look at one article "De-Pimp and Re-Monk the Church" by Kyle Potter.

Of course, this isn't the first time something of this sort has happened, and today the Church remembers the early Abbots of Cluny, a Benedictine house in France. If you have time today, read this compilation of their work, especially, St. Odo, and how they brought revival to a Church sorely needing it.

  O God, by Whose grace Your servants the Holy Abbots of Cluny, kindled with the flame of Your love, became burning and shining lights in Your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before You as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

Another journey ends/changes.  The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius program that I began some months ago came to an end last night. 

The Spiritual Exercises was  conducted as  a 30-week process designed to enable working people to deepen their relationship and commitment to Jesus Christ.  This Exercise was offered in Tulsa from October through April, under the sponsorship of the Benedictine Sisters of Red Plains Monastery.

The love and commitment of this group is simply amazing. The depth of scriptural meditation and understanding is beyond anything I have experienced before.  I know that I have been changed by the experience, and will continue in my path with tools that I didn't even know I could possess.  During the ending ceremony, a word was chosen for each person, mine was JOY.  I couldn't have chosen it better.

Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me;
Blood of Christ, inebriate me;
Water from the side of Christ, wash me;
Passion of Christ, strengthen me;
0 good Jesus, hear me;
Within Your wounds, hide me;
Suffer me not to be separated from You;
From the evil enemy defend me;
In the hour of my death call me,
And bid me come to You,
That with all Your saints I may praise You
For all eternity. Amen.

14 Years gone.

Today,14 years ago, my wife left this world of tears for a place, where though I can no longer see her, she is bathed in the Uncreated Light of God. I don't suppose I will ever see anything good about her loss, so young, with such small children, but now I can accept the situation, and try to reach out to others who walk this journey.

I don't know why it happened, but I have faith that in the Presence, she does.  I believe that her life was not ended but changed, and that it goes on with God even now. There was a time, at first  when I couldn't accept or deal with things very well. I was angry at God, jealous of those who still had relationships and so desperately lonely for her, I couldn't believe anything good was left in the world. 

I never knew grief had such a physical component.   Today I thought I would share a video that speaks more than I ever could of the grief and pain that comes in loss.

Father of all, we pray to You for those we love, but see no longer: Grant them Your peace; let light perpetual shine upon them; and, in Your loving wisdom and almighty power, work in them the good purpose of Your perfect will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Bearing false witness

My readers know that I rarely post political issues on my blog, but there is a matter I simply have to address.

I wanted to share with my readers some of my thoughts about those emails about Sen. Barack Obama being a Muslim.

Please understand that this has no bearing whatsoever on the man's politics, that is an entirely separate matter.  What I am talking about is the issue of his faith. As a Christian, I feel that I have to respond to these emails.

Sen. Obama has repeatedly and for many, many years publicly said he believes in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He chose Jesus after he became an adult. He was baptized in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as the Bible tells us to be. He says that Jesus is God, not just a prophet, as the Muslims believe. This is a matter of public record some years ago.

I do not have a window into his soul, that is left to God alone. But, to do what Obama has done, is considered Blasphemy and Apostasy in the Islamic faith, and in almost any Islamic country, this would get him executed or at best shunned by the Muslim community. Sen Obama knows this, he knows that he endangered himself when he chose Jesus.

Sen. Obama is the only major candidate that actually is in some danger for his profession of Jesus as his Savior.

I know that my Christian friends and family are only passing those emails on, and may not know these details, but I feel I have to respond to them or I would be bearing false witness, and I just can't do that.

Anselm 21 April 1109

Over the centuries various people in the Church have become outstanding for many and various reasons.  Some build, some write beautiful music, others win barbarian hordes for Christ.  Sometimes, some  just think!

St. Anselm was one of those, he is considered by many to be the most  important Christian theologian in the West between Augustine and Thomas  Aquinas. That is pretty heady company.  Two of Anselm's greatest works are  the Proslogium (A Discourse) and the Cur Deus Homo? (Why did God become  human?).

In the Proslogium, Anslem explains that God is "that than which nothing  greater can be thought", he then argues that what exists in reality is  greater than that which is only in the mind; wherefore, since "God is that  than which nothing greater can be thought", He exists in reality.

In the Cur Deus Homo?, Anselm puts forward the "satisfaction theory" of  the Atonement. Man's offense of rebellion against God is one that demands  a payment or satisfaction. Fallen man is incapable of making adequate  satisfaction, and so God took human nature upon Him, in order that a  perfect man might make perfect satisfaction and so restore the human race.  The success of his work may be gauged by the fact that many Christians  today not only accept his way of explaining the Atonement, but are simply  unaware that there is any other way to understand Atonement.

Anselm was born about 1033 in Italy. We don't know much about his early  life, but we do know that he left home at about twenty-three, and roamed  around Burgundy and France for three years. There is a story that even as  a boy, eh wanted to become a Monk, but his father refused to allow it.  Anselm arrived in Normandy in 1059, and his interest was immediately  focused on the Benedictine abbey at Bec.  This Abbey had a widely known  school which was under the direction of Stephen Lanfranc, the abbey's  prior.  In 1060 Anselm entered the Abbey as a novice. His intellectual and  spiritual gifts brought him rapid advancement, and when Lanfranc was  appointed abbot of Caen in 1063, Anselm was elected to succeed him as  prior.

The Abbey had possessions in England, which required Anselm to frequently  travel there. His old Master, Stephen Lanfranc had become the Archbishop  of Canterbury, and when he died, Anslem was the general choice to replace  him in 1089. However, the king of England at that time, William III,  preferred to keep the office vacant. This would allow him to keep the  revenues of Canterbury for his own use. Then in 1093, the king fell  gravely ill, and during his illness, he promised to let Anselm be  enthroned as Archbishop. When the King recovered, he tried to renege on his  agreements, and the two began to dispute the extent of the King's right  to intervene in Church affairs. Eventually Anselm had to go into exile in  Italy until the king died 1100.

Anselm used his time of exile to work out a conflict on the Creed with  some Greek bishops in southern Italy, and finish his work known as Cur  Deus Homo? He returned to England, under the new king Henry I. But Henry  was as determined as William had been on maintaining royal jurisdiction  over the Church, and Anselm was again exiled from 1103 to 1107. In 1107 a  compromise was reached, and Anselm returned home to Canterbury, where he  lived his last few years in peace, dying 21 April 1109.

*Many of the words and ideas above are from various sources around the web, not all my own.

Almighty God, Who raised up Your servant Anselm to teach the Church of his  day to understand its faith in Your eternal Being, perfect justice, and  saving mercy: Provide Your Church in every age with devout and learned  scholars and teachers, that we may be able to give a reason for the hope  that is in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Alphege 19 April 1012

In the year of our Lord, (or there about) 953 Alphege (or Elphege, AElfheah) was born. England was suffering through one of the periods of major Viking raids.  Alphege's mother was a widow, and he, her only son.  Even so, he left the marginally comfortable world of his noble family in Weston near Bath (Somerset) and became a Monk.  Then he became a hermit, but his reputation got him appointed Abbot of Bath, then Bishop of Westminster. In 994 King Ethelred the Unready placed him in charge of negotiations with the Viking (Danish) invaders Anlaf and Swein. The Anglo-Saxon King, Ethelred paid tribute to the Vikings, but Anlaf became a Christian through Alphege's witness, and swore never to invade England again.  As far as we can tell, he never did.

Alphege continued his ministry among various negotiations of the period seeking to win them by the power of the Gospel, rather than the Danegeld (tribute) paid by King Ethelred.  In 1005 Alphege was consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury. Just six years later, in 1011 the Vikings conquered most of southern England. Up until this time the payment of the tribute (simply a bribe) had stopped them, but this time it did not. Late in the year Canterbury itself fell to the Vikings and they captured the Archbishop and other prominent persons for ransom.

All of the others had their ransoms paid, and were released, but the Vikings demanded an extremely high price for Archbishop Alphege.  When he discovered the price, he refused to pay it or allow the money to be taken from his poverty stricken people.  The Vikings were enraged and at the end of a drunken feast, they repeated their ransom demands and Alphege refused again.  Furious, they beat him horribly with ox-bones.

Alphege stood before them and again refused the ransom, and began praying for their forgiveness and for his own poor scattered flock.  Finally Alphege collapsed under the repeated blows and lay on the ground, in pain and agony, but not yet dead.   In the crowd was a Viking named Thrim that Alphege had converted to Christ a few days before, and taking pity on Alphege, dealt a death blow with an ax to end the archbishop’s suffering.

By his death Alphege became a national hero, as a shepherd defending his flock from ravenous wolves. We give thanks to God for those of His people who like rays of light piercing the darkness shine for His people.

*Many of the words and ideas above are from various sources around the web, not all my own.

O loving God, Whose martyr bishop Alphege of Canterbury suffered violent death when he refused to permit a ransom to be extorted from his people: Grant that all pastors of Your flock may pattern themselves on the Good Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep; and Who with You and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.