Beautiful and Lush

As someone who has planted, transplanted, and fertilized a lot of grass, I have learned that having a lush lawn is often easier said than done. Without exception, every yard that I have "inherited" over the years needed loads of development and TLC. However, I found great satisfaction in leaving those lawns in better shape than when I first received them.

 There are few things that I enjoy more in the summer than sitting and looking at a green and crisp lawn after I have finished mowing and trimming. And, yet, keeping a lawn healthy takes work. One fall, portions of my grass developed large brown patches: grubs. Another year, I planted grass in the spring, but even though I watered and cared for it, it did not fare well during the hottest days of summer. Another fall I planted seed a bit too late, and while the seed did finally germinate in the spring, the area has not flourished. This spring I laid some sod in various parts of the lawn. Most of it has done well, but some of it continues to need constant watering due to more needed root growth.

 Things that are healthy and thriving must have the nutrients that give strength due to the right kind of nourishment. Without care, and the right soil for the right planting, one is left with a shriveling or uninspiring result.

In the Gospel of Matthew we find the Parable of the Soils. Using agrarian language that would have been grasped and appreciated by most people in the crowd, Jesus teaches that there are very different ways in which people hear, receive, and reject the Gospel news of redemption. Jesus believes that he, and he alone knows how human beings are to flourish in this life and in the life to come.

However, the "soils" that receive the message about repentance and a transformed identity in Christ, joining his other disciples in his church, must be broken up, moist, and fertilized by the right nutrients if the seed of the Gospel is going to take root. Jesus reveals that most of the soils can't and won't receive his teaching because there is too much hardness, enslavement to material distractions, and the delusion that life should be free of troubles and pain.

Not even Jesus the Christ, full of the Spirit with no hindrances to his power or influence from sin, could change a disciple's heart that wanted salvation and life on their own terms. The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and transforms only the soft and receptive heart.

What kind of soil are we?

 

Being Outreach

 

Matthew 28:16-20 - Trinity Sunday, May 31st, 2026

The church of Jesus Christ proclaims the gospel and lives the gospel

Choosing our Slavery

 

The summer before my junior year in High School, I broke my right arm very severely. I was at a baseball game that ended up being cancelled because the other team could not field the minimum number of players. Instead, one of my fellow outfielders and I began to amuse ourselves as we took some practice fly-balls.

 

A younger player appeared in the outfield with us because his baseball game had concluded. He started competing with us for our practice balls. I remember looking at him directly and saying "Hey, this isn't your practice. Someone is going to get hurt”. I thought that he had listened. He hadn't.

 

My teammate and I decided to challenge ourselves by waiting on the pop flys being hit to us and then running at the last second to try to make a sensational play. It was fun for a while; until it wasn't. The young boy had gone nowhere and was just waiting for his chance. As I dove to catch the ball, he came in with both knees, one of them punching into the center of my right forearm - the arm where all my weight rested as I caught the ball. My arm was not just broken but also had a slight U shape in the forearm. Not my best morning.

 

However, my day was about to get worse. When in the doctor's office, I was told that the arm had to be reset, and that there was little more they could give me that would ease the pain. Not a fun experience, but the arm had to be reset for it to heal and be useful to me without severe deformity.

 

Similarly, in the spiritual world, the realities of being human (and redeemed human) follow the same patterns of life and death, health and deformity, pain and the avoidance of the same. The masters we choose will dictate to the health and growth that we experience in this life and in eternity. Our choices to avoid important and necessary spiritually invasive surgery can be embraced with eternal reward, or we can continue to experience the results of doing what is constantly intuitive, familiar, and comfortable. What is the name of the Master that is known to  oversee this group of short-sighted slaves?

 

This Sunday we listen as the Apostle Paul clearly teaches the ramifications of personal conversion, and its impact on the choice of masters that we still have. We baptized followers have only one master now, but we are still free to choose others. However, the choice to continue to follow other masters is a distortion and corruption of the “newness” of our salvation and transformation. We still must choose Christ and confirm our baptismal promises until that final day. May we choose the only Master who frees and loves, no matter how difficult and intimidating the callings of the cruciform life might be.

 

When we say NO to the other masters vying for our worship, we lay aside our “freedom” to distort and destroy our own lives, and we pick up the mantle of true freedom in Jesus Christ.

 

May the Peace of Christ be yours.

 

 

Fr. Tom

Tearing Down to Build Up

 

I was raised in a large and growing church. I have been an associate minister at two different, larger growing churches. In each one of these experiences, I observed multiple large-scale building projects and how they were conducted.

We all love to live under narratives about our motives, ambitions, and values. Often, when it comes to the spending of a lot of money in the church, these narratives are at the forefront. We are called to discern the good and evil in regards to the truth about these narratives. It is much easier to ignore this task, however, especially if we have no desire to grow in discerning ourselves and the true spiritual struggles we all face. It is much easier to just rely on shallow forms of pragmatism and plow forward.

I believe with every fiber of my being, that the role of the clergy at these important times is not first of all to guide an institution to a successful and effective end regarding a monetary project or initiative. It is to shepherd, guide, and even correct those who are unwilling to discern with Gospel and Kingdom of God values. However, these callings, clearly reflected in Holy Scripture and coming from the very character of our God, are often ignored by clergy who are enmeshed in the Kingdom of this World and her power structures. Production is what matters not the needed pain of holding firm to what is essential for the change and eternal growth that the Lord Jesus Christ is most interested in. We do this because we love our people, not because we want to bring them needless conflict.

God does not need our help or our money. He has called us as his stewards to manage what he has given us for the Kingdom of God. True and lasting growth in the church has an enduring quality, but we sow the seeds of our future decline (as is evident in our National Church statistics) if we refuse to lay our idols and false hopes aside. We fertilize, water, and protect our future when we choose to seek and obey our God whether we meet our temporary and monetary goals as defined by the Kingdom of this World.

For those leading the institutional American Church in any tradition, there is a definition of crazy that is apropos: Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. We don’t need more money, programs, initiatives, and training for fundraising. We need to start listening and obeying the tough teachings of the beatitudes for where we put our hope.

Whoever is engaging in a large monetary project across this nation or across the world, lay aside your need for success, your desire for prestige, your need to control, and your impatient, intolerant engagement with others who you are working beside. Instead? Open your hearts to the opportunity given to you for your continuing redemption and transformation. In years to come, we don’t need any further dwindling congregations worshipping in unused, expensive, and impressive structures. As you build and spend, believe, live, and engage the eternal first.

The article below was recently published in our church Newsletter.

Fr. Tom

This past Wednesday at our vestry meeting, we received some thoughtful and concrete recommendations from our Building and Grounds Committee regarding the repair and restoration needs of our Rectory/Community Center.

At their request, the committee has now been tasked with putting together a priority list that will aid us over the next few years as we initiate any projects needed. When a general "timeline" has been approved by the Vestry, we will at this point begin the process of informing and listening to the congregation regarding our initial projects.

Once the initial project or projects have been decided on, we will then begin discussion regarding how we want to fund these projects. In contrast with a “campaign” approach, we will take projects that are deemed "compatible" with one another and fund them per project over multiple years.

Please pray for your Priest, Building and Grounds, and Vestry as we continue to make decisions together and work to communicate and engage with our parish (and vice versa).  I would like to quote a section from one of my published works regarding the use of significant resources (here related to the hiring of a new priest):

"What I am suggesting is that a clergy search process is one of the best indicators for seeing what truly matters to American congregants, clergy, and denominational leadership. When pressed to make a large monetary investment involving our beloved institution, we tend to reveal who we are as a parish. Because we have a vested interest in the future of our church (and the clergy in the future of their vocation), we want the spending of our money to be in line with our highest values." (WJE, pg. 146).

 Similar to the statement above, the reliance on and use of money tends to bring out the true values, beliefs, and fears of most human beings. In my experience, it has been rare to see people in the church who seem any different (may this not be said of us when this process is done!)

 I Timothy 6:

7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; 8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

 Is it God that we trust? Honesty and trust are centerpieces of healthy relationships – including the need for honesty with ourselves. Can we trust (read here – “work with”) others who handle and do things differently? Are we willing to be honest with our own anxieties and struggles when they reveal themselves and can we learn from them? We will learn nothing if we are given over to fear, control, and dishonesty.

 One of the good results of the above challenges are the opportunities they give us to grow in Christ, address our unseen duplicity, and continue to seek Christ and HIS Kingdom above all things. But this process can be messy and scary. That said, with perseverance and a shared accountability to God’s Divine Revelation, the authority Christ has ordained in the church, and our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can be a stronger and more mature church as we move forward in this process. But as scripture repeatedly teaches us, there will be no strength, endurance, or spiritual growth without walking into and accepting the pain:

James 1:
2 My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; 4 and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

The Feast of St. Augustine of Canterbury

 

Although Christianity had existed in Britain before the invasions of Angles and Saxons in the fifth century, Pope Gregory the Great decided tn 596 to send a mission to the pagan Anglo-Saxons. He selected, from his own monastery on the Coelian hill in Rome, a group of monks, led by their prior, Augustine. They arrived in Kent in 597, carrying a silver cross and an image of Jesus Christ painted on a board, which thus became, so far as we know, “Canterbury’s first icon.” King Ethelbert tolerated their presence and allowed them the use of an old church built on the east side of Canterbury, dating from the Roman occupation of Britain. Here, says the Venerable Bede, they assembled “to sing the psalms, to pray, to say Mass, to preach, and to baptize.” This church of St. Martin is the earliest place of Christian worship in England still in use.

Probably in 601, Ethelbert was converted, thus becoming the first Christian king in England. About the same time, Augustine was ordained bishop somewhere in France and named “Archbishop of the English Nation.” Thus, the see of Canterbury and its Cathedral Church of Christ owe their establishment to Augustine’s mission, as does the nearby Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul, later re-named for Augustine. The “chair of St. Augustine” in Canterbury Cathedral, however, dates from the thirteenth century.

Some correspondence between Augustine and Gregory survives. One of the Pope’s most famous counsels to the first Archbishop of Canterbury has to do with diversity in the young English Church. Gregory writes, “If you have found customs, whether in the Roman, Gallican, or any other Churches that may be more acceptable to God, I wish you to make a careful selection of them, and teach the Church of the English, which is still young in the faith, whatever you can profitably learn from the various Churches. For things should not be loved for the sake of places, but places for the sake of good things.”

This counsel bears on the search for Christian “unity in diversity” of the ecumenical movement of today.

Augustine died on May 26, probably in 605.

O Lord our God, by your Son Jesus Christ you called your apostles and sent them forth to preach the Gospel to the nations: We bless your holy Name for your servant Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, whose labors in propagating your Church among the English people we commemorate today; and we pray that all whom you call and send may do your will, and bide your time, and see your glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 66:1–8 

Lessons:

2 Corinthians 5:17–20a, Luke 5:1–11

(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006, pg. 265)

Belonging

 

There is something life-giving about belonging. When one feels that they are in the presence of people who actually care about them, and want them around, it brings a true sense of joy.

Biblical Community is a creation of God. It is an aspect of redemption that we are returned to being made in God's image: "Let us create mankind in our own image; Male and female, created he them". In chapter two, Genesis reveals the Lord saying: “It is not good that the man should be alone". Then the woman is created.

While some scholars postulate that the "us" of God in Genesis 1 is the court of heaven, I submit that it is a more likely interpretation that the "our" in verse 26 is a reference to the three persons of the Trinity. Thus, the character of God and the complete unity He has with himself, is the basis of being human. We are communal in our very beginnings and character. To be isolated and unhealthily individualistic is in conflict with our how we have been created as humans.

The results of humankind's sin and rebellion is a breaking and corruption of our relationship with God and with the networks of people now present among us. The redemption of Jesus Christ and the koinonia (fellowship) of the Community of Christ, i.e., the church, i.e., the kingdom of God, i.e., the New Covenant People of God, is the redemptive answer to the longing we have to belong.

However, we are often resistant to this communal reality due to our continuing desire for control, self-protection, and our over-reactions to the harm we have experienced in our lifetimes. The answer to these challenges to "belonging" is not a thoughtless groupthink or a cult-like existence as a church. It is a healthy embrace of the complexities of being healthily self-differentiated (and discerning) as individuals, while submissive to the ways that Christ has called his church to function as a body in unity. We are repeatedly taught to follow "sound doctrine" and to be a people of servanthood, selflessness, and discernment. To belong, we must embrace our need to be shaped and challenged by the community that Christ has called us to be.

Jesus Christ has tasked his called clergy with authority and the equipping of the saints for wisdom and service. We have been given a sacred and important task as shepherds and teachers. We hold to what cannot change and that which must not be manipulated. We do this out of a commitment and love for God and his people. For those redeemed or listening to the Gospel regarding the salvation that he offers.

The below video sermon examines the blessings and characteristics of the fellowship and shared life of the Church of Jesus Christ in its earliest days. There is much to be encouraged and challenged by, as we seek to help others “belong”, and as we seek to engage our “belonging” as human beings once more as his people.

The Feast of St. Mark

 

A disciple of Jesus, named Mark, appears in several places in the New Testament. If all references to Mark can be accepted as referring to the same person, we learn that he was the son of a woman who owned a house in Jerusalem, perhaps the same house in which Jesus ate the Last Supper with his disciples. Mark may have been the young man who fled naked when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul refers to “Mark the cousin of Barnabas,” who was with him in his imprisonment. Mark set out with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, but he turned back for reasons which failed to satisfy Paul (Acts 15:36–40). When another journey was planned, Paul refused to have Mark with him. Instead, Mark went with Barnabas to Cyprus. The breach between Paul and Mark was later healed, and Mark became one of Paul’s companions in Rome, as well as a close friend of Peter’s.

An early tradition recorded by Papias, Bishop of Hieropolis in Asia Minor at the beginning of the second century, names Mark as the author of the Gospel bearing his name. This tradition, which holds that Mark drew his information from the teaching of Peter, is generally accepted. In his First Letter, Peter refers to “my son Mark,” which shows a close relationship between the two men (1 Peter 5:13).

The Church of Alexandria in Egypt claimed Mark as its first bishop and most illustrious martyr, and the great Church of St. Mark in Venice commemorates the disciple who progressed from turning back while on a missionary journey with Paul and Barnabas to proclaiming in his Gospel Jesus of Nazareth as Son of God, and bearing witness to that faith in his later life as friend and companion to the apostles Peter and Paul.

Almighty God, by the hand of Mark the evangelist you have given to your Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God: We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 2

Lessons: Isaiah 52:7–10; Ephesians 4:7–8,11–16; Mark 16:15–20

Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2006, April 25th

"When All Means All"

 

The Feast of St. Anselm

 

Anselm was born in Italy about 1033, and took monastic vows in 1060 at the Abbey of Bec in Normandy. He succeeded his teacher Lanfranc as Prior of Bec in 1063, and as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1093. His episcopate was stormy, in continual conflict with the crown over the rights and freedom of the Church. His greatest talent lay in theology and spiritual direction.

As a pioneer in the scholastic method, Anselm remains the great exponent of the so-called “ontological argument” for the existence of God: God is “that than which nothing greater can be thought.” Even the fool, who (in Psalm 14) says in his heart “There is no God,” must have an idea of God in his mind, the concept of an unconditional being (ontos) than which nothing greater can be conceived; otherwise he would not be able to speak of “God” at all. And so this something, “God,” must exist outside the mind as well; because, if he did not, he would not in fact be that than which nothing greater can be thought. Since the greatest thing that can be thought must have existence as one of its properties, Anselm asserts, “God” can be said to exist in reality as well as in the intellect, but is not dependent upon the material world for verification. To some, this “ontological argument” has seemed mere deductive rationalism; to others it has the merit of showing that faith in God need not be contrary to human reason.

Anselm is also the most famous exponent of the “satisfaction theory” of the atonement. Anselm explains the work of Christ in terms of the feudal society of his day. If a vassal breaks his bond, he has to atone for this to his lord; likewise, sin violates a person’s bond with God, the supreme Lord, and atonement or satisfaction must be made. Of ourselves, we are unable to make such atonement, because God is perfect and we are not. Therefore, God himself has saved us, becoming perfect man in Christ, so that a perfect life could be offered in satisfaction for sin.

Undergirding Anselm’s theology is a profound piety. His spirituality is best summarized in the phrase, “faith seeking understanding.” He writes, “I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order that I may understand. For this, too, I believe, that unless I first believe, I shall not understand.”

Almighty God, you 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. Amen.

Psalm 139:1–9 

Lessons: Romans 5:1–11, Matthew 11:25–30

Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006.  April 21st

Observing Transformation

 

What would the opposite of a "werewolf" look like? You know what I am talking about, right? Someone infected by a werewolf bite looks like a normal human being, until a certain time during the night when this human slowly and painfully turns into something else; something hideous.

What if the opposite happened. Instead of being bitten, what if the person experienced a firm but gentle touch from someone who had a "healing power"? Thus, instead of transforming into something frightening, terrifying, and ravenous, he or she turned into something glorious, bright, and beyond beautiful? What would this kind of "conversion" look like, and what would the basis of their beauty be?

This past Sunday we looked at the teaching of the Apostle Peter (in two different passages from our lectionary) regarding our conversion through the resurrection, and the vast difference it makes in our persona, spirit, and actions. It is this conversion that declares to us that the salvation of Jesus Christ matters to everyday life, and is not just some other kind of "moralistic" world religion with mystical ideas lived out by similar, but well-meaning people. There is no salvation without conversion, and no human being can conjure it up or give it to us. As the Apostle Paul clearly teaches us (and Peter specifically explains in our text on Sunday), "in Christ we are new creations; the old has gone; the new has come".

See "Reverent Fear" - I Peter 1:17-23

The Feast of St. Joseph

In the face of circumstances that distressed even a man of such tenderness and obedience to God as Joseph, he accepted the vocation of protecting Mary and being a father to Jesus. He is honored in Christian tradition for the nurturing care and protection he provided for the infant Jesus and his mother in taking them to Egypt to escape Herod’s slaughter of the innocents, and in rearing him as a faithful Jew at Nazareth. The Gospel according to Matthew pictures Joseph as a man of deep devotion, open to mystical experiences, and as a man of compassion, who accepted his God-given responsibility with gentleness and humility.

Joseph was a pious Jew, a descendant of David, and a carpenter by trade. As Joseph the Carpenter, he is considered the patron saint of the working man, one who not only worked with his hands, but taught his trade to Jesus. The little that is told of him is a testimony to the trust in God which values simple everyday duties, and gives an example of a loving husband and father.

O God, who from the family of your servant David raised up Joseph to be the guardian of your incarnate Son and the spouse of his virgin mother: Give us grace to imitate his uprightness of life and his obedience to your commands; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 89:1–29

Lessons: 2 Samuel 7:4,8–16;Romans 4:13–18;Luke 2:41–52

Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006, Pg 200-201

The Feast of St. Cyril of Jerusalem

 Cyril is the one we have most to thank for the development of catechetical instruction and liturgical observances during Lent and Holy Week. Born in Jerusalem about 315, Cyril became bishop of that city probably in 349. In the course of political and ecclesiastical disputes, he was banished and restored three times. His Catechetical Lectures on the Christian faith, given before Easter to candidates for Baptism, were probably written by him sometime between 348 and 350.

The work consists of an introductory lecture, or Procatechesis, and eighteen Catecheses based upon the articles of the creed of the Church at Jerusalem, All these lectures (the earliest catechetical materials surviving today) may have been used many times over by Cyril and his successors, and considerably revised in the process. They were probably part of the pre-baptismal instruction that Egeria, a pilgrim nun from western Europe, witnessed at Jerusalem in the fourth century and described with great enthusiasm in the account of her pilgrimage. Many of the faithful would also attend these instructions.

Cyril’s five Mystagogical Catecheses on the Sacraments, intended for the newly baptized after Easter, are now thought to have been composed, or at least revised, by John, Cyril’s successor as Bishop of Jerusalem from 386 to 417.

It is likely that it was Cyril who instituted the observances of Palm Sunday and Holy Week during the latter years of his episcopate in Jerusalem. In doing so, he was taking practical steps to organize devotions for countless pilgrims and local inhabitants around the sacred sites. In time, as pilgrims returned to their homes from Palestine, these services were to influence the development of Holy Week observances throughout the entire Church. Cyril attended the Second Ecumenical Council at Constantinople, in 381, and died at Jerusalem on March 18, 386.

Cyril’s thought has greatly enriched the observance of Holy Week in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer.

Strengthen, O Lord, the bishops of your Church in their special calling to be teachers and ministers of the Sacraments, so that they, like your servant Cyril of Jerusalem, may effectively instruct your people in Christian faith and practice; and that we, taught by them, may enter more fully into the celebration of the Paschal mystery; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Psalm 122

Lessons: Ecclesiasticus 47:8–10;Luke 24:44–48;

Ready for Healing

This Sunday we watch as Jesus does something truly amazing. A man who was blind from birth is healed by Jesus so that he can suddenly see like everyone else! In later verses in John chapter nine, the blind man states to the Jewish leaders interrogating him "that no one in the history of the world had done such a thing". Some claim to have this same power today (and there may be a miracle out there of this magnitude that I have not heard of), but suffice it to say, it would be an amazing healing if we witnessed it as well.

However, this healing work of Jesus brought many in our story consternation and frustration. The disciples were shown that their Jewish Theology (supposedly based on Holy Scripture) was wrong. As we know from all of the Gospels, Jesus constantly challenged their poor thinking and theology on a regular basis. When the Jewish leaders discovered the healing, Jesus breaking yet another one of their hollowed traditions, they are outraged. In turn they look to put pressure on the family of the man (who were members of a Jewish Synagogue) to answer for this heinous crime!

Are you maturing in your Christian journey? Are you humble and teachable in your readiness to change your beliefs or their application when Christ's teachings are clearly in conflict? If you answer is "yes" then let me ask you a few questions:

· Was (and is) this a painful and difficult action involving a lot of courage and perseverance?

· Or was changing your thinking easy, painless, and comfortable?

The disciples of Jesus had a lot to lose and went through a lot of discomfort and pain to "lose their beliefs and applications" in submission to Jesus as their Lord. Holy Scripture makes it clear that to grow and mature in your Christian faith, one's beliefs, priorities, and actions will continue to change and readjust to him and his definitions of eternal life.

If your answer to the above question regarding maturity is "no" as a baptized follower of Jesus, then what does that indicate about you as his follower and his place in your life? What does that indicate in your approach to "Seek first the Kingdom of God"? Or is that just another one of those "suggestions" or "ideals" that we might consider?

If it was easy to mature in Christ, then everyone would do it. Like in ANY endeavor, if we aren't honest with our needs and refuse to put in the work, we will not be effective in anything we attempt or pursue. Do we want to be continually “conformed to the image of the Son”? The let’s expect it to be unsettling, challenging, and needing of courage. This in turn, opens us up to let go of needless anxiety and to know true peace.

The Blind Man in John 9:1-12 shows himself "ready to be healed" as a disciple of Jesus, and if you would like to know what that means, then I will see you on Sunday! (or Fr. Tom Youtube Channel - "Belief Readjusted"). Jesus heals and wants us to bring healing to the world around us. What joy awaits us when we trust him and his ways.

Towards Christ and His Kingdom,


Fr. Tom

Feast of St. Gregory the Great

Only two Popes, Leo the First and Gregory the First, have been given the popular title of “the Great.” Both served in the difficult times of the barbarian invasions of Italy. Gregory also knew the horrors of “plague, pestilence, and famine.” He was born of a patrician family about 540, and became Prefect of Rome in 573. Shortly thereafter he retired to a monastic life in a community which he founded in his ancestral home on the Coelian Hill. Pope Pelagius the Second made him Ambassador to Constantinople in 579, where he learned much about the larger affairs of the Church. Not long after his return home, Pope Pelagius died of the plague, and in 590 Gregory was elected as his successor.

Gregory’s pontificate was one of strenuous activity. He organized the defense of Rome against the attacks of the Lombards, and fed its populace from papal granaries in Sicily. In this as in other matters, he administered “the patrimony of St. Peter” with energy and efficiency. His ordering of the Church’s liturgy and chant has molded the spirituality of the Western Church until the present day. Though unoriginal in theology, his writings provided succeeding generations with basic texts, especially the Pastoral Care, a classic on the work of the ministry.

In the midst of all his cares and duties, Gregory prepared and fostered the evangelizing mission to the Anglo-Saxons under Augustine and other monks from his own monastery. The Venerable Bede justly called Gregory the Apostle of the English.

Gregory died on March 12, 604, and was buried in St. Peter’s basilica. His life was a true witness to the title he assumed for his office: “Servant of the servants of God.”

Almighty and merciful God, you raised up Gregory of Rome to be a servant of the servants of God, and inspired him to send missionaries to preach the Gospel to the English people: Preserve in your Church the catholic and apostolic faith they taught, that your people, being fruitful in every good work, may receive the crown of glory that never fades away; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Psalm 57:6–11 

Lessons:
1 Chronicles 25:1a,6–8 or 33:1–5,20–21 

Mark 10:42–45

(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2006, pgs. 192-193)

Peace to the People

There is a phrase that comes up often in mystery and police shows: "Well, she kept herself to herself". The police representative is asking about the neighbor who disappeared, the person in the apartment across the hall who is a suspect in a crime, or a person next door who may have just committed a violent crime and has been arrested: "Well, I didn't really know them. They kept themselves to themselves".

Many people might make the mistake of thinking that someone who isolates themselves from community or from other people is a "peaceful" person. They keep themselves to themselves. They keep their head down. They avoid risk. They don’t offend people or get into relational conflict because they isolate themselves to avoid all of this stickiness. Is that what it means to be a "peaceful" Christian or a "peacemaker" as a Disciple of Christ?

Proverbs 18:1-2

The one who lives alone is self-indulgent,
showing contempt for all who have sound judgement.

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
but only in expressing personal opinion.

As Proverbs and a host of other teachings in Holy Scripture make clear: avoiding the difficulty of community often goes hand-in-hand with a selfish, opinionated, and unhealthy individualism. This person isolates themself so that opinions can stay intact and lifestyles and family cultural values never have to change; according to Proverbs this reveals some kind of self-indulgence and self-centeredness. One can't be a peacemaker as a Disciple of Christ, when our lives all about "me and my own". And yet, this is how many Christians choose to live. When problems arise, Christian Community, no matter how healthy (yet imperfect), is easily discarded with little consequence to everyday living.

This Sunday we will look at what it means to be a peacemaker, including what Jesus and Holy Scripture teach about it. As usual, Jesus says something very dangerous (and if a clergy person is smart, they will wisely navigate this minefield). However, in the time-period he said it in, it would have been scandalous! Women couldn’t get employment, families could be thrown out of synagogue, workers could lose their business connections and their only source of income! Family was the horizontal, everyday stability of first century life. And yet, Jesus says this:

Matt 10:34-39

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a                 sword.

35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-        law against her mother-in-law; 

36 and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

What!!??

To paraphrase Jesus and the Apostles: “the truth doesn’t change due to our ability or inability to stomach it.” The true peacemaker does NOT put the needs of himself/herself above certain things that Christ calls us to, no matter how difficult it is to do in the context of our inherited or developed views about marriage and family life. The only way to truly love another person, including our closest blood relations, is through the eyes and teachings of Jesus.

However, this does not mean that we turn our brains off and go throwing ourselves into undiscerned church busyness or undiscerned spiritual decision making. Sadly, there are many churches that will use and burn people out if they are allowed to do so. The “secret to the successful spiritual life” is constantly being sold by a rotating group of self-proclaimed experts. What we are called to is a sacrificial use of our spiritual gifts for the church and the world, but this does not negate our responsibilities as good stewards of our lives and the families we love. The point is, we are to make these often difficult and complicated decisions through the lenses of Jesus Christ and his callings on us with the aid of other, wise believers among us. If we choose not to, we risk becoming slaves to our own individualism, insecurities, and selfishness.

Lent is a time to look at why we are so emotionally committed to certain things in our lives, and to ask ourselves why we see these things as immovable entities. It is a time to find community with others facing the same complex applications in a society around us that seems so self-assured about what life is really about. If we want to bring shalom to the world around us, the starting place is not found in positive good activity alone. The starting place is to open our hearts to the life-changing work of the Spirit through Word and Sacrament; by living out this peace, this "wholeness" that we are experiencing through God's transforming work in our lives.

Let us continue to journey together in the Season of Lent.

Evening Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is one of the grounding sources of the Anglican Tradition that practically and ecclesiologically (i.e., our beliefs about church) binds all of the Anglican Communion together. The intent in the creation of the prayer book was to aid us in having a "common life" in Christ liturgically, scripturally, and even theologically.

The Daily Office, as found in the Book of Common Prayer (The BCP), is supposed to form the foundation of how we see weekly, systematic prayer. Based on the Christian monastic "hours" begun in the sixth century, the Daily Office provides us with five different communal services during a day where we can set ourselves apart for liturgical prayer (BCP, pg. 35). The two foundational services in the Daily Office are Morning and Evening Prayer.

While it is true that the Daily Offices can be used in meaningful personal devotion (see the introductory booklets I have created for such a task), the intent, development, and liturgy was designed for communal prayer. Christianity has always been understood in the catholic tradition as "we" before "me".

Yet, in much of the Episcopal Church, the Daily Office has fallen out of use. We are all busy and live in a highly individualistic world, so choosing to be "face to face" in communal prayer takes... well... effort. Monastic Christians in the past (and today across the globe) worshiped together in liturgical prayer seven times a day. Are we capable of worshipping together for 30 minutes, on one day, for a few weeks during lent? I think so. But it will likely be an inconvenience to our packed days.

In an attempt to introduce many of our new attenders to the Daily Office and perhaps encourage a place for it once again among our current membership, I would like to offer five sessions of Evening Prayer during the Season of Lent. I will lead these brief services on Wednesday's from 5:30 pm - 6:00 pm. I pray that many of us will benefit from this opportunity to step out of “our life” and engage the intent and season of Lent through communal prayer, reflection, and meditation. 

For those who might be more amenable to an early start, our Morning Prayer Group will also be meeting weekly during Lent (and on most other Thursdays as well) at 7:30 am at Westminster Village, Bloomington, IL (located very close to the Church).

Fr. Tom

The Feast of St. Thomas Aquinas

 

Thomas Aquinas is the greatest theologian of the high Middle Ages, and, next to Augustine, perhaps the greatest theologian in the history of Western Christianity. Born into a noble Italian family, probably in 1225, he entered the new Dominican Order of Preachers, and soon became an outstanding teacher in an age of intellectual ferment.

Perceiving the challenges that the recent rediscovery of Aristotle’s works might entail for traditional catholic doctrine, especially in its emphasis upon empirical knowledge derived from reason and sense perception, independent of faith and revelation, Thomas asserted that reason and revelation are in basic harmony. “Grace” (revelation), he said, “is not the denial of nature” (reason), “but the perfection of it.” This synthesis Thomas accomplished in his greatest works, the Summa Theologica and the Summa Contra Gentiles, which even today continue to exercise profound influence on Christian thought and philosophy. He was considered a bold thinker, even a “radical,” and certain aspects of his thought were condemned by the ecclesiastical authorities. His canonization on July 18, 1323, vindicated him.

Thomas understood God’s disclosure of his Name, in Exodus 3:14, “I Am Who I Am,” to mean that God is Being, the Ultimate Reality from which everything else derives its being. The difference between God and the world is that God’s essence is to exist, whereas all other beings derive their being from him by the act of creation. Although, for Thomas, God and the world are distinct, there is, nevertheless, an analogy of being between God and the world, since the Creator is reflected in his creation. It is possible, therefore, to have a limited knowledge of God, by analogy from the created world. On this basis, human reason can demonstrate that God exists; that he created the world; and that he contains in himself, as their cause, all the perfections which exist in his creation. The distinctive truths of Christian faith, however, such as the Trinity and the Incarnation, are known only by revelation.

Thomas died in 1274, just under fifty years of age. In 1369, on January 28, his remains were transferred to Toulouse. In addition to his many theological writings, he composed several eucharistic hymns. They include “O saving Victim” and “Now, my tongue, the mystery telling.”

(Lesser Feasts and Fasts, pg. 152)

Feast Day Scripture Readings

Authentic or Contrived?

Performance and production can be manufactured; a growing, humble, and teachable heart is given only to those who seek it.

Came upon these verses today while planning services for the Season of Epiphany:

Micah 6:
6 “With what shall I come before the Lord,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

Humility and ceremonial precision can be faked; a character being shaped through the power of the Spirit, cannot. Remember what is most important to God as we seek to be spiritually disciplined and obedient to him. The Church of Jesus Christ does not need more moralists and religious sycophants who fit the Kingdom of God into their lives as it is convenient. God calls us to be humble and courageous followers of Jesus, no matter what the risks to our insecurities and need to find our worth using the values of the world.

A Different Kind of King

 The word "King" stirs up various thoughts in our minds as Americans. While much of human history and culture has been shaped and ordered by some kind of Monarchy, the concept is less intuitive for us today. However, if even from a historical perspective, we still have ideas about "Kingship" and "Monarchy" both positive and negative.

In the giving or the "law" to Israel, The Lord told the people that they were not to have a king, for kings would levy taxes (in abusive ways), make citizens their slaves, and make war for their own political aspirations. However, God would be a just and righteous ruler for them, if they would but bow to his reign. That said, as the book of I Samuel records, it did not take the Israelites long before they wanted a king "like the other nations" around them. They were interested in a more tangible form of power and protection than being reliant in faith on their Lord God. Like us at times, they thought they knew better than God. They were wrong and learned this lesson (time and time again) the hard way. We also find disappointment and the need for God's redirection, when we take a similar approach to what matters in life.

The coming of Jesus, however, broke the mold of expectations for kingship. He neither used his Kingship for narcissistic glory, nor did he try to amass a huge military force to ensure his reign. He did not exclusively spend time with the self-important and wealthy for the building of a political agenda, but instead congregated with the humble, the suffering, and the poor. Jesus was a different kind of king, and we will revisit his royal entrance into the land of Israel this Sunday.

Like the power-brokers and the "impressive people" of the day, the approach of the ministry and teaching of Jesus seemed silly and ineffective. We as the church today, often succumb to the same foolishness. The Kingdom teaching and life of the Gospel seems too slow, too vague, and too difficult to evaluate when it comes to goal accomplishment (I mean, "if you don’t have a goal, you are sure to hit it!!!"). Power, programming, and wealth seem much more reasonable and tangible ways to build the church. We often prefer leaders "like the nations/corporations/successful leaders around us" than to rely on God's slower, less-impressive ways. But it is only in God's ways that we have God's influence and enduring power.

Let us not be deceived, for God is not mocked. Let us model ourselves and our ministry planning and living to follow our Lord God’s gradual, patient, faithful work of salvation and eternal life - no matter how slow or unimpressive His ways may seem at times.

The way the Christ-child entered the world is a central part of his message. Can we receive it?


See the Video Sermon, "A Different Kind of King" - Matthew 2:1-12, The Second Sunday of Christmas, January 2026.

The Anticipation of Advent

In chapter 35, Isaiah lays out the hope and reality of the Messiah who will make all things "right" (our Old Testament Reading from the third week of Advent in the Revised Common Lectionary).

 

 Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

"Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.

He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you."

 

Isaiah tells us that we should not fear those who use their power for evil or who seem to threaten the very "humanity" that we have come to believe should make us different than the rest of creation. However, our problem is not being created in God's Image; our problem is that we are corrupt because we want our humanity to be equal to God and His majesty.

 

In addition, when He does return as our God (the Messiah), He comes with the power to overthrow those who only understand a hammer of a justice which they cannot defeat. If there is anything that we have learned in our politics of late, there is no way to reason with the arrogant and delusional. That said, it is truly not a new problem.

Our God, however, does not delight in punishing, but it is the only recourse for those who reject God's offer of salvation. However, He also blesses those who realize they cannot justify themselves outside of the righteousness and forgiveness given through Jesus Christ. Evil cannot dwell in the presence of our triune God, as it always represents a cancer that leads to humanity wanting equal or greater power than the one and only creator who is thoroughly just and holy. He can righteously handle all of the immense power that is a part of his being. We humans, cannot.

 

The Messiah breaks into a humanity and a human history that has overwhelmingly rejected God's offer of redemption by choosing to believe that He and His revelation to mankind are optional. For these, only punishment remains. Their rule of selfishness, hypocrisy, and injustice (according to God's character and ways) is over.



May our God "Strengthen our weak hands, and make firm our feeble knees" as we wait faithfully for that final day when all is made right.

Fr. Thomas Reeves