In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Words from Deuteronomy, and they well describe the words an Apostle speaks. An introduction to this Homily about Apostles:
Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop like the rain, My speech condense like the dew; Like gentle rain on grass, Like showers on new growth. For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; Ascribe greatness to our God!
The Rock, his work is perfect, And all his ways are just. A faithful God, without deceit, Just and upright is he…
The October days are here, Fall is here, the season of change--for winter is coming and at this time we look to see the light change. Days grow shorter. The weather is cooler here north of San Francisco in Mill Valley, and it is sometimes necessary to turn the heat on in the evening.
Last night was like that, colder, and as I thought of God and reflected on what it meant to be an Apostle, my mind was infected with the change of weather and light, even the darkness that now has gathered at this early yet still into the evening hour of the day.
I thought… and my heart said they are Apostles who spoke of God, spoke to and into the world, and gave us hope, having been commissioned by Christ himself when alive. Almost mythical in dimension, they are separate from the special yet regular disciple. When sent out into the world to speak the Good News Apostles had that wonderful and special spirit upon them: The Holy Spirit. They are the special disciples of Christ, extraordinary and unique in the history of the world.
Today I speak of Saint Simon, the Zealot, and Saint Jude. Lesser known Apostles, but still of that special group so filled with the Spirit of God and willing to bring their holiness and message, as messengers, out to the world itself:
Mankind was waiting to hear, though they knew them not, they knew the Lord Christ not, they knew the Good News not.
Heralds is what they were, and their spirit lives still, renewed through generations and remembered generation by generation.
Let us speak briefly of these two men on their special day when we celebrate them.
Here we are on this day remembering Simon. Here we are on this day remembering Jude.
Jude is the only Apostle I can remember who has a special place in the world of print, for you can find him in the classified section of newspapers. Albeit a small place, a small advertisement, but the heart that placed the ad offers a public message bringing the word vibrantly if almost unknown in its content to the greater world. It is a message of last hope, a message of Gospel dimension in 6 point type, so is a prayer to Jude.
First, what are these small prayers, these pleas for help in the last moments and days of hope, directed in plea to Jude for aid.
In that 6 point type are even there building blocks of the Church?
As Origen writes in a homily on the Book of Joshua, “Like living stones, let ourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
So his quote from the Bible goes in his message, “…in this building of the Church there must also be an altar. From this I conclude that those of you who are ready and prepared to give up your time to prayer, to offer petitions and sacrifices of supplication to God day and night, such people I say will be the living stones out of which Jesus will build his altar.”
Jude is little known, but famous too as last to be noticed, for in history he was confused with Judas, so as overlooked and almost forgotten, he became the Saint for those of lost causes and final hope appealed to in time of (needed) prayer, prayers given in their offering petitions and sacrifices of supplication to God.
It is a quiet and not so directly proactive an Evangelical way of Apostleship for which Jude is best known, but he is in this way of the Lord building the Church.
Jude: known as patron saint of lost causes.
As for Simon the Zealot, the book, “Celebrating the Saints,” says:
There is no indication in the Gospels whether Simon moved from the Zealot party to be a follower of Christ or, on the other hand, if after the resurrection he became a supporter of that group seeing it as a response to God’s call to proclaim the Kingdom.
Again, Origen urges us to be stones as were the Apostles, stones for God…
…united in belief and purpose, let us hope that God may find us stones fit for his altar.
Simon the Zealot, not to be confused with Simon Peter, was an Apostle who built the Church. As we move towards the end of the Church year and a remembrance of All Souls and All Saints, as we see the light change and remember soon those who have died, the words of Psalm 119 commemorating this day are a reminder of Simon the Zealot’s devotion and the will of God:
The LORD exists forever; Your word is firmly fixed in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all Generations; You have established the earth, and It stands fast. By your appointment they stand today, For all things are your servants.
Is it not a comfort, these words of the Psalm?
The Church lives.
The LORD exists forever.
This is where the power of that word spoken by Simon the Zealot and Jude came from. Their words came from Christ in a commissioning: Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself so that they also may be sanctified in truth. That beautiful section of John is worth a look, it is John 1: 17-27. It concludes: “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these known that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
The Apostles are a glorious group, and they were faithful and zealous in their mission. As the Collect of the day says, let us pray,
…so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…
These lovely words from Ephesians make a better ending to this Homily than anything I could write. Do these words not say what the Apostles did for all of us:
So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God…
• The Lord bless us and keep us. Amen.
• The Lord make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. Amen.
• The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen.
Audio of Homily as given at Church of Our Saviour, Mill Valley, CA USA:
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Let us Speak of Holiness this morning:
Bernard of Clairvaux A homily
Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal)
Mill Valley, CA USA
Wednesday Eucharist,
August 19, 2009
Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 1994
Ecclesiasticus 39: 1-10
John 15: 7-11
Psalm 139: 1-9
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Let us speak of Holiness this morning, God’s Holiness, as we learn of Bernard of Clairvaux. This is his Feast Day in our Episcopal Church.
From a hymn attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot, born in 1090, at Fontaines, near Dijon, France:
My Shepherd, now receive me;
my Guardian, own me Thine.
Great blessings Thou didst give me,
O source of gifts divine.
Thy lips have often fed me with words of truth and love;
Thy Spirit oft hath led me to heavenly joys above.
This is a request of God in Christ by a man who founded 162 monasteries, was a man who deeply admired Mary, Mother of God, and is considered a man of God’s wisdom and holiness.
Herewith this is a remark, a statement, part of Psalm 139…
You search out my path and my lying down, /and are acquainted with all
my ways. /Even before a word is on my tongue,/ O Lord, you know it completely… /Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; /is is so high that I cannot attain it.
Friend of God, yes. Man of God’s wisdom, yes. Man of Holiness, yes.
Regarding Mary, history tells of Bernard:
He considered and admired the feminine in the holy, in the divine story, as Bernard played the leading role in the development of the Mary cult. One of the most important manifestations of the popular piety of the twelfth century, the Virgin Mary had played a minor role and it was only with the rise of emotional Christianity in the eleventh century that she became the prime intercessor for humanity with the deity. She is sometimes referred to as the “fourth part of the Trinity,” for Mary is a feminine figure much admired and even referred to in prayer to this day. We pray,
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our
death…”
A Cistercian Monk, Bernard, is considered in this manner by our readings today, reflecting the three-fold manner of his character and relationship with God and man. He died at Clairvaux, 21 August, 1153:
· Bernard is wise, with the wisdom of God.
· Bernard is Holy, with a Holiness of God.
· Bernard is friend of God, as the New Testament tells us of friendship with God. This is the way to abide in God.
Our Gospel, says:
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept
my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you
so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
So part of our reading from John for today, tells us of Bernard’s love in Christ, and his friendship with God in Christ.
In this way is Bernard found wise, so another of our readings tells us:
If the great Lord is willing,/ he will be filled with the spirit of understanding; /he will pour forth words of wisdom of his own/ and give thanks
to the Lord in prayer./ The Lord will direct his counsel and knowledge, /as he
meditates on his mysteries.
So goes part of our reading from Ecclesiasticus (the Apocrypha) for today, tell us of Bernard’s wisdom.
It is as a holy man we remember Bernard of Clairvaux today.
An internet search on Answer.com received this definition of holiness: “The New Testament Greek word that translates KADOSH is HAGIOS. In the New Testament it is everywhere used of Christians. Christians are said to be HAGIOI (plural.) All the English translations here read ‘saints’. Paul writes letters to congregations in a dozen different cities, always beginning his letter, "To the saints in...( Corinth , Philippi , wherever.) To be holy, a saint, is simply to be different.”
Holiness is that which allows us to be separate --as we are closer to and with God. It is that of separation as seen in hagios from hagos, which denotes "any matter of religious awe" (the Latin sacer); and that of sanctioned (sancitus). That which is hosios has received God’s seal.
Thomas Aquinas says, "All who worship God may be called 'religious', but they are specially called so, who dedicate their whole lives to the Divine worship, and withdraw themselves from worldly concerns, just as those are not termed 'contemplatives' who merely contemplate, but those who devote their whole lives to contemplation". The saint adds: "And such men subject themselves to other men not for man’s sake but for God's sake," words which afford us the keynote of religious life--so it is called.
What we are speaking of is the inner dynamic within and between God and man. And it has the most dramatic effects, bringing uprightness, happiness, yearning, treasuring, and delight.
The late Anglican Reverend Professor Daniel Hardy, defines Holiness.
So holiness is not to be seen, but it is found in those whose hearts are formed by the inward laws given to Moses by the Lord. Moreover, it is found again in those whose hearts are formed by the consistent faithfulness of the
Lord in the crucified and risen Christ. And the benefits go beyond what we saw
in the passage from Nehemiah. Then there was uprightness, happiness, yearning,
treasuring, delight, and their lives were filled with the unfathomable presence
of the Lord, whose holiness and joy flooded their hearts. But now there is a
'spiriting' of human hearts that makes them responsive and responsible, a people
affirmed by the Lord and marked by inner peace, meaning and purpose, faith, hope
and love. All these rest on what we might call the three I’s.
Daniel Hardy explains more:
All these rest on what we might call three 'I's':
(1) That the Lord is 'I am, always with you' -- ever faithful and loving to us;
(2) That this Lord gives and 'spirits' another 'I', responsive to the 'I am' and responsible for us, who abides with us;
(3) That this 'I am, always with you' gives and 'spirits' the 'I' that each of us is, to be responsive and responsible.
Reverend Professor Daniel Hardy explains, also: When the 'I' that I am, or you are, is within the 'I' that Jesus is, and thereby with the 'I' that the Lord is, our hearts will burn within us as we remember him. There we will know holiness and peace, and give faith, hope and love to each other.
Bernard of Clairvaux writes in his paper on the Song of Songs:
… (M)etaphor shows that we cannot of ourselves come to Christ in our Lord,
unless he draws us by his grace, which is laid up in his storerooms: that is, in
the mysteries of Faith, which God in his goodness and love for mankind hath
revealed, first by his servant Moses in the Old Law in figure only, and
afterwards in reality by his only begotten Son Jesus
Christ...
A Prayer attributed to Bernard goes:
Jesus, the very thought of Thee
With sweetness fills the breast;But sweeter far Thy face to see,
And in Thy presence rest.
Nor voice can sing, nor heart can frame,
Nor can the memory find
A sweeter sound than
Thy blessed Name,O Savior of mankind!
We know that Bernard of Clairvaux, the historic figure of the Middle Ages, was a defender of the twelfth century Church, known for his ardor he preached love of God, “without measure.”
A Holy Man, we thank God on this day for his life.
Bernard is wise, with the wisdom of God. Bernard is Holy, with a Holiness of God. Bernard is friend of God, as the Gospel tells us of friendship with God.
· May the lord bless us and keep us. Amen.
· May the Lord make his face to shine up us and be gracious to us. Amen.
· May the Lord life up his countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen.
Recording of Homily is here:
Friday, June 26, 2009
That God is Love, Commentary on John 15: 1-8 “Me in thee, and thee in me…”
Homily Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal) Mill Valley, CA USA (North of San Francisco) Fifth week of Easter Wednesday Eucharist, May 13, 2009
Acts 15: 1-6 John 15: 1-8 Psalm 122
In the name of God: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It is in Love, through the Church, Worship, and prayer; it is in Love, through acts of mercy, charity, and deeds for others; it is in Love, through following the poor and chaste Christ through the Church year—where we come to know and live in the way of Christ. This is called the Christian life. What this life entails is narrated through the Bible, in specific The New Testament. On this day we are reminded again that God seeks us in Love.
Our reading from John 15:1-8 says directly:
“I am the true vine, and my father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me…”
My life as an Oblate, received by the Camaldolese monastic order of St. Benedict 15 years ago, has opened to me a life lived as offering to God. Sometimes I think of it as Samson in the Bible who lived under a vow, and think that called by God I’ve responded and may hold a special fervor for Christ and Church, to abide in God and continue the Divine Call that brought me to live in the world as the Oblate does, rather than in a monastery, as does the Monk. This is a life of abiding in Christ, abiding in God, and a radical giving over to a more religious life.
One preached retreat at Immaculate Heart Hermitage in Big Sur, California where Brother Bede spoke of The Rule of Saint Benedict, I realized that this Holy Book was an excellence direction and resource for living life in a full. It is a directed way that is common to the monastic community of which I am a part. Having chosen to center my life around the daily office and worship and prayer, my interest is in living with the Parish as a centerpiece for life. With its many Biblical references and references to the Psalm in The Rule, I am helped in my direction for abiding in a manner consistent with John’s, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me…”
Living with others in community, as I live the Parish life, and the monastic life in the world, I, like you, follow the poor, chaste Christ through the year.
“Me in thee, thee in me.”
Love binds us. We are friends in Christ.
That Christ invites us: it is an enormous hospitality of God that is extended anew through Christ. We are invited, and this is Grace--for we are accepted.
Like Dame Julian of Norwich, we learn the Lord’s meaning that is brought to us through divine longing.
Love is his meaning.
Who shows it to us: Love. What is shown: Love. Why was it shown: Love. We learn that Love is our Lord’s meaning.
Christ in the Bible, Christ in the Church Fathers, Christ in the Church guides us. Though we may have different approaches and needs, we are united in Christ. For example, as a contemplative, I seek Union with God. This is an unknowing knowing. One lives with the contradictions, lives with the questions of Christ and those of the Church. This includes those mysteries that we find in the Bible.
The invitation to God is the result of God’s love, not our love of God. Humans cannot be so perfect as to regard God in a manner as He regards humans. Though we bless God “for our creation, preservation, / and all the blessing of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love/ in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ…” and may do this daily, it is God’s grace that gives us these freedoms. This gift of Christ is a result of God’s love for woman and mankind.
A relationship has many dimensions, as any love affair. Being angry with God is not failing to love God. Asking why did this happen; having doubts, is a way of reaching and moving towards love. These are points of starting that enables us to enter into love. Otherwise the stumbling block becomes our own emotional failure. One must be true to our own feelings and thoughts. Emotional honesty is required. It is not one who is angry who is a failure, but when one is denying dishonest self-awareness in the relationship with God. This honesty, and knowing oneself in Christ is a job itself, and all of us as Christians work at this task. It is part of the vineyard work.
Abiding as resting in Christ, in the spirit of the Church—is balm. It is comfort. As Archbishop Rowan Williams says, “Church is something that happens, a verb before it is a noun.” Church is a vineyard of Christ, and the Church asks, even tells us, that the world is Christ’s vineyard, as our lives are engaged and lived in the vineyard. We labor in God, who is Love.
Love is a verb before it is a noun. Love acts upon us, as we live in the history of God in our lives, and within our nation and community. It is common for us to offer guidance and moral community in Christ, and we do this personally and corporately. Each member helps the other along the way. We express this help and caring each Sunday. One example is: Each Sunday we offer each other “…the peace of the Lord…” This offer is our desire that each of us experience Christ’s peace.
As an Oblate, I enjoyed meeting acceptance and understanding of the requests made of an Oblate in one’s life. This is called Postulancy. Postulancy lasts at the least a year.
The Oblate Introduction says:
Long before the coming of Christ, humanity's quest for the Absolute gave rise (and bears) throughout the centuries … witness to the divine destiny of the human person and to the presence of the Spirit in the hearts of all who seek to know what is true and ultimately real. … [E]very Christian call witnesses to that dimension present interiorly in every other Christian.
For as our reading says, and as we live and learn as Christians we recognize in each other Christ, and our faith in heart, deed, and word. We believe in the seen and unseen:
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” So we learn to “…feed the poor, and homeless,” as we do through our work in providing a meal to them, so we learn to “…worship regularly in Church, as we do on Sundays and other days, so we learn to “…introduce others to Christ, as we do by being a light to the world.
We seek God together as we abide in God in Christ together.
More from the Rule for Camaldoli Oblates:
As sincere seekers of God (RB 58, 7) we approach God as sons and daughters. We center our lives on the encounter with God, which finds expression in forms of prayer handed down in early Christian, patristic and monastic traditions. Ultimately, our prayer seeks to become the very prayer of the Holy Spirit within our hearts.
This statement of the Rule for Oblates is genuine for me. I believe it will resonate with you, for we experience prayer in Church together this day. I find that my own yearnings are fulfilled in my divine search, as I rest in the prayers. This form of abiding in Christ is one of many we may practice or know. It is within the Church that means of offering from generation to generation life in Christ, that we find meaning and direction.
Through the centuries mankind and womankind have experienced the divine search, and the words of John have been revelation, comfort and instruction: “I am the true vine, and my father is the vine grower…Abide in me as I abide in you.” Let me end with this blessing: The Lord bless us and keep us. Amen. The Lord Make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. Amen. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen.
Audio of the Homily is here:
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Many times I've been in our Church Sacristy, where the bread and wine is kept prior to Communion. It is here, in this more "private" space, considered special in ways intimate and important to God, that I've had some quiet minutes alone. Though this is an occasional experience, they are special to me.
Then others come into the Sacristy, making a host of small group of people who work to prepare for Communion. Of course, one is the Priest, who as Celebrant must robe in the Sacristy. The Deacon, who does so also, robing for the coming religious service. Sometimes there is talk, and even a few moments of laughter. Generally, it is an upbeat experience, one of fun and joy. We know this is a special place.
Though common in some ways to those of us, who can be quite a few who work to prepare and maintain the room for Communion purposes, the room remains a place of reverence. This poem, inspired by times in the Sacristy, remarks in its simple way on the experience and the Sacristy. Its preparation, mostly.
As Summer is here today, the season changing from Spring, and as Pentecost still remains relatively new for this year, we that have the privilege of preparing ourselves, or working (and we all work when in the Sacristy, one way or another) share I think what is put here in writing the reverent moments and holy things that are special to an Episcopal Communion service. It is a kind of behind the scenes poem, in that it spells out in brief, so almost in a stark fashion, the spare observation of blessings.
Written this Sunday, June 21, 2009. Poem written the previous day in anticipation and preparation of Sunday:
Preparing for Worship By Peter Menkin—June 20, 2008
God, in the Sacristy of the Church: We encounter you-- as We go about our routine Preparing for Communion.
Yet aware of beauty and the gratitude: This is the day the Lord has made, Let us be glad in it.
Doing the work of worship: Preparing in this room, holy Sacred items reverently placed.
One of us prepares the wine for Communion, for blessing: Contained in silver; and the water, For blessing, contained in silver.
The bread for the Body, prepared, for Communion, for blessing, Offered on silver. Lovely, lovely, lovely. These items that are earthly, memorials of You.
How lovely is your presence: This sacred time of waiting, Working, preparing, as we speak Together quietly, in peace.
Audio reading of poem by poet is here:
Monday, May 11, 2009
That God is Love, Commentary on John 15 1-8 “Me in thee, and thee in me…”
Homily Peter Menkin, Obl Cam OSB Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal) Mill Valley, CA USA (North of San Francisco) Fifth week of Easter Wednesday Eucharist, May 13, 2009
Acts 15: 1-6 John 15: 1-8 Psalm 122
In the name of God: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It is in Love, through the Church, Worship, and prayer; it is in Love, through acts of mercy, charity, and deeds for others; it is in Love, through following the poor and chaste Christ through the Church year—where we come to know and live in the way of Christ. This is called the Christian life. What this life entails is narrated through the Bible, in specific The New Testament. On this day we are reminded again that God seeks us in Love.
Our reading from John 15: 1-8 says directly:
“I am the true vine, and my father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me…”
My life as an Oblate, received by the Camaldolese monastic order of St. Benedict 15 years ago, has opened to me a life lived as offering to God. Sometimes I think of it as Samson in the Bible who lived under a vow, and think that called by God I’ve responded and may hold a special fervor for Christ and Church, to abide in God and continue the Divine Call that brought me to live in the world as the Oblate does, rather than in a monastery, as does the Monk. This is a life of abiding in Christ, abiding in God, and a radical giving over to a more religious life.
One preached retreat at Immaculate Heart Hermitage in Big Sur, California where Brother Bead spoke of The Rule of Saint Benedict, I realized that this Holy Book was an excellence direction and resource for living life in a full. It is a directed way that is common to the monastic community of which I am a part. Having chosen to center my life around the daily office and worship and prayer, my interest is in living with the Parish as a centerpiece for life. With its many Biblical references and references to the Psalm in The Rule, I am helped in my direction for abiding in a manner consistent with John’s, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me…”
Living with others in community, as I live the Parish life, and the monastic life in the world, I, like you, follow the poor, chaste Christ through the year.
“Me in thee, thee in me.”
Love binds us. We are friends in Christ.
That Christ invites us: it is an enormous hospitality of God that is extended anew through Christ. We are invited, and this is Grace--for we are accepted.
Like Dame Julian of Norwich, we learn the Lord’s meaning that is brought to us through divine longing.
Love is his meaning. Who shows it to us: Love. What is shown: Love. Why was it shown: Love. We learn that Love is our Lord’s meaning.
Christ in the Bible, Christ in the Church Fathers, Christ in the Church guides us. Though we may have different approaches and needs, we are united in Christ. For example, as a contemplative, I seek Union with God. This is an unknowing knowing. One lives with the contradictions, lives with the questions of Christ and those of the Church. This includes those mysteries that we find in the Bible.
The invitation to God is the result of God’s love, not our love of God. Humans cannot be so perfect as to regard God in a manner as He regards humans. Though we bless God “for our creation, preservation, / and all the blessing of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love/ in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ…” and may do this daily, it is God’s grace that gives us these freedoms. This gift of Christ is a result of God’s love for woman and mankind
A relationship has many dimensions, as has any love affair. Being angry with God is not failing to love God. Asking why did this happen; having doubts, is a way of reaching and moving towards love. These are points of starting that enables us to enter into love. Otherwise the stumbling block becomes our own emotional failure. One must be true to our own feelings and thoughts. Emotional honesty is required. It is not one who is angry who is a failure, but when one is denying self-awareness, dishonest in the relationship with God. This honesty, and knowing oneself in Christ is a job itself, and all of us as Christians work at this task. It is part of the vineyard work.
Abiding as resting in Christ, in the spirit of the Church—is balm. It is comfort. As Archbishop Rowan Williams says, “Church is something that happens, a verb before it is a noun.” Church is a vineyard of Christ, and the Church asks, even tells us, that the world is Christ’s vineyard, as our lives are engaged and lived in the vineyard. We labor in God, who is Love.
Love is a verb before it is a noun. Love acts upon us, as we live in the history of God in our lives, and within our nation and community. It is common for us to offer guidance and moral community in Christ, and we do this personally and corporately. Each member helps the other along the way. We express this help and caring each Sunday. One example is: Each Sunday we offer each other “…the peace of the Lord…” This offer is our desire that each of us experience Christ’s peace.
As an Oblate, I enjoyed meeting acceptance and understanding of the requests made of an Oblate in one’s life. This is called Postulancy. Postulancy lasts at the least a year. The Oblate Introduction says:
Long before the coming of Christ, humanity's quest for the Absolute gave rise (and bears) throughout the centuries … witness to the divine destiny of the human person and to the presence of the Spirit in the hearts of all who seek to know what is true and ultimately real. …[E]very Christian call witnesses to that dimension present interiorly in every other Christian.
For as our reading says, and as we live and learn as Christians we recognize in each other Christ, and our faith in heart, deed, and word. We believe in the seen and unseen:
“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” So we learn to “…feed the poor, and homeless,” as we do through our work in providing a meal to them, so we learn to “…worship regularly in Church, as we do on Sundays and other days, so we learn to “…introduce others to Christ, as we do by being a light to the world.
We seek God together as we abide in God in Christ together. More from the Rule for Camaldoli Oblates:
As sincere seekers of God (RB 58, 7) we approach God as sons and daughters. We center our lives on the encounter with God, which finds expression in forms of prayer handed down in early Christian, patristic and monastic traditions. Ultimately, our prayer seeks to become the very prayer of the Holy Spirit within our hearts.
This statement of the Rule for Oblates is genuine for me. I believe it will resonate with you, for we experience prayer in Church together this day. I find that my own yearnings are fulfilled in my divine search, as I rest in the prayers. This form of abiding in Christ is one of many we may practice or know. It is within the Church, that means of offering from generation to generation life in Christ, that we find meaning and direction.
Through the centuries mankind and womankind have experience the divine search, and the words of John have been revelation, comfort and instruction: “I am the true vine, and my father is the vine grower…Abide in me as I abide in you.”Let me end with this blessing: The Lord bless us and keep us. Amen. The Lord Make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. Amen. The Lord lift up his countenance upon us and give us peace. Amen.
Audio of Homily by homilist is here:
Photo by Henry Worthy, Camaldoli Oblate, London. Icon of Christ by Zalewski.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Hossanah in the Highest a poem about Palm Sunday at Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal) Mill Valley, CA USA by Peter Menkin
This morning we spoke in premonitions about children leading worship. We waited together.
Yesterday there was bright blue white lightning flash, and the thunder. Light rain broke in.
God speaks in the thunder; I could not make out what he said. So subtle.
Children led the worship service at another Church, a man and wife said.
Today at ours they gave out palms, and walked among us
after blessing them, arms stretched out hands above the palms during the blessing.
We took the blessing from the children.
Holy moments, special places, silence between the words.
Why this joy?
Note that this poem, from 2002, was recently posted and still remains posted on the Academy of American Poets writers workshop ( www.poets. org ) .
This response by me to a poet's criticism (poet's name, RayBrown):
Raybrown: Thank you for the careful reading. I'll look what you've said more closely than I have, and see what I think. I appreciate your careful and interested read.
I wouldn't be surprised if this poem needs revision, it sometimes takes me a while to do so--even years. As you can see, it is a poem already 6 years old.
I do note that there are some aspects that make sense to me, but that they don't make sense to a reader isn't a good sign. One that jumps at me is that the couple from the other church say at theirs the children led the service. At this Palm Sunday the children offer a blessing, but do not lead. The palms and children are blessed prior to their "procession" and blessing the congregation by waving greenery which is dipped in holy water, the priest leading and blessing first as they processe. (If memory serves correct.) Maybe this isn't clear. It is a lovely picture, nonetheless, and in their way the children are helpers and implication of "a little child" as the Biblical note says in a number of places. It is an act of purity and innocence, too, for the congregation.
I am not so sure the poem is served well by entering into these areas in words. As the deeds in the liturgy speak, so does the description of the acts themselves represent these many sided meditations.
They walked among us is a kind of phrase that one hears, as He walks among us, as in Christ. (I even think of when Jesus the Christ did so at the end, as in spirit and body, after the resurrection. Anyway:) The implied being that the blessing is one of a faiithful activity and spirit, and is Holy as Christ is holy, thereby defining a kind of nature of being and holiness.
Again, maybe not specific enough, but this is a poem about an Episcopal or Anglican service, not an any denomination or ceremony as generic. As I say, liturgy speaks and says. It is a statement as well as participatory form.
Maybe I defend in explanation, but partially my remarks to you are also notes to me.
I think that the children are blessed in the same manner as the congregation, or we, so your point an interesting one as reader is not intended by me to offer We are blessed by children more than they blessed. I do like the idea, though. There is a kind of sweetness in it that is almost like an Easter card. Sometimes good.
You have many good suggestions, and food for thought. So thanks again. I will think some more, as I must decide if I need to flesh out the poem or if in its simplicity it tells of the procession and event of the liturgical Season well enough, even if in so stark and understated a way that has ambiguities. Are these ambiguitites worthwhile? I ask, too.
With thanks for your crit, Peter
Father Arthur Poulin's work is in this entry:
Some notes on the illustrations: The first painting reproduced as illustration is titled, "The Pathway Home," by Father Arthur Poulin. The second painting reproduced as illustration on this blog entry by Father Arthur Poulin is titled, "Early Spring 2."
Camaldolese, Benedictine monk Father Arthur Poulin paints contemplative works, as he describes them. These shown here are selected from his many paintings.
Father Arthur lives and works at Incarnation Monastery, Berkeley, CA USA--study house of Camaldolese monks located near the Graduate Theological Union, and University of California's North Gate. Berkeley is near San Francisco in its Bay Area.
This description of his paintings, from I. wolk Gallery in St. Helena, California USA:
Father Poulin's paintings have been acquired extensively by people here in the US and abroad. Many of his commissioned works hang in churches here in California. The last (third) painting is "Twilight," showing the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco.
Website for the gallery-- http://www.iwolkgallery.com/
Rick White's work is in this entry:
Photograph of Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal), located in Mill Valley, CA USA by Rick White, Mill Valley, CA USA. Rick is 78 years old, now retired he earned his living as a travel photographer (TWA among others), and as an advertising Art Director in Chicago. He tells me he did work for J. Walter Thomson, among others. Two of the same photographs are used in this blog entry, same view etc. This picture is composed of three images, by the way. So Rick tells me.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Reflection on Communion
by Peter Menkin
A reflection given at Church of Our Saviour, posted because it discusses as part of its body two poems of mine.
A reflection on the Eucharist as central part of my worship experience:
A way of Communion, certain Church of Our Saviour, Mill Valley, California
Wednesday Eucharist, April 23, 2008
John 15: 1-8
“Abide in me as I abide in you.”
Peter Menkin
April 22, 2008
As I reflect on our reading today, one that is so meaningful to me as an Oblate of the Episcopal Church, and as a Parishioner, I consider my deep relationship with Christ. This reading about the vine encourages me to enter into Communion, a central means of faith for me, the Eucharist.
I am fortunate, I am encouraged as an Oblate and Episcopalian, to enter into regular Communion, receiving the body and blood of Christ on Sundays, and also in my religious work of offering the Eucharist as a Lay Minister. Sometimes, if one includes Wednesday Eucharist, as today, I have the opportunity of receiving the Eucharist more than three times a week—even four.
The late well known Catholic Priest, Teilhard de Chardin wrote about the Eucharist as a presence in the universe. This famous theological thinker may be known to you. He considered Eucharist a universal and mystical experience in which we as members of the Church live and are –as in being-- as a result of our participation. Here is a poem I wrote about this wonderful religious teacher, as I have experienced the Communion essence. I find writing poetry a way of faith practice, and that I find this act of Communion by body and blood a way of staying with Christ. This poem is set in Lent.
Engaged in Le Milieu Divine
Lent... (2002) by Peter Menkin
In the habitat zone
where I know God’s presence
I recognize the outer darkness-- transfigure is the
season’s introduction to Le Milieu Divine.
Precarious habitation, there is the greater world where Christ is loci,
even in travails ordinary, extraordinary.
We are of substance existence,
created believing--seeking.
Fill my half-heartedness; unbend me.
Before my trials of devil and insidious evil--the darkness.
You are center point even of my despair, of love,
inside me, outside entering transformation.
May I show penitence, everlasting one adored.
Lent begins.
A common theme in all my poetry is reverence for the Eucharist. It is fact for me. Eucharist is central to worship and I consider it at the same time a focus on Christ, as we are encouraged in this reading from John. John is a “mystical” writer of Gospel, and the good news is that we are part of his ministry, as an evangelical, and of course members of the body of Christ.
Because the poem I’ve offered is about Lent, I wanted to share with you another, one about Easter. Another theme of season that I practice as my discipline of religious life. Receiving Easter, is part of the year, to keep Easter in mind as we look forward to it during the year. We are an Easter people, and we share in the risen Christ, and in the Eucharist. Communion is a journey.
Easter Sweetness
By Peter Menkin
To delight in the Paradise
of Easter; it is the Lord's.
The Christ!
Alleluia!
Oh, speak in the night, a conversation
of the spirit, a complaint, a plea.
It is the Lord’s will, a renewal
For humankind. Celebrate in the fullness
Of living.
Do so in the Church at prayer,
Meditating on the day, ones failings,
Surprises—opening to God.
So one speaks, listens, waits
And lives in the knowledge of Easter,
Its seasonal presence. This divine gift.
So may we rest in thee, in aloneness.
We rest in thee, together our love in emotion and soul
binds us joyfully -- thank you
for the morrow in the bringing
of the quickening spirit, a
millennium of blessings in color,
in shadow, in light, early morning.
There is God, our beloved
He calls us.
At the end of the poem, which is posted as an audio reading on our Church website, I say “There is God, our beloved/He calls us.” The reading does remind us that Christ is available to us in spirit, in love, for Christ is a representation and a door to God, and our God --as is Christ,-- is love, and loving. He calls us. So the Eucharist does, too. So the reading reminds me.
I find I can rest in Communion, in the love that is Eucharist, in Christ. “We rest in thee, together our love in emotion and soul/binds us joyfully…” my poem reads. This is a quickening spirit. What a wonderful term, “…quickening spirit…” For us Communion undergirds our life in Christ.
This reading is from, “An Anthology of Christian Devotion: Holy Communion, “ compiled by Massey H. Shepherd, Jr. I commend it to anyone here, and it is available in our Church library.
“It is not only for the individual that the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper has a central, living, mystic meaning, but for the whole community, the whole Church, yes, for all mankind. For here the divine mingles with the human, the terrestrial, here in the Eucharist praise and sacrifice are offered to the Lord for the whole world and by the whole world…and the whole cosmos is hereby potently ennobled and sanctified in that earthly elements of wine and bread become the glorified body and blood of the Son of God. That is why the idea of all creation is assembled in spirit around the Eucharistic altar so constantly recurs in the old liturgies of the East. For through Him, through His death, and through the glorification of His risen body, here mystically represented, creation partakes of the glory of redemption…
“This communion of the soul with God is not a dialogue, but a mighty harmony of many tones, a great organism, a powerful kingdom, a comprehensive brotherhood, a Church of God into which the individual is caught up as a member of the whole body, and which expands and grows into the infinite until it embraces, not only all mankind but the whole creation, the whole cosmos, in a kingdom of eternal life. It is a cosmic, an oecumenical conception.” --Nicholas Arseniew
If I may make a recommendation, again, as it has been recommended to me, I say enter into the Communion service in as full and complete a way on any Sunday as you can. Or at any time.
