Deacon Dan Wright

Who Do You Say I Am?

"Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" From Matthew 16

Something that many Christians may take for granted is the knowledge of the identity of Jesus. Those who have had the faith be part of their lives from an early age likely have an idea or a strong sense of knowing the identity of the person Jesus. During Lent it's worth reexamining our acquaintance with Jesus. Who do we say he is? This is something I mentioned that I wanted to do back at the beginning of the month.

As I grew up being a Protestant the Jesus I knew best was the Jesus of doctrine. That is, I knew Jesus as the Son of God, as the second person of the Trinity, as divinity robed in flesh, as the healer and miracle worker, and as the one who suffered and died on the Cross for my salvation and for all who would believe in him. Certainly, these truths of the faith are not to be denied. Certainly, they possess great value.

However, there is side of Jesus that we may not ordinarily consider in our Sunday school formulations. The identity of Jesus is revealed in the way he manifests himself in sharing his humanity among us. Indeed Jesus is the Son of God, and in his humanity he shows us a special side of being the Son; it is the side that stands with us as human beings and as such shows solidarity with us in our needs.

As we heard in the weekend readings Jesus went into the desert and was tempted. In that he shares with us the trials and ordeals that we face each day. As we face temptation and often fail, we may look to Jesus who did not fail but withstood temptation. We may keep in mind that Jesus shares all aspects of his humanity with us. So when we face temptation, and even if we fail in it, we may turn and place our humanity within his, for he freely gives us all that he has.

In today's gospel we see Jesus sharing with Peter. The aspect of Jesus' personhood revealed to Peter has to do with his authority. Peter recognizes this authority and Jesus gives him a share in it. Peter becomes, by the Lord's word, the rock on which Jesus is to build his Church.

As Lent progresses I hope to reflect more on the person of Jesus—perhaps on those aspects of him that we do not ordinarily notice or consider. As I do so, I plan to bear in mind that the Lord shares something with us. He shares humanity and gives of himself. I have heard that he shares our humanity but another way to look at it is that he shares his humanity, which conquers sin and death.

Friday Reflection: The Spiritual Echo

Although my time for writing has been somewhat limited recently by family, work, and ministry duties, I have reached a point where am ready to begin reflecting for Lent here on my blog. Today, Friday, offers a good place to begin after having had a few days off from writing and having had the opportunity to consider the presence of God in the lives of those who call to him.

Something that I have experienced—at least from time to time— in my life, and perhaps you too may have noticed this, is that when we internalize the scripture, when it becomes like a food for us, we begin to live it out in our lives. When we let the scripture become a reality in us we learn to call upon God in such a way that we are able to hear what can only be described metaphorically as a spiritual echo returning to us from the source of holiness.

Perhaps it's a rare occurrence that we call on God, saying "Father" and hearing within our deepest recesses the acknowledgement of that prayer, or perhaps our spiritual lives are tuned well enough that we have learned to listen to the sound of the spirit at all times. I believe that often such hearing is born out of necessity; that is, it comes forth from our need for God in our lives.

It wasn't too long ago it seems that I reflected on those who cry out for God in the night. To find oneself calling in the night "Father, help me" is not something that one would seek out. We avoid such crosses to carry. However, when life overwhelms us, if we will call out from our deepest need, "Father," we will recognize the Holy Spirit's presence and comfort within our own calling out.  

Lent has the potential to build in us such an awareness of the presence of God. When we place ourselves humbly before the one who has the power to do all things we sense communication. We hear with our spiritual ears the voice of spirit. It echoes and reverberates in our souls and inspires us to reach for an even greater awareness of God.

Last night, in the evening prayer, I read in Psalm 144 the words "He is my love, my fortress." May Lent bring a realization of the experience of God being our love, and may that be communicated clearly to us. May God also be our fortress: may he protect us from all harm and may we know him as a place of refuge. May God offer us the courage to embrace life fully as only we can do in him.

Sunday Homily: Blessed Are Those Who Hope in the Lord

The readings this weekend present us with several comparisons regarding the way of life that we might choose to live. The biblical writers make their point by laying out stark contrasts. They give us the comparison and contrast of blessing and curse; of eternal life and ephemeral existence; of beatitude and woe. It's clear that we're given a choice; that the path for us to take is within our freedom. Clearly, God is asking us, "Which way will you choose to go? Where do you put your hope? Is there anything greater?"

Something that I've noticed reading the gospels over the years is that many people of Jesus' time seem to have been looking for a king in whom they could place their hope for the world. They were looking for a messiah who would free them from the bonds of foreign rule and oppression. They may have been looking for a king who would restore their state to its former glory. They may have even been looking for the kingdom of God on earth. Surely Jesus knew their woes; sure he knew their need and their cries of desperation and their pain-- their longing for justice--and just as surely he desired to teach them the way of blessing.

Just last week I had an opportunity in my work as a high school teacher to talk to my students about hope and blessing. Actually, my discussion was geared toward tomorrow's observance of Presidents Day. With my class I explored what we each have right now, in the context of everyday life, which we can count as a blessing, and what there is that gives each of us hope. We went on to discuss how having hope can lead people to achieve great things in their lives. We also talked about how we learn to listen to the voice of hope from the example of others. Indeed most people, even those who may have little cause to put hope in this life, will say there is always some reason to hope. The voice of hope is often heard in the darkest of nights.

The thing about true hope is that when it's genuine it will lead us to its real source. True hope doesn't lie so much in looking to presidents and kings, though they can offer us hope for the moment and we should, in fact, look to them as a source of hope and inspiration for our lives. I wouldn't want to deny anyone the hope he or she places in another, the hope that one places in a president or in a spiritual leader, especially if that hope seems that it might heal the many mistakes of the past or the problems of the present. Hope looks both to what there is now and to the future for something better.

In the contrasts that scripture presents us today we might find ourselves feeling somehow between heaven and earth. We might feel at a loss for a place to stand spiritually. Where is one to place his or her energy and concerns? Are we to place our trust in the world of human affairs or in that which is purely spiritual? Where is our allegiance to be? It's likely that our focus is fixed on the needs of our family or on being a success at our workplace, or pleasing our employer, and or providing for the needs of our spouses and children. Certainly these are not things to consider lightly.

Indeed, we do live in the real world, and when we look beyond our most immediate personal needs, as we should, we find that there are a multitude of real life issues that call out for hope--and something more--in this world. The New Testament teaches us that we have faith, hope, and love, and that love greatest of these.

While we look to the time of fulfillment and completion, there is still a world challenged by poverty, hunger, injustice, hate, and discrimination. I recently had young person ask how the Lord could say blessed are the poor or blessed are the hungry. "Aren't these the things we consider to be a curse?" Indeed the Lord teaches us to look beyond this life, but never should we give up hope, never should we cease to love.

While we stand with our feet grounded in this life, we still hope somehow to make it a better place for ourselves and for the generations to come. We have solidarity with each other and we look to the needs of world in which we live, and woe to us—Jesus says—if we do not. So we stand with others and we stand with our trust and hope in the Lord. We hope for the world now and we hope in the world to come. We hope in the reality of the Resurrection.

As I read today's reading for the first time I was reminded of the traditional American folksong that sings "We shall not be moved, we shall not be moved, like a tree that's planted by the water, we shall not be moved." As we enter into Lent this week, with the celebration of Ash Wednesday beyond, it's a good time to consider where we stand and with whom we stand. It's a good time to consider where our hope truly lies and in whom we may have true hope. It's also a time for us to step back and consider the blessings that we have and to ask ourselves what it means to be blessed. It's a good time to consider those who have less of a blessing and not as much hope.

Lent is a good time to consider the choices we make; where we stand between heaven and earth and to consider the contrast between an eternity of blessing and an eternity of naught. Blessed are you who hope in the Lord, for like trees planted by the waters you will stretch out your roots to the stream. You will have no fear of what may come; you will bear fruit; you will hear the voice of hope, and you will be blessed.

On Having Hope: a Midnight Meditation

Although you have never seen him, you love him, and without seeing you now believe in him, and rejoice with inexpressible joy touched with glory because you are achieving faith's goal, your salvation. 1 Peter 1:8-9

Every so often in my work as a teacher, I have the opportunity to talk to my students on topics that cross over with faith; I had such an opportunity recently. With the upcoming celebration of Presidents' Day the topic of hope came up. The book I had chosen to read with my class talked about Barack Obama and his believing in things that were not yet, but that held the possibility to be realized. The book's narrator said that "hope is believing in what you can't see yet."

Now although the book was about the president, it was quite non-political. Instead it focused on the value of believing in what might be. I used it as an opportunity to talk about what I believe can be in each one of us. Each one of us may have, and should have, hope.

Being a public school teacher I don't teach religion per se, but I appreciate those times that I can talk about the values of faith. It's possible to communicate God's grace to others without ever having to say a word. We do it through love, or as I told my class, as human beings we learn to stand with each other; we learn the meaning of solidarity. Sometimes the greatest thing we can do for others is to stand with them, to take their part, to be on their side. I asked my class what they thought they could do for others, especially the poor. Maybe the best answer I got was from a student who said, "Be their friends."

Going beyond what I was able to say to my class, I know that my hope and my source of rejoicing and inexpressible joy, lies in the one who, as the psalmist says, is my hiding place. My source is the one I can go to in order to be instructed in the things of hope. He is the one who offers me retreat, who speaks to my soul, and in that retreat who fills my heart with that which overflows in inexpressible joy.

It's a joy that comes back to me with the best affirmations that I could ever get. It comes to me from the honesty of a student who can't help but tell me that I "rock" and offers me his knuckles to bump against mine. It comes to me in the smiles of my students, in their laughter and high fives. Really, it's the best evaluation I could ever get—when I know I've given hope and when I receive that same hope from my students. Hope is tied to love.

Indeed the Lord hears us and certainly he speaks to us in return. It's a truly wonderful thing when we learn to hear his voice when he speaks, when we learn to see him in the common places of our lives. To see God with our eyes, to hear him with our human hearing, means to look and listen with faith's vision and hearing, with hope's abundant senses. 

Learning to hear God is a great thing, but perhaps a greater thing is learning allow God to transform what we hope for and long for into a tangible reality. God is a transforming power. God can take us from our here and place us in his dimension. God is the rescuer who will not allow our enemies to rejoice over us. We cry to God and he heals us. 

We call out in the night, "O God hear the groaning of my soul. Turn and look upon me in this low estate, for I have need of you." He answers us and he gives us hope and he lets us see it become salvation unfurled before us.

The Blessing of Success

There are a couple things I noticed recently while meditating on the Psalms as part of the Liturgy of Hours, the daily prayer which deacons, along with priests, religious, and many lay people, pray daily.

Specifically, what I noticed was in Psalm 20. It is a blessing that I have considered many times in my life, and perhaps a prayer that I may have prayed when I was much younger. Psalm 20: 5 reads, "May he give you your heart's desire and fulfill every one of your plans."

What the verse says to me is that God wants to succeed in the things we do, and that he wants to be a partner in those things.  What it means to have a vocation or to experience a calling is to invite God to be in our plans. If the path we should take in our lives is not completely clear to us, we may pray for for God to make the way clear to us. In praying about our work there's nothing wrong with asking for God's blessing.

I am specifically thinking about the prayer of blessing for young people, since recently I started Confirmation interviews. In past years I've prayed with the confirmands that God would grant them the desire of their hearts and fulfill their dreams.  I am also thinking about the blessing in regard to young people who may be considering a Church vocation. 

However, those of us who have already chosen the path we are to take in life, those who have careers and families, and even perhaps those already serving in a ministry—whether as ordained, religious, or laity—may also seek God for strength, direction, and blessing on what lies in our future, whether it's something we know about already or not.

In the Evening Prayer for last night, for Tuesday, Psalm 21 tells us that God came to meet the king with the blessings of success. Indeed God does want us to experience success. If we pray we will receive abundantly. The secret is to have an open heart and to be ready to accept what comes to us. We also need to be patient for a while with ourselves and perhaps to realize that the blessings of success may come with the pain of growth.  Although it's not anything to shy away from, rather our faith allows us to meet it with courage.

The Psalm from the Office of Readings for today, for Wednesday, Psalm 18, makes it clear that God's favor will rest on those who diligently seek it. Psalm 18 says, "He rewarded me because I was just, repaid me, for my hands were clean…" Clearly if we seek the justice of God in our own lives, if we seek truth, fairness, and honesty, and if we seek to be holy, God will reward us. He will grant us the desire of our hearts and fulfill every one of our dreams and plans. It's the blessing that faith brings.

Friday Reflection: The Memorial of Agatha, the Memorial of Goodness

He gave the power to become the children of God to everyone who received him. 

John 1:12

St. Methodius, in today's Office of Readings, tells us that St. Agatha, being true to the meaning of her name, was truly good. He tells us that she lived as a child of God. The memorial we celebrate today may be taken as reminder of our call to goodness.

Being good requires some exploration on our part. What seems like it should be self-evident actually takes a bit of uncovering. Recall that our Lord said, "Why do you ask me about the good?" or, in other versions, "Why do you call me good? There is but one who is good and that one is God." Goodness may not be as common as we might think.

To be good we must be Christ-like, which goes along perfectly with my intention to further explore how Jesus stands out in his person and in his holiness. Some might argue, erroneously, that it is impossible to be good. However, as Christians we have a duty to seek out what is good and—to the best of our ability—to do the good. We bear in mind, of course, that Jesus is perfect goodness revealed in a human person.

If we consider goodness to the opposite of evil, and evil to be the absence of goodness, it follows that goodness is the overall positive attributes of something. It is that which is not lacking in its positive intention: it is that which is whole and complete. It is the realization of faultless perfection.

To be good is to be an imitator of goodness; to imitate Christ and to imitate the saints. It is to pray that God will make us good because he is able to create from what is not yet. God is able to add goodness where none yet currently exists.

To be good in the world in which we live today calls on us to make strong decisions. It calls on us to stand up for what it means to love others. It calls on us to make difficult decisions courageously. It calls on us to give of ourselves. Goodness demands positive contribution; it demands right action. Often goodness requires sacrifice. Always goodness embrace humanity without reservation. 

I like the line from St. Methodius where he says that Agatha lived as a child of God. In these words we find the secret of being good and pleasing to God. We might pray something like this: "Today Lord, I want to be your child. I want to live as a child of God. I want to be your good child; to be your loving and obedient child. Today I want to live in the reality that you make it possible for me to be everything it means to good. Today Lord I receive you into my heart."

 

 

The Courage to Be Human

"I am going the way of all flesh.
Take courage and be a man.
Keep the mandate of the Lord, your God, following his ways
and observing his statutes, commands, ordinances, and decrees
…that you may succeed in whatever you do…

From 1 Kings 2

Of all the wisdom I learned, or perhaps it might be best said "of the little wisdom I learned," in my study of philosophy something that has always clearly stood out is the saying "To thine own self be true."

When we look at the great heroes and fathers in the faith, when we look at the patriarchs and prophets, indeed when we look at the Lord himself, we clearly see individuals who were true to their hearts. Certainly, in the Lord we see this perfected. It is his being true that stands out most clearly. That is, it is his truth to himself, his truth to who he was and what he valued that made the real difference in his world as he sojourned on earth as a man among us.

If we want to be imitators of Christ, if we want to follow his ways, and if we want to know him as he is, we need to understand that he lived a truth that transcended the truths of first century Palestine. Jesus took the notion of righteousness and showed his contemporaries what it really meant—he radicalized the meaning of faith, forgiveness, healing, disease, disability, justice…in his own person he showed us what it truly means when we speak of God.

Jesus intended for us to know and live with the same clarity of sight, with the same allegiance to the values of truth that he lived. Jesus stood clearly in opposition to the falsehood and hypocrisy of his times. As his followers we must learn to see his path clearly and to walk upon it ourselves. It is a path that demands the destruction of the falsehoods that pass for true faith. It is a path that invites us to walk upon it in a different pair of shoes than what we have become accustomed to wearing.

We should always look from the positive; that is, from what is in order to decide what to do. We may look to those whom Jesus chose to embrace. Might we find a mission among them? Might we find a thread in common with those who cry for mercy, yearn for grace, pray for healing, and long for acceptance? Might we find Christ by looking deep into the eyes of the poor, the sick, the sinner, the convict, the enemy?

To follow the way of Christ is to take the courage to be human. It is to take the courage to be true to yourself, to be true to your calling. In doing so we find real meaning in life, and certainly it is not without its risks to stand with humanity; to stand without the benefit of being veiled by the falsehoods and presuppositions, by the fully accepted half-truths and no truths of our day. The Lord calls us to walk in light and to be who we are. The path begins to unfold slowly…we begin to see what lies ahead.

Making Preparations

With each liturgical season it is important that we make preparations as the time draws near for the particular time of year. If we want to make a season as meaningful as possible for us, we approach it with forethought. We look for its arrival with anticipation.

Lent, in the experience of some, may be a bit more difficult in this regard.  There are some for whom Lent carries a negative connotation.  This need not, nor should it, be so. Lent may be approached as an opportunity to prepare ourselves for a more meaningful experience of Easter.

The important thing about Lent, which some may have overlooked or perhaps have never really considered, is that it affords us an opportunity to get to know Jesus. Sure, it's a time of prayer, penance, and giving alms.  It's also a time when we give give up something or do something special. However, among all the pious activities that we may choose to do during Lent, we should make a commitment to get better acquainted with the side of Jesus who has the power to make a difference in the world.

It may be that Lent will afford us a good chance this year to know the Lord through scripture study and prayer. It may be that we will choose to reflect more on his life and its meaning. It may be that events in our everyday lives will reveal something to us about the one we call Lord.  

As I mentioned in my last post, I want to explore more thoroughly the idea of Jesus as a contradiction to the expectations and presuppositions that we may already hold. Knowing Jesus gives us a chance to see clearly beyond the meanings we put on things (sometimes unknowingly).  This year my hope is that the season bring us closer to the Jesus who gives the world a strongly contrasting alternative.

I know that I am getting started a little early.  Often it helps us to reach our goal when we have thought things out ahead of time.  If we want to take a challenge to let Lent change us this year, we need to begin making preparations.  We need to be open to allow Christ to challenge what we may hold already. We also open our hearts to the movement of the Holy Spirit.  We become able to surrender ourselves as pliable clay in the hands of the potter.

A Sign that will be Contradicted

"Behold, this child is destined
for the fall and rise of many in Israel,
and to be a sign that will be contradicted
'and you yourself a sword will pierce' 
so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

Luke 2:34-35

Today the salvation of God is presented in the temple. He, according to Simeon, is a sign to be contradicted. Christ has entered the world and come to be salvation for all people. Yet it is not without a cost to be paid, not without the pain of the passion, to which today's readings point us. Already in early February we begin moving toward Lent. Already we begin to prepare our hearts for the journey.

I was thinking about the meaning of contradiction in our world today. For me, coming from an Evangelical background, the contradiction, in my interpretation, always had to do with the difference between the world that lives according to the ways of sin—with sin as its master—and the world that lives according to the Spirit. I have noticed this among Catholics too. We tend to draw a line between sin and holiness and this presents a stark contradiction.

However, true as the comparison may be thus far, there is an even deeper contradiction. It is the contradiction of justice and injustice in our world. It has to do with the contradiction between war and peace, between wealth and poverty, between health and disease, between those on the inside and those who are always on the outside.

The topic today is one that I would like to explore more in the days to come. There is yet a deeper contradiction, a deeper sign, in Christ. It is precisely the contradiction that challenges what we hold to be already true. Christ challenges what we believe about holiness, about justice, about faith and religion, about truth. Jesus Christ as a sign that was to be contradicted came into the world to level it and to establish a new foundation by shaking and replacing that which was already.

Considering Christ at his Presentation helps us to begin preparing for Lent, which is just a short time away. It sets our focus and forces us to identify with the life of he who comes into the world to be a sign that will be contradicted.

Poetry: You Neighbour God

You, neighbour God, if sometimes in the night
I rouse you with loud knocking, I do so 
only because I seldom hear you breathe 
and know: you are alone.
And should you need a drink, no one is there 
to reach it to you, groping in the dark. 
Always I hearken. Give but a small sign.
I am quite near.

Between us there is but a narrow wall, 
and by sheer chance; for it would take
merely a call from your lips or from mine
to break it down,
and that without a sound.

The wall is builded of your images.

They stand before you hiding you like names, 
And when the light within me blazes high 
that in my inmost soul I know you by,
the radiance is squandered on their frames.

And then my senses, which too soon grow lame, 
exiled from you, must go their homeless ways.

RAINER MARIA RILKE
(1875-1926)