Saint Mary Magdalene

Sermon preached on the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, July 21 (Eve) and July 22, 2006
Judith 9:1,11-14; 2 Corinthians 5:14-18; John 20:11-18; Psalm 42:1-7

Unless you have been living in a cave for the last few years, you've probably heard about Mary Magdalene. She has been dragged through novels, movies, TV shows, magazines, and many other places. If you want fantastic stories that have little to no basis in history then I guess go read the books and see the movies and become facinated.

A little historical background is sometimes helpful. The Gospels that we read in church were all written down within 30 to 50 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. His initial followers began to die off and accurate records of Jesus' ministry were written down from their recollections. These accounts are often blunt and brief. They don't fill in many of the holes that people sometimes want filled, so over the next few centuries other stories began to appear. Most of these are wild tales about Jesus followers and Jesus himself. There are stories about Jesus as a child getting mad at his teacher and killing him, then feeling bad and rasing him up. If you want wild stories, there are plenty of them. The Gospel accounts just aren't wild enough for some people... then or now. It seems that what was true for filling in the holes of Jesus life is also true for filling in the holes in the lives of the saints.

If we actually look at the Gospel accounts we find out all we need to know about Mary Magdalene. She had been possessed by demons, but her encounter with Jesus changed her life. when he healed her. She went looking for Jesus' body after he died and instead she encountered Jesus risen from the dead. She then went and told everyone else.

In our own lives, wouldn't it be great if the final word was... "an encounter with Jesus changed her life... and she went and told everyone else!" Let the Spirit work in your life in such a way that you can overcome whatever is keeping you from telling the Good News to others.

William White

Today the Episcopal church celebrates William White. Bishop White was the first Bishop of Pennsylvania and one of the first Bishops in the Episcopal Church. He is responsible for the system of church organization that the Episcopal Church has - he was ademant that the laity have a role in church decisions.

As laity you have been given a great responsibilty. Take it.

On this day I ask your prayers for all Bishops in the church. Pray that they firmly fix their hearts on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and that they direct their dioceses for the spread of his Gospel to all people through word and deed. Pray for all bishops every where.

On the Scriptures

Angelus Article for Sunday. July 16, 2006
The Angelus is Saint Mary's weekly newsletter - archives are available on the Parish Website.
My grandfather spent his life working as a lobsterman; one of his sons was a lobsterman, the other a fisherman. I know that sound advice, a number of nets, traps, and locations of fertile fishing grounds were passed from father to sons. They were given the tried and true methods of fishing.

Like my uncles, I am fortunate to have had a number of things passed down to me. Last week I visited my godfather, a retired priest, in Maryland and went through his bookshelves with him. “This is a must have.” “This is useless.” “You might find this handy.” “I used this every week as part of my sermon preparation.” With such tools and advice from my godfather and other priests (in particular my dad and my colleagues at Saint Mary’s), I am learning the tried and true methods of being a “fisher of men”.

I love telling others about Jesus Christ. I love preaching at Low Mass when there is little more than a moment to instruct the congregation about who Jesus is or what Jesus said and what that means for us. I love preaching at Solemn Mass when there is a little more time to dig deeper into the day’s readings and, hopefully, reveal that much more about Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. I love teaching classes, especially Bible studies. I can’t imagine being able to do any of this without having received what was passed on to me by others.

It’s certainly true that God is revealed to us in the people around us, after all if we truly believe that we are members of the Body of Christ then we see and hear Christ in each other. Jesus has been revealed to me through the words and actions of bishops, priests, deacons, and laity with whom I interacted throughout my life. I learned about Jesus by listening to and talking with professors and students and by reading treatises, commentaries, and histories at Chicago and Yale. From all of these (whether positive or negative examples), I learned that the tried and true methods of Christian ministry rely on being pointed again and again to the gospel of Christ revealed in the scriptures.

It makes perfect sense if you think about it. These Christian leaders, whether they are people living today or people who lived hundreds of years ago are all links in a chain of clergy, theologians, preachers, and other church leaders stretching back to the very apostles that Jesus himself sent into the world to teach and baptize all nations. The apostles and disciples who had followed Jesus during his ministry, who had seen him, spoken with him, and eaten with him after he rose from the dead passed on to others all they knew about who Jesus was and what he had taught them. They used the same Hebrew and Greek scriptures to talk about him that he used to talk about himself. They wrote letters and gospels, and inspired others to write gospels and letters so that there would be an accurate record of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection, as well as an accurate record of how Jesus was understood by those who were personally sent out by him to the rest of the world.

The Old and New Testaments have been passed down to us by the church. Christian worship is taken from them. Christian theology interprets them. Christian preaching exposits them. Why? So that Jesus Christ is revealed to us today the same way that he was revealed to the first apostles: as the way, the truth and the life; as our King and our God. The scriptures are not the only way God is revealed to us, but they are the tried and true method of knowing Jesus that has been passed down to us. Like fishing or anything else, we can always go it on our own through trial and error. Maybe I’ll catch a lobster with a fishing pole – I actually did it once by chance – but I can tell you for certain that going out with my grandfather, baiting and dropping traps in fertile lobster waters, and hauling in a catch of more lobsters than you can imagine is the tried and true method of catching lobsters.

This summer, I invite you to encounter Jesus in the exact same way Christians have encountered him for the past two thousand years, read what Jesus himself said, and find out what those who knew him said about him. If you don’t know where to start, read a Gospel or an Epistle or even take up the Daily Office and become familiar with the entire Bible.

A Carpenter

Sermon preached Sunday, July 9, 2006
Ezekiel 2:1-72; Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-6; Psalm 123

Saint Mark tells us that Jesus was a carpenter. When Jesus returns to his own home, his neighbors are astounded at the works and teachings of this man who they know, a mere carpenter. Today’s gospel is not about carpentry, its about faith, but I think carpentry is a good starting point for talking about faith.

I’m no carpenter, but I took five years of woodshop and I worked for a summer at a construction site. An important part of building anything is that you have to be able to look at the materials and see whatever it is you are building in them. Seeing one piece as a leg, another as part of a side, another a joint. All parts to the whole. What may have looked to someone else like a useless pile of wood or bricks for me is a bench or a building… just not finished.

Faith is like that. You see what’s there even when sometimes others are sure they know better. When Jesus returned home during his ministry, some people were amazed at what Jesus had been doing, but his neighbors knew better: they saw the carpenter they already knew everything about. His teaching and his miracles may have been astounding, but at the end of the day, it was just Jesus the carpenter. They responded to him like a visitor to a construction site might respond when shown a pile of bricks: “yeah, its bricks; who cares?”.

His followers on the other hand saw Jesus through eyes of faith. His teaching and his miracles showed without a doubt that God was working through him. After he was crucified, his followers encountered the risen Lord and knew that this Jesus was in fact the Messiah, the Son of God who offered eternal life to all who believed in him. They responded to Jesus like a carpenter or a mason might respond when shown a pile of wood or bricks: “Wow, what are you building! What can I do to help?”

Faith shows us who Jesus is in the exact same way it showed his disciples who he was. We see God working in our lives and even working through us. Through the power of the Spirit acting in the world and acting in our lives we know that Jesus isn’t just a carpenter. We know that Jesus is the Son of God and through him we have eternal life. Sometimes that’s impossible to explain to someone else because they just can’t seem to see what we see and sometimes its because they just claim to know better.

Its like those two blind men Jesus heals in the Mark’s Gospel. The first after being healed said everything looked like trees – that’s what he saw and it took Jesus healing him a second time to show him that what he saw wasn’t the whole story. The same as seeing a pile of bricks as nothing but a pile of bricks. That’s the same as seeing Jesus only as a carpenter.

The second blind man in Mark’s Gospel was healed immediately. He saw everything clearly. The same as seeing a pile of bricks as part of a building. That’s the same as seeing clearly that Jesus is the Son of God.

Faith makes us see things clearly, but that’s only the first step of being a disciple of Jesus. Faith provides us with the opportunity to respond to what we see.

Knowing that Jesus has given us eternal life means that we can let go of everything that ties us to the world and be free to take hold of the cross and the love of God with our whole selves. Saint Paul is a great example of someone who took the opportunity his faith gave him. In the Epistle today we heard how Paul throughout his ministry was able to put aside his physical ailments and ignore the persecutions and insults of others because he had faith in Jesus Christ.

Knowing that Jesus is the Son of God also changes the way we look at everyone else. Through faith we don’t see the people around as part of a world we are leaving behind, but as our neighbors. Neighbors we are called on to love as we would our own brothers and sisters. A great example of how faith changes the way we see each other can be seen right here at Saint Mary’s. We welcome everyone who comes to the door, offering a seat and all of the materials needed to worship. We welcome all Christians to come forward and receive communion. We welcome anyone who is not Baptized to speak to one of the priests and begin the life changing experience of becoming a Christian.

Opportunities for moving closer to God or your neighbor are everywhere. This week, just pick one and cultivate it.