Matthean Judgment and Elizabeth, Princess of Hungry

Feast Day of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungry

November 19, 2009

Chapel of the Apostles

Sewanee, Tennessee

Tobit 12:6b-9

Matthew 25:31-40

  

“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these 
my brothers and sisters, you did it to me....”

       Her name was Sara, and this is her story.[1]  I met Sara while working during Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) at Saint Matt’s, a homeless shelter specializing in recovery programs for drug addiction and alcoholism.  St. Matt’s was founded on this very text from our Gospel this evening.  Now Sara was about 49 years old and she was recently released from prison.  She was homeless, in recovery for her crack addiction, and she was a prostitute.  Her face was rough, worn down by years of smoking and falling upon the hard knocks of street life.  In order to get money for her addiction, she would steal her mother’s jewelry and pawn it for crack.  One day she came to visit with me and told me that she still had some of her mother’s jewelry and did not know what to do with it, for she did not want it as it just lingered as a constant reminder of her past.  She had virtually no money to her name and each client of St. Matt’s was required to pay $25 a week to the shelter, demonstrating their commitment towards recovery.  I asked her what she thought would a good act of charity.  We then discovered that the ideal thing to do would be to sell the jewelry and anonymously pay the weekly fees for some families in the shelter that were struggling mightily.

      

I did not see her for a few days on the property and one afternoon she popped in with a huge smile.  She had done just what she said she was going to do.  Not only did this act of love help her to feel good about herself, it made her feel empowered as a human being who is a beloved child of God.  I saw in Sara the beginnings of her process of breaking free from the bonds of sin that enslaved her.  At the end of my time at the shelter, she brought me a gift, a National Geographic magazine featuring the history of the Vatican.  She paid 50 cents for it, and she was well on her way towards a holistic recovery.   

  

Our Gospel this evening from Matthew is a scene of judgment—the separating of the sheep from the goats.  To establish the context for this passage, it is preceded by three parables about preparing for the coming of the Son of Man, demanding constant watchfulness from the Matthean community of Jewish Christians.  The interpretation is that there is a separate judgment upon the Jews and the Gentiles by the Messiah—which is consistent with the Jewish ideas about the judgment of Gentiles.  The background for our text this evening is the judgment of Gentiles based on their treatment of Israel.[2]  The departure for Matthew is how these new Jewish Christians of Matthew’s community accept the presence of non-Jews who were not Christian while explaining how and why they can become part of the Kingdom of God.[3]  This gets at the difficulty of interpreting these offensive texts as anti-Semitic, as Dr. Holloway suggests in his recent sermon on this very same passage.[4] 

       

So if we hold to this idea that when the Son of Man sits upon his throne in final judgment looking at the non-believing Gentiles and separating out who has done works of charity and mercy directed towards us, then we diminish millions of other people who are to be sent off to eternal damnation.  Holloway reminds us that this is form of “Christian absolutism” at its very core.[5]  Is this the good news that we hunger for?  Was St. Matt’s shelter founded upon the direct exclusion of others?  No and no.  But we must acknowledge that this is in our tradition and we must repent of it.

       

So the preaching task, then, is how to apply this Gospel text in our everyday lives, teasing out the Good News.  We choose the side of hospitality, to recognize God’s likeness and image in all persons, receiving every person as though we are receiving Christ himself—something that is so old in our tradition as well and can be found in St. Benedict’s Rule.  We choose to place at the center of my life the “Fount of all Being,” and nourish that presence daily with prayer, scripture, and the Eucharist.  Being consumed by Christ, acts of mercy, love, and charity become our natural response.  Being consumed by Christ, we do not stand for the disfigurement of poverty, hunger, and discrimination which prevails in our time and circumstance.  Being consumed by Christ, we serve as the hands of the King of Kings here and now—not because it wins us points in the big book, but because we become transfigured beings by those whom we purport to help.  This is what I think Jesus means when he says later in Matthew, “for you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”[6]

       

The 50 cents that Sara spent for the National Geographic was an act that transformed me—I had seen that issue before, but this time it became something very powerful, something Christ-like. 

       

There is no coincidence that our text today falls on the feast of Elizabeth, Princess of Hungry, who modeled Christian charity and gave up her wealth to further the common good of the people of Hungry.     

       

In this Kingdom season, which reaches its climax this Sunday being Christ the King, my prayer for us all is that we stand in our truth and acknowledge those texts in Holy Scripture that divide and pass judgment on others.  The truth does indeed set us free, free to worship God without fear, holy and righteous in God’s sight, all the days of our life.  Amen.    

---

[1] The name has been changed to protect confidentiality.

[2] See Daniel J. Harrington, S.J., The Gospel of Matthew, in Sacra Pagina.  (Minnesota:  The Liturgical Press, 1991), 358-359.

[3] Ibid., 359.

[4] Dr. Paul A. Holloway in a sermon delivered in the Chapel of the Apostles (Sewanee, TN) on November 11, 2009.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Matt 26:11, NRSV

St. Hugh of Lincoln

Today on the Church's Kalendar, we remember Hugh of Lincoln, Bishop and Confessor.  Hugh is a favorite of mine and I want to share with you my journey to his shrine.

I made my way on pilgrimage to Lincoln Cathedral this summer so that I may venerate Hugh's relics housed there at the cathedral.  The cathedral itself is massive, plainly understating its historic beauty which towers above the city of Lincoln.  I think, I cannot recall, that I had to pay to get inside the cathedral.  Against my own aversion to such practices, I was willing to pay whatever, since the trip down to Lincoln from Mirfield was already costing me more than I had imagined for such an expedition.  Plus, with two small children in tow, I was going to see the inside of this cathedral!

Hugh met my expectations.  The shrine is housed in the far eastern end of the cathedral, behind the high altar and surrounded by several small chapels.  I was simply humbled to be in the midst of this great saint, bishop, and confessor of the catholic faith.

I first learned about Hugh early in my seminary formation and my interest grew even more thanks to a BBC series on the cathedrals of England which devoted an entire episode to Lincoln Cathedral.

Double-click on the photos to enlarge them if you want to see more detail.

The western facade, currently undergoing renovation.

Inside the nave, facing eastwards.

The Shrine itself.  There is a rather hideous modern structure towering above it, a good try but rather odd and out of place.

Now you can see the spire of sorts.  Why?!?

The reliquary of St. Hugh.

The cathedra of the Bishop of Lincoln.

Painting of Hugh with his swan next to the Shrine.

My family braving the uphill expedition to the Cathedral.  I owed them big time.

The Icon of Hugh that I wrote in 2008 with words from the

American Collect on the scroll.

I put him in his Chartusian monastic habit.

Here is a Collect for Hugh, Bishop and Confessor from my newly acquired altar missal, The English Missal, Third Edition. (London: W. Knott and Sons, 1934).  More on the English Missal later.

O God, who didst wonderously adorn blessed Hugh, thy Confessor and Bishop, with pre-eminent merits and glorious miracles:  mercifully grant; that we may be stirred up by his example and enlightened by his virtues.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

But, I may add that it does not even hold a candle to Hugh's Collect found in The Episcopal Church's Lesser Feasts and Fasts:

O holy God, you endowed your servant and bishop Hugh of Lincoln with wise and cheerful boldness, and taught him to commend the discipline of holy life to kings and princes: Grant that we also, rejoicing in the Good News of your mercy, and fearing nothing but the loss of you, may be bold to speak the truth in love, in the name of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

May we all be inspired by Hugh's example and so be led to work with cheerfulness and boldness for the Kingdom of God.  Remember and keep St. Hugh in your prayers today.

A Solemn High Mass in COTA?

This year, we were able to break significant ground in the Chapel of the Apostles (COTA)--the chapel for The School of Theology.  The Senior Class is divided up by the Subdean into Liturgy Planning Groups.  Each group, then, assumes responsiblily for planning and conducting 4-5 liturgies which constitute our Thursday evening "Community Eucharists."  Typically speaking, our Thursday evening liturgies are Rite II or come from Enriching Our Worship--very standard, nothing too complex for the overloaded diet of "Senioritis."  By chance, a group of spikes were placed together and out appeared Ritual Notes!

It must be said that our Subdean is firmly planted in the reforms of the Liturgical Movement, clear symbolism rooted in simplicity.  He did, however, pull out his own copy of Ritual Notes, 9th Edition (trumping my own edition) in our planning meeting!  Moreover, he allowed us to move the altar and re-orient the worship space for the ad orientum mass.  He even showed up for the liturgy.  He's come a long way!!!

It took some careful planning and loads of practice, but we were able to have a full on Solemn High Mass, Rite I.  The ceremonial was directed by Ritual Notes, as our celebrant was sometime associate of Church of the Advent, Boston.  Yours truly was the subdeacon!

Since our Seminary does not own a full high mass set of vestments, I was able to borrow the set from my field ed. parish, St. Paul's in Chattanooga.  We even vested the thurifer in a tunicle!  Our Lady of Walsingham made two appearances:  one in the icon that I wrote and in the statue from Walsingham placed on the offering table!  Spikery at its highest level!

Two observations that struck me.  Whilst I've been worshipping in this space for the past two years, I've never felt the kind of excitement that I felt this past Thursday night.  First, I was struck by the fact that over 90 people from our community attended--with lots of kids in tow.  Getting 90 people to voluntary come out for anything in our community can be a challenge.  Many of the juniors came wearing their cassocks, hinting that there is a groundswell of support for this liturgical style.  Secondly, I was pleasantly surprised by the number of compliments that came from the congregation that was present. Many "thanked" us for doing this.  I was relived that everything went smoothly.  Many remarked as though it appeared that we have been doing this for a while!  Thanks be to God.

Morning Prayer Reflection

Proper 26,  Daily Office Year 1

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Chapel of the Apostles, Sewanee

Nehemiah 12:27-31a, 42b-47

Revelation 11:1-19

_________________________________________________

Thomas Merton once wrote that perhaps the best view of the world is experienced from standing on its fringes, on the margins outside of the city. The readings in the Office this morning, I think, help restore the tension found in the midst of the Kingdom of God.  On one side we have the restoration or rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem in Nehemiah, with great fanfare and processions.  In the Revelation to John, we have the utter destruction of the city with dead bodies laying waste in the streets, earthquakes, peals of thunder, and so forth.   If we take Brother Merton’s perspective, then, what do we see in the city?  Celebration?  Devastation?

            

In the midst of the paradox, I believe that we can see the need for recovering Kingdom theology.  The Kingdom is like…it’s like…well, we struggle in the pulpit to articulate exactly what the Kingdom of God is.  It goes by many names:  God’s Divine Commonwealth, the Kingdom of Christ, the Reign of God.  Our wise Lord used parables to not only stretch our minds but prevent the Kingdom from being limited to mere human vocabulary.  The Kingdom of God can only be seen from the margins, here Merton’s view is that of Our Lord’s who spent his earthly ministry deep in the heart of the edges and corners of the world. 

            

The good news of the Kingdom of God is indeed revolutionary news.  That the Kingdom of God stands in contrast to and in conflict with the powers and principalities of this world is proof that it’s origins are not of this world—the Kingdom of God stands as judgment upon it.  Kingdom theologian Kenneth Leech writes, “the Kingdom is otherworldly…a constant symbol of the other world, a sign of transcendence.  It is a source of change and transformation for this world, a vision and impulse for a new world.”[1]  Moreover, Leech warns us that for too long the Church has evacuated the good, revolutionary news of the Kingdom, loosing the essence of conflictual and world-transforming dimension.

            

So did the great processions and fanfare in Nehemiah appear utterly ridiculous to the hungry, the orphaned, and the widowed?  Does the utter ruin of the city that John reveals in his writing fill the poor with a sense of doom and gloom? Where do you choose to stand and see?

            

Make no mistake, you cannot help build the Kingdom of God.  Nay, if you’re looking for it, you may be well served to look at a tiny mustard seed.  It’s already come.  Embrace it.  Taste it.  Live it and further it’s mission in the world in your own ministry, today.  Join the revolution.  Amen.

---

[1] Kenneth Leech, We Preach Christ Crucified. (New York: Church Publishing, 2005), 43.