Monday, December 31, 2018

Aphorism of the Day, December 2018

Aphorism of the Day, December 31, 2018

Stories invite elaboration in their re-telling and their application in new contexts.  Sometimes we are so fascinated with the story, we might neglect to consider the teaching goal of the story by the original writer.  Case in point:  The magi.  They became the Three Kings when the attempt was made to line it up with Hebrew Scripture motifs.  They became "three" in number when identified with the three different gifts, and probably lost was the details of the likely caravan of many who would have traveled together in their time.  But stories don't need to include all of the practical details.  The magi eventual attained names and places of origin.  Melchior, Balthazar and Caspar.  And for lack of scenery space in church chancels they get placed at the manger with the shepherds and the sheep.  But what did the Gospel writers intend?  The Epiphany or the manifestation of Christ to the "nations."  The magi signified that Christ was God universally offered to everyone.  The star that people follow is the interior star of the image of the divine within each person that locates the manger of Christ within one's heart.


Aphorism of the Day, December 30, 2018

In the beginning was all of the possible Scripts of life and from all possible Scripts the script of freedom resulted in some actual scripts coming into being and some actual scripts will come into being in the future.  People are scripts who have scripts and though we have our limits, we have within those limits, significant freedom to choose the scripts which we want to guide our lives.  Like an very particular actor, one can reject scripts which are not fitting.

Aphorism of the Day, December 29, 2018

"And the Word was God.  All things came into being through the Word."  There is a world outside of words but one has to use words to say and realize it.  One does not even escape words in claiming an "independent" Signified.

Aphorism of the the Day, December 28, 2018

"Nice play, Shakespeare," is often said in jest and irony because we regard Shakespeare to be the premiere playwright of the English language.  A chief biblical metaphor might be God as the Playwright who has Word as a Divine Equal because Word is the means of speaking living scripts of events and occasion into existence within human experience, or as Heidegger wrote, "Language is the House of Being."  Being would be "an empty space" if the walls and ceilings and roofs of language did not tell us it was there.  If God is the eternal Word who has spoken our life scripts into being known as life scripts by human actors, we the actors live trying to interpret the meaning of the original Playwright.  The limits that we have are the language products of speech, writing, interpreting what our external and internal senses process and our body language deeds.  As actors we have freedom to interpret the script given to us and we do so by the mutual influence of co-actors.  If God is the eternal Word and we are Word products/producers, we owe it to God to be sublime language used and users.

Aphorism of the Day, December 27, 2018

The Book of Proverbs are words in the quest of Wisdom.  For the writer of Proverbs Wisdom is a Divine manifestation who says: "The LORD created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of long ago."  If Word is God from the beginning and all things come into being through Word, that is existence as it can be humanly known, then the proper ordering of words would be called Wisdom.  Wisdom is the invitation in life to make the very best possible arrangement of words in our speech, writing and body language actual in lives of love and justice.

Aphorism of the Day, December 26, 2018

St. Stephen is probably responsible in his death for the conversion of Saul.  Saul knew the law and the commandment, "thou shalt not kill."  And he found himself in the banal normalcy of participating in the stoning of Stephen, a "heretic" to what Saul thought was God's Judaism.  But when the background banality of killing Stephen was foregrounded into Saul's conscience the contradiction made him vulnerable to his Christophany on the road to Damascus.  When his participation in murder in such a casual way lost in an anonymity that one receives in a mob, Saul entire psychical life cracked.  And he was put back together again by experiencing forgiveness.  He was "fortunate" that there was  not a justice system which charged him as a co-conspirator in murder, convict him and punish him.  But forever in a state of forgiveness, Paul referred to himself as the "chief of sinners."

Aphorism of the Day, December 25, 2018

Before Bethlehem was written about in the Gospels, the birth of Risen Christ happened in the lives of many people.  And it kept happening and it created communities in many places.  And these communities wanted to teach the mysticism of the birth of Christ into their lives to anyone who would want to have this experience.  The Christmas stories are teaching stories about the mystical birth of Christ into the lives of the willing to let it be according to God's word.

Aphorism of the Day, December 24, 2018

Interesting Trinitarian problem arises when appropriating names for Jesus from the prophet Isaiah.  A child has been born for us who shall be Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.  Certainly one can say that Jesus is the original church "Father," but the Everlasting Father title would more likely designate another member of the Christian Trinity.  

Aphorism of the Day, December 23, 2018

The ascendancy of the "plain reading" of biblical texts coupled with modern historicism and scientific method has led to the diminishing of the poetic and mystagogic appropriation of the biblical writings and so poetic discourse is misread as empirical verification.  And we're still looking for unicorns.

Aphorism of the Day, December 22, 2018

The Gospel preachers and writers were very inventive in their appeals to the members of the community of John the Baptist to become followers of Jesus in John's posthumous days.  If John the Baptist was able to recognize Jesus when both he and Jesus were still in the womb, that is quite some sign.

Aphorism of the Day, December 21, 2018

If followers of John the Baptist were wondering if they should follow Jesus, what appeal would convince them?  How about gestational John the gymnast?  When the mother of John, Elizabeth met with Mary who was with child, John the gestational gymnast in Elizabeth leapt in recognition of Mary and the One whom she carried.  So the pre-born John recognized the pre-born Jesus.  This is why followers of John the Baptist should move on and follow Jesus.

Aphorism of the Day, December 20, 2018

He has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.  Mary's prayer is a prayer of the lowly for an enhanced sense of esteem that can only come from realizing that the over-shadowing Spirit has birthed within oneself the divine presence, or the Christ who is all and in all, rises to enhanced recognition in the soul.

Aphorism of the Day, December 19, 2018

It is interesting to note the aspirational use of the present perfect tense in the Magnificat.  "HE" (God) has shown strength, has brought down, has filled, has scattered....  Faith is proclaiming the not yet as the already will of God because faith is always pointed toward the perfect direction of Hope.  This is perhaps why people of faith come off as Quixotic because they choose to express aspiration in the direction of utopia rather than dystopia.  The utopian inspires as different kind of present action than the perpetual focus upon dystopia.  Dystopia is the fearful vision which can inspire actuarial wisdom for current living because freedom permits negative outcomes life based upon dystopia breed perpetual cynicism and the misanthropic.



Aphorism of the Day, December 18, 2018

The Bible is a collection of writings which developed within diverse communities even while there is a unity of motifs and genre.  The marvelous/miraculous birth motif is a repeated motif to retroactively extolle why a certain person became great.  Such motifs are expressed in the words like, "when you were still in the womb I knew you."  Marvelous and miraculous birth motifs are also accompanied with the genre of songs of praise, e.g., Hannah, Zechariah, Mary and Simeon.  These songs proclaim the special providence of the newly born and the vindication of those who have suffered.

Aphorism of the Day, December 17, 2018

Often Isaac, Samuel, John the Baptist and Jesus are presented as those who had marvelous or miraculous births.  This is probably a mischaracterization since births happen in the natural ways that they do, i.e, in how baby arrives from inside of mother to the outside world.  The marvelous or miraculous or immaculate conceptions seem to be the issue.  When a great person, an unsurpassed great person is born, then the story of the origin of  must be that the divine necessarily was involved in some providential way at the origin of a child or the child conception.  In a strange way, post-Pentecostal Christianity changed the meaning of conception stories.  Each person is over-shadowed by the Holy Spirit to have the Risen Christ conceived/born within one's inner life as it is constituted by words, which is why Christ is also called The WORD who was with God and who was God from the beginning (as human know beginning because they first have language).


Aphorism of the Day, December 16, 2018

John the Baptist is presented by the Gospel writer as one who did not have a Messiah Complex.  He is presented as the one who pointed to Jesus the Messiah who could do an inside job upon us.  Surely such presentation stemmed from the mystical experience of the Risen Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  This mystical practice and understanding of the same came to be presented in the Gospel story form and John the Baptist is viewed as the bridge to Jesus.

Aphorism of the Day, December 15, 2018

The Gospels record that people asked John the Baptist if he were the Messiah?  What does this mean?  The presence of the question reveals that people were expecting the Messiah.  That John was considered a candidate for being the Messiah meant that he must have made a significant impact upon the people of his era such that he would be a "contender?"  How did John characterize the Messiah in contrast to his own ministry?  John was a "water baptizer," and Jesus was a "Spirit baptizer."  The Christian Messiah was the Risen Christ born in the lives of people after the conceiving event of being over-shadowed by the Holy Spirit.  One can see in the discourse of John the Baptist, the words of the early church explaining how they understood their mysticism.

Aphorism of the Day, December 14, 2018

The stinging harsh words of John the Baptist and Jesus have to be reassessed in light of them being the oracles of the same being channeled by early church preachers and writers who lived after the church/synagogue split.  In the wake of immediate separation, the words are perhaps harsher and the historical consequence of the harshness has been manifest in how Christian majorities treated Jewish minorities.

Aphorism of the Day, December 13, 2018

John the Baptist says to a crowd, "You brood of vipers..."  This is like saying you offspring of that serpent who deceived Adam and Eve, a rather harsh judgment indeed.  This raises the issues of the harsh pronouncements of prophets against their own religious and political establishments in their time.  There is the sentiment that one can criticize the members of one's own family but one comes to the defense of one's family, even if flawed, when outsiders criticize a family member.  John the Baptist and Jesus were Jews offering prophetic criticism of the religious authorities of the Jews in their own time, but when they appear in the Gospels, they are presented by members of the Jesus Movement who have left or are leaving or have been excommunicated by the synagogue.  Are the words of John the Baptist and Jesus then out of context when they are presented by members who have left the synagogue?  One can note how Gospel words have been used by Church and State to mistreat Jewish minorities, and therefore it is very important note the different missions of Judaism and Christianity which came after their separation.  The ancient separation and the rhetoric of that separation must not be used for oppression of another community.  Any oppression betrays a belief in the providential winsomeness of the message to the people for whom the message comes to benefit.

Aphorism of the Day, December 12, 2018

The Gospels are discourses of the early Christians asking, "How did we get to where we are?"  And where were they?  They were a burgeoning movement with no signs of decreasing and they were in need of "origin" discourses to explain to new members how they had come to be the movement that they had become.  How did they become separated from the synagogue?  In part the separation began with John the Baptist and his community which were a separation movement within Judaism which started as a radical reform but became a "proto-church" when John was gone and when members of his community made their way to the communities of Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, December 11, 2018

John the Baptist as the bridge to Jesus can also be seen a bridge that was burned for followers of Christ ever being able to return to Judaism.  John is quoted as saying that the ax was lying at the root of the tree (of Judaism) ready to be a stump into which Gentile Christianity would be grafted.  One can find Paul's theology of Gentile Christianity represented in the ministry of John the Baptist.  John the Baptist is a polemical figure who is presented as one who prepared the way for the separation of the church and synagogue.

Aphorism of the Day, December 10, 2018

Providence or favorable aftermath sometimes clouds or overturns the stark reality of what actually happened.  John the Baptist as an itinerant firebrand prophet who gathered crowds during the time of Roman occupation was a threat to the rather tenuous situation for the Jewish religious coalition of the Sanhedrin that wanted to avoid any gathering of crowds which would bring Roman disapproval.  The fact that John drew crowds before Jesus drew crowds was a prelude to the popularity of Jesus being interpreted by the Romans as an insurrection which needed to stopped by removing the leader through crucifixion. 

Aphorism of the Day, December 9, 2018

The church and any organization can accrue much in our histories.  We can begin to carry lots of baggage and slowly the task of carrying our baggage make us forget that we are really here to make the journey directly to God; we are not here to do luggage shopping.

Aphorism of the Day, December 8, 2018

The importance of John the Baptist was articulated by the early church as it explicated the outcome of the success of Jesus Christ in his post-resurrection mode.  In face of the rejection of Christ by many in the synagogues, the community of John the Baptist were more likely to convert to the Jesus Movement and so John the Baptist and his community are presented as a "seamless" transition to the Jesus Movement.  The emphasis upon "individual" repentance for spiritual validation rather than the automatic validation through birth into Judaism was a prelude to the individual faith event that Paul saw as the validation of Gentile inclusion in salvation history.  John the Baptist's stress on "individualism" in matters of faith was seen as a set up for the Jesus Movement which moved far beyond the synagogue community.

Aphorism of the Day, December 7, 2018

Repentance is a word that for some has a bad reputation.  It is associated with the one's past sins for which one is supposed to grovel in penitential reparations.  The word itself is very "futuristic."  The Greek word is "meta-noia," or the after mind, the future mind or as St. Paul wrote, "be transformed by the renewal of your mind."  Repentance is literally the renewal of one's mind which expresses what education really means.  Such a view is based upon the location of the "mind" as being a command center which works with the emotions and the will to expedite what one actually does with the entire body language of one's life.  The mind might be an interior place where the synthesis of language events collects information and creates the interior hierarchies which results in the volitional expression of the priorities of one's life to the point of driving the words and deeds of one's life toward the coalescing of the character of one's life.

 Aphorism of the Day, December 6, 2018

In hagiography, the most made-over saint of all is probably Nicholas of Myra who after many cultural make-overs to be the Dutch Sinterclaus, became the most famous secular saint in the world, the commercial world.  One could say he is the Mad Saint, aka the Madison Avenue saint whose Americanization has elevated him to rivaling popularity with the Christ Child at Christmas.  Santa Claus has been exported around the world as lots of country need American Christmas excess to build all of the trinkets which the mythical Santa Claus delivers, not with angels, but with flying reindeer and elves.  If one believes that the Virgin Birth is fantastical, what about Santa Claus?  At what age does a child reach doubt about the reliability of empirical verification of Santa in your household?

Aphorism of the Day, December 5, 2018

One of the schizoidal results of people who limit themselves to biblical piety or who try to privilege biblical language to equality with empirical verification in all applications, is that one is trying to cram rounded poetry into the square hole of places where it does not fit. "All flesh shall see the salvation of God."  What does that literally mean except a poetic aspiration for everyone who ever is born to know an enlightened original health as intended by the One who is the greatest?  What is empirical about aspirations is that people have aspirations which come to poetic verse; what is expressed in poetry is the fact that people are constructed to have all manner of imaginations which function for their existence.  The human task partly involves how to weave the imaginations as they arise out of the great imagination maker, Language itself.

Aphorism of the Day, December 4, 2018

The long history of religious faith in societies at different times means that institutions grow and accrue lots of extraneous practices and pieties which subtly become elevated in importance even to the point of covering up what is central to faith.  Reformers like to return to the quickest route, "as the crow" flies.  John the Baptist was regarded to be such a reformer; no more long journey on a curvy path with detours, no more high mountains or low valleys to impede the direct arrival.  If John the Baptist were a piece of machinery, according to the Isaiah passage, he would be a "bulldozer."  He was to make the path straight and direct.

 Aphorism of the Day, December 3, 2018

How does the Gospel of Luke describe the ascendance of John the Baptist in becoming a "bridge" person to Jesus of Nazareth?  Luke wrote, "the word of God came to John."  The word was "like" the words of the prophets but it was unique in its "liturgical" innovation.  John made everyone including the Jews go through what had heretofore been required of proselytes to Judaism; he made everyone undergo "mikvah" or baptism in the living waters of the Jordan.  To treat his fellow Jews as proselytes to Judaism was a prologue to the redefinition of the church being the new Israel.  John could be seen as a "bridge" to Jesus, but he also could be understood as one who began to initiate the re-interpretation of the themes of Hebrew Scriptures in a way that eventually could no longer be called Judaism in Gentile Christianity.

Aphorism of the Day, December 2, 2018

Jesus said that the trees on the leaves change and they mark a seasonal change and we can read these natural signs.  He also invited us to learn how to read more complicated signs found in human life cycles both personally and as communities of people.  The oft fickleness of human behaviors, though repetitive in nature, are not also so easy to read and predict as are the cycles of nature.  A goal of living is to attain the gradual actuarial wisdom from our observation of probable outcomes so that we can wisely ponder how to respond to the next transitions which await us in our lives.

Aphorism of the Day, December 1, 2018

The cultural effect of deconstructive postmodernism is to live on the surface of everything.  Why?  In the postmodern world, there is no "inner world of ideals," and no "deep structures" because the access to the "inner world" can only be achieved by generating more "surface" signifiers about the "previously known signified" within the classic and modern systems of processing reality.  The solution may be to re-hierarchize the importance of the language signifiers regarding interiority.  With language we can elevate the importance of the language of the value of interiority (since language is essentially INTERIORITY),  particularly as signifiers represent human solidarities which speak on behalf of what love and justice can mean for everyone.

Quiz of the Day, December 2018

Quiz of the Day, December 31, 2018

Caspar, the name of a Magi, most likely derived from which of the following sources?

a. Acts of Thomas, an apocryphal writing associated with the famous "doubter"
b. the Gospel of Matthew
c. a reference in the Psalms referring to kings
d. a Parthian inscription found in Iran

Quiz of the Day, December 30, 2018

In the beginning was the Word.  What is the Greek word for "word" used in John 1:1?

a. lexi
b. rhema
c. dabar
d. logos

Quiz of the Day, December 29, 2018

What was the primary reason for a pilgrimage to Canterbury such as was recorded in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales?

a. to visit the See and the Chair of Augustine of Canterbury
b. for the Easter Visit to the Cathedral to be blessed by the Archbishop
c. to obey the command of the Monarch to make the pilgrimage
d. to visit the crypt of the martyred Thomas a Becket

Quiz of the Day, December 28, 2018

The Gospel writers' penchant for parallel themes in the life of Jesus with themes in the lives of Hebrew Scriptures brought the feast of the Holy Innocent.  What is the Hebrew Scripture parallel?

a. Pharaoh's edict to slaughter all infant boys in the time of Moses
b. the plague involving the death of all first born sons
c. the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham
d. the death of David's first son born to Bathsheba


Quiz of the Day, December 27, 2018

Why have man asserted that John the Evangelist and John the Divine are not the same person?

a. the language of the Book of Revelation is significant different than the Johannine Gospel and Epistles
b. the theology of revelation is different from the other Johannine writings
c. Several Early Church Fathers/Persons asserted they were different people
d. all of the above

Quiz of the Day, December 26, 2018

What ordained ministry of the church did St. Stephan have?

a. priest
b. bishop
c. presbyter
d. deacon
e. prophet
f. apostle
g. martyr

Quiz of the Day, December 25, 2018

Why is Christmas often rendered as Xmas?

a. the secular world want to leave Christ out of Christmas
b. X stands a missing word
c. X is actually the Greek letter Chi, the first letter in Christos, the Greek work for Christ
d. X is for the Hebrew word for Messiah

Quiz of the Day December 24, 2018

In which book does it say a child has been born who shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace?

a. Micah
b. Zachariah
c. Haggai
d. Isaiah

Quiz of the Day, December 23, 2018

When did the text of the Hail Mary come to its current form?

a. in the Gospels
b. at the council of Trent
c. in printed text of Savonarlo in 1495
d. in Pius VI Roman breviary in 1568

Quiz of the Day, December 22, 2018

In the Bible, what is the city of David?

a. Jerusalem
b. Zion
c. Shiloh
d. Bethlehem

Quiz of the Day, December 21, 2018

Which of the following is not true regarding the Immaculate Conception?

a. it refers to Mary
b. it refers to Jesus
c. it cannot be found in Holy Scriptures
d. it is a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church

Quiz of the Day, December 20, 2018

The phrase in the "Hail Mary,"  "blessed art thou among women," is a quote of which biblical person?

a. Gabriel
b. Simeon
c. Anna
d. Elizabeth

Quiz of the Day, December 19, 2018

Which Gospel begins with John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus?

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, December 18, 2018

Whom of the following did not compose a song found in the Bible?

a. Miriam
b. Hannah
c. Mary
d. Anna

Quiz of the Day, December 17, 2018

Of the following biblical women, which does not match in significant life events?

a. The Virgin Mary
b. Elizabeth
c. The widow of Zarephath
d. Sarah
e. Hannah

Quiz of the Day, December 16, 2018

What was the occupation of the father of John the Baptist?

a. rabbi
b. scribe
c. priest
d. seer

Quiz of the Day, December 15, 2018

The 3rd Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday?  What does gaudete mean?

a. Repent
b. Confess
c. Rejoice
d. Exalt

Quiz of the Day, December 14, 2018

The purgative, illuminative and unitive are spiritual stages in the writing of what mystic?

a. John Climacus
b. Nicolas of Cusa
c. John of the Cross
d. Teresa of Avila
e. Walter Hilton

Quiz of the Day, December 13, 2018

In which Gospel does Jesus say, "Let the one without sin among you cast the first stone at her?"

a. Matthew
b. Mark
c. Luke
d. John

Quiz of the Day, December 12, 2018

Guadalupe, Lourdes, Fatima and Medjugorje are places associated with what saint?

a. Paul
b. Therese
c. Francis
d. Mary

Quiz of the Day, December 11, 2018

Pius XII regarded whom of the following to be the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas?

a. Paul Tillich
b. Reinhold Niebuhr
c. Karl Barth
d. Karl Rahner

Quiz of the Day, December 10, 2018

This American Trappist monk on the Episcopal calendar of saints, died of accidental electrocution in Bangkok, Thailand in 1968.

a. Thomas Keating
b. Thomas Merton
c. Fulton Sheen
d. Basil Pennington

Quiz of the Day, December 9, 2018

Which of the following words would be fit the meaning of repentance?

a. penance
b. education
c. piety
d. ritual

Quiz of the Day, December 8, 2018

To which church did St. Paul write to address the concern that members have about the fate of people who predeceased the return of Christ?

a. Corinthian
b. Thessalonian
c. Philippian
d. Galatian

Quiz of the Day, December 7, 2018

Which saint was chosen to be bishop before he was even baptized?

a. Clement I
b. Ambrose
c. Basil the Great
d. Athanasius

Quiz of the Day, December 6, 2018

Santa Claus is derived from whom?

a. Nicolas of Cusa
b. Pope Nicolas I
c. Pope Nicolas II
d. Nicholas of Myra

Quiz of the Day, December 5, 2018

Which of the following is not true regarding Clement of Alexandria?

a. he knew the apostle Peter
b. Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem were his pupils
c. he believe Plato gained knowledge from the Egyptians
d. he confronted what has come to be called Gnosticism

Quiz of the Day, December 4, 2018

John of Damascus is not known for which of the following?

a. being an iconoclast
b. supporting the Assumption of Mary
c. serving an Islamic Caliph
d. was in favor of icons and their devotional significance

Quiz of the Day, December 3, 2018

Who was a co-founder of the Jesuits who was a successful missionary to Asia while riding the coat tails of Portuguese colonial power?

a. Alfonso Salmeron
b. Francis Xavier
c. Ignatius Loyola
d. Peter Faber

Quiz of the Day, December 2, 2018

The writer of the Epistle of Peter wrote that for the Lord, one day is like a thousand day and thousand days are like one day.  Where in Hebrew Scriptures can this exact saying be found?

a. Proverbs
b. Psalms
c. Isaiah
d. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, December 1, 2018

What writer immortalized Nicolas Ferrar's community of Little Gidding as a place "where prayers have been valid?"

a. C.S. Lewis
b. G.K. Chesterton
c. Charles Williams
d. T. S. Eliot

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Nice Play Shakespeare

1 Christmas  C     December 30, 2018
Is.61:10-62:3     Ps. 147:13-21
Gal. 3:23-25,4:4-7  John 1:1-18

Youth Sermon for December 30, 2018

1-William Shakespeare was and is probably the greatest playwright of the English language.  Actors for more than four hundred years have wanted to perform his words.  It could be that William Shakespeare performed in his own plays because he was an actor too.  He was a playwright and an actor, and he probably directed too.  He was quite a genius with words both in writing and in acting and in the directing of his plays in the English language.

2-We might understand God as the playwright of the entire world.  But not just the playwright but also the star actor in the great play of the entire world.  Why could we say this?  The writer of the Gospel of John might think so too.  The Gospel writer wrote "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  And everything came into being through the Word."  So, God as Word is the creator or playwright of us existing as human beings.
  
3-But the Word is not just the great Playwright.  The Word became the very best actor too.  The Gospel writer wrote, "The Word became flesh and lived with us."  So, we understand Christ to be the eternal Word and the Playwright of life itself; and Jesus is the star actor of the great play of life created by the Eternal Word Playwright.

4-But is this just some nice poetry?  Does it have any practical meaning for our lives?  What does it mean for us that the Word creates everything?  What does it mean that the Word became flesh in Jesus and lived with us?

1-It could be that what makes us human is the fact that we are language users and our lives are made up of collections of words.  Even though we might think that we are flesh and bones and blood and nerves and brains with thought and hearts with feelings.  Flesh, bones, blood, nerves, brains, hearts and feelings are words that we use to describe ourselves.  Words are what we use to find meaning for our lives.  The best meanings of our lives are what we call truth.
  
2-To find and know truth in our lives, we have to find the best meanings.  To find the best meanings, we need to find people who can be the very best examples for us to teach us the best meanings for our lives.  That is what we believe about Jesus Christ.  He was the best Actor in the great play of life.  He taught us, and he lived the very best meanings of life.  He taught us how to find the best scripts in life to live.  And he gives us the very best acting lessons.

3-In the theater, acting is only pretending to be the person that you are playing.  In the real play of life, acting is not pretending.  It is trying to live out the very best script in all that we do or say.

4-Sometimes we find ourselves acting some bad scripts.  Sometimes we have some bad habit of speaking and acting that we just keep repeating.  We have learned these bad scripts from following the examples of some not so perfect actors and by having some imperfect directors.  We sometimes have accepted less than perfect scripts to follow.

1-What do we do when we find ourselves as bad actors in a bad play with some bad scripts?  The first thing that we do is to accept our freedom.  As actors we can choose the scripts.  As actors we can choose the directors of our play in life.  As actors we can choose the acting teachers to help us do our very best.

2-A good actor is always hoping to get better. A good actor is always looking for better roles.  He or she might look at all the roles that have been played.  An actor might want to play the same role again on stage because he or she might think that the role can be performed better.

3-Today we are about at the end of the year.  We are about to finish Act 2018 of our lives.  Today we may want to be the theater critics of Act 2018 of our lives.  How was our acting this past year?  Where did we improve and get better than we did in 2017?  Did we eat more broccoli and other healthy foods?  But more importantly, how did we do in the most important roles in life?   How did we do with love?  Kindness?  Self-control?  Patience?  Faith?

4-Let us review the scripts that we have followed in 2018 as we prepare for the next big play of our lives, the year 2019.  To write the scripts of our lives for 2019, let us consult the scripts in the Bible to improve our new roles for 2019.  Let us especially study the life of Jesus as our model of best behaviors.  Let us choose good role models who are in our lives now to help write the scripts for 2019.


1-Now the new year can seem like a big challenge and sometimes when we are on the big stage of life we can feel all alone.  But we should remember that we have an entire cast and crew of fellow friends and Christians to help us be the very best in our roles for the New Year.  Don't try to do 2019 alone.  Accept the very best advice and support from the best supporting cast in your life.
  
2-And remember when you think that you are alone on the stage of 2019, remember you have something better than cue cards when you forget your lines.  You have the very best prompter of all; you have God's Holy Spirit inside of you whispering what you need to say and to do.  God's Holy Spirit is with you as you walk on the stage of 2019.

3-Okay.  First Scene of Act 2019.  Quiet on the set. Camera.  Action. Roll.  Break a leg in the New Year!  Good luck.  God bless us as we follow Jesus.  We have been given the Word of God and Jesus as our acting model and teacher.  And may we have many curtain calls at the end of the year.  Amen.



Saturday, December 29, 2018

Sunday School, December 30, 2018 1 Christmas C

Sunday School, December 30, 2018    1 Christmas C

Theme: Jesus the Christ long before Bethlehem

The birth of Jesus stories are only found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.  They are not found in the Gospels of Mark and John.   The Gospel of Mark begins with Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist and there is a heavenly voice which proclaim about Jesus, “This is my beloved Son.”  The Gospel of Mark begins with the announcement of the Sonship of Jesus.

The Gospel of John begins with a poem about how the divinity of Jesus existed before he was born.  He was called the Word.  The Word of with God and the Word was God.  So Word is another name for Jesus Christ.

The Gospel of John begins with the same three words which are found to begin the book of Genesis:  “In the beginning.”  If Jesus Christ was God, the writer of John wants to show how Christ was present at the creation of the world.  In the creation story, God speaks and things are created.  So God the Father spoke the Word; the Creating Word that God the Father Spoke was the Christ, and the Holy Spirit moved over the face of the deep to create everything that was created.   This is how the writer of John’s Gospel showed how the Father, the Son and the Spirit were at Creation from the beginning.  This is the poetry of the writer of the Gospel of John.

The human world is created because we have words, we have language.  In the Garden of Eden Adam was different from the other animals because Adam was responsible for giving the animals names.

Naming or using words is what makes human being different.  So having words is what create our unique human experience.  So God as the Word is the perfect way to understand the creation of human experience.  We cannot know fully human experience without having words.  As babies who cannot speak words, we are more like puppy dogs.  To become developed as a human person is to learn how to use word and language and human beings learn words and language while puppies don’t.

The world is full of words and we need words organized and put into the actions and body language of a person to show us how to live good lives.  And this happened:  The Gospel of John writer wrote: “And the Word became Flesh and dwelled among us.”  And God the Word became the perfect human example in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ lived as the best example of what God would be like for human beings.

Do you see how this is a different Christmas birth story about Jesus?   And do understand why we read this different birth story about Jesus?

A children’s sermon
Text:
  Let’s pretend for just a minute.  Let us pretend that we cannot see.  Let us pretend that we cannot hear.  Let us pretend that we cannot speak.
  It is hard to pretend this.  Because if we had never learned the word pretend, we wouldn’t know what pretend.
  Maybe we should think about a little baby who is crying.  Do we know why a baby cries?  Can the baby tell us why exactly he or she is crying?  No, but we try to guess.  Do we need to change a diaper, or give the baby some milk, or give the baby some medicine?  Do we need to burp the baby?  Does the baby have a tummy ache?  Or is the baby cold?  Or is the baby too hot?  Or is the baby lonely?
  We try to guess why a baby is crying, but we cannot be sure why a baby is crying.  Why?  Because a baby does not yet know how to speak or to use language.  And when a baby begins to use language, a baby starts to become more like a grown-up.  Why?  Because the baby can now talk to mom and dad and to brothers and sisters and Grandmothers and grandfathers.  And so we always celebrate when a baby says the first words, because we know that the baby is becoming able to tell us how she feels.
  There once was little girl named Helen Keller.  When she was a baby she had a sickness and she lost her ability to see, to talk and to hear.  Because she could not see, talk or hear, she had no way to learn how to talk.  Can you imagine what her life was like?  She was not happy and she was very hard to care for, because she had no way to talk with her parents.
  Her parents hired a teacher to try to teach her.  And it is very hard to teach someone who cannot see, hear or talk.  But the teacher used her hands to make letters in her hand.  But she did not even know the letters, until one day when water was pouring over her hand, the teacher spelled “w-a-t-e-r” into the hand of Hellen Keller.  And Helen suddenly understood what words meant.  And she was so excited she wanted to know the name of everything that she could touch.  And when she could use words, her life was suddenly new, because she could now talk with her parents using her hands.  Helen Keller grew up to be a famous and well educated person, and she helped andinspired people who did have the ability to see, hear or speak.
  Jesus Christ is called the Word of God.  And from the life of Helen Keller, you and I can understand how important Words are for us.  Everything in our world is created with Word, because we don’t know what anything is if we don’t have words.
  Let us be thankful today that we have words.  With words we don’t have to live alone and be lonely, because with words we can talk with the important people in our lives.  And let us be thankful that God our creator made us special because we were made to use words.  And so today we use our words to thank God who made us to have words in our lives.  And we should be very careful about how we use the words of our lives.  Our words can create love and kindness; or our word can cause war and fighting.  Let remember when we use words; they are special gifts to us that God gave us to use. Amen.



St. John the Divine Episcopal Church
17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037
Family Service with Holy Eucharist
December 30, 2018: The First Sunday after Christmas

Gathering Songs: Go Tell It On the Mountain; What Child Is This?; O Little Town of Bethlehem; God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and for ever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.
And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.
Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: Go Tell It On the Mountain, (Blue Hymnal, # 99)
Chorus: Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born!
While shepherds kept their watching o’er silent flocks by night, behold, throughout the heavens there shone a holy light. Chorus
The shepherds feared and trembled when lo above the earth rang out the angel chorus that hailed our Savior’s birth.  Chorus
Down in a lowly manger the humble Christ was born, and God sent us salvation that blessed Christmas morn.  Chorus

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.
People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray
Almighty God, you have poured upon us the new light of your incarnate Word: Grant that this light, enkindled in our hearts, may shine forth in our lives; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Chant: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia
O God, you have made us! Alleluia
O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia
O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia
O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia
O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia
O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Galatians

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God..

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord
People: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 147

Hallelujah! How good it is to sing praises to our God! * how pleasant it is to honor him with praise!
Great is our LORD and mighty in power; * there is no limit to his wisdom.
The LORD lifts up the lowly, * but casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; * make music to our God upon the harp.


Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:
For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!
For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!
For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!
For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!
For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!
For work and for play. Thanks be to God!
For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!
For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!
For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.
   Thanks be to God!


Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John
People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.  And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.'") From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known.

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.
People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.
Since God is so great and we are so small,
We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.
We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and
     resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.
We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is
     welcome.
We believe that Christ is kind and fair.
We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.
And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.
For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.
For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.
For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.
For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.
For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.
For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.
For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.
People:                        And also with you.
Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

What Child Is This  (Blue Hymnal # 115)
What child is this, who, laid to rest, on Mary’s lap is sleeping?  Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?
Chorus: This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing;
   haste, haste to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary.
Why lies he in such mean estate where ox and ass are feeding?  Good Christian fear: for sinners here the silent Word is pleading.  Chorus
So bring him incense, gold and myrrh, come, peasant, king, to own him; the King of kings salvation brings, let loving hearts enthrone him.  Chorus

Doxology
Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist
Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of God.”
All become members of a family by birth or adoption.
Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.
A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.
The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you
And also with you.

Lift up your hearts
We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.
It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 
Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar
Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;
You have made us in your image
And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:
Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.
And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph
And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.
Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat
  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  
  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words
And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory
 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,
(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.
Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.
As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.
But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.
Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.
Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread
Celebrant:       Alleluia! Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.
People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Hymn: O Little Town Of Bethlehem (Hymnal # 79)
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by; yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light; the hope and fears of all of the years are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary; and gathered all above, while mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love.  O morning stars, together proclaim the holy birth! And praises sing to God the King, and peace to men on earth.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;
We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.
And His Presence has been known to us.
We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers
    and sisters in Christ.
Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the
     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,
As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: God Rest You Merry Gentlemen (Blue Hymnal # 105)

God rest you merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay; remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day, to save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.  Chorus: O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy; O tiding of comfort and joy!
From god our heavenly Father a blessed angel came and unto certain shepherds brought tiding of the same: how that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name.  Chorus

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 
People: Thanks be to God! 

  

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