Evangelism: Recommending Jesus

2 Epiphany A January 15, 2017   
Isaiah 49:1-7 Psalm 40:1-12
1 Corinthians 1:1-9 John 1:29-42

Lectionary Link
Why is there so much translation in the Gospel of John?  The writers of the Gospel of John translate Hebrew and Aramaic words into Greek for their readers.  Why do they have to do this?  We can assume that many of the readers did not understand the Hebraic and Judaic background of the life of Jesus.  We can assume that the readers of Gospel of John did not have a background in the Hebrew Scriptures or the life of the synagogue.  One would not have to translate the words Rabbi and Messiah for those who attended the synagogue.

I think that translation is the fitting word for the Gospel of John.  In some ways, all of human life is about translation.  Translation in language means that one tries to put in words of another language and culture words that are not necessarily known or familiar to the other party.

Rabbi, which means teacher.  The Messiah, which means, the anointed.  Cephas, which means Peter.

The Gospel of John is about an expanded notion of translation.  The Gospel of John starts with "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God."  But for two sides to be able to communicate, one party has to be bilingual.  And so who would be able to translate the meaning of God, a foreign Being, into human terms and language?  What does John's Gospel say? "And the Word was made flesh and dwelled among us."

Jesus was God becoming fully "bilingual" so that the life of God could be translated into human terms.  The translation of the life of God into human terms began with the Hebrew Scripture traditions.  And in the time of Jesus there were different religious parties which had teachers who were trying to translate the meaning of the life of God into human language and experience.  There were the rabbinical schools of Hillel, Shammai and Gamaliel.  There were resistance groups like the Zealots.  There were Pharisees and Sadducees. There were monastic communities in the desert, like the place near where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  One such known group was the Essenes.   But to understand how the churches in the cities of the Roman Empire came to be, there had to be some knowledge of how the ministry of Jesus happened and developed.  The ministry of Jesus derived and happened within Judaism but also within and growing out of the ministry and movement of John the Baptist. 

The community of John the Baptist could be called the "proto-church" because some of the chief followers of Jesus were first followers of John the Baptist. In today's Gospel we have read that Andrew was with John the Baptist and through John the Baptist, Andrew was introduced to Jesus.  And then Andrew went home and told his brother Simon.  And when Simon encountered Jesus, he was given a new name, Cephas and translated into Greek, it was Petros or Peter.

Do we understand what the writer of this Gospel was doing?  The writer was providing us with the lineage and genealogy of the church.  Matthew and Luke provided the genealogy of Jesus and included his birth story.  The writer of the Gospel of John was more interested in the spiritual lineage of the church.  While Joseph is seen to be the earthly father of Jesus, John the Baptist was like the mentor or faith father of Jesus, who in turn succeeded John gaining the following of the disciples of John including Andrew and Peter and many other disciples.

How did and does the church happen?  It happens through translation.  It happens when people come to have the meaning of God in their lives translated into words which they understand.  And words are creative; words renew and remake our lives if they are words that come from lives that live the truth of these words in charismatic and dynamic ways.  People saw the life of John the Baptist; they listened to his words.  They followed him.  And because they believed him, they also believed that he was a worthy witness for the surpassing greatness of Jesus Christ.

John the Baptist and Jesus had very special callings from God.  They were called to translate the meaning of God into words which could be so understood by other people that those people would feel moved and called to commit their lives to understanding the meaning of the life of God, but also become people who were willing to share their faith and build communities of faith.

Today, we are welcoming the 7th Decade of the Mission of St. John the Divine in Morgan Hill.  Instead of celebrating 60 years as being the Episcopal Church in Morgan Hill, we are welcoming the 7th Decade of ministry.  This is partly due to the fact that there are no longer any charter members of St. John the Divine who are with us.  We stand on the shoulders of people who started and kept our parish going for many years.  But we need to be like John the Baptist, Jesus and the disciples of Jesus.  How so?  We need to be concerned about our successors in the future.  John the Baptist handed off his ministry to Jesus and he asked his followers to follow Jesus.  Jesus called and eventually handed off the ministry of the church to his disciples.   And they called others to follow Jesus.  They went throughout the world and made disciples and baptized in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And we are part of this succession of ministry here and now at St. John's.  We are the link in the chain between what came before us and what will come after us.  How do we do this in the best possible way?

We can follow the evangelism of John the Baptist.  John the Baptist was one who said, "I'm not the main man, it's Jesus."  The evangelism of John the Baptist was to refer people to Jesus.  And that is our evangelism today.  Why?  Because Jesus is the one who deals with our sin.  Jesus is the link between God and humanity and allowed us to share in God's perfection, so that we can tolerate our imperfections.  The Lamb of God was reference to the Passover Lamb a symbol of substitutionary innocence.  Jesus declared that God would take all of our efforts of failure at trying to live well and he would let us assume his resume as our own.  We have not arrived yet, but Jesus has and he is carrying us on his coat tails.  This is how he "takes away" the sins of the world.

We welcome the 7th decade of our parish's existence with hope that we can extend the mission of our parish into the future.  We embrace the hope of the future with present faith and how are we going to survive and thrive in the future?  We are going to be like John the Baptist.  We are just going to keep referring people to Jesus Christ as the one who can help them deal with their sins.  John the Baptist said that he baptized with water but Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit.  Jesus is the one who announced the presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our lives.  From the Holy Spirit we attain God's perfection while still being vulnerable to all of the conditions of our imperfect lives.  We can recommend and refer to Jesus because we believe that he is the one who does not just help us tolerate our lives with all of its vulnerable conditions, he helps us to grow in holiness.  Jesus has shown us a path of perfectability to walk on.

So we gather here today to welcome the 7th Decade of our ministry and mission.  And thank God, we will be aided greatly in propelling this parish church into the future.  But we have a very important role.  We need to be like John the Baptist and continue to refer people to Jesus because Jesus will do the inside job of the Holy Spirit upon the lives of people.  Can you commit with me now to do your part to propel this parish into its 7th decade?

Will we continue to recommend Jesus Christ to all?  Will we continue to gather to keep the meal Jesus asked us to keep?  Will we continue to pray for the sick?  Will we continue to practice and declare the forgiveness of sins?  Will we continue to promote the commitment of loving relationships?  Will we continue to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and thus ordain people to their ministries in this parish?

To all of these let us answer: We will, with God's help.

May God's grace help us to fulfill our baptismal promises and so keep our parish alive and faithful in the work of recommending Jesus Christ to all.  Amen.

Sunday School, January 15, 2017 2 Epiphany A

Sunday School, January 15, 2017                    2 Epiphany  A

Themes

Changes in our lives

When you grow up you some times have to make changes.  You have a different class for first grade than you did in kindergarten.  You have a different teacher every year.  Your interests might change too.  One year you might be interested in dance and another year soccer or gymnastics.

The Gospel lesson is about some changes:

Peter and Andrew were fishermen; that’s what they did for earning a living.

Peter and Andrew had John the Baptist as their teacher.

Andrew and Peter had to make some changes.

Jesus called them to become his followers.  So they had to quit fishing and spend all of their time learning from Jesus as their teacher.

Andrew and Peter also changed teachers;  John the Baptist had been their teacher, but he made Andrew and Peter graduate from his class.  John the Baptist told them that there was another teacher who would teach them new and better things.  That teacher was Jesus.   John the Baptist was happy when his students graduated and became a part of the school of Jesus as his students.

The lesson for us is this:  Sometimes we don’t like to make changes.  Sometimes we might be afraid of learning new things or having a new teacher.  But learning in life means we need to accept change when new and better things are offered to us.  Sometimes we need to accept new teachers for our learning because they can teach us new things.

We can learn from Jesus as our teacher.  And we are lucky to have many people in our lives teach us about Jesus and what Jesus taught his students.  We have parents, grandparents, friends, pastors, priests and Sunday School teachers who teach us about Jesus.

Let us be excited about the new changes that will happen in our lives as we learn to become better students of Jesus Christ.

Sermon

What do you do?  Well you do lots of things don’t you?  What does your mommy and daddy do?  They do lots of things?  And who are you?  What roles do you live in life?

  Mommy, Daddy, son, daughter, baby, boy, girl, husband, wife, grandma, cook, cleaner, student, preschooler, driver, engineer, player, walker, runner, builder, repair person, tax payer, voter, citizen, gardener, shopper….on and on it goes.  We get many roles and jobs and responsibilities in life.

  And in all of our jobs and roles in life we will know happiness and sadness.  Some times we know success and sometimes we know failure.  Sometimes we’re happy with what we are and sometimes we’re sad.

  One day Jesus met a couple of fishermen.  And what do fishermen do?  They catch fish so that people can buy fish to eat.

  Even though Andrew and Peter were fishermen, they had something else that they had to do in their lives.

  They had to become followers of Jesus Christ.

  And you and I, whether we’re old or young, rich or poor, tall or short, whether we’re in high school or preschool, whether we’re doctor or teacher or an engineer, we always have one more thing to do.

  We can always follow Christ.  And if we are always following Christ, we are successful.  Why?

  We follow Christ, because we know that Christ has taught us that we are sons and daughters of God.  And since God is our parent, because God created the world, we know that God loves us.

  And if we know that God loves us, then we can do many things in this life.  And if we have some happiness and success God loves us.  And if we have some sadness and some disappointments, God loves us.

  And so we remember that if we are following Christ and if we are always remembering that we are sons and daughters of God, then we are doing the most important thing in our lives.

  That is what it means to be called by Jesus Christ and to be his follower.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

January 15, 2017: The Second Sunday after The Epiphany

Gathering Songs: This Little Light of Mine, Lord I Want to be a Christian, Eat This Bread, I Want to Walk As a Child of the Light 

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

People: And Blessed be God’s Kingdom, Now and forever. 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: This Little Light of Mine (The Christian Children’s Songbook, # 234)

This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine.  This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Hide it under a bushel, No!  I’m going to let it shine.  Hide it under a bushel, No! I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Don’t let anyone blow it out.  I’m going to let it shine.  Don’t let anyone blow it out.  I’m going to let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Shine all over my neighborhood.  I’m going to let it shine.  Shine all over my neighborhood.  I’m going to let it shine let, it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, 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 Book of Isaiah

The LORD called me before I was born; while I was in my mother's womb he named me.

formed me in the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and my God has become my strength

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord.

Peope: Thanks be to God

Let us read together from Psalm 40

I waited patiently upon the LORD; * he stooped to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the desolate pit, out of the mire and clay; * he set my feet upon a high cliff and made my footing sure.

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; * many shall see, and stand in awe, and put their trust in the LORD.

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.

John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, `After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, `He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."  The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, "Look, here is the Lamb of God!" The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, "What are you looking for?" They said to him, "Rabbi" (which translated means Teacher), "where are you staying?" He said to them, "Come and see." They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o'clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon

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.

Offertory: Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Children’s Choir:  I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

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

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.

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 by your Holy Spirit 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,

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 Song: Eat this Bread (Renew # 228)

Eat this bread, drink this cup, come to me and never be hungry. 

Eat this bread, drink this cup, trust in me and you will not thirst.

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: I Want to Walk As a Child of the Light (Renew # 152)

I want to walk as a child of the light.  I want to follow Jesus.  God set the stars to give light to the world; the star of my life is Jesus.   

Refrain:  In him there is no darkness at all; the night and the day are both alike.  The Lamb is the light of the city of God: Shine in my heart Lord Jesus.

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.  

People: Thanks be to God!  

Curiosity and the Call of Christ

2 Epiphany A      January  19, 2014

Is.49:1-7          Ps. 40:1-10

1 Cor. 1:1-9      John 1:29-41

 Lectionary Link

  One of the themes of the season of the Epiphany, the season of the manifestation of Christ as the light of the world, is the theme of the encounter of Christ, or the call of Christ.  Christ called the disciples and they followed.  As stories it seems rather simple but now we have institutionalized the call of God in Christ to be something that happens to those who end up in the specialized roles of leadership in the church in the ordained ministry or religious life.

  A simple encounter with Jesus cannot get you into ordained ministry anymore, in fact, if one thinks that one has too many actual encounters with Jesus, it often means referral for psychological evaluation.

  The truth of the history of church would indicate to us that the success of the church has many explanations, different explanations because the teachings of Christ have been universal enough to be adopted to many different cultural settings.

  I have recently come to think that the success of the church had to do with the message of Jesus getting out of rural Galilee and into the cities as a social club format for providing the people going through urbanization, identity clubs and socialization advocacy networks within the city.

  If we look at Christianity today, where is it growing the most?  In the Southern Hemisphere.  Some people like to give simple explanations; it is because the people of the Northern Hemisphere have rejected Christ and it is because the peoples of Africa and South America are really the faithful ones to the real truths of primitive and pure Christianity.  At the same time, sociologists would say that the people of Africa are ripe for Christianity and Islam because of the rapid urbanization which is taking place.  People uprooted from tribe and village need identity clubs in the city to introduce them to modernization which has not fully spread its effects to the countryside.

  We should not be offended by the many scenarios for the call of Christ throughout the world or even within Morgan Hill. The call of Christ has been adaptable to many situations and it will continue to be adaptable.  Part of what we are trying to do here at St. John the Divine is to understand more clearly how the call of Christ can be adopted to our situation here.

  In the Gospels we find some insights about the call of Christ.  The call is social in nature, that is, people get referred to Jesus Christ by people they respect.  John the Baptist was respected enough to have his own community of followers.  But the historical record proves that John the Baptist and his community were too parochial, too locally based on the Jordan River.  John’s message could not become an effective message in the cities of the Roman Empire.  So the disciples of John made the transition to Jesus.  Jesus was baptized by John, perhaps his first curate or assistant but John did not let his ego get in the way when he observed the excellence of Jesus.  He referred and recommended his own disciples to Jesus.  They came, they saw and they told their brothers and friends who also came and saw Jesus for themselves.

  You see how origin stories about the call of Christ simplify the subject matter for the purpose of the teaching occasions in the places where the Gospel words were preached and written down.   The location of  John the Baptist and Jesus in the story would have been geographically distant from the people who heard these words in a city in the Roman Empire and the actual geography of the Gospel story would not have had much meaning for the people in cities throughout the Roman Empire..  They weren’t written to be geography, they were written to explain the dynamics of the call to Christ which was engaging people who were drawn to these new Christian clubs called churches.

  The call for you and me here today is still both an individual and social thing.  Many Christians in America and in Europe have experienced the material abundance of our cultures and so we do not have socialization crisis in our lives.  We can be more independent units and pick from an entire array of clubs and groups to find the kind of fellowship that we want to advocate our values in our society.  But in other places and in other times the church has been the dominant social force for people who are trying improve their life in a new place.

  In the Roman Catholic Church today, you have one sector of the church who find significant identity because of the Catholic educational institutions stretching from elementary through very fine universities.  They find identity in such “catholic” cultural expression of higher education and Notre Dame Football and Jesuit Universities' basketball.  The attendance of the Catholic church would be down in the United States except for immigrant peoples who arrive and struggle for a new start but who find attending Mass to be a significant factor in the process of setting down roots and getting established and finding friends and advocates in a new place.  The church is a place to meet "expats" who speak the native language and the church provides the meeting space to foster the identity of immigrants in the United States as their new location.  People who have been here from birth do not need the parish church to function in the same way for them.

  The call of Christ involves for you and me the significant self-love of curiosity.  Curiosity is being drawn to a vision of who I am and what I can do and become in the future.  People like Jesus had such mentoring charisma that people said, “I don’t know what I really want to be, but I do know that I want to be more like that man Jesus in the art of living.”  The call is the same today.  It is successful dealing with our curiosity about who we can become in the future as we are informed by examples of excellence.

  At St. John’s today you and I are in this process of being called but also being the voices of Christ as ones who are doing the calling.  We are possessed with curious self-love to want to surpass ourselves in a future state by seeking out mentoring examples, but at the same time we are to be the voice of Christ and the helping hands of Christ that are used to call others because ironically, we are to be examples to others and each other to improve our art of excellent living.

  Let us continue to be curious about the next phase of our call towards excellence.  But let us also make ourselves available to be watched by others so that something of Christ can reflect from us to others in their own unique phase of responding to Christ.

 Today, let us re-commit ourselves to making our parish a place where this dynamic of the call of Christ to us and through us happens in only the way it can happen through us.  May we all continue in the call of Christ today.  Amen.