As Kathy and I grow old, we are becoming more and more aware of our own weaknesses, and of the slow but steady decline of our bodies' ability to keep itself alive and thriving. Kathy has always been the healthy one, I have been the one consigned to taking eight medications and three or for other popular over the counter supplements to keep my blood pressure controlled, my heart from suddenly stopping, my cholesterol in check, and my gout in abeyance. But recently her health and eyesight have taken a significant turn for the worse, and so on one August Sunday we found ourselves attending mass at the Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Williston. It was communion Sunday, but then it is always communion Sunday in the Roman Church, and we partook of the sacrament with the other worshippers with only a slight tinge of hesitation. Although we may be officially protestant in this time of our lives, the Roman Church always says "Once a Catholic, always a Catholic", and so we took to heart the admonition of "Welcome Home Catholic", at least as far as sharing in the worship of the God we serve. What lightened my heart tremendously was seeing the old forms made present in a new and living way for this generation, and what pleased both Kathy and I was receiving the full lectionary readings of the scriptures, Psalm, Old Testament, New Testament, and Gospel, and then having the pastor actually preach from the Gospel and relate the particular story of Jesus to our immediate needs and focus.
But I digress. We actually went to the church to participate in a healing service led by a Catholic priest, Father Lance Harlow, who has a healing ministry that he offers to all comers. What struck me by the service was the vast difference between it and most protestant healing services I have gone to. It was simple, it was reverent, it was powerful, it was conducted in silence. It was also unusual for a former pre-Vatican II altar boy. Father Harlow displayed the consecrated host in a monstrance on a small table in front of a kneeler and then told each person seeking healing to come to the front, kneel down, and touch the bottom of the monstrance as if you were touching the hem of Jesus' garment, and then just tell Jesus what it was that you wished Him to do. Any pre-Vatican II Catholic knows that no one directly touches a monstrance, when a priest elevates it or it is moved by a server it is always through the outer vestment, and I sensed immediately that there was something genuinely divine present at work. Several people were visibly affected, there were assistants to help you if you needed it. And then, about an hour after it began, Father Harlow closed the service and left without ceremony and we went home. The work was the Lord's, there was no reason to linger on, it was either done or not.
I record this event solely to introduce this question, "If you could ask Jesus for anything, what would it be?" That was the question Kathy and I wrestled with in the service. I know that is supposed to be available to us anytime we pray, but all I can say that in this sanctuary that question was more real than it has ever been, and I knew that if I asked, I would be heard. Not wanting to appear greedy, I chose to forgo asking for healing for the different ailments I brought in with me and asked for something else instead. It only remains to be seen what the manifestation to that request will bring. More than anything else I knew that Jesus was present, not in theory but in reality, that I was present, and that something divine had occurred.
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Marking Time
I thought it was appropriate to title this post marking time, since I have obviously not marked any time on this blog since March. I chalk that up to grandchildren, the short but glorious summer in Vermont, and life in general. But as the changing of seasons approaches once more, I thought I should get on with it and start writing again since, in a way, these words will one day be the only legacy I leave behind.
Several questions continue to plague me for answers...Why do we go to church, or said another way, Why do we even need church? And while there have been many answers given that have some validity, I think ultimately the answer is somehow related to the historic church concept of marking time. It is not surprising that our lives as well as history revolves in cycles. At creation God set planets and stars in the heavens to mark times and seasons. Even the creation of light placed two distinct periods of time into every day. And when He gave the law on Sinai, He built into the ten commandments one that required observance of a sabbath, one day in seven, observed in holiness because of the work of God Himself. To that He later added the sabbatic year, one year in every seven years for the land to rest, the jubilee year, one year in every seven of sevens of years for the release of debt, and the seven holy convocations for the nation (as the scripture calls them the times appointed by the Lord).
And the purpose of those times was to remember the works of God's deliverance and providence, and to become partakers in those graces, to make them present in the moment (we might say renew covenant with Him). We are no longer under the Jewish laws, but old habits (or divine principles) die hard and so the Church marks time in its own way, ordering its year and celebrations around the two great anchor feasts of Christmastide and Eastertide. And that's why our church year begins in December with Advent and not on the civil New Year's Day. That's why the cycle of readings contained in the lectionary has remained so important to me and to the church. We need that annual remembrance and covenant renewal in the grace and work of God. Just as Moses commanded the entire law to be read in the hearing of the Israel when their gathered for their convocations, so too we need to hear the whole story again and again to keep it fresh, to make it ours, to give it to our children. I tend to be crotchety this way; don't recite to me Paul's theology and doctrine, just tell me the old, old story of Jesus and His love. It's only the latter that truly renews the covenant of grace in my heart and soul.
One last thought about marking time and going to church. The New Testament states the principle of the tithe just as well as the Old Testament did when in Romans 11:16 it declares that if the first fruit is holy, then the entire batch is holy. I think that gives a perfect reason for observing Sabbath, for going to church. If we dedicate the first day of our week to God and His purposes and participate in the way in which our conscience guides us, then the offering of that tithe or first fruit makes the balance of our week consecrated, set apart also to God and His purposes. We need to do that, because in the midst of business or school or home, our weeks sometimes seem far from God and His influence. But that is the power of the tithe, even if we do not feel it, even if we are not aware of it, the transaction has been made, the offering has been given, and God will remain faithful to do His part in every moment of time. I go to church to dedicate my week to the God I serve and to His purposes, I may not always fully succeed throughout the week, the I am confident that failure would only results without that first good beginning.
Several questions continue to plague me for answers...Why do we go to church, or said another way, Why do we even need church? And while there have been many answers given that have some validity, I think ultimately the answer is somehow related to the historic church concept of marking time. It is not surprising that our lives as well as history revolves in cycles. At creation God set planets and stars in the heavens to mark times and seasons. Even the creation of light placed two distinct periods of time into every day. And when He gave the law on Sinai, He built into the ten commandments one that required observance of a sabbath, one day in seven, observed in holiness because of the work of God Himself. To that He later added the sabbatic year, one year in every seven years for the land to rest, the jubilee year, one year in every seven of sevens of years for the release of debt, and the seven holy convocations for the nation (as the scripture calls them the times appointed by the Lord).
And the purpose of those times was to remember the works of God's deliverance and providence, and to become partakers in those graces, to make them present in the moment (we might say renew covenant with Him). We are no longer under the Jewish laws, but old habits (or divine principles) die hard and so the Church marks time in its own way, ordering its year and celebrations around the two great anchor feasts of Christmastide and Eastertide. And that's why our church year begins in December with Advent and not on the civil New Year's Day. That's why the cycle of readings contained in the lectionary has remained so important to me and to the church. We need that annual remembrance and covenant renewal in the grace and work of God. Just as Moses commanded the entire law to be read in the hearing of the Israel when their gathered for their convocations, so too we need to hear the whole story again and again to keep it fresh, to make it ours, to give it to our children. I tend to be crotchety this way; don't recite to me Paul's theology and doctrine, just tell me the old, old story of Jesus and His love. It's only the latter that truly renews the covenant of grace in my heart and soul.
One last thought about marking time and going to church. The New Testament states the principle of the tithe just as well as the Old Testament did when in Romans 11:16 it declares that if the first fruit is holy, then the entire batch is holy. I think that gives a perfect reason for observing Sabbath, for going to church. If we dedicate the first day of our week to God and His purposes and participate in the way in which our conscience guides us, then the offering of that tithe or first fruit makes the balance of our week consecrated, set apart also to God and His purposes. We need to do that, because in the midst of business or school or home, our weeks sometimes seem far from God and His influence. But that is the power of the tithe, even if we do not feel it, even if we are not aware of it, the transaction has been made, the offering has been given, and God will remain faithful to do His part in every moment of time. I go to church to dedicate my week to the God I serve and to His purposes, I may not always fully succeed throughout the week, the I am confident that failure would only results without that first good beginning.
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