Daily Office Reflection: Saturday in Easter Week

Psalms 145 * 104; Exodus 13:17-14:4; 2Corinthians 4:16-5:10; Mark 12:18-27

We end Easter Week today with Jesus explaining about resurrection to unbelieving Sadducees, telling them they are quite wrong. You are quite wrong, Jesus says, something they probably didn't like to hear, or did not hear said to their face very often. Who among us likes to be brought up short in the manner Jesus does to the Sadducees today? I think this is a good reminder to us that we do not, nor will we ever, have all the answers.

Jesus begins his response to the Sadducees with the statement Is this not the reason you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? Jesus is upbraiding the Sadducees for trying to define God in their own narrow construct, and in the same way their narrow and literalistic manipulation of scripture takes them away from God's presence in those holy words. Jesus doesn't say we will be angels in the resurrection, but are like angels in heaven, trying to explain the unexplainable to those Sadducees. Jesus is saying, putting human limits on God's power makes them get it wrong.

A good reading to end Easter Week, for God's unlimited power, unimagined by the Sadducees, who shown true by Jesus' resurrection six days ago, where human-made limits and beliefs and understandings are shattered.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Thursday in Easter Week

Psalms 146, 147 * 148, 149; Exodus 13:3-10; 1Corinthians 15:41-50; Matthew 28:16-20

We are given the "Great Commission" in Matthew's Gospel today. Jesus tells his disciples Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..... I think the inclusivity and openness of this command (and invitation) is lost on a number of individuals in our Church structure. This Great Commission goes hand-in-hand with part of our Baptismal Covenant (which so many of us renewed this past Saturday night at our Great Easter Vigil) where we are asked: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being? And we reply I will, with God's help. This also dovetails with the ending of The Nicene Creed where we say We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church. When we say "catholic" we are not talking RC, we are saying "catholic" as in "all embracing," being open to and reaching out to everyone, not a select few who agree with us.

This is a work of a lifetime, as summed up in our Collect for today: Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. That middle part I have bolded jumps out at me today: this living into our faith and showing it in what we do, indicates an understanding that we are imperfect and have to continually work at this thing called Church. We can't walk away because we disagree, we can't sit idly by not actively questioning and expect to grow in our faith. And we cannot exclude someone because there is something about them we dislike or disagree with.

We are the Body of Christ in the world. A good reminder today of a hard challenge which is worth the effort.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Wednesday in Easter Week

Psalms 97, 99 * 115; Exodus 12:40-51; 1Corinthians 15:(29)30-41; Matthew 28:1-16

We are blessed this week being given the Resurrection narratives of Mark, Matthew and Luke. Many look at these and marvel at the differences between the three. I prefer to, although acknowledging their differences, focus instead on their striking similarities.

If we think about how stories get passed down, person to person, from age to age, the accounts of the repeated story can differ quite dramatically, making it sometimes unrecognizable. When these accounts of Jesus' Resurrection (and his life and ministry) were written down well after his life, death, resurrection and ascension, there would have to have been differences in: how the story was told, the order of the narrative, different emphasis on various parts of Jesus' ministry.

Does it really matter who rolled back the stone to uncover Jesus' tomb? The women who loved Jesus came to that tomb and found it empty, and (depending on which Gospel we are reading) reacted differently, some immediately, some eventually, understanding the import of his Resurrection.

Jesus is arisen. Not much more is important.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Tuesday of Easter Week

Psalms: 103 * 111, 114; Exodus 12:28-39; 1Corinthians 15:12-28; Mark 16:9-20

Yesterday we had the "first ending" to Mark's Gospel, and today we have the "second". Most people who study these things opine that "someone" (or some group of people) appended verses 9-20 to Mark's chapter 16. The short explanation is that Mark was writing to a particularly abused Christian community, and this appended ending was added when Mark's Gospel went into wider circulation.

The two are quite different - one leaving lots of questions and the second providing some answers and direction. I have always found this academic exercise, although interesting, rather superfluous to the life and teachings of Jesus. I find much greater learnings and support and guidance from studying that life and those teachings than any knowledge I gain by engaging in the academic struggle of which is the proper ending point of the Gospel of Mark.

Be that as it may, we have Jesus arisen. Thanks be to God.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Monday of Easter Week

Psalms 93, 98 * 66; Exodus 12:14-27; 1Corinthians 15:1-11; Mark 16:1-8

There is an exhaustion lying over me today. Not a bad one, but one emanating from long hours and good hard work and a "successful" Holy Week, Vigil and Easter Day services. 11 distinct services over the course of 7 days is a lot of planning, choreographing, organizing, cajoling and prayerfulness. Each service had its own tone, tenor, meaning and experience, and at times leading to a rich and complex feeling of sensory overload.

I am excited to be in Eastertide, moving toward Pentecost, some 50 days hence. I am also excited to revel in this "good" exhaustion of knowing I have served God as well as I can this past week and I look forward to these next 50 days of glorious celebration. For through all the work of the last week, knowing that we were walking the Passion walk, and remembering and worshiping our God who loves us beyond our comprehension, and to witness how deeply impact-ful this week can be to individuals who immerse themselves in the experience, all of these things make God's palpable presence and love so very real, and the work a wonderful labor of love.

A glorious Eastertide......

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Holy Saturday, Yr. Two

Psalms 95, 88 * 27; Lamentations 3:37-58; Hebrews 4:1-16(MP); Romans 8:1-11(EP)

Jesus is in the tomb this morning having suffered a terrible day yesterday. He is resting in his tomb today.

We are in that in-between time - that unsure time. How do we treat this Holy Saturday? Many of us (me included) will be very active today getting ready for the Vigil tonight and tomorrow's onslaught of services and receptions. I find it very challenging to appreciate and live into this Holy Saturday moment because of all the activity that I will immerse myself in shortly. And I am not sure if that activity is partly due to being uncomfortable in this in-between time of Lent and being able to shout that "A" word tonight and tomorrow. That uncomfortable knowledge that God went silent on this day.

Perhaps I will have to work on this Holy Saturday ritual some, in the future. For now, I have to take the few moments on my terrace, saying MP, with the birds chirping and the sun rising as my "rest", and as I scurry on to the busy-ness of the day I will try keep in my head the prayer for today - found on page 283 of the BCP:

O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit one God, for ever and ever.

Amen

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Good Friday, Yr. Two

Psalms 95 & 22 * 40:1-14(15-19), 54; Lamentations 3:1-9,19-33; 1Peter 1:10-20; John 13:36-38(MP), John 19:38-42(EP)

In our MP Gospel reading we have Jesus letting Peter know that he (and the rest) will betray him in their own ways, while in our EP Gospel we have Jesus being buried in Joseph of Arimathea's own new tomb, a quiet follower of Jesus whose faith grew as Jesus' story unfolds in John's Gospel.

So, in these two readings we see part of the breadth of life experiences and some very true human traits portrayed in all there horror and glory. We have devoted friends and folllowers, who swear allegiance and then when the going gets really tough are no where to be found. And we have a person who was on the sidelines, watching, with lots of questions, a person who was part of the ruling religious class, being effected in ways by Jesus' ministry that he didn't understand, who in a tragic moment of sorrow acts in very loving and compassionate manner. All very human....all very true.

We remember and mourn that the human Jesus died today. And there is great sadness in that fact.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Maundy Thursday, Yr. Two

Psalms: 102 * 142, 143; Lamentations 2:10-18; 2Corinthians 1-:14-17,11:27-32; Mark 14:12-25

Today is the "official" institution of Holy Eucharist in our Gospel reading. The four-fold action of the Eucharist (taking, blessing, breaking, giving) that Jesus has done at other times in the Gospel is solemnized at the Passover meal he shared with his disciples with his words: Take, this is my body, and This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. And then he tells them he will never drink the like of it again.

Just before this Jesus tells the disciples he is going to be betrayed by one of them. This betrayal is the reason for the picture choice this morning. Jesus is headed to that frightening day.

I find it hard to stay in this moment of Maundy Thursday, and find it even harder to stay in Good Friday.....I want to leap ahead to the Vigil and Easter Sunday morning. But I am going to struggle on, trying to live into this rich liturgical day. Come help me do this by attending a Maundy Thursday service and wash someone's feet or witness the stripping of the altar.

Live into this day with me. Every time we do this, it changes us.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Wednesday of Holy Week, Yr. Two

Psalms 55 * 74; Lamentations 2:1-9; 2Corinthians 1:23-2:11; Mark 12:1-11

Through the parable Jesus preaches today, he presages his death, summing up the history of the prophets who had come before and been ignored. He is preparing the way, leaving seeds for his followers to plant to germinate into a flowering of understanding. And that understanding can be difficult to come by, but if we work at it, understanding can and does come.

Jesus quotes scripture today at the end of his parable, what we know of as a portion of Psalm 118, v 22-24:

The same stone which the builders rejected *

has become the chief cornerstone.

This is the Lord's doing, *

and it is marvelous in our eyes.

On this day the Lord has acted; *

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

At this mid-point of Holy Week, at this moment before we enter the "sacred three days", Jesus' parable asks us to consider what we are ignoring. Where in our lives have we put up blocks to God's persistent voice, calling us to something better? Today is a day to start taking those stones down, or perhaps climbing over that wall we have built and enter God's embrace, for we can and should rejoice in how God has acted for us.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Tuesday of Holy Week, Yr Two

Psalms 6, 12 * 94; Lamentations 1:17-22; 2Corinthians 1:8-22; Mark 11:27-33

Jesus and his disciples go back to the temple, again, today. Perhaps Jesus was checking to make sure the money-changers and the folks who sold the small animals for sacrifice hadn't returned. We are told they were walking in the temple when, once again, Jesus is challenged by the religious officials. He refuses to answer their question because they won't acknowledge who John the Baptist was. Because of their lack of honesty, because of their inability to speak with authenticity, Jesus does not answer them.

This is not a tit-for-tat kind of exchange that we see children (and many adults) engage in. God expects us to be honest, to be authentic about our faith and our spirituality. Many times we don't know the answers, and that is okay, so long as we are up front about our inability to comprehend something. More often than not, we have more questions than we have answers, and that is okay too. For we are having a conversation with God when we are asking those questions. By asking and exploring we are digging deep into our spiritual selves. This is a life-time's dig that requires persistence and patience.

This is a wonderful Gospel reading for us this Tuesday of Holy Week. Where can we be more authentic to ourselves, to those around us and to God?

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Monday of Holy Week - Yr Two

Psalms 51:1-18(19-20) * 69:1-23; Lamentations 1:1-2,6-12; 2Corinthians 1:1-7; Mark 11:12-25

Jesus "cleanses the Temple" in today's reading from Mark, besides taking his anger at the Pharisees out on a poor fig tree. Mark's description of the cleaning out of the temple of those who would change money in order to purchase sacrifices is (as with everything in Mark) quick, with not many details, but the underlying anger is readily apparent.

Part of the sacrilege Jesus was so upset about by these money-changers and people who sold small animals for sacrifice was, I think, a cheapening of the ritual liturgy of sacrifice. These folks were taking the idea of sacrifice and making it easy. That is not what the word sacrifice means.... easy. Sacrifice means something dear has ben purchased from us, some part of us is taken up in that offering to God. I think, also, Jesus knew the sacrifice he was about to voluntarily make, and this cheap version offered by those going to the Temple, and that offended him at a very deep place, for the cost to him was his life.

This reading from Mark is a gift to us this Monday of Holy Week. It allows us to enter Holy Week thinking about sacrifice and whether or not we are partaking in the cheap version or the real (and costly) one.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: From the Maelstrom

Psalms 137:1-6(7-9), 144 * 42, 43; Exodus 10:21-11:8; 2Corinthians 4:13-18; Mark 10:46-52

Jesus blows through Jericho today. In a half a verse he came to Jericho and left, with a large crowd in tow. We don't know what happened in Jericho. Perhaps nothing, perhaps he just wandered through, or perhaps he did untold acts of mercy and kindness and miracles. But what we do know is that at leaving Jericho there was a great crowd traveling with him and there was a blind beggar on the side of the road. I have never understood why this blind beggar, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, is so explicitly named, while so many others Jesus cures are not.

Be that as it may, in this crowd passing him by, Bartimaeus believes exists someone who can help him. He continually shouts Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" even though he was hushed by those around him. Think of the tumult around Jesus and yet he hears a cry for mercy and stops and has the petitioner brought to him. Jesus reaches out from that cacophony of noise, from the middle of the maelstrom he is traveling in, and asks Bartimaeus what he wants. And then grants that request.

I have often wondered if I would have the presence of mind, the nerve, the understanding to know how to respond if Jesus asked me What do you want me to do for you? Nevertheless, I do draw strong solace from knowing that in the cacophony of a world in which we live, Jesus can still stop in the middle of the maelstrom and offer help to one who needs it.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Metaphors

Psalms (120), 121, 122, 123 * 124, 124, 126, (127); Exodus 5:1-6:1; 1Corinthians 14:20-33a,39-40; Mark 9:42-50

Jesus throws a lot of metaphors at us today. I take them as metaphors and not as literal instruction because otherwise we would be a self-inflicted limbless, tongueless and blind congregation: for who has not done something that we have not regretted?

I get caught up in the metaphor Jesus uses about salt. Salt is not only a preservative, but is also a spice used to enhance flavors. Is Jesus talking about salt in one or the other of these two different qualities of the spice? Or is he doing a "both-and" approach.

I wonder if Jesus is instructing us to preserve those parts of us (with his inner-salt) that strengthen us and thereby allow us not to stumble ourselves. And yet also to use this inner salt to enhance those parts of us that will enable others to become part of Christ's body and not be caused to stumble. For we are not called to be a closed community of believers, but a community of believers that reaches out and welcomes in all. We are called to enable people to find a safe haven where they can search and find God, and know that they are found and loved by God.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: New Spring

Psalms 31 * 35; Exodus 4:10-20(21-26)27-31; 1Corinthians 14:1-19; Mark 9:30-41

I was sitting on my terrace reading MP this morning, looking at the Washington Inlet and Haines Point and noticing all the trees have budded over this past weekend. There is new birth on each of those millions of tiny branches: various reds and ochres and greens just sprouting from the tips of those branches. The Cherry Blossoms are about a week away.

What a gift we are all given to be in the last week of Lent, before we walk Holy Week together, and to have this New Spring once again budding and blooming all around us. Knowledge of and faith in God's abiding life for us is represented in this re-growth as many of us struggle through this Season of Lent. This New Spring, as we are ending this Season of Lent, we are reminded in tangible ways by the world around us of God's love for us, of God's presence all around us, and of God's presence with us, always.

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Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: I Believe, Help My Unbelief!

Psalms: 107:33-43, 108:1-6(7-13) * 33; Exodus 2:23-3:15; 1Corinthians 13:1-13; Mark 9:14-29

I think this father's plea to Jesus in Mark's Gospel today to help his son can be considered iconic. I believe, help my unbelief! So many of us.....all of us at some point or other (if not daily) struggle with "belief". We have questions that challenge our faith. We receive questions, comments, odd looks from those who we associate with who do not worship, or who profess no belief in God. This father's instantaneous response to Jesus' statement All things can be done for the one who believes....the response of....I believe, help my unbelief..... is indicative of a deep desire for clarity, surety that what we profess, that what we pray is true.

This is one of the areas where I love being a member of The Episcopal Church.....for we are called to question. We approach our understanding of God, our exploration of Scripture through a process often referred to as "The Three Legged Stool" approach. Those three equal legs of the stool are: scripture, tradition and reason. We are called to question. We are called to live into faith through questions.

I firmly believe God can be found in that questioning....can be found in the questions. For when we question, when we reason, when we think about Scripture, we are in a conversation with God, which is what Bible Study should be all about. Much like Moses' conversation with God who appeared to him to the form of a burning bush in today's Exodus reading.

Start, continue, renew that conversation in these remaining weeks of Lent. Although a life long conversation, it is the best one we can have.

jfd+

Copyright 201o, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: St. Joseph

MP: Psalm 132; Isaiah 63:7-16; Matthew 1:18-25

EP: Psalm 34; 2Chronicles 6:12-17; Ephesians 3:14-21

We celebrate St. Joseph today. St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and the male-rearer and protector of Jesus. We know so little about this man who responded to the call, in a dream, to take care of Mary and name and raise with Mary the baby she was going to give birth to.

Lesser Feasts and Fasts says of Joseph: Known as Joseph the Carpenter, he is considered the patron saint of the working man, one who not only worked with his hands, but taught his trade to Jesus. The little that is told of him is a testimony to the trust in God which values simple everyday duties, and gives example of a loving husband and father.

Keeping Joseph as a model, really unknown, uncelebrated, but stalwart in his support and mission in life is something good to think about in Lent.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Authenticity

Psalms 87, 90 * 136; Genesis 47:27-48:7; 1Corinthians 10:1-13; Mark 7:1-23

So much of what Jesus leads us toward, is pointing us toward is authenticity. Being and acting in certain ways, doing and living according to his teachings and not living by a rigid set of rules, finding loopholes to not live into those "rules" we find distasteful at the moment. Being honest and true.

Jesus hollers at the Pharisees for not being authentic, taking them to task for not caring for their parents appropriately, violating a commandment, and yet at the same time criticizing Jesus' disciples for not washing. A simple and direct example of inauthenticity and hypocrisy.

What Jesus directs us to is so simple and so very hard to accomplish. A good Lenten discipline to try and live into.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Quiet Time Amongst The Crowds

Psalms: (83) or 42, 43 * 85, 86; Genesis 46:1-7,28-34; 1Corinthians 9:1-15; Mark 6:30-46

Jesus says to his disciples today, Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while. We are told by the narrator of the Gospel that Jesus said this because they had no leisure time or quiet time to eat because of all the comings and goings of people around them. And yet when they get to a deserted place, they find over 5000 people have thronged around them: and we have the miracle of the feeding of those throngs through the blessing of five loaves of bread and two fish.

There is always a need for balance in life - activity and time for refreshment/retreat. Sometimes those moments of refreshment can come to us in times of seeming craziness and activity. I wonder if after this miracle feeding, and the precursor of the Holy Eucharist we have today (the four fold Eucharistic action of taking, blessing, breaking and giving is done by Jesus today), I wonder if the disciples and Jesus felt that refreshment they were seeking when they first headed to what they thought was a deserted place.

Have you ever been involved with a complicated and stressful task, and in the midst of it or at its conclusion, felt a sense of contentment and release? Contentment and release at a job well done and completed. I think we can find that kind of quiet among the crowds in our Eucharistic celebrations: quiet prayer and joyful noise making in our singing. Does that happen every time for all of us: I don't experience that, but perhaps some do. But that experience of quiet among the crowds, a holy worshipful experience amongst the madness, has occurred for me and refreshment and peace and energy to go out and do what I am called to do emanates from those moments. And they are also treasured memories of a shared moment with others. They are a weird private - public spiritual moment that changes a person, subtly but permanently.

Don't be afraid of these moments - cherish them when they come.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Enough!

Psalms 119:97-120 * 81, 82; Genesis 45:16-28; 1Corinthians 8:1-13; Mark 6:13-29

There are times in life when we just want to scream "Enough!" Enough already! I've had it, just... and then we can fill in the blank with whatever frustration, aggravation, thing that has made us impatient. There is always a balance we have to incorporate into those decisions when we follow through on the "Enough!" sentiment. There is usually, at least, a kernel of truth to our frustration, aggravation, impatience: a kernel of self telling us, yes this is the time to act, to move, to follow through.

We see this in Jacob listening to his sons tell them of their excitement about finding Joseph and of Joseph's invitation. Jacob moves from disbelief to excitement at the prospect of seeing once again the first son born from his beloved wife Rachel. Enough! Jacob cries. Enough talk and explaining. Enough. Let us act, move, go!

I often wonder if we are too patient at times, if we allow things to lie fallow for too long before acting. Lent is a time of thoughtful reflection and repentance for not only things we have done, but as our Confession so aptly puts, for these things we have left undone. I think Jacob's impatient shout of Enough! reminds us that there is a time to act and a time to get to those things we have not yet done. Perhaps Lent is a good time to start on those items.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Relief

Psalms 78:1-39 * 78:40-72; Genesis 45:1-15; 1Corinthians 7:32-40; Mark 6:1-15

There are times in life when we just need to find some relief. We can build up issues in our head that need resolution; we can have life experiences that not only cause trauma to our psyche but are a wound that needs healing, from which we need relief.

I wonder if Jesus felt some relief when he was rejected by his hometown, in today's Gospel selection. I wonder if Jesus was concerned about going back to the place where he was raised too see all those folks he grew up in front of, for them to see him as the man he grew up to be, not some construct of the child they saw running around the carpenter shop. I wonder if Jesus, who was fully human (and also fully divine) carried with him angst as he approached and entered his hometown. And if he experienced relief, not at the rejection itself, but at "the secret" being out - the secret of who he actually was. There is a bittersweetness to that relief. We also see relief from Joseph in our reading from Genesis today: relief at revealing himself to his brothers: relief that the charade is over.

This is a good question to think about in Lent: what are we carrying around from which we need relief. We should not underestimate how healing tears can be, how enlivening being our true selves to others can be....even when the cost of such revelation is rejection. For there is relief and release in being who we truly are, as God made us. There is relief in knowing who supports us and where we will not find support. A good Lenten journey incorporates this authenticity of living.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: A Known Secret

Psalms 80 * 77 (79); Genesis 44: 18-34; 1Corinthians 7:25-31; Mark 5:21-43

There is an absurd element to our Gospel story about the healing of Jairus' 12 year old daughter. In the whole of Mark we hear a regular refrain of Jesus demanding that people keep quiet about the miracles he performs, and yet....and yet Jesus does all these miracles quite openly.

Jairus comes to Jesus with a large crowd gathered around him asking Jesus to come and save his daughter. Jesus goes and the crowd follows along. During that walk Jesus is touched by the woman who has been hemorrhaging for 12 years and cures her, and has a full blown discussion in the middle of those crowds about her miracle cure. They arrive at Jairus' home only to find weeping and lamenting over his daughter's death. The crowd sees this and knows Jairus' loss. Jesus shrinks the amount of people with whom he goes into the residence and then kicks everybody out of the room and cures the 12 year old girl.... And then tells everyone not to spread the news.

This is absurd. The crowds saw Jairus come begging for help. The crowds saw Jesus' reaction and interaction with the hemorrhagic woman. The crowds saw the weeping and lamenting of the people of Jairus' home over the 12 year old's death. The crowds saw Jesus go in to the girl. And the girl comes out, alive, with Jesus instructing that she be fed. To keep silence about these miracles and who performed them is an absurd element to the story.

There are numerous theological understandings and reasons explaining Mark's insistence on keeping quiet, "as the time has not yet come", as the phrase goes. And that is not an unreasonable theme to have during the Season of Lent....for we know where Jesus is headed... to Jerusalem...and the Passion....and Good Friday.... and Easter Sunday.... and Ascension Day.... and Pentecost. So the absurdity of this known secret highlighted by today's Gospel account is a good reminder that we need to live in the now, in this Season, before we can get to the next.

Perhaps it is like reading the last two chapters of a novel, first thing, and then reading the whole of the book. Those who do that like to be able to know what is coming, and perhaps better appreciate and understand how they get to the end..... How are we living in this moment in Lent, with that crazy, absurd and yet beautiful knowledge of where we are going to end up?

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Demons

Psalms 75, 76 * 23, 27; Genesis 43:16-34; 1Corinthians 7:10-24; ark 5:1-20

We all have different demons in us: some more obvious than others. Whether those demons are uncontrolled, or uncontrollable impulses or addictions, or emotional-behavioral traits that allow us to act-out in inappropriate and/or unhealthy ways, we all have demons in us that can use some attention.

Lent is a good time for us to have this Markan account of the man living in the tombs with "legion" inside of him. Those demons which wracked this man recognized Jesus for who and what he was. We should compare this tortured man and his legion of demons to the folks who witnessed the miracle and those who came to see the cured man. This latter group, who did not understand (or want to know) who Jesus really was, had their own kind of demon within them manifested in their refusal or inability to see the miracle of the Holy One in their presence. These demons may have been a manifestation of their fear of change and growth - perhaps they preferred to foster a false desire insisting that there is no need for change, or growth: manifesting a desire that things remain the same, perhaps out of fear of the unknown. No matter what we call that behavior, or how we rationalize it, demons are present in it.

In our Hebrew Testament reading, we are still in the long story of Joseph and his brothers. The brothers have their own demons, but so does Joseph. We are in the midst of that painful part of the story where Joseph is setting his brothers up: we can actually watch Joseph act out, letting his demons control him, and we are about (in the next week) to witness Joseph work his way through, around and get past, his demons.

As we are about to enter the third week of Lent, this is a good time to reflect on our own demons. What are we going to do about those?

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Just As We Are

Psalms 95, 69:1-23(24-30)31-38 * 73; Genesis 43:1-15; 1Corinthians 7:1-9; Mark 4:35-41

After Jesus had finished teaching by the seaside, after a long day, he asks to go across to the other side of the lake, and proceeds to fall asleep in the back of the boat. A storm arises, the folks with him panic, wake him, he calms the storm and rebukes those who were afraid and they are amazed at his ability to calm storms.

When Jesus asks to be taken to the other side, they took him....with a descriptor: just as he was. That little phrase has always stayed with me. Just as he was. I think this is a beautiful sentiment and descriptor rolled into one. It shows an acceptance of a person, without knowing everything about them. It shows a deep trust in the workings of God in the world. And I believe it is a model for our belief that not only has God created us, but made each of us a reflection of that perfection that is God. Sure, we are not perfect being merely a reflection. We can be warped and skewed and reversed at times, like all reflections and we always have room to learn new things, and grow and be better people. But those growing edges do not hinder God from loving us, just as we are. Just as we are.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Mark in Over-drive

Psalms: (70), 71 * 74; Genesis 42:29-38; 1 Corinthians 6:12-20; Mark 4:21-34

Mark provides for us an overwhelming amount of Jesus' sayings today....almost too much to contemplate on this late winter morning, when I am wishing for spring and faced instead a cold wind walking the dog in the pre-dawn hours.

Mark says:

• a lit lamp is not placed under something, that action thwarts the purpose of the lighting
• nothing is hidden, all comes into the light
• what we give, we get back
• God's kingdom grows in unlikely and unthought of ways
• God's plans and our actions must mature, come to full-growth, before the fruits can be harvested
• God's kingdom, like a mustard seed, can and does grow from the smallest and most unlikely of sources

All I can do this morning is look at the entirety of these sayings, in these few verses, and marvel at the breadth of the imagery. Pick one or look at them all, there is plenty to think about today!

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Not for Everyone?

Psalms: 72 * 119:73-96; Genesis 4:18-28; 1Corinthians 5:9-6:8; Mark 4:1-20

Today's Gospel passage has been utilized by a number of people as justification for "keeping people out" of a church community. "Obviously, that seed came from rocky soil, or grew up amongst the thorns." "That person doesn't belong here.....look how that individual was raised!"

Those kind of exclusionary sentiments drawn from this Gospel passage (and others) is an inaccurate and misguided understanding of this parable Jesus tells. The parable is not about excluding, or being fatalistic about one's course in life. The parable instead should be read as one of hope. For Jesus isn't saying those seeds are thrown by God at birth, but any time we hear the word of God, anytime we open our hearts to these words that can save us, change us. This is the opportunity for us to be a true part of this kingdom Jesus' life and ministry proclaims.

We have these "Seasons" of the church year.....every year. We are given an opportunity, each year during THIS season of Lent to repent and to return. That doesn't sound like rejection to me, but a regular reminder that we are all human and not only deserving of another chance, but always offered another opportunity to grow into God's love for us....grow into our potential to be that Christ-bearer for another on the journey.

This is for everyone, this message of love and hope Jesus brings. This message is offered over and over again to us, not just one time. We all have times of being among the thorns, or in rocky soil. That does not relegate us away from God's kingdom for all time. We are always welcome.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: A Modified Family Dynamic

Psalms 61, 62 * 68:1-20(21-23)24-36; Genesis 42:1-17; 1Corinthians 5:1-8; Mark 3:19b-35

Jesus is causing a some problems in his home town, he is causing quite a stir. Crowds are all around him, some claim he has evil spirits within him and his family comes to "restrain him". Jesus is healing and preaching and teaching today and his home town and his family are in an uproar.

Surrounded by a crowd, Jesus is told that his mother and his brothers and sisters are outside and want to see him, and he seemingly insults his blood relatives by asking who is his mother and brothers. And then Jesus points at all of those sitting around him and identifies them as his his mother and brothers, as well as anyone who does the will of God.

Imagine his mother and brothers' reactions: they probably ran the gamut of possibilities, anger, sadness, amusement, insult. But we know that they did not spurn him, for we know at the end of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, while he is dying on a cross, his mother is still there with him. I don't think Jesus spurns his family today, I think he widens the definition of family, widens and defines the understanding of what "community" is, and does, and what it should be like.

Families can be trying. Living in an intentional community of believers can be trying too. Those interpersonal dynamics need to be understood in the larger context of the kingdom Jesus proclaims with his life and ministry. Not an easy concept to remember when we are embroiled in the heat of the moment, but a necessary one.

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Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Back, Again

Psalms 56, 57 (58) * 64, 65; Genesis 41:46-57; 1Corinthians 4:8-20(21); Mark 3:7-19a

I took the month of February off from this blog. Although a large part of me missed this spiritual exercise tremendously, another part of me yearned to let the field go fallow for a period of time. The fallow-yearning part took precedence, but I am now back, with renewed spirit and a quieter head and heart.

We have been winding our way through the end of the Book of Genesis these past weeks and are deeply immersed in the story of Joseph. He lay fallow for quite a while in the jails of Pharaoh, but has emerged (yesterday and) today wiser and stronger. Perhaps that is a way to think about these weeks of Lent we have recently immersed ourselves in: a time to lie fallow - to let our spiritual soil rest.... and yet not rest. For a period of fallowness should have a quiet exterior while great and important internal (beneath the soil) work is ongoing. Discernment work is like this, and Lent is a blessed time in which to to dig deep.

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Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Spirit and Truth

Psalms 31 * 35; Genesis 11:27-12:8; Hebrews 7:1-17; John 4:16-26

Two weeks ago today a medical condition was discovered and my 82 year old mother had the first of two operations to relieve pressure on her brain from a long-bleeding vein. She had a second brain operation the following Monday (11 days ago) to staunch a second bleeding incident. She remained in ICU for a little over a week and is now in a Rehab clinic regaining her strength and balance, getting her ready for independent living, which will hopefully re-start a week from now. The rapid pace of her recuperation is, I think, mirrored by the annoyance she expresses at being at this Rehab place and not home.

The neurosurgeon told me that if she survived the operations, which thankfully she has, her recovery would be very quick, which it is proving to be. In fact, he said, she will feel much better and more clear thinking quicker than her body will regain strength from being in bed for over a week. A true blessing of spirit and truth. A challenge to manage: expectations and desires and the reality of what she can and cannot yet do.

Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that all those who follow him must learn to worship God and understand God as spirit and truth. I saw God's hand at work in: the skill of the neurosurgeon, his OR teams and the ICU staff. I saw God's hand at work in the world by the care provided to me by my mother's friends and family.

No matter what comes our way, God is next to us, with us, supporting us, guiding us. There is spirit and truth all around us.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: The Epiphany

Psalms 46, 97 * 96, 100; Isaiah 49:1-7; John 21:2-27; Matthew 12:14-21

The word epiphany derives from a Greek word that means manifestation. We celebrate the discovery of the Incarnation of God in the infant Jesus today, with that infant being found by three travelers termed "wise". The word epiphany has come to be defined as having a moment of revelation - a clearness of thought - a deep understanding of something that had been hidden. I like to think of "epiphany" as being an "aha" moment: a time when woolheadedness is replaced with clear thinking and understanding.

These moments don't come all that often in life. We need to cherish them when they do, recognize them when they occur, and incorporate those understandings into our way of being in the world. We can re-live and re-appreciate those aha moments if we manage to accomplish that incorporation. Perhaps we might be called "wise" then.

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Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: A New Chance

MP: Psalms 2, 110:1-5(6-7); Jonah 2:2-9; Ephesians 6:10-20; John 11:17-27,38-44

Eve of Epiphany: Psalm 29, 98; Isaiah 66:18-23; Romans 15:7-13

Friends have a way of telling us hard truths, of giving us second and third and fourth chances. True friends that is, not those who are not invested in us as we are in them. If we are blessed with having these kind of friends in our lives, we can be gifted with insights into ourselves and the world around us that we might not be able to see or understand without their presence and honesty in our lives.

In our MP Gospel reading we have Jesus raising Lazarus from his tomb, four days after he had been placed there. Jesus shouts into the tomb, after the stone is rolled away, Lazarus, come out! and when the he does come out bound in strips of cloth Jesus says, Unbind him, and let him go.

We are told by the Gospel writer John that Lazarus (and his sisters Martha and Mary) were not only followers of Jesus but also his friends. What a gift to be given a chance to live again. Perhaps that is one of the things we are asked to think about from this Gospel reading, a chance to be resurrected into a new life with our friends. Or, similarly, who in our lives needs to be shaken up, told to come out, to be unbound, to allow them to go free. Are we open to hearing those commands from our friends? Do we have the courage, strength and love to say something to someone who needs to alter the trajectory they are on? A new chance is always worth the effort.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Gifts and Costs

Psalms 85, 87 * 89:1-29; Joshua 3:14-4:7; Ephesians 5:1-20; John 9:1-12,35-38

I heard a sermon recently on the passage in Matthew concerning The Holy Innocents: those children two years and younger who were killed by Herod because of his fear of the King of Jews having been born. The sermon was an interesting reflection on darkness and evil in the world, the preacher saying the reason for their existence being inexplicable but ever-present, yet he was there to testify to the light that shines in that ever-present darkness. That light, of course, being Jesus. Perhaps a bit of a dark sermon in the Season of Christmas.

I thought of that sermon today as I read our lectionary selection from the Gospel of John, where Jesus heals the individual who was blind from birth. Jesus heals him and then the man is questioned (tried really), his parents are questioned (also tried - the part that is omitted from our reading) and then the newly sighted man is cast out. Jesus finds him and the man worships Jesus. There is a cost to this gift Jesus gives this formerly blind man.

I must confess to wanting to be poly-anna at times - wanting to think the best about people's intentions, seeing only the good in the world. Today's reading from John (and the sermon on The Holy Innocents) are an appropriate reminder of the need to recognize there is the other side of the coin to take into account. Not to dwell in that darkness or be consumed by people's wrongful intentions, but to balance the joy of Christ's gifts to us with the knowledge that there will always be more work to do. Always.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Trusting Who We Are

Psalms 34 *33; 1 Kings 19:1-8; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:1-14

We are gifted such wonderful readings today. In First Kings we have Jezebel threatening Elijah, and Elijah becomes fearful and running away. He drops off his servant in Beersheba and continues on his journey. But he gives up hope and lies down, only to be provided sustenance and strength by God so he can continue his journey to God's mountain.

The selection from the letter to the Ephesians is that call by the author to live into who God has created us to be and to utilize the individualized gifts we are all given for the completion of the Body of Christ of which we are all apart.

And in the selection from John we have Jesus feeding the masses with five barley loaves and two fish with enough left over to fill 12 baskets.

On this second day of the New Year we have these three readings that provide assurance: of God's involvement in our lives, of God's love for us even when we think we should give up, of God's grace in giving us gifts to effectuate the building of the Body of Christ, and of our continued sustenance and satiated appetite even when we do not trust that the seeming impossible can be accomplished.

We are reminded today that we can trust in who we are and that the gifts God has given us are enough.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Holy Name & Happy New Year

Psalm 103 * 148; Isaiah 62:1-5,10-12; Revelation 19:11-16; Matthew 1:18-25

Lesser Feasts and Fasts tells us that prior to the '79 BCP this day was not known as Holy Name but as the Feast of the Circumcision. Luke tells us this ritual was performed on Jesus eight days after his birth, pursuant to Jewish custom and tradition. The church shifted away from that bloody and gruesome (and painful) image in '79 moving to a day where we reflect on the Holy Name given to Jesus on this day.

All three of our readings have to do namings: how Jerusalem is referred to will be changed; the names John uses to describe the images in his revelation, and the importance of Jesus' name being given him by Joseph in Matthew's Gospel. What we call something is important.

Names have meaning. It is a proven psychological principle that things we are called, names associated with us, can have lasting impact. When a child is called "fatso" or "ugly-zit-face", as much as those names may be untrue, they can still take root and help shape a person's self-image. Similarly, what we pray as Episcopalians is what we believe. By identifying ourselves as members of this peculiar community of Christians, we are not only saying something to others about who we are and what we believe, but we are all in the act of becoming that thing. It is important what we call ourselves.

On this first day of a new calendar year, as we think about and recognize Jesus' Holy Name, we are also asked to think about what name we want to be called this year. Who am I becoming, we can ask ourselves, and then actually embody that image we project. That authenticity will bring us to a very Happy New Year.

jfd+

Copyright 2010, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: St. Thomas

MP: Psalms 23, 121; Job: 42:1-6; 1 Peter 1:3-9

EP: Psalm 27; Isaiah 43:8-13; John 14:1-7

I think St. Thomas should be the patron saint for all Episcopalians, for he had faith, but he had questions too. Thomas had stalwart confidence and loyalty and friendship to Jesus and the other disciples, but he wanted to understand too. His faith was there, just sometimes stalled by his intellect and his desire to methodically work through an issue.

We see these characteristics in our EP reading from the Gospel of John today. Jesus is interrupted in his final discourse at the Last Supper by Thomas who wants to know the answer to an obvious question: so you're going ahead of us - how the heck are we going to find you? And of course Jesus patiently and lovingly answers Thomas by saying it is through him, by believing and following him, that our way can be made clear. Probably not the clear answer Thomas was hoping for, but it is the only one Jesus is going to provide.

We have Thomas as an example and as a warning. As an example of his deeply routed faith and as a warning that we cannot let our intellect block that faith. Our intellect can help deepen that faith, but there are mysteries and beliefs that rely more on faith than our brain. A nice reminder on this last Monday of the Advent Season.

jfd+

Copyright 2009, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Enter Into the Joy

Psalms 40, 54 * 51; Zechariah 7:8-8:8; Revelation 5:6-14; Matthew 25:14-30

These past few days Jesus has been talking about being ready, getting ourselves ready for the end times, the last days. He continues along that theme in today's Gospel selection with the parable of the three slaves given 5 talents, 2 talents and 1 talent and what they did with those gifts.

We all have different gifts, different things we have energy around, different levels of desire to "do" certain things while others we do our best to stay away from. There are times, naturally, where we just don't feel like "doing" those things we are called upon to do, those things that we have gifts and abilities to do. I do not think Jesus is talking about those particular times in all of our lives. I do think Jesus is talking about times when we purposefully ignore, and over the course of a longer period of time, do not live up to, or into, the life to which our gifts and abilities can lead us.

There is a joy in accomplishing a task, in completing a challenging assignment. There is also a joy in actually living into and actually doing that work we have abilities to do. All of these recent readings we have been having in our Gospel have been focused on being ready, being watchful, doing the work we are called to do before it is too late. Having these kinds of focused readings in Advent is a good reminder of what this season is all about: getting ready for what we celebrate a week from today. In a way, we celebrate the world ending a week from today, the coming of God into the world in a new way signals the end.... and the beginning.

In Eucharistic Prayer B there is a phrase toward the beginning of the prayer that starts "In these last days....." Jesus is reminding us with this parable of the talents that we are in these last days; that the celebration of the Word becoming flesh we are preparing for seven days from today marks an end to all things, and the beginning of new....all of which allows us to enter into the joy that is God's embrace. All we have to do is be our better selves.

jfd+

Copyright 2009, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: A Thirsting Soul

Psalms 30, 32 * 42, 43; Haggai 2:1-9; Revelation 3:1-6; Matthew 24:1-14

For EP today we are gifted two of my favorite Psalms: 42 and 43. Both Psalms are set out below for ready review. Some have asked me why I like these so much for there is some graphic, and some find off-putting, language (see 42:11-13). I find the imagery in those words far outweighed by other verses (see 42:1-2,6-7, 43:3-6).

I find in these two Psalms (that many commentators believe, at one time, to have been one) to provide the scope of a person's faith journey: desire, want, despair, questioning, resolution/faith. These Psalms, in 21 verses, run the gamut from: a deep desire to know God, a wanting to be in relationship with God, to despair that God seems to be absent in life's challenges, a questioning of one's faith and belief, and ending where we can start, at a faith that God is with us.

These are great Psalms to carry with us, to think about, during any time of the year, but in particular during Advent, this season of waiting and expectation and wonder. I commend them to you.

jfd+

Psalm 42:

1 As the deer longs for the water-brooks *

so longs my soul for you, O God.

2 My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God; *

when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?

3 My tears have ben my food day and night, *

while all day long they say to me,

"Where now is your God?"

4 I pour out my soul when I think on these things; *

how I went with the multitude and led them into the house of God,

5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, *

among those who keep holy-day.

6 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *

and why are you so disquieted within me?

7 Put your trust in God; *

for I will yet give thanks to the One,

who is the help of my countenance and my God.

8 My soul is heavy within me; *

therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,

and from the peak of Mizar among the heights of Hermon.

9 One deep calls to another in the noise of your cataracts; *

all your rapids and floods have gone over me.

10 The Lord grants loving-kindness in the daytime; *

in the night season God's song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.

11 I will say to the God of my strength,

"Why have you forgotten me? *

and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?"

12 While my bones are being broken, *

my enemies mock me to my face;

13 All day long they mock me, *

and say to me, "Where now is your God?"

14 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *

and why are you so disquieted within me?

15 Put your trust in God; *

for I will yet give thanks to the One,

who is the help of my countenance and my God.

Psalm 43

1 Give judgment for me, O God,

and defend my cause against an ungodly people; *

deliver me from the deceitful and the wicked.

2 For you are the God of my strength;

why have you put me from you? *

and why do I go so heavily while the enemy oppresses me?

3 Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, *

and bring me to your holy hill

and to your dwelling.

4 That I may go to the altar of God,

to the God of my joy and gladness; *

and on the harp I will give thanks to God, my God.

5 Why are you so full of heaviness, O my soul? *

and why are you so disquieted within me?

6 Put your trust in God; *

for I will yet give thanks to the One,

who is the help of my countenance and my God.

Daily Office Reflection: Something Different

Psalms 26, 28 * 36, 39; Amos 7:10-17; Revelation 1:9-16; Matthew 22:34-46

Ceasing the placing of human characteristics on what God can and cannot do is one of the concepts Jesus does his best to get across to the Pharisees today. He confounds the Pharisees today by making them reconsider whose son the Messiah would be: David's or God's. In one of those Gospel conundrums, we have Matthew (and other) Gospel writers straining to prove Jesus' relationship/lineage to David and yet in the same Gospel, many chapters later, saying that relationship is really irrelevant.

Placing human limitations on what God can and cannot do, Jesus is saying in part, is part of the Pharisees problem. We need to try to think beyond those limitations, see the world, and our workings within it, from a different perspective. God's love knows no bounds. We do a disservice to ourselves and to the coming Incarnation we celebrate in 17 days if we do not try and do something different, if we don't try to open ourselves to understanding God's love for us, and involvement in our lives, as something bigger than we are. That is a good Advent idea to chew on today.

jfd+

Copyright 2009, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: God's Things

Psalm 20, 21:1-7(8-14) * 110:1-5(6-7), 116, 117; Amos 5:18-27; Jude 17-25; Matthew 22:15-22

This seems so simple, and yet it is not. This seems so direct, and yet it is not: Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's,and to God the things that are God's. Jesus says this to the Pharisees that are trying to entrap him in their plotting to have him killed by the Romans.

We are called by God to be of this world but not, to be part of and in this world, but not. Two seemingly diametrically opposed instructions to allow us to live into the kingdom. One of the things Jesus is saying today is that we must be in this world, operate within the parameters and frameworks of it, but not allow those parameters and frameworks to dictate or control what should be the center of our existence: God.

If we base at the center of our understanding of the world our belief in God's love for all, those "worldly" things, those rules and regulations that can get in the way of being centered in God, take their proper place. As we are called to be God's representatives here, as the Body of Christ in the world, well than we will not be able to fail if we keep ourselves centered in God's love. Will we be successful al the time, bring the secular world along to where it should be, not always. That does not mean we should either stop trying, or that we shouldn't find some way to still accommodate those issues of equality and justice for all in all of our actions.

Such a simple concept Jesus provides for us today, hard to effectuate, but always possible. A good thing to contemplate as we enter the second week of Advent.

jfd+

Copyright 2009, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: SNCMSRP

Psalms 119:1-24 * 12, 13, 14; Amos 3:12-4:5; 2 Peter 3:1-10; Matthew 21:23-32

The chief priests and the elders of the people come to Jesus today while he is teaching. In yesterday's reading from the Gospel of Matthew Jesus had cleaned the temple of the money-changers and those who sold doves. These elders and priests ask Jesus just who does he think he is, from where does he claim the authority to do and say the things that he does and says. Jesus replies asking about John the Baptist's missionary work and they equivocate, proving to Jesus and those who listen that they are a bunch of stiff-necked-closed-minded-self-righteous prigs (SNCMSRPs, for those who like acronyms).

Jesus gives them a parable about two sons: one who says nope, and then changes his mind, and the other who says yup, but doesn't do what the father asked. This parable sums up one of the wonders of our yearly season of Advent. We are all given a chance to not be SNCMSRPs. We are all given an opportunity to prepare ourselves for this gift God gives us in the Incarnation. Being human, we can all have, from time to time, a bit of the SNCMSRP in us. Just like the first son, we can reject initially, but God's waiting embrace is always there for us when we decide to turn and walk into that embrace.

Advent is a wonderful time to get a massage to loosen those tightened neck muscles, open our mind to ideas and concepts that we might have initially rejected, and be gracious in listening to others and not be so self-focused. A good parable to think on this Advent.

jfd+

Copyright 2009, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.