Daily Office Reflection: Everyone Is Invited

Psalms 41, 52 * 44; 1 Samuel 24:1-22; Acts 13:44-52; Mark 4:1-20

Today's readings make clear that God's love for us is all encompassing and that all are invited into this loving embrace. The hard part of this good news is that we have to respond; we have to take this good news into the deepest part of ourselves and let it root there and become a central part of how we focus our lives in this world.

We celebrate four great women today in our Lesser Feasts and Fasts: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth and Harriet Ross Tubman. I am not going to repeat their accomplishments here - look them up and read about them, for they were remarkable women, leaders for the rights of women. They were also faithful Christians. They are examples of good soil where the seed brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold, despite the obstacles put in their way by those with authority and power in their day and age.

They understood the need to respond to Christ as the center of their lives work and that the good news of God in Christ was for everyone, not a select few determined to keep God's vision constricted and myopic. We see that narrowness of view in many places in our world and in our church as well. We can look at the United States Senators from southern states who narrowly interpret not only the Constitution but who they believe it is appropriate to sit on our nation's highest Court. We see that narrowness of sight in certain southern Bishops of TEC who, by their votes, want to restrict the House of Bishops (and in fact who can be a deacon and a priest) to their narrow vision of who can have good soil in their souls: as well as judge who can live in loving and blessed relationships and who cannot.

We are called to remember today that God's love is for everyone. To try and bind that love into a narrow and constricted vision is a willful blocking of the Holy Spirit's work that is alive and all around us, guiding us to a different world than the one we currently inhabit.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Break's Over

Psalms 30, 32 * 42, 43; 1 Samuel 22:1-23; Acts 13:26-43; Mark 3:19b-35

I haven't written anything on this blog in nearly a month. I needed to take a break, take a break from a lot of things. I needed to try and figure out what is important in my life and what is not. Figure out what is substance and what is fluff, what is distraction and what are things to be focused on. Am I done with this self exploration. No. It is a lifetime's work, but I am not in such a difficult position that I cannot recognize the importance of my writing here. Selfishly, this is important to me: to my spiritual journey, to my exploration of this faith I profess, to my relationship with God. Secondarily, this blog has a purpose of exhibiting how powerful being immersed in The Daily Office can be in one's life. So....break's over.

We have been immersed in the long saga of David, Saul and Jonathan the last number of weeks, as well as grinding our way through Acts, and we have just recently started the Gospel of Mark. The theme of "break's over" appears in this portion of Samuel we have today, as well as in the selection from Mark. David is in hiding, but agrees to lead disaffected people who come to him, which really pisses off Saul. David is slowly coming to the realization that his break is over, his ability to deny his kingship is over, that he must start to act in the manner to which he has already been anointed. In Mark, Jesus identifies his family as those who do God's work, not his flesh and blood kin who are standing on the outside of the crowd surrounding Jesus. Jesus, as Mark portrays him so often, is doing his "blood and guts" statements of just laying the truth out there: my family does God's work. Anyone who does this IS my family, is a part of MY family. In other words Jesus is saying: break's over people, get on board or get out of the way.

I think we see some of that mentality emanating from the just completed General Convention of The Episcopal Church in Anaheim, California. The legislation passed shows a movement beyond a stasis period: whether it be on ordination of gay and lesbian people to all offices of the church, or the blessing of same sex marriages, or the inclusion of pension benefits for lay employees, or the development of a congregational health plan, or the myriad of other pieces of formative and astoundingly prophetic legislation passed by that governing body. All are saying clearly that "break's over", we are moving forward. We have listened, we have been bullied, we have not bullied back in return. We have chosen to follow the Holy Spirit where she is leading us. A remarkable and beautiful and inspiring thing.

Break's over. Thanks for your patience.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Perspective

Psalms 78:1-39 * 78:40-72; 1 Samuel 1:21-2:11; Acts 1:15-26; Luke 20:19-26

There are people in this world who live by rules and rules only. I cannot say I am one of them, although I do appreciate structure and order and within that world I do my best to operate with a freedom of choice that allows the chaos that can inhabit that freedom bearable. To get too locked into rules and regulations blocks out imagination and creativity.

We are given a clear reminder of this with Jesus' answer to the question about paying taxes. Jesus makes it clear that we are to operate in the world in which we are situated, operate by the rules and regulations born from that world, and at the same time operate in God's world. This creates enormous tension and can lead to chaos. Having solid rules and regulations gives a sense of order and construct around that chaos. And that sense of order can lead to a rigidity in life that Jesus says needs to be kept in balance, in perspective. Keeping an open and discerning mind, allowing the creative and imaginative juices flowing, can aid in retaining that perspective: in giving unto Caesar what is Caesar's and keeping the rest for the creation of God's Kingdom among us.

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Copyright 2009, John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved

Daily Office Reflection: Stuck

Psalms 75, 76 * 23, 27; Ecclesiasticus 46:1-10; 2 Corinthians 13:1-14; Luke 20:1-8

I think we can fall into defensive postures too easily in this life. Particularly when we are challenged we can fall into legalisms. We see that with the scribes today, challenging Jesus and then afraid to respond to him honestly and Jesus doesn't get into a dialogue with them for that reason. These scribes are stuck and in that state of legalism and cannot see the beauty of God's creation right in front of their eyes.

Jesus is a game changer, a life changer. He radically shifts how we see and operate in the world. Today's reading reminds us not to be frightened of that but to live into that fact. This reading reminds us not to get stuck in our fear and fall back on legalism but instead to walk into the unknown with the knowledge that we are not alone on this journey.

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Copyright 2009. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

Daily Office Reflection: Saint Barnabas

MP: Psalms 15, 67; Ecclesiasticus 31:3-11; Acts 4:32-37

EP: Psalms 19, 146; Job 29:1-16; Acts 9:26-31

Saint Barnabas sold property and gave the proceeds to the apostles to distribute to those in their community who were in need and according to their need. He journeyed around the Mediterranean coast establishing churches, brought Paul into the fold, travelled with Paul and then separated from Paul over an argument. He apparently had a commanding persona as one of the accounts in Acts has him being mistaken as the Greek god Jupiter, the king of all their gods. And yet, he used these talents and gifts and wealth not for himself but for the founding of the church.

The Ecclesiasticus reading we are given for MP shows us how dangerous wealth can be, how alluring and distracting it can be for us, taking us away from the effectuation of the kingdom Jesus calls us to. Having it assigned to Barnabas provides us with a lesson about how to appropriately utilize the gifts of wealth we are given. I am always struck when reading these ancient readings how much we have not changed, deep down. How, no matter how much we advance technologically, there is this innate yearning and desire to retain wealth for ourselves. I find this a fascinating idea to pray on.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Using What Is Given

Psalms 72 * 119:73-96; Deuteronomy 31:30-32:14; 2 Corinthians 11:21b-33; Luke 19:11-27

Jesus gives us two very huge principles to dwell on today. The reason he tells his disciples the parable of the rich nobleman and his slaves who utilize the ten pounds given them differently, is that those disciples "supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately" upon Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem. We know their expectations of what that kingdom would look and be like is far different from what God's understanding of this developing kingdom really is. And Jesus is preparing his disciples and us for the fact that we can't bury or hide or not utilize those gifts given us.

So many people operate out of a place of fear: fear of losing something, fear of not succeeding, fear of making the wrong decision, that they become like the last slave who buried the pound given him for safe keeping as opposed to using it appropriately. Jesus makes clear today that the kingdom is not something that will take a shape that is expected and that we must accept and utilize those gifts given us for the effectuation of that kingdom if we are to even be able to see a glimmer of its existence. We are talking about a movement away from fear to hopeful work, away from fear to hope-filled joy at our assistance in the creation of the kingdom all around us.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Awakening

Psalms 61, 62 * 68:1-20(21-23)24-36; Deuteronomy 30:11-20; 2Corinthians 11:1-21a; Luke 19:1-10

Have you ever felt like you were doing something that you should not be? And you continue to do it anyway? Until, until something odd happens that wakes you up to guide you in a different direction? I know many people who stay in that first state never recognizing or acknowledging those surprises that can lead us out of the malaise of what we are doing. 

Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, can be a model for us to help find our way out of those times of malaise.  He gets so excited when learning that Jesus is in his town of Jericho that he climbs a tree so he can see over the crowds, to see this person at whose name his heart beat faster. Jesus responds to that pounding heart and takes Zacchaeus under his wing.

Zacchaeus knows that even though he has not defrauded anybody, he could do more and offers half of all that he has to the poor, to which Jesus points out that this is an act of salvation, an act of being saved by one who was lost. 

We have a map out of the malaise and toward something far greater.

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

Daily Office Reflection: To See Again

Psalms 56, 57, (58) * 64, 65; Deuteronomy 30:1-10; 2 Corinthians 10:1-18; Luke 18:31-43

Jesus gives another prediction of his passion to his disciples, who still aren't allowed to understand it (which confuses me some) and then we hare given the story of Jesus, on his approach to Jericho, curing a blind man. If we take this miracle story in a literal way, we can appreciate the joy of this individual whose faith saved him. If we try and understand this miracle story in a different way, we can see other things in this account. 

Why would Jesus ask a blind man who is shouting for aid, what he wants? Why, when Jesus grants the man his wish does he add "your faith has saved you"? Not your faith has granted you your sight, but has saved you. 

What do we need to see that we aren't? What are we blind to in the portion of the world we occupy? In what do we need to have more faith?

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

Daily Office Reflection: Prayers

Psalms 50 * (59), 60 or 8, 84; Deuteronomy 16:18-20;17:14-20; 2 Corinthians 8:1-16; Luke 18:1-8

There is an old adage, be careful what you wish for as you might just get it. I think the same holds true for prayer.

Jesus reminds his disciples today about prayer and the need for persistence in our prayer life. This is a persistence based in faithful recognition of who we are as God's beloved, who we are as Christ's body in the world. That recognition leads us to understand the kinds of things to ask for in prayer and the kinds of things for which we should not ask. For God does answer prayers, just not always in the manner or the way we want or expect. Recognizing those answers is part of that faithful persistence. 

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

Daily Office Reflection: Steadiness

Psalms 119:49-72 * 49 (53); Deuteronomy 13:1--11; 2 Corinthians 7:2-16; Luke 17:20-37

The Pharisees ask Jesus about the coming of the kingdom of God and Jesus says that efforts will be made to mislead but that in fact "the kingdom of God is among you." Jesus then tells his disciples that efforts will be made to mis-direct them and that they must be steady in their beliefs and faith and not be misled. 

So much of life can be like this, where we have a direction, we know the journey that we are on, the path we should trod, and yet there are people that try to get us off that path, misguide us, distract us. A part of faithfulness is not allowing those, who for misguided reasons of their own, desire to deprive us of the journey we are called to fulfill. Being that rock of faithfulness, having a steadiness at our core, is what Jesus reminds us to strive for today. This is not an easy state of being to achieve or remain in, although it is eminently doable. And there is a cost that is associated with this steadiness: a realization that those we thought we could trust, sometimes we can't; those we thought loved us, sometimes don't; those we thought our friends prove themselves to be otherwise. A constant and high cost that Jesus models for us. This is part of the journey too.

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

Daily Office Reflection: The Day After Pentecost

Psalms 45 * 47, 48; Deuteronomy 11:13-19; 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2; Luke 17:1-10

On this day after the settling of the Advocate on the apostles, on their becoming aware of their potential and the founding of our church, we are reminded in our Gospel reading about a reality of our existence: stumbling and forgiveness. Jesus talks about "occasions for stumbling are bound to come". This does not mean that we have to stumble, but that the opportunity will present itself to us. And if one of us should stumble, we are to give forgiveness should someone ask us. If we stumble we are the ones who are to ask for forgiveness and our community will grant it. This is a tall order for us today, for both the asking and the forgiving are difficult things for us to face up to.

To be that Body of Christ we all are, to be that community, these twinned elements of seeking forgiveness and the granting of that forgiveness are key elements to our effectuating the existence of that community. A good reading, a good reminder for this day after Pentecost.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Go and Do Likewise

Psalm 105:1-22 * 105:23-45; Ezekiel 18:1-4,19-32; Hebrews 7:18-28; Luke 10:25-37

Jesus has a conversation with a lawyer today about how to inherit eternal life and who exactly is our neighbor. And Jesus gives an example of a man who is robbed and beaten and ignored by two priests but is helped by an individual who is a pariah to the society at that time, a Samaritan. The shocking nature of this tale is lost on most of us as we don't understand just how far outside the Jewish societal norms Samaritans were.

It is so easy to be that lawyer who was looking to justify himself to Jesus, while Jesus is telling us that it is not justification or words he is looking for from us. He is looking and expecting us to act, behave and live in a certain way, where we instinctually understand who our neighbor is: we don't have to ask, we just know. And we act, help, reach out to all those around us, or to those who we pass on the journey. Quite the task we are given today.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Down the Mountain

Psalms 87, 90 * 136; Ezekiel 3:4-17; Hebrews 5:7-14; Luke 9:37-50

Today's passage is right after Luke's Transfiguration scene, and it begins today with Jesus and four of his disciples coming down off the mountain. Have you ever come down the side of a mountain, or even a steep hill?

I am out at a parish retreat in Shrine Mont, which is as far west in Virginia as you can go and not be in West Virginia. It is a retreat center owned and operated by the Diocese of Virginia and is nestled in a valley in the Shenandoah area. Driving in yesterday I came down a step and very windy road that even all but the craziest locals take slowly. Coming down from a mountain, or hill top, is dangerous and must be done with care. Doing so on foot adds a component of exhaustion I did not experience driving down into this valley, but Jesus must have as he came off of his mountain.

In our Gospel selection, we then have a fairly large number of themes strung together by Luke. At this retreat we are exploring baptism, and Jesus talks about welcoming children today, or little ones, depending on your translation from the Greek. Coming down a mountain and teaching about welcoming new ones to the flock, with a generosity of spirit and hope that can transform the world. What a nice way to think about baptism and outreach and evangelism.

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Copyright 2009, John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved

Daily Office Reflection: Ascension Day

Psalms 8, 47 * 24, 96; Ezekiel 1:1-14,24-28b; Hebrews 2:5-18; Matthew 28:16-20

There is an irreverent side of me that pops out on occasion, and this morning is one of those times it is popping up. Although today is an important day in our faith tradition, a song is running through my head on a continuous loop and perhaps if I share it, the song will go away. The first line is Up, up and away, in my beautiful, my beautiful balloon...... and the music goes on from there, and then I'm back to the first line again. 

It's actually kind of a fun picture to imagine, Jesus hopping into a hot air balloon, like the wizard of oz, and flying away. Not a religious image at all, but one that perhaps can illustrate why this Holy Day is such a hard one for so many people. Jesus ascends, bodily, to heaven today. We say it in our Creeds: who was crucified, died, rose and ascended to heaven..... We're at the ascension part today. And I think humor and odd images help people deal with parts of the faith that are so difficult to understand, or even yet imagine. 

We are given such wonderful parting words from Jesus today in Matthew: All authority has been given to him and he has called all of us to make disciples of all nations. ALL. He tells us how to baptize. And he tells us to remember that he is always with us. ALWAYS. Now there is something that takes that silly song out of my head.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Worrying

MP: Psalm 119:97-120; Baruch 3:24-37; James 5:13-18; Luke 12:22-31

EP: Psalm 68:1-20; 2Kings 2:1-15; Revelation 5:1-14

In the Gospel of Luke this morning, the day before Ascension Day, Jesus talks about our incessant worrying over unnecessary things. He uses some form of that word, worry, four times in 8 verses. Don't worry about clothing, and food. Don't worry about inconsequential things. For me there are two phrases that jump out at me in this morning's Gospel lesson:

• For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.
• Strive for God's kingdom; and these things will be given to you as well.

I must confess: I do worry about what I wear, how I look, how people will perceive me from my attire and my body-type. I don't worry so much about food - I am particular about what I eat but I can go a remarkable amount of time without eating. But, then again, I have been blessed to never have been completely destitute and worried about not having any food with which to survive on. So my experience is narrow in that regard.

I also must confess that I enjoy watching the show Sex in the City. In fact, last night after work, I sat down and watched the movie version of the show on DVD. I was struck by the rampant materialism and how much fashion, clothes, hair style, body type, played a part in the characters' lives. One of the lines about living in NYC is: People come to NYC for Fun, Fashion and Love. A goodly portion of the movie (and the series) explores what friendship is and means, as well as the difference between sex and love and how they can be mistaken for one another and the ramifications from that confusion. It also has to do with very expensive fashion, from clothing, to shoes, to bags. And yet, even with all this focus on inconsequential aspects of life, the movie did focus on love and the real meaning of it. And my last confession of the morning is that the movie made me cry last night.

Even with all the worrying those characters went through, when they were able to let go of those concerns (intellectual, financial, material) and let love reign true, their lives became different and better than they were before. Striving for God's kingdom can be found in that love, in that trust in our deepest selves. In that trust that the love that God has for us and has planted at the very root of our being, can bring us to a place where the worrying over materialistic things can fade and the true meaning of what our lives should be focused on can come into clear focus.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Asking, Searching, Knocking

Psalms 78(1-39) * 78(40-72); Deuteronomy 8:11-20; Luke 11:1-13

Jesus teaches his disciples how to pray today, teaching them The Lord's Prayer. after they ask him how they should pray. Following this he tells them quite explicitly that prayer isn't a one time thing, but a constant conversation, an ongoing conversation with God. 

I don't think this need for persistence is because God doesn't listen to us or purposefully ignores us. I think this persistence has more to do with our frailty and our penchant for asking for things that we don't really need, or perhaps asking for the impossible.

This ongoing dialogue with God is a regular reminder that we are not alone as we walk this journey and that another, more perfect than us, has walked it already and felt the same joys and griefs that we have felt.  Prayer can help us take this walk with more confidence.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Gaining the Whole World

Psalms 80 * 77, 79; Deuteronomy 8:1-10; James 1:1-15; Luke 9:18-27

What does it profit them if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves?

Jesus is in private prayer and conversation with his disciples today and he asks them not only who people think that he is but who these, his closest followers, believe that he is. And they get it right. Then Jesus gives a prediction of his passion week and tells all of us what it takes to be a disciple of his: deny ourselves,take up our cross daily and follow him. To save our life we must lose it and by losing our life for Jesus we save it.

We are back to ordering our priorities around Jesus and the example he sets for us. At the root of this is love: love for God and love for our neighbors as we love ourselves. This is so dramatically simple and so impossibly hard to accomplish. 2000 years of history has shown this to be the case. That being said, this does not mean that we should stop trying, stop being involved, stop our efforts at deciphering what our individual crosses are that we need to take up daily and follow down the path Jesus is leading us. 

I think Jesus knew our limitations, and although dramatic breakthroughs can and do happen, small steps are what are called for here. If we can each take small steps toward carrying those individual crosses, we will be effectuating the creation of the kingdom of God Jesus announces today, and we will be gaining the whole world - a world we are helping to make.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Not Everyone Says Yes

Psalms 75, 76 * 23, 27; Wisdom 19:1-8, 18-22; Romans 15:1-13; Luke 9:1-17

Jesus sends his 12 apostles out today having given them power and authority over demons, to cure diseases and to proclaim God's kingdom. He warns them that not everyone will welcome them and, although he doesn't say these exact words, he says not to worry about them (shake the dust from your feet as you leave).  

I struggle with this. I want everyone to come and be a part of effectuating the continued creation of God's kingdom Jesus ushers into the world. I want everyone to be a part of this joyous communal activity. And I know this is unrealistic and silly, but "want" and reality are often two very different things. 

Jesus doesn't say don't try, but he does make clear that  we are to keep moving on when the answer is no, we are to keep moving on to that next town and keep spreading the kingdom's creation. Not all will say yes. There will be disappointments. Perhaps that is one of the reasons I struggle with this idea: I don't like disappointments. But there it is in the Gospel, Jesus bursting my bubble again. How do you savor the victories if you don't have the disappointments to match them against?

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

Daily Office Reflection: Wisdom is a She

Psalms 61, 62 * 68:1-20(21-23)24-36; Wisdom 10:1-4(5-12)13-21; Romans 12:1-21; Luke 8:1-15

One of the things that drives me crazy about our society, our culture and (in places) our church is the rampant misogyny that imbues so much of all of those aspects of life.  So much of our religious tradition is patriarchal. So many of our translations of the Bible feed the patriarchal understanding of God's work in the world and help to re-enforce the ugly misogyny that exists in society.

This morning's Wisdom reading is a welcome relief from that narrow view point. Let me preface this with the understanding that I have done no research or study of the book of Wisdom, so what I am saying here is from a surface reading of our text today. But to hear the arc of the story of God's work in the world from it's creation, through the wrongs and devastations caused by humans, and Wisdom's work, correcting those wrongs, being described in the feminine pronoun is a welcome voice that needs to be more widely heard and incorporated into our understanding of God and how the world works.

Luke today provides us with the names of three women who are traveling with Jesus and the twelve: Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna. These devout members of Jesus' adopted family (as well as Wisdom being a woman) need to be remembered when those frustrations about misogyny raise their head. This is helpful.

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

Daily Office Reflection: New Eyes

Psalms 56, 57, (58) * 64, 65; Wisdom 9:1,7-18; Colossians (3:18-4:1)2-18; Luke 7:36-50

I'm just back from six days off, and my first Sunday off in many months. I didn't go anywhere exciting or new or do anything fantastically memorable. I visited friends and family, read, took long walks with the dog, caught a nap almost every day and quietly prayed. I found that I was much more tired than I thought I was and am grateful for the quiet time away. I cannot say that I am fully refreshed, but I know I am not as exhausted. And I think I can now see the forest, despite the trees, while before I took a brief time off, I think I was only seeing the bugs on the bark of individual trees.

Perhaps this is the feeling the "sinful woman" in our Gospel reading felt when she saw Jesus sitting at the Pharisees table: this feeling of getting a glimpse of the bigger picture. This feeling of knowing that there is more to life than our individual and sometimes petty concerns that can overwhelm us allowing us to think of nothing else. Jesus' love and forgiveness of this individual, who got a glimpse of the bigger picture when she saw him, indicates to us the love and forgiveness awaiting for us. Not only awaiting for us and available for us, but is indicative of what we should do, how we should act toward those we meet.

I know this wider vision I have will not last and that I will get sucked into looking at the bugs on the bark of individual trees, forgetting about the forest. I hope and pray that I can more frequently and more  easily take that journey back to see the majesty of the forest in all its resplendent beauty. 

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

Daily Office Reflection: What A World It Could Be

Psalms 119:49-72 * 49 (53); Wisdom 4:16-5:8 Colossians 1:24-2:7; Luke 6:27-38

We are given a picture of such a beautiful world by Jesus today. A world where we are bigger than our grievances, where we are bigger than our personal ambitions, where we are bigger than our greed. A world where we are always kind, generous, forgiving and altruistic. A world where we don't expect something to be given to us because of our actions. What a world this could be.

Realistically our human selves makes the existence of this world Jesus describes a bit problematic. If we look at the themes that run through scripture, greed v. generosity, forgiveness v. vengeance, hate v. love, we see that we have a ways to go. We see that we haven't changed, at our root, all that much. Sure society and culture and technology and knowledge have all increased, but our basic drives haven't. Jesus points us to that for which we should strive. What a world it could be.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Prayer and Action

Psalms 45 * 47, 48; Wisdom 3:1-9; Colossians 1:15-23; Luke 6:12-26

Our Gospel is just chock full of information and action today. Jesus spends the whole night in prayer, calls his throngs of disciples together and picks and names 12 as apostles and then comes down from the mountain to teach this great crowd of disciples and and an even larger group of people, standing on a level place. This is the beginning of the "Sermon on the Plain" (as opposed to the Sermon on the Mount in other Gospels) and we are provided with Luke's blessings and woes.

A whole lot to contemplate and try to digest today. We have  a repeated pattern here: Jesus praying alone and then going forward to work and to teach and to lead. Prayer is a central part of Jesus' life and is essential to his ministry. He models for us a behavior that is vital for our own spiritual growth and development.

There are many times when prayer seems to be hard, meaningless even. Our expectations may be miscued if that is the case. Prayer can give us guidance, it can give us strength to face and do what we must. By making prayer a regular part of our daily existence, we are girding ourselves to face what will come. Will everything be perfect, peachy-keen? Probably not. But we will be better able to face and deal with whatever comes, knowing that we are never alone, having given ourselves a firm ground on which to stand.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Reeling Them In

Psalms: 37:1-18 * 37:19-42; Daniel 5:13-30; 1John 5:13-20(21); Luke 5:1-11

Luke provides us with so much more detail than the other Gospel writers. Today we are at the lake of Gennesaret and Jesus' calling of Simon Peter, James and John. He does this calling after performing the miracle of hauling in huge quantities of fish after a day of fruitless fishing and after Peter's remarkable Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!

Jesus tells Peter and James and John not to be afraid and from now on you will be catching people. Jesus calls to him people who do not think they are worthy of the honor, who believe themselves to be sinful. Jesus teaches, performs miracles, preaches and recruits in today's passage. These are things all of us are called to do, no matter how unworthy we may believe we are, how sinful we may think we are. The love Jesus has for us, the understanding Jesus has for us being one of us, makes his invitation irresistible if we simply open ourselves to that gift. 

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

Daily Office Reflection: In A Fog

Psalms 26, 28 * 36, 39; Daniel 4:28-57; 1 John 4:7-21; Luke 4:31-37

I hurt my neck somehow on Saturday evening and have been in a goodly amount of discomfort since then. Yesterday afternoon I took a muscle relaxer, an anti-inflammatory and a pain pill and quickly fell asleep. A couple of hours later I woke up and felt like I was not connected: as an aunt of mine used to say I was in a fog. I took my dog Allie for a walk, and although I was physically functioning, I was not mentally present: this was truly an odd feeling for me. 

As I was walking along a gentleman said something to me and Allie went over for a friendly hello. I looked up and saw an individual who was smiling at me and talking about the dog. I responded that yes she does love the water and then Allie and I kept on walking. About an hour later that man's face was still with me and I realized I knew him and that he knew me. He is a fellow priest in the diocese who is the rector of a parish in the southern peninsula of Maryland and who occasionally attends our Sunday evening Taize Eucharist. I feel just terrible that I didn't recognize him, that the chemically induced fog I was in made me so unresponsive.

I wonder if there is an analogy to the clearing of that chemically induced fogged mind to Jesus' multiple casting out of demons from people who were tormented by them, as we have in today's reading. I wonder if Jesus' actions in these types of healings was like lifting a fog not only from the individual cured but from the crowds around the healed individual. I wonder if these healings are similar to how a rising sun burns off the low lying fog that exists on golf courses some mornings. 

I know I did not like that feeling of being so disconnected and would rather (I think) suffer the pain than be so numb to the world. Jesus modeled for us a way of being connected to the world, a way of lifting the fog that can make us see the world clearly: see the work that we need to do.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Spirit and Truth

Psalms 25 * 9, 15; Daniel 4:19-27; 1John 3:19-4:6; Luke 4:14-30

Jesus comes out of the desert filled with the power of the Spirit and makes a name for himself immediately. He travels around and quickly goes back to his hometown where he preaches the truth and is questioned as to his authority. He responds with difficult truth that really pisses off his hometown and is chased to the edge of a cliff, but he eludes his pursuers.

The Spirit is a wonderful thing, but it can be a dangerous thing as well. When we are filled with the power of the Spirit, we know it. When we see someone else filled with the power of the Spirit we sometimes don't recognize it so readily: many times we find those people annoying. With the power of the Spirit, we can and do tell truth to power. This is an important aspect of the Spirit, for those hearing and for those delivering. There are ways of telling truth without getting ourselves killed in the process. But there is danger in working with the Spirit, and we need to recognize that.

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

Daily Office Reflection: St. Mark the Evangelist

MP: Psalm 145; Ecclesiasicus 2:1-11; Acts 12:25-13:3

EP: Psalms 67, 96; Isaiah 62:6-12; 2Timothy 4:1-11

There are many traditions about St. Mark that have ben passed down through the ages. Lesser Feasts and Fasts tells us that Mark is believed to have been the son of a woman in who's house Jesus stayed. He is credited with being the Mark who started traveling with Paul but left for less than stellar reasons but later reconciled with Paul and became good friends with Peter. Mark is said to have been the first bishop in Alexandria and an early bishop of Asia Minor credited Mark as the writer of the Gospel given his name.

There is mystery here that is part of our faith. Just as importantly there is humanness here. Mark was not a key player in Jesus' story: tradition says he was a witness to it though. He was very human in his dealings with the cranky St. Paul, he made mistakes and found a way back from them to continue spreading the word about Jesus as best as he could. His was apparently a somewhat messy life and yet one that had great impact: not so much about him, himself, but about the one whom he dedicated his life, Jesus. That is a remarkable life worthy of remembrance this day.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Doing What Is Right

Psalms 18:1-20 * 18:21-50; Daniel 2:31-49; 1John 2:18-29; Luke 3:1-14

We switch to the Gospel of Luke this morning and we are given the first (adult) appearance of John the Baptist being sent out to the wilderness after the word of God came to him. When the crowd asks John what they should do he says: Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, whoever has food must do likewise. To the tax collectors he says: Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you. To the soldiers: Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation and be satisfied with your wages.

John is focusing on greed and our base human predilection toward it. John is saying we need to fight that urge to be greedy and instead go the opposite direction of keeping what we truly need and to be generous with the rest, truly generous, to those who do not have what they need to survive: those who don't have food, those who don't have clothes. I find it interesting that we are not called to give up everything, but to do what is necessary, to be satisfied with what we earn. We are asked to do what is right today and everyday. 

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

Daily Office Reflection: Christ' Body

Psalms 119:1-24 * 12, 13, 14; Daniel 2:17-30; 1John 2:12-17; John 17:20-26

Our Gospel reading, as convoluted as its writing is, shows us Jesus' plan, God's plan, for all of us. Jesus is setting up his church. We as members of that church, we are one with Christ. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one..... 

We use the phrase "We are the Body of Christ in the world" quite often. This is one of the places in Scripture from whence that truth comes. When we talk about God's love for us, Jesus' love for us, our love for each other and for the world we are working to impact and change, when we work at effectuating that kingdom collectively and individually, we are that Body. When we look for and when we find Christ in the eyes of those whom we look at, interact with, we are that Body. When we pray, when we love, when we are affectionate, when we stand up to bullies, when we worship, when we lead new people to that ever-welcoming and loving embrace of Christ, we are that Body.

And being a part of the Body of Christ in the world today also means that we are never alone. Never.

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

Daily Office Reflection: To Whom We Belong

Psalms 5, 6 * 10,11; Daniel 2:1-16; 1John 2:1-11; John 17:12-19

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.....They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

Right here is the rub that so many people who are Christian find themselves chafed by. For Jesus calls us to be different from the norms and culture that surrounds us, and this has never been an easy thing to accomplish as we are still of this world and in this world. We are not to separate ourselves from the world based on this passage. We are called to act differently in the world because of the gift Jesus gives us. By acting differently in the world, we will be "hated", looked upon differently, scorned, ignored, persecuted: from these things Jesus is asking God to protect us, to sanctify us.

It appears we are called to live a life that is not a "comfortable" life by society's standards. We need to make our own standards, our own markers of what is "comfortable" and what is right. This makes me unsettled, but perhaps Jesus is calling us to live in an unsettled state to ensure that we see things as he would and not as society would have us see them.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Easter Week, Saturday

Psalms 145 * 104; Isaiah 25:1-9; Acts 4:1-21(22-31); John 16:16-33

John's writing can be so circular seeming, so repetitive. We hear numerous times today about seeing and not seeing Jesus, about his being with them for a while and then not, about asking anything of God through Jesus' name and it will be granted, about coming persecution and loss and grief that will be turned into joy. Such a great number of seemingly convoluted words today that, at times, make me want to throw my hands up in the air in frustration.

Perhaps that is part of the gift of John's Gospel. Life is complicated and full of frustrations, full of loss and persecution and grief, but also full of joy and happiness and goodness. And it is a struggle. And it is a balancing act. All this Jesus models for us and John writes for us as exhibited in today's Gospel selection. The joy of Easter having culminated after a long Lent and Holy Week journey are also examples of the struggle that John's Gospel can sometimes be for us. 

But we are given such wonderful assurance today that we are not alone, even though we don't see Jesus. We are promised that Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of God in my name God will give it to you. Jesus' name is a powerful and reliable friend for us that we are reminded today is gifted to us as we walk through this complicated world. 

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

Daily Office Reflection: Easter Week, Friday

Psalms 136 * 118; Daniel 12:1-4,13; Acts 4:1-12; John 16:1-15

There are times in life when things do not seem to be going right, where we can feel that the world is against us. Those negative thoughts and feelings can overwhelm us overshadowing the good that does exist all around us. I think those times of negativity are an example of those stumbling blocks Jesus talks about today. Jesus is trying to prevent us from stumbling over these things that get in the way of our doing the work we are called to do.

Will everything in life be perfect? Will we always do everything right? Will we get everything we want? Will everyone like us? Will everyone support us? Will we always be healthy? Will all our relationships be smooth sailing? The answer to all those is no. When things get off course,  we cannot dwell in the negative. We need to recognize that off-coursedness for what it is and not let it rule our lives. There is so much good we do and can do. 

As Jesus reminds us today, They will put you out of the synagogues. That putting out is not to stop us or rule our lives. We can do and do amazing things in the world with little more than our voice, our smile and our presence allowing the Holy Spirit to do the rest.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Wednesday of Easter Week

Psalms 97, 99 * 115; Micah 7:7-15; Acts 3:1-10; John 15:1-11

abide in my love..... This is what Jesus instructs his disciples today while he is telling them that this abiding makes them fruitful vines in God's kingdom. This sounds like such an easy thing to do, when in fact it is enormously challenging. To open ourselves to this love, to abide in it, requires us to change the way we work in the world, the manner in which we operate. By operating in the world in this way, we set ourselves apart from the way society and popular culture pushes us to act. 

That tension, between society/culture and God's kingdom is the difficulty that rubs at all of us. Setting ourselves apart and yet still living in and operating in the world brings with it a daily tension we must live into. Taking the path of abiding in God's love, in Jesus' love, brings us a joy that is hard to articulate. We are promised that joy by Jesus today: I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Tuesday of Easter Week

Psalms 103 * 111, 114; Isaiah 30:18-21; Acts 2:36-41(42-47); John 14:15-31

We are at the beginning of the great 50 days of Easter - sometimes referred to as Eastertide. In our Gospel reading from John today we are given Jesus' promise of the sending the the Advocate (the Paraclete) which we know as the Holy Spirit. And he ends with the sentence Rise, let us be on our way. 

Jesus talks about his corporeal self not being here: In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. This is part of the difficulty of our faith, particularly in the world we live in that relies so much on what we can taste, see and smell. That empirical proof is, that tangible proof is not there for us because we were not alive 2000 years ago. 

But we do have this Spirit that leads us and guides us on the way if we allow ourselves to live into this life and keep ourselves open to God's voice in our lives. Living intentionally in a community of faith and being involved in that community is part of opening ourselves. It is part of our response to Jesus' command to Rise, let us be on the way.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Easter Monday!

Psalms 93, 98 * 66; Jonah 2:1-9; Acts 2:14,22-32; John 14:1-14

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Jesus has done the impossible, and yet he has done it. He is risen. And yet, we are graced with a pre-Easter reading in our lectionary selection from John, with Thomas asking how will we ever know the way to follow if Jesus is going ahead of us. 

While so many of us are on our post-Easter Day services high, this is a grounding question for us. Yesterday was GLORIOUS at all three of our services. The joy and energy was palpable. Jesus' presence also palpable. But when those crowds fade, when we are back to ordinary time, ordinary life, how do we find that palpable presence Thomas asks about today?

One way is staying involved in community life, being involved in the nitty-gritty of living in an intentional community of faith. This helps sustain us in the world. Another is to pray regularly, if not daily. If we think about prayer as an ongoing conversation with God, that palpable presence is more easily discernible in our lives: in how we act and in what we do, for, as we Episcopalians like to say, we believe what we pray, we are what we pray.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Holy Saturday

Psalm 95, 88 * 27; Job 19:21-27a; Hebrews 4:1-16(MP); Romans 8:1-11(EP)

The last day of Holy Week, the last day of Lent is finally here. This seems to have been a very long Lenten trek this year and my patience with the whole season is at an end. That impatience manifests itself in different ways. I am usually impatient with my dog when I am walking her during inclement weather. Weirdly, as I was walking my dog in the rain this morning I wasn't impatient with her incessant sniffing before finding the exact right spot to put her butt to pee or poop. I found myself enjoying the quiet, the sound of the rain falling through the newly budding branches of trees near the river. The sound of the rain on the water made me feel peaceful. Perhaps that is one of the things we are supposed to feel and think about today, this last day of Lent/Holy Week. Perhaps the impatience is natural....we want it to be Easter morning....we want to sing the "A" word and rejoice at Jesus' resurrection.

We are on the cusp of a new dawn and it is natural for our excitement to build. It is also natural to feel a calmness and sureness about what we celebrate tomorrow (or this evening at the Vigil services that will take place around the world).  A calmness and sureness that we are the recipients of a greater love than we can ever imagine being gifted: it is there for all of us. I can wait till then to say the "A" word. (Well, what the heck..... ALLELUIA!!! HE IS RISEN! HAPPY EASTER.) 

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

Daily Office Reflection: Good Friday

Psalm 95, 22 * 40:1-14(15-19), 54; Wisdom 1:16-2:1,12-22 or Genesis 22:1-14; Peter 1:10-20; John 13:36-38 (MP); John 19:38-42 (EP)

In the MP Gospel reading we are provided with Peter's weakness laid bare by Jesus. In EP we are provided with the story of Joseph of Arimethea and his loving care for this man who he did not understand but knew there was something special about. 

And we know the story in between these two vignettes. We still need to walk it today. We still need to open ourselves to this experience, to these events that take place in between. A friend of mine refers to this day, Good Friday, as the holiest day of the church year. I am not sure about that as I believe what occurs on Sunday morning should be given that title. But Sunday would not be possible without the day we need to walk through today.  This is not an easy day, but it is a walk that we must take.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Maundy Thursday

Psalms 102 * 142, 143; Jeremiah 20:7-11; 1Cor 10:14-17,11:27-32; John 17:1-11(12-26)

I love Maundy Thursday, this first day of the Triduum Sacrum, the Sacred Three Days. I love the service that we will worship with tonight which will include washing of the feet, Holy Eucharist, reserving the Sacrament for tomorrow and Stripping of the Altar. And I love that we celebrate the Last Supper and the founding of our common table. 

It is such a privilege and an honor to lead worship and pray one of our Holy Communion prayers, creating the bread and the wine, the common food we all eat and drink in community. I love that as Episcopalians we are table-centric: that our common table and our common meal are central to who and what we are as the Body of Christ in the world. This sense of binding community which enwraps us all is a part of why tonight's service is so special for me. This helps with the "harder" parts of this Holy Week.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Wednesday in Holy Week

Psalms 55 * 74; Jeremiah 17:5-10,14-17; Philippians 4:1-13; John 12:27-36

Sometimes our different lectionaries have weird convergences. This Gospel from John was our Sunday selection a week ago this past Sunday (a day that I preached in my parish). This Gospel was also the selection for the Eucharist on Tuesday in Holy Week (yesterday), again a service that I preached. And now we have this same selection today in our Daily Office lectionary. 

I have thought about the humanness of Jesus in this passage. I have thought about the divine nature that resides within Jesus because of this passage. I have thought about the denseness of those around Jesus, and my own denseness in not comprehending and not living into the life Jesus is calling us. I have thought about hiding - something particularly attractive this Holy Week right about now. 

What strikes me the most this morning is how strong Jesus is in these passages, how sure he is of what he has to do, no matter the personal cost to him. There is solace here for us as we struggle down this road of Holy Week.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Tuesday in Holy Week

Psalms 6, 12 * 94; Jeremiah 15:10-21; Philippians 3:15-21; John 12:20-26

We take another step closer to the Triduum today, to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and The Great Vigil of Easter all leading to Easter morn. And the Gospel of John provides us with Jesus giving a paradox: in order to have life we must lose it. Jesus is, as always, turning the world on its head and asking us to look at this new world in a different way. This is parallel to our Collect for today which tells us that Jesus turned a symbol of shame into a shining icon of glory: the Cross.

As we take another step along this week, if we walk with Jesus on the road to Golgotha and beyond, we will be looking at the world through new eyes, at a world turned upside down, and yet that world will not appear to be abnormal, but instead the way it is supposed to be.

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

Daily Office Reflection: Monday in Holy Week

Psalms 51:1-18(19-20) * 69:1-23; Jeremiah 12:1-16; Philippians 3:1-14; John 12:9-19

We are given John's version of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem in today's Daily Office reading. There are crowds and crowds of people and the Pharisees say the prescient Look, the world has gone after him. That statement doesn't stop them from moving their plot along to kill Jesus, which we know doesn't stop Jesus' work. And there is glory in this.

But our Collect for today exhibits a part of our faith that many of us try not to face: Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified.....Many of us want to enter Easter now and not take this walk this week we all must if we are to truly understand the gift we are given. 

All those crowds that chase after Jesus today, those folks who have left the Pharisees behind, disappear very soon and leave Jesus alone. Not only those crowds, but those closest to Jesus depart him and leave him alone. God, having taken human form, is alone, abandoned by these ferociously excited crowds and the ones who loved him and followed him from the start. Where is the glory in that?

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

Daily Office Reflection: I Am The Resurrection

Psalms 95, 22 * 141, 140:1-11(12); Jeremiah 29:1,4-13; Romans 11:11-14; John 11:1-27 or John 12:1-20

We had a funeral service last Sunday for a parishioner. She was 95 when she died and had lived in an "adult community" for the last 21 years, starting in the cottages, moving to an apartment and then into more and more of the hospital/critical care wing of the complex. I only knew Emily for the last two years of her life, as she slowly succumbed to the deterioration of her mind and body. It was a wonderful gift to hear about the "other" Emily who had lived a vital, active and loving life during the reception portion of her memorial service. 

We utilized The BCP Burial of the Dead, Rite II and began with the verses we hear in the first choice of Gospel selections we are given today: I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Jesus said these words to Martha upon his arrival having been summoned because Lazarus was dying. This is before Jesus raises Lazarus. To utilize these words during a funeral service, plucking them from a resurrection story, gives these words so much more of a palpable resonance. These words offer great comfort to those who mourn the loss of a loved one. These words set the tone for a funeral service: one of comfort and joy and thanksgiving.

As we walk into Palm Sunday and Holy Week, these words can and do help with all the questions that come up during this long week.

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

Daily Office Reflection: The Father and I are One

Psalms 131, 132 (133) * 140, 142; Jeremiah 26:1-16; Romans 11:1-12; John 10:19-42

We finish with this long back and forth discussion between the Pharisees and Jesus about who he is, resulting from Jesus healing the man who was blind from birth. They claim he has a demon, Jesus summarizes the Good Shepherd metaphor and then clearly identifies himself when he says The Father and I are one. The Pharisees try to stone him, even though they recognize his deeds as "good", they believe he is a blasphemer. Jesus, of course, seems to effortlessly escape. 

They recognize his actions as good but are offended by what he has to say and thereby discount his works. There is no doubt that, at times, words can over shadow actions. But Jesus proves the Pharisees wrong about everything they believe. His triumph over the cross does that. The continuation of the kingdom building that we are all involved in proves them wrong, and continues to prove the modern day Pharisees wrong as well.

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

Daily Office Reflection: I Am The Good Shepherd

Psalms 119:145-176 * 128, 129, 130; Jeremiah 25:30-38; Romans 10:14-21; John 10:1-18

We have this iconic reading today! The image of Jesus as the good shepherd imbues so much of our imagery and understanding of Jesus' ministry. This is a very complex passage: some will come, some will not; some will come, not all will stay; there are others outside of the community who can and will be a part of this new kingdom; there are those who want to destroy the kingdom and scatter the people Jesus calls, but if we stay with Jesus they will not succeed. Jesus is the center of it all, the leader, the one through whom all enter.

Simplicity and complexity in 18 verses. The wonders of the Gospel.

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