small mercies

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

A cooler of water on a hot day.
Pizza for lunch.
Arms to go around when tears flow.
A small, round washer.
Dry days.
Shelter in a storm.
Rollercoasters and swag.
Food and friends, loaves and fishes.
Electric saws.
Bandaids and stitches.
Breath for life.
Strips of paper.
People and prayers.
People who pray.
Someone to hear the prayers of the people.
Amen.

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Year B Proper 12 – Mission Elyria

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

A homily for the Saturday Eucharist at the end of Mission Week Elyria

Tomorrow, our mission youth will give the sermon at Sunday’s service. They will talk about the loaves and the fishes, about making do with what they had to do work throughout the county, making do with the gifts and the skills that they brought with them, that they brought to the jobs at hand. They will talk, too, about how they learned to share their materials, their skills, their ideas, themselves with one another.

I wish you could all have seen more of the way that the youth and their adult leaders worked together, to make the resources of twenty-seven teenagers – the resources of time, experience, friendship, knowledge, caring, prayer – to make those resources stretch further than they could have imagined.

They know what it is to give of their all, to struggle, to worry about having enough, doing enough, giving enough, and to see great things come out of their small pieces put together.

The reading that we hear today from the Book of Samuel is about the opposite approach to life’s little challenges. It is the unfortunate and rather unsavoury tale of David’s excess. David, the hero, the young shepherd boy who was chosen of God to be the king, the handsome and the ruddy, who last week was longing to build a temple to exceed his palace, this week has settled into monarchic comfort and has forgotten that he was chosen to serve his people, to tend to them, to care for them as a shepherd. He has forgotten to give; he has forgotten even to be content to live with what he has (and he has plenty); he has decided to take more instead.

And where does it lead, this moment of selfishness, of indiscretion, of covetousness? It leads the king, the shepherd of his people, to murder.

It is the stuff of tragedy; the fallen, flawed hero who backs himself into an impossible corner. If only David had remembered his call to love and protect his people, instead of giving into selfish lust, then Uriah would have lived and David’s conscience would have remained a whole lot cleaner. And if you read on in the book of Samuel, the tragedy is compounded.

But our God is a God of second, third and fourth chances. God knows that we fail and fall, and God loves us enough to lead us back to life with one another. God did not abandon David, or Bathsheba, and God created life out of death, as God continued to do in Jesus and continues to do today.

There is always enough grace to go around.

Tomorrow, the youth will tell Sunday’s congregation how grateful they were not only to serve, but to see the examples of service and sharing that they received from the people whose houses they worked at. The man who ordered them pizza for lunch yesterday. The mother and son who laid on a crate of water for their work team. The people of the parish who helped at job sites, who dropped off desserts and cooked community meals, who fed them dinner. The people of Redeemer, Lorain, who arranged a picnic at the lake and were undeterred by the storms that blew through. (The disciples thought the storm on the Sea of Galilee was scary? They should have seen the storm over Lake Erie Thursday night!) Our missioners know that service comes out of sharing, and that it is a gift to receive as well as to give.

Jesus saw the crowd coming. He knew their need. He asked Philip, “What are we going to do to feed these people?” He said it, we are told, to test Philip. He knew what he was about. Jesus wanted to know if Philip knew, yet, what it was to share the abundance of God’s provision for the people of God, how to make a few little pieces add up to more than the sum of their parts, by being thankful, by sharing, by focusing not on what was missing, but what was offered.

How would we have answered Jesus, seeing the hungry crowd? What have we learned from the Gospel about gratitude and giving, about sharing and abundance, about grace?

I have learned so much from our missioners, from their stories of gratitude and sharing, giving and grace. I have learned so much from them this week about discipleship, about responding to that question, “What are we to do? How are we to feed them?” with faith and faithfulness, and with gratitude. I have learned so much from all of you who have supported them, who have given gracefully of your time, your food, your space, the grace with which God has blessed you.

There is always enough grace to go around.

So, to quote St Paul, “Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

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Life and laundry

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

You know how sometimes life seems to just stack up like laundry?

Like the kind of laundry that gets washed and dried and folded and set aside until the pile grows so high that it’s too heavy to move, or it avalanches, and then it’s no longer clean but hairy because the cat comes and sits on it.

No matter how hard you try to stay ahead – and you get it washed and dried and folded, and it looks as though it should be possible to keep on track and get it done – the piles just keep growing till they threaten to overwhelm you.

You know how sometimes life seems to just stack up like that?

I’m trying to think of some good and useful strategies for dealing with that. When life just keeps coming and there’s no time for a time out.

It occurred to me that enlisting help might be the way to go.

Then I remembered:

“Come to me all of you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

I’m coming.

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Cliff song

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

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From this morning’s Psalm:

I waited patiently upon the Lord.
He stooped to me and heard my cry.

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

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

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Birthdays

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Do you remember when we tried to work out
how old you were by counting the years?
They refused to add up to
the number you had in your head.

The one in the hospital when you asked for clothing
because you had none, the ones you came in destroyed;
you owned nothing, not the thin striped gown your back.
Your father helped you get into your new set of clothes.

The one when we had the funeral, and you didn’t show up
because you didn’t know yet that she had died.

The one when we went to the Gower,
and the sand was golden,
and the sea was blue, the waves topped with
whipped white birthday cake frosting.

The sun is shining today.
I hope you’re happy.

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Mission Imp? Possibly

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

I feel as though I should be blogging about our mission week. It’s great. We have a couple of dozen awesome youth, some great adult companions, the clients whose houses and properties we’re working on are inspirational and funny and grateful and hopeful and wonderful. I am filled with inspiration and awe and laughter and gratitude and hope by them all.

But I’ve put 200 miles on my car in 2 days and now it’s time for Vestry. I flit in and out of the sites delivering ice and lost lunches, asking how people are doing and trying generally to be a helpful little imp. I’ve only swung a hammer in passing it to my daughter. I love this job. I love this mission. I love the thought that God is behind all of the work that’s going on – we are here because we know that God loves us and loves us well, and we want to learn how to do it just as well as God does.

Maybe I’ll get some time for reflection later in the week, when I step into someone else’s shoes and play with the power tools for a day or two. Somehow, I doubt it. Somehow, I think that’s ok.

Pray for us, will you, please? Mission Imp Out.

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Mary Magdalene

Posted on July 21, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

A Book of Hours dedicated to Mary Magdalene

compiled as part of a bygone seminary project!

Introduction

It is impossible to reconstruct from the few, brief references that we have in our scriptures, a biography or character of Mary Magdalene. All that we know for certain from these sources is that she was a follower of Jesus, and that she witnessed both the crucifixion and the resurrection event. She is mentioned in all four gospels, and finds the empty tomb in all four, although only in John does she actually see Jesus close to it. It seems likely, also, that she was at least among the first to speak the news of the resurrection to the community of Jesus’ followers, Mark 16:8 notwithstanding, although there is uncertainty as to how her news was received (Luke 24: 10-11).

Nevertheless, the character of Mary Magdalene has been the source of fascination for Christians throughout the centuries. From the few verses that we have about her in the Bible, a wealth of traditions and legends have developed. Some come from the conflation of Mary Magdalene with other women of the Bible, such as Mary of Bethany, who anointed Jesus for his death after he had raised her brother Lazarus from his own death, and the unnamed women of Mark and Luke’s gospels who likewise anoint Jesus, either predicting his burial or repenting of her own sins and offering her love and devotion. Indeed, after Pope Gregory the Great announced in a homily that these women were, in fact, one and the same Mary Magdalene, this conflation became accepted as fact,[i] even to the extent that when a sixteenth century scholar, Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples, dared to venture the opinion that these were separate women, he was found guilty of heresy.[ii]

The identification of Mary Magdalene with the penitent woman of Luke’s gospel, in particular, set the groundwork for her translation from the “Apostle to the apostles” to a notorious prostitute. Thus, one of the strongest women’s voices in the gospels is effectively silenced. The association of the apostle with sin and sex was an impediment to the advancement of women’s ministries in the church for many centuries, and persists in some ways today, although from at least the seventeenth century, women such as Margaret Fell Fox were beginning to reclaim Mary and all of these women as examples of women receiving a commission to serve Christ and to preach the gospel from Jesus himself.[iii]

… The devotions that follow join more recent attempts to redress the impact of legend and innuendo by honouring the example of discipleship found in the biblical Mary Magdalene.[ix] They follow loosely the traditional structure of the liturgy of the hours, an ancient tradition of Jewish and Christian religious life which marks out secular time and offers it to God.[x] Seven times in a period of twenty-four hours, prayer, psalmody, and scriptural readings are offered.[xi] Each hour has its own focus, whether penitence, praise or the communion of saints, but each is centered on a reading of scripture which helps to relate the story of Mary Magdalene. The hope is that the story of the biblical Mary and her life with Christ will prove to be a sufficient inspiration to prayer and proclamation, without the embellishments of legend.

These prayers are particularly suitable for use beginning on July 21st, culminating on the morning of Mary’s own feast day on July 22nd, with the climax of her biblical narrative, as she becomes the first apostle of the Resurrected Lord.

A Book of Hours dedicated to Mary Magdalene

(see Resources, below)

 Midday

Psalm 113:2-4
Let the Name of the LORD be blessed, from this time forth for evermore.
From the rising of the sun to its going down let the Name of the LORD be praised.
The LORD is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens.

Reading                                                                                              Mark 3: 34-35
And looking at those who sat around him, Jesus said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Prayers may be offered for ourselves and others.

 The Lord’s Prayer

 Collect
O God, by whose grace your servant Mary Magdalene, kindled with the flame of your love, became a burning and a shining light in your Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and walk before you as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 Commentary
 Throughout his gospel ministry, Jesus was radical in his treatment of women as equal in dignity to men, and equally deserving of access to his teaching, healing and loving forgiveness. This passage follows the attempt of his family to restrain his eccentricity, and can be read as a rejection of them; but it can also be read instead as a radical inclusion of all of his followers in his intimate love and care. In it, Jesus makes clear that his female as much as his male disciples are a part of his new “family.” Its challenge to us may be the inclusion and respect for those who are different from ourselves, who are marginalized in our communities and our hearts, whom we fail to see as “sister,” “brother,” or fellow child of God.

The Emergent Psalter says of Psalm 113: “Psalms 113-119 are … prayed as part of the Passover meal, with Psalms 113 and 114 said before the meal and Psalms 115-119 said afterward. There’s a good chance that Jesus sang this psalm at the Last Supper.”[xii] As our story moves toward the crucifixion following this hour, the Psalm is particularly appropriate to open our devotions.

The Collect, for a Saint, and particularly a Monastic, reflects the monastic tradition which we honour with these liturgical hours, and calls us to walk as “children of light,” inspired by Mary’s example.

Afternoon

Psalm 22: 1-5
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? and are so far from my cry
and from the words of my distress?
O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer; by night as well, but I find no rest.
Yet you are the Holy One, enthroned upon the praises of Israel.
Our forefathers put their trust in you; they trusted, and you delivered them.
They cried out to you and were delivered; they trusted in you and were not put to shame.

Reading                                                                                  Mark 15: 37, 40-41
Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger, and of Joses, and Salome. These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem.

Prayers may be offered for ourselves and others. Prayers for the dead and those who mourn are especially appropriate.

The Lord’s Prayer

Collect
Almighty God, whose beloved Son willingly endured the agony and shame of the cross for our redemption: Give us courage to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Commentary
In all but John’s gospel, where the beloved disciple stands at the side of Jesus’ mother, it is the women who watch the crucifixion. The men, afraid, confused, perhaps feeling forsaken themselves, have hidden themselves away. The women wait.

Whether it is a birth or a death, or a giving in marriage, women seem to be the ones appointed to attend life’s milestones and markers; and just as a mother in labour cannot run away from her pain, her fear, her confusion, when it comes to the end of life, these women cannot turn away. They will not forsake Jesus even when he thinks that even God might.

The Psalm used at this hour speaks of hope gleaned from the story of God’s faithfulness to the ancestors of Israel. The Collect speaks of courage in the face of adversity. As a long day wears on, or a task seems endless, or a relationship hopeless, may we at this hour find inspiration in the rebellious persistence of these women at Jesus’ side, who refused to look away even from death, and may God grant us the courage and strength to persevere in whatever we have to face this day and beyond.

Early Evening

Phos Hilaron
O gracious Light,
pure brightness of the everliving Father in heaven,
O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed!

Now as we come to the setting of the sun,
and our eyes behold the vesper light,
we sing your praises O God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices,
O Son of God, O Giver of life,
and to be glorified through all the worlds.

Reading                                                                                  Mark 15: 46-47
Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.

Prayers for ourselves and others may be offered at this time.

The Lord’s Prayer

Collect
Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of the bread. Grant this for the sake of your love. Amen.

 Commentary
At this dark hour, as evening falls, those of Jesus’ disciples who are able continue to offer their love and support. Some cannot bear to be there. Some are afraid of the authorities. But some remain, even in the valley of the shadow of death, to offer what comfort they may. Joseph of Arimathea did what he could to honor Jesus. Mary and the other women still watched, waiting for what would come next.

This hour, as evening falls and the day is done, is often the time when families come together to talk about the ups and downs of their day; when communities meet to pray the Evening Office, and when the lonely watch the setting of the sun with resignation or dismay.

As we pray this hour for a light to guide us into the darkness, may we remember all who are in sorrow, grief, sickness, or any other kind of trouble. May we offer what comfort we may, even if it means venturing into that shadowed valley with someone. May we remember to give thanks for those who have walked that path with us.

Following the usage of the Book of Common Prayer, the ancient evening hymn, Phos Hilaron, is sung or said in place of a Psalm at this hour.

At the Close of Day

Psalm 119: 25-32
My soul cleaves to the dust; give me life according to your word.
I have confessed my ways, and you answered me; instruct me in your statutes.
Make me understand the way of your commandments, that I may meditate on your marvelous works.
My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.
Take from me the way of lying; let me find grace through your law.
I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set your judgments before me.
I hold fast to your decrees; O Lord, let me not be put to shame.
I will run the way of your commandments, for you have set my heart at liberty.

Reading                                                                                  Matthew 5: 43-45
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.”

Prayers may be offered for ourselves and others. It is appropriate for thanksgivings for the blessings of the day and penitence for its sins be offered at this time.

The Lord’s Prayer

 Collect
Be our light in the darkness, O Lord, and in your great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of your only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Commentary
Mary Magdalene is not mentioned in the scriptural reading for this hour, traditionally the time for an assessment of the day and repentance for its sins; but the story of Mary Magdalene became intricately wound up in themes of sin and repentance from the early centuries of Christianity on. As we saw in the introduction to these devotions, much of this had to do with mistaken identity: she was thought to be the “sinner of the city” of Luke’s gospel, or perhaps the woman caught in adultery. Her name was besmirched by scandal, and her status changed from a real human being to a symbol of wanton femininity and extremes of penitence.

Mary Magdalene was certainly a sinner; we all are. She also certainly suffered in name from the patriarchal structures which sinfully oppressed women in the centuries after her story began. As we contemplate our own part in perpetuating sinful structures, by acknowledging, in the words of the confession offered below, the sin done on our behalf, and as we forgive those who have had a hand in oppressing us, may we by God’s grace find new ways of repentance which change those structures and attitudes, and restore and reconcile us to right relationship with God and with one another.

A suggested form of confession*
God of all mercy, we confess that we have sinned against you, opposing your will in our lives.
We have denied your goodness in each other, in ourselves, and in the world you have created.
We repent of the evil that enslaves us, the evil we have done, and the evil done on our behalf.
Forgive, restore, and strengthen us through our Savior Jesus Christ, that we may abide in your love and serve only your will. Amen.

Night

Psalm 103: 1-5
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
He forgives all your sins and heals all your infirmities;
He redeems your life from the grave and crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness;
He satisfies you with good things, and your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

Reading                                                                                              Luke 8: 1-3
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cure of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.

Prayers may be offered for ourselves and others at this time; especially for healing, and for a peaceful night.

The Lord’s Prayer

Collect
Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake. Amen.

Commentary
The tradition that Mary Magdalene was healed or freed by Jesus from seven demons is attested to here and in the longer ending of the gospel of Mark. Many of the people whom Jesus heals in the gospels follow him out of gratitude, awe or wonder, and Mary is perhaps one of them. Healed and renewed, then, she joins with other people whom Jesus has helped to offer what assistance she may to Jesus and his other disciples, to do her part in the work of preaching the kingdom of God and the salvation of the world.

Later tradition sometimes interpreted the demons as the seven deadly sins, but it is more usual in the gospels to view demons as tormentors of their innocent victims, who once healed and restored are ready to serve God and God with us, Jesus.

When we are woken in the night by our own demons, whether they be physical afflictions, emotional traumas, guilt, grief or other tormentors, we may remember that the One who healed Mary is there for us to turn to in prayer. May we know God’s peace in our hearts and be restored by the night’s rest to do our own part in proclaiming the reign of God come the morning.

Early morning

Psalm 27:17-18, 130:5-6
What if I had not believed that I should see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living!
O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure; be strong, and he shall comfort your heart;
wait patiently for the Lord.
I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; in his word is my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.

Reading                                                                                  John 20: 1, 11b-12
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

Prayers for ourselves and others may be offered.

The Lord’s Prayer

Collect
Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Commentary
 In each of the gospels, an angel, angels or persons of angelic appearance attest to the truth of the resurrection at the empty tomb,. They reassure the women that the fact that Jesus’ body is missing is, in fact, a sign of the good news of his new life. In the Hebrew scriptures angels tend to be representatives and messengers of God; in the gospels, they both announce the good news of the Incarnation and Resurrection, and they minister to Jesus in his times of trial, in his retreat to the wilderness and perhaps at his awakening after his death, after his exile in the land of the dead.

As Mary searches for Jesus, either in fear or in faith, she encounters an angel who points her towards  the truth. As we await the dawning of a new day, to encounter Christ anew in those we meet and serve, may we be attentive to the messengers of God who come to us by night or by day, in dazzling white clothes or in rags. When we do not know what to make of what we see, experience or hear, may we remember the mystery of the empty tomb, and look for God’s word in and for the moment.

 

Morning

 Psalm 100
Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands; serve the Lord with gladness and come before his presence with a song.
Know this: The Lord himself is God; he himself has made us, and we are his; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise; give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

Reading                                                                                              John 20: 16-18
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Prayers for ourselves and others may be offered. Prayers for vocation, mission and evangelism are particularly appropriate.

 The Lord’s Prayer

 Collect
Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 One of the following prayers may be added:

 Prayer for mission
O God and Father of all, whom the whole heavens adore: Let the whole earth also worship you, all nations obey you, all tongues confess and bless you, and men and women everywhere love you and serve you in peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 or this

 Collect for a Missionary
Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Mary Magdalene, whom you called to preach the Gospel to her fellow disciples. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Closing sentence
Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.                                                                              Ephesians 3:20, 21

  Commentary
The story of Mary Magdalene reaches its mysterious climax in the scene in the garden. She is weeping, wondering where Jesus might have gone, in her grief still thinking that his body might simply have been stolen, or moved. She has forgotten for a moment his promises to rise from the dead, to return to his friends. When a man speaks to her, asking her why she is crying, she thinks at first that it must be the gardener. Only when he speaks her name does she turn and recognize her beloved Lord.

There is no embrace, however, no falling weeping into his arms. Instead, Jesus has a specific task for Mary: to tell all of his followers what she has seen and heard in the garden, so that they, too, might be relieved of their grief and know the wonder of God’s salvation.

One of the Eucharistic prayers of the Book of Common Prayer asks God to, “Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal.” Like Mary, we are charged not to keep this to ourselves. We who know the story of God’s radical acceptance of women, men, children, rich and poor and healthy and sick; who know the story of God’s abundant forgiveness; who know the touch of God’s healing love; who know the community and fellowship of God’s church; we are not to keep these things to ourselves. They are not provided only for our own comfort and rest but for the whole world, and now is our time to proclaim them aloud: “I have seen the Lord!” and he has done great things.

Resources

The devotions offered here follow the pattern of the Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families provided in The Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and Other Rites and Ceremonies of the  Church Together with The Psalter or Psalms of David According to the use of The Episcopal Church, 1979

The Psalms, Collects and the Phos Hilaron are from The Book of Common Prayer.

*The “Suggested form of confession” is found in Enriching Our Worship 1: Morning and Evening Prayer, The Great Litany, The Holy Eucharist: Supplemental Liturgical Materials prepared by the Standing Liturgical Commission 1997 (New York: Church Publishing, Inc., 1998), 19 .

Scriptural quotations are from the NRSV.

[i]Susan Haskins, Mary Magdalene: The Essential History (London: Pimlico, 2005), 95

[ii] Haskins, 250-1

[iii] Margaret Fell Fox, Women’s Speaking Justified, 1667, included in Charlotte F. Otten, English Women’s Voices, 1540-1700 (Gainesville: Florida International University Press, 1991), 363-378

[ix] For example, her entry in the 2006 Lesser Feasts and Fasts of the Episcopal Church describes her “ministry of service and steadfast companionship, even as a witness to the crucifixion, [which] has, through the centuries, been an example of the faithful ministry of women to Christ. Lesser Feasts and Fasts (New York: Church Publishing Inc., 2006), 314; and Haskins notes that in 1969, changes were made to the Roman Calendar “as part of which, as the result of scholarly re-evaluation of her biblical persona, Mary Magdalene’s character was officially relieved of its sinful imputation.” Haskins, op cit., 388

[x] Phyllis Tickle, The Divine Hours: Pocket Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), vii; Robert F. Taft, The Liturgy of the Hours in East and West: The Origins of the Divine Office and its Meaning for Today (Collegeville: The Order of St Benedict, Inc., 1986, 1993), 331-366, via googlebooks.com

[xi] Psalm 119: 164 “Seven times each day I praise you for the justice of your decrees,” Phyllis Tickle, op cit., dedication page

[xii] Isaac Everett, The Emergent Psalter (New York: Church Publishing, Inc., 2009), 217

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Candles

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Today, my friend is burying his father, who died on Sunday, the sixth anniversary of my own mother’s death.

On Sunday, I lit a candle for my mother at the back of the church, and a young parishioner came to help me, and I asked her if she had a special person or prayer that she wanted to light a candle for, and she said yes, she was praying for the candles, and I thought, “Well, that’s good; she has us all covered: the bereaved and the thankful and the sick and the tired and the lonely and the worried,” so I helped her light an extra candle to pray for the prayers of us all.

And when I heard that my friend’s father died that day, I borrowed a little of the light of her prayer to set aside for my friend and his father and his family, because I really don’t think that she would mind.

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A dark night

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Around three this morning, I heard my daughter come up the stairs, and I rolled over and went back to sleep. Later this morning I read the news from across the country of those who did not come home from their own night out at the movies.
We take so much for granted.
To those wounded in body and soul by last night’s horror, I can offer only my prayers, love and sorrow. I hope that you will forgive me that, even as I pray, somewhere behind my heart I am hugging and holding on to my own daughter for dear life.
‘Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous, and all for your love’s sake. Amen.’
(BCP, 134)

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The wellness gospel

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Rosalind C Hughes

Last week, driving a bunch of overtired teens back from a rollercoaster day (literally; they were at Cedar Point), my car flashed me a warning light. Well-trained in the vagaries of overworked technology, I ignored it until it went away. Then it came back. Then it flashed me a few more signs. We were almost home, so I held my breath and crossed my fingers and sure enough it got us there, albeit in darkness and without the benefit of power steering, since all the electrics appeared to shut down just as I hauled it onto the driveway.

Next morning, of course, it started first time. It got halfway to the service centre before giving up for good.

All was well. I had AAA, and the tow truck got me to the repair place in time to get back and pick up the cake in time for the graduation party we were throwing that afternoon, and the rain held off on Monday while I got around all my errands by bike (my daughter pointing out that it was very fortunate that I had picked this summer to train for the Bishop’s Bike Ride and was thus capable of sustaining forward motion for more than a mile or two), and the car was fixed just in time to swing by and pick it up at the end of another essential outing yesterday – all was well. Everything got done for everyone that needed things doing.

One of my spiritual friends disputes the “all was well” approach. She insists that the car is a symbol of my lifestyle: I ignore warning signs, I drive it when it really needs to go in for a good rest and a few repairs, until it breaks down uncontrollably at the side of the road. According to her, I should have ditched the bike and taken a day or two off while my car and my equilibrium recovered.

“But,” I argue, “things needed doing. This person needed to go here, and that one there, and I needed to get this for them and and get that done …” And I only work half time, and my family is a lot more self-sufficient than it once was, and I have it a lot easier than many other people do all the time. (I think that my friend sometimes overestimates my work ethic and altruism.) And it did, after all, work out pretty well in the end. Didn’t it?

The gospel story we read this Sunday gives ammunition to both me and my friend. She will point out that Jesus went away to a deserted place. He led his friends away to a deserted place, knowing that they all needed a time-out, some peace and quiet, a retreat, a rest. They had been so busy that they barely had time to eat, and when they did, they never had time or space to sit down to a meal.

But, I will reply, when the people followed them, Jesus was moved with compassion to help them anyway, and he taught them, and (in the part that we leave out this Sunday) he fed them, and even after they moved on again, so many people were healed as they pressed back around him, how could he fail to help them? He couldn’t; he didn’t.

Other friends have shared online a story about clergy wellness which is headlined “Selflessness can threaten clergy members’ health” (http://www.womenshealth.gov/news/headlines/666244.cfm). It tells of clergy who know that self-care is important, but who still make it secondary to their ministry to others. It speaks of the need to address clergy health in language that clergy will accept; by implication, language which shows them the benefits to their ministry and those to whom they minister of care for themselves. Still, at the bottom of the piece, the journalist acknowledges that, “The study, recently published in the Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, doesn’t prove that ministering to others causes chronic disease. It merely noted an association between clergy members and poor health.”

So is my friend right or wrong to be concerned about the state of my car and whether or not it is symptomatic for my life and well-being? Or is the emphasis on self-care and the wellness of the minister overstated? Should ministry – and let’s expand this now to the ministry of all believers, to the parents who are constantly ministering to their children, and the grown children caring for older parents, and those who feed, and those who heal, and those who teach, and those who clean up, and those who pray for all of the above – should ministry be understood as sacrificial, and if so, how far does one go in self-giving before one has to go into hiding or on vacation? And how many compassionate demands should it take to drag the minister back from his or her wilderness retreat? What about the other aspects of the minister’s life which seek attention: family, friends, valued causes and groups? How much is too much to give of ourselves? How far is too far to retreat?

(I don’t pretend to have answers. I’m just asking questions here.)

Jesus still tries to take time out to retreat, to pray, to recharge and refresh himself and his relationships with God and with his closest companions. He got interrupted; but if we don’t even try, we don’t stand a chance of success.

Returning briefly to yesterday’s comment on the Old Testament lesson, and Nathan’s God-check moment, if we forget to take time out, to pray, to rest in the presence of God, what will we miss?

Where are the warning lights which you are ignoring? How long can you drive safely forward without stopping to get them taken care of?

And yet, I tell my friend, my wise and compassionate friend, Jesus, in this gospel, still hasn’t reached his limit of sacrificial self-giving. Will he? Will we?

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