Homily on 1 Thessalonians

This is a homily I gave last week in my preaching class on a reading from 1 Thessalonians.  The intended audience is the members of the class, all seminarians.


A Reading from Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians

Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anything written to you.  For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape! But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief; for you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober; for those who sleep sleep at night, and those who are drunk get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing.

“In the depth a light will grow, A silver shine no shadows know, Like wings unfolding in the sky, That circle 'round a gleaming eye, Turning darkness all away, Even depths will know their day, For every shadow has its end, In light! Life will return again!”

Robert Fanney, an author of Science Fiction novels.

In the reading from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian’s, as well as in the poem I just read, light conquers darkness.  In both cases the darkness is overcome by light, which in turn brings life.  For all of us, as seminarians and future priests, it is this light that we are called to bring into the world. In a few short years, we will be tasked with offering the light of Jesus Christ to the people of our parishes.  During these years of formation at seminary, we are filling our toolboxes with the tools we need to carry out our future mission.  Every class we take affords us the opportunity to gain yet another tool for that mission.

In my personal toolbox, one of the most useful tools is a flashlight, given to me after successfully completing Clinical pastoral education also known as CPE this past summer.  It was during CPE that I honed my skills helping people explore their own darkness, and allowing them to find the light within themselves.    During one patient visit, I was sitting with a mother whose child was hours away from dying of cancer.  She was only able to see the darkness of losing her son.   After talking with her about the love and compassion she felt towards him and the pain her son was experiencing, she realized that while it was difficult for her to let go of him in this life, she would see her son again in Heaven.  During our conversation, she found the light and love of Christ.  It was through me walking with this mother in her darkness that she could find and accept the light of Christ.

In his letter, Paul challenges the Thessalonians “to put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation and encourage one another and build up each other.” Similar to the Thessalonians, we also strap on our tools.  It is through the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of salvation that we begin our work.  From the tools given to us by Christ Jesus and the other tools we collect and learn to use while at seminary, we begin our ministry helping people become children of the light.  For as Paul writes, children of the light will not be surprised by the thief in the night but rather be ready for the thief’s arrival.  We do not want our parishioner’s to be left sleeping in the dark instead we want them to be awake and vigilant, ready for the time to come.

It is our calling as future priests to fill our toolboxes with everything necessary to walk with people in the darkness and guide them to the light.  Now is our time to ensure that we have fitted our breastplates and secured our helmets.  It is also time to inventory our own toolboxes.

Thus far in our seminary career, what tools do we already have in our toolbox and what tools are we missing for our work ahead?

The Feast of St. Francis

Today is the day that many churches celebrate the Feast of Saint Francis.  It is a day to remember Giovanni Francesco di Bernardone.  St. Francis grew up the son of a wealthy cloth merchant, living the good life as the leader of a band of soldiers.  One day, while returning from a battle, he heard a voice and gave it all up.  He realized that he had to say no to the world in order to say yes to God.  From there he wrote an order of life and the order of Franciscans were for born.

Each year, there are many different celebrations to commemorate the life of St. Francis.  In many Episcopal churches this is done with the blessing of animals.  Within the Franciscan tradition, the transitus is celebrated.  I had the privilege of attending a transitus this year at the Franciscan School of Theology here at the GTU.  In the transitus, the story of St Francis is told, hymns are sung and a meal is shared.  It is both a solemn and celebratory service all at the same time.  After attending the transitus this year, I have decided that the service will become an annual event for me.  It was a moving experience in which I was able to celebrate the life and death of St. Francis with my Franciscan seminary counterparts.

As John Kater, a member of our faculty stated in his sermon on Thursday night, "I want to free St. Francis from the birdbath."  While many people love the blessing of the animals, St Francis was much more than just animals.  St Francis is credited with creating the first Nativity Scene.  St. Francis was a man that not only honored God but also the world in which we all live.

For more information on St. Francis, click here.
For more information of the Transitus, click here.

The centerpiece of the Transitus at Franciscan School of Theology
 a Franciscan Habit laid out as if it was St. Francis

A Prayer Attributed to St. Francis

Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

The Canticle of the Sun 

by Francis of Assisi

Most high, all powerful, all good Lord! All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing. To you, alone, Most High, do they belong. No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.
Be praised, my Lord, through all your creatures, especially through my lord Brother Sun, who brings the day; and you give light through him. And he is beautiful and radiant in all his splendor! Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
Be praised, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in the heavens you have made them, precious and beautiful.
Be praised, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air, and clouds and storms, and all the weather, through which you give your creatures sustenance.
Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water; she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure.
Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong.
Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Be praised, my Lord, through those who forgive for love of you; through those who endure sickness and trial. Happy those who endure in peace, for by you, Most High, they will be crowned.
Be praised, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whose embrace no living person can escape. Woe to those who die in mortal sin! Happy those she finds doing your most holy will. The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give thanks, and serve him with great humility.

(translated by Bill Barrett from the Umbrian text of the Assisi codex.)

Death...

I have been doing a lot of talking about death this semester here are CDSP and on Facebook.  You see I am taking a class entitled The Spirituality of Death and Dying.  The class is all about how we as Christians handle death, both personally and as a religion. In fact just this morning, a group of us spent the morning exploring a cemetery and mausoleum. It was a wonderful adventure and hope to have the pictures I took up here in a few days. But that is another post.  Now on with the class description.

One of our first assignments was to create our own advanced directives and plan our own funeral.  The thought was that if we couldn't talk about our own death, how as future priests within the church could we help our parishioners.    It is a serious topic for discussion and one that we all really spent some time thinking about.  Of course everything up until now has been working from my head.  Unfortunately tonight, death went from being something we think about in class and among friends to a community event from the heart.

This past week the local middle school was rocked with allegations of sexual misconduct by a teacher.  The teacher was arrested and ultimately was released on bail.  On Tuesday, the community was notified that the teacher had committed suicide.  The entire community was devastated not only by the allegations but also by the teacher's death.  My field ed supervisor felt that the local religious community should do something to respond to these events.  Tonight was that event.  My supervisor asked if I was able to attend, so I left our community eucharistic celebration and community night dinner and headed over to the local town hall.  We placed luminaries on the sidewalk outside and set up   160 chairs.  There were sand boxes for votive candles and everything was made ready.  The event was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m..  Inside nine religious leaders came together for a "Community Interfaith Gathering for Comfort and Healing.  At first I was concerned whether anyone would attend the service.  What I soon learned was that this community is in need of hope.  When the program finally ended over 200 people were in attendance and it was an incredibly moving experience.  I stood in the back of the auditorium and spoke with people, both teenagers and adults, as they left during the service, always checking to see if they wanted to talk or what emotions they were facing.

The tears in the eyes of young and old were flowing and the outpouring of love to all the victims, both students and teacher, was incredible.  I have never experienced an event like I did this evening.  I know none of the victims, yet by the end of the night I feel like I know all of them.  I heard stories of a well-respected teacher who loved his students and of students that had their innocence taken away.  We do not know the truth behind the story and now we probably never will.  The story cannot have closure.

In cases like this some of the most disturbing things I heard were from parents.  One parent spoke of her daughter's friends cutting themselves because they had no way to release the pain they felt.  The parent expressed her concern for the well-being of all the children.  Of feeling helpless and not knowing where to turn.  While listening to her speak, I also felt helpless.  What does one say to a person as they tell you of someone else's pain.  I have never gone through it and sure can't say I understand because I don't.

After an event like this, I can truly say that I hope I never experience this type of event again.  Unfortunately, I probably will face a similar instance during my time in parish ministry.  This evening gave me an excellent opportunity to reflect upon just how fragile we are as humans and how much we need each other when tragedy strikes.

When an event like this takes place, I find myself begin to ask some pretty tough questions.  Where is God in all these events?  How can someone reconcile the God of Love against a God that allows these events to take place?  If I am struggling with these issues, imagine what a person not in seminary must be thinking?  How, as a future priest (God willing),  can I help people come to terms with these issues? Maybe that is one of the reasons I was there tonight, in order for me to wrestle with the tough questions.  I really don't know.  Hopefully as I reflect upon these events further, I will begin to understand and or comprehend but as of right now, I don't.

I will leave you with the Litany for community healing and comfort that was used this evening.

Coming from all corners of our community, we gather in the midst of pain and confusion.  We come together to seek and share healing and comfort.

Source of Life and love, we need help holding this heavy load.  Be with us as we gather to seek and share healing and comfort.

For all those in need: May there be healing and comfort.
For the family of the deceased: May there be healing and comfort.
For our students, their parents and families: May there be healing and comfort.
For teachers, counselors and school teachers: May there be healing and comfort.
For those who speak out: May there be healing and comfort.
For victims of abuse and hurt: May there be healing and comfort.
For public servants: May there be healing and comfort.
For the bearers of difficult news: May there be healing and comfort.
For all who consider this community home: May there be healing and comfort.

May the source of Life be with each of us, and may we be present with one another, that we may move - as individuals and as families, as schools and as a community - towards healing and comfort.

 Lighting the way into the service

As the service began

I apologize if this post seems to be a stream of consciousness as I believe it really is.  I needed to write down some of my thoughts from this evening as a way to help me process what I witnessed this evening.  What I have written here is just a small portion of what I have been thinking and feeling over the course of the last seven hours now.