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S. Luke 17. 11
AND it came to pass, as Jesus went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.  And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off.  And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.  And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests.  And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan.  And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.  And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.

S. Mark 7. 31 
JESUS, departing from the region of Tyre, came through Sidon unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the region of Decapolis.  And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech: and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.  And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue; and looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.  And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.  And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it; and were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well; he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Three weeks ago, my family went up to Maine, first to bury my grandmother who had died last fall and then to spend a week enjoying the cooler weather on a small island in the Penobscot Bay. Anytime I attend a large family gathering, whether it is mine or I am presiding at a funeral or a wedding, I am struck by the complexity of family life. Perhaps it is how each individual might have certain similarities of appearances or habits or speech and yet those gathered seem so different from one another. There sometimes exists a wonderful love within a family which brings them together. But families also come together because of their own history or at least an expectation of following a duty towards one’s family. It is a culture in and of itself, one that takes time to get to know–there is always (it seems) that crazy aunt, or mysterious uncle…there are complexities of relationships, sometimes eggshells to walk upon, but also the routine stories that need to be retold and enjoyed, the familiar food that needs to be eaten. All of this I experienced from within my family, but I don’t need to parse for you the McDermott family system. 

From Belfast we made our way to Eagle Island, and again I was struck by the experience of entering a culture, a family, a way of life unknown to me. There are, of course, general characterizations we can make of people who live on islands. I had read Robert McKlowsky’s One Morning in Maine, so I counted myself a master of the subject, but once on the island itself, I realized that I was dropping into a community which has a deep history and particular ways of living which were foreign. The pace of life, the work they did, the particular features they paid attention to, the phrases they spoke all were influenced and came from generations living and working on this small island through the beautiful summers and bitter winters. This was a way of life I could not hope to fully join or understand in just one week.

It is like visiting a new family for dinner. You pick up on general characteristics, but you know you are missing the inside jokes, the accepted traditions and habits. You are only seeing a fraction of a whole way of life which is marked by an  unique understanding of the world. Every family has such a way of life formed by a particular understanding of the world. Every culture or community has such a way of life formed by a particular understanding of reality. But not all families and communities consciously recognize and explain their understanding of reality and way of life to the same degree. 

Some families sadly function within a labyrinth of unspoken expectations and boundaries, never flourishing but merely persisting. Same with communities. But there are families and even whole communities who intentionally, intelligently, and reasonably shape a way of life that matches their understanding of reality. In these communities, understanding is not just propositional, as if the ability to list a set of ‘facts’ or ‘truths’ is what forms a whole person. Rather, how a family understands reality (which can be expressed in words) shapes every aspect of their lives and their experience of life also influences their understanding of reality. The island community that I glimpsed seemed so different because of their understanding of the world, shaped by their experience and history which was so different from mine. 

I have explained all of this to help us understand our own way of life – not in our biological families or geographical communities (though not excluding those!)– as Anglo-Catholics. In Catholicism we understand our faith like that of a family, an island culture — there are general characterizations that we have of that life, but also specific ones that are manifest in our local parish.

Our general understanding of reality comes from the fact that God exists and what He has revealed to us. There are certain facts that we cannot change–just as we cannot pick our own parents, we cannot change the fact that God created the universe and that He seeks to bring all of humanity to perfect happiness in Him. Part of the reason why we recite the Creed so much (every Sunday and during the Daily Office) is both (1)  to declare the reality in which we live and (2) to remind ourselves to align our lives to that reality. 

The Epistle this morning shows St. Paul representing those dual actions to us! For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.  And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: after that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the Apostles.  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. Here are the facts that have happened, the history that underlies St. Paul’s life. This is the reason why he labors intensely. And this is what he preaches. But notice that his declaration of the history, of the genealogy, is not just propositional but meant to develop a way of life. He says: BRETHREN, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. As he preached, the new community of Christians received the revelation–but as St. Paul reminds them here, they must remember in order to continue to stand in that revelation. The Corinthians had questioned the truth of the resurrection! And like a sickness that spreads from one part of the body to all the rest, their denial of reality was affecting their whole faith, their whole way of life. They were no longer ‘standing’ in the faith, which means to be of a steadfast mind, standing like the foundation of a building. And because they had departed from the truth of reality, their whole way of life was corrupted–St. Paul accuses them of dishonoring the sacrament of the Eucharist, of backbiting, of following lustful desires, of hatred and more. 

And so he shows them here that the reality of God becoming man, the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the reality of the ascension changes everything – just as it changed St. Paul’s life. The Collect shows this wonderfully. The reality of God’s mercy as shown in his incarnation, death, and resurrection means that we must adopt of way of life towards ourselves, our neighbors, and God that matches that mercy. The Latin from which this Collect was translated originally read ‘that we running to thy promises, may be made partakers of thy heavenly promises.’ The alteration that we have gives a legalistic overtones, that we are obeying for a future reward. Rather, the original gets at the truth that God’s mercy is a present possession of a free gift–that we are running in haste to receive what is freely offered. I do not want you to miss this very important point in the Collect: that God’s almighty power is chiefly shown not in His creative might, not in his lordship and sovereign providence over that reaction, but “in His redemptive love and mercy which gave His only Son to the Cross to take away the power of sin and death in our lives. The greatest power of God is His sacrificial love.” It is this reality that changes everything for us. It is this reality which should shape and guide our own way of life. 

If you want a concrete example of how this reality shapes one’s life, you can study the life of St. Paul, or any of the saints, but let us move to the Gospel to see an example that Jesus gives us. Jesus gives us a story contrasting the prayer of a Pharisee to a Publican. The Pharisee, Jesus notes, prays to himself. This can mean that he prays silently, but the play on words is obvious: this man is not praying towards God, but actually to himself. Jesus notes that both the Pharisee and the Publican come to the Temple, but that the Publican stands afar off. Picture the scene then: if the Pharisee is closer to the Temple and the Publican afar off, then the Pharisee must not even be facing the Temple.  Jesus is showing us that this man is not concerned with God’s presence. Even though the prayer is addressed to God, both the content and this man’s heart is not about God, as prayer should be. If this man was acknowledging himself before God, he would not be standing in victory nor would he equate his own righteous actions with the righteousness of God.

In contrast, Jesus offers the Publican as our example for prayer. 

He stands far off from the Temple, not even able to approach. He casts his eyes down, pleading to the Lord for His mercy. The Publican is entering into the presence of the Lord and takes on a position of humility. The Publican recognizes two truths that the Pharisee missed. First, that he is a sinner. Coming before the Almighty God requires humility and acceptance of ones own finite being. But the Publican also realizes that God is merciful, a fact that the Pharisee has no need to recognize. And that understanding changes his way of life, and his way of life (even to the position of his body in prayer) deepened his understanding of reality.

So the question remains to you: how will you align your life to the reality of God and His mercy? I submit that the Propers given for today, lay a general outline of how to deepen our understanding of God.

In the Introit: accept God as who He has revealed himself to be.

In the Gradual: we must individually accept this and go to God for our strength. This is primarily done in worship.

In the Offertory: we cry to Him, and He heals us.

In the Communion: And so we give to God what is His. We offer our own lives, our own money and time and talents to give to Him–in other words, we orient our entire lives to Him.

The reality of the mercy of God becomes the reality in which we live: our belief in that reality and the depth of our understanding of that reality works itself out in our lives. 

Specifically, though, we live out these understandings here at All Saints. Our understanding of reality, formed by Holy Scripture through the tradition of Holy Mother Church, shapes our way of life. We serve God and one another in specific situations, we worship on specific days and in set ways, we eat together and learn together–all of these actions helping us to understand and live out the mercy of God both to ourselves, to each other, and of course in devotion to God. 

As you examine your own life in order to deepen your understanding of God and seek to align yourself to His reality, you will find places that are not aligned with God. What do we do, then, with our sin? We do not run from it. Instead, like the Publican, we face our sin, repent, and in God’s mercy we turn from that sin and towards God. This is hard to do because so often we refuse to accept God’s mercy and sit in our sin. But listen today in the Mass just how many times we call upon the mercy of God! He is ever willing to heal us–in fact, he is present here today in the Mass, again offering Himself to you in order to free you from sin and the power of death. 

S. Luke 19. 41
AND when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.  For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.  And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought; saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.  And he taught daily in the temple.

S. Luke 5. 1 
IT came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake; but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets.  And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land: and he sat down, and taught the people out of the boat.  Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.  And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing; nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net.  And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their net brake.  And they beckoned unto their partners which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.  When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.  For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken; and so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon.  And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.  And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

ALL of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.

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Trinitytide is the season of growth as the Church, through her readings, gives us an outline of the Christian growth through purgation, illumination, and finally union with God. The Christian life starts with the cleansing of baptism and the process of purging of sin from our lives. As we rise to our new life in the Spirit, we also grow in the knowledge and practice of the Spirit’s gifts; and as we recover our true selves, we grow in the love of God and join Him in perfect union.

As I spoke of last week, this supernatural process of growth is what we mean by participation. It begins as a pure gift at the deepest of our human nature as we are given a new life in our baptism. At that level, we participate in the life of God as a baby in the womb participates in her mother. God seeks to lead us to our final happiness, and as His children, he gives us all that we need to freely live and participate in His life. This type of participation involves our own will and actions: it is what we might call the moral life.

The moral life is the regulation of our free actions through reason in regards to our final end. The moral life comes as a result of our incorporation in the Body of Christ–I cannot emphasize this enough. It blossoms from the roots. But let me add a few words about morals before we go too far.

Morals though are not the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We know that often things happen to us that we cannot control — even to the point of how we were raised, or the genes that we received, etc. Moral action is how we intentionally and freely act in response to the circumstances and knowledge we are given.

I understand that the moral life can be daunting, especially since we understand that our lives are already incorporated into the end. We do not have to sin as sons and daughters of God, gifted with the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. And yet this does not mean that our struggle with the world, the flesh, and the devil within our everyday lives and everyday circumstances is easy. Obviously, our moral life does not gain our salvation…that is just a false way to view the Christian life. It puts the cart in front of the horse, so to speak. But, our moral life does matter, and its consequences are eternal.

Here again, though, it is easy to fall into a very legal view of morals, which can distort our view of participation. In a purely legal view, a bad act gets a punishment and a good act means one’s status is the same or even gets rewarded. But this view artificially views morals as the means to an end, and sometimes, the means (our moral life) seem to get more emphasis than the end (union with God). The purely legal view distorts the moral life because it misses the relational and participatory nature of the Christian life. All of our actions are lived out towards an end, but they are not just a means to an end. Rather, our lives as Christians already participate in the End which is union with God. We already taste and see in part — we are already living in eternity.

Perhaps it is better to see our moral actions are like a diet. Health comes from and is the natural result of a consistent healthy diet over time. An unhealthy diet may still support some form of life, but one can become so accustomed to junk food that even the freshest snap pea from the garden will taste bad. Likewise, our actions matter because they either accustom us to the presence of God (which is our ultimate end), or they decay our sensitivity to God so that we do not even seek forgiveness. The Bible often calls this the ‘hardening of the heart.’ To such a one who has accustomed himself to the pleasures of his own pride, the presence of God is terrifying and hellish.

And so we attentively care for our own lives, examining our outward actions and inward intentions in order to grow our love towards God and our neighbor. This attentiveness is like weeding a garden. Weeds are tricky: they often sprout and look like plants around them…only one who is very attentive over time can notice the difference. At first, one catches a weed when it is already grown up and perhaps has a complex root system. But by gaining maturity and wisdom, the gardener is able to pluck a weed when it has just sprouted because she is now able to judge between weed and the intended plant. Likewise, only one who really knows oneself can tell when a virtue is growing or a vice is starting to take root. Lack of attentiveness lets everything go wild. There is a lot of growht. Ha. Lots of growth, but it is a cancerous and wild growth that sucks out the life of the intended garden. Attentiveness to one’s own moral life though brings greater bounty

You all know this already — and you also know how tempting and easy it is to ignore ourselves so we don’t have  to work on our inner life. The moral life is daunting, but God has not abandoned us to grow these bountiful virtues on our own. And this is where the idea of friendship is such a helpful metaphor for our Christian lives. As I noted last week, all friendships revolve around a shared knowledge that is the beginning of a shared love towards a common object. In John 15, Jesus tells his disciples that he has chosen us and then gives us the knowledge of His Father which is our greatest end. As we learn from Jesus about His Father, we grow closer to Jesus and all other friends together. At Baptism, God chooses us and blesses us with the gifts needed to walk with Him. And then Jesus leads us in our moral lives by walking with us and teaching us about His Father. In John 15, we might expect Jesus then to lay out for us what to do in every situation, giving us a strict and precise moral code. But this is not what he goes on to say. The teaching is remarkable:

Jesus teaches about how God seeks to redeem us. In fact, he has even laid down the life of his Son for us and that this sacrificial love is the nature of God’s love. As the true Friend, Jesus reveals that the common object of our friendship (God the Father) is also the bond of our common love. The nature of God is marked by this sacrificial love in which we must live. He is the one who seeks after his sheep. He is the one who rejoices over any sinner who repents.

In any friend group there are common actions, habits, etc., In this group, we all must emulate and resemble the life of the Son, because he is the only Friend who can teach us about His Father. And here is a key point. His teaching is not just some esoteric spiritual knowledge. We today like to separate out knowledge as if there is difference between practical and abstract knowledge.But Jesus’ teaching is his own life and so his teaching is his way of life.

In a friendship, we are encouraged along, supported, and loved towards a common life. We live our lives not in isolation towards random ends but with a great host of friends together with our best friend towards a definite and blessed end. As in every friendship, one may turn away and refuse to take part , to think that ones own ideas are better or greater or more important than any other. So if your life is marked/distinguished/finds importance in your relationship/friendship with Jesus, and that life is a certain way of life (marked by a common moral life), that means that we must align our lives to that common life. And as we saw in the First Epistle of Peter, the entrance in a healthy moral life is humility. 

We know this because Jesus, our friend who leads us towards our end, led a life of supreme humility. In our own humility, we begin to see ourselves in a correct way. We understand that we are part of others, not just an individual able to impose ones own rights and powers on others. Instead, we live together towards a common goal.

Humility also helps us understand our finite nature, that we are, in fact, created by another. It is only when we give ourselves to God that we can begin to understand how he has given himself for us: how he has cared for us. And that type of humility teaches us how to listen to God. When we are open to God’s care and love, we will see Him working in the world and in our lives. We will know His presence in the liturgy and be aided by His Body and Blood. We will read Holy Scriptures and hear the words of God to us. We will pray and be comforted in all dangers and adversities. We will ask for help and our Friend will be there, leading us toward our true Happiness and Joy. 

1 S. John 3. 13 – 24
MARVEL not, my brethren, if the world hate you.  We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.  He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him; how dwelleth the love of God in him?  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed, and in truth.  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.  For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.  Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God.  And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.  And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the Name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him: and hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

S. John 3. 1
THERE was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: the same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.  Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?  Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.  If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not; how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man who is in heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

S. John 15. 26. 
WHEN the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.  These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.  And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.  But these things have I told you, that, when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.

S. John 16. 23
JESUS said unto his disciples, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.  Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.  These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.  At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you; for the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God.  I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.  His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb.  Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.  Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?  Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.  In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

S. John 16. 16 
JESUS said to his disciples, A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.  Then said some of his disciples among themselves, What is this that he saith unto us, A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again a little while, and ye shall see me; and, Because I go to the Father?  They said therefore, What is this that he saith, A little while? we cannot tell what he saith.  Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask him, and said unto them, Do ye enquire among yourselves of that I said, A little while, and ye shall not see me; and again a little while and ye shall see me?  Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.  A woman, when she is in travail, hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.  And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

Each year we come to this service and I am puzzled. I know Easter is coming, but reading the entire Passion seems premature, as if we have skipped five days and have entered Good Friday without any notice. We wave our palms as we process but then we condemn Christ to the crucifixion. We come triumphantly into Jerusalem but then we end outside the gates, upon that horrid place of calvary. All of Lent we have been slowly progressing, taking each week at a time, and now so much dramatic action happens in one service that it seems overwhelming.

I must remind myself that the liturgy is not historical re-enactment. Our liturgy, of course, is based upon actions that happened in history, but we do not re-present those actions like a movie would or history textbook. Rather, the liturgy re-presents in order for us to participate mystically in the particular event that happened at a particular moment in history. Just as we participate in the one sacrifice of Christ every time we celebrate Holy Communion, we participate in the other events in Christ’s life through the Church’s liturgical calendar. We are not above history or beyond history: we are in history.

Because our concern is not precise historical reenactment, certain events are brought together in order to heighten our understanding and participation. At every Mass we hear in the Canon how we combine the Last Supper and the Crucifixion. “ALL glory be to thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for that thou, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the Cross for our redemption; who made there (by his one oblation of himself once offered) a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world; and did institute, and in his holy Gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again.” Likewise, today on Palm Sunday, our liturgy connects the Triumphant Entry immediately to the Crucifixion. This is not bad history, as if the Church forgot the historical timeline (these readings have been the same for over 1600 years). Rather, it signifies how the Cross stands at the center of all history, and this signification prepares us for Holy Week and Easter.

Last week we saw how Psalm 43 was interpreted at several different levels — first as David’s own plea to God as he sought to return from exile back to Jerusalem. Second as our own plea towards God when beset with our own sins, wounds, and finite humanity. Third as Christ’s plea to the Father upon the Cross as his own people abandoned him and he sought to bring exiled humanity back to the heavenly Jerusalem. Today we will attempt a similar reading, but of the liturgy itself. So, while we will examine the historical event, let us open our eyes in a new way as we walk with Jesus in this most Holy Week.

As we have seen before, Jerusalem signifies the place where God dwells with his people, for that is the site of the Temple, the place of sacrifice at which man entered into the presence of God. These exact hills where the city stood had been used for sacrifice by Abel, Noah, Abraham, David, and Solomon. When these men offered sacrifices, they did not view their actions as a gloomy or destructive activity, but rather gave an offering in joyful homage to their God. Sacrifice is “an offering of a creature to God in recognition of Him as its Creator, in order that it shall be accepted by Him and transformed by His acceptance” (Mascall, 89). It is the action by which man tries to bring himself to God through an offering. As the Son, the second person of the Trinity, eternally offers himself to His Father in a filial response, so man finds his fulfillment and beatitude in offering himself in a life of joyful and loving filial obedience to his God. But the consciousness of sin or our wounded, finite nature ruptures that ability of obedience and man realizes that he must offer something else in order to be transformed. And so death enters into sacrifice as man offers another creature on his behalf. But even here, the stress is not laid on the death, for the gift of the animal is not destroyed but transformed and returned to man in order that man might eat God’s own blessing, his own life, at God’s table.

The prime example of this, the prototype, the example which became the key narrative for the Jewish people, was the Passover. God had heard the cries of His people as they suffered in slavery. In the act of redemption, God condemned the land to the Angel of Death, and the Hebrews escaped both their captors and the curse of death through the blood of the lamb. God commanded the people to choose a lamb five days before the night of Passover, and so the people went out to their herds, and brought the lamb into their own household in order to prepare the sacrifice. The blood of the lamb was spread on the doorposts of the house and after the people ate the Lamb, they were saved by the life (the blood) of the lamb.

As a result, the Hebrew people escaped the curse of death and moved from slavery into freedom. And that freedom was marked not just by a release from their captors, but by the promise of inhabiting a new land. The freedom was given to them so that they might live a holy life dedicated to their God in a land overflowing with milk and honey.

As we well know, however, that fulness of freedom was not achieved even though they were given a Law to follow and a Tabernacle in which they could continue sacrifices to God. The people failed to follow the Law and devote themselves to it. The Law itself was not the problem: the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is clear that the people had failed to turn their hearts towards God’s promises. As a result, God handed them over to their enemies. It happens time and time again as Israel hardens her heart against her God.

Here we turn to our Introit, Psalm 22, which was also chanted as our Tract. MY God, my God, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me? * and art so far from my health, and from the words of my complaint? O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not; * and in the night season also I take no rest. This is the voice of David, the voice of the King of Israel whose kingdom was ruined because of his sin. 

It is also our prayer as we cry to God in our own despair. We are beset by our own sins and the wounds of the fall and our finite humanity. 

Psalm 22 is also taken as the voice of Jesus upon the Cross. [The Gospels record Jesus saying at least the first verse, but it said that Christ recited this Psalm all the way through Psalm 31:6, at which point he gave up his ghost.]

By reading this Psalm as the words of Jesus upon the Cross, we now see how Jesus has taken upon himself the sins of the whole world. He has taken upon himself all that separates humanity from God. And yet, this is God Himself! And He is redeemed humanity! This is man without sin, man healed from the wounds, man who is united to infinite divinity! This is the man in which all humanity is led to God because it is in Him that humanity and divinity are joined. He is man who may offer a perfect sacrifice.

And so in this narrative it makes sense how the One leading humanity back to God does so again through the Passover. He accomplishes this as the Lamb of sacrifice. He brings humanity back to Jerusalem as the Passover Lamb.

Just as Israel was brought into the Promised Land (which is Jerusalem) through the passover — now Christ leads humanity to the promised land of the heavenly Jerusalem through His own Passover at the earthly Jerusalem. Therefore, just like the Hebrews in Egypt, the Lamb is selected five days before the Passover. That is today as Jesus enters into Jerusalem to offer His life for the life of the world. 

In his actions, Jesus begins an Exodus of humanity itself. As the hebrews were freed from their Egyptian captors and from the angel of death, so Jesus leads humanity on an Exodus from our captors (the world, the flesh, the devil) and from the curse of death. Through his blood we are freed from the tyranny of death and have the power not to sin. Through his blood we are healed by the wounds of the Fall. Through His blood we are joined to His life–his divine life. Christ’s true and perfect sacrifice leads us back into the presence of God. 

And now, as the Hebrews were freed in order to obtain the Promise Land, we are freed in order to enter into our promised land–to enter back into the very presence of God. 

The triumphant entry leads directly to the Cross because it is the start of the Passover ritual. Jesus entered Jerusalem many times during his life. He was also pursued by the leading group of Jews in Jerusalem many times in order to kill him. Each time they did, Jesus slipped away from them. But now, this time is different. Jesus comes to Jerusalem as King and as the Lamb, leading himself as the sacrifice in full knowledge of what is to come. 

The doorposts of the Hebrews, marked with the blood of the Lamb, became their gateway of freedom. Now, Jesus enters Jerusalem and offers His blood on the Cross which becomes our gateway of Freedom. The Cross stands as a turning point of history, the means by which we arrive at fulness of humanity in the presence of God. 

We started Lent looking at the veiled Icon of All Saints and now we come full circle. Jesus is revealed as the crucified and risen savior sitting on his throne, ruling the cosmos, but what is so striking is that his reign is symbolized by the cross, which is held by angels on a cushion above Him. All creation must come to terms with the Cross. As John Henry Newman puts it: “His Cross has put its due value upon every thing which we see, upon all fortunes, all advantages, all ranks, all dignities, all pleasures; upon the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It has set a price upon the excitements, the rivalries, the hopes, the fears, the desires, the efforts, the triumphs of mortal man. It has given a meaning to the various, shifting course, the trials, the temptations, the sufferings, of his earthly state. It has brought together and made consistent all that seemed discordant and aimless. It has taught us how to live, how to use this world, what to expect, what to desire, what to hope. It is the tone into which all the strains of this world’s music are ultimately to be resolved.”

Our Lenten journey is now coming to an end at the foot of the Cross. All of our devotion, fasting, and preparation will help us now as we come to Holy Week. If you have failed your Lenten intentions, or never even set aside this time in special intentions, do not despair. Start today and enter Holy Week with care. Let us all pray that this week we may join our Redeemer in His Passover as we ponder the mysteries of his passion and resurrection who forgives our sins, heals our wounds, and binds us together with all the Saints in heavenly joy. 

GIVE sentence for me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; / O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man.

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The Psalm used for Introit today, Psalm 43, was composed at a very difficult time in King David’s life. Even though God had anointed David and blessed him with victory over his enemies, David’s own failures concerning Bethsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah are amplified within the lives of his own children. The cycle of sin and violence continues and David does not confront his sons who are really following his own example. The horrid actions of Amnon against his sister Tamar go unpunished and Absolom, Tamar’s brother, silently plans revenge both against Amnon and his father David. Eventually, Absolom kills Amnon and after a time, slowly builds a loyal following in order to claim kingship over his father. David, then, has to flee to some caves  to hastily plan some sort of military response to his own son. Simply put, things are a mess. While David flees and finds refuge in these caves, he and the appointed court musicians (who are called the sons of Korah) compose Psalm 43 among others.

The Psalm is a cry to God and one can see why David composed this Psalm at the time:

GIVE sentence with me, O God, and defend my cause against the ungodly people; * O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man.

2 For thou art the God of my strength; why hast thou put me from thee? * and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me?

3 O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me, * and bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwelling;

4 And that I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness; * and upon the harp will I give thanks unto thee, O God, my God.

5 Why art thou so heavy, O my soul? * and why art thou so disquieted within me?

6 O put thy trust in God; * for I will yet give him thanks, which is the help of my countenance, and my God.

The people of Israel have turned against him as their king, and now his own son is his enemy. He knows at this point that his life is truly in the hands of God and even tells his comrades so as they retreat in 2 Samuel 17. David’s only hope is that God will lead him back to Jeruslaem, the holy hill. It is only God’s light and truth that will lead him, not the rebellious sons or backstabbing generals. But the Psalm can be read beyond the literal, historical meaning.

It can also be seen as David’s general supplication to God on behalf of his whole life. Psalm 43 is David’s general prayer that God brings him towards Himself. David’s sins time and time again ruin his relationship with God and wreak havoc on his life. His own soul is heavy within him. On top of that, David always dwelt with external enemies that not only threatened his Kingdom, they threatened his own life. Finally, as David faced death, he turns towards His creator, the only true help of his own countenance.

But we can expand our reading of this Psalm even farther. What we see in David, we see in ourselves, and Psalm 43 becomes our own prayer in troubling situations and generally as our prayer as humans. All of Lent we have been looking at the analogy of veils. Veils which, at the one and the same time, shroud the reality of an object and yet also build our desire towards that which is shrouded. We have used this as an analogy of our own lives which must pierce three layers of veils to understand God. (Veils of sins, wounds of fall, and finite nature) It seems a hopeless task. 

Psalm 43 summarizes the struggles of humanity that is burdened with sin, wounded by the fall, and faced with death. But the Psalm also shows a way through these veils. When reading the Psalm in this way, the Church has read these words as Christ’s own prayer on behalf of humanity. This reading helps deepen our understanding not only of the Psalm but also of the last two weeks of Lent. 

GIVE sentence with me, O God, and defend my cause against the ungodly people; * O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man.

As we into Passiontide, Christ’s suffering  and humility now come in view, and this Psalm shows the depth of suffering Jesus experienced as He, God’s own son, has to plead for deliverance.

For thou art the God of my strength; why hast thou put me from thee? * and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me?

Now Jesus is oppressed, but not by his own sin, but by taking on the sin of the whole world. Even more, those whom Jesus came to save are now the one’s denying his identity. So just as David was oppressed by his own son, now God is oppressed by his own children, Israel. “Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil: Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.  Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?” The leading group of Jews in Jerusalem deny Christs kingship, even declaring Jesus as a devil. And once Jesus declares his identity, the leaders of God’s chosen people take up stones to kill their Messiah. “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.  Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.”

O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me

Now we see Christ’s work at hand, for he is the light and the truth, and his passion becomes our salvation. Yesterday we celebrated one of the greatest feast days of the entire year: the Annunciation. It is the feast of the Incarnation as the angel Gabriel visit the Blessed Virgin Mary and tells her that she will be overshadowed by the Holy Ghost and conceive a son, which she does, 9 months before Christmas. It is the day, as in the words of the Apostle John, that the light cometh into the world. This is the light that drives away darkness, the light that shines through those veils that shroud us from reality, from God. As the light shines and the veils are removed, then can we approach God, or as the Psalm says, to bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwelling. 

When David spoke these words, he hoped that he would return to Jerusalem, the holy hill, as king. Read as a Jesus’ prayer, we still understand the holy hill as Jerusalem, but not just as the literal city that stands there today, but to the heavenly Jerusalem that Paul mentioned last week–the heavenly Jerusalem, the Church, in which God dwells with his people. 

Even more, when Jesus turns himself towards Jerusalem, he knows that he is turning towards his suffering. And so that Holy Hill is also Mt. Calvary, which is one of the hills of Jerusalem. Mt. Calvary was known as the place of the skull, and in Jewish tradition it was considered the place where the skull of Adam, the first man, was buried. It was the same place where Cain and Abel offered their sacrifices to God. The same place Noah built an altar to God in thanksgiving. The same place Abraham brought Isaac his son to be sacrificed. The same place where David himself built an altar at the end of 2 Samuel and offered a sacrifice that stopped a plague infecting Israel. And it is the same place where the new Adam, the true King David offered himself for the whole world.

And that I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness; * and upon the harp will I give thanks unto thee, O God, my God. 

Through the Cross, Jesus takes on death for all humanity and through his Resurrection he brings humanity back to the altar of God, which is his own body. Listen to how the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews puts it: 

For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?  

Jesus’ blood – his blood which was fully human, blood that came from his own mother – now becomes our life, and the veils which have obscured and shrouded reality fall away.

We enter into his life through the great gift of baptism. There the veil of our own sins, the veil of the fall, and the veil of our own finite nature are washed away in the waters of baptism as God forgives, heals, and joins our human nature to his divine nature. We become sons and daughters of the Divine. 

When faced with the veils, we ask Why art thou so heavy, O my soul? * and why art thou so disquieted within me? This is the question that stands before us as merely humans. But through the waters of baptism we may respond: O put thy trust in God. 

And then finally, the Psalmist ends with for I will yet give him thanks, which is the help of my countenance, and my God. Now that we read this as Christ’s words, we see with clarity that this is Jesus’ own offering of thanks that we get to join. And, of course, as you all well know, the word for giving thanks is Eucharizo, it is the Eucharist in which Jesus brings all humanity to His Father through the offering of his own Body and Blood in thanksgiving. 

As each of you has been joined to God through your baptisms, now come and give thanks for that great gift. Come and receive God himself in the Eucharist. Let your vision be healed so that you may see reality as God sees it. Through God’s mercy we can truly come to know Him through His Son, and the veils which have obscured our vision/understanding are taken away. We know that what may look like a mere sign of putting water on the forehead is really the rebirth of a new creation, a new son or daughter of God. We know that what may look like just bread and wine is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We now see through the veil. What looks just as physical matter is teeming with meaning, significance, and the true grace of God. And as we train our sight here at this Altar, may we then see God’s work in all the world, in our day to day lives. 

GIVE sentence for me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; / O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man.

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https://www.allsaintscville.org/167418-2/

In the last few weeks of Lent, I have used the practice of veiling the crucifixes and icons as a metaphor for understanding not only the season of Lent but of our collective state of being as humans. The veils literally obscure our vision of what is beneath, and yet that veil does not turn us away but heightens our senses and increases our desire for the object even more. The reality of the cross or the icon is intensified by the shadow that covers it. Last week I compared this veiling to humanity, pointing out how the true reality, God Himself, is veiled to humanity by three thick coverings. First, there is present the veil of our finite humanity that is incapable of knowing the infinite. Second, the fall wounded our passions and faculties of will and intellect, further veiling our understanding of God. Third, our own sins distance us further from reality as we seek temporary happiness offered to us in the world, our flesh, and the devil. Humans, as a result, pursue their lives in a frenzied darkness, and yet that very delirium urges man for something more. The shadows on this side of the veils drive man to seek after something greater when the pleasures of this world, and pain of disharmony, and the fact of our finite nature fail to give us the rest and peace that all men desire. Augustine put it well: ‘Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.’

That rest is found as we accept the love God has for us as He forgives us our sins, heals our wounded nature, and finally renews humanity by uniting His Divine nature to human nature. In repentance we see through the veil of sin as God washes away our sin. In humility we see through the veil of the wounds as we receive the great gift of baptism when God begins to heal our wounds. And in thankfulness we see through the veil of our finite nature as God adopts us as His very own sons and daughters. The path through these veils is narrow but God has worked in magnificent ways to bring His creation, His people back to Him. Repentance, humility, and thankfulness help us see God’s work and unveil reality: unveil creation so that we see all things as God sees them.

This week, I want to focus on that reality, to see where our Lenten journey brings us, to understand where all these symbols and actions and bible stories lead us. The Introit, again, will be our guide, and it shows us that we are heading to Jerusalem–in fact this Psalm was used as a psalm for pilgrimages. All Jewish men were expected to go to Jerusalem three times a year for the three main feasts: Passover, the Feast of Booths, and the Feast of Weeks. It is in this context that Ps. 122 was written. It starts: 

I WAS glad when they said unto me, * We will go into the house of the LORD. Here the Psalmist takes great delight in the pilgrimage, looking forward to the entrance into Jerusalem, which he calls the house of the Lord, for truly this was the place where God dwelt with His people.

2 Our feet shall stand in thy gates, * O Jerusalem. The English translation mistakenly uses the future tense here, where the Hebrew is clearly a historical tense, signaling that the pilgrim has arrived or is at the present moment at the entrance of the city. The Psalm was either in remembrance of the pilgrimage or said in thanksgiving for the safe journey now brought to its culmination

3 Jerusalem is built as a city * that is at unity in itself. The author seems to look around and take in the glorious sight: that Jerusalem is literally ‘compact together.’ This is harder to render in English and could either mean that the city is a strong fortification built upon and within the hills or that it is altogether, rather than spread out like the Hebrews lived in the wilderness.

But notice that the Psalmist just writes that Jerusalem is built as a city, not that it is a city. This is because there are two Jerusalems…the one that we know on earth which is just a sign or a type or a shadow of the real Jerusalem which is in Heaven. This is an important change to notice. When we talk about analogies, we often use a “real” image that we have in front of us to understand what seems to be “unreal”, i.e. God or the unseen. But Christians understand analogy in a different way. The images around us point us to what is really real! Jerusalem as a city is really just an image of the really real Jerusalem in heaven!

Our opening hymn puts it: “Blessed city, heavnly Salem, vision dear of peace and love.” What a great first line, and correct for Jerusalem literally means “city of peace.” Jeru meaning city or foundation and salem or (as it is usually pronounced in Heberw: shalom) means peace. According to an ancient Jewish story, the name came from God Himself: “the place on which Abraham had erected the altar was the same whereon Adam had brought the first sacrifice, and Cain and Abel had offered their gifts to God–the same whereon Noah raised an altar to God after he left the ark; and Abraham, who knew that it was the place appointed for the Temple, called it Yireh, for it would be the abiding place of the fear and the service of God. But as Shem (Noah’s son, high priest) had given it the name Shalem, Place of Peace, and God would not give offence to either Abraham or Shem, He united the two names, and called the city by the name Jerusalem.”

So as we read PS. 122 as a pilgrimage to the earthly city, even more so is it our Psalm as we travel to the heavenly Jerusalem. And yet, this is not just some future achievement but the heavenly Jerusalem is already present to us as we live our lives. This is how St. Paul conceives of Jerusalem in the Epistle: But Jerusalem which is above is free; which is the mother of us all.  For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband. 

And then a few verses later: So then, brethren, we are not children of the bond-woman, but of the free.  Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.

Paul always talks about Jerusalem in the present tense…..we are now children of the promise . . . already standing fast in liberty. 

The author of the book of Hebrews writes in the same way: “[Heb 12:22-24 KJV] 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” 

That is reality! But you see how hard it is to understand–this is not just some future reality but is our reality right now in which we make our pilgrimage. In a mysterious way, we already get to participate in the end as we journey towards the end. This, of course, sounds strange, but it if our end is the heavenly Jerusalem which is eternal, it is not constrained by time as we conceive it, and therefore we really do experience in our day-to-day lives the eternal end towards which we walk. All our images, symbols, stories, metaphors, and analogies are present in order to help us understand that end which is also a present reality! 

St. John the Divine in Revelation gives us the clue to understand this web of symbols. In Revelation 19, the marriage feast of the Lamb is announced: [Rev 19:7-9 KJV] 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed [are] they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

But even though the wedding feast is prepared, and all are called, the Devil and all his armies organize for the final battle in Rev. 20 and 21 – once they are finally vanquished, St. John tells of the feast: [Rev 21:1-5 KJV] 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, [and be] their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 

The marriage feast is enjoyed as the Bride, the New Jerusalem comes down to meet her Groom, Christ Himself. But the Groom is symbolized as the Lamb who offers himself as the sacrifice for His bride and therefore is also the meal for sacrifices were used as the meat for feasts. And here we see (finally) why the imagery of Jerusalem is used to support the Gospel of  Jesus feeding the people in John 6. 

Just before, in John 5, the Jewish leaders of Jerusalem have set themselves to kill Jesus because he accuses the leaders of not loving the Father because they do not love Him. Even more, he says, they do not even love Moses. John records, by the way, that this miracle happened as Jesus had gone up on a mountain, around the time of the passover, in the wilderness. All of these details put us into the story of Moses. The people notice these details–they look at Jesus’ actions and see a new Moses. But notice that Jesus moves even beyond this claim!  Right after the feeding, John records Jesus saying: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. … Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. … I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. – Jhn 6:26-27, 32-33, 51 KJV

Jesus is claiming to be more than Moses. He is claiming to be one with the Father, not just a prophet! In fact, in this narrative it is the disciples who are the image of Moses for they talk with God (Jesus) face to face, it is the disciples who distribute the bread to the people. Now upon the mountain the people feed upon God Himself with eternal food. Once again, a vision of the New Jerusalem at the marriage feast, the same feast that is presented to you today in the Mass.

We are the New Jerusalem, the building blocks of the city of God, the bride of Christ. We not only make a pilgrimage to that end, we are that end…each of us shaped, molded, chisaled, and set to be the living walls of God’s dwelling place. As our hymn puts it: 

Many a blow and biting sculpture

polished well those stones elect,

in their places now compacted

by the heavenly Architect,

who therewith hath willed for ever

that his palace should be decked.

May we too be shaped by God on our pilgrimage to that Heavenly City in which we live now.

INTROIT.  Ps 25:8-15 
8 Gracious and righteous is the Lord; / therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
9 Them that are meek shall he guide in judgement; / and such as are gentle, them shall he teach his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, / unto such as keep his covenant, and his testimonies.
11 For thy Name’s sake, O Lord, / be merciful unto my sin, for it is great.
12 What man is he, that feareth the Lord? / him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
13 His soul shall dwell at ease, / and his seed shall inherit the land.

14 The secret of the LORD is for them that fear him; / and he will show them his covenant.

Ant. Mine eyes are ever looking unto the LORD; / for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Glory be. 

Psalm 25: Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.

Whoso dwelleth under the defence of the Most High: shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say unto the Lord, Thou art my
hope and my stronghold: my God, in him will I trust. For he shall deliver
thee from the snare of the hunter: and from the noisome pestilence. He
shall defend thee under his wings: and thou shalt be safe under his feathers.
His faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield and buckler: thou shalt not be
afraid for any terror by night. Nor for the arrow that flieth by day: for the
pestilence that walketh in darkness: nor for the sickness that destroyeth in
the noonday. A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy
right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee. For he shall give his Angels
charge over thee: to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee in their
hands: that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt go upon the
lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy
feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I
will set him up, because he hath known my Name. He shall call upon me,
and I will hear him: yea, I am with him in trouble. I will deliver him, and
bring him to honour: with long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my
salvation. Psalm 91.

S. Luke 8. 4
WHEN much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell by the way-side, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.  And some fell upon a rock, and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.  And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.  And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.  And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?  And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.  Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.  Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe, and be saved.  They on the rock are they which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.  And that which fell among thorns are they which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares, and riches, and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.  But that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

S. Matth. 8. 1-13 
WHEN he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.  And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.  And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.  And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.  And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man, but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.  And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.  And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.  The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.  For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say unto this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.  When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.  And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.  And his servant was healed in the self-same hour.

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: and both Jesus was called, and his disciples to the marriage.

With this Ring I thee wed: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

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Last week I pointed out that in the beginning Man was created in the image and likeness of God. He was the Crown of Creation and he was given the charge to husband creation. As Husband he, and here I mean humankind as a whole, was to dress creation, to keep it, to honor it, to love and to cherish the Garden of God and indeed all of creation. And note that this Office of Husband was given the Man before the Fall. It relates not to his salvation, but his very ontology, the structure of his being, his meaning and purpose in creation.

Today we will consider the God-given Office of Husband not to creation, but to Woman. Man as Husband to his wife is an instantiation and example of the calling that all humankind has to husband creation. And note as well that this Office of Man as the Husband of his Wife was given before the Fall as well, and so it too is constitutive of his calling, his meaning, and his place in Creation. With the gift of the Woman he is no longer Solitary Man. He has become a pair. And a pair is a new thing and something different from the members of a pair — as different as the separate blades of a pair of scissor differ from the scissors. Separate blades can never accomplish what the pair joined together may accomplish. Now another creature stands shoulder to shoulder to the Man. A Creature-Mate who was created of his own bone, blood and breath. In the Man’s transformation from a state of loneliness to a state of communion with the Woman we experience the sanctity and flourishing of human life. 

Today there is a lot of talk about who may or may not be married. I do not believe that the word “marriage” is very helpful for Christians here. It does not communicate any content concerning what the Church believes about the joining together of a Man and a Woman. The word “marriage” is too vague; too much of what C. S. Lewis might have called “milk and water” language.  

To begin with please note that the Book of Common Prayer does not title the ceremony the “Celebration of the Marriage” or a “Wedding Ceremony.” No, the BCP title is “The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony.” And please notice that it does not read “The Form of Solemnization of Patrimony.” 

What is a “Matrimony?” “Matrimony” is a state of being that is created by an act of God in the ceremony itself. It is a holy state of being that includes both the Man and the Woman to the exclusion of other men and women. Both may enjoy and benefit of other men and women in other states, chaste states of being, as in families and friends and certainly within  Holy Mother Church. But within the Matrimony itself everyone else is excluded. 

So far, so good. But what does the word “Matrimony” mean? It means “the state of being in which a man and a woman are made one.” A man and a woman made a union — yes. A union of a man and a woman — yes. 

But what does the word “matrimony” itself mean? 

The word “matrimony” comes from the Latin “matrimonium,” which was derived from the word for “material” or “substance.” “Substance” is simply that from which things are made. Material, matter, is what the material things in creation are made. The Latin “mater,” which translated means “mother,” indicates the same thing. Mother is the source of the matter from which human beings are made. The original matter from which I was formed came from Margaret Spencer down there in North Carolina. All of us were made from our mothers. In the Nicene Creed when we profess that Jesus Christ “was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary” we are, by professing when we say, “of the Virgin Mary,” our belief that the very material or substance of Christ’s humanity came from his mother Mary. Jesus’ humanity was not created out of nothing; it came naturally from his mother Mary. Matrimony means Motherhood, the Office of Motherhood, the Realm, the Domain of the Mother. It is thus a state of being, instituted of God that the Man and the Woman form by being joined together. 

But what does it mean to be joined? In the context of Christian marriage it means that the Man and the Woman become One Flesh. When they are made One Flesh they enter into this state of being — the One Flesh state of being. Note that the state of being is One Flesh, not One Person. The two do not become One Person, they become One Flesh. One Flesh, Two Persons. That ought to have a familiar ring to it. Now it begins to sound Christian, even Christological. One substance. One Flesh. But Two Persons. And like the Persons of the blessed Trinity the Persons of the one-flesh Matrimony are equal in power, glory and honor even when they are subordinate to one another under certain conditions. 

And how do they become joined and made One Flesh? This is how: when, after obtaining the full and free consent/desire of the Man and the Woman to be joined together, the Priest has them state their desire to “take” one another as wedded Wife and Husband. The word “take” indicates our initiative to bring about, to make this sacrament. Just as the priest may say, “take and eat this in memory…” when delivering the Holy Communion; or as when a man is made a priest, the bishop says, “Take thou Authority to execute the Office of a Priest,” so the Man and Woman are instructed to “take” to themselves this Man and this Woman. This free act of the will is absolutely necessary. But even then the Matrimony has not yet been made a reality. It has been declared to one and all that both the Man and the Woman desire this state of being, this Holy Matrimony, for themselves. They have declared their intention to make a sort of “eucharist” of Matrimony. And yet they are still at this point in the service, just as single as Adam before Eve. They are not yet One Flesh. 

But now comes the moment. In the Holy Communion this is what we call the epiclesis — the moment the Holy Spirit comes down upon these gifts upon the Altar and makes them the Body and Blood of Christ. Now comes the Epiclesis of the marriage. The moment the Holy Spirit comes upon the Man and the Woman and makes them One Flesh. And who performs it? The Man! As ironic as it sounds, it is the Man who effects Matrimony of which he will become a member — not the Bride and not even the Priest (who represents and witnesses for the Church, but he does not effect the matrimony). The privilege of actually effecting, of calling down the Holy Spirit upon the Man and the Woman is the soon to be Husband. And it happens this way:

The Priest blesses the ring and then he delivers it to the Man and he places it upon his Woman’s finger and declares: 

With this Ring I thee wed: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

The older version, before the 1928 revision is even better:

With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow; In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

Grandmother may pass out when she hears, “with my body I thee worship,” but it is absolutely true, good, and Catholic, beautiful! “I thee wed, in the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” That is it, that is the epiclesis and at that moment the Holy Spirit comes down upon the Man and his Woman and makes them One Flesh — a Matrimony. At that moment the Priest may drop dead, but this Man and this Woman are made One Flesh right then and there. Whether she speaks another word, or the Priest speaks another word, doesn’t matter. They are Husband and Wife. They are One Flesh. A new Matrimony has come into existence. A miracle has occurred right before your eyes. And now there is no turning back now.  

It is important to note that the man and the woman enter a state of Matrimony, not Patrimony. According to the logic of the liturgy of the BCP the Woman enters the state of Motherhood when she and her man are united in Holy Matrimony, not when (and if) she actually, biologically, conceives and bears children. When she receives the ring from her Man and he pronounces the Trinitarian benediction she is infused with the grace of Motherhood. The Form of Solemnization of Matrimony bestows the grace of “Motherhood,” so that she may walk faithfully in that vocation. Children do not make a Mother; God makes the Mother so that children have a Mother to come to. 

One last thing. Ours is a crude age that at best requires crude lines of authority. And it is in error on this. Many think the Husband is the dictator of the family and his will is law. It is true that in Scriptures the Husband is said to be head of the Woman. But being her head doesn’t make him head of everything she rules over. It is hard to see how the Man could be head of Matrimony. Head of the Woman  – yes; but the Woman is the Queen of the Matrimony. The Man is the Husband and do you know what that means? That means he is the Queen’s gardener! Yes, it does! If you don’t believe me, read the Bible. And he, in the Solemnization of Matrimony, also received and was infused with the grace of Fatherhood. And by the way, being married to the Queen doesn’t make the Husband the King anymore than being married to Queen Elizabeth II made Prince Philip the King of England. 

So we have the Queen and we have a Gardener. To Husband his family he must love his family, he must be present, he must tend it, feed it, love, honor, and cherish, and he must know his wife and family. He must be attentive, intelligent, reasonable and responsible. I’ve never heard a wife complain that her husband was paying too much attention to her and their family. He must be attentive to know if, when and what to prune, or water, or stake for support, and futhermore all that  requires confidence and trust between the Queen and the Gardener. Whatever differences may arise between the Two Persons of the Matrimony, those differences will be worked out for the sake of the One Flesh in different ways for different families. One size does not fit all. Every family is different, but what we have in common is that we all work out how we are going to work things out within the context of the horizon of the Catholic faith. It will always require loving and cherishing,  grace and finesse. This Matrimony, this Office of Motherhood is the cradle of new life, the God-given means of mothering and husbanding creation — namely to take the material of our bodies and make more children to populate the Garden of God.  

And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: and both Jesus was called, and his disciples to the marriage.