"Love is patient, love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." (I Corinthians 13:4-7)
I read those words many times when I officiate at a wedding. I look at the young (and not so young) lovers standing in front of me, their eyes glazed over, sweat most likely dripping down somewhere, and wonder if they actually have a clue as to what they are getting themselves into at this wedding. A wedding is a romantic event for many and reality has little to do with it. It is something we do because it is traditional. The parts of the wedding ceremony themselves were originally civil agreements between a father and a man who wanted to take the daughter of the father away from him. The daughter often had to have a "dowry", money or possessions that would guarantee that the man who was taking the daughter as his wife was getting a good deal from the transaction. The language we use in weddings is civil language from a time when women were treated as possessions and she was "given" by a father to a man who would feed and clothe her so that the father no longer had to provide for her. That is why she had to bring something into the marriage so that the man who would be responsible for her would have something tangible to begin this new agreement.
"Who gives this woman to be married to this man?" was once the question asked at the beginning of a wedding. We no longer ask that question. Instead, we ask who presents the woman. We changed it when the church decided that the original question treated the woman as a piece of property. We also used to ask the woman to say she would "obey" the man as part of the vows. We dropped that about the same time as when we decided she was not property of anyone and did not necessarily have to obey her husband. Women became persons with equal rights and the ceremony we have today reflects that idea. Husband and Wife are partners in this marriage proposition and we now try to express that idea.
Paul's words to the church at Corinth were not originally written for a wedding. They were written to a contentious group of people at a city at the crossroads of the ancient world. People of many varied backgrounds lived together and the early church there was made up of this mixture of folks--slave and free, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, Jews and Gentiles--and Paul wanted them to treat each other as equals, an idea that was not widespread in the ancient world. The idea that one would love another person that was a casual acquaintance or a church member was a new one too. You may have loved your spouse, although arranged marriage was more the rule than the exception, but loving others outside of a marriage was not something many people talked about. Paul's letter to the church expanded the idea of love to include everyone in your circle of acquaintances, and especially those in the church to whom the letter is written. So, Paul defined love for them and named all the attributes of what made love real.
What a tall order it is to love others if we truly think that Paul's definition is relevant for our lives. Being patient and kind is not always easy, especially where certain persons are concerned. The list of does and don't continues so as to make it clear that truly loving others means that one gives up the right to have things as one desires and gives in to the needs of others. Love does what is best for the others in life and allows them to have the benefit of the doubt. Love is a tough sell when one really wants to take Paul's words literally.
Those starry-eyed lovers stand stiffly in front of the officiant of the wedding ceremony, waiting to hear the words, "You may kiss the bride" so that they can be announced to those present and go down the aisle to the reception to follow. Most likely, they will remember little of what was said or done in the marriage ceremony. They will truly learn about love in the years that follow if they try to put part of Paul's recipe for loving into practice in their lives. The vows used often say it as well as Paul said it..."for richer, for poorer;for better, for worse; in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish"--in all those situations, loving another person in the best and worst of times is what truly makes a marriage work.
Happy Valentines Day to all of you loving people and to all of you who want to be loving people. Love does conquer all when it is truly at the center of our lives. Love is really what has to do with it all.


By William Carrol
February 18, 2014
February 18, 2014 -This message is to encourage those who are saying in light of all the prayer requests that have been answered and all the needs that have been met, where is my answer? Sometimes we have a need that is so great that we need to see the hand of God work in others so we can have enough faith to believe for ourselves. In the midst of delayed answers consider the miracles that are going on around you and be assured that our God is both willing and able to move in your situation.
Our messages are recorded at Times Square Church in New York City. You are welcome to make additional copies of these sermons for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws.


Sunday, January 3, 2010
My Christmas letter is reaching the Holy Father!
I wanted to thank you for your Christmas greetings and tell you that will be delivered in the coming days to the
.We propose an important initiative: during the Month of Peace, we invite you to send the Holy Father and to the world your photographic or textual message of Peace.
We invite you to do it the same way that you used for sending Christmas greetings from the site
We urge you to make you, as requested by the Pope, "proclaim" the Gospel, and promoter of the portal of the Vatican Pope2You.
The Staff of Pope2You


Alliance Benefits serves The Christian and Missionary Alliance by providing retirement and health plan benefits to the employees of the denomination's churches, missionaries, National Office, and affiliated support organizations. We operate as an arm of the National Office's Ops/Finance Area of Ministry under the direction of the Benefits Board.
We strive to provide excellence in service and benefits and to meet the unique needs of those in ministry.
Our passion is to serve The Christian and Missionary Alliance churches, supporting organizations, employees, and retirees by designing, implementing, and administering competitive, cost-effective group insurance and retirement programs. We honor God and achieve our mission by guiding our services with the following principles:
COMPASSION • RESPECT • INTEGRITY


Roman Catholic Funeral Services
Catholic Funeral Service In Singapore
Catholics believe there is life after death, and their actions determine the soul of a person going to heaven or hell. The purgatory belief of Roman Catholic funeral service is people repenting their acts in their lifetime are sinners, and they cannot go to heaven directly. However, all modern Catholics do not believe in purgatory. They encourage vigils and prayers for the dead, reflecting catholic funeral rites.
Roman Catholic funeral service elements
- A vigil service includes cremated remains or the body in presence. The casket may be closed or open if the body is present.
- A funeral service or mass includes the body or cremated remains. In the absence of the body, it is a Memorial Mass service.
- A graveside service includes the body burial or cremated remains or placing the remains in a columbarium.
A Vigil prayer takes place during the death ceremony of a roman catholic at the church or the deceased’s home. A vigil prayer includes mourners praying for the dead person, besides tributes and eulogies delivery is as per the request of the grieving family.
What happens at a Roman Catholic funeral?
A Roman Catholic funeral service in Singapore includes a Requiem Mass featuring the Prayer and Holy Communion. A Requiem Mass is the choice of the Catholics and the church. The priest greets the coffin at the church door by sprinkling holy water on the coffin, leading it to church. The coffin is kept at the altar under a special cloth known as a pall.
The funeral liturgy includes a reading from a psalm and the Old Testament, read by friends, family, or the priest. The priest reads a passage from the gospel and offers a eulogy for the dead person.
If the funeral conducts Requiem Mass, bread and wine are a part of the Holy Communion. Mourners receive Holy Communion forming a procession, and a eulogy known as the ‘Final Commendation’ is done. The priest sprinkles holy water on the coffin, and the family and friends present say a final goodbye.
Music in a Catholic funeral
Music in a Catholic funeral includes sacred music or funeral hymns. A Roman Catholic funeral service mass may last for 40 minutes. It exceeds for an hour.
What happens at a Catholic burial?
The burial start presides is by a deacon or a priest. It is a committal service known as the Catholic Rite of Committal at a graveside. The priest blesses the site before the prayer.
Traditional catholic funerals include burial and embalming. The ashes of a catholic are stored in a cremation plot in a cemetery or a columbarium urn as per the church’s approval. Catholics do not follow any specific mourning period, but families may conduct a memorial service up to six months or on their death anniversary.
Dress-code and etiquette for a Catholic funeral
Catholic funeral service requires mourners to wear dark colors and to dress smartly as tradition. A few churches are open to colorful dress codes, yet, if you are doubtful avoid, sportswear, jeans, trainers, hoodies, and slogan t-shirts. You can read this article on what to wear to a funeral.


Armilda Blankenship Cresong, 79 of Beckley, departed this life on Saturday, January 17th 2015, at Beckley ARH in Beckley.
Born August 12, 1935 at Logan, she was the daughter of the late Ezra and Maude Bowens Blankenship
In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by her loving husband, Willard Cresong, one granddaughter, Jessica Cline and two brothers: Bill and Jess Stevens.
Shirley Anita Browning Hendricks, 77 of Gilbert, went home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to join her many loved ones waiting on her in Heaven, on Friday, January 16th, 2015, from Thomas Memorial Hospital in Charleston.
Born May 19, 1937 at Gilbert, she was the daughter of the late Rockford and Francis Barger Browning.
James Arvil Ferguson, 73, of Hampden, went home to be with the Lord on Friday, January 16, 2015, from Logan Regional Medical Center.
Born on June 9, 1941, at Gilbert, he was the son of the late Kenner and Mina Belcher Ferguson. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death two sisters: Flossie Ann Ferguson and Marietta Ferguson; one brother, Kenny Ferguson; and one nephew, Charley Ferguson.
Wilson Fred Walls, 79 of Bruno, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and join his loved ones waiting for him in heaven, on Sunday, January 11, 2015, from Logan Regional Medical Center at Logan.
Born January 2, 1936 at Leatherwood, he was the son of the late Edward and Mattie Mitchell Walls.
In addition to his parents he was preceded in death by one brother, Verlin Walls, and three sisters, Imogene Walls, Lucy Toler, and Lois Harper.
Frank Dee Hendricks, 77 of Gilbert, went home to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and to join his loved ones waiting for him in heaven, on Saturday, January 10th, 2015, from Trinity Healthcare Services at Logan.
Born February 17th, 1937, at Logan, he was the son of the late Erby and Nellie Clay Hendricks.
In addition to his parents he was also preceded in death by one brother, Troy Hendricks and one granddaughter, Cherie Hope Hendricks.
Lola M. “Kinky” Fuller, 64 of Isaban, departed this life on January 7, 2015 at Cornerstone of Huntington. Born on October 8, 1950, at Gilbert, WV, she was the daughter of the late Charles & Irene (Thompson) Noe. She was also preceded in death by her mother and father in law: Rev. Lee & Ailene Fuller; and a special great nephew: Stevie Joe Browning. Lola was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She loved fishing and spending time in her yard. She was an avid sports fan of WVU, Marshall and Gilbert Lions.
Isabella Diamond Brewer, 84, of Gilbert, departed this life on Sunday, January 4, 2015, at the home of her granddaughter (Trampas and Paula Shannon) in Hanover.
Walter Mullins, 68, of Panther, departed this life on Friday, December 26, 2014, from the Gold Harvest Unit of Welch Community Hospital.
Born on August 12, 1946, at Panther, he was the son of the late Melvin and Stella Steele Rutherford Mullins. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one sister: Ellie Short; two brothers: Bobby and Earl Mullins; and one grandchild: Christen Justice.
Harold Gene Brown, 47 of Camden, South Carolina departed this life December 25, 2014.
Born on March 24, 1967 at Man, WV, he was the son of Linda Riffe and the late Harold (Ted Mack) Brown.
In addition to his father, he was also preceded in death by his paternal grandparents: Teddy and Ruby Brown; and his maternal grandparents: Jim and Anna Brooke Vance.
Harold was a heavy equipment operator, he loved to fish and hunt.
Sebert May, 90, of Gilbert, went home to be with the Lord on Thursday, December 18, 2014, from South Williamson, KY.
Born on February 27, 1924, at Wharncliffe, he was the son of the late George and Nancy (Patrick) May.


On “Lord, I have cried…”: 6 stichera: 3 of the forefeast (see in the Menaion), and 3 of the venerable one, in Tone I, Special Melody: “Joy of the ranks of heaven…”
Like a nightingale singing hymns divine, like a lark uplifting its voice in song, like a melodious flute inspired by the Spirit of God, the venerable Cassiana setteth forth her incomparable hymns, and thereby moveth all the faithful to great compunction.
Cassiana, great among those whom the Spirit hath inspired, doth chant sweet-sounding hymns unto God, wherewith she instructeth us in piety and guideth us in the ways of repentance, that we may worship and glorify Christ our incarnate Savior.
Having acquired boldness before the Master of all, Cassiana standeth in the train of His all-pure Mother, and prayeth most earnestly, that those who honor her memory and celebrate it with splendor may be delivered from dire misfortunes and perils.
Glory…: Idiomelon, in Tone II
When the New Rome held sway upon the earth, and its rulers upheld the Christian Faith, the venerable Cassiana, filled with the Spirit of God, chanted therein hymns of glory to Christ our God, praising also His holy martyrs, adding the golden coins of her inspiration to our rich treasury of spiritual songs. Wherefore, hearkening to her wondrous poesy, let us clap our hands with gladness, O ye faithful, crying out in adoration to the Word Who took flesh of the Ever-virgin: Great is Thy mercy! O Lord, glory to Thee!
Now and ever…. of the forefeast (see in the Menaion).
Aposticha stichera of the forefeast (see in the Menaion); and Glory…: Idiomelon of the venerable one, in Tone II
The City of Constantine exulteth, enriched by the labors and memory of the chaste Cassiana; and, summoning the Christ-loving flock, it crieth out: Come, ye who love the venerable one, and let us rejoice on the day of her commemoration! Come and be glad, ye who love the saints of Christ! Come and behold the latter-day disciple of David the Psalmist! Come ye, and hearken to the melodious hymns she hath wrought for the good of our souls! For as the sinful woman, of whom she so eloquently sang, once washed the feet of Christ with her tears, so now doth Cassiana draw forth from us tears of compunction; and she prayeth now unceasingly to the Holy Trinity, that those who with faith celebrate her memory may be delivered from corruption and temptations, and from all manner of tribulations.
Now and ever…. of the forefeast (see in the Menaion).
Troparion of the venerable one, in Tone VIII
In thee, O mother, that which is fashioned according to the image of God was preserved; for, taking up thy cross, thou didst follow after Christ, and by thy hymnody thou dost teach us the power of repentance: that tears shed in penitence wash away our sins and transgressions. Wherefore, thy spirit rejoiceth with the angels, O venerable Cassiana.
Glory…. Now and ever…: Troparion of the forefeast (see in the Menaion).
At “God is the Lord…”, the Troparion of the forefeast, twice; Glory…, that of the venerable one; Now and ever…, of the forefeast, again.
After the kathismata of the Psalter, the Sessional hymns of the forefeast (see in the Menaion).
Canon of the forefeast,, with 8 Troparia, the irmos being chanted twice (see in the Menaion); and that of the venerable one, with 4 Troparia, the acrostic whereof is “Like cassia is the hymnody of Cassiana”, in Tone VI
Irmos: The children of those who were saved have concealed beneath the earth Him Who of old covered the pursuing tyrant with the waves of the sea; but let us chant unto the Lord like the maidens: Gloriously hath He been glorified.
Like cassia doth the memory of the venerable Cassiana fill our souls with sweet fragrance, and like myrrh and stacte do her excellent hymns perfume the Church of Christ, moving all to chant: Gloriously hath He been glorified!
In chastity the venerable one avoided a royal marriage, preferring to betroth herself to Christ, the King of kings, to instruct maidens in the ways of God, and to teach them to chant unto Him: Gloriously hath He been glorified.
Knowing that tears of repentance and sighs of compunction are of more worth than costly ointment and precious gems, Cassiana praised the sinful woman who anointed the feet of Christ, crying: Gloriously hath He been glorified.
Theotokion: Elderly and past the age of begetting children, the pious Joachim and Anna yet begat the Mother of Him Who saved the children of Israel from the tyrant in the Red Sea; and like them they cried: Gloriously hath He been glorified.
Irmos: Creation, beholding Thee, Who suspended the whole earth without support upon the waters, Thyself suspended upon Golgotha, was seized with great awe, crying out: None is holy save Thee, O Lord!
Cassiana's hymns ever move us to contrition; for, hearing them we are filled with great awe, and falling down before the Savior Who was crucified for our sake, we cry out: None is holy save Thee, O Lord!
All creation is moved to awe, beholding the gift of hymnody which the venerable one hath been granted by Christ, the preëternal Word of God, that she might lead us to cry: None is holy save Thee, O Lord!
Seized and overcome by the fear of God, we sinners lift our voices in praise of the great Cassiana, who by her compunctionate hymns bringeth us to cry aloud unto Christ: None is holy save Thee, O Lord!
Theotokion: She who, according to the promise of God, was born to be the Mother of the Redeemer, would behold Him uplifted upon the Cross in the place of the skull, crying out: None is holy save Thee, O Lord!
Kontakion of the venerable one, in Tone III
Resplendent with a mind inspired by the Spirit, O blessed and divinely wise Cassiana, thou art like a splendid diadem set upon the brow of the Church of Christ; for thine all-beauteous hymns adorn it like most precious gems. Wherefore, we fervently beseech thee: Grant the divine gift of thine inspiration unto those who earnestly desire it, that the faithful may ever cry out unto thee: Rejoice, O venerable mother, thou glory and boast of all the Orthodox!
Ikos: Shining with the brilliance of piety, full of divine luster, thy hymns are like beauteous jewels of many facets, each reflecting the supernal radiance of Him Who dwelleth in light unapproachable, O Cassiana; and when we chant them with reverence and compunction, we are filled with sanctifying grace, which cleanseth us of sin and exalteth us in mind to heavenly things, which laying up in our hearts, we ponder in spirit, crying out to thee in thanksgiving: Rejoice, O venerable mother, thou glory and boast of all the Orthodox!
Sessional hymn of the venerable one, in Tone IV
Watered by living streams of piety, thy mind flourished like a palm-tree, O Cassiana, and, nourished by the Spirit of God, it brought forth in abundance the fruits of an inspired intellect: the peerless hymns which fill the hearts of the faithful with compunction. Wherefore, taught by thee the ways of repentance, O venerable mother, in thanksgiving we cry unto thee: Entreat Christ our Savior, that He have mercy on those who honor thy holy memory.
Glory…, Now and ever…. of the forefeast (see in the Menaion).
Irmos: Foreseeing Thy divine condescension upon the Cross, Habbakuk cried out in awe: Thou hast cut down the dominion of the mighty, O Good One, entering into fellowship with those who are in hades, in that Thou art Almighty.
In meekness and humility didst thou refute the ungodly emperor, O Cassiana, defending the honored place of womanhood in the divine dispensation of man's salvation; wherefore, thou didst betroth thyself to the Almighty
Against him who said "All that is evil hath come from a woman," Cassiana, filled with the Spirit, replied: “But from a woman all that is most sublime hath come,” thus standing forth as champion for the all-holy Theotokos.
Theotokion: Seeing thee in foreshadowings and visions, O Theotokos, the prophets of God perceived thee as the unquarried mountain, the rod of Aaron that put forth leaves and fruit, and the Mother of the Messiah, Who is God Almighty.
Irmos: I rise early unto Thee, O Word of God, Who, in Thy loving-kindness, didst immutably debase Thyself and didst dispassionately subject Thyself to sufferings. Grant peace unto me who have fallen, O Thou Who lovest mankind.
Thou didst embrace the life of repentance, O venerable one, submitting thyself to monastic obedience, seeking to subject the passions of the flesh to thy spirit through fasting and ascetic feats, and thereby gaining peace for thy soul.
Having foresworn wedlock, O Cassiana, thou didst bow thy neck beneath the easy monastic yoke, daily rising early to greet in fervent prayer thy heavenly Bridegroom, Christ the Savior, Who loveth mankind and suffered for our sake.
Entangled are we in worldly concerns, beset are we by the sufferings of life and assailed by trials and temptations, but by thine earnest supplications move the Lord to grant us peace in His loving-kindness, O venerable mother.
Theotokion: Have pity on us who rise early unto thee, and in thy loving-kindness spread forth thy protecting veil over us, the fallen, O Mother of the Word, begging peace for us in thy supplications to thy Son and God, Who suffered for our sake.
Irmos: Jonah was swallowed, but was not held fast in the belly of the monster; for, serving as an image of Thee, Who didst suffer and wast given over for burial, he issued forth from the whale as from a bridal chamber. And he said to the watchmen, the vain and false guardians: Ye have forsaken His mercy!
Ye who have forsaken the mercy of Christ, who, in thrall to gluttony and the passions of the flesh, serve your base desires, hearken to the voice of the blessed Cassiana, who summoneth all to foreswear vanity and sin, and to offer tears of contrition and repentance, lest your souls perish utterly.
Mankind is swallowed up by iniquity, as by an all-devouring beast from whose maw few escape; but in her hymnody Cassiana showeth us that repentance will free us from his imprisoning belly, and tears shed in remorse will force him to vomit us forth, as of old the sea monster spewed forth Jonah.
Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes when Jonah proclaimed the warning of the Lord, yet we fail to heed the inspired words of the holy Cassiana, who calleth upon us to weep bitter tears over our sins. Woe unto us, lest in our indifference we come to hear the dread words: Ye have forsaken His mercy!
Theotokion: O pure Theotokos, rescue us whom the monster of the abyss holdeth fast in his talons, seeking to devour us, and deliver us from his foul embrace, that, saved, we may escape the toils of death and find refuge in the haven of thy loving-kindness, in the splendors of the bridal chamber of thy Son.
Kontakion & ikos of the forefeast (see in the Menaion).
Irmos: O ineffable wonder! He, Who in the furnace delivered the venerable children from the flame, is laid in the grave, dead and devoid of breath, for the salvation of us who chant: O God our Deliverer, blessed art Thou!
Disdain us not, who with unworthy mouths dare to praise thy virtues and chant thy hymns, O Cassiana, but deliver us from the furnace of lusts, that with thee we may cry: O God our Deliverer, blessed art Thou!
Ye Christians, lift up your voices in song, extolling the venerable one, who in hymnody praised the woman who washed the feet of Christ with her tears, saying: "O Savior of men's souls, disdain me not!"
O Lord, accept our sighs and the streams of our tears, for, imitating the sinful woman, whom Cassiana praised, we cry out to Thee, the unfathomable Abyss of mercy: O God our Deliverer, blessed art Thou!
Theotokion: Flames await the ungodly in the life to come, for the love of God burneth those who spurn it, but it is salvation and delight for those who chant unto the Son of the Virgin: O God our Deliverer, blessed art Thou!
Irmos: The godly children denounced the pillar of evil opposed to God; and the assembly of the iniquitous which raged against Christ deviseth empty plots, intending to slay Him Who holdeth life in the palm of His hand. Him doth all creation bless, glorifying Him forever.
Carrying the burden of our transgressions like a heavy weight, we imitate the sinful woman in all but repentance, for our eyes shed no tears to wash away our iniquities; but at the prayers of the holy Cassiana, O Lord, disdain us not, whom Thou hast created.
All-compunctionate is the great hymn which Cassiana wrote in praise of the sinful woman, teaching us to follow her in tearful repentance for our iniquities; wherefore, let us hearken to her prompting and cry unto Christ, Whom all creation doth bless, glorifying Him forever.
Sinful beyond all measure, we have set up our lusts as an idol, which in our evil we adore; but Cassiana teacheth us to cast down our passions like a pillar, and to cleanse our souls of idolatrous sin, worshiping Jesus, Whom all creation doth bless, glorifying Him forever
Theotokion: Saved from damnation are we who worship the Son of the Virgin, Whose palms were pierced with nails for our sins, and Who died that we might have abundant life. Wherefore, let us cease our iniquities and cry: Him doth all creation bless, glorifying Him forever.
Irmos: Lament Me not, O Mother, beholding in the tomb the Son Whom thou didst conceive in thy womb without seed; for I shall arise and be glorified, and as God everlasting shall I exalt with glory those who magnify thee with faith and love.
In sacred hymnody did Cassiana glorify the wondrous Gurius, Samonas and Habib, who with the choir of the martyrs welcomed her to the mansions of paradise, wherein they join chorus together around the throne of Christ, our eternal God.
Auxentius and Mardarius, Eugene and Orestes, led by the divinely wise Eustratius escorted the venerable Cassiana to the everlasting bridal-chamber, where the banquet of the Lamb of God is set forth for all who magnify Him with faith and love.
Now let us exalt with glory Cassiana, in that she hath taught us to magnify the saints of God; for with the all-immaculate Theotokos, the honorable Forerunner and the companies of the martyrs she giveth everlasting praise to Almighty God.
Theotokion: Acclaim ye the Mother of Him Who was conceived without seed, the immaculate Theotokos whose all-pure womb is undefiled; for the eternal God Who was born of her will magnify with glory all who with faith and love magnify her with hymns of praise.
Exapostilarion of the venerable one, Special Melody: “Hearken, ye women…”
The City of Constantine boasteth in thee, O Cassiana, and the Church of Christ, illumined by thy hymnody, rejoiceth exceedingly in thy holy memory; for by thee are we all taught the power of repentance and the infinite loving-kindness of God Who loveth mankind.
Glory…, Now and ever…. of the forefeast (see in the Menaion).
Aposticha of the forefeast (see in the Menaion); and Glory…: Idiomelon of the venerable one, in Tone IV
Let us hymn and piously praise the saint of Godthe harp of the Spirit and lamp of the Church of Godfor her life was lived in accordance with her holy name. Wherefore, with laudation let us cry out to her: Rejoice, O divinely wise Cassiana, whose hymns are redolent of the myrrh and cassia wherewith the precious and incorruptible body of the Lord was embalmed! Rejoice, O holy one, who didst increase greatly the talant entrusted thee by God! Rejoice, O venerable one, most comely scion of devout nobility! Rejoice, O most blessed one, model of humility and chastity, who dwellest now in the bridal-chamber of thy Master on high! Rejoice, O wise virgin, who leddest other maidens unto Christ the Bridegroom! Rejoice, O namesake of the great Cassian, guide of monastics and teacher of repentance! We beseech thee to deliver from all wrath and tribulation those who celebrate thy holy memory, and to make us partakers of ineffable glory in the life to come.
Now and ever…. of the forefeast (see in the Menaion).
Prokimenon, in Tone IV
Wondrous is God in His saints, the God of Israel.
Stichos: In congregations bless ye God, the Lord from the well-springs of Israel.
Epistle to the Galatians, §208
Brethren: Before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterward be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Alleluia, in Tone I
Stichos: With patience I waited patiently for the Lord, and He was attentive unto me, and He hearkened unto my supplication.
Stichos: And He brought me up out of the pit of misery, and from the mire of clay.
Gospel according to Luke, §33
At that time, one of the Pharisees desired Jesus that He would eat with him. And He went down into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And behold, a woman in the city, who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at His feet behind Him weeping, and began to wash His feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee who had bidden Him saw it, he spake within himself, saying: "This man, if He were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is who toucheth Him; for she is a sinner." And Jesus answering said unto him: "Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee." And he said: "Master, say on." "There was a certain creditor who had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me, therefore, which of them will love him most?" Simon answered and said: "I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most." And He said unto him: "Thou hast rightly judged." And He turned to the woman, and said unto Simon: "Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house; thou gavest Me no water for My feet: but she hath washed My feet with tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head. Thou gavest Me no kiss: but this woman, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." And He said unto her: "Thy sins are forgiven." And those who sat at meat with Him began to say within themselves: "Who is this that forgiveth sins also?" And He said to the woman: "Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."
In everlasting remembrance shall the righteous be; he shall not be afraid of evil tidings.
Author's note.: The stichera idiomela of this service are inspired by stichera composed by the venerable Cassiana herself: that on "Lord, I have cried" is inspired by one she composed for the Nativity of Christ; that from the Vespers Aposticha is based on one from the service to the Martyrs Gurius, Samonas & Habib (November 13th)' and that from the Matins Aposticha is based on one from the service to the Greatmartyr Eustratius & companions (December 13th). The irmoi selected for the Canon of St. Cassiana are taken from Matins of Great & Holy Saturday (St. Cassiana composed the irmoi of Odes I through V herself; the rest were written by St. Cosmas of Maîuma).
The Menaion of the Orthodox Church © Isaac E. Lambertsen


RISK TAKING MISSION AND SERVICE (RTMS)
Gobin’s Mission and Service Leadership Team coordinates the practice of RTMS, by supporting the work of people to make a positive difference in the lives of others for the purposes of Christ, whether or not they are part of our community of faith. We can help you find ways to share your unique gifts in a variety of mission ministries that provide hope and support through personal connections and the demonstration of love, mercy and respect, all within our local community and the world beyond.
Transformers A coalition of congregations and community groups which help children, youth and adults to transform their lives from poverty to self-sufficiency.
Community Small Grants Gobin’s small grants program awards up to $1000 quarterly to support local mission and service projects that provide hope and support to individuals struggling with personal, spiritual, emotional and economic issues.
Collaborative Outreach Each year Gobin selects two to three local community projects and one international project that fit the RTMS model and supports them through fund-raising and volunteer work while raising awareness of their services. Two current missions we are serving include the Summer Enrichment Program and Mission Guatemala.
Other Service Projects
- Giving Tree – every holiday season we express our love through contributions of time and money as members of the congregation purchase individualized gifts for community families in need. The Giving Tree supports over 400 local Putnam County children.
- UMCOR Hygiene Kits – These kits provide basic necessities to people who have been forced to leave their homes because of human conflict or disaster. Individuals may purchase items for the kits here.


Archbishop Hebda suspends obligation to attend Mass
Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said in a statement Thursday evening that the obligation for parishioners to celebrate Mass would be suspended amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.
While the bishop said he would not cancel Sunday Mass, he encouraged those who want to stay at home to watch Mass remotely, either online or via radio and TV broadcasts.
Mass will be broadcast on TV at 11 a.m. Sunday on KSTC-TV/45, and on the radio at 9 a.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
The bishop’s statement reads, in part:
"In ordinary circumstances, Catholics are obliged to participate in Mass on Sundays and other holy days of obligation," Hebda states. "This obligation is suspended in cases of moral or physical impossibility, and may also be dispensed for a just cause when it is for the spiritual good of the faithful. In addition, the Church also has the obligation to protect those who are most vulnerable and those who care for the sick.
"Due to the increasing number of confirmed COVID-19/coronavirus cases in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, I determine it prudent to dispense all Catholics in the territory of this Archdiocese from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass, until further notice. If the faithful decide that congregating for Sunday Mass would constitute a risk to themselves or others, they have the freedom not to attend."


[This article is a brief summary of the long Wikipedia article]
Samuel Chandler (1693 – 8 May 1766) was a British Nonconformist minister and polemicist pamphleteer. He has been called the 'uncrowned patriarch of Dissent' in the latter part of George II's reign.
Samuel Chandler was born in Hungerford, the son of Henry Chandler (d.1719), a Dissenting minister, and his wife Mary Bridgeman. His father was the first settled Presbyterian minister at Hungerford since the 1689 Act of Toleration.
In or around 1700 the family moved to Bath, where for the remainder of his life Henry ministered to the congregation that met at Frog Lane.
He was the younger brother of the Bath poet Mary Chandler, whose biography he wrote for inclusion in Cibber's The Lives of the Poets (1753).
As a child he displayed an 'early genius for learning', and this was encouraged by his family. He excelled in the classics and is said to have already mastered Greek by the time he entered the dissenting academy at Bridgwater, where he was a student of the Rev John Moore (d.1747). He later attended Samuel Jones' academy at Gloucester. Here he was a contemporary of Bishop Butler and Archbishop Secker, who in spite of their later churchmanship and high preferment remained life-long friends.
Samuel Chandler (portrait in the Rijksmuseum)
In 1714 Chandler began a preaching ministry in London. During this time he shared a house with Secker, who had returned to England after studying in Leiden. In 1716 he was chosen as minister of the Presbyterian Hanover Chapel in Peckham and ordained in December of that year.
On 17 September 1719 Chandler married Elizabeth Rutter at St Giles, Camberwell. Elizabeth was the daughter of Benjamin Rutter, leather dresser of Bermondsey, and his wife Elizabeth. They had six children: Elizabeth (d. before 1772), wife of Thomas Mitchell, tailor of Bucklersbury, London; Sarah (d.1791), wife of the classical scholar Edward Harwood (1729-1794); Catherine ("Kitty"), wife of William Ward, packer of Sise-lane, London, and Mary ("Polly"), who remained unmarried. His two sons pre-deceased him.
Through the South Sea Bubble crash of 1720 Chandler lost the fortune which his wife had brought to their marriage. This left him in straitened circumstances, and from about 1723 he supplemented his income by working as a bookseller at the Cross Keys in the Poultry, London. In 1725, having read his recently published Vindication of the Christian Religion, Archbishop Wake wrote to him expressing surprise that 'so much good learning and just reasoning in a person of your profession, and do think it pity you should not rather spend your time in writing books than in selling them'.
It was partly due to the success of Vindication, which brought together sermons he had delivered at the Old Jewry meeting house in defence of Christian revelation, that Chandler was invited to be the assistant minister under Thomas Leavesley at the Old Jewry in 1726. During this time he continued to preach at Peckham. In 1728 he was appointed pastor at the Old Jewry, the congregation offering him an extra £100 a year on the condition that he give up bookselling. He held this position for the rest of his life.
Over time he came to play a leading role in the affairs of London Dissenters. From 1730 he was a member of the Presbyterian Board, and from 1744 of Dr Williams's Trust. It was largely as a result of his influence, particularly among wealthy dissenters, that a relief society for widows and orphaned children of Protestant dissenting ministers was established in 1733. In a similar way he co-ordinated the formation of The Society for the Propagation of the Knowledge of God among the Germans, formed in 1753 to assist German dissenters in the British colony of Pennsylvania.
Beliefs & Writings:
Chandler was an extensive writer, and through his pamphlets, sermons and letters he engaged energetically with the religious disputes of the day. He was an impassioned proponent of civil and religious liberty, advocating freedom of conscience and the appeal to reason in matters of belief.
Chandler died on 8 May 1766. During the last year of his life he had suffered from re-occurrences of a 'very painful disorder'.
He was buried in what became the family vault at Bunhill Fields in London on 16 May.
Chandler's wife died in 1773.


Homily for the Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), October 21st, 2018:
What religion would you die for? What religion would you live for? Today’s readings answer those questions. They also identify the chalice and the baptism which we must drink, the chalice and baptism James and John participated in.
The reading from Isaiah explains the theme of vicarious atonement. The prophecy is of a “Suffering Servant.” God’s Suffering Servant will assume the punishment due to us for our sins. This Suffering Servant will do this in our name. The Suffering Servant will be regarded as guilty and he will be associated with the wicked, even though he was completely innocent. His suffering will be for a positive purpose-salvation. Christians see clearly Jesus Christ in this model of the Suffering Servant. God Himself speaks in Isaiah’s prophecy. God affirms this prophecy and the spiritual reality that the Suffering Servant achieves in his vicarious atonement. This vicarious atonement, this undeserved suffering, is the Chalice that Jesus must drink from, faithfully. Jesus’s vicarious atonement is meant to attract attention from others, Jews and Gentiles. In our time, this model of the Suffering Servant makes a positive sense of suffering, particularly unmerited suffering. It shows us how to evangelize our faith by bearing burdens and setting an example.
In the reading from Hebrews, this Suffering Servant is also a “great high priest.” The author identifies this great high priest as Jesus Christ. The author encourages us to approach Jesus on His throne of grace because this Suffering Servant and Great High Priest is merciful. He is merciful because He is human, as well as divine. Jesus Christ’s mercy is rooted in His sharing of our human nature. He was tempted in every way but did not sin. Jesus Christ, the Great High Priest has successfully entered into God’s presence. We sinful human beings can have hope and confidence in Jesus. So if we can hope in Jesus, we can and ought to proceed to Jesus’s throne of grace, to worship God and His Only Son, Jesus Christ. The author of this reading from Hebrews assures us that we shall find mercy and obtain grace in the form of help suited to each time and circumstance in our lives. In fact, God sends us His Holy Spirit. This is the third person in the Blessed Trinity. The Holy Spirit is a divine being who encourages and helps us reach up to our higher nature, the nature of holiness. The religion which has such a Great High Priest, who has a fully human nature along with His divine nature, in such a sanctuary, who is the very Son of God Himself is the very religion to which we must hold on to. Here’s the kicker: We must drink from the same chalice that Jesus has drunk from, and James and John. We must be immersed in the same baptism of suffering Jesus was immersed into. Suffering and sorrow will overwhelm Jesus. And for us too, our suffering will be unmerited and innocent. The example we must give is to serve the needs of all. The example we give is meant to attract others to us, to our religion, to our carrying out of our faith in Jesus Christ.
The words of St. Teresa of Calcutta identify the chalice we must drink from and the baptism we must be immersed in. “People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.”
Homily for the Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time:
Wisdom 7:7-11; Psalm90:12-17; Hebrews 4:12-13; Mark 10:17-30
By Fr. Scott Karnik
We are all human. We are all mortal. We were born. We live. We are sinners. And we will die. Solomon realized this about himself. He has no advantage to his birth. Solomon will live and die, just like his subjects will, poor and rich alike. So Solomon does something about it. Solomon prays to God for the gift of wisdom. God grants Solomon’s request. Here is what Solomon does next. Solomon treasures wisdom above all else. Solomon preferred wisdom to scepter and throne; devalued riches in comparison with wisdom; elevated wisdom above jewels, gold, and silver; loved wisdom more than health, and preferred wisdom to light. Solomon did what the rich, young man in today’s gospel could not do: Solomon abandons earthly desires and possessions for wisdom. So what is wisdom? It is another expression for God Himself. When Solomon realizes that he is a mortal, just like his subjects, he abandons himself completely to God and His way of life for himself. The author of the psalm asks God to teach men to know themselves before God. May man’s knowledge of the brevity of his life lead him to spend his life wisely. Knowing who we are before God will change us for the better. God is wisdom.
We get to that point by presenting ourselves with uplifted hearts to God and His life-giving word. We lift up our hearts to God’s word. God’s word is authoritative. In fact, in the second reading from Hebrews, God’s word is so alive and authoritative that it is interchangeable with God Himself, who speaks it. God takes the place of His Word. God’s word is all-seeing and all-knowing. It penetrates the innermost person and forces him to address what really matters. All things discover themselves and stand bare before God’s eyes. The author of Hebrews says nothing is hidden from God. We will all give an account of our lives to God.
In today’s gospel, we see God’s Word made flesh. It is God’s Son, Jesus Christ. St. John wrote in the prologue to his gospel that the Word made His dwelling among us, and we have seen His glory: The glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with enduring love (John 1:14). In today’s gospel reading from St. Mark, God’s Word meets man. The man asks what he can do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answers. The man answers back. And Jesus tells him there is one thing lacking. “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me”(Mark 10:21). Abandon yourself and follow Jesus, the Word made flesh. Trust Jesus above all else. Love Jesus above everything. Abandon everything. Put Jesus first and let Him change your life. That’s what Jesus told this rich, young man. He couldn’t, wouldn’t do it. Ultimately, the man entrusted possessions before God’s wisdom, God’s words, and God’s Word made flesh. That’s what Jesus emphasizes. Undue attachment to wealth is a form of idolatry. It is inconsistent with true service to God. Hopefully, the rich, young man was not ready to do this. Hopefully, he reconsidered and later did follow Jesus. We can only hope and pray.
So what must we know? That we can encounter God’s Word made flesh every Sunday at this beautiful Holy Mass. What must we do? We must come here with uplifted heart. The first part of the Mass is the penitential rite. We confess our faults and ask forgiveness. The second part is the liturgy of the word, where we listen to God speak to us. Another part is the liturgy of the Eucharist, where we receive Jesus Himself, the Word made flesh. He changes us if we let Him. Why should we care? Because God tells us that we are not our own gods. God’s word tells us that we mortals can and must trust Jesus, His Son, abandon everything, and follow Him. He will love us if we do and on that day, He will take us up with Him to heaven.
Homily for the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), October 7th, 2018:
Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 128:1-6; Hebrews 2:9-11; and Mark 10:2-16
By Father Scott Karnik
“The family that prays together, stays together.” That very wise adage from Father Patrick Peyton applies very much to today’s readings. In Genesis, we hear about the creation of Eve, the woman who is the best-suited helper of the man. God’s motive to create her is that “it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him”(Gen 2:18). God creates the woman for the man so that the two of them can enter into the sacrament of marriage. The end of this creation story proves it. The author establishes the dignity of the man and the woman in this story. “Dignity” is defined as “the quality or state of being esteemed, honored, or worthy.” This couple, one man and one woman, is totally unique to each other. The author of this story writes that the man is joyful at God’s creation of the woman. He is not alone anymore. The suitable partner has the same human nature that he does. They are united. God wills that the man and the woman enter into the sacrament of marriage. Notice that God puts the man into a deep sleep when He creates the woman. The man does not witness the mystery of God’s act of creation of another human being. God’s creation of another human being is a divine act. This is where abortion is most sinful. It destroys an act of divine creation by Almighty God Himself. God created the man and the woman and then blessed them to be fertile and multiply; to fill the earth and subdue it”(Gen 1:28). God creates a family. The family is the man and the woman in love and they have babies. This creation story explains a present reality. A man and a woman fall in love and marry. In Genesis 2:24, to “leave” and to “cleave” indicate a covenant. Therefore, the Roman Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a sacrament and a covenantal relationship.
St. Mark writes in his gospel about Jesus’s attitude toward marriage and divorce. Jesus teaches that it is not permissible for the man and the woman to divorce. Other teachers did permit it. Jesus does not. Jesus uses Genesis 1:27 and 2:24 as the authority for His position. Jesus bans divorce. Then, Jesus privately tells His disciples that if a man or a woman should have to divorce their spouse, they cannot remarry without being considered an adulterer. The central message from St. Mark is Jesus’s challenge to husbands and wives to live in a faithful, fertile, holy, and perpetual union until death. To do so, requires prayer. It requires the husband and wife to remain in faithful contact with each other, with their children, and with God Himself. The man and the woman cannot do this alone. Father Patrick Peyton promoted the truth that “the family that prays together stays together.” He started a Family Rosary campaign that eventually led to a national radio program on which the Rosary was prayed. The danger of not praying together as a family is divorce and the cheapening of the sacrament of marriage.
This is important because the alternative to faith, family, and marriage is divorce, living together in sin, breakup, and abortion. These acts are promoted for the freedom they give. They do not provide freedom. They enslave. They enslave the man and the woman to their passions and selfishness. And then comes the critical question of how to deal with the consequence of that sinful union. The critical answer to that in this sinful world is abortion. The critical answer in this sinful world is divorce. They do not reinforce a family. They shatter it. Abortion is a satanic act which destroys God’s life-giving action. Abortion is a satanic act which destroys the life of a specific person that God wanted to place in this world, at this time, to perform a specific task to build God’s kingdom. Wherever abortion and divorce go, they leave destruction and death in their wake.
Jesus says that only a child-like trust will enable us to live up to His demands in the day-to-day relationships we have in families and elsewhere. We pray for grace from Jesus through His Blessed Mother by praying the Rosary, together, as a family. Jesus can keep families praying together and staying together. It is Jesus Christ’s forgiveness, love, and mercy that can reassemble lives shattered by abortion and divorce. He is eager and willing to forgive those who commit those sins. Jesus is one confession, Holy Mass, and Eucharist away.
So compare. Which world do you want to build? Is it the world of marriage, family, and children? Or is it the world of abortion and divorce? Which world do you want to live in? Which world do you want your children to live in? Which world do you want to leave for your grandchildren? The answer is clear on its face. It is the God-given world of one man and one woman in a family that prays together and stays together and has children. And with Jesus’s grace and our child-like trust in His teachings, that world can be revived quickly and powerfully.
Homily for the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, (B), September 30th, 2018:
By Father Scott Karnik
Numbers 11:25-29; Psalm 19:8,10,12-13,14; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43,45, 47-48
Today’s readings suggest a common theme of uniqueness of leadership in God’s Church. To “lead” is “to guide on a way, especially by going in advance.” The leadership demands strain Moses and he asks to die. He doesn’t ask for help. God ignores Moses melodrama. God tells Moses to assemble 70 elders at the tent of meeting. Yahweh will take some of the spirit that rests on Moses and give it to the elders in order to share the burden. So Moses does and Yahweh does. But what happens is the 70 elders prophesy. That is important. They can prophesy. But Moses ‘s leadership position is unique. Only Moses can bear the burden of responsibility of communicating Yahweh’s word to the Israelites and leading the Israelites safely into the Promised Land. Those two responsibilities are unique to Moses. Eldad and Medad prophesy too. Moses approves God’s distribution of spirit. Moses is not concerned with any loss of prestige. He is concerned about the good of the Israelites. God’s prophetic gift is not restricted to any class. Moses excellent character is displayed in this story. Read Numbers 11 and Numbers 12. You will see God further defining the uniqueness of Moses’s leadership.
St. James writes about the unique leadership of those who are rich. St. James extends the woe oracles Jesus pronounced on the rich and well-fed. The last stage of time exists now. Jesus Christ is enthroned at God’s right hand with victory and dominion. The great reversal of values is underway. The earthly values in this mortal world are being devalued right now as we speak. Abortion is one of them. Abortion will die a mortal death and the sooner, the better. The values of this mortal world deceive. St. James says the ones who are most susceptible to this deception are the rich. The rich look to these values for security. But these worldly values are subject to time, just as we are. The rich prefer to see their worldly wealth decay rather than use it to help the poor. They believe the present, sinful world will continue forever. They are so comfortable now that they refuse to believe that Jesus is coming again to judge this sinful world. Their hard-heartedness will be their ruin. St. James then accuses the rich of his time of unscrupulous selfishness. They would not pay the poor laborers at the end of the day. So therefore, they went hungry, along with their families. St. James also accuses the rich of not helping the poor secure their rights. And they fail to understand that God takes the part of the oppressed. This is especially true if the oppressed entrust their well-being completely to Jesus and live like Him. This crime of withholding wages from workers is so serious that it cries out to God for redress, just like murder does, just like sodomy does. Those who surrender to worldly pleasures and power might be or might become unscrupulous. They presume to live as they please with apparent impunity. But in God’s eyes they are fools and their sentence has already been passed on them. Now that Jesus Christ has been glorified, God’s judgment has been pronounced in principle. St. James condemns the rich for their injustice, not their wealth.
Jesus speaks of that same uniqueness of leadership in His gospel reading today. Jesus warns those who would scandalize the little ones who believe in Him. The person or persons who scandalize the little ones to that extent will endure the most severe punishment at God’s judgment. They will be sunk into the sea. They will be doomed if they do not repent, confess their sins, and do penance. The occasions of sin Jesus talks about are moral and originate inside the person. That person must overcome them at the root, where they are cut off, in order to avoid damnation. To scandalize someone by engaging in such sin means to sin and to jeopardize the man who is scandalized. It is better to die than to rob a man of his faith. Think about that in today’s scandalous revelations in our Church. Those people are sentenced already and their only escape is to repent, confess their sins, and do penance. But remember that we, the little ones, can scandalize too. We are not morally superior to anyone. The same moral standards that apply to Church leaders apply to us too.
The goal of man’s existence is eternal life. This brings him salvation, the kingdom of God. To fail to enter into life and to not share in God’s eternal kingdom means to miss the goal that God Himself has set for mankind. It is the most terrible lot that can befall us. A man’s earthly life has been made meaningless and when he dies, he will be meaningless forever. It is an eternal death, a destruction of his humanity which God designed for eternal life because He loves us that much. Jesus says it is better to cut off a body part than to scandalize another human being and be thrown into hell.
jesus repeats to his disciples that he will go to jerusalem to suffer, die and rise again as messiah
Homily for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), Sunday, September 23rd, 2018:
Jesus will be ready to make His final trip to Jerusalem when today’s gospel reading from St. Mark ends. Jesus will go to Jerusalem where He will suffer, be crucified, and die, and rise again on the third day. But Jesus has to give His disciples some remedial training first. Jesus has to re-instruct them about His Passion. It is difficult for them and us to understand. Our societal expectations clash with Jesus’s teaching of the necessity of personal sacrifice.
The disciples spend their energy arguing over who is the most important among themselves rather than try to understand Jesus’s second Passion prediction. So Jesus gives them a visual aid. It is a child. Jesus calls His disciples to serve the humble, the insignificant, and the unimportant. That child exemplifies the people Jesus wants His disciples to serve. The great reward for such humble service is the receiving of Jesus Christ Himself and God His Father. So therefore, there is no room in Jesus’s kingdom for the type of selfish ambition and aggrandizement His disciples are arguing over. In Jesus’s kingdom, ambition for the highest places is misguided and misplaced.
This is happening to Jesus’s very own hand-picked disciples because they are following their own concupiscence. They are following their own selfish desires and self-gratification instead of humility and wisdom. Self-gratification and selfishness lead to hatred and envy of others, false morals, heresy, division, and immorality. But God-fearing wisdom leads to purity, tranquility, modesty, docility, equity, mercy, and piety. Wisdom is practical and active and unitive. And the more wisdom unites, it promotes universality and salvation in this church. We are all asked to practice it.
This will be difficult. Consider today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom. The evil sinners will persecute the just man who submits to the Divine Will. They will do so because the lifestyle of the wise, God-fearing man pricks the consciences of evil people. So the evil people fall on the just ones, to attack them. The wise ones will live in accordance with God’s plan and wishes. The basis of human evil is personal choice. The relationship with evil is direct, involves deeds and words, grows into desire and friendship, and ends in a sinful covenantal relationship. That should sound familiar. It is familiar because the basis of human holiness is personal choice. It is direct. Holiness also involves deeds and words, and grows into desire and friendship, and ends in a holy, loving covenantal relationship with Jesus Christ Himself. In fact, in today’s first reading, the title of the just and wise person who follows God’s plan is “the just one,” and “the son of God.” Those titles speak of the close relationship between the wise and the just with the Lord. The just man has said that God Himself will take care of him and protect him. Eventually, that is what Jesus’s disciples will learn.
So what should we know? That Jesus Christ calls us to the same personal sacrifice to serve the humble and the insignificant that He called His disciples to serve. What should we do? We should surrender selfish ambition, evil desires, and self gratification and replace them with purity, tranquility, modesty, docility, equity, mercy, and piety. And why should we care? Because the reward for this type of service is that we serve Jesus Himself and God His Father. We will see them face-to-face in the little children, the poor, and the insignificant that we serve and welcome by doing good for them. Indeed, that will be the answer to the final test. On that day, Jesus will come and say to those who serve Him: “Come. You have my Father’s blessing. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you comforted me, in prison and you came to visit me…I assure you, as often as you did it for one of my least brothers, you did it for me”(Matthew 25:34-40).
Jesus is the messiah who willingly suffers and dies for our sake, to save us. Here is how we can follow him
Homily for the Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday, September 16th, 2018
Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 116:1-9; James 2:14-18 & Mark 8:27-35
By Father Scott Karnik
Today’s readings point to Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Messiah, and the one who suffers, dies, and rises again to save us and give us eternal life. We know that. Isaiah’s reading today is one of the Suffering Servant songs. This servant speaks about himself. He says he gives his back “to those who beat me,…(Isaiah 50:6)…”my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting”(Isaiah 50:6). This servant has obediently accepted God’s call and will carry it out. Bible commentators say this is a prophecy of Jesus Christ and His Passion. And Jesus teaches this to His disciples and to us today. He says in St. Mark’s gospel, “He began to teach them that the Son of Man had to suffer much, be rejected by the elders, the chief priest, and the scribes, be put to death, and rise three days later”(Mark 8:31). And then St. Mark writes, “He said these things quite openly”(Mark 8:32). We know this. It is what Jesus connects to this that is important. Jesus “summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them:…(Mark 8:34). Jesus is speaking to us, today, His followers. We must imitate Jesus in His sufferings and Passion. We must reflect Him in ourselves. How do we do that?
There is an answer in today’s first reading from Isaiah. It’s in the first sentence. “The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back”(Isaiah 50:4-5). Jesus wants us to hear His teachings, obey them, and persevere in obedience. First, we must listen to His words and teachings and those of His Church. For us, to hear means “to gain knowledge of by hearing; to learn; to listen to with attention; to heed; to entertain the idea”(of something that is said). Of course we can hear, figuratively by reading and praying too. We hear with a humble, uplifted heart to God’s Words in Sacred Scripture here at Mass. We have to be willing to come here to hear with an uplifted heart. Second, Isaiah’s prophecy says “And I have not rebelled,…(Isaiah 50:5). The Suffering Servant, Jesus, obeys. To obey means “to follow the commands or guidance of; to comply with; to execute.” We too must obediently follow Jesus’s vocation of denying ourselves, picking up our crosses, daily, and following Him. Either we must relinquish ourselves totally to the suffering Messiah that we follow, or make ourselves susceptible to an unfavorable judgment. We must obey and lose our lives for Jesus’s sake and the sake of the gospel. We too must suffer and carry Jesus’s Cross to Calvary. And third, Isaiah writes this phrase: “…have not turned back”(Isaiah 50:5). The Suffering Servant accepts his divine vocation. He perseveres in it. So do we. To persevere means “to keep at something in spite of difficulties, opposition, or discouragement.” Jesus teaches that He has a dual destiny. “The Son of Man” must suffer and be glorified later. St. Peter and the other disciples fail to understand the association of suffering and death Jesus must undergo in His office of Messiah. We have difficulty doing the same thing. It requires humility and humility is a bad word in today’s world.
All of this is important because there is no other way to conform to Jesus and receive the salvation He offers us. It really is His Way or the highway. This is important for us because in our own church, in our own faith, there are people who say they’re Catholic but they subscribe to the way of the (sinful) world. That is first for them. They pay lip service to their faith and place their hearts elsewhere. They are not to be followed or imitated. Jesus is to be followed. His way is the only way. To follow Jesus we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily, and follow Him through hearing, obeying, and persevering to the bitter end, which leads to the glorious salvation and life which will never end.
Homily for the Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), Sunday, September 9, 2018:
Isaiah 35:4-7; Psalm 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10; James 2:1-5, and Mark 7:31-37
By Father Scott Karnik
God shows no favorites. He has no distinctions. God’s salvation is universal. He offers His Son’s salvation to everyone. God grants universal salvation to every repentant sinner, rich or poor, Jew or Gentile, or Samaritan. God is impartial to us and our status in His Church is equal. So therefore, God calls all to life, and even favors the poor, orphans, and widows, to make them rich in faith. So therefore, the Church must reflect God’s actions and love in its structure. Partiality is an unjust judgment. It contradicts God’s judgment. The majority of the first converts to the Christian faith were poor. God makes them heirs of eternal life instead of beneficiaries of material riches. Partiality is based exclusively on material appearance, which often belies the interior character. In St. James’s reading he says “Listen,” (hear with thoughtful attention), my beloved brothers and sisters. Did not God choose those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom that He promised to those who love Him?(James 2:5). So therefore, a Church which shows no partiality is united and reflects God’s love, which infinite and impartial. That is point number one and St. James makes it well.
Point number two is that we can know God’s real presence by its effects. Isaiah 35 shows some of them. God comes with vindication. To vindicate means “to set free, deliver: to protect from attack or encroachment.” And who does God come to with vindication? It is “…to those whose hearts are frightened:…(Isaiah 35:4). And God comes with “divine recompense (Isaiah 35: 4). Recompense means “to give compensation to: repay.” “Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing(Isaiah 35:5-6). Then the psalm reading tells more about this God and His loving presence with us. This God “…keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. The Lord gives sight to the blind; the Lord raises up those who were bowed down. The Lord loves the just; the Lord protects strangers. The fatherless and the widow the Lord sustains but the way of the wicked He thwarts”(Psalm 146:6-10). The singer of this psalm encourages his hearers to trust in God alone and not mere mortals. If Israel relies on God alone, its happiness is assured. God has created everything. And God’s creation includes governance of all people. God’s faithful and powerful care makes an environment fit for human beings and maintains society in justice and peace. And God does one more thing. God expresses His kingship in the favor He shows to the oppressed and to those who rely exclusively on Him. Zion’s God will reign forever.
In St. Mark’s gospel, he highlights Jesus’s supernatural healings to show His divinity. But Jesus desires secrecy. Jesus wants both Jews and Gentiles to accept His identity and messiahship on His terms, not their own. Jesus heals miraculously both Jew and Gentile. But Jesus also suffers and shows His messiahship in His death on the Cross for our salvation. Jesus serves and suffers. So must we. It is incomplete to do good deeds and not attend church. It is incomplete to attend church but not serve those in need.
Homily for the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sunday, September 2nd, 2018:
Deuteronomy 4:1-8; Psalm 15:1-5; James 1:17-27; and Mark 7:1-23
By Father Scott Karnik
“You get out of something what you put into it.” That’s probably the best lesson we can learn from this Sunday’s Bible readings. In today’s first reading from Deuteronomy, Moses tells the Israelites to “hear and observe the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them;…(Deut 4:1). Moses tells the Israelites to obey the law carefully. “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you”(Deut 4:2). Exact observance is required. Sacred Scripture also says we must make room for God’s Word in our souls. St. James writes “Therefore put away all filthiness and rank growth of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls”(James 1:21). St. James writes that God’s Word has created us and lives in us to save us but His Word must be carried out. “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”(James 1:22). God has made the world with a purpose and has chosen us. Our God is a moral god. God’s moral purpose pervades the universe of His chosen ones and those who commit themselves to a moral god must be moral themselves. God is faithful, so must we. True religion observes the connection between covenant faith and covenant love. Today’s psalm reading lists the virtues required of a worthy citizen of Zion, Mount Zion. God’s Presence is located there, in His Temple.
Moses explains why the Israelites, and we today, must observe carefully God’s commandments. It is “…that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers gives you”(Deut 4:1). God promises the Israelites a long life lived peacefully in the land God will lead them into so they can possess it. There are motives for our obedience. I encourage you to read all of Deuteronomy, Chapter Four. You and I are required to receive God’s commandments meekly, know them, and do them. We receive them and we do them so that our virtues are visible to others. That’s another motive, renown. Israel’s pagan neighbors will acknowledge that Israel’s God is closer to it than their own pagan gods are to them. And another motive is the excellence of God’s law itself. What other law is more excellent than God’s law? We get out of it what we put into it. We observe carefully God’s Word and teachings; we receive them. Then, we do them so that what comes out of us is pure religion and the virtues listed in Psalm 15. That is what Jesus refers to in the Gospel reading. He rejects the praise of our lips. Jesus says the soul is the seat of our moral life. It is from there that evil thoughts and affections emerge to cause moral defilement. One’s acts which are inspired from within show when a person is not obeying God’s commands, or is obeying them.
Those are the lessons and the tough challenges given us today in Sacred Scripture. But there’s one more thing. God is faithful to His Covenant with Israel, even though Israel is not. Israel will be exiled to Babylon. They begin to lose hope of ever returning to the Promised Land. Read Isaiah, Chapter 40. God tells the exiled Jews that they will return. God forgives them.
***** There are parallels between today’s readings and Holy Mother Church. You have heard all the dismaying reports and the dirty laundry. But Holy Mother Church’s relationship with Jesus Christ is unique. It is Eucharist, Jesus’s Bread of Life Discourse which makes it so. It is also unique because Jesus builds His Church on the rock of St. Peter. Jesus promises that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”(Matthew 16:17-19). Sadly, we’ve been here before in our Church’s history. There have been schisms, abuses, sinful leaders. Through it all, only this church is two-thousand-years old and still here. Jesus is present here in His Sacraments. The Holy Spirit is also present in this church. Read John 14:15. This church, this faith, is unique, when we carry out God’s teachings, amplified by this church’s teaching authority. May we pray and observe God’s commandments amplified by this church’s teachings. When we do, priests and faithful, we bear virtue and renown in this world. We will also be worthy of God’s presence. So please pray for an increase of the Holy Spirit on this Church. Please pray for many graces for her leaders, her priests, and her faithful to return to holiness and to strengthen our holiness. That is a good place to start because we, you and I, need that right now in this Church’s time. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us SINNERS, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
Homily for 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), Sunday, August 26th, 2018:
By: Fr. Scott Karnik
Today’s gospel reading is the epilogue to Jesus’s Eucharistic Discourse. It describes the reactions to His Teaching on the Eucharist being His Own Body and Blood. There are reactions.
First, the murmuring of the Jews against Jesus’s teaching now spreads. “Many of Jesus’s disciples who were listening murmured about His teaching. To “murmur” means to “complain or grumble.” These disciples have a crisis of faith. “This saying is hard;…” These disciples think about cannibalism. They think materially. “Who can accept it?”(v. 60). St. John wrote this in his gospel to fortify the faith of his own church in Jesus’s Real Presence in Eucharist, Holy Communion. St. John adds to this a difficult teaching. St. John quotes Jesus saying to His murmuring disciples the scandal of His Own Ascent “…to where He was before?”(v.62). That means, of course, to His Throne in Heaven. But the first step of that ascent is Jesus’s ascent on the Hill of Calvary, where He will be crucified and die to save us. Then He will rise. The Scripture commentary I studied says we eat the flesh of Jesus in His celestial glory, where He is seated eternally at God’s right hand. Jesus says “It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail”(v. 63). The many disciples who reject Jesus and His Eucharistic teaching think carnally, not spiritually. Their view is of no avail, useless. Their human reason cannot comprehend Jesus’s revealed truth without the light of the Holy Spirit. They lack faith, do not understand, “drew back and no longer walked with Him”(v. 66). Remember this. Jesus had hand-picked these disciples. They were good people. They would do good things for Jesus’s Church, His new worship society. So if Jesus is speaking symbolically, He has the opportunity to tell them so. Indeed, Jesus has the obligation to tell them so, in order to eliminate a misunderstanding about Eucharist, which persists to this very day. These are good disciples and Jesus will not let them walk away based on a misunderstanding. This is the first schism in the Church, and it happens right before Jesus’s eyes. He does not abandon His teaching. Judas Iscariot rejects Jesus’s teaching. Judas stays with the Twelve but enters into darkness, defects, and betrays Jesus. When Jesus says “…the flesh is of no avail”(v. 63), He is talking carnal understanding. He is not speaking about His Own Flesh, which gives eternal life. These disciples’ reactions hurt and sadden Jesus. Jesus said in an apparition to St. Josefa Menendez that “The Holy Eucharist is the invention of Love….Yet how few souls correspond to that love which spends and consumes itself for them!...I live in the midst of sinners that I may be their life, their physician, and the remedy for the diseases bred by corrupt nature. And in return they forsake, insult, and despise me!...”
The second reaction comes from “the Twelve(v. 67). Jesus asks them, “Will you also go away?”(v. 67). Notice the word “also.” Jesus knows that He has lost those many disciples because of His Eucharistic teaching. Jesus will not compromise it. Jesus wishes for all of them and all of us to receive His Teaching with a purity of soul. He now asks His priests, His church leaders, His Apostolic College for their belief. St. Peter accepts. St. Peter takes the risk and opens his heart. St. Peter says to Jesus, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life; and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God”(vv. 68-69). St. Peter believes Jesus’s teaching in faith, even though he does not yet understand it. He will later.
May we believe in faith. May we accept this hard teaching. May we heed Jesus’s appeal from the heart. This beautiful sacrament of Jesus Christ’s real Body and Blood in Eucharist is meant to unite all of us in perfect unity. Therefore Jesus gave us the beautiful Sacrifice of Holy Mass in order to change the bread and wine into His Body and Blood, His Soul, His Divinity, and His Grace. This presents the reality of Jesus’s One and Only saving Sacrifice. Jesus’s One and Only Sacrifice is infinite, omnipotent, and timeless. We are not. We are confined in time and space. That’s why there is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Only in this Church can Jesus offer Himself really and truly in Eucharist. Only in this Church can you come to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to encounter Jesus’s Real Presence in the sacramental form of Eucharist and in Sacred Scripture. He does this to save us from sin and death. Jesus told St. Josefa Menendez “The greater your helplessness, the more My Power will sustain you. I shall rest in you, and you will have life in Me.”
Homily for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B), Sunday, August 19th, 2018:
Fr. Scott Karnik
Jesus’s words in the first verse of today’s gospel are the same as the last verse in last Sunday’s gospel: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is MY FLESH for the life of the world.” It causes the Jews much consternation. They know exactly what Jesus is saying. They understand Him perfectly. And yet, Jesus will continue His argument.
First Jesus says “Amen, amen,…” “Amen” means “so be it.” Jesus knows that they know exactly what He is saying and He will stand by it.
Second, Jesus amplifies his argument by saying “…unless you EAT THE FLESH of the Son of Man and DRINK HIS BLOOD, YOU DO NOT HAVE LIFE WITHIN YOU.” Refusing to eat Jesus’s flesh and to drink His Blood has an effect-a lack of life within. Jesus says that “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.” It is Jesus’s Body and Blood which is life-giving. He says “For my flesh is TRUE FOOD, and my blood is TRUE DRINK. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” No symbol can do this. It is only Jesus’s Body and Blood that accomplishes this. Notice that Jesus says “I am the LIVING BREAD that came down from heaven;…” Bread is an inanimate object. But Jesus inserts His very Life into it. How? He does it at the sacrifice of Holy Mass. Jesus died on the Cross once and for all for our sins. It is His glorified and resurrected Body and Blood that we receive in Eucharist and consume. It is His Body and Blood after His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven that we eat and drink. That is where the eternal life is located. We receive His glorified and resurrected Body and Blood here at Holy Mass in the sacrament of Eucharist, which He gave to us at the Last Supper. You have to come here to receive Him. You cannot get this watching a sunrise or sunset on a lake, or sitting on a mountain top, or in a forest.
Third, Jesus is clearly talking about something other than simply faith nourishment. In this gospel the verb “believe” disappears. It is replaced by “flesh,” “blood,” “eat,” and “drink.” Jesus shifts radically the vocabulary. The verb “eat” is repeated six times in today’s gospel. Jesus says it five times and the Jews say it once. Jesus also says “feeds on me” once. Jesus is clearly referring now to a sacramental nourishment for our souls that gives us the eternal life that Jesus Christ now has. It will be activated on the last day. Jesus’s description grows and becomes more explicit, not less. In verse 54, the best translation of the Greek verb is to “gnaw” or to “chew.”
Fourth, Jesus is doing something incredible, miraculous, and supernatural here. Jesus says “For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” St. Therese the Little Flower referred to her First Communion as a fusion with Jesus Christ, not a meeting with Him. To fuse means “to unite by or as if by melting together”; “blend,” “integrate.” That’s what verse 57 refers to. Jesus gives us His eternal life, which He received when God the Father raised Him up on Easter Sunday. Jesus says “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” Jesus in this verse, verse 58 refers to the flow of eternal life from the Father to the Son. That same flow of life extends from Jesus Christ’s glorified, risen Body and Blood to us who eat His glorified, supernatural flesh and drink His glorified, supernatural Blood. His Body and Blood in Eucharist is readily available to everyone who believes His words about this.
This is incredibly shocking to the Jews but Jesus stands by it. One more thing: you have to come here to receive Jesus’s Body and Blood in Eucharist, to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Pope John Paul II wrote “The sacrifice of the Cross is so decisive for the future of man that Christ did not carry it out and did not return to the Father until He had left us the means to take part in it as if we had been present. Christ’s offering on the Cross-which is the real Bread of Life broken-is the first value that must be communicated and shared. The Mass and the Cross are but one and the same sacrifice….By making the Body and Blood of Christ really present under the species of bread and wine, it makes-simultaneously-the Sacrifice of the Cross actual and accessible to our generation, this Sacrifice which remains, in its uniqueness, the turning point of the history of salvation, the essential link between time and eternity.” That is from Pope John Paul’s Message to the Eucharistic Congress at Lourdes.” The closest we come to heaven is right here at Holy Mass, when Jesus comes down at the words of consecration and changes the bread and wine into His Body and Blood. This is also something we must do to receive Jesus’s eternal life.
Jesus sticks to His argument, He amplifies it to the Jews, He goes deeper than faith nourishment, and He gives us eternal life by this holy and supernatural act. He does this only here, at the Sacrifice of the Mass. This can change our lives. This can strengthen our repentance and our personal love for Jesus Christ and His Father. Indeed, this is what it is meant to do, to give us eternal life.
February 12, 2017
October 23, 2016
October 2, 2016


|Subject:||Re: Churches in Jefferson County|
|Post Date:||May 19, 2000 at 07:36:12|
|Forum:||Jefferson County, NY Genealogy Forum|
I would also be most interested in anything you can find about this church.
My family genealogy states about my my 4g-grandfather, Henry CHURCHILL of Jefferson Co, that:
"There is evidence that he was a trustee for the formation of the Methodist Episcopal Church on Nov. 24, 1824".
The date of this citation doesn't quite match the date you have suggested of 1833 for formation, but I suspect that it may be the same church.


God’s Justice and Our Belonging
September 20, 2020. Pastor Meagan’s sermon today is on the story of the laborers in the vineyard. As we learn from our readings, God’s concept of justice doesn’t look like ours.
*** Transcript ***
Once there was a woman who owned a small company that makes clothes. Business was steady and things were going well, and then the pandemic hit. She and her leadership team watched in shock, with the rest of the country, as sales plummeted. One of the team suggested that they make masks, and quickly they saw that had been a really wise decision. They had managed to keep most of their staff on with the help of a PPP loan, but soon they needed to hire more people to handle the extra workload.
First, they hired a tech specialist to manage their online orders. The next week they brought on two people to help make the masks, and work on new designs for special fits and needs. Two weeks later they hired another person to deliver masks locally to larger clients like senior residences, care centers, and schools.
The time came when all of the new staff were receiving their first paychecks, and although of course their hourly pay was supposed to be confidential, the delivery person exclaimed in surprise when they saw their check, and one of the long-time staff couldn’t help but overhear. They were frustrated because it didn’t seem right that someone who was so new to the staff, and only a driver after all, was getting paid so well. They went to the owner of the shop and complained. The shop owner replied, “Friend, I haven’t hurt you; we agreed on your salary, and you have been paid. Spend it as you wish with gratitude. I choose to pay our new staff a just wage also. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
Sound at all familiar? Comparison, fairness, justice, and deserving are so much a part of our culture, and when someone gets something we don’t think they deserve — or when we don’t get something we think we do deserve — we are annoyed. It raises all kinds of questions of value, and belonging, and we’re tempted to judge who is deserving. We’re all at least somewhat invested in the idea of fairness and justice. The thing is, as we learn from this parable, and from the story of the manna in the desert, God’s concept of justice doesn’t look like ours.
So, what do we learn of God’s justice, from our readings today? It’s easiest, perhaps, to look at where the justice of God and our concept of justice conflict.
Our sense of justice says, “There is no free lunch. We get only what we earn.” Has anyone heard that? Anyone maybe said that? I certainly have that message in me that says I need to earn my place, earn love, earn approval, and at times it’s even felt like I needed to earn the very air that I breathe. And I suspect I’m not alone in that.
God’s sense of justice says look, every evening there’s meat to eat. Every morning there’s bread. No need to store anything away, no need to earn it, no pay being docked if you don’t make your quota or have to stay home with your sick child. Every evening and every morning, God provides what we need for the day.
And Luther, in the Small Catechism, reminds us that this isn’t just about food and drink, but about trusting that everything we need — clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like — is provided for us, and for all people, by God. It may not look as we expected. Did you notice, the Israelites saw the manna and at first they were like, “What is that?” But unexpected as it may be, God provides enough for everyone. God’s sense of justice is that all people have what they need, for the day.
Our sense of justice says, we have a right to judge whether something is just or not — that justice is based on values of fairness and equality, objective values that we can measure. Think of Jonah, and how upset he was at seeing God’s mercy for the Ninevites. Or the older son in the parable of the Prodigal Son, angry because his father showed compassion and abundance toward his younger sibling, who had abandoned the family and spent his inheritance. I remember vividly how frustrated I was when a classmate received a higher award than I did at our science fair, when I had helped her at the very last minute to put her project together — and I had spent weeks working on mine!
And God’s response, as today when the workers who came in first were jealous of those who came in last and still received what they needed, is that it’s not up to us. God’s sense of justice says that we’re called simply to ensure that God’s abundance is available to all without judgement, and whether something is fair or equal is up to God, and not us.
Our sense of justice is grounded in what seems right for us. Like the long-time worker in the clothing shop, we can often slip into wanting to be sure we are getting what we deserve. We can, out of fear perhaps, be afraid of not having enough, and feel like the only way we can be sure is to prevent others — people who are not us — from having more than we do. As hard as I have tried to divest myself from companies that I know don’t treat their employees fairly, I admit that I’m still guilty at times of making the choice for convenience rather than justice.
God’s justice is grounded in relationship. Belonging. The Israelites are in it together, all getting what they need to continue their common journey. And the workers are all paid, so they can all have food and shelter and safety, so that they can continue their common work. And here’s the thing — in the end, as God sees it, everyone belongs. As Jesse was saying, we are all interconnected and dependent on one another. God’s sense of justice is about relationship and belonging.
And this brings us back to the first thing about justice. We can trust that God’s plan is to provide all people with what they need, for the day. And when we have that trust, we can let go more easily of what is fair or equal, and see more clearly the deep belonging that we share with all of God’s people, and all of creation. And if we discern with God’s sense of justice, we will see the damage that racism, anti-LGBTQIA action, ableism, economic oppression, and sexism, have done to us. We will know deeply the brokenness of a community that does not allow all people access to the bounty that God has provided, the woundedness that comes from denying people what they need to survive.
Today, I am thinking so much about Ruth Bader Ginsberg, one of many who, like the shop owner in our story, imagined and worked for a sense of justice quite different from what is often lived out in this world. The notorious RBG claimed that laws that separated people on the basis of gender, preventing women from accessing education, employment, financial resources, and so much more, were not just, in spite of the fact that so many in power were convinced otherwise. And she continued to work for justice for all marginalized people right up until her death two days ago, at the age of 87. Like our shop owner, RBG can inspire and empower us as people of faith to live out a new vision of justice that is truly about trusting in God’s abundance, ensuring that it is available to all of creation, and it is based in a belief that all people belong, in our communities and in our world.
When we celebrate communion, we are celebrating the intimate presence of God in our midst, and we’re experiencing in a bodily way the abundance of God, in the smallest things, like bread and wine. Just like the Israelites did. We can see how God is providing for us, and for all people, each day. We can more easily see what we do have, and know that it is enough. And we’re sent out share the good news in that awareness — there is enough for all, and God means for all of God’s children to have what they need, for this day. I invite you to take a step back today, and notice. Where is God providing for you today? Like Jesse said, who are the people that are participating in sharing in that abundance? And how can you ensure that God’s abundance is available for all people, as God intended?
Thanks be to God.
*** Keywords ***
2020, Christ Lutheran Church, Webster Groves, sermon, podcast, transcript, YouTube, video, Pastor Meagan McLaughlin, Exodus 16:2-15, Matthew 20:1-16, coronavirus, COVID-19, Paycheck Protection Program, Jesse Helton, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transexual, queer, questioning