Pentecost XIV: Communion

In today's gospel reading [John 6: 56-69] Jesus delivers a sermon about his real presence in the Eucharist.  His language is unmistakably clear, "My flesh is real food, my blood is real drink."  And he repeats the assertion many times.  The result is that many of his followers bail out, because they won't believe it.  That has always been something of a mystery to me.  If the Spirit of God infuses all of creation, why is it so hard for some today to believe that the same Spirit infuses and transforms bread and wine at Mass?  That protestants can blow off this clear biblical teaching is more of a mystery to me than the mystery of real presence itself.

I read recently of the experience of a theologian who served as a tour guide in the Middle East, enjoying the privilege of bringing visitors to sites where Jesus lived, taught, aggravated so many Establishment types, was crucified, buried, and resurrected.  One time, at a stop in Cana -- the town noted for the water-to-wine story -- tourists were sampling locally-made wine when one lady asked him whether that wine was from the time of Jesus.  The theologian replied, yes, because now is the time of Jesus.  He is risen, he is alive and in charge of the Christian enterprise.  What a poignant and meaningful observation.  For many protestants communion, when it happens, seems to be about the consumption of bread and grape juice while thinking about the events of two thousand years ago.  In our tradition, Communion is about the real presence of Christ under the appearances of bread and wine, received at every Mass, every Sunday and holy day.  It is spiritual food for our life journey.

But we need to recognize that the eucharistic sacrament is also sacramentum unitatis, as we have always held, the sacrament of unity.  We live in a society which is continuously more polarized, in political and social matters, divided along lines of race, gender, sexual orientation, and other human- made barriers to relationship.  Jesus warns us that unless we find unity among ourselves, we will not find unity with God.  Judgmentalism and exclusionary policies in many Christian traditions make a bad situation worse.  That model is avoided assiduously by Episcopalians, as our part of being faithful to Jesus who taught us about God's equal and unconditional love for all.

In the late 1940's, a young Afro-American woman in Ohio, who had been raised Baptist, visited an Episcopal parish, loved it, took instructions, and became an Episcopalian.  Soon she began to date a young man, whose background was also that of a Black Baptist.  She invited him to Mass at her church.  He told her that he knew that most of the members of her church were white and, in that segregated society, he was frankly afraid to participate in race-mixing.  She assured him that there was nothing to fear, and he gave in and attended with her.  He enjoyed the liturgy, but when it was time for Communion and she took him to the rail, he said that he was terrified.  The priest came through with the hosts and administered those, "The Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ which was given for thee preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life."  The couple received the consecrated bread together.  Then the chalice was brought, and the young man was astonished that all partook of the same cup. "The Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was shed for thee preserve thy body and soul unto everlasting life."  All those who came forward for Communion knelt together as equals, as brothers and sisters whose relationship transcends human categories.  The young couple received the consecrated wine together.   The boyfriend said that his amazement was based on knowing that he could not drink water from the same public fountain as whites or eat in the same restaurant, yet here in the Episcopal Church all were equal in Christ!   He was so impressed that he soon took instruction and was confirmed in the Church.

The couple went to on to have a successful marriage and life.  In 1953, they had a son, Michael Curry, who is now the Presiding  Bishop of the Episcopal Church -- a great blessing in his national ministry.   I am so delighted that we can preserve our Catholic Tradition in an open fashion.  Here you don't have to "qualify" for Communion by allegiance to the Pope, or by affirming all Eastern Orthodox doctrines and being confessed.  You just have to be a baptised child of God, that's all.

Assumption of Mary

Today the Feast of Saint Mary the Virgin, commonly called the Assumption, reflects the ancient belief in the Church that, from the last moment of life, Our Lady was reunited with her Son in heaven.  This conviction is shared by us Anglicans and Roman Catholics.  Mary's Assumption constitutes  a beautiful sign of our own resurrection to glory and is the logical conclusion to her remarkable life.  Let's take a look at the life of Mary, "Model Disciple."

First, Mary is a model of faith; she demonstrated radical trust in God all her life, no wavering.  Second, she is also a model of obedience; her 'yes' made out salvation possible.  She is also a wonderful model of prayer, pondering the things of God in her sacred heart.  She is a model of devotion, responsible for Jesus' religious education; serving him during his earthly ministry, experiencing her Son on the cross and in resurrection; patiently waiting with the disciples of the coming of the Spirit on her and them at Pentecost, the birthday of the Church; then on to Ephesus with Saint John to be a special light to that congregation until the end of her earthly life.  Now in heavenly reality, she is our heavenly prayer partner.

We don't know exactly what resurrection is like, but we can to turn to the analogy used by Jesus as well as Saint Paul, that of the seed -- something dies so something more wonderful and beautiful can emerge.  Where Mary is, and how Mary is, we shall be.  She has shown us the way.

Pentecost XII: Getting Real about Religion

In 1963, on a whim before I was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, I decided to take a road trip with some beach time.   Having limited resources, I took a Greyhound bus from Tennessee to Florida.  The bus drove southwards through Mississippi before hanging a left to go to Pensacola.  On the way south, I watched uniformed police officers standing out in the fields, training dogs to attack young men in white shirts and ties -- the uniform of freedom riders.  Then, during a stopover in Jackson, I -- also wearing a white shirt and tie -- went into the coffee shop next door and could not get served.  I repeatedly requested a cup of coffee and was uniformly ignored, so I returned to bus, went on to the beach for a couple of days, then homewards again.

Those experiences made a strong impression and led to my later involvement in promoting civil rights.  I am still an ACLU member and proud of it.  During the trip I kept thinking that many of the leaders of the Movement were Christian clergy, like Doctor King and Episcopal Presiding Bishop John Hines.  Yet, my parent's denomination taught that people of colour were inferior and quoted bible verses to prove that God wanted blacks to be a servant class for Caucasians. I heard one of our pastors actually use the description, "sub-human."  I realized that Christianity could be approached, as Doctor King did, with focus on Jesus' teachings or it could be co-opted to justify prejudices and ignorance or to satisfy a political, economic, or social agenda.

That is still the case.  If you don't believe that the Faith is manipulated by cons motivated by a desire for self-aggrandizement and accumulation of great wealth, just tune in to the entertainment-religion television channels.  Or listen to the messages of a variety of eccentric Christian cults who are obsessed with everything but the issues important to Jesus like promoting freedom, justice, and equality.  Like opposing violence in all forms and accumulation of wealth.   In recent polls we find that the fastest growing religious classification in America is "no thanks."  Persons whose religious preference is: none.  When you see what passes for Christianity, it is not surprising.

We all know of people whose personal code of conduct is irreproachable but have not come to faith.  They do so for humanitarian reasons outside the context of religion and community.  They may style themselves as "spiritual, not religious."  We do not judge them or question what God may be doing in their lives.  A priest friend of mine, formerly a protestant minister, was fired as youth pastor of his Baptist congregation after he told a youth group that Mahatma Gandhi (whose life has remarkable parallels to the life of Jesus) could be in heaven!

Alongside those who have rejected Christianity are two categories of Church members.  First, we know of many who have deep trust in God and mature relationship to God in Christ.  They show remarkable strength and resilience when dark times pass through their lives.  They bounce back.  They experience the Church as their prime resource, where they are fed by "the Word faithfully preached and the Sacraments duly administered."  We might analogize that they make regular deposits into their "heavenly bank account."  On the other hand,  there are many tangential members:  Sometimes we speak of C&E's  (Christmas and Easter Catholics) or ACE's (Ash Wednesday, Christmas, and Easter folks.)  They are often devastated by a crisis and get angry with God because, when they need to make a withdrawal from that heavenly account, it is empty or overdrawn.  We get out of our spiritual life pretty much what we put into it.

As Episcopalians, we strive to follow genuine Christianity, the actual teachings of Christ, and to be fed by Word and Sacrament to do just that.  Let us then recommit to our mission of building God's Kingdom, a world where God's will is done in earth as in heaven.  Then victims of phony religion, doubters, and half-hearted people may see the real thing shining in our lives and want that life for themselves.

Saint John Mason Neale

The Saint-du-jour was born in London in 1818 and after university was ordained to the Priesthood in 1842.  At a personal level he exhibited traits often considered "saintly," especially gentleness, good humour, modesty, devotion, and generosity to a fault.  All that despite besetting physical issues.

His contributions at the theological/ecclesiological level were quite significant.  He strongly supported the Oxford Movement. calling the Church back to full Catholic faith and practice.  In his enlightened recognition that the suppression of religious orders had been a mistake, he founded the Sisterhood of Saint Margaret to serve the needs of suffering girls and women.

At the liturgical level, he was a prolific translator of ancient Latin and Greek hymns, doing more than thirty such compositions into English.  He also composed many fresh hymns which we sing including the three we sing today at University Village:  Christ is Made the Sure Foundation; Of the Father's Love Begotten; and All Glory, Laud and Honour, translated from Latin and typically sung during the Palm Sunday procession in our churches.

Neale's Christmas music is also well known, as, for example, Good Christian Men, Rejoice; Come Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain; and Creator of the Stars of Night.   On Good Friday, our congregation will intone Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle after the traditional Latin form, Pange Lingua Gloriosae.

Thanks be to God for the faith, devotion, and dedication of John Mason Neale in reviving the life of the Anglican Church and enhancing her liturgy.