6th Trinity III, 2022, Be Opened

 6th Trinity III

Mark 7:31-37 

Julia Stankova

As he was again leaving the region around Tyre,
he went through the country around Sidon to the Sea of Galilee in the middle of the region of the ten cities of the Decapolis. They brought to him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty and asked him to lay his hands on him. 

And he led him apart from the crowds by himself, laid his finger in his ears, and moistening his finger with saliva, touched his tongue, and looking up to the heavens, sighed deeply and said to him, "Ephphata, be opened." His hearing was opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he could speak properly. 

And he commanded them not to say anything to anyone. But the more he forbade it, the more widely they proclaimed it. And the people were deeply moved by this event and said, "He has changed all to the good: the deaf he makes to hear and the speechless to speak."

 6^th August Trinity

August 28, 2022

Mark 7:31-37 

Before the sun rises, the world is hushed. It is as if creation awaits in silence the making of a new day. The one in the gospel who was deaf and mute was enclosed, enwrapped in silence. And silently, Christ worked to prepare him. 

First, he drew him aside, apart from the crowds. He helped him come to himself. Then silently, Christ touched those senses in need of healing — the closed ears, the fettered tongue. Christ’s silent gesture spoke volumes. ‘Here,’ he says, ‘through your closed ears, you are self-enclosed. You can only hear your own thoughts. And thus your speech is captive.’ 

Then he looked heavenward. The deaf one, too, perhaps, raises his eyes to the heavens, to the profoundly silent world of the Father. And like a breath of fire — Ephphata! — Be Opened! — sweeps through him. The Word blazes within him. The man opens, he hears; he begins to speak, clearly, joyously. And this word of flame ignites the crowd and begins to spread. A new life begins. 

Christ burns away our dross. It is he who removes our impediments and barriers. It is he who shows us the way into our future. 

Ephphata, artist unknown

In our own moments of self-created silence, we pray to him to release our future. In the words of Rilke: 

I believe in all that has never yet been spoken

I want to free what waits within me

so that what no one has dared to wish for

may for once spring clear….

May what I do flow from me like a river

no forcing, and no holding back…

Then…I will sing you as no one ever has,….*

 

* Rilke’s Book of Hours, Macy and Barrows, page 58

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5th Trinity III 2022, Divine Working Within

 5th Trinity III

Luke 18:35-43
 

Julia Stankova

It happened as he approached Jericho: a certain blind man was sitting by the road begging. Hearing the crowd going by, he wanted to know what was happening, and they told him Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. He cried out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"
 
Those leading the way threatened him and wanted him to be quiet. But he cried all the louder, "Son of David, have mercy on me!"
 
Jesus stopped and had him led to him. And Jesus said to him, "What do you want that I should do for you?"
 
He said to him, "Lord, that I may look up and see again."
 
And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight. Through your faith and your trust, the power for healing has been awakened in you." [or, your faith has healed you.]
 
At that moment, his eyes were opened. He followed Him and thus revealed the working of the divine within the human being—and all who saw it praised God.
 
5^th Trinity III
August 21, 2022
Luke 18:35–43 
 
Christ is always willing to work with us. He moves along with us in our lives, always nearby. But a veil of opposition, all the attempts of the adversary to prevent a face-to-face encounter, blind us. Christ waits for us to call out to him. And with great respect, he asks us: “What do you want that I should do for you? (Luke 18:41).
 
What would each of us answer? What is our deepest wish?
 
The blind man asks for vision. His physical blindness is a metaphor for the blindness of all humanity. He is asking not only for the healing of his earthly sense of sight. He is also asking to be able to perceive the beings and workings of the upper worlds. He is asking for the healing of the old, deep wound; it was caused long ago by the Fall when we were catapulted out of conscious companionship with the angels. We are blind to their presence and working.
 

Julia Stankova

The blind man himself had taken the first few steps. He had overcome outer obstacles. He asks for a deeper level of healing, and because he is ripe for it, Christ can point out that the potential for healing is already within him. “Through your faith and trust,” he says, “the power for healing  [the old human wound] has been awakened within you” (Luke 18:42).
 
At that moment, his eyes are opened. And what
does he see? He sees the miraculous paradox. He sees standing before him the highest Son of God within the flesh of the noblest human being. God in the flesh.
 
In the Act of Consecration, we, too, have the opportunity to become seeing. We have overcome obstacles and resistances to arrive here. We ask that we, too, may look up and see. Our eyes open, and we perceive the miraculous paradox — the highest God in a body of bread and wine. And we begin to see on a higher and deeper level.
 
“Thus is revealed the working of the divine within the human being” (Luke 18:43).

4th Trinity III 2022, Tree of Life

 4th Trinity III

Luke 9:1-17 

He called the twelve together and gave them potent authority and formative power to work against all demonic mischief and heal all sickness.  And he sent them out to heal and to proclaim the Kingdom of God, appearing now on earth, the kingdom of human beings filled with God's spirit. 

And he said to them, "Take nothing with you on the way: no staff for support, no bag for collecting, neither bread nor money, nor change of clothes. If you enter a house, remain there until you go further. And where they do not accept you, leave their city and shake the dust from your feet as a sign that they have refused community with you." 

They left and walked through the villages of the country, announcing the joyful message of the new working of the kingdom of the angels and healing everywhere. 

Meanwhile, Herod the Tetrarch heard of all that was happening, and he was very perplexed, for some said, "John has risen from the dead," and others said that Elijah had appeared, and yet others, "One of the Prophets of old has risen again." And Herod said, "John, I have had beheaded; who now is this, about whom I hear all these things?" And he wished to see him himself. 

And the apostles returned and reported to Jesus everything that they had accomplished. So he gathered them to himself and retreated with them to a city called Bethsaida for special instruction. But the people became aware of it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them of the Kingdom of God of the future, of the human kingdom on earth filled with the divine spirit, and he healed all who needed it. 

Woloschina

But the day began to decline. The twelve came up to him and said, "Send the crowd away so that they can reach the villages and farms in the vicinity and find food and lodging, for here we are in a deserted place." However, he said to them, "From now on, it falls to you; you give them to eat." 

They answered, "We have nothing but five loaves and two fish. Or shall we go and buy food for all of them?" There were about five thousand people. 

Then he said to the disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of fifty." And they did so, and all reclined. 

Then he took the five loaves and the two fish and, raising his soul to the spirit, gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. And they ate, and all were satisfied. And they took up the pieces that remained: twelve baskets full. 

4^th August Trinity

August 14, 2022

Luke 9:1–17 

Here in this gospel, the spirit, the life of God, begins to live and breathe within the human community. First, an in-breath — “He called the twelve together and gave them potent authority and formative power.” He breathes into the community of the twelve his powers of life, the power to order and to heal. 

And then he breathes the twelve themselves out into the world to bring his powers of life to others. He warns them first not to crowd out his spirit with stuff, to satisfy a need for sticks, bags, bread, and money. And so, free and unencumbered, they go forth, breathing out his healing and joyful spirit into the world.               

Then they return for another round of inbreathing, of inspiration. And Christ gathers them together again to deepen the working of his spirit into their community. Now they are not only able to order and heal. Now they are to join themselves together with his power to nourish, feed and sustain. “From now on,” he says, it falls to you to give them to eat.” 

For a moment, they are confused—food is surely something tangible, countable. And what they have isn’t enough. 

artist unknown

But he shows them that true nourishment and sustenance come from both a higher and yet a deeper level. They come from a level where living forces multiply themselves before they divide. 

Christ demonstrates the laws of how

this mysterious process works. He breathes out his own spirit up to the Father of all Life in a great outpouring of gratitude. In so doing, he makes his own spirit into the trunk of the great Tree of Life itself. His gratitude brings nourishment to this tree, a tree that is ever fruitful, ever-bearing. The fruits of this tree nourish by bestowing life itself in abundance. The community, united in thanks with Christ, is allowed to harvest and eat of the fruits of the tree of life. 

Together they give thanks. And together they eat and are satisfied. For with Christ, they had breathed themselves into the realm of multiplication — the realm where there is more than enough. Enough for all time, and for everywhere.

 

 

3rd Trinity III, 2022, Road Homeward

 3^rd Trinity III

Luke 15:1-32 

Tissot

Now many customs officials, despised by the people, who called them sinners and expelled them from their community, sought to be close to Jesus. They wanted to listen to him. The Pharisees and teachers of the law, however, were upset by this and said, "This man accepts sinners and eats with them!" 

So he told them this parable: 

"Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open and go looking for the lost one until they find it? And when they have found it, they lay it on their shoulders rejoicing. And when they come home, they call together their friends and neighbors and say to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost!' 

"I tell you, there will be more joy in the heavens over one human being, living in denial of the spirit, who changes their mind, than over the ninety-nine righteous who think they have no need of repentance. 

"Or

Tissot, Lost Coin

which woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, does not light a lamp, sweep the whole house and carefully search until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost!' 

"In the same way, I tell you, there will be joy among the angels in the world of spirit over one human being living in denial of the spirit who manages to change their heart and mind." 

And he said further, "A certain man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Give me the share of the estate which falls to me.' And he divided his wealth between them. And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey to a far country and squandered his estate in the enjoyment of loose living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine came over the land, and he began to be in need. So he went and attached himself to a citizen of the country who sent him out into his fields and let him herd swine. And he longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, but no one gave him anything. 

Tissot

"Then he came to himself and said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here of hunger. I will rise up and go to my father and say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].' 

"So he rose up and traveled along the road to his father. When he was still a long way off, his father saw him, felt his misery, ran toward him, embraced him, and kissed him. And yet the son said, 'Father, I have sinned against the higher world and against you. I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Make me one of your hired men [workers].' 

"But the father called his servant to him. 'Quickly! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and slaughter the fattened calf. Then we shall eat and be merry. For this, my son was dead and is risen to life. He was lost and is found again.' And they began to celebrate. 

Welden Andersen, Older Brother

"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he returned home and came
near the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants to him and asked him what it meant. He gave him the news, 'Your brother has come home again. So in joy, your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back again safe and sound.' 

"The son grew dark with anger and didn't want to go in. But his father came out and pleaded with him. He, however, reproached his father saying, 'Look! For so many years, I have been with you and have never neglected one of your commands. But you never gave me so much as a goat that I might be merry with my friends. And now comes this son of yours who has eaten up your wealth in scandal, and you offer him the fattened calf.'

However, the father said to him, 'Child, you are always with me, and all that I have belongs to you too. But now we should be glad and rejoice; for this, your brother was dead and lives; he was lost and has been found again.' "

3^rd August Trinity

August 7, 2022

Luke 15:1–10 

The gospel reading speaks of lost things. The caretakers and owners are concerned. The shepherd brings the lost sheep back because it is in danger of losing its life. The woman searches for the lost coin because otherwise, it cannot exercise its value in supporting life’s necessities. 

It is not for nothing that in both cases, the parable stresses that what is important is the one, the single unique individual. It is not primarily belonging to a group, the herd, or collection that is important. What is stressed is singularity. 

The Pharisees and lawyers are concerned with belonging to the group and abiding by its rules. Anyone not abiding by the group’s rules is shunned. But that is like expelling a sheep from the flock for an imperfection or taking a coin out of circulation because it is tarnished. 

Julia Stankova

From where the angels stand, it is the unique value of each individual human spirit that is important. Tarnish, imperfections are accepted as a matter of course. It is the way we were made—incomplete. It is the survival of the human spirit that is the important thing. 

In Jesus’ time, the rising individuality of the human spirit was endangered by being forced to serve group cohesion. Those who inhabited the shadowy borderlands of the group, such as Jews who collected taxes on behalf of the hated Roman oppressors, were strangely on their own. They were souls working on being independent, becoming single individuals. And Christ accepts them and eats with them because they seek to be close to him. 

The spiritual world has enormous respect for our freedom. We are free to wander away, free to live in denial of the spirit. 

Christ came down from heaven to look for, to gather together lost and endangered souls. He and his angels seek after those who have wandered away from awareness of the spirit. They don’t want to lose us. They are concerned for the life of our spirits. 

They seek after us until we find them. 

Our shift of awareness, our turning to see who is following us, and our change of heart result from their spirits seeking ours. 

Allowing ourselves to work our way toward spirit consciousness is our choice.  

And there is great joy in the world of the angels over every unique individual who manages to notice that they are being sought after. The Good Shepherd rejoices when our awareness broadens, our hearts enlarge and open, and we turn and set ourselves on the road homeward.

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