1st St. Johnstide 2018, Tailor Your Robe

Mark 1, 1-13

This is the beginning of the new word from the realm of the angels, sounding forth through Jesus Christ. Fulfilled is the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Tamara Rigishvili

Behold, I send my angel before your face.
He is to prepare your way.
Hear the voice of one calling in the loneliness of the human soul
Prepare the way for the Lord within the soul,
Make his paths straight, so that he may find entrance into Man’s innermost being!

Thus did John the Baptist appear in the loneliness of the desert. He proclaimed Baptism, the way of a change of heart and mind, for the acknowledgment of sin. And they went out to him from all of Judea and Jerusalem and received baptism from him in the river Jordan and recognized and confessed their failings.

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Fruits and wild honey were his food. And he proclaimed: ‘After me comes one who is mightier than I. I am not even worthy to bend down before Him and to undo the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy [healing] Spirit.’

In those days it happened: Jesus of Nazareth came to Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.
And at the same time, as he rose up again out of the water, he beheld how the spheres of the heavens were torn open, and the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.

And a voice sounded from the world of the spirit: ‘You are my son, the beloved —in you is my revelation.’ [‘Today I have conceived (begotten) you.’ Luke 3:22]

1^st St. Johnstide
June 24, 2018
Mark 1: 1-11
 
“Behold, I send my angel before your face. He is to prepare your way. Hear the voice of one crying in the loneliness of the human soul.” Mark 1:1, 2

These words, of course, refer to John the Baptizer, and his role in preparing the way for Christ Jesus. At the same time, we can certainly resonate with the mood of these words; for many of us, this desert loneliness of the human soul is how modern life feels. We all feel like John.

At the same time, we each also

Klocek

have an angel that walks before us. This angel helps us make straight our own soul paths so that Christ can find entrance into the depths of our hearts.

We are hovering at the solstice. The year is turning. As the outer light diminishes, it will turn into warmth. Now is the time to begin again; to turn around, to change our hearts and minds. It is time to begin to turn inward, to warm our hearts. As the poet says:

This is now.  Now is,
all there is.  Don't wait for Then;
strike the spark, light the fire.
….
The green earth
is your cloth;
tailor your robe
with dignity and grace.*

*Rumi, “Begin”, (adapted by Jose Orez from a version by Coleman Barks in The Soul of Rumi).  

Visit our new website! 

1st St. Johnstide 2017, Speaking Light

St. John’s

Mark 1, 1-13

This is the beginning of the new word from the realm of the angels, sounding forth through Jesus Christ. Fulfilled is the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Behold, I send my angel before your face.

He is to prepare your way.

Hear the voice of one calling in the loneliness of the human soul

Prepare the way for the Lord within the soul,

Make his paths straight, so that he may find entrance into Man’s innermost being!

Thus did John the Baptist appear in the loneliness of the desert. He proclaimed Baptism, the way of a change of heart and mind, for the acknowledgment of sin. And they went out to him from all of Judea and Jerusalem and received baptism from him in the river Jordan and recognized and confessed their failings.

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Fruits and wild honey were his food. And he proclaimed:

           

‘After me comes one who is mightier than I. I am not even worthy to bend down before Him and to undo the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy [healing] Spirit.’

In those days, it happened: Jesus of Nazareth came to Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

And at the same time, as he rose up again out of the water, he beheld how the spheres of the heavens were torn open, and the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.

And a voice sounded from the world of the spirit:

‘You are my son, the beloved —in you is my revelation.’ 

[‘Today I have conceived (begotten) you.’ Luke 3:22]

St. John’s

June 24, 25, 2017

Mark 1, 1-13

We stand at a still point, at the solstice, at this midpoint of the year. The entire past stands behind us. And the entire future leads away from this moment. What can happen in the now, in this moment of stillness, is that the soul opens in gratitude.

We give thanks and praise for all that has gone before – for those no longer with us on earth; for those divine beings who guide us; for the elemental beings whose work supports us on earth.

We give thanks and praise for all the events that have brought us here, to this place and time. We give thanks for all who have made this moment, this 'now', possible for us. And we are grateful for the fact that there is a future. We give thanks for all who are coming toward us from the future; for all future guidance, for all the future support. We know that we will be given the strength and love to meet it. In the words of Adam Bittleston, our hearts pray:

For the speaking light of the senses

Which bears into our souls

The world's abundance,

We thank the powers of heaven.

For the health that is in our bodies,

Even in illness and need,

Sustaining, renewing, refreshing,

We thank the will of Christ.

For the wonders of human friendship,

Which bless the life of earth

With the hope of eternal being,

We thank the Father's love.*

*Adam Bittleston, "Thanksgiving", in Meditative Prayers for Today, p. 50

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1st St. Johnstide 2016, Weight of History

John the Baptizer, Tissot

1^st St. Johnstide

June 24, 26, 2016

Mark 1: 1 -11

 This is the beginning of the new word from the realm of the angels, sounding forth through Jesus Christ. Fulfilled is the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Behold, I send my angel before your face.

He is to prepare your way.

Hear the voice of one calling in the loneliness of the human soul

Prepare the way for the Lord within the soul,

Make his paths straight, so that he may find entrance into Man’s innermost being!

Tissot, Brooklyn Museum

Thus did John the Baptist appear in the loneliness of the desert. He proclaimed Baptism, the way of a change of heart and mind, for the acknowledgment of sin. And they went out to him from all of Judea and Jerusalem and received baptism from him in the river Jordan and recognized and confessed their failings.

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Fruits and wild honey were his food. And he proclaimed:

               

‘After me comes one who is mightier than I. I am not even worthy to bend down before Him and to undo the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy [healing] Spirit.’

In those days it happened: Jesus of Nazareth came to Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

And at the same time as he rose up again out of the water, he beheld how the spheres of the heavens were torn open, and the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.

And a voice sounded from the world of the spirit:

‘You are my son, the beloved —in you is my revelation.’ [‘Today I have conceived (begotten) you.’ Luke 3:22]

1^st St. Johnstide

June 24, 26, 2016

Mark 1: 1 -11

At the solstice, the length of the day ceases to change. It remains essentially the same for several days. Solstice creates a pause, a quiet place in the flow of time.

Pauses are opportunities for reflection. We are encouraged to look back, to remember. In remembering there can arise in us the wish to do some things better if we were to encounter them again. We may have done our best at the time. But knowing what we know now, we would do it differently in the future.

Uriel, the Archangel for this solstice season [in the Northern Hemisphere] is the holder of humanity’s

memory. He creates the historic conscience that arises out of humanity’s deeds and mistakes, its errors, but also humanity’s greater intentions for the future. John the Baptist carried this memory conscience of humanity’s history, which was essentially the fall into sin. And down the ages he calls to us to change the way we think and feel, to change how we act. He encourages us to recognize the necessity of realigning ourselves with our higher intentions.

Those higher intentions are embodied in Christ Jesus. John points to Him as the one who has taken on the burden of the sins of the world, the weight and course of humanity’s history. He does so in order to  heal humanity from the sickness of sin; to wring Life from the dominion of the death force; to raise humanity up out of ruin.

Christ has shown us the Way to the Truth about Life. But He does not work as a magician. St. John reminds us that now it is up to us to change our hearts and minds; to straighten Christ’s path into our souls. Only thus can Christ work in humanity.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

1st St. Johnstide 2015, Think Differently

St. John’s

Mark 1, 1-11

This is the beginning of the new word from the realm of the angels, sounding forth through Jesus Christ. Fulfilled is the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Behold, I send my angel before your face.

wiki commons

He is to prepare your way.

Hear the voice of one calling in the loneliness of the human soul

Prepare the way for the Lord within the soul,

Make his paths straight, so that he may find entrance into Man’s innermost being!

Thus did John the Baptist appear in the loneliness of the desert. He proclaimed Baptism, the way of a change of heart and mind, for the acknowledgement of sin. And they went out to him from all of Judea and Jerusalem and received baptism from him in the river Jordan and recognized and confessed their failings.

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Fruits and wild honey were his food. And he proclaimed:

               

‘After me comes one who is mightier than I. I am not even worthy to bend down before Him and to undo the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy [healing] Spirit.’

In those days it happened: Jesus of Nazareth came to Galilee, and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

And at the same time as he rose up again out of the water, he beheld how the spheres of the heavens were torn open, and the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.

And a voice sounded from the world of the spirit:

‘You are my son, the beloved —in you is my revelation.’ [‘Today I have conceived (begotten) you.’ Luke 3:22]

St. John’s

June 24, 28, 2015

Mark 1, 1-11

Annual plants sprout and grow and grow, laddering out green leaf after green leaf. Then at a certain point, the activity compresses and finally comes to a standstill. What comes next is a transformation into something entirely different – a different form, color, scent, nectar and pollen – the blossom.  The perfume and pollen rise up. This in turn attracts bees and butterflies. It is as though the blossom has grown into a life beyond itself. Carried by the air, warmed by the sun and infused with the stars, the pollen descends and returns to the plant. It brings with the image, the archetype of next year’s plant, freshly created by the angels. This image is then bound to the newly forming seed. This is the gesture of summer: transformation, opening, encountering forces from above, the blessing of new life.

Christ’s baptism in the Jordan partakes of this great living summer process. The soul of Jesus had been broken open in sorrowing compassion for the state of humankind. He comes to the Jordan to offer himself – his bodily form, his compassionate soul, the fragrance and sweetness of his moral nature. The heavens open and the Holy, healing Spirit of the Father’s love descends into him. He has been made fruitful from above. The freshly created archetype of the true human being has created seeds of new life in him.

We know that we are needy of healing here on earth. In the Act of Consecration of Man , aware of our separation from the world of the divine, we open our hearts and minds. We offer our noblest and purest thoughts, the yearning of our hearts, our willingness. We hope that as the fragrance of our offering ascends, something, Someone will approach us from the other side. We hope that the grace of the Father’s love will descend upon us, enter into us. We hope to be made fruitful, that the seeds of real love will begin to form within us. For our deepest yearning is to be enkindled from above, united with our true nature.

John the Baptist reminds us that we must change. We must turn ourselves around inwardly. Think differently. Then the living light of the Christ-Sun can enkindle and ripen in us.

1st St. Johnstide 2007, Body of Love

St. John’s
Mark 1, 1-11

Da Vinci

This is the beginning of the new word from the realm of the angels, sounding forth through Jesus Christ. Fulfilled is the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Behold, I send my angel before your face.

He is to prepare your way.

Hear the voice of one calling in the loneliness of the human soul

Prepare the way for the Lord within the soul,

Make his paths straight, so that he may find entrance into Man’s innermost being!

Thus did John the Baptist appear in the loneliness of the desert. He proclaimed Baptism, the way of a change of heart and mind, for the acknowledgement of sin. And they went out to him from all of Judea and Jerusalem and received baptism from him in the river Jordan and recognized and confessed their failings.

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Fruits and wild honey were his food. And he proclaimed:

           

‘After me comes one who is mightier than I. I am not even worthy to bend down befpre Him and to undo the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy [healing] Spirit.’

In those days it happened: Jesus of Nazareth came to Galilee, and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

And at the same time as he rose up again out of the water, he beheld how the spheres of the heavens were torn open, and the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.

And a voice sounded from the world of the spirit:

‘You are my son, the beloved —in you is my revelation.’ [‘Today I have conceived (begotten) you.’ Luke 3:22]

1st St. Johnstide

Andrea del Sarto

June 24, 2007

Mark 1:1-11

The moment of Jesus’ Baptism is a crossover moment. For the man Jesus, it is the death of what he had been up until then. At the same time, for the Christ it was a moment of virginal conception. He was uniting for the first time with a human body and soul. Incarnating and excarnating, being born and dying, unite in a new way.

John’s form of baptism was a preparation of a vessel for Christ; for all those who had undergone his baptism were brought to the portal between life and death. There they could recognize their failings. But they could also sense the nearness of Him who would strengthen their powers of overcoming, who would guide them toward compensatory deeds in the future. Thus they were prepared to meet and recognize Him on earth. They would recognize Him who came to help us increase the power of the working of love.

Today we celebrate the birthday of John the Baptist, messenger and preparer of the birth of Love’s body on earth. After his death John became the inspiring and guiding spirit of a new body: the circle of the disciples. They were the first cells of the generating of a new kind of Christ-body, a body of love, composed of individuals united in His love, working together with peaceful hearts, as Christ’s hands and feet in the world.

May we be inspired by John to recognize our failings, and to overcome them through compensating in love. May we be a part of the community of the Christ, members of His body of Love, His hands and feet in the world.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

1st St. Johnstide 2008, Honey Flowing

St. John’s 
Mark 1, 1-11

Sombart

This is the beginning of the new word from the realm of the angels, sounding forth through Jesus Christ. Fulfilled is the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Behold, I send my angel before your face.

He is to prepare your way.

Hear the voice of one calling in the loneliness of the human soul

Prepare the way for the Lord within the soul,

Make his paths straight, so that he may find entrance into Man’s innermost being!

Thus did John the Baptist appear in the loneliness of the desert. He proclaimed Baptism, the way of a change of heart and mind, for the acknowledgement of sin. And they went out to him from all of Judea and Jerusalem and received baptism from him in the river Jordan and recognized and confessed their failings.

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Fruits and wild honey were his food. And he proclaimed:

           

‘After me comes one who is mightier than I. I am not even worthy to bend down before Him and to undo the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy [healing] Spirit.’

In those days it happened: Jesus of Nazareth came to Galilee, and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

And at the same time as he rose up again out of the water, he beheld how the spheres of the heavens were torn open, and the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.

And a voice sounded from the world of the spirit:

‘You are my son, the beloved —in you is my revelation.’ [‘Today I have conceived (begotten) you.’ Luke 3:22]

1^st St. Johnstide

June 24, 29, 2008

Mark 1:1-11

Habegger

The zenith of the sun year has passed. It may seem as though all we have to look forward to are gradually shorter days and increasing darkness. But that would only happen if we were mere creatures of nature. As human beings it is our truly human spiritual task to interiorize the Sun.

Featured in this gospel reading are two human beings, John the Baptist and his cousin Jesus of Nazareth. John, the stern father figure, is the last of the old prophets. He recognizes that human beings stand at a threshold of something totally new; and that they need to prepare for it by doing some inner housekeeping, by straightening up inwardly and creating an open space.

And next to him is Jesus of Nazareth. While respectful of the old forms, He is ready to take the next step forward for humanity. John’s baptism of immersion breaks open the seal of Jesus’ human nature and allows Christ, the inhabitant of the sun sphere, to enter into Him. Jesus is the receptive one into whom the spirit dove descends, as it did with Mary at the annunciation. To her the angel announced, “You will conceive and bear a son.” At the Baptism the Father Spirit Himself announces to the one whom Mary conceived and who now receives the Christ. He hears “You are my beloved Son, in you is my revelation. Today I have conceived you.” Mark 1:11, Luke 3:22

John and Jesus, two human beings helping each other to advance humanity through their heart’s choice – preparing, opening, receiving.

A 14^th century English mystic wrote:

Sear my inmost being

with your fire and my heart

will burn on Your altar forever.

Come, I beg you,

O sweet and true glory!…

Come, my Beloved,…

to my soul

and slip into it with most

sweetly flowing love. Set ablaze

with Your heat every penetrable

place of my heart and, by filling

its inmost places with your light,

feed the whole with the honey-flowing

joy of Your love….[1]

During this second, descending half of the year, we are to practice what John and Jesus have modeled for us: preparing, opening, receiving the light and the love of the Christ-Sun.  In doing this we are working toward the day when we too have taken the light and love of the Sun into our hearts; when we, too, will hear, “You are my beloved son, my daughter. (With)in you is my revelation,” the light and the warmth and the love, the One who has come to us from the heart of the sun.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] Richard Rolle of Hampole (1300 – 1349), “Invitation to the God”, in Love’s Immensity, by Scott Cairns, p. 106.

1st St. Johnstide 2009, Invisible Gold

St. Johnstide

Luke 3: 7-18

Tiepolo

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You are sons of the serpent yet! Who led you to believe that you can avoid the decline of the old ways of the soul? Produce true fruits in keeping with a change of heart and mind. And do not begin excusing yourselves by saying, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I tell you that God can raise up sons for Abraham out of these stones. The ax is already poised at the root of the trees, so every tree that does not produce good fruit is felled and thrown into the fire.”

“What should we do then?” the crowd asked.

John answered, “Let the man with two tunics share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same.”

Tax collectors also came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”

“Do not collect any more than you are authorized to do,” he told them.

           

Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He replied, “Do not intimidate and do not accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”

The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ, the Messiah.

John answered them all, “I wash you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will wash you with the breath of the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, while he burns up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

And with many and various exhortations John preached the good news to the people.

St. Johnstide

June 24, 28, 2009

Luke 3; 7 – 18

Very young trees need to be staked until they are strong enough to withstand heavy weather. And trees heavily laden with fruit may need their branches propped so as not to break. But full grown and post harvest, such external helps are no longer necessary.

The Mosaic law, the rules of proper behavior, were necessary when humankind was very young, to help it grow straight and strong. And it remained so when the people were heavily laden with the rich fruits of their own development.

John came to prepare us for the time when the fruits of the old ways would be harvested, and the old props would no longer be necessary. For we are all heavily laden.

Albert Einstein said,

"Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built

upon the labors of my fellow men, both living and dead, and how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received."

A new law being written, a law of gratitude and love. It applies to every human being, regardless of pedigree. It is to be a law of compassion and fairness. It is to be a new tree, a living tree planted in the human heart.

and this tree, behold,
    glows from within;
    haloed in visible
    invisible gold.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1] Denise Levertov, “Last Night’s Dream”.

1st St. Johnstide 2010, Devoted to Christ

St. John’s Mark 1, 1-11

Memling

This is the beginning of the new word from the realm of the angels, sounding forth through Jesus Christ. Fulfilled is the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Behold, I send my angel before your face.

He is to prepare your way.

Hear the voice of one calling in the loneliness of the human soul

Prepare the way for the Lord within the soul,

Make his paths straight, so that he may find entrance into Man’s innermost being!

Thus did John the Baptist appear in the loneliness of the desert. He proclaimed Baptism, the way of a change of heart and mind, for the acknowledgement of sin. And they went out to him from all of Judea and Jerusalem and received baptism from him in the river Jordan and recognized and confessed their failings.

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Fruits and wild honey were his food. And he proclaimed:

           

Sombart

‘After me comes one who is mightier than I. I am not even worthy to bend down before Him and to undo the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy [healing] Spirit.’

In those days it happened: Jesus of Nazareth came to Galilee, and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

And at the same time as he rose up again out of the water, he beheld how the spheres of the heavens were torn open, and the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.

And a voice sounded from the world of the spirit:

‘You are my son, the beloved —in you is my revelation.’ [‘Today I have conceived (begotten) you.’ Luke 3:22]

1^st St. Johnstide

June 27, 2010

Mark 1: 1-11 

 

The cycle of the year is not a simple circle. It is more like two circles joined in the middle as a figure eight, like the symbol on the front of the chasuble. Now, in June, we have come to the crossing point in the middle.

During the first half of the year, we remembered and filled ourselves with the power of Christ’s life on earth. The second ascending circle now begins with John the Baptist, a human being who was himself an individual of transitions. He was the last and greatest of the old stream of humanity. And at the same time, he is one of the first of the new, a renewed angelic being, sent before us on the path.

He midwifed and witnessed the birth of Christ into the man Jesus at the Baptism in the Jordan. The gospel gives image of this in the descent of the spirit dove. John as the representative of the old way will bow out before the Christ—‘He must increase, I must decrease.’ John 3:30  But at the same time, Christ takes him under His wing. John’s spirit will be released from his body at his beheading. And through Christ his spirit will become the new protective angel for the work of the circle of Christ’s disciples, guiding their work from across the threshold.

At this nodal midpoint of the year, we too are encouraged to take stock of what we have made of ourselves through our past deeds. And we are to recognize that our own future and the future of humanity and the earth will depend on our humble connection with Christ, He who creates all things anew. Rev. 21:5 Following John’s example, we too are to work upon and out of our future angelic nature. We do so through our purity of thinking, through the love of our hearts, through our will, devoted to Christ.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

1st St. Johnstide 2011,

St. John’s
Mark 1, 1-11

This is the beginning of the new word from the realm of the angels, sounding forth through Jesus Christ. Fulfilled is the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Behold, I send my angel before your face.

He is to prepare your way.

Hear the voice of one calling in the loneliness of the human soul

Prepare the way for the Lord within the soul,

Make his paths straight, so that he may find entrance into Man’s innermost being!

Thus did John the Baptist appear in the loneliness of the desert. He proclaimed Baptism, the way of a change of heart and mind, for the acknowledgement of sin. And they went out to him from all of Judea and Jerusalem and received baptism from him in the river Jordan and recognized and confessed their failings.

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Fruits and wild honey were his food. And he proclaimed:

           

‘After me comes one who is mightier than I. I am not even worthy to bend down befpre Him and to undo the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy [healing] Spirit.’

Master of St. Bartholomew's Altar

In those days it happened: Jesus of Nazareth came to Galilee, and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

And at the same time as he rose up again out of the water, he beheld how the spheres of the heavens were torn open, and the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.

And a voice sounded from the world of the spirit:

‘You are my son, the beloved —in you is my revelation.’ [‘Today I have conceived (begotten) you.’ Luke 3:22]

1^st St. Johnstide

June 26, 2011

Mark 1: 1-11

“Behold, I send my angel before your face. He is to prepare your way. Hear the voice of one crying in the loneliness of the human soul.” Mark 1:1, 2

These words of course refer to John the Baptizer, and his role in preparing the way for Christ Jesus. At the same time, we can certainly resonate with the mood of these words; for many of us, this desert loneliness of the human soul is how modern life feels. We all feel like John.

At the same time we each also have an angel that walks before us. This angel helps us make straight our own soul paths, so that Christ can find entrance into the depths of our hearts.

Franz von Stuck

Since the solstice, the year is turning. Now is the time to begin again; to turn around, to change our hearts and minds, to turn inward. As the poet says:

This is now.  Now is,

all there is.  Don't wait for Then;

strike the spark, light the fire.

….

The green earth

is your cloth;

tailor your robe

with dignity and grace.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

---

[1]  Rumi, “Begin”, (adapted by Jose Orez from a version by Coleman Barks in The Soul of Rumi). 

1st St. Johnstide 2012, Budbreak

St. John’s
Mark 1, 1-11

This is the beginning of the new word from the realm of the angels, sounding forth through Jesus Christ. Fulfilled is the word of the prophet Isaiah:

Behold, I send my angel before your face.

He is to prepare your way.

Hear the voice of one calling in the loneliness of the human soul

Prepare the way for the Lord within the soul,

Make his paths straight, so that he may find entrance into Man’s innermost being!

Thus did John the Baptist appear in the loneliness of the desert. He proclaimed Baptism, the way of a change of heart and mind, for the acknowledgement of sin. And they went out to him from all of Judea and Jerusalem and received baptism from him in the river Jordan and recognized and confessed their failings.

John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist. Fruits and wild honey were his food. And he proclaimed:

           

‘After me comes one who is mightier than I. I am not even worthy to bend down befpre Him and to undo the straps of His sandals. I have baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the fire of the Holy [healing] Spirit.’

In those days it happened: Jesus of Nazareth came to Galilee, and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

And at the same time as he rose up again out of the water, he beheld how the spheres of the heavens were torn open, and the spirit of God descended upon him like a dove.

And a voice sounded from the world of the spirit:

‘You are my son, the beloved —in you is my revelation.’ [‘Today I have conceived (begotten) you.’ Luke 3:22]

1^st St. Johnstide

June 24, 2012

Mark 1:1-11

The plant sends forth green leaf after green leaf. Then quietly one day, something different appears at the growing point. It is a bud that will break forth into the color and beauty and complexity of a blossom.

John the Baptist announces the arrival of the new flowering of humanity. The old ways are completed. The new blossoming of humankind is a bud-break. And all of us are exhorted to make ourselves ready to join in the new way of being—to change our thinking, to let our hearts open.

In our lives there come moments, months, or even years, when we are called upon to open our hearts to something new, to frame our thinking in a different way. For the spheres of the heavens are open. Our future is descending upon us like a dove. In our loneliness may we hear the voice of the Father, calling us the Beloved, whom He is creating anew.

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