4th February Trinity 2013, Rising and Setting

4^th or 5^th February Trinity

(5^th Sunday before Easter)

Matthew 17: 1-13

After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James and led them together up a high mountain apart from the others.

There his appearance was transformed before them. His face shone bright as the sun, and his garments became white, shining bright as the light. And behold, there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, conversing in the spirit with Jesus.

And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be in this place. If you wish, I will build here three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them and suddenly they heard a voice from the cloud that said, “This is my son, whom I love. In him, I am revealed. Hear him.”

When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces to the ground in awe and terror.

And Jesus approached them, and touching them said, “Rise, and do not fear.”

And raising their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them: “Tell no one what you have seen until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

And the disciples asked him, “What is meant when the scribes say, ‘First Elijah must come again’?” He answered, “Elijah comes indeed, and prepares everything [restores all things]. But I say to you, Elijah has already come, and the people did not recognize him, but rather have done to him whatever they pleased. In the same way the Son of Man will suffer much at their hands.”

Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

 4^th February Trinity

February 24, 2013

Matthew 17: 1-13

The rising and falling of the sun creates for us a sense of time, our day and night, season after season. At its highest it is too bright to look at. Only when it is near the horizon can our eyes bear to look at it directly.

Our lives too have their seasons, their rising and setting. In the midst of our lives it is often not possible to see what shines within them. But near their setting, it is easier to view.

Fra Angelico

Jesus bore the Christ-Sun within him. In today’s reading, the sun of Christ’s earthly human life is approaching its setting.

The three disciples with Him are granted a glimpse into the Sun-brightness of His being. He stands in conversation with Moses, the past giver of the Law, and Elijah, prophet of the future. He stands in the middle as the ever-present Now, for he has gathered into himself all of time. His earthly life is setting; and yet the Christ Sun will rise again. He is both Alpha and Omega, beginning and goal.

Our lives in Christ, the Christ-Sun in us, is the eternally present Now. He allows us to see the meaning of our lives in clarity, especially in its setting. Christ in us allows us to hope for another rising when this life reaches its close.

For as Angelus Silesius[1] said, we are to become radiant suns:

My spirit once in God will eternal bliss become

Just as the sun’s own ray is sun within the sun.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Silesius, Cherubinic Wanderer

3rd February Trinity 2007, Nodal Points

3^rd Feb. Trinity

(Sunday before Ash Wednesday, 7^th Sunday before Easter)

Luke 18: 18-34

One of the highest spiritual leaders of the people asked him, “Good Master, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”

Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One—God alone. You know the commandments, you shall not destroy marriage, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not speak untruth, and you shall honor your father and your mother!

He said, “All these I have observed strictly from my youth.”

When Jesus heard this, he said, [Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said… Mk 10:21] “One thing however you lack: Sell all of your possessions, and give the money to the poor; thus will you achieve a treasure in the spiritual world—then come and follow me!

He was sad about these words, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw him thus, he said, “What hindrances must those overcome who are rich in outer or inner possessions, if they want to enter into the kingdom of God. Sooner would a camel walk through the eye of a needle, than a rich man be able to find the entrance to the kingdom of God!”

Those who heard this said, “Who then can be saved?”

He said, “For man alone it is impossible; it will be possible however through the power of God working in man.”

Then Peter said to him, “Behold, we have given up everything to follow you.”

He replied, “Amen, the truth I say to you. No one who leaves home or wife, or brother or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in earthly life, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Then he took the twelve to himself and said, “Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything which the prophets have written about the Son of Man will fulfill itself: He will be given over to the peoples of the world; they will mock and taunt him, they will spit upon him and scourge him and kill him; but on the third day he will rise up from the dead.”

Yet his disciples understood nothing of all this. The meaning of his words remained hidden from them, and they did not recognize what he was trying to tell them.

3^rd February Trinity

Feb 18, 2007

Luke 18: 18-34

When a plant grows, it first forms leaves. Then eventually these leaves metamorphose into the rich beauty of the blossom. The blossom opens to the sun, offers its pollen of its life substance to the sun. In wedding itself to the cosmos, its petals fall away. The blossom dies, but new life is formed in the seed.

The rich young man had followed the commandments. He had become rich in spiritual beauty, blossomed into a perfect flower. He was poised to give himself to the cosmos, to become an offering. But this would involve letting go of the beauteous petals of his outer and inner wealth. To take the next step, parts of himself would have to be shed. It was a necessary condition of his further development, of his movement toward eternal life. It would naturally be accompanied by a sense of loss and grief.

Our lives too come to certain nodal points, although we may not be as conscious of the moment as was the rich young man. When things on one level are about to be exchanged for another level, our destiny involves us in losses and griefs. Things, people important to us seem to fall away. But that is how the cosmos gives us the opportunity to grow, to blossom, to generate life on a higher level.

The Act of Consecration of Man gives us the opportunity to more consciously practice opening our souls, offering ourselves, and dying into a higher life. Sunday by Sunday, we shed the riches of our outer lives for an hour of prayer and inner sacrifice. Drop by drop, morsel by morsel, we build and strengthen our capacity for sacrifice, our capacity to let go and take the next step into the cosmos. Bit by bit we open ourselves and form the seeds of higher life.

3rd February Trinity 2008, Transfiguring Moment

4^th or 5^th February Trinity

Fra Angelico

(5^th Sunday before Easter)

Matthew 17: 1-13

After six days, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John the brother of James and led them together up a high mountain apart from the others.

There his appearance was transformed before them. His face shone bright as the sun, and his garments became white, shining bright as the light. And behold, there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, conversing in the spirit with Jesus.

And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be in this place. If you wish, I will build here three shelters, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them and suddenly they heard a voice from the cloud that said, “This is my son, whom I love. In him, I am revealed. Hear him.”

When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces to the ground in awe and terror.

And Jesus approached them, and touching them said, “Rise, and do not fear.”

And raising their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus.

As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus instructed them: “Tell no one what you have seen until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

And the disciples asked him, “What is meant when the scribes say, ‘First Elijah must come again’?” He answered, “Elijah comes indeed, and prepares everything [restores all things]. But I say to you, Elijah has already come, and the people did not recognize him, but rather have done to him whatever they pleased. In the same way the Son of Man will suffer much at their hands.”

Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

3^rd Sunday February Trinity

February 17, 2008

Matthew 17: 1-13

Moses, He Qi

In the Gospel reading, Christ appears, sun-like and radiant. He is between two great figures, Moses and Elijah. Moses embodies the long and often painful journey of walking the earth in search of the land that is to be made holy. For all his ability to converse with his people’s guiding spirit, Moses is a man of the earth. His magical deeds, like striking rocks to release a spring, are earth mysteries. But in the end, he is only allowed to see the promised land, not to enter it.

Elijah, He Qi

Elijah is a prophet who appears here and there, unexpectedly. He works with weather; he raises the dead. His magic is of the airy realms. His own death is described as an ascension into heaven in a fiery chariot.

Christ’s conversation with them is about His path is between the two. Like Elijah, He shines with the fire and light of the sun. He too will rise out of death. Yet like Moses, He also walks a painful path on earth—toward Jerusalem. After this transfiguring moment, He again becomes ordinary. His is the truly human path. He walks down the mountain toward the Great Sacrifice.

The earthly human path is an often arduous path of suffering. But this suffering, rightly endured, leads us from our narrow self-absorption out into a compassionate connection with all beings and with the earth itself. Christ’s immense suffering solidifies His immense love, a love that encompasses the world. Although He would rise as Lord of the Spirit-Wind, He remains forever connected to the earth. He it is who helps us make the earth holy. He walks with us on earth for all future generations, through all future cycles of time.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

3rd February Trinity 2009, Another and Another

3^rd Feb. Trinity

(Sunday before Ash Wednesday, 7^th Sunday before Easter)

Luke 18: 18-34

One of the highest spiritual leaders of the people asked him, “Good Master, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”

Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One—God alone. You know the commandments, you shall not destroy marriage, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not speak untruth, and you shall honor your father and your mother!

He said, “All these I have observed strictly from my youth.”

When Jesus heard this, he said, [Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said… Mk 10:21] “One thing however you lack: Sell all of your possessions, and give the money to the poor; thus will you achieve a treasure in the spiritual world—then come and follow me!

He was sad about these words, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw him thus, he said, “What hindrances must those overcome who are rich in outer or inner possessions, if they want to enter into the kingdom of God. Sooner would a camel walk through the eye of a needle, than a rich man be able to find the entrance to the kingdom of God!”

Those who heard this said, “Who then can be saved?”

He said, “For man alone it is impossible; it will be possible however through the power of God working in man.”

Then Peter said to him, “Behold, we have given up everything to follow you.”

He replied, “Amen, the truth I say to you. No one who leaves home or wife, or brother or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in earthly life, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Then he took the twelve to himself and said, “Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything which the prophets have written about the Son of Man will fulfill itself: He will be given over to the peoples of the world; they will mock and taunt him, they will spit upon him and scourge him and kill him; but on the third day he will rise up from the dead.”

Yet his disciples understood nothing of all this. The meaning of his words remained hidden from them, and they did not recognize what he was trying to tell them.

3^rd February Trinity

Feb 22, 2009

Luke 18:18-34

The blossom is the glory of the plant. Rich color, fragrance and beauty opens themselves to the sun. But what happens next? The petals wither and drop away. Tiny hard green fruits appear, containing even tinier seeds. Yet within that seed is condensed the entire power of the life of the whole plant.

This is also a basic pattern, a basic rhythm of development in our own human lives: a rich period of glorious development, followed by an apparent loss. Yet for us too, such a loss of glory is a necessary prelude. For Life is consolidating and condensing itself, gathering force and strength. Life is preparing a new phase, a next form; for the law of living things is a continuous changing out of forms. Old forms break apart, so that new ones can arise. The death of one form is only a temporary state, for Life itself predominates.

In this reading Christ recognizes that the rich young man is ready to lose the richness of his blossoming in order to take the next step on the transforming path of Life. And Christ encourages him by saying, ‘After you have voluntarily given away the old form, come and follow Me!’

For Christ Himself walks before us on this path of the transformation, this transubstantiation of forms. This is the path of letting go the old and taking up the new, of dying and becoming. Christ knows that this is the law of living things because He Himself is Life itself—the power of Life in all creatures. He too has voluntarily immersed Himself in the changing of forms, which is so often accompanied by birthing pangs. He willingly subjects Himself to the human condition, to the suffering that accompanies the breaking of the form, even unto the death of the bodily form, so that a new form can arise. For with Him a new form will indeed arise. On Holy Thursday he will pour His soul into a new form of His body—bread and wine. On Easter Sunday He will form a living resurrection body. And at Ascension the whole earth will become His body.

We can willingly and trustingly follow Him on this path of the shattering of old vessels and the creating of the new. Because He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. John 14:6

And now, as the poet says,

            Why cling to one life

            Till it is soiled and ragged?

            The sun dies and dies

            Squandering a hundred lives

            Every instant.

            God has decreed life for you

            And He will give

            another and another and another.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Rumi, in Fragments, Ecstasies.

3rd February Trinity 2010, God's Likeness

3^rd, 4^th February Trinity

(Sunday after Ash Wednesday)

Matthew 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the loneliness of the desert to experience the tempting power of the adversary.

After fasting forty days and nights, He felt for the first time hunger for earthly nourishment. Then the tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, let these stones become bread through the power of your word.”

Botticelli

Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘The human being shall not live on bread alone; he lives by the creative power of every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

  

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the parapet of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Again a third time, the devil took him to a very elevated place, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give to you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me  as your Lord. “

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship [pray to] God your Lord who guides you and serve him only.’”

Then the adversary left him, and he beheld again the angels as they came to bring him nourishment.

3^rd Feb Trinity

February 21, 2010

Matthew 4: 1-11

The tree lives and develops in three zones. It is rooted in the earth, nourished by the soil. It weaves and works in air and light; it blossoms and fruits in the warmth of the sun.

In overcoming the three temptations, Christ, the divine human being, clears the three basic areas in which our living souls develop. He reminds us to root ourselves, nourished ‘in the creative power that comes from the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4 That is, we are to recognize that we are not fed and sustained by the material nature of bread, but rather by the living power of the universe that God places in the grain.

While rooted in God’s creative power, we are to weave in the light and air of the divine world and its lawful order, within the ‘ordering of space, the course of time’. To make one’s ego supreme, to impose one’s own wishes and desires on the world, to test the divine order, is to be like leaves trying to fly—such leaves, separated from the tree, are in fact already dead.

And we are to blossom in the warmth of divine love, not in the heat of overbearing pride. For it is the wise guidance of God that brings us to our full glory and fruitfulness, not our own seeming mastery over the world.

Rooting our souls in God, working and weaving in His light, blossoming in His warmth, we will gradually develop into what God intends us to be—fully and divinely human. Overcoming the basic standard temptations, the temptations of materialism and egotistical pride, our true humanity will blossom.

We were created in God’s image. Through Christ’s strength of overcoming, we will weave and work His purpose, in His daylight. Through Christ we will blossom into God’s likeness.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

3rd February Trinity 2011, God of Mercy

1st February Trinity

Matthew 20:1-16

The kingdom of the heavens is like a man, the master of his house, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Agreeing to pay them one denarius a day, he sent them out into his vineyard.

At about 9 o’clock he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace, and he said to them, “Go also into my vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.” So they went.

He went out again at about noon and at 3 o’clock and did the same. At 5 o’clock he went out and found others standing there, and he said to them, “Why do you stand here all day idle?” They said, “Because no one has hired us.” He said, “You, too, go into the vineyard.”

And when evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”

Those who had been hired at 5 o’clock came forward, and each received one denarius. Therefore, when it was the turn of those who were hired first, they expected to receive more. However, they too also received one denarius each. They took it, but they began to grumble against the master of the house. “These men who were hired last only worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”

However, he answered one of them, saying, “Friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did you not agree with me for one denarius? Take what you have earned and go. I wish to give to the man hired last the same as I give to you. Have I not the right to do as I wish with what is mine? Or do you give me an evil look because I am generous? Thus will the last be first and the first will one day be last. “

3rd February Trinity

February 20, 2011

Matthew 20, 1 – 16

Some flowers, like tulips and crocuses, bloom early. Some like roses, bloom all season long. The autumn crocus, however, blooms late. One form of it is the source of the costly spice, saffron.

Human beings appear on fields of earth early, for a long season, or late. The gospel reading, as scripture often does, warns us about judging the value of a human being and his or her contribution to the fields of earthly and heavenly endeavor. The value of their contribution is not fully visible to human view. The Master of the house and vineyard is the full judge of the orchestration of human efforts, especially in more hidden spiritual matters. We each receive our ‘one denarius,’ the means for our daily bread. We each receive our integrity, our singleness of purpose, from the Master, who gives us what we need according to his generous mercy.

Those who worked the whole day complained that they had borne the heat of the day and the burden of the work. Those who had waited out the day, idle in the marketplace, had also borne the heat of the day, along with suffering the burden of unemployment. Without them and their fresh efforts at the end of the day, it is possible that the day’s harvest may not have been completed.

There is no place in spiritual matters for ambition or greed. We all receive the just compensation for our time, our work and our suffering. The God of Mercy sustains us all. For we are all making our contribution to the universe. Mary Oliver says:

On a summer morning

I sat down

on a hillside

to think about God -

a worthy pastime.

Near me, I saw

a single cricket;

it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.

How great was its energy,

how humble its effort.

Let us hope

it will always be like this,

each of us going on

in our inexplicable ways

building the universe.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1]   Mary Oliver, “Song of the Builders” in Why I Wake Early

3rd February Trinity 2012, The Next Step

3^rd Feb. Trinity

(Sunday before Ash Wednesday, 7^th Sunday before Easter)

Luke 18: 18-34

 The Rich Young Ruler, by Heinrich Hofmann

One of the highest spiritual leaders of the people asked him, “Good Master, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”

Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One—God alone. You know the commandments, you shall not destroy marriage, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not speak untruth, and you shall honor your father and your mother!

He said, “All these I have observed strictly from my youth.”

When Jesus heard this, he said, [Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said… Mk 10:21] “One thing however you lack: Sell all of your possessions, and give the money to the poor; thus will you achieve a treasure in the spiritual world—then come and follow me!

He was sad about these words, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw him thus, he said, “What hindrances must those overcome who are rich in outer or inner possessions, if they want to enter into the kingdom of God. Sooner would a camel walk through the eye of a needle, than a rich man be able to find the entrance to the kingdom of God!”

Those who heard this said, “Who then can be saved?”

He said, “For man alone it is impossible; it will be possible however through the power of God working in man.”

Then Peter said to him, “Behold, we have given up everything to follow you.”

He replied, “Amen, the truth I say to you. No one who leaves home or wife, or brother or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in earthly life, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Then he took the twelve to himself and said, “Now we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything which the prophets have written about the Son of Man will fulfill itself: He will be given over to the peoples of the world; they will mock and taunt him, they will spit upon him and scourge him and kill him; but on the third day he will rise up from the dead.”

Yet his disciples understood nothing of all this. The meaning of his words remained hidden from them, and they did not recognize what he was trying to tell them.

3^rd February Trinity

February 19, 2012

Luke 18, 18-34

The blossom possesses great beauty. At its fullness, it can seem almost perfect. Yet its petals must fall away and its beauty withdraw if it is to move on to serve its true purpose—to bear fruit and the seeds of new life.

Hofmann, detail

The rich young man has reached such a point in his life. He must move past his own perfection, sacrifice his riches, so that he can take the next step. For all of us come such nodal points in life, when we are called upon to release the achieved and move forward.

Yet fear of loss can cause us to overlook an important element in this process. Christ says to the young man, to all of us—Follow me. I will lead you through this. I will be with you always, through suffering and loss, through death. I will lead you to victory over death, to new life.

As the poet says

Sombart

The greatest secret of

life

is death,

the great transmuter

who leaves nothing

as it was,

who changes all

renews

enlivens—

new life

begins

in passing away

endure it

hold on through it

rise up

The greatest secret of

death

is life.[1]


www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Roswitha Bril-Jager,  “The Greatest Secret”

Picture: The Rich Young Ruler, by Heinrich Hofmann