2nd Michaelmas 2017,

Archangel Michael, Arild Rosenkranz

Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 6: 10 - 19
2nd, 3rd or 4th Michaelmas
 
What it comes to in the end is this: grasp the power that streams to you in the experience of Christ in the soul and in the powerful regency of his pure spiritual strength.
Put on the power of God as one puts on full armor, so that you may stand against the well-aimed attacks of the adversary. For our struggle is not to fight against powers of flesh and blood, but against
spirit beings mighty in the stream of time,
against spirit beings powerful in the molding of earth substance,
against cosmic powers whose darkness rules the present time,
against spirits who carry evil into the realms of the spiritual world.
 
Therefore take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand your ground on the day when evil unfolds its greatest strength, and victoriously withstand it.
Stand firm, then, girded with the truth, like a warrior firmly girded. Connect yourself with all in the world as is justified in the spiritual world, and this connection with the spirit will protect you like a strong breastplate.

And may Peace stream through you, down to your feet, so that on your path you spread peace, as the message that comes from the realm of the angels.
In all your deeds have trust in God. This trust will be like a mighty shield; with it,  you can quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

Take into your thinking the certainty of Christ’s healing deed. It will protect your head like a helmet.

And the spirit, which has become living in you, you shall grasp as one grasps a sharp sword. The sword of the spirit is the working of the Word of God.

May this armor clothe you in all your prayers and supplications so that in the right moment you raise yourself in prayer to the spirit, and at the same time practice wakefulness in inner loyalty.
Feel yourself united in prayer with all other bearers of the spirit—also with me, Paul, so that the power of the word will be given to me when I am to courageously bring the knowledge of that holy mystery which lives in the message of the gospel.

2nd Michaelmas
October 8, 2017
Ephesians 6:10-19
 
This is a time of struggle. Outer events play like battles, battles of words, warlike behaviors, grievous wrongs. Behind these, there stand spiritual beings and spiritual forces at work, both positive and negative.
 
As the reading today says: our struggle is not to fight against powers of flesh and blood but

Newbatt

against mighty and powerful spiritual beings. For us as individuals, this means that ours is not a battle of aggression, but a battle of defense against negative spiritual forces seeking to attack our hearts and our thoughts.
 
We are to stand firm by grasping and clothing ourselves with the power that streams to us from Christ. We are to trust that no matter what appears to happen outwardly, He is the Way, the path that our human evolution is to take. He is the Truth—the very Being of Truth itself, a firm foundation for all we see and do. Clothing ourselves in His truth, our thinking is clear, and our hearts can stream peace; our words can illuminate darkness and evil.
 
It is a season of growing darkness. Our task is to remain inwardly upright and awake. We are the soldiers, the guardians who keep watch, the witnesses. We are those who are to activate the Christ force in the world. As Adam Bittleston says:
 
We need in the strife of our day
The eternal Peace of the Word of God.
Seeking this Peace with our whole being
On the path which leads from the nightmare
Of endless chaos,
Into the order of heaven
And to the Father of all things—
We shall meet Michael
Who reveals how Christ
Awakens Man
That he may serve God. *
 

 

---

*"Michaelmas II”, Adam Bittleston, in Meditative Prayers for Today. Available here.

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1st Michaelmas 2016, Bread of Angels (Redux)

1st Michaelmas

Matthew 22, 1-14

And Jesus continued to speak in parables to them:

The kingdom of the heavens arising in human hearts is like a man, a king, who prepared a marriage feast for his son. And he sent out his servants to call the guests who had been invited to the marriage, but they would not come.

Then he again sent out other servants, and said, “Say to those who have been invited, ‘Think, I have prepared my best for the banquet, the sacrificial oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered; everything is ready. Come quickly to the wedding.”

But they were not interested and went off, one going to his field to be his own master, another falling into the hectic pace of his own business. The rest, however, took hold of the servants, mistreated them and killed them.

Then the king grew angry; he sent out his army, brought the murderers to their destruction and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, “Although the marriage feast is prepared, the invited guests have proved themselves unworthy. Go out therefore to the crossroads of destiny and invite to the wedding whoever you can find.”

And the servants went into the streets and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Then the king came in to see the guests, and among them, he noticed a man who was not dressed in the wedding garment which was offered to him. And he said to him, “My friend, you are sharing the meal; how is it you came in here without putting on the wedding garment that was offered to you?”

But the man was speechless.

Then the king said to the servants, “Bind him hand and foot and cast him out into the darkness, where human beings wail and gnash their teeth. For the call goes out to many, yet only a few make themselves bearers of the higher life.”

1st Michaelmas

Oct 2, 2016

Matthew 22, 1-14

When a farmer sows his crops, he knows what he is planting. He knows what will come up. Other conditions will affect what is ultimately harvested; yet what will sprout is what was planted.

In our lives, we are continually planting thoughts, words, deeds. They grow according to their nature. Untrue thoughts, words of hate, destructive deeds we will ourselves harvest as bitter, malformed fruits. True thoughts, encouraging words, helpful deeds grow into an abundant, living harvest. What we sow, we reap, if not in this lifetime, then in the next.

God sowed our souls and spirits in the ground of earth. He hopes to harvest the good, the nourishing, the sustaining, in order to support the work of his angels. Our thoughts, our words, our deeds, the way we are, all is ultimately food for the angels. They need nourishment to sustain them in their work of helping humanity to evolve.

Originally, God’s fields were planted with all ‘good seed’. But adversarial forces interfered. They helped sow weeds, thistles among the grain. God’s harvest became meager, filled with the unusable. God and his angels have to sort out the good from the useless. What they cannot use they give over to the purifying fire.

Corina Ferraz

Our thoughts, our words, our loving deeds, are bread for the angels. Here on earth we are preparing a banquet for the wedding feast of the king. Our noblest thoughts, our loving hearts, our devoted deeds are bread of the angels. Our soul offerings are sustaining them in their work. And so we make our offering:

Praised be thou, eternal God, King of the Universe,
who brings forth bread from the earth.*

*From the Hebrew blessing of the bread: "Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, Who brings forth bread from the earth." This blessing is made over bread made only from wheat, barley, rye, oats, and/or spelt.

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10th August September Trinity 2016, Spirit Can Summon (Redux)

10th Trinity August- September

Luke 7, 11-17

And it came to pass that on the next day Jesus went into a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. And as he drew near to the gate of the city, they became aware that a dead man was being carried out—the only born son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd of people from the city accompanied her.

And seeing her the Lord felt her suffering, and said to her, “Weep no more.”

And approaching, he touched the coffin, and pallbearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!”

The dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him to his mother. Astonishment and awe seized all who were standing there, and they began to praise God and to glorify what was here revealed, saying,

“A prophet powerful in spirit has been raised among us, and God has come down to us, his people.”

Word about him spread out into all of Judea and all of the neighboring regions.

10th Trinity August- September

September 25, 2016

Luke 7, 11-17

When someone close to us dies, we grieve. Part of the difficulty we have is that, for our perception, the loved one seems swallowed up by an abyss. A darkness engulfs us, separates us from them. They are lost to us, and we weep for what is now missing in our own lives – their words, their touch, their love.

Christ approaches the grieving widow, now a grieving mother. He speaks to her kindly, tenderly. Like an approaching dawn, he comforts her – weep no more.

And then, like the glory of the sun rising above the horizon, he says to the dead one, ‘Arise!’ The darkness of separation is flooded with light and with life. Loves are reunited.

In our own lives, we too grieve our losses, be they loved ones, lost possessions, or unfulfilled dreams. These are the moment when Christ approaches. He bids us weep no more. He shows us that no matter how great the loss, no matter how deep the hopelessness, there is always a future, a new day. It may take time for the sun to rise, but, in the words of John O’Donohue:

As twilight makes a rainbow robe

From the concealed colors of day

In order for time to stay alive

Within the dark weight of night,

May we lose no one we love

From the shelter of our hearts.

When we love another heart

…We journey deep below time

Into that eternal weave

Where nothing unravels.

May we have the grace to see

…That whoever we have loved,

Such love can never quench.

Though a door may have closed,

Closed between us,

May we be able to view

Our lost friends with eyes

Wise with calming grace;

….

Bring warmth again to

Where the heart has frozen

In order that beyond the walls

…We may be able to

Celebrate the gifts they brought,

Learn and grow from the pain,

…Where spirit can summon

Beauty from wounded space.*

*John O'Donohue , “For Lost Friends” in To Bless the Space Between Us

9th August/September Trinity 2016, Vertiginous Clarity (Redux)

9th August Trinity

Matthew 6; 19-23

“Do not save up your treasures on the earth, where moths and rust eat away at them and thieves tunnel in and steal. Save up your treasures in heaven, where no moth and no rust consumes and thieves do not tunnel in and steal. Because where you have gathered a treasure, there your heart will bear you.

“The lamp of the body is the eye. So if your eye is wholesome, your whole body is lighted; whereas if your eye is bad, your whole body is in darkness. So if the light inside you is dark…what great darkness!

9th August Trinity

Sept 18, 2016

Matthew 6; 19-23

We know, at least intellectually, that we cannot take our physical possessions with us across the threshold of death. We even make ironic jokes, like ‘he who dies with the most toys wins!’ But even if we could somehow bring them with us, they would eventually disintegrate because they belong to the world of the transitory.

We are encouraged to store up heart-treasures, treasures that we can take with us through death. One such heart treasure is reverence and wonder toward God, toward our fellow human beings and toward the living being of nature. The health and vitality of our soul, indeed of our whole organism, depends on the manner in which we look at the world. If we look at the world through eyes open in wonder, filled with awe, then seeing through such eyes generates light, both inwardly and outwardly. Through wonder and awe, we gain the light of knowledge and the light of wisdom. Our eyes will shine. Lacking reverence before God, man and nature, our souls begin to darken. Even our bodily organism becomes darker and harder, less translucent. Awe enlightens. 
The poet says:

Never between the branches has the sky

burned with such brilliance, as if

it were offering all of its light to me,

to say – what? what urgent mystery

strains at that transparent mouth?

….the air

suddenly arches itself like this into infinity,

and glitters.

This evening, far from here,

a friend is entering his death,

he knows it, he walks

under bare trees alone,

perhaps for the last time. So much love,

so much struggle, spent and worn thin.

But when he looks up, suddenly the sky

is arrayed in this same vertiginous clarity.*

For, as Christ says, ‘Where you have gathered a treasure, there your heart will bear you’.**

*Jean Joubert, “Brilliant Sky,” Trans. by Denise Levertov in The Gift of Tongues, ed. by Sam Hamill

** Matthew 6:21

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8th August/September Trinity 2016, The Food that Fills (Redux)

8th August Trinity

Luke 17: 5-10

And the apostles said to the Lord, “Strengthen our faith!”

And the Lord said, “If you had faith as full of life as a mustard seed, you could say to this sycamine [mulberry] tree: be uprooted and be planted in the sea!  And it would obey you.

Van Gogh

Who among you who has a servant for plowing or for herding sheep, who will say to him when he comes home from the field, “Come at once and sit down at table?” Rather you will say, “Prepare the meal for me, put on your apron and wait on me until I eat and drink; afterward you can eat and drink too.” Does the servant deserve special thanks for doing his duty? Think of yourselves like that; when you have done all that you have been told to do, then say: “we are feeble servants, we have only done what we were obliged to do.”

8th August Trinity

Sep 11, 2016

Luke 17: 5-10

There is a children’s story about a lazy young woman, freshly married. Instead of sleeping in, she needed to step up and take hold of the running of a large household farming enterprise.  Other household workers were waiting for her orders. She had to learn to direct the household servants so that the whole enterprise, including the servants, would thrive and be fed.

Perhaps today’s reading is awkward for us. We don’t have servants. And we want to be kind. But perhaps we can look at the servant/master relationship as parts of ourselves that need to come into a healthy hierarchical relationship.

There are parts of our souls that are meant to serve us. Our desire life serves best when it serves the inner master, when it is harnessed for work and caring for others. The soul’s inner master is the I, that part of us which focuses and makes decisions about the work and the caring. Desires in and of themselves can’t be allowed to take precedence, like the lazy wife who desired to stay in bed.

Christ’s use of this metaphor, of course, goes further. It points to our own relationship as servants to the Master of the Universe, to the Lord of Karma. Our task is to offer him food first – then we will be fed. 

The Act of Consecration is the pattern for this. We offer him our noblest and purest thoughts and feelings, our loving devotion. He then has something to transform, to offer us in return as nourishment and strengthening. We bring these offerings because we need to offer him something positive in compensation for our natural errors, weaknesses, and failures. We are feeble servants, only doing what we are obliged to do. But we can have faith and trust that when we do our poor part, when we do our inner and outer work, when we serve Him first, we will, in turn, be nourished and strengthened. 

Albert Steffen wrote*:

Nicole Helbig

I walk through the tilled red land:

The seed sleeps.

I walk through green crops:

The stem shoots up.

I walk through golden fields:

The grain ripens.

I find the miller

And the miller says:

The earth is the face

Of the Son of Man,

And ‘he who eats my bread,

Sets his foot upon me’**

I kneel down

And he offers me the food

That fills, permeates, me

On my earthly journey.

*quoted in Rudolf Steiner's Gesamt Ausgabe (Collected Works) Vol. 36, p. 200 (in German)

** 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me,' Jn 13:18, Psalm 41:9

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7th August Trinity 2016, God's Hands (Redux)

7^th August Trinity

Luke 10:25-37

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when

Van Gogh

he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.  A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side.  So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.  But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.  He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.  The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

7th August Trinity

Sept 4, 2016

Luke 10:25-37

Corinne Vonaesch

Love manifests not only in thoughts and feelings but most importantly in deeds.

The man who was robbed and beaten represents that part of all of us traveling on life’s path -  a part of our soul has been robbed of our spiritual wealth and beaten down until our souls are half-dead. There also lives in each of us a priest and temple servant who serve the first part of the commands of the law, the part about serving God with one’s whole heart, mind, and strength. It is a holy office, requiring that one show up at the appointed time, ritually clean, for a service performed on behalf of the whole people. And we all have an inner Samaritan, a foreign stranger traveling through life, who is under no tribal obligation to help a Hebrew from Jerusalem. And yet help he does, purely out of human compassion. He fulfills the second part of the commandment, the part about loving whoever one stands next to. He does so not only by  ministering personally to the wounded but also by paying someone else to continue his efforts.

Charalambos Epaminonda

What Christ is saying is that our ritual observances toward God are only a part of what serving God means. We also need to fulfill the second part of the commandment, the commandment of love for our fellow human beings. We need to find within ourselves healing ways to serve the God within others. This does not necessarily have to be dramatic. But we need to be able to inwardly pause and help others we encounter along the way. We can comfort with a kind word or even a smile. We can offer something that helps heal a wounded soul. We can help someone in whatever way we can toward their own healthier future. We can even make it possible for someone else to do it for us. And we can always pray for others.

We turn towards God with all the strength of all our soul’s capacities. And we turn toward our fellow human beings with the strength of our love. For we are God’s hands on earth.

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6th August Trinity 2016, Hand That Loved Me (Redux)

6th Trinity August

Mark 7, 31-37

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 who 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 they 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.

6th Trinity August

August 28, 2016

Mark 7, 31-37

A wall separates two spaces. A doorway is an opening between the two. And the door itself opens or shuts. It regulates the flow between them.

Our senses are the doors between the inner life of the soul and the outer life of the world. In sleep, the doors of the senses are closed.  Upon waking, all sensory doors open. They will remain open or close, depending on where we choose to direct our attention. Being absorbed in the activities of the world, all doorways are open; being absorbed in the inner life can close the doors of the senses, making us oblivious to noise, for example.

The deaf mute’s sense organs for hearing and speech had become permanently closed. An exchange of words had become impossible. His friends bring him to Christ, the Logos, the Living Word. At Christ’s intimate and loving touch, at His fiery word – Ephphata! Be opened! – the closed doors open. The man can hear and speak again. He can fully engage with the world.

At the same time, Christ has opened the same doors in the crowd. And though He tries to tell them not to proclaim the event far and wide, they will talk. They represent that in us which cannot yet regulate our speech, which cannot yet recognize when to close the door.

Christ said of Himself: My I AM is the Door. He is that capacity in us that is able to choose to open or to close, and to know when it is time to do which. Both capacities, opening and closing, are necessary for the soul. It is only the extremes – always open, or always closed – that are unhealthy. Christ, the Door, helps us to know when we are to open and when to close.

The deaf mute’s experience of Christ is expressed in a poem by Antonio Machado:

Tissot

From the door sill of a

dream they called my name…

It was the good voice,

the voice I loved so much.

“—Listen: will you go

with me to visit the soul?…”

A soft stroke reached

up to my heart.

“With you always”… And

in my dream I walked

Down a long and

solitary corridor,

Aware of the touching

of the pure robe,

And the soft beating of

blood in the hand that loved me.*

*Antonio Machado, translated by Robert

Bly, from the book

Times Alone: Selected Poems of Antonio Machado (Wesleyan Poetry in Translation)