3rd Epiphany 2008, Sweetness of Soul and Body

3^rd Epiphany

Matthew 8, 1-13

When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And behold, a man with leprosy approached him, and kneeling down before him said, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean.”

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

And immediately he was cleared of his leprosy. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one. But go and show yourself to the priests and offer to them the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony of your cleansing.”

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a Roman captain, leader of a hundred soldiers, approached him, pleading with him and saying, “Lord, my boy lies at home, paralyzed, suffering great pain.”

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Just say a word, and my boy will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. If I say one word to this one—‘Go, ’ he goes, and if I tell another ‘Come,’ he comes. If I tell my servant ‘Do this,’ he does it.

Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, the truth I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great power of trust. And I tell you, that many will come from the east and from the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the darkness of [godforsaken] external existence, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go home.  Let it be done to you as you have believed.”

And the boy was healed in that hour.

3^rd Epiphany 

January 20, 2008

Matthew 8.1-13

At a certain point in the life cycle of a plant, the carefully protected seeds are ejected and separate from where they had been harbored. Without this separation, there is no possibility of new life.

Lepers were forced to the very edges of their community—despised and rejected. Yet this individual leper in the gospel reading bears the seed of a new life. He takes the initiative to find his way back into community again. He does so by approaching the source of healing itself—Christ, who in turn reaches out to touch him. Drawn by the World Physician the leper is integrated back into community again.

We are all outcasts in this life, feeling separated from all friends, relations and the divine beings who live in the spiritual world. That is why Christ came to us—because we could not enter the higher community. Now, because He has come, and is here, we can help form together and enter the higher community from here on earth. Christ heals the rift between soul and soul, spirit and spirit, within and among us.

St. Francis of Assisi speaks of his own healing:

This is how our Lord allowed me

to begin my healing: While I yet walked

in sin, the mere sight of lepers was as

a bitterness I could not bear. Therefore

the Lord Himself drew me to life

among them, and so doing gave me

to have mercy on them. By the time

I left them, the bitterness had turned

to a sweetness of soul and of body.[1]

Separation is a phase of life. But as St. Francis says, through Christ’s healing in one’s destiny, the bitterness becomes mercy and the sweetness of a new life for soul and body.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] “Mercy”, St. Francis of Assisi, in Love’s Immensity, Scott Cairns, p. 80.

3rd Epiphany 2009, Abide

John 2, 1-11

3^rd Epiphany

On the third day a wedding took place in Cana in Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.

When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

And Jesus answered her, “Something still weaves between me and you, o Woman. The hour when I can work out of myself alone has not yet come.”

Then his mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

There were six stone jars set up there for the Jewish custom of ceremonial washing, each containing twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with fresh water.”

And they filled them to the brim. And he said, “Now draw some out and take it to the Master of the feast. And they brought it to him.

Now when the Master of the feast tasted the water that had become wine, not knowing where it came from—for only the servants who had drawn the water knew—he called the bridegroom aside and said to him, “Everyone serves the choice wine first, and when the guests have drunk, then the lesser; but you have saved the best until now.”

This, the beginning of the signs of the spirit which Jesus performed among men happened at Cana in Galilee and revealed the creating spiritual power that worked through Him. The disciples’ hearts opened, the power of faith began to stir in them, and they began to trust in him.

Woloschina

3^rd Epiphany Sunday

January 25, 2009

John 2, 1 – 11

In ancient times, consciousness of self was weak and dreamy. At that time, drinking a small amount of wine had the effect of awakening and strengthening self-awareness.

Christ’s first spiritual sign was enacted at a wedding, at a celebration of the union of the masculine and feminine halves of the human being. The fact that the couple had run out of wine symbolizes the state of mankind in general—the time for alcohol as a valid strengthener of the ego has run out. Humankind needed a new source for the strengthening of the self.

At the same time, the joining of masculine and feminine forces is also celebrated at this wedding event on another level. At this early stage in Christ’s working, He needs the compassionate heart force of the Soul-Mother, grounded as it is in earthly and social realities. It is as though through her, He is able to connect with Mother Earth and draw up the strengthening force for the human self from her depths. He who will later say, “I am the Vine, you are the branches,” John 15:5, begins to root Himself into the depths of earth. He begins the work of transformation, transforming the watery depths into the sun-drenched strengthening power of the grape. Through Him, Water becomes for the self the strength and effervescence of the best possible Wine.

This event foreshadows the Last Supper, when He, the Vine, transforms fruit of the vine into the sacrificial strength of His Blood. On the cross the Vine will pour His blood into Mother Earth, giving back to her of Himself and strengthening her. Thereby He quietly strengthens and grounds all mankind for our work on earth.

In the Eucharist we choose to consciously receive the power of His blood into our bodies of earth; we receive the power of His blood into our weakened souls, so that something of a wedding begins to take place. Something begins to weave between Him and us, between His Self and our selves. A kind of wedding song, a song of call and response, begins to ring forth.

“I am the Vine, you are the branches, Whoever abides in me will bear much fruit.” John 15:5

And we answer, ‘What shall we do, Lord?’

“The hour when I can work out of myself alone has not yet come”. John 2:4

How can we help, Lord?

“Without the strength of my I AM, you can do nothing. John 2:4 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide now in my love. John 15:9

And we answer, ‘Yes Lord, take us in exchange for having given yourself to us. Now what shall we do?’

And the intimate and encouraging refrain of his mother’s answer echoes down through the ages: ‘Do whatever He tells you’. John 2:5

www.thechristiancommunity.org

3rd Epiphany 2010, One Word

3^rd Epiphany

Matthew 8, 1-13

When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And behold, a man with leprosy approached him, and kneeling down before him said, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean.”

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

And immediately he was cleared of his leprosy. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one. But go and show yourself to the priests and offer to them the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony of your cleansing.”

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a Roman captain, leader of a hundred soldiers, approached him, pleading with him and saying, “Lord, my boy lies at home, paralyzed, suffering great pain.”

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Just say a word, and my boy will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. If I say one word to this one—‘Go, ’ he goes, and if I tell another ‘Come,’ he comes. If I tell my servant ‘Do this,’ he does it.

Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, the truth I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great power of trust. And I tell you, that many will come from the east and from the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the darkness of [godforsaken] external existence, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go home.  Let it be done to you as you have believed.”

And the boy was healed in that hour.

3^rd Epiphany

January 24, 2010

Matthew 8: 1-13

An object cast into the water creates ever expanding, ever widening circles of ripples. Once they reach the shore, the ripples turn back toward their origin.

The Gospel reading shows us the expanding circles of healing. The Jewish leper, alone and outcast, asks for Christ’s willingness for his own healing. By healing him, Christ carries him to the shore of his own community.

The Roman centurion asks for healing for his servant. Perhaps here there is a relationship that needs healing. The centurion clearly knows how to operate within a power hierarchy—taking orders from above, commanding those below. Naturally he treats his servant as he would an underling. But an authoritarian relationship has its limits. Perhaps the boy is reaching an age, in which an individual’s will needs to begin to exert itself. The boy’s will, however is paralyzed. By submitting to Christ’s spiritual power and authority, the centurion steps aside, so that Christ has direct spiritual and healing access to the boy himself. It is a relationship lesson for all of us.

The ripples of Christ’s healings expand beyond the borders of his own people. His healing works within the trust element that anyone places at His disposal. Physical distance is no hindrance.

In the Act of Consecration of Man, there is the moment when we too, place ourselves trustingly within the ever-broadening stream of Christ’s healing will. Like the centurion, we acknowledge that we are not worthy to have Him enter under our roof. But at the same time, in perfect trust, we acknowledge the power of His word to heal and to strengthen our own will. In the words of David Whyte,

  

It is not enough to know.

It is not enough to follow….

It is not enough to see straight ahead,

You must go to the place

where everything waits,

there, when you finally rest,

even one word will do,….

One word, one word only.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] David Whyte,  "It is Not Enough," from Where Many Rivers Meet.

3rd Epiphany 2011, Love Weaving

John 2, 1-11

3^rd Epiphany

On the third day a wedding took place in Cana in Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.

When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

And Jesus answered her, “Something still weaves between me and you, o Woman. The hour when I can work out of myself alone has not yet come.”

Then his mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Margarete Woloschina

There were six stone jars set up there for the Jewish custom of ceremonial washing, each containing twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with fresh water.”

And they filled them to the brim. And he said, “Now draw some out and take it to the Master of the feast. And they brought it to him.

Now when the Master of the feast tasted the water that had become wine, not knowing where it came from—for only the servants who had drawn the water knew—he called the bridegroom aside and said to him, “Everyone serves the choice wine first, and when the guests have drunk, then the lesser; but you have saved the best until now.”

This, the beginning of the signs of the spirit which Jesus performed among men happened at Cana in Galilee and revealed the creating spiritual power that worked through Him. The disciples’ hearts opened, the power of faith began to stir in them, and they began to trust in him.

3^rd Epiphany

January 23, 2011

John 2: 1-11

A wedding celebrates the union of two people. The community rejoices with wine, to celebrate the love that now weaves between the two, and among them all. For their love means that life will expand; children may come. The community will grow.

In this first of His spiritual signs, Christ senses His mother’s love weaving between them. This weaving force of her love supports and strengthens Him. With her help and love, He can transform substance of earth, water, into the strengthening elixir of joy that brings communities together in celebration.

Each Act of Consecration of Man is a wedding feast. It celebrates how the Soul of Humanity finds union with the Heavenly Bridegroom. In the Act of Consecration of Man, we bring our loving support to this wedding  celebration; for the congregation is the mother who gives her forces of love in support of the union of Christ and humanity. She gives her purest thoughts, her heart’s love, her devotion, so that Christ may manifest His powers of transformation. So that substance of earth—bread, water, wine—may become the elixir of joy; so that communities unite and grow.

Why do we celebrate? As the poet Hafiz asks:

St. John with Chalice

Why all this talk of the Beloved,

Music and dancing,

And

Liquid ruby-light we can lift in a cup?

Because it is low tide,

A very low tide in this age

And around most hearts.

We are exquisite coral reefs,

Dying when exposed to strange

Elements.

God is the wine-ocean we crave—

We miss

Flowing in and out of our

Pores.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Hafiz, “Why All this Talk?” in The Subject Tonight is Love, Daniel Ladinsky, p. 7

3rd Epiphany 2012, Pernicious Self-Pity

3^rd Epiphany

Matthew 8, 1-13

When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And

Wierex Bible

behold, a man with leprosy approached him, and kneeling down before him said, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean.”

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

And immediately he was cleared of his leprosy. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one. But go and show yourself to the priests and offer to them the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony of your cleansing.”

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a Roman captain, leader of a hundred soldiers, approached him, pleading with him and saying, “Lord, my boy lies at home, paralyzed, suffering great pain.”

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Just say a word, and my boy will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. If I say one word to this one—‘Go, ’ he goes, and if I tell another ‘Come,’ he comes. If I tell my servant ‘Do this,’ he does it.

Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, the truth I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great power of trust. And I tell you, that many will come from the east and from the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the darkness of [godforsaken] external existence, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go home.  Let it be done to you as you have believed.” And the boy was healed in that hour.

3^rd Epiphany

January 22, 2012

Matthew 8: 1-13

The small child trusts that the world is a good place. When it gets sick, it suffers in the moment; but deep in its soul, it knows that soon things will get better.

By the time we are adults, things get more complicated. Our illnesses may be chronic. Our hopes may have been dashed so many times that our souls are chronically despondent.

The gospel reading speaks of two souls whose relationship to illness and to the divine world is the opposite of despair. In fact the nature of their relationship, both to their illness, and to the divine world, is so healthy that it makes physical healing possible. For indeed it is the unhealthy soul that is the ultimate cause of bodily illness.

The leper suffers from a chronic disease that destroys the human form. Yet he does not wallow in that pernicious form of egotism we call self-pity. Instead he humbly states to the One Higher that if it is God’s will, he could be cleansed. It is not even a request; it is a simple statement, a testament to his trust that God knows best.

The Roman centurion was actually in a position of great power over this itinerant Jewish healer. Yet he too recognizes his place in the great hierarchy of the universe. Not only is he willing to humbly ask for a healing on behalf of his servant; he is also willing to acknowledge that the Logos, the Word of God, commands great power, even at a distance.

The words at the communion echo those of the centurion. We humbly acknowledge that the dwelling into which Christ is entering is unhealthy; but even greater than our humility is our trust in the power of God to heal our souls. For we know that all true healing comes from God.

www.thechristiancommunity.org

3rd Epiphany 2014, Bear Much Fruit

John 2, 1-11

3^rd Epiphany

On the third day a wedding took place in Cana in Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. And Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.

When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

And Jesus answered her, “Something still weaves between me and you, o Woman. The hour when I can work out of myself alone has not yet come.”

Then his mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

There were six stone jars set up there for the Jewish custom of ceremonial washing, each containing twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with fresh water.”

And they filled them to the brim. And he said, “Now draw some out and take it to the Master of the feast. And they brought it to him.

Now when the Master of the feast tasted the water that had become wine, not knowing where it came from—for only the servants who had drawn the water knew—he called the bridegroom aside and said to him, “Everyone serves the choice wine first, and when the guests have drunk, then the lesser; but you have saved the best until now.”

This, the beginning of the signs of the spirit which Jesus performed among men happened at Cana in Galilee and revealed the creating spiritual power that worked through Him. The disciples’ hearts opened, the power of faith began to stir in them, and they began to trust in him.

3^rd Epiphany

January 26, 2014

John 2: 1-11

Baby ducklings or goslings, when they first come out of their eggs, will view as parent whomever or whatever they first see. If they first see a dog, or a human, this will become their parent. This imprinting seems to illustrate a kind of law in other social spheres; that how things begin imprint a kind of signature on how they will continue.

This wedding at Cana is the first sign Christ works with the earth, with the feminine, with humanity.

Woloschina

The mother, the feminine soul, sees the need for more wine; she is aware of the social implications. At this point Christ is a kind of newborn, fresh from His Baptism. His feminine side is still operating from outside himself, through the mother. Yet in trust she leaves up to Him what he will do—‘do whatever he tells you,’ she says. And He draws up pure, fresh, effervescent water from Mother Earth herself. The water is so full of life, so stimulating, that it is indistinguishable from wine.

In time He will integrate the feminine into Himself and will be able to work ‘out of himself alone.’ He himself will become the Vine that reaches deep into the earth. He will change the waters of earth into the wine of His blood. He will pour it out in offering to both to the earth and to all of humanity.  He, today the wedding guest, will tomorrow become the Bridegroom. He will become the King’s Son at the marriage feast. He will wed the Soul of Humanity. Together, He and we will bear much fruit. 

www.thechristiancommunity.org

3rd Epiphany 2013, Not My Will

3^rd Epiphany

Matthew 8, 1-13

When he came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him. And behold, a man with leprosy approached him, and kneeling down before him said, “Lord, if you are willing, you are able to make me clean.”

Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

And immediately he was cleared of his leprosy. And Jesus said to him, “See that you tell no one. But go and show yourself to the priests and offer to them the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony of your cleansing.”

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a Roman captain, leader of a hundred soldiers, approached him, pleading with him and saying, “Lord, my boy lies at home, paralyzed, suffering great pain.”

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered, saying, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof. Just say a word, and my boy will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. If I say one word to this one—‘Go, ’ he goes, and if I tell another ‘Come,’ he comes. If I tell my servant ‘Do this,’ he does it.

Hearing this, Jesus was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, the truth I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great power of trust. And I tell you, that many will come from the east and from the west and will take their places at the feast with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the darkness of [godforsaken] external existence, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go home.  Let it be done to you as you have believed.”

And the boy was healed in that hour.

3^rd Epiphany

January 20, 2013

Matthew 8: 1-13

If one wants to go to a place, one has to take steps to get there. Mere wishing, even strong desire, isn’t enough. One has to get on one’s feet and make one’s way, step by step. One has to walk to the place of the destiny meeting.

In today’s reading, the two men receive the healing they ask for because they each made their way to their destiny meeting with Christ. They walked not only the outer path to Him, but also an inner one. They each found their way to the place of paradox, an inner place where they could be both active and at the same time humbly receptive. The leper is sensitive to the Christ Will—if You are willing… he says. The centurion is humbly devoted to the potency of the Christ Word—just say a word, he says.

Both of them operate out of an archetypal health-bringing attitude; this attitude is to be cultivated in all human suffering— Christ Jesus, the divine human Himself portrayed it in Gethsemane—Not my will, but Thine be done.

For God Himself has a road in mind for humanity to walk—an evolutionary road toward a higher awareness of our divine human purpose. What role we as individuals have to play in the greater picture is not always obvious.

The leper wants healing for himself, so that he can rejoin his community. May we approach Christ to cleanse us of leprous thoughts, of contagious malignity, so that we do not bring our soul illness into the community. The centurion, well ordered into his human community, asks for healing for another. May we so care for those in our community that we too are active in approaching Christ on their behalf. 

www.thechristiancommunity.org