The Body and Blood of Christ - June 26, 2011

 The Last Supper - Before and After Restoration

What is good Eucharistic theology? 

When I made my First Holy Communion, as we said back in the day, in May of 1965 at Assumption Church in White Plains, NY, I knew all about kneeling, reverence and holiness. When I was not in the first or second pew fidgeting with my classmates, I did try hard to adopt all sorts of postures of holiness.

One thing I liked to do was to hold my the palms of my hands together so that all my fingers lined up and pointed to the sky. I thought that God liked the perfection of that. I also liked to have good posture when on the kneeler in the pew. Another important thing was how I knelt at the altar rail when I went to communion. I liked that it was red and smooth and just slightly plush, which cushioned my knees. I liked the feel of the cool marble of the altar rail if I were to even lean against or touch it accidentally. I also liked staring at my potential new boyfriend (who at the time I was sure that I would marry) Tommy Criscione. Tommy had that plum job as altar boy, wearing his red cassock and white surplice. I was so jealous but my crush on him overrode my feelings of envy.


Then there was the way that I felt - when the host melted I thought that Jesus was gone, not to return for another week! Panic would set in. Talk about panic - it would really set in when the white host would get stuck to the roof of my mouth. Uh-oh! While I liked the idea of Jesus hanging around a bit longer, I would get very upset. What if He got stuck there, like permanently? I would take my tongue and try to move Him around - gently and reverently of course - but what if I hurt him? I mean, did I not already hurt him enough with my 7 year old sinning? (And remember - I had a pleasant Catholic upbringing, this was from the not-hellfire-damnantion crowd!)

So much for reverence and holiness, the score so far:

• Fran's self-focus - 10, Jesus the Lord - 0.

Oh it makes my head spin to consider it all!

Here we are today and on this great feast, one in which we celebrate the very centrality of our Catholic Christian faith, and one in which I pray we can find one thing to agree on... We truly believe that Christ is presence in the bread and wine that we consume.

Can we please start there and maybe stay there?

OK, good... let's see where that leads us. We agree that Christ is present to us in the bread and wine, Christ's Body, Christ's Blood.

We do not come to the table to have a linear experience of "Jesus 'n me." It is not about getting another bite that will allow us, if we are really good boys and girls, to stay out of hell for the next few days. Oh my gosh - what bad theology is that?

We do not come to the table to get a fix! We come to the table to be One in Christ.

We come to the table to not simply receive, but to give. It is Christ's sacrifice for us but also our sacrifice for him. No, I'm not talking about some hand-wringing-I-suffer-for-Jesus personal piety, but rather the sacrifice of self-gift. Self-gift meaning, here I am Lord, I am broken for you and your people as you were broken for us. I am poured out for you and your people Jesus, as you poured yourself out for us.

And in this act of giving, rather than just receiving, to use the Doxology, "through Him, with Him, in Him," we become One! One. One. One. Catholic. Universal. Unity. Communion. Common union. One. One. One.

If we could but start there and stay there, just rest awhile in that spot... No more fighting, just for a minute, OK?

Then we might remember that we are there to be transformed... not unlike the painting of the Last Supper. Renewed, revived. And when that happens we are given something and we can then give more to the world. Be transformed, transform the world! It is the dynamism of the Eucharist and what could be more exciting and more uniting than that?

I hope that we don't continue to argue about whether to kneel or stand, whether to take communion in the hand or on the tongue, whether one is "worthy" to come to the altar or not. Aren't we all unworthy, don't we say that in one voice, "Lord,I am not worthy..." None of us are worthy, yet we are invited to the table, over and over again.

We are given the chance anew to be one each and every day. Let us look to this day in which we commemorate the Body of Christ by actually being the Body of Christ. Let us re-member Christ today and not dismember Christ today. Let us do that each day, every day and for always and forever, in the name of Christ who is our Lord.

Amen and amen and amen.

• A homily from Pope Benedict the XVI on this feast in 2008 is here.
• Deacon Greg Kandra's fine homily from today is here.
• It is not on the internet but Fr. Pat offered a fine homily which he refers to the restoration of the Michaelangelo's Last Supper. What a fine metaphor for us all.... as the painting got cleaned and restored, it became clearer. Just like the Eucharist does for us, as we grow to be one in Christ.

Invitation

A post for a rainy Saturday morning...

How is challenge an invitation? I am sitting here reflecting on that right now. I am currently going through a process of discernment about my life as a lay minister of the Church.

Today I read this from St. Gregory of Nyssa in the Office of Readings:

Bodily health is a good thing, but what is truly blessed is not only to know how to keep one’s health but actually to be healthy. If someone praises health but then goes and eats food that makes him ill, what is the use to him, in his illness, of all his praise of health?

If one praises health and then eats food that makes one ill... That to me is a conversation about integrity. How often do we proclaim one thing and yet do another?

What a challenge it is to confront the things we "believe" and the things that we... well, the other things we believe. When we face the challenge of really entering into the uncomfortable places of reconciling belief,we are invited to a place of peace.

That will be the healthy meal, that will be what heals us and sets us free. Getting there however, is a whole other thing.

Nothing Is Simple - Some Thought Provoking Posts

Is it possible to simply read things that we either agree with or disagree with and just ponder them for a bit? Now that school is over, I am taking some time to actually read some blogs. Tonight I opened Rambling Follower, Καθολικός διάκονος, Women In Theology (WIT), Quantum Theology, Of Course I Could Be Wrong,  A Seat at the Table and Sean Philpott. I read a few other things too, but there are so many good blogs and so little time.

With blogs, Facebook and Twitter, it is easy to read and react. Lock and load. I am guilty of this and have been trying not to continue in that vein. (On Thursday night as I wrote this I linked to something that was not exactly what it seemed... so that is one of many examples of my own trigger finger.)

I also feel like I have been attacked for having an opinion that is different from others. Attacked is a strong word - but it is how I have felt at times. I don't really care, but it is an interesting place to be. One group of people seems to think me backward and another group seems to think that I lack obedience. It is an interesting place to be.

I always say that I am too far to the left for the right and too far to the right for the left. *sigh*  Last time I checked, I never told anyone what they should think or do, but boy, do I get hit hard when I say certain things. Whatever - I am not a victim, but I remain curious about why this is.

Often I am told, what do you think will happen when you write about such things? Well, I guess one thing is that I hope that people will actually read things and not just infer them from the titles or links. I also guess that since I am not some big deal blogger with a zillion commenters from all over creation, that people who actually know me in some fashion might ask questions before shooting. 

In any case, I am not trying to tell anyone to do anything; I guess I am always longing for actual conversation from people of diverse viewpoints on any number of challenging topics. Conversation in which we actually discuss in even tones why we do believe what we do and why.

Just sayin'... I know, call me a crazy dreamer.

In any case, I read many fine posts tonight, but I would like to focus on two of them. Both will have appeal and yet cause discomfort in ways that are interesting. They also remind me that nothing is as simple as it seems and that stopping to think might benefit us all.

Over at WIT, blogger Julia (all the women there are doing graduate or post-graduate work in theology) offered Reflections on Pregnancy. I've never been pregnant, so I have nothing to offer, but am always interested in reading about such things.

In any event, Julia writes about what she learned about pregnancy as she grew up  Catholic and then what she learned about pregnancy... as a pregnant woman. Let it suffice to say, it was not always pretty. She then quickly moves into some very profound thoughts on what is needed during pregnancy and when women have children. Here is an excerpt or two...

Now I’m actually pregnant and I realize it is not that great.  I actually really dislike being pregnant.  I felt awful for (not just the first three months, but really) the first 4.5 months.  By “awful”, I  mean specifically that I thought I was going to throw up at any moment day or night 24/7.  I often did, and when I didn’t I usually felt even worse.  I couldn’t open my refrigerator door, I couldn’t cook or prepare my own food, I couldn’t food shop.  The smells were too intense and the nausea was too debilitating.  I didn’t feel like I was having a baby, I felt like I had become the baby. 

She went on to say this...

There’s so much that could make pregnancy easier for women.  Once I start brainstorming on the topic, I quickly become overwhelmed.  There is so much that needs to change.  I’ll just offer a few thoughts here.  First, it would be a lot healthier if we adopted realistic language about pregnancy and childbirth in religious settings.  We should talk about how bearing children is really difficult and becoming frustrated with the process does not mean that one has failed to accept any potential gifts that might exist alongside of the challenges.  In churches that emphasize the role of Mary and, in particular, Mary’s role as mother of Jesus, we should be honest about the fact that Mary probably experienced a lot of pain and suffering—not only in childbirth, but also throughout the course of the pregnancy itself and into early motherhood.

Julia is weaving Jesus, Mary, nursing, receiving help, and having larger breasts and other sexual elements into an astounding post of remarkable thoughts about birth, life, community and transformation. If you've never thought about a woman nursing in Church, you will now. Go read it - it is seriously really well done. You can read it now by clicking here.

The other post I wanted to highlight also has to do with pregnancy, in a manner of speaking. This post *really* touched me deeply and I have run the gamut from wanting to post it right to Facebook to wanting to selfishly hide it.

The post is at Sean Philpott's blog. Sean is a bioethicist and I met him very briefly at Siena College in the spring of 2010. He was on a panel about bioethics hosted by my friend Benita Zahn, who had invited me to watch said panel. (Albany folk and Oswego types will know Benita as a TV anchor. What many do not know is that she also has a degree in bioethics. She truly is a renaissance woman with many interests and talents.)

Sean and I have, like so many people, developed a Facebook friendship. While he, Benita and I have talked about getting together, it has yet to happen. However, I love reading his updates and like so many online friendships, one has a sense of knowing so much about a person and yet not really knowing them at all.

Today when I noticed that Sean had an update, I thought it would be about his recent trip to Georgia (the country) and Estonia. When I clicked in, I saw the title, A Bioethicist's Education and I kind of wondered what I would be reading.  Immediately I could see that he was writing about his nephew Pedro; Sean said that he would be turning one soon. Now Pedro lives quite a distance away from Sean, so he doesn't get to see him very often, but clearly he treasures his nephew. He said that he could not imagine a life without him.

Now comes the interesting part... Sean says that if Pedro's parents lived in the US, he might not have ever been born. I'll let Sean speak for himself. Remember - Sean is a bioethicist.

I can no longer imagine what my or my families’ life would be like without Pedro. Had his parents lived in the United States, however, it possible that he would have never been born.

This is because Pedro has Down syndrome, a common genetic abnormality that occurs in about 1 in 750 births. 

Some of what follows does not come as a surprise, but some of it does. I want to be clear - Sean is a bioethicist that in his own words... well let me quote him, Sean says "I am an ardent supporter of reproductive choice." However, before he says that, he says this:

Women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome often choose to selectively terminate their pregnancy, so as not to bring a profoundly disabled child into the world. Some studies suggest that over 90% of all pregnancies with a Down syndrome diagnosis are terminated. But I wonder whether these women are making a truly informed and voluntary choice to terminate their pregnancies.

Remember - Sean supports reproductive choice, but it is also interesting that he says this. 

Here is what I think of these two posts - I think that both authors are true to who they are, but they invite us into places that are not what we might think. Each of them goes into a place that is different.

Julia does not use cheap talk to glorify pregnancy. She uses Marian imagery and yet makes a real case about just how hard it can be to be pregnant and then uses that as an invitation to live differently about it. She issues a challenge of sorts.

Sean on the other hand has no wish to become an unwitting bioethicist poster child for pro-life issues. Yet he also steps outside of typical boundaries and examines, with the heart of a loving uncle and the mind of a bioethicist, how love and personhood matter. Then he issues a challenge of sorts.

Both writers are simply asking us to stop and... think. At least I think that is what they are saying. Isn't that why we express our opinions? What a waste it is to have all the shouting and no reflection, conversation, interaction. 

Ultimately I'd like to invite everyone to read these pieces and then think about them. Like them or hate them as you wish. But think. I know who believes in what, who hates what, who stands for what.

What I'd like to know is what happens when you go to the places beyond one's tightly held beliefs and pokes around a little. It's risky, you never know where you'll come out, but hey, we all might learn something.

Nothing is simple after all, but then everything actually is pretty simple at the same time.

Back With More Reposting

In the midst of trying to finish my paper on the Creed, an accompanying audio/video project and all the other matters of life, I reposted two older Trinity Sunday reposts.

However, I am back for a third... and why not! It is Trinity Sunday after all and that means three!

In the midst of life I have been reading and commenting on three (Trinity!) different posts. One is from Frank at Why I Am Catholic, and it is about the Corapi matter. I choose to not say much about that, but I did weigh in over at YIM in the comments. Humility is a gift and I think that God offers it to me all the time, but I am clumsy and drop it, don't notice that God is giving it to me or otherwise turn my nose up at it, however unintentionally.

The second post is from Allison (formerly of YIM) and now she hosts Rambling Follower, a relatively new blog. She wrote about an older couple who were seeking to marry in the Church and who had a less than great experience. In trying to look at the human side of things and explore how we can block the pathway to Christ, a flurry of comments came up about law, doctrine and rules. Now rules, doctrine and law matter, but without love they are nothing. Again, the blessed gift of humility is sought, with a dose of wisdom. 

Finally our third example is from Deacon William Ditewig at Deacons Today: Dalmatics and Beyond. Bill was writing about the aforementioned Corapi matter and once again, a post generated some strong comments in the thread. So once more, I prayed for the gift of wisdom as I left my own comments.

All three posts remind me of the essential need and the foundational matter of the Roman Catholic Church and that is the intersection of the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. We must have both.

To which I now point you to a fine Trinitarian story called The Three Hermits by Leo Tolstoy and a post that first went up over at the parish blog in 2007. If there was ever a short tale that underscored the need for the spirit of the law, it is this one!


*****************************************************************************

I am away this weekend, but I have a moment and I wanted to republish this post from August of 2007. We have added many new readers since then, so this may be new to you.

It is a great reminder that we live in a day to day world of practical measures that often demands doing and saying more and more and more just to keep going... but that at the heart of the Trinity is a purity and a simplicity that is startling in its clarity.

Peace and Blessings to all.
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The Three Hermits is a short story by Leo Tolstoy, based upon on old Russian legend. It is a lovely allegory about prayer and simplicity.

The story basically says this- a bishop was traveling on a boat. When on this boat, he hears about some hermits. These hermits live on an island that the ship was passing. A fisherman told the bishop about being stranded overnight on that island and encountering these three holy hermits.

The bishop is compelled to go see this trio and convinces the captain of this ship to send him ashore in a rowboat. Off he goes to see these old men who are apparently living lives of simplicity and prayer.

Upon arrival he informs them that he wants to see what he can do to teach them something about the Lord. After all it would appear that he is so well schooled and learned as the bishop and they are but three simple ones on an island. The men say little. Undeterred, the bishop forges ahead and asks them to spell out just how they are saving their souls and serving God.

He quickly learns that they have but one prayer... "Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us". While happy to hear that they know the Trinity, the bishop now goes into an explanation of how to pray the right way. To this end, he attempts to get them to memorize the Lord's Prayer.

All day long he would say the words, the men would try and try to memorize and repeat them and each time the three holy, old men would just fumble their way through. Finally though they got it and the bishop was satisfied.

At this point the bishop takes his leave and as he rows back to the main ship he hears them praying the Lord's Prayer in unison. He is so pleased that he could share his great knowledge with these simple servants. Unable to sleep he is standing on deck in the silent night. He feels so good about how he could teach these men this prayer and he thanks God for the chance to have enlightened the island dwellers.

Suddenly he notices something white and shining traveling towards the boat. It was moving at such rapid speed he could not fathom what it might be! Needless to say he was alarmed and turned to the helmsman to see if he knew what was happening. The helmsman just about loses controls of the ship.

And in the great white light he could suddenly make out the three hermits running across the surface of the water! The helmsman nearly faints and the bishop is shaken to the core.

As the hermits neared the ship the holy old ones said in a single voice "We have forgotten your teaching, servant of God".

The bishop- realizing with gravity what has happened, simply tells them that their own original prayer will truly reach the Lord. Understanding that he - the great bishop - could not teach these men, he simply asked them to pray for "us sinners".

Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.

This story so beautifully illustrates that sometimes the learned have much to learn from the simple. Which pretty much sounds like something Jesus tried to tell us in many ways.

If you would like to read the story please click here.

Trinity Sunday - Another Repost

(Another repost from last year...)

Yesterday I put up a long post about Trinity Sunday. It is a study in relationship and it is a bit wordy!

Today I am reflecting on a more simple image that has been influenced by my friend Lindy, by some work from Richard Rohr and from Fr. Pat's homily that I heard at the 4pm liturgy.

Lindy suggested that we call this Imagination Sunday... and I think that imagination is at the heart of our faith, the heart of the Trinity, so I like the idea of focusing on imagination.

Richard Rohr and Father Pat both spoke about images and dynamics, although each a bit differently.

I am pondering God as Father - but God also as Creator, which implies power. Not power in the negative way that we often perceive it, but the power to imagine and to create, with great love.

I am pondering Jesus as Son - Jesus as human, vulnerable, weak. Not weak in a negative way that is easy to jump to but rather weak as in human. Vulnerable is really a better way to put it. Our culture rejects vulnerability, our faith demands it.

I am pondering the Holy Spirit as... Well, not as a Dove, not as a Flame. I am pondering the ruah, which means spirit and is feminine. Now to say that feminine is not always held up or considered as part of the prevailing male image of God is a whole other blog post or more!

God and Jesus are a horizon and that horizon is linear, the addition of the Spirit makes for a dyamic that mediates the Divine and Human natures and create the Trinity.

No, I'm not even sure of what I just wrote, but in my heart, in my imagination, I find comfort it in its truth.

Here is a lovely song for Trinity Sunday, courtesy of Paul Snatchko, who had it on his blog. Paul started out as a blog friend, as did Lindy. Having met them both I am grateful! I bring this up because our faith is incarnational and relational... the heart of the Trinity.

Trinity Sunday - Reposted from 2010

(This was originally posted last year, but due to time challenges, it shows up again!)

Look at that image for a moment if you will. The Father is not the Son. The Father is not the Spirit. The Son is not the Father. The Son is not the Spirit. The Spirit is neither Father nor Son.

All are God. Each one is God. It bears repeating… All are God. Each one is God. And yet God is one!

Even for those of us who believe in this One God of Three Persons, there is a good deal of mind bending that can go on if we try to understand the Trinity in our Western-Culture-Meets-Left-Brain manner. This manner often includes seeing “three persons” as we imagine persons – God as white haired, bearded and maybe slightly scary old man, Jesus as either Western European handsome or bleeding and wounded and finally the Holy Spirit as a dove or maybe a lick of flame.

None of that really breaks through to make the Trinity manifest as our God who is so present in ways that we struggle to recognize and respond to in our lives.

None of that really breaks through to make the Trinity manifest as our God who is so present in ways that we struggle to recognize and respond to in our lives.

When we use the word mystery in relation to the Trinity it can act as a polite excuse… “Oh, the Trinity! “ (ahem, clears throat) “That! It is a mystery!” And with such, we are potentially absolved from getting a headache trying to put the triangular trinity peg into a round left-brain hole!

Thus ends so much study of the Trinity and that is very sad. At the heart of the Trinity is a constant self-revelation of God and relationship, community. These are not abstract concepts but something very real and something we must be in relationship with in order to respond, participate and cooperate with God.

We can’t use mystery as a manner of abandoning our place in the relationship with a God that is relationship. If it is mystery, then we must enter into that mystery, not abandon it.

Let's refocus... How do you imagine God in relationship with you?

"God’s To-Be is To-Be in relationship, and God’s being-in-relationship-to-us is what God is.” Catherine Mowry LaCugna, from her book, God For Us

Think about that for a moment… “God’s being-in-relationship-to-us is what God is.’ God’s being in relationship is what God is. This makes the old-bearded-white-haired-man seem less likely to me. In fact this brings to mind images of relationship from the Song of Songs:

“Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm:
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the netherworld is devotion,
Its flames are a blazing fire.”

This is no longer God looking down at me, but rather the God of relationship, all three-in-one of God, staring at me, calling me into relationship in a most intimate and passionate way.

And it is a little bit uncomfortable!

So yes, this is mystery, but it is mystery as invitation and welcome, not mystery as an impediment of understanding, or mystery as confusion.

God – as Trinity, God – as invitation, God – as Love… in three persons. If a symbol is what it does and if the etymology of the word symbol is a combination of “token or mark” and “to throw” we can understand little else other than something real has been thrown at us. It has also pursued us in endless relationship.

This Trinity-relationship also negates individualism – which is probably one of, if not the greatest challenge to Trinitarian understanding and engagement in our culture. Our most basic national values are based on a kind of individualism that is antithetical to this God of Trinitarian relationship.

We are often so focused on our own relationship with God, that it can be easy to forget or ignore that our relationship with God is completely dependent on our relationships with others.

The model for understanding this in some way is to pray, to study and to simply be with the Trinity, God, Father and Son in ever present and constant motion and engagement with one another.

Come Holy Spirit Come, We Are Gathered in One Place on Facebook and Blogs

A Reflection on the readings for Pentecost.

A long time ago I heard a homily on Pentecost that has never left me... The priest said these words and whatever else he said has evaporated in my mind, but not the main point of his message.

"Easter makes me not afraid to die; Pentecost makes me not afraid to live."

He spoke these words as my faith was being renewed and as I tentatively returned to the Catholic church. They really stuck and have lived on in my heart. I wish I could even remember his name, he was a visiting priest, but no, that is gone too.

I've spent a lot of time since then, about 20 years ago, trying not to be afraid to die or live, but have only made limited progress on both. This I know, the more deeply I enter into the life of faith and the more intimately that I become part of the unity of the Body that being Church calls us to, the more those words have helped me.

Are you on Facebook? So many people are - astounding numbers of people. It is quite remarkable to watch. A big part of my own ministerial life is lived online. There are many conversations about whether this is "good" or "bad." Sadly, I hear more about the "bad" but that just returns me to the not being afraid part.

One of the great things about not being afraid to "live" online would be the many chances for evangelizing and being evangelized, the many opportunities for interaction in the name of Christ and a constant demand for the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide our ways.

"Living" online, especially in matters of faith,  came to mind as I read and prayed with the first reading from the Acts of the Apostles.

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together.

We are not all physically "in one place together" but when we gather at a blog or participate in a Facebook conversation, we actually are together. If it is a faith post, then we are hopefully there in the name of Christ.  

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Well we are certainly all out there, speaking in what would seem "different tongues."  In the past week alone, I have participated in several conversation threads on Facebook and each one has left me, and no doubt others, frustrated. We were all talking about somewhat the same thing... why couldn't we understand each other?

What we hear described in that reading is the rush of the Holy Spirit, coming to enable each one to hear, no matter what the language. Once again, I am grateful for our Roman Catholic imperative to not interpret Scripture literally. This reading was not some early iteration of BabelFish or Google translate, but rather the Spirit coming to unify the many voices.

Oh please Holy Spirit, come to Facebook, please! Enlighten us, open us up, give us wisdom, give us charity, give understanding please!

For those of us who do profess our faith in Christ Jesus, we are called to literally "re-member" the Body of Christ. In doing so we must find ways to speak and be heard in One Voice. That is another gift of our Church, we are many members of One Body - not each parish unto itself, but part of a much larger liturgical whole.

Also it is our mission as Christians to unify (unify, not wrestle to the ground in dominating submission) God's people as one in Christ. So this would really required that whole "understanding the many voices" part of Pentecost.

So as I return to my Facebook and blogging "mission" I will once again, God knows I start anew each day, to doing so taking the words of another Catholic with me. About a month ago, Catholic writer and blogger, Elizabeth Scalia (aka The Anchoress) was in Rome at the first ever Vatican Bloggers Meetup. She spoke about and wrote about the need to be present online "with clarity and charity." 

Doing so is very difficult and I know that I struggle with it all the time. As I said, just in the past week alone, I was in several online discussions that turned intense, one into a skirmish of sorts. And one of them was with Elizabeth Scalia herself; we descend into these things more often than I care to admit and I am the instigator of sorts; going to her FB page or blog and saying something that is not necessarily in sync with her or her readers.  However I really want to understand what they are saying and I can only hope and pray that they understand me.

It has been a marginally successful effort, but we press on in faith. At least Elizabeth and I do!

Does this mean that we fold up our tents and go home? No. It means that we are called to what that same Elizabeth spoke of... interacting with clarity and charity. That is what we are called to as Catholics, Christians, all followers of Christ. And to do so means to wait in hope for, listen to and cooperate with the great Holy Spirit, whose arrival comes to us at Pentecost.

So do not be afraid to die, our hope is in resurrection. But do not be afraid to live, our hope is in the restoration of The Body of Christ.

Healing Prayers Are Needed... And Practical Help

 Photo of the Cottone Family - John Carl D'Annibale/Times Union

 
When I was at Spring Enrichment this year, I saw a friend that I knew from previous SE experiences. She seemed a bit pre-occupied when I waved hello, but I did not think anything of it.

After seeing her for a third time, she stopped and apologized for her distance. It turns out that she was more than pre-occupied; she was overwhelmed.  She then went on to tell me the story of her daughter's family and their many health issues and challenges.

Her daughter, Margie, had gotten married and moved to Georgia. Margie and her husband Tony had a son, Jayden. When Margie became pregnant again, it turned out that there were tremendous issues with the fetus who was baby Lexi.

They were living in Georgia and expecting their second child, but 20 weeks into the pregnancy the couple learned their unborn daughter had deformities. She was missing a bone in her arm, and doctors said she had no toes or fingers. Doctors predicted the fetus would not survive because her lungs were filled with fluid.

All of this is told in a story about the Cottone family in today's Times Union, which you can find here.

Alexis Cottone - 7 months old Photo by John Carl D'Annibale/Times Union

Ever since my friend Carol had told me the story, I had been thinking about it. Carol had given me a flier telling the story and announcing a fund raiser for the family, but it had gotten dog eared in my tote. Late last week I emailed the person whose name was on this flier and got myself another copy. It has been on my mind to find a way to publicize this story and event, but I had not done so.

While I am very sad for this family, I am glad that they landed on the front page of today's paper. This will hopefully give the matter some prominence so that more help can be given.

If you have not already read the story, here is the what followed... Lexi's health challenges proved to be great after being born and diagnosed with thrombocytopenia-absent radius syndrome. Tony and Margie felt that it would be best for them all to pull up stakes and return to the Capital District, which they did. Two weeks later Tony had a seizure and was found to have a stage 2 mixed oligoastrocytoma mass in his brain.

Seriously - you could not make this up.

Right now the family is making their way. If you you are in the area, consider attending the fund raiser which will be held at The Inn at Saratoga at 5pm on Saturday or making a donation. Details about both are at the end of the article.

And if you pray, please keep this family in your prayers. As Margie said in the story... "I've always been a religious person, so I pray every day -- and that helps me,"

Please pray with and for Margie and the Cottone family and thanks for doing what you can to help by donating or by putting this story on your blog and/or Facebook page, or Twitter feed!

Easter Reflections - June 2, 2011, Ascension Thursday - Why Are You Standing There Looking At The Sky?

Ascension Thursday - June 2, 2011

Why are you standing there looking at the sky?

Jesus has ascended to heaven and if all we can do is look at the sky, we might be in trouble.

It is important to be aware of Jesus, but it seems, like the disciples themselves, we want to stand there, heads up, eyes fixed upon the great blue and beyond of the sky. Now I am willing to give the disciples some slack, can you imagine standing there and seeing this? However, not unlike the Resurrection, the instruction seems clear... He is not here. The angelic messengers are there to remind us to get up and go, there are things to be done in Jesus' name.

It also seems that we are not to be focused on when Jesus will be back or how, but to live out the promise that being baptized in the Holy Spirit holds for us. Pentecost is a week from Sunday, they day we celebrate that baptism of fire and wisdom.These days in between Ascension and Pentecost are important ones, as we pray for the coming of that wisdom and our willingness to receive it.

The other day I read this post from Richard Rohr and it really struck me. He wrote,  “Prayer happened today—and I was there!”  I think that we are reminded in words such as those, not to just stand there and stare upwards but to be present and engage.

Jesus has ascended and we are called to show up in prayer and hope. We can't just look at the sky! In living today's Gospel we see that God invites us more deeply into the dynamism of Jesus' transforming work. We need to "be there" when these things happen and as Jesus tells us "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations..."

We don't do this by craning our necks at the sky or by forcing people to follow Jesus. Transformation happens when we live as Christ in the world and the healing, saving, power of Jesus is made real.

In order to be disciples we must show up, have a look up as needed and then be there to show up for and live the prayer that is our mission. The mission is to unify and to heal, to restore the very Body of Christ.

I know I'd rather look up at the sky, but it seems we must do otherwise.