The Forgotten Sacrament?

Tonight is Maundy Thursday...that night that Jesus gathered together those he loved to share in a meal--maybe even the Passover meal. What an intimate and bittersweet time it must have been for Jesus. Maybe not quite knowing exactly what would happen, but knowing that something big was about to happen. He knew that it was time.

I am always moved by Maundy Thursday services, but miss the foot washing. Catholics have 7 sacraments and Protestants have 2, but why do you think "foot washing" got left out? Jesus commanded his disciples to do this...one of the requirement for the inclusion of a ritual to be made a sacrament.

No...I don't think it was included because it was well...too messy, too intimate, too embarassing, too sexual. This is not what descent, upstanding holy people do....touch the feet of another. But I think we have missed the point. It should be a sacrament. Jesus wants us to respectfully touch one another at our most vulnerable, intimate, embarassing, even sexual places. The holy and the human; the dirt and the spirit all mixed up together in water, a basin and a towel.

What would it be like if we did this...I mean really? Isn't this the point of church...the faith community? I can remember the 3 times when my feet have been washed and I have been given the honor of washing anothers. It was so powerful it brought me to tears. At my first foot washing, we torn up the towel and we each left with a piece to remind us--not of that night--but of our call to--servanthood.

Even if footwashing has been forgotten as a sacrament...don't forget the point...let us humble ourselves and be the servant to all.

Wondering...

I wonder what Jesus was thinking as he looked over Jerusalem? Scripture tells us that earlier he had 'set his face toward Jerusalem'. He would not hide from the church authorities now. No, now was his time to enter the holy city. Did he know it would be on a donkey? with palms and shouts of hallelujah? Did he know that as he descended into the the Kidron valley, it would become for him, 'the valley of the shadow of death.' How much did Jesus know ahead of time? Fully God/fully human, did he have foreknowledge of the events that would take place? Did he know the rejection that was coming and the suffering that would follow? Did the human side of not knowing cancel out the divine side of all knowing?

I suspect that Jesus knew what was going to happen...not because of his divine nature, but because the consequences of holy choices was leading him into conflict with the religious institution. The hierarchy could not have this: eating with unclean prostitues and tax collectors. healing anyone who asked on the Sabbath, leading people in his teaching to believe he was the awaiting for Messiah. No...their power had been threatened and they had had enough.

The Gospel of Mathew tells us that as Jesus looked over the valley at Jerusalem and wept saying,

Jerusalem, Jerusalem the city that

kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it.

How often have I desired to gather your children together

as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.

But you were not willing.

Matt 23:37

Jesus says that he longed or desired to gather the people...to gather us..be we were unwilling. And so knowing what 'Jerusalem'--what the authorities have done before to prophets...I believe he knew he was heading to his death.

In Jerusalem there is a church now where Jesus sat. You can sit in this little chapel on rickity chair with a large window. Like Jesus, you are invited to sit in the cold and look across the valley to Jerusalem. At the top of the four corners of the building are large urns or vases. In the mystical tradition it is said that they vessels hold the tears of Jesus.

As I sat there with my bare feet on the cold stone, I found myself praying and crying... "O God, make the killing stop...there's been too much suffering, too much pain, too much death. Make peace Lord; make peace.

What did Jesus pray? I wonder....

The Other Saint

Everybody seems to be wearing green today in honor of the patron saint of Ireland. But did you know Ireland has 2 patron saints? The lesser known patron is St. Brigid (451-525). Her feast day is Feb 1st every year. What an increbile woman and leader she was. She was a holy force called by God to show love and hospitality to all people. There are many miracles that surround Brigid, but one involves her being ordained a priest. In a mysterious mix-up the bishop prayed for her to be set apart only to later realize that she was a woman. The bishop didn't take it back and Brigid is considered to be one of the first recognized female priests.
Brigid hailed from Kildare in Ireland. Her monastery, well and eternal light can still be seen. She was the Abbess of a double-monastery ...a monastery for men and women. Men lived in one house and men in the other with the chapel and common space between the two. With the rise of the new monastic movement, several communities are examining Brigid's model. In fact there is a Christian community at Kildare that welcomes people and encourages them to take a pilgrimage around the grounds.
Amazingly, Brigid was known as a saint in her lifetime. She was know for her joy, holiness and remarkable common sense. How amazing that common sense can be a virture and a neighbor with holiness. Perhaps that's the best saint of all..wise in the ways of heaven and earth. Approachable to kings and simple persons, animals and saints. May our prayer echo Brigid's as we seek to be authentic disciples.

What happened to "Repent"?

Somewhere along the line, "repent" became a violent word. Rather than seeing repentance as a loving invitation from a loving God, it has become "fighting words." I think it might be the signs and the witness of the people holding the signs: many are angry, mean and literally spitting out R-E-P-E-N-T!!!

So many people are turned off or turned away. Over time this once inocuous word in this modern climate and context of hate and violence has come to mean something else. It's been misused and maligned. And

when this process happens over and over again, the word's original meaning changes. How ironic because in Greek, the New Testament's original language, the word repent is 'metanoeo' meaning, to change one's mind'.

Have you ever "changed your mind" about a person, a food, an event? Sure... many of us have. Life is always changing....and we are always changing. And if we continue to grow in our love and intimacy of Jesus Christ then we will be continue to change- repent and be changed. It's just that word. The word R-E-P-E-N-T is not been an invitation to love and be love; to forgive and new beginnings. Honeslty, I rarely use the word although I witness life changing moments all the time. What about you....do you use that word?

During Lent, may we all be open to the ways in which the Holy Spirit may invite us to new life and to change our hearts and minds...with or without the word.

Letting Go

Lent is a season to examine exactly what we are holding onto so tightly. Upon reflection, I notice my hand resembling a clenched fist.

What am I holding onto so tightly that in all actuality is hurting me or hurting you?

In what kind of violence do I participate? How tightly do I hold my clenched fist? I have held it so tightly and so long that I have forgotten what is hidden inside. What am I protecting? What is my fear?

As we move closer to Jerusalem, I hear Jesus' words, "Let go. Relinquish. Be free." How frightening and vulnerable. And yet how open to possibilities.
So can I relinquish? Can I let go? What will spill out? What will my open palm feel?

When Jesus let go and relinquished his will...did he know the pain and joy that was to come? Or did he just let go...trusting the Holy One?

Lord, give me grace.

A Rooster Near the Manger

During Lent, my Sunday School class of elementary students is looking at a series of the Faces of Jesus from Godly Play Resources. It is a beautiful series written by Jerome Berryman and illustrated by a mentally challenged artist and friend of Dr. Berryman's.

The first picture of Jesus is of him as a tiny baby-wrapped warmly in a blanket held close to the face of Mother Mary and Father Joseph. It is a drawing of the holy newborn and his earthly family - a birth picture of sorts. Dr. Berryman writes, "And the Word was born in a wordless child."

After showing the drawing to the children, they are invited to choose figures from the room and from a basket to 'decorate' or 'illustrate' this story. The children loved this and found a donkey, a star, a little baby and manger, some sheep, Mary and....a rooster?

P said, "If it was a barnyard they must have had chickens and a rooster!"

A rooster near the manger. It seems so bittersweet and yet so true. At the joy of the incarnation is the foreshadowing of the betrayal. Could Jesus really see the 'cross in the eyes' of his mother when he looked up at her? Was this rooster the great great grandfather of the rooster who would be the famous "cock that crowed?"

Joy is always found in the midst of sorrow and in sorrow is found always the presence of joy... I am learning these two seemingly conflicting feelings are not really opposites but companions in each moment of our life.

If you find yourself mourning this week...watch for the joy. If you find yourself celebrating this week, pay attention to the sorrow. It is the reality of incarnation and the uniqueness of the lived human experience. Jesus knew it and invites us to embrace both in the same moment so that we might know the fullness of life.

Christ Markings

Today I wear my faith...ashes on my forehead. I love this day. Not only is it a reminder of my baptism to me and to whom I belong, but also it tells the world that I am a "marked person." I have been crucified with Christ...I do not belong to myself. I belong body, mind and soul to Jesus Christ who is my Lord and Savior. I am dead to myself...and alive in Christ.

Already, 2 people trying to be helpful have said, "hey you have some kind of dirt on your forehead." "It's Ashes for Ash Wednesday," I replied, "I'm a Christian." One person said, "Oh, you're one of those!" What I think was meant to be an insult, I accepted with joy as one set a part.

Every day, I pray that my actions and the ways the I speak to people and really look at people will bear witness to Christ in my life; or at least some curiousity about being different than other customers. I pray that people will know my allegiance by the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5) that are manifested in my ordinary and daily kindnesses.

But today, little snowflakes of ashes are sprinkling down my face and reminding me of my own mortality. Today, I am marked by death...and because of this, I am free.