Jesús nos llama a seguirle. Todo están invitados, algunos se convierten en seguidores, y otros cuantos dejan sus redes.

Jesús nos llama a seguirle. Todo están invitados, algunos se convierten en seguidores, y otros cuantos dejan sus redes.

 

Nací en la Iglesia Episcopal. Mi papá fue un sacerdote Episcopal. Mis padres crecieron en la Iglesia Episcopal. Asistieron en su escuela dominical. Estaban involucrados en ministerio con otros jóvenes. Fueron a la universidad donde estaban involucrados con otros que fueron episcopales. Estaban casados en la Iglesia Episcopal. Mis padres se enamoraron dentro de la Iglesia Episcopal y ellos aman la tradición de la iglesia también.

 

Mi madre me dio a luz y me dieron el regalo de bautismo y luego me nutrieron en la fe cristiana y me condujeron a confirmar mi fe. Fui un cristiano. Fui un episcopal.

 

Agradezco por siempre a mis padres por el regalo de amor, por el regalo de fe, y por el regalo de la iglesia Episcopal en mi vida.

 

Al fin fue Jesús haciendo trabajo en mí que abrió las puertas para el ministerio. Fue Cristo en mí que me condujo al ministerio. Y, fue mi voluntad dejar caer mis redes que llevaba delante de mí y al final rendirme para que Cristo agarre mi vida, mi corazón, y mi ministerio.

 

Hoy en el Evangelio de Lucas recibimos una vista de lo que nuestra respuesta podría ser cuando el reinado de Dios se acerca a de nosotros.

 

Muchos están invitados, algunos se convierten en seguidores, y unos cuantos dejarán sus redes.

 

Empezamos por ver a Jesús rodeado de personas. Éstas son personas ocupadas con sus vidas. Son personas con trabajos. Son: Los comerciantes, los cocineros, los limosneros, y toda clase de personas que a menudo sigue a las fuerzas armadas. Las personas le presionan a Jesús echarse adelante. Ellos escuchan lo que él dice. Oyen la invitación. Son movidos por la invitación dada a ellos para seguir la Palabra de Dios. La redención, la gracia, y la misión de Jesucristo son animadoras. Por eso que le presionan adelante. Todo está invitado.

 

Jesús se sienta entre algunos pescadores que han terminado el trabajo de su noche. Él se sienta y escucha y enseña. Jesús escucha y enseña. Finalmente, el pueblo continúa presionándole a él. Podemos suponer que su estilo de escuchar y enseñar hizo la invitación para acudir a la vida con él en el reino de Dios, y aún más atrayente.

 

Entonces, Jesús dice, vuélvanse a las aguas más profundas. Metan este bote a la fuerza y pon tus redes en ella.

 

¿Cuántas veces nos pide Jesús a nosotros que nos arriesguemos en lo profundo, y cambiemos de dirección y que no estemos contentos para permanecer en agua pacífica?

 

El modelo para el discipulado en Lucas no está sin la lucha para un seguidor, sin preguntar por qué. Simon ciertamente hace esto diciéndole a Jesús, respetuosamente, “no hay pez para pescar. Hemos trabajado toda la noche.”

 

¿Cuántas veces oímos esto? Cuántas veces oímos la invitación de Jesús y le hacemos caso - damos un paso adelante. Oiremos su invitación para ir más profundo, y pondremos un pretexto. Los seres humanos, usted y yo somos hábiles en dar disculpas.

 

Estos hombres fueron verdaderas personas de fe. Cada uno de ellos mira al otro fijadamente en los ojos y dirá que no podemos; ni modo, lo probamos.

 

Oh que queremos creer que nosotros somos diferente. Usted y yo, ambos, conocemos que somos mejores que Simon, pero tanto que admiramos también a Simon, al menos nuestros corazones heridos serán. Queremos creer que esa la llamada de Jesús entraría al fondo sin dificultad. Queremos creer que nosotros no volveríamos más resistentes, algo que nosotros en realidad queremos hacer. Nosotros muchísimo, adentro nuestra reconditez queremos que la fe sea más fácil, pero yendo más al fondo, cavando más profundo, viviendo más profundo, es realmente muy difícil.

 

“Boga mar adentro” señala Jesús. “Y, arroje esa red.” Por supuesto que recogen una red tan llena hasta que la red está por reventar. ¡La red en el Evangelio de Lucas se arriesga hasta quebrarse! El amo estaba en lo correcto, el maestro fue sabio.

 

Tan grande es la recogida que Simon llama a los otros para ayudarles. “Vengan, ayuda,” él grita. No sólo un bote es lleno sino dos botes están llenos. Éste es un hecho que pocos olvidarán.

 

Esto es lo que nos ocurre como individuos.

 

Descubrimos la abundancia de la gracia de Dios cuando vamos a fondo. Descubrimos el regalo abrumador de Dios cuando nos volvemos más confiados. Nuestro sentido de escasez se convierte en una comprensión de generosidad.

 

Haciendo frente a la gracia abundante, Simon cae de rodillas antes del Mesías. En este momento milagroso vemos la imagen de la gran reunión, la nube de testigos como Peter reconoce quizá el mensaje de la Palabra de Dios que ha venido a todas las naciones. Quizá en el mismo instante Simon reconoce el significado de lo que Isaías y Simeón nos profetizaron a nosotros – todas las naciones serán recogidas debajo de las alas del reinado de Dios a través del ministerio de Jesús.

 

La respuesta de Jesús es darle al ministerio a Simon y Santiago y Juan. Cuando la revelación de Cristo es discernida, y la respuesta de alabanza humilde y arrepentimiento es emprendida, Dios nos da ministerio. Aquí vemos el patrón muy antiguo que corre a todo lo largo de las Sagradas Escrituras, y se capta en este momento. El punto de vista de Jesús dice que no teman que ustedes irán conmigo y seremos una red para personas.

 

Aquí obtenemos lo que será el sello de los lingotes de oro de Evangelio de Lucas: Dejaron caer todo y entendieron. Pues para Lucas la imagen del discipulado del Mesías es claro: El reconocimiento y la realización del señorío de Cristo, una respuesta de humildad y arrepentimiento – un deseo de verdaderamente cambiar su vida y volverse la espalda a la vida antigua, sólo para Jesús. Es el don del ministerio por el Espíritu Santo y la inmediatez de entender.

 

Todo son invitados, algunos se convierten en seguidores, y los otros cuantos dejan sus redes.

 

Cuando nosotros, los episcopales, elegimos seguir a Jesús le hacemos a Dios una promesa que seguiremos Jesús en una forma particular. Prometemos:

• Lear la Biblia regularmente
• Rezar diariamente
• Participar de la Cena de Señor
• Trabajar para abstenerse de pecado, y arrepentirse cuando se encuentra en pecado
• Proclamar por palabra y el amor el ejemplo de Jesús para el mundo
• Intentar servirle a Cristo en todas las personas
• Amar a otros como a si mismo
• Luchar por justicia en sus comunidades
• Buscar la paz en sus vecindades
• Respetar a los demás, hombres y mujeres
• Tratar otros con dignidad

 

Éste es trabajo arduo.

 

La red tiene que aferrarse para sus redes. Es trabajo arduo mantenerse enfocado en el ministerio de Jesús. El mundo querrá que usted enfoque la atención en otras cosas. El mundo le jalará.

 

El trabajo le jalará. Sus amigos le jalarán. Los poderes y las autoridades le jalarán.

 

Usted puede permanecer en agua de poca profundidad toda su vida entera, puesto que no le invita como Jesús los invitó. Pero uno confirmado está en las aguas profundas, el agua de discipulado donde la vida en Cristo es vivida.

 

Usted debe descartar la red de adicciones, comodidades, y una vida fácil y elegir arriba de la cruz y siguen a Jesús.

 

Deje caer las cosas que le entrampan y enreden. Deje caer sus redes.

 

Las voces de este mundo le dirán ya haya estado allí. “Usted ya ha probado eso. Usted ya se ha vuelto lo suficientemente profundo. No arriesgue nada. No juegue juegos de azar en Jesús. Él es simplemente otro profeta. Ésta es simplemente otra iglesia.” Éstas son las mentiras que le dirá a usted mismo para que usted no tenga que dejar caer sus redes y seguir Jesús.

 

¿Seremos usted y yo tan atraído para oír las palabras radicales de Jesús para seguirle en las aguas profundas?

 

¿O, nos quedaremos dentro de la seguridad de la costa?

 

Estaremos listos, cuándo nos es preguntado, alcanzarán lo profundo y oscuro para llegar a la gente, haremos eso?

 

Estaremos dispuestos a ir a esas personas a quienes Jesús nos envía?

 

Estaremos dispuestos para obedecer el señoría de Cristo?

 

¿Somos capaces verdaderamente arrepentirnos y nombrar las cosas que nos poseen?

 

Estaremos dispuestos apartarnos de ellos y seguir a Jesús?

 

Vacilar, demorarse, es perder la oportunidad de ministerio.

 

Debemos suplicar, Señor que me llamas, da me la fuerza para entrar en las aguas profundas contigo. Da me la fuerza para ir a fondo y ser tu misionero de las buenas noticias. Da me la fuerza Señor para dejar caer las cuerdas que me atan por el amor que me llama por señas a seguir.

 

New Post for this weeks Gospel Lesson: Are you ready to go deep?

Sermon on the ministry of Priesthood: The Rev. Dean Lawrence's Ordination

Many of you probably do not know that Dean sang and led music at JoAnne’s and my marriage. You also probably do not know that he and I are a song writing duo: Dean and Doyle or D2.

I remember Dean playing the guitar under the pine trees, I was writing down lyrics. It became a favorite that year. To this day we are apt to sing it in our car, as my family and I do, recalling the great Camp Allen oldies but goodies: Kumbaya, One Tin Soldier, and Pass it On, or the more serious songs like Hagalena Magalena, Father Abraham, A Boom Chic-a-Boom. The song goes like this:
Dean Dean Jelly Bean, Dean Dean Jelly Bean, Watermelon on my head, Watermelon on my head. Aooga! Aooga!

But we have not come here tonight to talk about our mutual music accomplishments; though Dean’s credentials in this particular area are lengthy.

Rather, we are here because today Dean is choosing to order his life in a new and profound way.

There are only four times when a bishop lays hands on a Christian, each time is to ask the Holy Spirit to give the gift of ministry: confirmation, ordination to the diaconate, ordination to the priesthood, and ordination to the episcopate.

Tonight we are here to make a priest in Christ’s one holy, catholic, and apostolic church.

John Chrysostom wrote in his Six Books on the Priesthood, “The priest must be dignified, but not haughty; awe-inspiring, but kind; affable in his authority; impartial, but courteous; humble, but not servile, strong but gentle.”

Of course St. Chrysostom did not know of the demands on the modern clerics’ time. You are going to be overwhelmed with administrative duties, vying for attention and pressing you to make pastoring, celebrating, and preparing last on your to do list.

The life of clergy today has become disordered in what many might describe as a dizzying array of duties far from resembling priesthood and more akin to small business management.

Running a growing business, Dean, may be something you do under the category of other ministrations assigned, but it is neither the primary work of priesthood, nor should it be the ordering principle of your ministry.

You are about to commit yourself, through the calling of the Holy Spirit, to a trust and responsibility given to you when I lay my hands upon your head. This trust is given through me, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, directly from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. “Come Holy Ghost our souls inspire, enlighten with perpetual fire.”

You are ordering your life tonight, recognizing that the church is the dwelling place of the same Holy Spirit. It is not the buildings or the budget or the vestry or the dwelling place called your office. The church is that in which we believe and proclaim God’s Holy Spirit dwells and you will be forever yoked to its bridal veil as it awaits the coming of Christ.

The church you are choosing to serve and upon whose orders you will form your life is the very Body of Christ and the family of God. It is created through the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus and his first gifts of the spirit making it the living body of Christ in the world God loves.

Christ envisions a family of God where the unity of the Holy Spirit binds together the healthy with those in need of healing, the wealthy with those who hunger, and the powerful with those without voice.

Just as Christ’s primary work was the work of glorifying God, so too Christ’s very body on earth, the church, is given the life of the spirit that it may glorify God. Each Christian within it is given new life, through the Holy Spirit, at Baptism and then Confirmation, to glorify God by making Christ known chiefly through the renewing of God’s creation, serving as missionaries to restore the fallen, heal the broken, and feed the starving. We are to proclaim freedom from the things which bind us up and rest to the weary.

This church, the missionary Body of Christ the family of God, the bride of Christ, needs you to be a pastor, a priest, and teacher.

Today you are ordered as a pastor. You are to love and serve God’s people. Young and old, strong and weak, rich and poor, you are to be their pastor because they are all God’s sheep, they are all lambs of his flock, and they are all sinners of his redeeming.

You are God’s pastor, this is the promise you are making and the goal of your life and ministry. Jesus is the great shepherd of the flock, and these are his sheep. We are here and they are ours only for a little while. But, Dean, they are all ours. We are to love them all, pastor them all, call them all to repentance, and lead them all out into green pastures. We are to rescue them from rocky cliffs, and help them to look beyond their own lives to the lives of their neighbors.

The flock of Christ needs you to be a pastor with the all seeing eyes of Jesus and the loving embrace of its good Shepherd.

Today you are ordered as a priest.

As a priest you are to share in the administration of Holy Baptism. And, you are to celebrate the mysteries of Christ’s body and blood. You are to share. You are to share because there is only one great High Priest and that is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ who is the chief celebrant at Baptism and Eucharist. I am Christ’s representative in this diocese and you as a priest stand in my place and in the place of Christ at his font and at his table. The water, the bread, and the wine are symbols of yours and my ministry in this place. These are symbols that we together share at table with Jesus Christ as he breaks open the doors of death and breaks bread and gives us wine.

You have been chosen by the church to stand in this holy place and offer our prayers and to make Holy Sacraments. The church does this because we believe your manner of life recommends you to the service of priesthood in this world. But you are also here because God has chosen and called you to eternal service.

You are to be a priest after the eternal order of Melchizedek as the first priest of the Most High God, mentioned in Genesis as the keeper of the bread and the wine. And, Dean, you are ordered, dressed, and made a priest forever -- serving Christ both night and day in this world and the next.

The sacraments of the church are the means of grace by which the people and family of God are fed food for their life’s journey and their life’s ministry. You must endeavor to prepare your self in heart and mind to pray the prayers faithfully, to be attentive and soulfully present in the leading of worship, to plan worship that is life giving and world changing, to offer the sacrifices of God which is holy work, and to make disciples baptizing them with the Holy Spirit of God, marking the flock as Christ’s own forever.

Temper your intentional liturgical leadership with humor and grace that God may be glorified in worship that you lead both through its perfection and its mistakes.

The worshipping and sacramental church needs you to be a priest so that the reconciling love of Christ may be known and received

Today you are ordered as a teacher.

As teacher you must first pedagogically model good Christian virtue. Love God and love neighbor. You will teach your people more by your actions than you will ever teach them by your words. So model your life as pastor and priest out of your understanding of Christ’s mission as given to us in the Holy Scripture – fashion your life with gospel principles and precepts. Live a life that is pleasing to God, because you glorify God by proclaiming the Gospel in deed and in word.

As a teacher you must model the reading and study of the Holy Scriptures. You cannot teach the bible if you don’t read it. You cannot teach the bible if you don’t pray it.

The scripture is the Word of God, and it is a witness to the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. It is inspired by the Holy Spirit and without error in matters pertaining to salvation. It is a collection of books which show the diversity of life lived under the Lordship of God and in particular the paschal mystery of Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension.

You must read, mark and inwardly digest these books. For as the Scripture transcends, as the Word of God, all cultures, it must be interpreted and expressed in cultural concepts in order to reach the ears and hearts of all human beings who are themselves culturally bound. The sacrament of scripture is present in this modern age, but it takes the holy teacher of God to bring its faithful precepts to life for those within and without the church.

Only, when you have done these things continue searching for the knowledge of such things that will make you a stronger and more able minister of Christ. After you understand who the person of Jesus is and who he embraces, then read a book on newcomer ministry. After you understand Jesus’ mission to the poor, then read a book on how to lead a good mission trip. After you understand the grace and bounty given to us by God in creation, then learn how to run a good stewardship campaign.

The world is hungry for good things and you are to nourish it and Christ’s people from the riches of His grace.

Today you are ordered as pastor, teacher, and priest. You are to be obedient to Christ and faithful in your work as you have promised to him before me, his bishop, and the people of his church.

Dean please stand for your charge.

To be able to fulfill what you promise you have got to pray. In a little while we will pray and call down the Holy Spirit. There will be a period of silence as the whole church of God calls the Holy Spirit to make you a priest in his church. It will take the prayers of all of us to make you a priest. It will take your prayers to become one.

1. Persevere in prayer, Dean, both in public and in private. Out of the richness of ministry and God’s grace begin daily with repentance, asking God to reform and form you for his work. Then pray the scriptures, the psalms and canticles of praise to God, then pray the creed that your unbelief may be transformed, and then pray for your people by name. Pray each day for the people entrusted to your care by name. Every week in my own daily prayer I will pray for you. You in turn must pray for those with whom you work and those to whom you are called to serve.

As we approach God on our behalf and on the behalf of others we carry the thought of them into the very being of eternal love, and as we go to him who is eternal love, so we learn to love whatever we take with us there. So take yourself, your family, and those you serve into the arms and saving embrace of the one who is love, Jesus Christ our Lord.

2. Always have imprinted on your heart and in your mind the great treasure that is committed to your care and your charge by Jesus Christ.

You are given the very sheep of Christ which he bought with his death and for whom he shed his blood. The church and congregation in which you are called to serve is the very Spouse of Christ and his body.

And if it shall happen that the same church or any sheep of Christ’s fold are harmed or hindered in their walk with Jesus by reason of your negligence, you and I know the greatness of the fault, and the cost of such actions.

So look upon the sheep of his fold, and the lambs of his flock, look upon his spouse and never cease your labor, your care, and your diligence, until you have done all that is within you, all that is your bounden duty and service, to bring all that are committed to you to the faith and knowledge of God, and to the perfection and the maturity which is the life in Christ.
3. Do all these things for the pleasure of serving Christ and the glory of God. Do them for the healing and betterment of your own soul, indeed for your own salvation. Do these things that when you come to the last day when you meet your Lord wearing you priestly robes you may hear words of Jesus, “well done good and faithful servant, well done.”
Today you are ordered pastor, priest, and teacher in Christ’s one holy, catholic, and apostolic church. And, I count this an honor and privilege to know you as friend, to ordain you a priest, to be your bishop.

Jesus is teaching in the temple. Are we listening?

Some thoughts about our Gospel for the 3rd Sunday After the Epiphany, Ordinary Time



Luke 4:14-21


14Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country. 15He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, 17and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: 18“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The picture is a Korazim or teaching seat from an ancient synagogue.

Prayer


On this day which is holy to you, O Lord our God, your people assemble to hear your words and delight in the feast you prepare. Let the Spirit that anointed Jesus send us forth to proclaim your freedom and favor. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.

From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year C, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.


Some thoughts on the Gospel of Luke 4:14-21

In our liturgical reading we have moved from the Epiphany through the Baptism of our Lord, to his first miracle at the Wedding in Cana of Galilee. We arrive this week to settle into a reading of Luke’s Gospel as Luke intended it, sequentially. We land in this first reading (following the propers for Ordinary Time) on Jesus in the synagogue in Nazareth. It is never easy to come home, and it certainly brings its own challenges when you have been filled with the Holy Spirit, as in Jesus’ case.

We certainly have the parallels for this section in Matthew 13:53-54 and Mark 6:1-2 if you wish to read through them. And, as in Acts 13:15 and the parallel passages we are given a view of the worship that dominated synagogue gatherings of Jesus’ time. (Haslam)

We are in transition mode in the Gospel once again, and here the words from verse 14: “filled with the power of the Spirit” remind us that in Luke’s Gospel we haven’t been at the wedding but rather at his baptism. So we are in the midst of Jesus’ inaugural preaching mission which begins, according to Luke, at home.

For Luke teaching and preaching flows out of the Holy spirit, as do all the activities of ministry. This is clear throughout the Lukan Gospel and certainly in the first chapter of Acts: 5:3, 5:17, 6:6, 13:10, 22, 19:47, 20:1, 21, 21:37, 23:5, Acts 1.1. The scholar Luke Timothy Johnson believes the Holy Spirit sent Jesus out on a preaching tour of the many towns and villages and that he is just now coming to Nazareth. Jesus has returned to “where he has been raised.” Interestingly, Luke uses the term “nourished” here. Jesus is returning to where he was nourished, and the word frequently means where he was nourished in his religious studies (see Luke, Luke Timothy Johnson, p78).

Some scholars believe that the words “as was his custom” were used to describe Jesus’ custom of teaching in synagogues. I believe this better belongs to the idea that as a pious Jew, Jesus knew that the custom of attending synagogue. He was nourished in a Jewish home and educated in their religious customs and it was his nature to follow what his family had given him and return to the synagogue to worship on the Sabbath. (The Sabbath is a theme in Luke’s Gospel and can be picked up in these passages: see also 4:31-37 (teaching and casting out a demon ); 6:1-5 (his disciples pluck some heads of grain), 6:6-11 (restores a man’s withered hand); 13:10-17 (heals a crippled woman); 14:1-6 (heals a man who had dropsy).

Third Isaiah, or later Isaiah, is so very essential in the early Christian understanding of who Jesus was and understanding his ministry. This is true for Luke that begins with several citations and now continues in this passage with a reading that helps the reader know who Jesus is. Just think about the prophetic words being read and how here in the midst of the people of Nazareth is Jesus the person who will fulfill in his ministry the very words of Isaiah. Jesus will cure, bind up the broken-hearted, and announce the day of the reign of God, comfort all who mourn, provide for those who mourn free the captives, and to proclaim a Jubilee year. You and I can think of moments throughout the Gospel narrative when Jesus does these things. Moreover, you and I can also tell stories of when Jesus Christ did these things in our own lives, along our journeys.

Handing the scroll back to the minister or Hazzan – a person who is a synagogue leader, Jesus sits down.

We of course continue with the second half of the story next Sunday. What is very important here is that Luke has moved this event to the very first part of Jesus ministry – considering where both Mark and Matthew place it in the Gospel. Luke is illustrating, and highlighting, who this is, what his ministry is and what kind of messiah is he going to be. Luke’s Jesus is here for the disenfranchised and for the poor. Luke wants this message to get out right at the beginning as if to inaugurate Jesus ministry with clarity about his coming from God on God’s behalf to restore creation, making the wounded whole, and filling the hungry with good things.

Like so many stories in the Old Testament where God acts on behalf of his people because they are not being cared for, Luke gives us a vision of the incarnation where God is seeking to restore creation. The restoration of creation for Luke begins with the understanding of God’s special interest in the poor, powerless, and voiceless. Jesus’ work is a freedom and release from evil through exorcisms, healings, education, and economic transformation. Luke Timothy Johnson writes, “the radical character of this mission is specified above all by its being offered to and accepted by those who were the outcasts of the people.” (Luke, 81)

Some questions I am pondering: Are we as a church involved in this work? What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus and not be directly involved in the work that Jesus was involved in? Who are God’s people today that we are not being attentive to?

Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy

In the Luke’s Gospel (13:1-21) Jesus refers to a recent disaster in which eighteen people were killed when part of an ancient tower wall fell near the pool of Siloam. Jesus asks the question, do you think they were more due for punishment than all the Galileans or all the people who live in Jerusalem?


While scholars say prophets in Jesus’ day used current disasters to encourage repentance before the end of time--or in this case, the coming of the reign of God, we know what Jesus is saying is that natural disasters happen and people are killed.

For those in the Lukan community who first heard this passage, and for us today, we know people are not killed through natural disasters because of their sin. We remember that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, which enables us to receive grace, eternal life and the ability to restore creation; all to the Glory of God. That is our task now.

In the wake of the events unfolding before our eyes in Haiti, some may be tempted to ask, why does one person survive while another does not? Were some spared because of righteous living? Did others perish because of some notorious sin? Jesus’ answer remains an unequivocal, “NO!”

A great disaster has occurred in one of the Episcopal Church’s largest and poorest dioceses. Reports put the death toll at 200,000. Many more will succumb to their wounds lacking proper medical care and nourishment despite heroic efforts from around the world.

Bishop Jean Zaché Duracin wrote to fellow bishops: “[The earthquake] was so strong that everything has been destroyed. All institutions of the Church have been destroyed. We have lost a lot of people including students of our schools and university.”

Bishop Duracin is unharmed but his wife suffered injury to her leg. The Episcopal Church in Haiti has lost its beautifully painted cathedral, nearby convent and school handicapped children, Holy Trinity Complex, College St. Pierre and a Jubilee Center, among many other schools and churches. The bishop remains among his people offering comfort and encouragement.

We know that our three missionaries are all accounted for - Mallory Holding, Jude Harmon, and Oge Beauvoir, who is the dean of the Theological Seminary, along with his wife Serette. We give thanks to God for their well being, and the well being of so many Haitians and relief workers, and we ask for a full measure of God’s grace to protect them as they continue their ministry in Haiti.

For those who perished, we ask God to recognize them as sheep of His own flock, lambs of His own fold, and sinners of His own redeeming. Give rest to them with the saints in light, where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.

What do we do in the face of this tragedy? Returning to the words of Luke’s Gospel, we first give thanks for the suffering of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that the knowledge that human suffering is known to God Himself. We give thanks for the redemption and grace that is given to us and the bounty of God’s love that is poured down upon us and the people of Haiti.

Out of a sense of that abundance and grace, our response is to confess and repent – just as Jesus taught those who listened to him so many years ago. And, we accept through our baptismal covenant and confirmation the invitation of God to act on behalf of those in Haiti.

The immediate need is donating funds for relief--to Episcopal Relief and Development (er-d.org), or other relief agencies--to provide clean water, food, medical supplie, and support for the relief and recovery ministries in Haiti. We make real the reign of God by helping, through dollar donations, to build the kingdom of God in Haiti – to restore creation in Haiti.
When the time comes, and it will, we will be ready to respond to help physically rebuild Haiti, restoring the lives of our brothers and sisters in Haiti.
And, we pray. We pray for those who are not yet found, but whom God knows by name. We pray for those found and the healing hands of those who minister to them. We pray for those who are scared that they may have the courage of God. We pray for the weak that they may have the strength of God. And, we pray that we may witness to the Glory of God and the presence of God through the ministering angels who are now descending to aid the people of Haiti.



In the words of Psalm 126: When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, then were we like those who dream.

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy.

Then they said among the anations, "The Lord has done great things for them."

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses of the Negev.

Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy.

Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.