Family Meals

Maundy Thursday

Exodus 12.1-14; 1 Corinthians 11.23-26; John 13.1-17, 31b-35

St. Thomas of Canterbury, Long Beach and St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on St. Thomas Facebook Page (beginning at 15:30)

 

For many, the family meal is sacrosanct. Of course, there are some family meals that are more special, more sacred, than others. Some of the obvious ones in our culture are the big holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, maybe Easter. In some families, some of these meals take on an almost iconic aura, involving specific decorations, the use of special dishes, and most importantly the inclusion of particular foods. Some of these are so sacred that one dare not even think about changing certain aspects of the meal. Thanksgiving dinner is perhaps among the most inviolable, with an estimated 88 percent of families having turkey (according to the National Turkey Federation). And certainly each family has other dishes that need to be included. In mine, it is acceptable to tinker with how the potatoes are done or what type of dressings are fixed. But we insist on my mother’s cranberry salad and her sweet potato casserole. And for us, Christmas is always, always, always, Mom’s lasagna. We almost kicked my brother-in-law out of the family last year when he suggested that maybe we not have lasagna for Christmas because of Mom having chemotherapy just a few days before Christmas. Mom was not deterred, and we still had lasagna last year. There are some things you just don’t mess with. So yes, special family meals and associated traditions are pretty high on the list of sacred events.

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This Can't Be How It Ends . . . Can It?

Palm Sunday/Passion Sunday

Matthew 21.1-11; Matthew 26.14—27.66

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 46:15)

 

Here we are, poised to begin the final leg of our Lenten journey. Although, admittedly, of the six weeks of Lent, what we face today and what lies ahead is the most rigorous, the most grueling. Physically, emotionally, and spiritually. While the vast majority of Holy Week still lies before us with our upcoming commemorations of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday, what we do today—specifically the reading of the Passion Narrative—provides a roadmap, if you will. Providing an overview of where we will go this week. Of where Jesus will lead us. Not all of the way. Not just yet. But at least enough to get to the next waystation on this dramatic journey.

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Unbind Him

Fifth Sunday in Lent (Year A)

Ezekiel 37.1-14; John 11.1-45

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 17:20)

 

Every Sunday this Lenten season, we have been introduced to a guide on our Lenten journey. We started with Jesus being tempted and tested in the wilderness—the ultimate Lenten guide. We then encountered some pretty unlikely guides, at least at first glance: Nicodemus, Photini (also known as the Samaritan woman at the well), and the man born blind. Today we have yet another unlikely guide in the form of a dead man: Lazarus. Although, that may be a bit of a stretch. I mean, he is dead, after all. Well, until the end of the story when Jesus raises him from the dead and he emerges from the tomb bound in strips of cloth. In reality, the real guide here is Jesus himself. Although Lazarus is critical to, and is certainly the prompt, the catalyst, for the central teaching in today’s Gospel story, as well as for what follows.

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So That God’s Work Might Be Revealed

Fourth Sunday in Lent (Year A)

John 9.1-41

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 22:00)

 

As we begin the fourth (full) week of our Lenten journey, we have yet another unlikely guide. This one being a blind man. Or rather, a man born blind who, as we see in the story, gains his sight thanks to Jesus. Of course, as with our other guides over the last few weeks, and as is always the case in Jesus’ actions, there is in this encounter, shall we say, more than meets the eye. With the emphasis on sight and blindness, and given Jesus’ approach and the development of the character of the man born blind, it quickly becomes apparent that the central theme of this story is perspective—how we see things. Specifically, that this is about the perceptions and opinions that the various characters hold. Not only hold, but the perceptions and opinions that, in many cases, are the defining characteristic of their lives. And that the central lesson to be had is about the perceptions and opinions that we have and how these can become defining characteristics in our lives if we are not careful.

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An Even More Unlikely Guide

Third Sunday in Lent (Year A)

John 4.5-42

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 15:50)

 

Last week, we encountered an unlikely guide on our Lenten journey in the person of Nicodemus—a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Court, who made a clandestine, nighttime visit to Jesus. Today, we meet an even more unlikely guide in the person of an unnamed Samaritan woman. As Jesus and his disciples travel through Samaria and approach the city of Sychar, he happens upon this woman who has come to the well to draw water. Thirsty from his travels, Jesus asks the woman for a drink. While this may seem a perfectly normal and reasonable turn of events, to the people of Jesus’ time—to the principal characters in the story, as well as to anyone who would have heard about this encounter—there are just so many red flags. Not just red flags. There were also blaring alarms.

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Unlikely Guide

Second Sunday in Lent (Year A)

John 3.1-17

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 13:00)

 

As we begin the second week of our Lenten journey, we encounter an unlikely guide on that journey. Nicodemus. A Pharisee and a member of the temple leadership. The very group that has been critical of Jesus and his actions. The very group that Jesus has himself criticized and even accused of hypocrisy. But what is even more astonishing, what makes this visit even more unusual, is the fact that Nicodemus is not your run-of-the-mill rabbi, but a member of the Sanhedrin, the elite assembly of religious leaders that, among other duties, served as the Jewish equivalent of the Supreme Court. Given this, its no wonder that Nicodemus came to Jesus under cover of night. Particularly when you consider that this visit occurred on the heels of Jesus’ disturbance of the peace, overturning the tables of the money changes and driving out of the temple the animals to be sold for sacrifices.

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Our Lenten Journey

First Sunday in Lent (Year A)

Matthew 4.1-11

The Rev. Michael K. Fincher

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 19:20)

 

Here we are – the first Sunday in Lent. And we find ourselves, with Jesus, in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights. A time of fasting. A time of prayer. A time of testing and being tempted. All leading up to the most intense and significant week in the liturgical calendar: Holy Week. All in preparation for the what immediately follows: Easter.

 

Our annual forty-day Lenten journey—at least, after we get through Ash Wednesday and make it to the first Sunday in Lent—always begins with recounting the story of Jesus’ own forty-day wilderness experience. A way of setting the stage and providing insight into what this unique season is all about. Because, when you think about it, of all the liturgical feasts and seasons, Lent is unlike any other. Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Pentecost and the season following, and all the feast days contained therein are remembrances and celebrations of key events in our Christian tradition. Lent—Holy Week notwithstanding—is the only season that has a more inward focus. A time of intentional, personal preparation, for what comes at the end of the season. As we travel with Jesus to Jerusalem. As we prepare ourselves for witnessing his Passion. As we prepare ourselves for the joys of the Resurrection. The only other liturgical season remotely preparatory is Advent, but even then, the focus is more on communal anticipation and less on personal preparation. So, yeah, Lent is a unique time in the life of the Church, and particularly in the lives of the members of the Body of Christ, unlike any other. A time that should be treated as such and not allowed to drift by as if it were just another season on the liturgical calendar.

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Collapsing of Space and Time

Last Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A)

Matthew 17.1-9

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 20:25)

 

As we approach the end of this season after Epiphany and prepare to begin our Lenten journey, we have the familiar story of Jesus’ Transfiguration. A divinely choreographed collapsing of space and time that almost seems to spring from the mind of a science fiction writer. An event containing imagery and symbolism that could form the foundation for a fantastical journey through space and time. Which, when you think about it, it succeeds in doing. In ways beyond what three of the characters, Peter, James, and John, could possibly imagine. In ways that form the foundation, not of a sci-fi novel or movie, but form the foundation of our Christian faith.

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The Spirit of the Law

Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A)

Deuteronomy 30.15-20; Matthew 5.21-37

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 20:45)

 

Today we continue our look at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. At the end of the portion we heard last week, Jesus says two things regarding the Law. The first is “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill (Mt 5.17). Emphasizing that what he is now teaching in the Sermon on the Mount and in his ministry in general is not anything particularly new. It’s all there in the Scriptures, in the Law handed down by God and in its application through the words of the Prophets. Rather, if anything, Jesus sees his purpose as getting back to basics. That he is to help the people get back on track, in alignment with the original intent of the Law, which, over time, has gotten a little lost in application in the lives of individuals and in the life of the community. Jesus makes this more explicit in his second statement on the subject: “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5.20). Imploring his listeners to seek righteousness—right living—that is, living in accordance with the laws of God. Not like some of the scribes and Pharisees who were sticklers for making sure others lived according to the Law, but were not always so concerned about the strict adherence to the Law in their own lives. Particularly when it was to their benefit, be it financially or politically.

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“Is Not This the Fast I Choose?”

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (Year A)

Isaiah 58.1-9a; 1 Corinthians 2.1-12; Matthew 5.13-20

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

Live Streamed on Parish Facebook Page (beginning at 17:05)

 

Today, following this worship service, we will have our parish’s Annual Meeting. Now some may think, “ugh, another meeting, with reports and voting and parliamentary procedures. How boring.” But Annual Meetings should not be boring events that we only do because the Diocese and our Parish Bylaws require them. True, there are some legal requirements that such meetings fulfill. But in reality, the only things that are required of Annual Meetings is that we elect new Vestry members and that we elect delegates to our annual Diocesan Convention. Actions that can be accomplished in a matter of minutes. All the other stuff we do at our Annual Meeting is extra. So why do we do it? Because aside from fulfilling legal requirements, the Annual Meeting is first and foremost a celebration of who we are as St. Gregory’s parish—of our common life and our ministries, and how that reflects who we are as the Body of Christ.

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