The Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost

Esther’s True Identity

Read Esther 7:1-6,9-10, 9:20-22

Artist Lilian Broca chose to work with mosaics for her eleven part series on Queen Esther. In fact, ‘mosaics’ are first mentioned in the Bible at Esther 1:6. Broca used Venetian glass in the Byzantine style of creating mosaics. Notice that each individual piece of glass retains its individual identity, yet the eye assimilates the pieces into a whole image.

This piece is entitled ‘Queen Esther Reveals Her True Identity.’ Until this time her Jewish identity is unknown to her husband, King Xerxes of Persia. One of the King’s subordinates, Haman, has plotted for the destruction of all Jews in Persia and secured the King’s unwitting consent.

Confidently and courageously, Esther approaches her husband unbidden, at the risk of her death. Dressed in her most expensive and beautiful attire, she is removing her mask, the symbol of her secret identity.

Broca considers Esther the prototype of the courageous, selfless heroine, exhibiting supreme leadership and vision. “In a patriarchial society, this unique female figure succeded in bringing peace through accomodation, cooperation, and negotiation.”

The Esther Series of mosaics an be viewed on Broca’s homepage, here.

The Third Sunday in Lent

The Cleansing of the Temple, El Greco (1591)
Read John 2:13-22

Visio Divina
1. First Impressions: I see more topless women than animals. John writes that “cattle, sheep, and cows” were for sale to be used as sacrifices. No cattle or sheep are visible, and one cage holding a single dove. One topless woman with two undressed children is conspicuously placed. Another woman is holding her top in place. At least two men lack shirts or other tops; one has a robe loosely gathered around his waist.

2. Jesus has a whip made of rope, preparing to backhand the nearest person. No persons are identifiable as disciples.

3. These people hardly resemble pilgrims. Rather, they seem to have made themselves at home in the courtyard. Nothing indicates that these are devout Jews or inquiring Gentiles. Are they ‘street people?’

4. My attention is drawn to the group of four men in the lower right corner. Apparently these are the “Jewish leaders” who question Jesus’ authority (v. 18). They are also incredulous at Jesus’ claim to the ability to destroy the Temple and rebuild it three days (vv.20-21). They are talking among themselves, discussing what they have witnessed and perhaps strategizing   a response. No wonder that Jesus “didn’t trust himself to them” from this point on (v. 24).
Insight: Jesus’ prophetic actions and words are beyond the leaders’ comprehension, but clearly he is attacking the sacrificial system, the dishonest practices which were being conducted in his Father’s house, a place of prayer, and threatening the authority of Temple officials.

5. The affairs of the church must be beyond reproach. When a practice is institutionalized, some people begin to claim ownership of it. The gospel is not a collection of abstract teachings disconnected from its context. It is the practice of the good news, the embodiment of Jesus’ teachings which requires action, encounters and engagements, and the potential for conflict.

Prayer
As we come to your Temple, O God, we sometimes forget whose house it is. We forget that the world belongs to you, and your heart reaches out to all people. We are more eager to support an institution than to further your mission. We bless activities which do not deserve our time and which often violate your desire for a house of prayer. Forgive us. May it become our passion to live as people of prayer, extending love to others. Amen.

Ash Wednesday

But there is no getting around the fact that Ash Wednesday is the most uncomfortable day of the church year.

Fixed in my memory is the year I was startled almost speechless when suddenly I found myself drawing an ashen cross on the forehead of our daughter, who was then barely three years old. I choked on the words, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” Never had my mortality been quite so real to me. Ash Wednesday causes us distress because it rubs our faces in our mortality, or vice versa. Death and sin, sin and death. The real issue is not the death that is part of the biological process, but the death we bring on ourselves because we forget that we were created in God’s image.
Byron Rohrig

For years, I struggled with Ash Wednesday services precisely because of their otherworldliness and asceticism. My self-denial in Lent was typically half-hearted and short-lived. These days, I am reconsidering the meaning of Ash Wednesday. The brevity and uncertainty of life now invites me to praise, wonder, and beauty, and to seize the moment—for this is the day God has made and I will rejoice in it! All that I love and care for is mortal and transitory, but mortality is the inspiration to celebration and love.

This Ash Wednesday, I’m letting go of everything that keeps me from rejoicing in the passing beauty of the earth.  Bruce Epperly

God of Eternal Love,
We have made our commitment to you,
and have started a new journey into purposeful growth.
But, we know that if we are to remain faithful
we need your help and your strength.
So, we ask…

Teach us to pray with faith
and read Your Word with understanding.
Teach us to worship with passion
and gather together with love.
Teach us to give generously, serve compassionately
and use our time mindfully,
So that we may reflect Your goodness,
and that others may discover Your grace through us.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Transfiguration Sunday

Transfiguration of Jesus, Raphael, The Vatican Museum,  Rome

Read Mark 9:2-27

Using St. Clare’s Method of Praying with Art

Gaze and Consider After an initial period of gazing, several things come to my attention: a three-tiered tableau; Moses, Jesus, and Elijah floating among the clouds; Moses holding the tablet of the law while Elijah holds the books of the prophets. Jesus has been transformed into a higher spiritual state while talking with Moses and Elijah.

Below the feet of Jesus are Peter, James, and John. They are “heavy with sleep.” (Luke 9:32) The scene is reminiscent of the disciples’ sleeping in the Garden of Gethsemane. Because of their sleepiness, this inner circle of Jesus almost misses two important incidents.

Below the scene on the mountaintop, Raphael depicts a different scene involving the rest of the disciples and a boy with epilepsy and his family. After descending the mountain, Jesus rebukes the “faithless and perverse generation of disciples,” unable to be helpful in these circumstances. He then rebukes an unclean spirit which comes out of the boy violently.

Contemplate
Our days, Most Holy Friend, are spent between light and darkness. Often, as the result of our own sin, or the evil of others, we find ourselves in the darkness. On other occasions we find ourselves caught up in your light and love. More often we are in-between, busy in the half-light, trying to make the best of a compromising existence, stumbling and falling, rising and achieving. With your help we do make some headway, but still fall far short of the light of your glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

Most gracious God, persist with your mission of saving us all. By your grace, banish our darkness and enlighten us today. Do not allow us to linger dolefully in the gloom of guilt or self-pity. Make us bold to move out to where the shadows are fewer, even though the brighter light shows up our flaws.Give us more of the light of Christ that our lives may declare your praise. Amen

Imitate
I am struck by the fallibility of the disciples, who nonetheless continue their journey with Jesus. There is always a challenge to be mindful, to pay attention, to be fully present with Christ. God honors that effort and often covers our failures with grace.

How can I imitate this transfigured Christ? Only by allowing my life to be transformed after his image, not as a temporary seasonal thing, but as a way of life.

 

The Fifth Sunday After Epiphany

In the morning, while it was still very dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.  Mark 1:35

This passage (Mark 1:29-39) is notable as one of only three occasions that Mark reports Jesus at prayer. It underscores the importance of solitude to Jesus after an unusually busy day. By Jesus’ willingness to move on, leaving this place of prayer as well as rejecting pleas from the people of Capernaum that he stay with them, the story highlights the larger dimensions of Jesus’ mission. And it raises important questions for us – –

* What is our need for solitude?
* What is our desire to spend time alone in the presence of God?
* Where are the deserted places available to us?

A variety of answers are suggested by art and photography.

First, an abstract depiction of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law by French painter Bertrand Bahuet.

Why should a sick room always be depicted as dark, bleak, and defeated? I appreciate the different feeling created by the use of color and the hint of smiles on the faces.

This image of Jesus praying at sunrise also uses color to convey its message: the burden of praying for others may be heavy, but the power of the Creator of heaven and earth is greater. As the sun rises, Jesus grows into a greater faith, not in his own power to heal or do good, but in the compassionate presence of God.

Yet even Jesus could not always remain steadfast and free of discouragement. He knew the depth and dimension of human suffering. It weighed upon him as he internalized more and more of the world’s brokenness.

For centuries the chief way of following Jesus’ example of prayer and solitude was to join a monastic order. When civil customs and authorities began to make alliance with the mainstream church, many people found themselves spiritually starving. At first individually, then collectively, they opted out of what seemed to be a compromised church and lived in “the lonely places of the world” – in the desert,on the mountains, beside the oceans – wherever sufficient solitude could be found. Many men and women became hermits; others lived in community. This picture of a monastery/ hermitage in Kosovo illustrates well the experience of solitude.

When did you most feel comfortable being alone?
How have you resisted or avoided being alone?

Solitude gives time to God that is not in competition with social contact, noise or stimulation. It is freedom from the need to be occupied or productive. It requires quieting the internal noise so we can better listen to God.

Practice: In a place where you cannot be interrupted, intentionally place yourself in the presence of God for 15 or more minutes. Inhale God’s breath of life; exhale all that weighs on you. Simply be alone with God. When it is time to return to others, leave the solitude gently.

Fourth Sunday After Epiphany

Christ Healing the Possessed
Fresco, Lambach Abbey, Austria, 1080

Read Mark 1:21-28 

1. My first impression is of a deteriorating fresco which nonetheless conveys the dramatic tension of the Gospel story. Jesus and the man freed from a demon occupy the center of the piece. On the left is a group of people truly astonished by the words and deeds of Jesus and newly convinced of his authority. A different response prevails on the right side. These men are talking to each other, their eyes cut away from Jesus, perhaps already threatened by this new authority. The two responses foretell the future challenges which Jesus faced.

2.The colors are too faded to carry much meaning in themselves. The symmetry, however, tells the story. Jesus will always be a ‘sword of division.’ Our responses to what he says and does will divide us from one another. By raising the question of authority, even this compassionate act becomes threatening to some people. And yet, being in the middle, Jesus is also the one who can bring us together, helping us to bridge our differences.

3. God seems to be leading me to several places: more clearly under the authority of Christ; greater patience and sympathy for those with mental disorders; clarity and courage about my responsibility even when it is not universally understood or accepted.

4. Thank you, God, for the commanding authority of Christ, who uses his authority for the good of others. Let me speak and act with appropriate authority, which is a derivative authority, validated only by my faithfulness to Christ. May I eagerly submit myself to spiritual leaders, whose authority is based on deep experience with Christ; and just as eagerly resist the authority of false prophets and self-serving leaders. Amen.

January 22, 2012

The Inhabitants of Nineveh Repent
Renate Fucikova, 1996

I realize that my work may interfere with your own engagement with the image. If so, you can copy or print the picture and use either St. Clare of Assisi’s Method of Contemplation or Visio Divina to guide your prayer. Please share some remarks in the Comments.

The Third Sunday After Epiphany (B)
Jonah 3:1-5

My first impression is that everyone to whom Jonah is preaching seems distressed. Some people are pleading with God for mercy. Others hold their heads in shame. At least one is fleeing the scene. Most people are wearing white robes, perhaps indicating sackcloth. An aura of fear hangs over the scene. The weather collaborates with Jonah to highlight the seriousness of the occasion. Dark thunderstorms threaten. One can sense  the people’s helplessness. Their relationship with God is utterly broken.

The architecture is distinctive, conveying a sturdy stability. The officials are dressed in fine, brightly colored clothes. Yet, this strength and beauty cannot save the people of Nineveh from an accounting for their sins. I too would be in dread of the experience. A congregation today would likely be running in every direction if Jonah’s message were brought to it.

Surprisingly, the repentance appears to be universal. To his own chagrin Jonah has delivered God’s message with such power and effectiveness that, when the city repented, God changed God’s mind about punishing it. See ch. 3:10-4:5.

My attention is drawn to the group in the lower left hand corner. Whole families plead for mercy. Two children pray with bowed heads and folded hands. Men and women, mothers and fathers, raise their hands in prayer for their families and their city.

The picture encourages me to become more intentional and consistent about leading a life with God, “not for wrath’s sake but for mercy’s.”

January 15, 2012

Samuel in the Temple
Sir Joshua Reynolds

I will sketch a bit of my prayer with the painting, and you are invited to share responses in the Comments. I will be using the Visio Divina method

Second Sunday after Epiphany (B).
Read 1 Samuel 3:1-11

My first impression of the painting is that it illustrates a deep devotion to God, expressed through Samuel at prayer.

What is happening? Young Samuel, after finally receiving guidance from Eli (the figure in the background), is listening to what the voice of God has to say to him. Samuel is attentive to the voice, not struggling for the right words.

I am reminded of the occasional times when, as a child, I would pray beside my bed. I am also reminded of Jesus’ words, “Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

I am humbled by the attentiveness and love displayed by Samuel at prayer. His eyes are open, looking heavenward; his hands are clasped in front of him. Here we see clues to the leadership capabilities which Samuel displayed later in life.

I am also aware that Samuel is depicted as a young English lad of the 18th century.

My attention is drawn to Samuel’s open eyes and folded hands. When praying, posture is important. Samuel’s posture helps to convey that he is attentive, open, expectant, and prepared. My own prayer posture leaves much to be desired. It probably portrays my distraction, drowsiness, and lack of centeredness. Perhaps the quality of our prayer time is revealed most clearly in our posture.

God seems to be saying to me, “Be still, John. Pay attention. Wait on me. Listen.” And through the role of Eli, perhaps God is saying, “Allow others to mentor you, to tutor you.”

My prayer today is –
O God, you seek our attention and you speak to our lives. Often we miss your presence and misunderstand your word. Give us the childlike spirit of Samuel, who listened to you with great devotion, ready to hear whatever you had to say. Give me the calm spirit, open mind, and warm heart that will allow me to recognize and heed your voice. Amen.