September, 2007

Dear parishioners and friends,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (St Matthew 5:3) This is the first of the Beatitudes and thus the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. It comes at the beginning of Jesus' public teaching, and tells us about the beginning of our Christian lives as well.

What is poverty of spirit? It is the knowledge that we are insufficient to the task of the good life, a life with God. It is the acknowledgment that we need help, that we cannot manage on our own. It is a willingness to embrace the reality of our insufficiency, rather than stubbornly insisting that we can manage on our own.

The problem of course is that we dislike being dependent on anyone. We want to be able to take care of ourselves, to be self-reliant. Being dependent leaves us at another's mercy. It makes us vulnerable. Whether it is the taxi driver who doesn't show up when he is supposed to, leaving us in the lurch, or a friend who isn't there for us when we most need him, we feel betrayed when we rely on another and are disappointed. I suspect we have all had occasion to be disappointed by the postal service: then we wish (perhaps tinged with anger) that there were an alternative – if possible we would swear off the postal service for ever. That there is no option only fuels our frustration.

So we resist dependence because it leaves us vulnerable to disappointment. We also resist it because it might leave us disappointed. There is that nagging fear, even when the other has always been entirely reliable. We are at least dimly aware of our vulnerability, and don't like it. We would rather not need the other at all, and then we would be “safe.” Moreover, our culture tends to glorify self-sufficiency over dependence. We admire the self-made man, and also the lottery winner. Both have (potentially, at least) made themselves invulnerable to the kind of uncertainties which afflict the rest of us. They can protect themselves by their wealth or attainments. We may consciously know that this is illusion, that even Bill Gates is dependent on others. But we are still bound to be affected by the idea that dependence is an evil to be avoided.

Even so, we are not entirely of one mind in the matter. While part of our nature seeks invulnerability, another part seeks love. Love entails vulnerability. When we love, we open ourselves to the other, which allows the other to become part of our life. We become dependent on the other, because the other supplies something for us that we cannot supply for ourselves. This is most obvious in marriage, but it is true to some extent in every loving relation. The willingness to love entails the admission that we are better off if we are not entirely self-sufficient.

This is where Jesus comes in. He enters into human life to manifest His love for us. As a man as well as God, He loves us during His life on earth. This leaves Him vulnerable to the rejection of His love, which happened definitively and most obviously on Good Friday. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. His love makes Him vulnerable. He puts Himself into man's hands, He is willing to be dependent. And He ends up with His love betrayed and rejected; unjustly condemned, painfully executed. Man rejects God's love, and it leads to death. The point is that Jesus, the perfect man, was willing to love anyway, even knowing where it would lead Him. His love is one manifestation of His willing dependence on the Father. He makes clear that He is on earth to do the Father's will, and does nothing apart from the Father. If He is willing to be dependent on the Father and obedient to Him, how much more should we?

This brings us back to poverty of spirit: our willingness to admit our need. Unless we are prepared to embrace the reality that we cannot live without God, we will not get very far as Christians. In fact, it is our glory to need God: we are created to be dependent upon Him, as Adam and Eve were in the Garden. It was a joyful dependence. It was when Eve wished to assert her independence that she got into trouble. The same is (alas!) true for us. When we try to be self-sufficient, to take care of things for ourselves, then we shut God out. When we try to live a good, Christian life out of our own power, so that we have something to present to God, we end up like the Pharisees: proud of our own accomplishments (and defensive about our failures), with no need for God other than to reward us for our virtue. We lose out on love and comfort and intimacy with Him. It is only when we need Him that we can find Him as He wishes to come to us, in love. If we are willing to be poor in spirit, He is willing to give us the kingdom of heaven – a pretty fair trade! Conversely, when we refuse to embrace poverty of spirit, we claim we do not need anything from God, and shut Him out of our lives.

Paul gives us a practical way of going about poverty of spirit when he suggests that we follow him in glorying in the things which concern our infirmities. (II Corinthians 12:9-10) If instead of hiding or being defensive about our weaknesses we try to be honest about them, not putting our energy into hiding and denying them, then we can practice poverty of spirit. Likewise, being willingly dependent on others (trusting God to protect us or give us the grace to bear disappointment) is good practice for being dependent upon God (who of course will never fail us). It is when we are willing to be weak in this way that God's strength can operate through us, and we can be strong. It is then we imitate Christ.

Patronal Feast

We approach the feast of St Michael the Archangel for the second time as our Feast of Title. We will observe it on Sunday, September 30th, with gratitude for St Michael's protection this past year. It has certainly been an interesting time, as we continue to settle in to our new life as St Michael's. There have also been some times of sadness as we have lost some dearly-loved parishioners in the past year and a half. In any event, we will take the opportunity on the 30th to give special thanks to God for all He has done for us this past year, and beg His continued blessings for the year to come.

It is also an opportune time for us to gather for a congregational meeting (as we do from time to time) to talk about where we are going and how to get there. We'll meet after the ten o'clock Mass on the 29th, following a brief interval for coffee. If you are returning after the early Mass, plan to be back around 11:30. I devoutly hope that all parishioners will be present. There are concerns which we should discuss together, as they involve all of us. So I hope you will make the effort to be there.

Meanwhile, we are already back to “winter” schedule of 8 and 10 on Sunday at West Laurel Hill. We'll continue with the iced tea and lemonade outside until later in September, when the regular coffee hour resumes. Sunday School starts up again on the 16th.

Looking a little ahead (I know: this is out of character for me), the Blessing of Animals is set for Wednesday, October 3rd, at the rectory at 6:30 p.m. This is actually the Eve of St Francis' Day, but looks like the best time – late enough for people to come after work, but still before dark sets in. Plan to bring your pets for a blessing.

Incense

I enclose a brief article on the use of incense by Fr Homer Rogers, a parish priest and professor of pastoral theology at Nashotah House. He was one of those Anglo-catholic priests who by his life and grasp of the faith, could simply and directly communicate the truth. For this reason, he had a profound influence on a generation of priests. He died when I was a curate in New York, and the Sunday following, it fell to me to announce the intercession requests at the High Mass. As fate would have it, he died the same week as the famous organist, Virgil Fox, who had taught one of our organists. Thus I found myself in the position of bidding the prayers “for the faithful departed, especially Homer and Virgil.” I hope you enjoy the article which comes by way of the monthly paper of the Church of the Resurrection, New York.

Communion from the Reserved Sacrament

At some point, most of us will find ourselves in the position of receiving Holy Communion apart from Mass – when we are sick or immobile at home or in the hospital. The Church has made provision for the sick and shut-in to share in the parish Communion through Communion from the reserved Sacrament. Here are a few practical points. If you know when the priest is coming, you should make such spiritual preparation as is possible. This may be limited by pain or our ability to focus in case of illness. If possible, it is also desirable to prepare a place for the Communion. A space should be cleared on a convenient table, and covered with a clean cloth (white linen, ideally). If available, a crucifix and two candles can be placed there as well (with matches). In addition a small bowl or glass of water for the ablutions should be set to the side. The priest will use this to rinse any Fragments of the host from his fingers after the Communion. The water can be consumed by the sick person (or someone else), or poured out on the ground; it should not be poured down the drain.

This is the ideal. Obviously, in the hospital (and sometimes at home), this will not all be possible. God understands, and will make use of whatever is available. The aim is to treat our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament with reverence. A few material preparations (as many of you already make) will help our reverence, along with our spiritual preparation of penitence and adoration.

Kudos

Thanks this month to:

-- Hal Denton, for sponsoring the Sunday School trip to a Trenton Thunder baseball game; and to Paul Schweiger, Steve Hoopes, Donna Lane, Hal and Beth for going along to chaperon.

-- Millie Berghaus for doing the folding and stuffing for this month's Chronicle mailing.

-- John Hansell, and many others who have stepped forward to pick up the slack from Clay Long's and Becky Wilhoite's departure.

Faithfully,

Fr David Ousley