Our Blog

You can listen to the reading and reflection by clicking here.

Luke 11.14-23

Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? —for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

This is a heavy reading to parse through. It seems like such a strong condemnation and definitive line in the sand from the one who calls us to love our neighbor as ourselves and whose sacrifice is the font of redemption. But there it is.

Jesus brings up an interesting point to his critics early on in the story, revealing their logical fallacy. “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? —for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul."

Evil that does good can no longer truly be evil and likewise, good that does evil can not be considered good.

I read CS Lewis' The Last Battle when I was younger and one scene really stuck with me. A young Calormen soldier, who had worshiped Tash (an evil, vicious demi-god and a parallel to Satan in Lewis' fantasy world of Narnia) all of his life and, when given the opportunity to enter the altar set up to Tash, the soldier does so piously and penitently; expecting not to survive the encounter. Instead, he comes face to face with Aslan (the parallel to Christ in Narnia) and is told that all the service that the young man had done in the name of Tash was actually done in his name, for "no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him." The young man is relieved and falls to his knees weeping.

I found, and continue to find, this heartening. That the line in the sand doesn't have to be as damning as it seems. That though there is good and evil in this world, I can't always make that determination from a cursory, superficial examination. That perhaps I have more in common with my (so called) enemies than I realize. Perhaps we aren't truly enemies at all. Perhaps there is hope for me yet?

Redemption hidden in even the heaviest of lessons.

You can listen to the reading and reflection by clicking here.

Deuteronomy 4.1, 5-9

So now, Israel, give heed to the statutes and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, so that you may live to enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. See, just as the Lord my God has charged me, I now teach you statutes and ordinances for you to observe in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!” For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him? And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children—

Upon reading this piece on Deuteronomy, I at first panicked and thought about how maybe I should ask Deacon John to change the piece by giving me another reading at a later date. I did not like the very direct words of statutes and ordinances, rules and laws. That is all I could think about. Why could I not get a reading perhaps from Mark or the other Apostles? But of course, I did not ask him to change it, and I knew that there was something there for me to learn.

When reading the first words of statutes and ordinances in this piece from Deuteronomy, I immediately thought about the Capitol Building on January 6 and how many rules and statutes were broken that day and how the attack was done by people who also used religion to justify the destruction of property, lives and the attack our Democracy. These people used their understanding of statutes and ordinances in the name of religion. As I watched on television, I had a chill down my spine. I had been to the Capitol building a few times for work. I knew how beautiful the place was inside and what it meant for me walking through that building as I spoke to US representatives and Senators about our students of color and their achievements and how I wanted them to continue supporting our scholars with federal funds. I thought about who I was, as a Latina-woman and first-generation college and graduate student and how privileged I was to lobby for our students in the Capitol building the few times I had been there. A place of respect for the rules of law, statutes and ordinances, now defiled, and the perpetrators, most of whom did not pay for what they did. In anger, I wanted all of them to be punished. But is that what God is calling us to think about in wisdom and discernment?

Whether it is the commandments or the rules of law, they are there to create some structure, guidance and perhaps a benchmark to start and live a life in wisdom and discernment. We need to know when to be flexible and when to forgive. I think the Pandemic and the incident in the Capitol building continues to remind us how chaotic things can get, quickly, when one is not paying attention or when people do not care about the consequences and the affects to the lives of others, as with our past President. Deuteronomy says: “take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life.”

We need to remember that, as hard and difficult this past year has been, perhaps all of this was a sign to take time to think about the things that are important in our lives-our family, our friends, our freedom and democracy, which though imperfect, is still more perfect than other countries around the world. Putting a pause on every aspect of our lives this year has to mean something? Perhaps each of us have gained a little wisdom and discernment, we have become more creative, more thoughtful, more patient and perhaps the words that I was hesitant to think about in the beginning of this reading “statutes and ordinances” was just a hesitancy on my part, due to fear about what was broken this past year and wondering, “how do we get back to some sense of order?” Are people going to continue to attack our democracy and hate? How do we now begin rebuilding, strengthening and growing our spiritual tools? May we all grow in faith, love and compassion and use this time to pause, re-set and think about how we can make our world a better place to live in love, light and compassion.

You can listen to the reading and reflection by clicking here.

Matthew 18.21-35

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times. “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. But that same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Once again, we are given an example of the need for infinite grace and forgiveness. Seventy times seven is not enough. This is a difficult concept for our finite natures to grasp. Our minds keep a ledger of debts, deals, and balances. Of course, we should be generous, but not too generous. We don’t want to be considered weak or a “push over” or an “easy mark”. Somehow, the sticky wicket of fairness clouds our judgement. Isn’t forgiving seven times plenty? No, this scripture makes it very clear, it is not enough.

These days, I am working with a group of high school seniors who have not done well with remote learning. They are missing required credits. Their chances of graduating this May are bleak unless we can convince some very stressed and irritated teachers to give them additional opportunities to make up these credits. This is a challenge, but I feel there is a connection between this scripture and my students need for another chance, a time extension or an alternative assignment. They need forgiveness, not because they deserve it, but because we all need such forgiveness every day.

I think my reflection on this scripture today is really a prayer for help. Lord, help me guide and inspire these students to ask for grace once again and help me support their teachers to grant them the grace of a “retake”. Don’t we all need those “retakes”? Amen.