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Saturday, February 28, 2009
Saturday, February 28
Psalm 42 / Titus 3:1-15 / John 1:43-51
My Aunt Therese, a nun for over sixty years, has a habit of teasing me about my weight, a subject I have gone to great lengths to tell her I really don't want to discuss. She gives me a hug and then says, "Well, Stephen, I can barely get my arms around you anymore." (Chuckle, chuckle.) I love my aunt and this drives me crazy every time she does it. So I wonder, after having read Paul's Letter to Titus, if I should ever attend another family gathering where my aunt is present.
Paul instructs Titus that "after a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions, since you know that such a person is perverted and sinful, being self-condemned." I know Paul is referring to people who do much worse things than chide another about being "generously proportioned"! I would much rather think about my aunt's gentle teasing as some sort of major fault than focus on the way I often argue so much or push people so hard, knowing they don't appreciate me doing this. Am I "self-condemned"? Paul reminds me and you and everyone that we are saved "not because of any works of righteousness that we [have] done, but according to [God's] mercy." Whatever kind of mess I might be, the good news — the Good News — is that God saves us because God wants to, and there is nothing we can do about that. Thank God!
— Stephen P. Hagerty
My Aunt Therese, a nun for over sixty years, has a habit of teasing me about my weight, a subject I have gone to great lengths to tell her I really don't want to discuss. She gives me a hug and then says, "Well, Stephen, I can barely get my arms around you anymore." (Chuckle, chuckle.) I love my aunt and this drives me crazy every time she does it. So I wonder, after having read Paul's Letter to Titus, if I should ever attend another family gathering where my aunt is present.
Paul instructs Titus that "after a first and second admonition, have nothing more to do with anyone who causes divisions, since you know that such a person is perverted and sinful, being self-condemned." I know Paul is referring to people who do much worse things than chide another about being "generously proportioned"! I would much rather think about my aunt's gentle teasing as some sort of major fault than focus on the way I often argue so much or push people so hard, knowing they don't appreciate me doing this. Am I "self-condemned"? Paul reminds me and you and everyone that we are saved "not because of any works of righteousness that we [have] done, but according to [God's] mercy." Whatever kind of mess I might be, the good news — the Good News — is that God saves us because God wants to, and there is nothing we can do about that. Thank God!
— Stephen P. Hagerty
Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 27
Psalm 95 / Titus 2: 1-15 / John 1: 35-42
One of the many things at Ascension that is special to me is the Lenten Devotional. I find the reflections on the Scriptures by people whom I know and with whom I worship are both interesting and helpful. Reading them is rather like taking a journey with friends.
The first verse of Psalm 95 reminds me of a wonderful course of Bible study with the Reverend Dr. Vesta Kowalski, who was awarded her Ph.D. by both the General Theological Seminary and the Jewish Theological Seminary. Her thesis topic was the meaning of references to God as a rock in the Old Testament. To me this Psalm means we should recognize God as a landmark rock in the center of our lives.
The reading from Paul's letter to Titus instructs us specifically on centering one's life on God. Taken together, Psalm 95 and the reading from Paul's letter to Titus make a good agenda for Lent. However, at the time these scriptures were written, Lent as we understand it and know it had yet to be developed. They were intended not just for a particular season, but for all times.
Finally, what the Gospel reading from John adds to this is that at the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus calls the disciples to accompany him. Clearly, he did not intend to make this extraordinary journey alone. I believe this shows us the importance of making the journey with friends.
— Judith Sands
One of the many things at Ascension that is special to me is the Lenten Devotional. I find the reflections on the Scriptures by people whom I know and with whom I worship are both interesting and helpful. Reading them is rather like taking a journey with friends.
The first verse of Psalm 95 reminds me of a wonderful course of Bible study with the Reverend Dr. Vesta Kowalski, who was awarded her Ph.D. by both the General Theological Seminary and the Jewish Theological Seminary. Her thesis topic was the meaning of references to God as a rock in the Old Testament. To me this Psalm means we should recognize God as a landmark rock in the center of our lives.
The reading from Paul's letter to Titus instructs us specifically on centering one's life on God. Taken together, Psalm 95 and the reading from Paul's letter to Titus make a good agenda for Lent. However, at the time these scriptures were written, Lent as we understand it and know it had yet to be developed. They were intended not just for a particular season, but for all times.
Finally, what the Gospel reading from John adds to this is that at the very beginning of his ministry, Jesus calls the disciples to accompany him. Clearly, he did not intend to make this extraordinary journey alone. I believe this shows us the importance of making the journey with friends.
— Judith Sands
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Thursday, February 26
Psalm 37: 1-18 / Titus 1: 1-16 / John 1: 29-34
The first sentence in the King James Version of John's Gospel is memorable: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The text appointed for today is equally beautiful. John recognizes Jesus as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world when he sees the "Spirit" descend upon him and remain there.
The Psalm and the Epistle present the age-old problem of good and evil. The Psalmist advises us not to be concerned about "evildoers" but to "trust in the Lord," who will cause the swords of the wicked, drawn against the poor and needy, to turn on themselves, thereby leaving the land to the righteous. "The meek shall inherit the earth," he concludes. Paul's letter to Titus may be in response to the latter's plea for help in managing the Christian community on Crete. Paul does not mince words. He reminds Titus to "ordain" elders in each town, "blameless" men who are faithful to their wives and to Christian doctrine. He also warns Titus, his "true-born son in the faith which we share," about converts who are "unruly talkers and deceivers" ("out of all control" in the New English Bible). It appears that the early Christians had difficulty in maintaining their identity while curbing the fanaticism of some of their followers. Isn't this situation similar to the Church's today? On the one hand we struggle against the materialism of the world around us. On the other we try to limit the damage done by misguided fanatics who insist that their interpretation of Scripture is the only valid one.
— Charles Hill
The first sentence in the King James Version of John's Gospel is memorable: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The text appointed for today is equally beautiful. John recognizes Jesus as the Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world when he sees the "Spirit" descend upon him and remain there.
The Psalm and the Epistle present the age-old problem of good and evil. The Psalmist advises us not to be concerned about "evildoers" but to "trust in the Lord," who will cause the swords of the wicked, drawn against the poor and needy, to turn on themselves, thereby leaving the land to the righteous. "The meek shall inherit the earth," he concludes. Paul's letter to Titus may be in response to the latter's plea for help in managing the Christian community on Crete. Paul does not mince words. He reminds Titus to "ordain" elders in each town, "blameless" men who are faithful to their wives and to Christian doctrine. He also warns Titus, his "true-born son in the faith which we share," about converts who are "unruly talkers and deceivers" ("out of all control" in the New English Bible). It appears that the early Christians had difficulty in maintaining their identity while curbing the fanaticism of some of their followers. Isn't this situation similar to the Church's today? On the one hand we struggle against the materialism of the world around us. On the other we try to limit the damage done by misguided fanatics who insist that their interpretation of Scripture is the only valid one.
— Charles Hill
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Ash Wednesday, February 25
Psalm 102 / Hebrews 12: 1-14 / Luke 18: 9-14
Discipline and Habit: These are words to meditate on during the Lenten liturgical season or the Lenten phase of our lives, and they capture the recurring themes for these Ash Wednesday passages.
In the Gospel, pride leaps to the fore in the person of the Pharisee who sees himself as superior to the Tax-Collector. About a year ago I went to see an exhibit of Jamie Wyeth's recent paintings, among them a meditation series on the Seven Deadly Sins depicting sea gulls that frequent the Maine coastline. In the pride frame, at the base of the canvas, there are four birds looking to one of their own who is positioned above them with his bill clutching a whole red lobster. Obviously this haughty Pharisee has no intention of sharing his prize with the others, all looking on with a mixture of envy, hunger, and indifference.
Thinking they are just as worthy to share in this prize catch, the Tax-Collector birds hover about just in case the Pharisee drops the lobster. (Wyeth took artistic license and painted the lobster a brilliant red, which only occurs with a cooked one.) The artist's intent is to "strike at the beat of our 21-century culture" reflecting our moral ambiguities, according to the exhibition catalogue.
What Pharisee-like moral ambiguities have infected your own disciplines and habits? How have they set you apart, one from the other, in your civic and religious communities?
— Janet Fisher
Discipline and Habit: These are words to meditate on during the Lenten liturgical season or the Lenten phase of our lives, and they capture the recurring themes for these Ash Wednesday passages.
In the Gospel, pride leaps to the fore in the person of the Pharisee who sees himself as superior to the Tax-Collector. About a year ago I went to see an exhibit of Jamie Wyeth's recent paintings, among them a meditation series on the Seven Deadly Sins depicting sea gulls that frequent the Maine coastline. In the pride frame, at the base of the canvas, there are four birds looking to one of their own who is positioned above them with his bill clutching a whole red lobster. Obviously this haughty Pharisee has no intention of sharing his prize with the others, all looking on with a mixture of envy, hunger, and indifference.
Thinking they are just as worthy to share in this prize catch, the Tax-Collector birds hover about just in case the Pharisee drops the lobster. (Wyeth took artistic license and painted the lobster a brilliant red, which only occurs with a cooked one.) The artist's intent is to "strike at the beat of our 21-century culture" reflecting our moral ambiguities, according to the exhibition catalogue.
What Pharisee-like moral ambiguities have infected your own disciplines and habits? How have they set you apart, one from the other, in your civic and religious communities?
— Janet Fisher
Monday, February 23, 2009
Editor's Preface to 2009 Lenten Devotional
Lent, traditionally a period in which catechumens were prepared for baptism and the excommunicated for reconciliation, has become a time of meditation and discipline for all Christians. This discipline is not punishment but training, experience that strengthens one for a purpose. The term "ascetic," often applied to stringent self denial, comes from the Greek "askesis," originally the athlete's training.
As for the past several years, we Ascensionites join in that training, that experience of growth. To that end, several parishioners, often with very different viewpoints, share their thoughts about the daily readings. This year, contributions come from a broader base in the Communion of Saints, from friends whom you may not have met. We shall journey together.
I thank all who have written for this booklet, especially Eve Beglarian and Derek Baker, whose help has been essential to its production, and to Ascension office staff Denise Kelly and Nick Limansky.
A holy and blessed Lent to all.
Elizabeth K. Hill, Editor
As for the past several years, we Ascensionites join in that training, that experience of growth. To that end, several parishioners, often with very different viewpoints, share their thoughts about the daily readings. This year, contributions come from a broader base in the Communion of Saints, from friends whom you may not have met. We shall journey together.
I thank all who have written for this booklet, especially Eve Beglarian and Derek Baker, whose help has been essential to its production, and to Ascension office staff Denise Kelly and Nick Limansky.
A holy and blessed Lent to all.
Elizabeth K. Hill, Editor
