What Is Peace?

“Peace is not the product of terror or fear. Peace is not the silence of cemeteries. Peace is not the silent result of violent repression. Peace is the generous, tranquil contribution of all to the good of all. Peace is dynamism. Peace is generosity. It is right and it is a duty.” - Oscar Romero, January 7, 1978

San Romero de América, Pastor y Mártir Nuestro
by Pedro Casaldáliga

...Y supiste beber el doble cáliz del Altar y del Pueblo,
con una sola mano consagrada al servicio.
América Latina ya te ha puesto en su gloria de Bernini
en la espuma aureola de sus mares,
en el dosel airado de los Andes alertos,
en la canción de todos sus caminos,
en el calvario nuevo de todas sus prisiones,
de todas sus trincheras,
de todos sus altares. . .
¡En el ara segura del corazón insomne de sus hijos!

San Romero de América, pastor y mártir nuestro:
¡nadie hará callar tu última homilía!


...And you knew how to drink from the double chalice of the Altar and of the People,
with one single hand devoted to service.
Latin America has already laid you in its glory of Bernini
in the foamy halo of its seas,
in the angry canopy of the alert Andes,
in the song of all its streets,
in the new calvary of all its prisons,
of all its trenches,
of all its altars. . . .
In the secure altar of the sleepless heart of its children!

San Romero of America, our shepherd and martyr:
nobody will silence your last homily!

Picture from Wiki.

Excerpt and translation of the poem from Monthly Review.

Heavy Lifting

Scene from the period during which George and Laura led a cadre of volunteers and rebuilt New Orleans.

Earthquake in China

From the Associated Press:

CHENGDU, China - One of the worst earthquakes to hit China in three decades killed nearly 9,000 12,000 people Monday, trapped about 900 students under the rubble of their school and caused a toxic chemical leak, state media reported.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake devastated a hilly region of small cities and towns in central China. The official Xinhua News Agency said 8,533 people died in Sichuan province and more than 200 others were killed in three other provinces and the mega-city of Chongqing.

Lord, have mercy.

Send help and deliverance to our brothers and sisters in China.

Why I Never Disagree With Tobias Haller

In Tobias' own words:

You are, of course, quite welcome to remain firm in the belief that you are a part of the only true church -- as that is a part of the Orthodox tradition. You can keep lobbing insults at Rome or Anglicans to your heart's content. But where I come from such behavior is seen as a kind of pathology, and at the very least a bit ungracious -- and hardly likely to win anyone to your side of the divide.

Tobias writes at In A Godward Direction, among other places.

UPDATE: I've met Tobias, and he is a lovely man and a wonderful priest. We happen to agree on the big things, but I know that if I crossed swords with him, the outcome would be foreordained.

Here's The Church....

 

Here's the church
Here's the steeple.
Open the doors....

Well, the doors are closed, so you can't see all the people.

Bishop Leonidas Polk established St. John's Episcopal Church in Thibodaux, Louisiana, in 1843. In that same year he laid cornerstone for the building, and construction of the building was completed in 1844. What is now the narthex of the church was once an open porch with columns, but the porch was eventually closed in. It's one of the oldest Episcopal churches west of the Mississippi River.

Bishop Polk is also known as the fighting bishop. He was a graduate of West Point, and Jefferson Davis prevailed upon him to take a position as a commanding general in the Army of the Confederacy. He seemed not to have been a very good fighting general, but he cared for his troops well, and they grieved sorely when he was killed in Pine Mountain, Georgia, in 1864.



Above is a picture of the sanctuary, with the altar and the stained glass depicting St. John the Evangelist. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you can see that a snake is rising up out of the cup that John holds. According to legend, John was handed a cup of poisoned wine by the emperor Diocletian, and when he blessed it, the poison came out in the form of a snake.

The altar was originally attached to the wall, but in the 1970s, it was moved forward to permit the priest to face the congregation during the celebration of the Eucharist.

The kneelers are in a fixed position halfway between up and on the floor, so that when you're kneeling, or trying to, your bum rests on the pew. I have heard it said that they were done this way to accommodate the hoop skirts worn by the ladies at the time the church was built. I've thought myself that it may simply be the chosen Via Media between kneeling and sitting during the services.

A complete restoration of the building, which cost the earth, was completed in 2001. I think that it's a lovely gem of a small church. In another post, I'll show more pictures of the interior and of the wonderful old restored pipe organ which we installed a few years ago.

The Feast of Pentecost

Restout, Jean II - "Pentecost" - 1732 - Musée du Louvre, Paris

THE COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Psalm 118:21-24

I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

John 16:4b-14

'But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.

‘I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?” But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgement: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgement, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.'

COLLECT

O God, who on this day taught the hearts of your faithful people by sending to them the light of your Holy Spirit: Grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in his holy comfort; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

READINGS

AM Psalm 118, PM Psalm 145
Deut. 16:9-12 ; Acts 4:18-21,23-33; John 4:19-26

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

For All Who Mother - A Day Full Of Grace

Sandro Botticelli - "Madonna of the Book" - c. 1483 - Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan

Mary’s Song of Praise

And Mary said,
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants for ever."

Luke 1:46-55

The idea of honoring mothers by honoring Mary, the mother of Jesus, comes from Lindy at Two Fruits In the Sukka. When Jesus told his mother, "Woman, behold your son!" and then told the disciple he loved, "Behold your mother!" I take that to mean that we are all included with the beloved disciple. She is our mother, too. We are her children. Jesus is our brother.

I can think of no better way to honor Mary than to quote her beautiful prayer of praise, "The Magnificat", the prayer that presents to us a view of the upside-down world that is the kingdom of God.

Lindy wishes not simply to honor mothers, as such, but to honor mothering, to honor all those who give and have given loving care, whoever they may be. It's a splendid idea, not Hallmarky at all. I join with her to honor mothering.

Lindy's post is lovely. It includes hymns, prayers and beautiful words of her own. I urge to click the link above to her site to see for yourself.

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

Where Should I Live?

You Should Live in a Big City

You don't want anything in particular out of life... you want it all. You crave new and exciting experiences. And you get bored fairly easily. Only very big cities can keep you entertained and stimulated.

Where Should You Live?

Please! Tell me something I don't know. However, it's not true that I get bored easily. I'm almost never bored. No matter where I live, I have much to occupy myself. If I was bored easily, I'd be dead by now, from living in a small towns for over 40 years.

From Eileen via Paul.

The Day Before

Faithful churchgoer that I am, I ponder how the preachers will handle the coincidence of Pentecost and Mother's Day. I have no idea. Good thing I'm not a preacher. They most certainly won't ignore Pentecost. How will they tie the two together? Will they tie the two together?

Meanwhile my New Orleans pal, Oyster, at Your Right Hand Thief wants to know:

When did Mother's Day become Mother's Weekend?

Poor guy. He can't handle coddling Lovely, his dear wife, for a whole weekend. He's already worn out. I answered him in his comments:

Oyster, my friend, I love ya, but my word to you this weekend is, "SUCK IT UP!" Ya can't win this one.

Which is the perfect lead-in to this joke from Susan S.:

What Do You Do All Day?

A man came home from work and found his three children
outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and
wrappers strewn all around the front yard.

The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a Cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out
the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and
more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and
toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.

He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?'
She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come
home from work and you ask me what in the world do I do all day?'

"Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

Of course, this joke one only works for the moms who don't have outside jobs, but you can project, because most working wives generally do these home chores along with their outside jobs. Before you guys bombard me, I know that there are men who are the exceptions, men who do pull their weight and that you are one of them.

Thought For The Day - Lambeth - Bishop Robinson

Although Bishop Gene Robinson will not be in the room during the bishops' meetings at Lambeth, he will, nevertheless, be a powerful presence by his very absence.