TRINITY CHURCH AND THE OCCUPIERS - THE STORY IS NOT OVER

From Bishop George Packard at Occupied Bishop:

The story of Occupy Wall Street wanting to occupy the Duarte property and Trinity Church--seemingly with arms folded--saying "no way" has all the juiciness of the film, "It's a Wonderful Life." The Rector as the mean Mr. Potter and the Occupiers as George Bailey and the good people of Bedford Falls would be the too-easy castings. Well, discard that rendition because it doesn't work and herein is the real pain of the situation we're in.

Late Saturday night by Fr. Jim Cooper's initiative an impromptu meeting was arranged with the hunger strikers--Brian, Diego, Mallory, and Shae in a quiet place, under a full moon. It was very cold and they talked for over an hour. The Rector and his wife had walked to this location on their own initiative. This is the same couple, Jim and Tay Cooper, I might add, who worked at St. Paul's Chapel--having come up from Florida to do so--in those early, raw days after 9/11.

I'm not saying anymore about this meeting out of respect and privacy for the time they had. But it was a classy thing that the Coopers did to come out a cold night, alone, to meet with these young people in their hunger strike for justice. Keep in mind the point of strikers' action was to convince Trinity to let Occupy Wall Street use land encumbered by Trinity.
....

It's what happened the next day that I can narrate because with my wife Brook I accompanied the strikers to the 9 AM service at Trinity the next morning. It was Advent III and the rose candle in the Advent wreath was lighted as we all arrived to hear Fr. Cooper preach and Fr. Matt Heyd celebrate. Brook was on one end of the pew and I was on the other--bookending the strikers, orienting them to the liturgy and hoping they might consider ending their fast with the Holy Eucharist. Mind you, all this wouldn't have happened if Fr. Jim and the strikers hadn't connected on such a human level the night before. Nobody was around then just the five of them talking.

Please read Bishop Packard's entire eloquent and moving post titled 'Trinity's Compassion'. The story of Trinity Church and the Occupiers is not over. Waiting, expecting...in the spirit of Advent.

The word "advent," from the Latin adventus (Greek parousia), means "coming" or "arrival."

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead.

Image of Trinity Church from Wikipedia.

THIRD SUNDAY IN ADVENT - GAUDETE SUNDAY

Isaiah 61:1-4

The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and release to the prisoners;
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,
and the day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.
They shall build up the ancient ruins,
they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.

Psalm 126

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil.

May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.

John 1:6-8,19-28

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord”,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.

Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, ‘Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ John answered them, ‘I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

STORY OF THE DAY

Opening a door to the mysteries, hoping
to shed a little dark on all the stuff we
think we know

From StoryPeople.

FEAST DAY OF THOMAS MERTON (BROTHER LOUIS)

The splendid and moving icon of Thomas Merton was written by Brother Tobias Haller.

Thomas Merton has been a major influence in my spiritual life for many years, since the 1950s when I read Merton's biography The Seven Storey Mountain. The book had a profound effect on me in deepening my faith. Since the first, I've read a good many of Merton's other writings.

Merton's prayer below sustained me many through many periods in my life when I felt directionless or doubtful about choices I've made.

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"

WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY?

From Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's sermon at Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis:

I am profoundly struck, however, by the parallels between the Occupy movement and Jesus’ band of homeless wanderers.

“Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’” It seems to me that most of these bands of campers have done just that. “Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.” The Occupiers have shared food, cared for each other, and challenged the rest of us about justice in the size of paychecks. Now those who have been evicted are struggling with how to continue their global demonstration.

From Bishop George Packard at his blog Occupied Bishop:

I've been doing reluctant shuttle diplomacy between the Occupiers and Trinity Church and in a moment of pique I posted this on Trinity's Facebook page:

I have this great worry that this venerable parish will be on the wrong side of history in a few weeks. Surely there's some consummate wisdom in the leadership that can offer Occupiers a chance to express their prophetic destiny in these days. It's a matter of record that the church is good with the provision of service and succor for the neighborhood; they are unable, it seems, to understand their dynamic needs. Plainly said, this means looking afresh at lease arrangements for a season regarding the Duarte property. Think of it as offering hospitality to travelers from our future who bring the message of "no injustice, no more." If we really saw OWS for who they are rather than putting up roadblocks in their path we'd truly delight in their coming!

I thought it was fairly innocuous but apparently they didn't think so and deleted it an hour later. I'm actually sympathetic because who wants a rabble rouser in the system? But actually, I thought, wouldn't this kind of conversation be active in the parish?

As I said in the comments at The Lead, I agree with the bishop. What I'd suggest is that Trinity negotiate with the Manhattan Cultural Council, which owns the lease for Duarte Square, for the Occupiers to use the square until spring when the council installs their exhibit, a suggestion which I'm certain is not original.

That Bishop Packard's comment was deleted at Trinity's Facebook page is surprising and disturbing to me. Whatever side you take in the debate, squelching dissent does not seem wise.

George E. Packard retired as Episcopal Bishop to the Armed Forces and Chaplaincies in May 2010.

Image from the Occupy Wall Street Facebook page.

H/T to Torey Lightcap at The Lead for the link to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's sermon.

H/T to Nicholas Knisely at The Lead for the link to Bishop Packard's blog.

SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON

Cartoon by MadPriest.

Lifted from Leonardo at Eruptions at the Foot of the Volcano.

STORY FROM A HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICER

I made a traffic stop on U.S. 166 Eastbound at Mile Marker 73 just East of Sedan, KS.

I asked for her driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance.

The lady took out the required information and handed it to me.

In with the cards I was somewhat surprised (due to her advanced age) to see she had a conceal carry permit.

I looked at her and ask if she had a weapon in her possession at this time.

She responded that she indeed had a .45 automatic in her glove box.

Something---body language, or the way she said it---made me want to ask if she had any other firearms.

She did admit to also having a 9mm Glock in her center console.

Now I had to ask one more time if that was all.

She responded once again that she did have just one more, a .38 special in her purse.

I then asked her what was she so afraid of.

She looked me right in the eye and said, "Not a damn thing!"

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

LETTER TO THE CLERGY AND LAITY IN AMIA

The Director of Communications of AMiA, Cynthia P. Brust, posted a letter at the AMiA website to the clergy and laity of the group with information on the latest events. Along with Primatial Vicar Chuck Murphy, Bishops Sandy Greene, Todd Hunter, TJ Johnston, Philip Jones, Doc Loomis, John Miller, Silas Ng, and John Rodgers, resigned from the Rwanda House of Bishops.

During this interim period, the Anglican Mission is under the oversight of our founding Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini, Moses Tay and Yong Ping Chung until we have a new provincial home within the Anglican Communion.

I've been concerned about the priests and laity in AMiA, some of whom must have had a sense of being adrift since the announcement of the resignation of the bishops by which act the parishes are apparently no longer under the oversight of the Anglican Church of Rwanda. I wonder if the bishops by their resignations actually take all the parishes out of the Church of Rwanda. Do the parishes have a say in whether they leave the oversight of the Church of Rwanda?

I don't know the answer to the questions, but I pray that the clergy, laity, and bishops of AMiA find their places to settle.

ABOUT THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

MURILLO, Bartolomé Esteban - Esquilache Immaculate Conception - 1645-55 (The Hermitage, St. Petersburg)

Yesterday was the Feast of the Immaculate Conception as celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church. I looked for a picture that would illustrate the Immaculate Conception, but what I found were paintings that show Mary in glory like the Murillo above. Now that I think about it, there is really no way to illustrate the Immaculate Conception. What was I thinking?

Elizabeth Kaeton wrote a post at Telling Secrets titled Dirty Mary. Elizabeth's post was, in many ways, a trip down memory lane for me, although I am her elder by years. Back in her day and my day in our Roman Catholic schools, the practices did not change much from decade to decade, thus we share a good many experiences.

We learned early that the Immaculate Conception was definitely not to be identified with the Virgin Birth of Jesus, although, even today, many folks confuse the two. The Immaculate Conception meant Mary was conceived free of original sin, unlike the rest of us who are born prone to sin. Even as a child I thought it rather unfair of God to burden an innocent infant with original sin because of Adam's disobedience.

For several years of those teachings, I had no idea what conception meant, nor what virgin meant beyond, 'How can this be? I know not man.' We'd have had to have been taught a bit of sex education in a Roman Catholic elementary school to understand the words back in the 1940s. Imagine! I don't remember being particularly curious about what the words meant, which seems odd to me now, because I was a curious child. I learned the teachings by rote from the Q&A format in the Baltimore Catechism, and gave the answers back to the teachers on tests without much thought except to get the answers right.

For centuries, there was controversy about the concept of the Immaculate Conception. Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, and Bernard of Clairvaux all had difficulties with the doctrine.

Bernard would seem to have been speaking of conception in the active sense of the mother's cooperation, for in his argument he says: "How can there be absence of sin where there is concupiscence (libido)?" and stronger expressions follow, showing that he is speaking of the mother and not of the child....

Pope Pius IX defined the Immaculate Conception as a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church on December 8, 1854

Although I no longer celebrate the feast of the Immaculate Conception, I honor Mary as a strong and brave woman, a woman who is a model for us all of saying 'Yes' to God, even in the face of grave consequences. I continue to pray to Mary to intercede with her son on our behalf.

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

Luke 2:33-35

Image from the Web Gallery of Art.

NOT NICE, MS CAT!

Santa was naughty, too.

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.