LETTER FROM THE REV JOHN MERZ WHO WAS ARRESTED ON SATURDAY AT OWS

From the website of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island:

Dear Bishop Provenzano,

Yesterday some troubled the waters and I got in. For me it was not premeditated. In fact Rev. Michael Sniffen and I were clear that for each of us it would be a choice we made on our own, with no pressure from the other.

I feel that being in solidarity with the Occupy movement, with its desperate need for outdoor space along with the pressure it was under through systematic oppression before Nov. 15, combined with the dispersal that took place (in concert with 18 mayors around the nation and homeland security): all this necessitated such a move of conscience. As I crossed property boundaries that many in the church seem to believe are inviolable, I believe a full explanation for my motives and actions in conformity to the vows I took upon ordination as Priest, as well as in my being a public citizen are in order:

On the OWS movements: the power of these movements is precisely their transgressive nature. While non- violence is the primary mode of gathering and demonstrating --I have never once seen a protester strike anyone anytime-- the occupation at Liberty Square/Zuccotti and the general heart of the movement is a kind of ongoing non-violent act of civil disobedience performed in love. Before the dispersal from Liberty/Zucccotti, we experienced a space wherein hope for real change for all was being performed and spread. It was no domesticated affair, no sanctioned public conversation; evidenced by the constant threat of eviction, the 24 hour police presence and the well documented police harassment, violations of private assembly and surveillance (see the newly minted Defense Authorization Act as a sad continuation). If we are uncomfortable with transgression, and I think we always are in some way, I submit we are not conformable to the mode and actions of Jesus. We may not be able to be able to live in that liberated space at all times; I know we find it so hard, but it is real and needs honoring. It follows that we (I know I am) always grasping, always incomplete, always in the dark, are groping for the hand of the spirit to help us find the door to that space. That is where I am: groping in that dark.

See more.

Yours faithfully, John Merz
--
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in.
--
Leonard Cohen

www.ascensionbrooklyn.org
The Reverend John Merz
Priest-in-Charge
Diocesan Missioner to Greenpoint and Williamsburg

Please read it all.

O RADIX JESSE

Antiphon sung by the Dominican student brothers at Blackfriars in Oxford.

December 19

O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.


O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people,
at Whom the kings shall shut their mouths,
Whom the Gentiles shall seek,
come to deliver us, do not tarry.

Isaiah 11:1, 11:10

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
....

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Text from Fish Eaters.

Reposted from last year, and the year before...as a tradition.

ANOTHER STATEMENT FROM THE RECTOR OF TRINITY WALL STREET

From Trinity Wall Street:

We are saddened that OWS protestors chose to ignore yesterday’s messages from Archbishop Tutu, from the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, and from Bishop of New York Mark S. Sisk. Bishop Tutu said: “In a country where all people can vote and Trinity’s door to dialogue is open, it is not necessary to forcibly break into property.” The Presiding Bishop said: “Other facilities of Trinity continue to be open to support the Occupy movement, for which I give great thanks. It is regrettable that Occupy members feel it is necessary to provoke potential legal and police action by attempting to trespass on other parish property…I would urge all concerned to stand down and seek justice in ways that do not further alienate potential allies.” Bishop Sisk said: “The movement should not be used to justify breaking the law nor is it necessary to break into property for the movement to continue.”
....

The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, Rector of Trinity Church

Today I was wondering what was in the minds and hearts of the people at Trinity after they read the stories and saw the pictures and videos of the events at Duarte Square yesterday. Now I know. They are saddened.

I assume the folks at Trinity were saddened when they saw the pictures of Bishop Packard going over the fence, getting arrested, riding in the police van. They were saddened by Brook Packard's account of getting kneed three times by a policeman until she fell and then being lifted by another policeman and thrown on a pile of people. They were saddened when the police used excessive and unnecessary force against bystanders outside the fence looking on, not trespassing.

Bishop Packard is my hero. I will never forget the video of him stumbling over his magenta robe as he climbed the ladder to make it first over the fence. Several people nearby said they cried. How proud I am that he is a bishop in my Episcopal Church.

I am saddened, too, but for different reasons than the folks at Trinity. I am saddened that Trinity did not offer a place, a home, a refuge, to the Occupiers. I am saddened that Trinity did not ask the police to stand down.

Bishop Packard has written a must-read post on the events of yesterday at Occupied Bishop which I urge you to read.

THE FABLE OF THE DOG IN THE MANGER

People frequently begrudge something to others that they themselves cannot enjoy. Even though it does them no good, they won't let others have it. Listen to a fable about such an event. There was a wicked dog lying in a manger full of hay. When the cattle came and wanted to eat, the dog barred their way, baring his teeth. The cattle said to the dog, "You are being very unfair by begrudging us something we need which is useless to you. Dogs don't eat hay, but you will not let us near it."

The fable is not amongst the original Aesop's Fables, but rather appears in Steinhöwel's Esopus (c.1476).

From Wikipedia.

DIANA - SLEEP TO WAKEFULNESS

 

Diana snoozing on her L. L. Bean bed, of which she is extremely fond. These days, sleeping is the old girl's favorite 'activity'.

 

Diana stirring.

 

Diana awake. She will want to go outside. If it's daylight, she will visit her favorite haunts in our large back yard. When she goes out in the dark, she will pick a spot and stand there and bark...at what we don't know. She is deaf and has only one eye with very poor vision.

MORE NEWS ON OCCUPY WALL STREET

Episcopal News Service has an excellent account of yesterday's events at OWS in New York City:

Retired Episcopal Bishop George Packard and at least two other Episcopal priests were arrested Dec. 17 after they entered a fenced property — owned by Trinity Episcopal Church, Wall Street — in Duarte Square in Lower Manhattan as part of Occupy Wall Street‘s “D17 Take Back the Commons” event to celebrate three months since the movement’s launch.

Livestream video showed the former Episcopal bishop for the armed forces and federal ministries, dressed in purple vestments and wearing a cross, climbing a ladder that protesters erected against the fence at about 3:30 p.m. and dropping to the ground inside the property. Packard was the first to enter the site. Other protesters followed, including the Rev. John Merz and the Rev. Michael Sniffen, Episcopal priests in the Diocese of Long Island.

Soon after, police entered the area and arrested at least 50 people. Merz reportedly was arrested with Packard. Sniffen was conducting a telephone interview with ENS that ended abruptly. At 11 p.m., he confirmed that he subsequently had been arrested. Just before midnight, Packard’s wife, Brook, told ENS via e-mail that her husband had been released and was on his way home.

Read the rest at the link.

H/T to Jim Naughton at The Lead. Jim's post is headlined The whole world was watching and includes several links to media coverage from around the world.

Bishop George Packard arrested. Photo from the Daily Mail.

O ADONAI

Antiphon sung by the Dominican student brothers at Blackfriars in Oxford.

December 18

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammæ rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.


O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel,
Who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush,
and gavest him the law in Sinai,
come to redeem us with an outstretched arm!

Isaiah 11:4-5

But with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

Text of the antiphon from Fish Eaters.

Reposted from last year, the year before...as a tradition.

FOURTH SUNDAY IN ADVENT

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation, that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, ‘See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent.’ Nathan said to the king, ‘Go, do all that you have in mind; for the Lord is with you.’

But that same night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the Lord: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, ‘Why have you not built me a house of cedar?’ Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.

Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord,* for ever;
with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
I declare that your steadfast love is established for ever;
your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

You said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have sworn to my servant David:
“I will establish your descendants for ever,
and build your throne for all generations.” ’
Selah

Then you spoke in a vision to your faithful one, and said:
‘I have set the crown* on one who is mighty,
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
I have found my servant David;
with my holy oil I have anointed him;
my hand shall always remain with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
The enemy shall not outwit him,
the wicked shall not humble him.
I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
My faithfulness and steadfast love shall be with him;
and in my name his horn shall be exalted.
I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
He shall cry to me, “You are my Father,
my God, and the Rock of my salvation!”

Romans 16:25-27

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever! Amen.

Luke 1:26-38

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’* But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’* The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born* will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.

TWS TO OWS - BUGGER OFF!

From the Rev Dr James H Cooper, rector of Trinity Wall Street:

We are saddened that OWS protestors chose to ignore yesterday’s messages from Archbishop Tutu, from the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, and from Bishop of New York Mark S. Sisk. Bishop Tutu said: “In a country where all people can vote and Trinity’s door to dialogue is open, it is not necessary to forcibly break into property.” The Presiding Bishop said: “Other facilities of Trinity continue to be open to support the Occupy movement, for which I give great thanks. It is regrettable that Occupy members feel it is necessary to provoke potential legal and police action by attempting to trespass on other parish property…I would urge all concerned to stand down and seek justice in ways that do not further alienate potential allies.” Bishop Sisk said: “The movement should not be used to justify breaking the law nor is it necessary to break into property for the movement to continue.”

OWS protestors call out for social and economic justice; Trinity has been supporting these goals for more than 300 years. The protestors say they want to improve housing and economic development; Trinity is actively engaged in such efforts in the poorest neighborhoods in New York City and indeed around the world. We do not, however, believe that erecting a tent city at Duarte Square enhances their mission or ours. The vacant lot has no facilities to sustain a winter encampment. In good conscience and faith, we strongly believe to do so would be wrong, unsafe, unhealthy, and potentially injurious. We will continue to provide places of refuge and the responsible use of our facilities in the Wall Street area. We are gratified by the support we have received from so many in the community.

-The Rev. Dr. James H. Cooper, Rector of Trinity Church

Now I probably should post the Rev Cooper's statement without editorial comment, but I can't resist adding my 2 cents. In my humble opinion, the statement is pretty lame. It appears to me that the rector asked for statements from the big guns ahead of time so he could quote them to back up his own words, as though his statement wouldn't stand on its own.

Are we truly 'a country where all people can vote'? I don't think so. Even now, evidence shows that Republican governors work overtime to make it difficult for certain certain citizens to vote.

Folks keep saying the protestors should be barred from this place or that place because of 'health and safety' concerns, or because 'it's complicated', but it's really not. OWS seeks a place of refuge, and why not let them have the barren plot of land until the spring? They may even decide to move along before spring. Isn't the church to be about offering refuge? I know the folks at Trinity are not bad guys, and I know Trinity does much good in the community and around the world, but they chose to take the safe side against OWS, which means that they lost the opportunity to stand in witness with them against power and corruption.

I think of the Magnificat:

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.’

Don't blame me for the headline. Blame my friend who must not be named.

UPDATE: Since her husband is in jail, Brook Packard posted at Occupied Bishop, Bp. Packard's blog, giving an account of her day. Please follow the link in her post to Elizabeth Drescher's report at Religious Dispatches, which provides further information.

BISHOP GEORGE PACKARD - OVER THE FENCE

From Mother Jones:

After Bishop Packard tumbled over the fence, he climbed onto a wooden bench and waved for the crowd to follow. Other priests mounted the ladder while the the crowd yanked up the base of the fence to make a large opening. Someone cut the lock on a gate, and dozens of people streamed inside, talking, dancing to rap music from a boom box, and urging the rest of the crowd to join them. But the party couldn't last. The police, taken off guard at first, came pouring through the gate with flex cuffs and arrested everyone who didn't flee, including Packard. I personally witnessed about a half dozen arrests in progress, but the final tally will probably be higher.

God bless Bishop Packard! What a mensch!

Mass arrests of Occupiers.



Pray for those who were arrested. Pray for the police.

Thanks to Ann Fontaine at Facebook.