All Can. Some Should. None Must.

Do you go to Confession in the Episcopal Church?  It is a good question and the anwer is “yes.”  Almost every time the Eucharist is celebrated it includes a General Confession followed by the priest or bishop pronouncing God’s absolution.  In the usual order of service this happens just after the Prayers of the People and just before the Exchange of Peace.  When the Penitential Order is used the General Confession and Absolution come at the beginning of the service.

The use of the General Confession is no token nod toward spiritual and personal housekeeping.  It is meant to be fully confessional and is something to be approached with genuine contrition and sincere repentance.  The absolution that follows it is meant to be an equally genuine wiping away of the stain of sin.

To be sure, the General Confession is good spiritual medicine.  But, there are times when it just does not seem to be, shall we say, a prescription dose of the things needed to forgive, repent, reconcile and move forward.

Many do not know it, I am sad to say, but the Episcopal Church also offers what many might consider a more traditional, or more (Roman) Catholic, sacramental rite of “Confession.”  You will find two “rites” on pages 447 and 449 of the Book of Common Prayer.  It is most properly called the Reconciliation of a Penitent.  Some call it Auricular Confession (auricular meaning “spoken into the ear”). 

This form of Reconciliation allows for a prayerful exchange between priest (or bishop) and the person “making their confession.”  The exchange includes a time of speaking one’s sins into the ear of the priest or bishop.  Through the ages this has been found to be a very beneficial path to a more complete coming to terms with one’s actions.  When words are pressed forth from our mouths and fall into another person’s ears and into the ears of the penitent you cannot get them back.  When that happens very often it makes the seriousness of the actions being confessed more real and undeniable.  No more mind games.  No more keeping it all in my head.  It is out there; you cannot get it back.  Denial becomes much harder.

The exchange between penitent and priest also includes a time of spiritual counsel, and may include some form of penance.  Properly, penance is not some form of spiritual busy work.  It is offered with the goal of heightening forgiveness, fostering spiritual healing, and as an exercise to spiritually and practically strengthen the penitent so that the same sins are not so easily repeated.  In the presence of contrition and a desire for amendment of life, God’s absolution is pronounced by the confessor.

“All can. Some should. None must.” This is axiom frequently used to state the Episcopal/Anglican use of the rite of The Reconciliation of a Penitent.  Unlike the Roman Church’s doctrine compelling a weekly Auricular Confession, our understanding is that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available to all.  Further is would be spiritually beneficial and healing to many, and really should be used as a part of healthy Christian spiritual life.  Finally, however, no one must make a Sacramental/Auricular Confession, as the General Confession when properly approached meets the standard for approaching the altar for the Sacrament of Communion is an appropriately cleansed spiritual state.

Lent and Advent are times considered to be especially appropriate for the extra spiritual house cleaning of Reconciliation, as we prepare ourselves spiritually for the great feasts of Easter and Christmas.  While you can, at any time, arrange with a priest for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we make it even easier during these seasons of the church year by offering times when you may simply come to a chapel in the Cathedral to spend time with priest in this sacrament.

This Advent’s the scheduled time will be Sunday, December 9 from 12:30 to 1:30.  A priest will be in Nativity Chapel at this time (and others are asked to refrain from being in the Cathedral), available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation or spiritual counsel.

One final mention: Confessions can be heard anywhere.  It does not have to be in the church, at the altar or in a confessional booth.  If the confessor discerns that there is an absence of sincerity, some form of manipulation or no true repentance, absolution may be withheld.  The seal of the confession is absolute upon the priest.  It applies only to the actual sacramental rite, and not to any other conversation with a member of the clergy.

All can. Some should. None must.

With prayers for a holy Advent,

Scott+

Being Cathedral

Dear Friends,

My travel this week has taken me around the western then the southern perimeter of superstorm Sandy. While it is nice to tell you that the travel was uneventful and your notes and prayers sustaining, many of our friends and families have had their lives forever changed.

Of our staff alone Kit Ilardi and Fr. Nestrock have immediate family on Staton Island and in other boroughs of New York City, in New York State, in New Jersey, in Delaware, and beyond. There is no way for me to know how many of the extended cathedral family have been impacted ... but given our Lord's teaching about who our neighbors, who our brothers and sisters, are, anyone impacted by this storm is our cathedral family. I am asking you to do three things right now:

First - pray for all impacted by and responding to this storm. Start right now, if you have not already, and pray every day. Be sure to include in your petitions a prayer for those who have no one to pray for them.

Second - give something, nothing is to small, to support financial relief. Right now use the American Red Cross, Episcopal Relief and Development, or give during this Sunday's services marking your gift "Sandy relief". When I return I will work with your Cathedral Leaders to determine some focused efforts to address relief needs.

Third - remain steadfast in your commitment of prayer and support. The efforts to rebuild lives, homes, businesses, and communities is going to take a long time. We will be looking at many ways to help in addition to prayer and financial support. These may include mission/work trips, clothes gatherings and more.

God presents us with an opportunity in this to be what a cathedral is to be - a extension of apostolic presence and witness. I have an abiding calm that we will rise to this with God's great grace.

Prayerfully,

Scott+

 

 

This is another day, O Lord. I know not what it will bring forth, but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely. If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently. And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly. Make these words more than words, and give me the Spirit of Jesus. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer 1979

p. 461

Our Divine Appointment – Stewards All

4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, *
the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,

5 What is man that you should be mindful of him? *
the son of man that you should seek him out?

6 You have made him but little lower than the angels; *
you adorn him with glory and honor;

7 You give him mastery over the works of your hands; *
you put all things under his feet:

8 All sheep and oxen, *
even the wild beasts of the field,

9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, *
and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.

10 O LORD our Governor, *
how exalted is your Name in all the world!  (Psalm 8:4-10 NRSV)

 

The rich imagery of Psalm 8, the psalm appointed for this past Sunday, is compelling in so many ways.  Written at a time when people, not some but nearly all, labored sunup to sundown, day in and day out, simply to provide enough sustenance for survival, the writer is reflective.  “When I consider your heavens…. What is man[kind]…?”  The writer is awed by the Divine, but almost equally taken by the role God has assigned to his kind (to us).  We are “but little lower than the angels”, and we have been assigned mastery over the work of God’s own hands.

 

It is no stretch then to arrive at the realization that we are, by Divine Appointment, stewards of the works of God.  Stewards we are: of all sheep and oxen, even the wild beasts of the field, birds of the air, fish of the sea and other creatures of the sea.  Stewards of life: terrestrial, avian, and aquatic.  Seems nothing has been left out.  I wonder, as I reflect on psalmist’s revelation, about how the buffalo of the Great Plains might regard our work.  If asked, what would the great whales and the coral reefs of the oceans, and even our nearby Rouge River say?  How are the great condors of our pacific coast fairing; the tigers of Siberia, the bees and the associated flowers, shrubs, and lands?

 

If we possess even a grain of honesty, we can rightly conclude that humankind’s stewardship of the Divine’s handiwork is greatly lacking.  Over the ages we have demonstrated a far greater ability to advance own agenda and serve first our own needs without consideration of God’s creation.  Further, I’ll go out on a limb here, I believe at one time or another everyone’s individual stewardship of the things given us has been more focused on self than on being a steward created but little lower than the angels.

 

The Good News is God has not taken the job away from us.  We have a chance to change – if we are doing a good job, we can do better.  If we have not given this much thought, or dismissed it when it has entered into our moments of reflection, we can return our attention to it, and start to advance from where we are.

This is typically (financial) stewardship season in the life of many congregations.  Those resources are no less a part of what God has entrusted to us than the beasts and birds, the aquifers and acres.  So too then, the Good News applies to these things as well.  Like the psalmist we can reflect.  Because of God’s continued assignment to us of the role of masters (of the craft) of being stewards, we can change.  We can grow in understanding, faithfulness, action and generosity. 

As with all who have been given charge over things that matter our day of accountability will come.  As I contemplate that day, I am reminded that to whom much is given, from them much will be expected.  Not because God is overbearing, but because God knows our capacity.

 

May God continue to bless us as we strive to fulfill the Divine trust in our capacity as stewards.

Your brother in Christ,

Scott+

 

PS  Don’t forget, Pledge In-Gathering Sunday is October 28.  Plan to join us to place your pledge card on the altar.  If you cannot be with us, send it on to us before the 28^th and we will be sure to place it there for you.

 

Fall-ing Into a Rhythm

I cannot remember a September when the temperature and the other signals of nature seemed to so clearly signal the arrival of Fall as has happened over the days of September 21 and 22 of this year. It is as if a switch has been thrown clicking on crisper evenings, the deepening blue of the autumn sky, squirrels clamoring for acorns, and the first vestiges of leafy color.

Now, I will come clean by telling you that I have always been a person moved by the onset of Spring. Where I grew up Fall was the signal of a coming winter that was, by and large, grey and rainy with the temperature generally hovering around 34 degrees.  The damp cut you like a knife.  When I moved to the Chicago area for seminary there came an annual autumn trip to our rival seminary in the Wisconsin woods for a football game.  Now, I grew up with the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in full Fall foliage, but never before these games had I walked knee-deep in brilliant yellow leaves the size of Frisbees.  Plus, it got dark so much earlier in these more northern latitudes. It was a siren’s song, of course, because it meant that the dark grey of winter would onset in early November and it would not relent to a warming sun and clearing sky until late April or early May.  I would be deprived of blue sky and green grass until long after the calendar and the planets proclaimed it Spring.  Ah, it was, for me, one more lesson of “the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.”

Despite these things, I was, and admit that I still am, charmed by that crispness and the earlier arrival each day of the vesper light (no thanks to daylight savings time).  There is a sense of boundaries, not hard and harsh but persistent while being gentle.  Schools return to session and that means to me there is a renewal of learning.  Choirs return and that means there is a renewal of singing.  People return and that harkens a renewal of community.

The late strains of Fall will bring the candle-glow of Advent.  Winter gifts us with the Incarnation and the Epiphany and, despite its name ushers us the challenges of Lent.  Easter breaks forth in all ways of the Resurrection and floods us with new life.  Those tender pale greens and running waters of Spring deepen into the full bloom and expansive daylight of summers.

God tells time by the movement of planets and the ebb and flow of tides.  Never is there the need for a “leap” to correct or insert, and you never have to roll the date on your wristwatch to because of a twenty-eight or thirty day month.  I love this rhythm.  It is natural.  It is liturgical.  It is God’s time. 

 

The eyes of all wait upon you, O Lord, *

and you give them their food in due season.

You open wide your hand *

and satisfy the needs of every living creature.

The Lord is righteous in all his ways *

and loving in all his works.  Psalm 145:16-18

May you find God’s rhythm in your days, in your seasons, in your prayers, in your breath and in your life.

Grace and peace,

Scott+

Just Because We Can … Doesn’t Mean We Should

Unauthorized pictures of the Duchess of Cambridge, a movie trailer (and I can only presume the whole movie), a French newspaper’s cartoon mocking the Prophet Muhammad, some years ago a Danish publication doing the same thing.  Qur’an burnings.  Burning Bibles and other destruction or defilement of any sacred text or structure.  They are all wrong.  I did not say that they were illegal, although some of the above cited events may have been.  But just because some law was not broken does not mean that the action taken is in any measure appropriate.

I write this reflection under the very First Amendment banner that in our country allows vitriolic films and satirical political cartoons to be produced and shown, written and published, because it provides for both freedom of speech and freedom of religion.  I know of no great world religion that does not instruct, in exact words or words so clearly close as to be synonymous, “Do unto to others as you would have them do unto you” (Matt 7:12, Luke 6:31).  And, yes, the Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an go there as well.  If fact, the older King James translation of the Bible gives us the saying in a more pointed fashion: “as ye would that [people] would do to you, do ye also to them likewise.” But in things both little and large it seems we increasingly embrace judgment and behavior that dismisses this teaching.

I had the honor and opportunity of spending an evening last week, along with others representing the Cathedral community and the Diocese of Michigan, at the 10^th Anniversary Gala for the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU.org).  It was a beautiful night spent in the extraordinary hospitality of my brothers and sisters of the Muslim community.  There was humor and humility, appreciation and poignancy, and candor and challenge.

The written words of the U.S. Constitution affords them the right to their religious practice, as it affords me mine.  Yet, they live in “the land of the free and home of the brave” with a burden of suspicion and discrimination that is born out of others’ fear and ignorance.  The Episcopal/Anglican tradition of Christianity holds at the heart of our baptismal understanding being in relationship with God and with people, who are created in the image and likeness of God.  “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons loving your neighbor as yourself? ... Will you strive of justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being?”

The printed words are not enough.  Spoken words are not enough, but are sometimes a start.  As I have said many times, the sermon of our actions preaches longer and louder than those of our mouths.  Just as faith without works is dead, a loving heart without loving actions is an illusion.  And all people are to know we are Christians by our love, by our love.  This we can do and this we should do.

Salaam, shalom, peace,

Scott+

[ISPU is a scholarly think tank born out of the terrible events of September 11, 2001 to help educate and inform all parties with an interest about Islam and Muslim life in the United States, in  well-researched, scholarly and relevant ways. There work highly credible and in my opinion simply outstanding.]

Thanks for the Memories!

Okay, I admit it, I am old enough to remember Bob Hope singing this song to close any number of television specials. It still touches the Normal Rockwell/Currier & Ives place in my heart.  (If you don’t know who Rockwell or Currier & Ives are, Google them, and, while you are at it, look up the Saturday Evening Post as well.  If you don’t know what Google-ing is, then you likely know about Rockwell, etc. already.)

This weekend we celebrate over six decades of mission and ministry – love and prayers, really – as we show our love to the Rev’d Canon Bill and Dr. Mary Logan.  There are not enough words in the dictionary, no matter how oft repeated, to convey the myriad of thoughts, moments of love, and deep affection we have for them.  Nor is it possible, in the same way, to describe the love and care they have given to us.

What follows, we hope, will remind you of some of the touchstones of the Logans’ journey with us.  Maybe it will tickle a recollection, or trigger a fond or tender moment.  Most of all, we hope it will heighten your desire to join in a Chorus of the Saints singing from the depths of our hearts, “Thanks for the memories.”

Blessings,

                      Scott+

 

Born at Harper Hospital in 1920, the Reverend Canon William S. Logan never roamed far from his Detroit roots save a few years in Philadelphia and a degree in Chemical Engineering (cum laude)from the University of Pennsylvania.  Ordained (and married) in 1951, he is currently the senior active priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan.  The holder of three masters degrees (Engineering, Divinity, and Counseling), his ministry has spanned seven decades, including service as a Curate at Christ Church, Detroit, Rector of St. Martin’s, Detroit, Executive Director of Program for the Diocese of Michigan, sometime editor of “The Record” (a monthly newspaper for the diocese) and Archdeacon of the Diocese including serving as District Head of the Central District before he retired in 1985.

Canon Logan served on the Executive Council of the Diocese, the Board of the Wayne State University Episcopal Student Association, as a trustee of the Bishop Page Foundation, Chair of the Department of Christian Social Relations, and as a member of the Youth Division of the Department of Christian Education.  His wider community ministry included being an officer of the Michigan Council of Churches; and serving on the Michigan Commission for United Ministries in Higher Education, the Interfaith Emergency Council, and the Interfaith Action Council.  He also served on the Ministerial Committee of Planned Parenthood, and is a Charter Member of the Miller District Advisory Council.  He was honored by the City of Detroit for his service as a member of the Policy Advisory Committee of the Mayor’s Committee on Human Resources Development.

In 1967 at the start of great unrest in Detroit, he organized and coordinated the Inter-Faith Emergency Action Center.  He transformed the Diocesan Cathedral Center into a center for communication for all kinds of agencies and governmental response teams to help negotiate and restore calm in the midst of chaos.  Additionally, some 40,000 tons of food, water and clothing were distributed from this site as a result of his work.  He rode buses to march in Alabama for civil rights; organizations such as Bagley Housing (now part of Southwest Solutions). He was active in the Wranglers, and the Prismatic Club of Detroit bears his considerable imprint.  In 1968 his was made an Honorary Canon of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul.

Bill’s idea of retirement was to walk about 100 feet to a new “Cathedral office” in the Diocesan Cathedral Center to oversee the building of a fourteen story 150 unit apartment building for economically challenged seniors for the Cathedral Church of St. Paul.  From that beginning and for twenty-eight years he was at the Cathedral three days a week and most every Sunday being “retired,” and along the way he served as Canon-In-Charge between the eighth and ninth deans.

That which will bring the quickest and broadest smile to Bill’s face is mention of Mary, followed closely by any mention of their three children, Molly, Maggie and Will, and the accompanying grand- and great grandchildren.  Dr. Logan’s considerable accomplishments include degrees from Goucher College, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and decades of service as a member of the Department of Pediatrics of Henry Ford Hospital.  She was one of the driving forces in the founding of the CHASS (Community Health and Social Services) Center, the mission of which is to develop, promote, and provide comprehensive, accessible and affordable quality primary health care and support services to all residents of the community, with emphasis on the underserved African American and Latino populations in Detroit.  Dr. Logan retired at least three times herself, and because of her dedication and commitment, along with others, CHASS is celebrating forty-two years of mission.

Please join us to celebrate the Sabbath and give thanks to God for Bill and Mary at the 10:30 Eucharist on Sunday, September 9^th.  A gala reception follows the service in Barth Hall.

In celebration of the Logans’ mission and ministry, the loose offering (and any checks or envelopes so designated) from this service will go to the CHASS Center in their honor.

Lives, Love & Divine Showing-Off

For me, one of the best quips floating around the internet these days is the one that says, "Live your life such that the Westboro Baptist Church will want to picket at your funeral."

There are an awful (I picked that word with great intentionality) lot of declarations being made in the name of Christianity that would cause me, a person who both claims to be a Christian, and as a priest is what some would call a "vocational" Christian, to disavow all connections to the faith. The above mentioned group, those who would burn the sacred books of faiths our own Scriptures indicate God's favor toward, those who would attack any group or individual for the purpose of taking their life in the name of God, are but a few broad strokes of such troubling actions.

I appreciate, and add my voice to those who decry such actions. I am, however, concerned that those of us who are decrying those actions are more focused on that than we are on saying, "No, that is not Christianity as I understand it. It is not the Christianity I find in an examination of our holy writings." Yes, their behavior is offensive to the highest order. Yes, I (we) want no part of it. No, our dialogues (with each other 'cause I don't think they are listening), declarations and counter-protests will never sway them from their stony ideology. But, and here's the rub, we are not being very intentional at getting the word out to say, "Hey, you are not throwing us under the bus with their mis-representation of Christianity."

As a part of the Scriptures used for weekday services this week, I was reacquainted with a part of the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel that has stirred me for years - Ezekiel 36:22-28. From the prophet we hear: "Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act." (Remember that we who call ourselves Christians are part of the continuation of the House of Israel.) Now if you've read much of the prophets' writings you would reasonably expect that the people of faith are about to get whacked because they have screwed up (again), having put their own agendas and idols ahead of God. But, it takes a different turn: "It is not for your sake... but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came" that God is going to act.

Still not looking good, you say? Yep, but here is what goes down:

The great name of God is going to be reclaimed: the one we ourselves profaned amongst others. And God is going to put the Divine holiness on display before their eyes, get this, through us. From nations and all countries (Looks like we won't all look alike/sound alike/be alike doesn't it!), God says, "I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean .... A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ... and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

I want to be a part of that. I want that because I, and I believe each of us, have stony parts of our hearts. I'd like to give them up to a heart of flesh. A heart of flesh, to me, has need for good judgment, but no need to be judgmental. A heart of flesh knows the pain of being wounded, and therefore is intentional in efforts to heal others' wounds. A heart of flesh sees in the eyes of others the longing for deepest meaning, even when others cannot see it in themselves, and patiently offers them companionship in their seeking and longing. A heart of flesh takes seriously the mandatum, "Love one another as I have loved you." It was, it is, a love found in sacrifice, not conquest. Christians do not have to save the world, nor do they have to save others. In fact, they can't. That was Jesus' job, and from the cross he tells us, "It is finished."

We are to love. (Not a sanguine I'm okay, you're okay, anything at all is okay existence. That is not the love that Jesus lived and called us to emulate when saying, "as I have loved you.") This is the New Spirit. It is time that we embrace it with vigor and declare it with intention. The "new spirit" of love is the heart of Christianity. If we do this, invite other to see and share in this... people will still picket and judge, but few will believe it as being under the banner of Christianity.

God's declared plan in Ezekiel is to do a bit of Divine showing off - look what I can use to demonstrate my holiness -- by using the most unfit starting material possible: us. Don't you want to be a part that!

Pax Christi,

Scott+