The Humes lectionary provides two options for the First Reading. I will write about both of them.
Amos 3:1-8 includes a variation on the old saying that great responsibility accompanies great privilege. Grace is free, not cheap. One can never purchase it, but accepting it entails taking on duties. To tie Proverbs 1:1-19 into that principle, one has a duty to show love for God by doing love to one’s fellow human beings. Elsewhere in Amos, we read of greedy, exploitative people, as we do in Proverbs 1:8-19.
These men lie in wait for their own blood,
they set a trap for their own lives.
This is the fate of everyone greedy of loot:
unlawful gain takes away the life of him who acquires it.
–Proverbs 1:18-19, The New American Bible (1991)
Whatever we do to others, we do also to ourselves.
The audience in Amos 3 is collective; it is the people of Israel. To be precise, it is the people of Israel during the reigns of King Azariah (Uzziah) of Judah (785-733 B.C.E.) and King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 B.C.E.). The Deuteronomic theology of the Book of Amos teaches that actions have consequences. Obey the Law of Moses, please God, and reap the benefits. Alternatively, disobey the Law of Moses, displease God, and reap the negative consequences. Many of those commandments pertain to social justice, especially economic justice.
Our Western culture, with its pervasive individualism, easily overlooks collective responsibility. Politically, the Right Wing emphasizes individual responsibility. Meanwhile, the Left Wing stresses collective responsibility. Both sides err in so far as they give short shrift to or ignore either type of responsibility. Just as divine judgment and mercy exist in balance, so do individual and collective responsibility. Mutuality holds them in balance.
Psalm 115 condemns idolatry. The real idols are ideas, not objects. A statue of a god, for example, can be a work of art to display in a museum. Idolatry is about misplaced, disordered love, to go Augustinian on you, O reader. In the case of the greedy people in Proverbs 1, their idol was attachment to wealth.
The reading from 1 Timothy 1 reminds us that God embraces repentance. Remorse is an emotion that enables repentance, a series of actions.
Regardless of who wrote or dictated the First Letter to Timothy (probably not St. Paul the Apostle), St. Paul seemed unlikely to have become what he became in God. Saul of Tarsus certainly did not expect it. And, to turn to John 1:35-42, calling St. Simon “Peter,” or “Rock,” may have seemed ironic at first. But Jesus recognized potential in him. St. Simon Peter eventually grew into that potential. St. Paul the Apostle grew into his potential, as well.
If we are to grew into our potential individually, we need the help of God and other people. St. Paul had Ananias. St. Simon Peter had Jesus. Who do you have, O reader?
Likewise, if we are to grow into our potential collectively, we need the help of God and other groups of people. We live in a web of mutuality. We know this, do we not? Globalization, at least, should have taught us that the communities and nation-states can affect the fates of our communities and nation-states.
Will we work for the common good? Or will we persist in delusions of amoral rugged individualism and isolationism?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 28, 2020 COMMON ERA
THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST (TRANSFERRED)
Thanks be to you, Lord Jesus Christ, most merciful redeemer,
for the countless blessings and benefits you give.
May we know you more clearly,
love you more dearly,
and follow you more nearly,
day by day praising you, with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 22
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The Assigned Readings:
1 Samuel 9:27-10:8 (Monday)
1 Samuel 15:10-31 (Tuesday)
Psalm 86 (Both Days)
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 (Monday)
Acts 5:1-11 (Tuesday)
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Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth;
knit my heart to you that I may fear your name.
–Psalm 86:11, Common Worship (2000)
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The assigned readings for these two days pertain to the theme of commitment to God.
The lessons from 1 Samuel tell us of King Saul of Israel. We read first of God choosing him and Samuel anointing him. In Chapter 15 we find one account of God and Samuel rejecting the monarch for violating the rules of holy war. Saul’s army did not kill enough people and destroy enough property, apparently. (1 Samuel 15 does not reflect my understanding of God.) Two facts attract my attention:
Saul simultaneously seeks forgiveness and shifts the blame.
1 Samuel 13 contains a different account of God and Samuel rejecting Saul. There the monarch’s offense is to usurp the priest’s duty. Making an offering to God properly was a major issue in the Old Testament, for some people died because they made offerings improperly.
When we turn to the New Testament readings we find fatal lack of commitment in Acts 5 and a stern Pauline warning regarding human relationships in 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1. The unified message of the pericopes is to commit to God–not to be content with half measures. We should, I propose, feel free to ask questions about people dying because of deception in Acts 5 and why Saul’s offense in 1 Samuel 15 was such a bad thing to have done, for asking intelligent questions is not a faithless act. Nevertheless, I recall the words of Jesus to a man who used an excuse to refuse our Lord and Savior’s call to discipleship. Christ said:
Once the hand is laid on the plow, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
–Luke 9:62, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
At that point in the Lukan narrative Jesus was en route to Jerusalem for the climactic week of Passover. He was neither offering nor accepting excuses. Who dares offer one?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 20, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF RICHARD WATSON GILDER, U.S. POET, JOURNALIST, AND SOCIAL REFORMER
THE FEAST OF HENRY FRANCIS LYTE, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF LEO TOLSTOY, NOVELIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT MECHTILD OF MAGDEBURG, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC
The laws of God which are written on hearts and minds are laws of grace, love, and responsibility for and to each other. They are laws of love for and responsibility to God. The essence of them is to love God fully and others as ourselves. The rest is commentary–mostly culturally-specific commentary–examples (bound by time, space and circumstances) of universal principles. Therefore to become so fixated on examples as to ignore or minimize the universal principles is to miss the point and fall into legalism.
This internalized covenant is for all people, not that everyone embraces it or will do so. It is for Hebrews and Gentiles alike. It is for those like us and those quite different from us. It is as much as for Hebrews as it was for a confused Ethiopian eunuch who needed a good catechist. Fortunately, God sent him one.
The reading from Exodus speaks of the Passover meal instructions and of the importance of blood in deliverance–the latter being a theme in other readings for these days. In the case of the Passover, the blood protected the Hebrews not from their own sins, but those of Egyptians. This is a point which one might overlook out of imagined familiarity with the text. Anyhow, the metaphor of the Passover as applied to Jesus (perhaps most explicitly applied to Jesus in the Gospel of John, where he dies on Passover itself–is the sacrificial lamb) carries meaning beyond just saving us from ourselves–from our sins.
A traditional American hymn speaks of
What wondrous love
that
caused the Lord of bliss
to
lay aside his crown for my soul.
May we–you, O reader, and I–respond favorably to that grace with heart and mind engaged fully, giving neither short shrift. May we understand correctly and act accordingly, helping others to whom God sends us and others whom God sends to us, to do likewise. For we are all responsible to and for each other.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
SEPTEMBER 5, 2013 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA, ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN
THE FEAST OF GREGORIO AGLIPAY, PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENT BISHOP
Liturgical time matters, for it sacramentalizes days, hours, and minutes, adding up to seasons on the church calendar. Among the frequently overlooked seasons is the Season after Epiphany, the first part of Ordinary Time. The Feast of the Epiphany always falls on January 6 in my tradition. And Ash Wednesday always falls forty days (excluding Sundays) before Easter Sunday. The Season after Epiphany falls between The Feast of the Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. In 2013 the season will span January 7-February 12.
This season ought to be a holy time, one in which to be especially mindful of the imperative to take the good news of Jesus of Nazareth to others by a variety of means, including words when necessary. Words are meaningless when our actions belie them, after all. Among the themes of this season is that the Gospel is for all people, not just those we define as insiders. No, the message is also for our “Gentiles,” those whom we define as outsiders. So, with that thought in mind, I encourage you, O reader, to exclude nobody. Do not define yourself as an insider to the detriment of others. If you follow this advice, you will have a proper Epiphany spirit.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
NOVEMBER 9, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARTIN CHEMNITZ, GERMAN LUTHERAN THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF BARTON STONE, COFOUNDER OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST)
Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your judgments are like the great deep;
you save humans and animals alike, O LORD.
How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
O continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your salvation to the upright of heart!
1 Corinthians 12:1-11 (Revised English Bible):
About gifts of the Spirit, my friends, I want there to be no misunderstanding.
You know how, in the days when you were still pagan, you used to be carried away by some impulse or other to those dumb heathen gods. For this reason I must impress upon you that no one who says
A curse of Jesus!
can be speaking under the influence of the Spirit of God; and no one can say
Jesus is Lord!
except under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
There are varieties of gifts, but he same Spirit. There are varieties of service, but the same Lord. There are varieties of activity, but in all of them and in everyone the same God is active. In each of us the Spirit is seen to be at work for some useful purpose. One, through the Spirit, has the gift of wise speech, while another, by the power of the same Spirit, can put the deepest knowledge into words. Another, by the same Spirit, is granted faith; another, by the one Spirit, gifts of healing, and another miraculous powers; another has the gift of prophecy, and other the ability to distinguish true spirits from false; yet another has the gift of tongues of various kinds, and another the ability to interpret them. But all these gifts are the activity of one and the same Spirit, distributing them to each individual at will.
John 2:1-11 (Revised English Bible):
Two days later there was a wedding at Cana-in-Galilee. The mother of Jesus was there, and Jesus and his disciples were also among the guests. The wine gave out, so Jesus’s mother said to him,
They have no wine left.
He answered,
That is no concern of mine. My hour has yet to come.
His mother said to the servants,
Do whatever he tells you.
There were six stone water-jars standing near, of the kind used for Jewish rites of purification; each held from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants,
Fill the jars with water,
and they filled them to the brim.
Now draw some off,
he ordered,
and take it to the master of the feast,
and they did so. The master tasted the water now turned into wine, not knowing its source, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. He hailed the bridegroom and said,
Everyone else serves the best wine first, and the poorer only when the guests have drunk freely; but you have kept the best wine til now.
So Jesus performed at Cana-in-Galilee the first of the signs which revealed his glory and led his disciples to believe in him.
The Collect:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Once I read a story which might be apocryphal. There was, in the days prior to the time of Prohibition in the United States, a certain woman who traveled along the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) lecture circuit and spoke of the evils of alcohol. God, she said, wanted people to abstain from it all times. She completed her remarks and asked if anyone had any questions. One young man raised his hand. The speaker called on him. He asked,
If what you say is true, how do you explain Jesus turning water into wine?
She replied,
I would like him better if he had not done that.
The readings for this Sunday speak of ways in which God acts. In Isaiah God will act in a spectacular fashion to restore exiles. As one who has read certain other parts of the Hebrew Scriptures knows, some people objected to the rebuilding of Jerusalem, its walls, and the Temple. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 contains an explanation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. All of them are manifestations of God yet the variety of them offends certain conformists. And Jesus turning water into wine in John 2:1-11, his first miracle in that Gospel, caused discomfort for many advocates of temperance. Once, years ago, I watched a documentary about Jesus movies. The program mentioned a silent film from the United States. Scenes from the wedding feast at Cana were there, but with an explanation about the use of wine in biblical times.
When God acts we might become uncomfortable. That is our problem, not any indication of a fault with God.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MARCH 30, 2012 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
THE FEAST OF SAINT INNOCENT OF ALASKA, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX BISHOP
THE FEAST OF SAINT JOAN OF TOULOUSE, CARMELITE NUN, AND SAINT SIMON STOCK, CARMELITE FRIAR
THE FEAST OF KARL RAHNER, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN
…the good thing I want to do, I never do; the evil thing which I do not want–that is what I do. But every time I do what I do not want to do, then it is not myself acting, but the sin that lives in me….What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body doomed to death? God–thanks be to him–through Jesus Christ our Lord. So it is that I myself with my mind obey the law of God, but in my disordered nature I obey the law of sin.
–Romans 7:19-20, 24-25, The New Jerusalem Bible
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A note on page 1115 of The Jewish Study Bible tells me that Gog, leader of the land of Magog, might have been “Gyses, a 7th-century ruler of Lydia in Asia Minor.” Anyhow, Ezekiel 38 and 39 (which I have kept united for the sake of clarity; the lectionary splits the passage into two parts over as many days) speaks in apocalyptic terms of the divine defeat of the cleansing of the land of Judea, then the restoration of the Jews in their ancestral homeland. One must be careful not to use such texts to justify blind Zionism, therefore excusing the abuses which the present State of Israel has perpetrated against the Palestinians; the Golden Rule applies to everyone. Yet the text does indicate the reliability of divine promises.
The concepts of cleansing and restoration (in a different context, of course), apply also to Romans 7:1-8:17. We human beings are mixed bags of good and bad. We are, as the Lutheran confessions tell us, capable only of civic righteousness on our own power; we cannot save ourselves from ourselves. “Sin” is not an abstraction; it is “missing the mark.” And we are naturally inaccurate spiritual archers. We find God by a combination of grace and free will. And the existence of the latter is a function of the former, so everything goes back to grace. Through this grace we have cleansing and restoration. May we, by grace, cooperate with God so that we may become what God has in mind for us to become.
Seemingly Unlikely Qualifications in Dangerous Times
JANUARY 16, 2024
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Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada. I invite you to follow it with me.
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1 Samuel 16:1-13 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
The LORD said to Samuel,
How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.
And Samuel said,
How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.
And the LORD said,
Take a heifer with you, and say, “I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.” And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me him whom I will name to you.
Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said,
Do you come peaceably?
And he said,
Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.
And he sacrificed Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought,
Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.
But the LORD said to Samuel,
Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.
Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said,
Neither has the LORD chosen this one.
Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said,
Neither has the LORD chosen this one.
And Jesse made seven of this sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse,
The LORD has not chosen these.
And Samuel said to Jesse,
Are all your sons here?
And he said,
There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.
And Samuel said to Jesse,
Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he comes here.
And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. And the LORD said,
Arise, anoint him; for this is he.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
Psalm 89:19-27 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
19 You spoke once in a vision and said to your faithful people:
“I have set the crown upon a warrior
and have exalted the one chosen out of the people.
20 I have found David my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him.
21 My hand will hold him fast
and my arm will make him strong.
22 No enemy shall deceive him,
nor any wicked man bring him down.
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and love shall be with him,
and he shall be victorious through my Name.
25 I shall make his dominion extend
from the Great from the Great Sea to the River.
26 He will say to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation,’
27 I will make him my firstborn
and higher than the kings of the earth.
Mark 2:23-28 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to him,
Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?
And he said to them,
Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him; how he entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the showbread, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?
And he said to them,
The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath.
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The Collect:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
It was a dangerous time for Samuel. He was on a mission to find Saul’s replacement, but Saul was not going to vacate the throne for years, as events played out. From a certain point of view Samuel was on a treasonous mission, hence the necessity of the plausible cover story about making a sacrifice to God.
This is how 1 Samuel 9:2b-3 describes Saul shortly before he became king:
…a handsome young man. There was not a man among the sons of Israel more handsome than he; from his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.
Now reread the account from 1 Samuel 16:1-13. God tells Samuel not to focus on outward appearances. David was the Anti-Saul. Both were handsome, according to the texts, but David was “ruddy.” Outwardly he did not seem qualified to govern a kingdom, but the shepherd became the founder of a dynasty.
David did find himself in great danger for the next few years, given the political threat he posed to Saul. There was even a civil war, but David won in the end. The rest is history.
As a student of history, especially the U.S. Presidency, I am well aware of the fact that one’s resume can be of limited value in evaluating whether a candidate will be a good leader. For example, James Buchanan (in office 1857-1861) had a long and distinguished resume, yet was a terrible president. And Herbert Hoover (in office 1929-1933) was a great humanitarian, a man who had overseen food rationing at home during World War I then fed much of Europe. To “Hooverize” something was to do it well, right up until the Great Depression. On the other hand, Abraham Lincoln had a much shorter political resume than did Buchanan before become President of the United States in 1861. And Harry Truman, before making his name in the Senate during World War II, owed his federal career to patronage from a corrupt man.
Perhaps we ought to reevaluate our concepts of qualifications for certain posts sometimes. It is vital not to fall into the grave error of anti-intellectualism when doing this, for anti-intellectualism leads to other mistakes. The impulse to favor “people like me” while eschewing alleged eggheads and others who have studied crucial issues of the day closely for years is politically unwise. But the lesson to focus too much on outward appearances–today we would say one’s image on television–remains timeless.
Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada. I invite you to follow it with me.
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Hebrews 5:1-10 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as those of the people. And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was.
So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,
You are my Son,
today I have begotten you;
as he says also in other place,
You are a priest for ever,
according to the order of Melchizedek.
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard for his godly fear. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.
Psalm 110 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
1 The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 The LORD will send the scepter of your power out of Zion,
saying, “Rule over your enemies round about you.
3 Princely state has been yours from the day of your birth;
in the beauty of holiness have I begotten you,
like dew from the womb of the morning.”
4 The LORD has sworn and he will not recant;
“You are a priest for ever in the order of Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord who is at your right hand
will smite kings in the day of his wrath;
he will rule over the nations.
6 He will heap high the corpses;
he will smash heads over the wide earth.
7 He will drink from the brook beside the road;
therefore he will lift high his head.
Mark 2:18-22 (Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition):
Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him,
Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?
And Jesus said to them,
Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; if he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; if he does, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but new wine is for fresh skins.
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The Collect:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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What is the chief and highest end of man?
Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
–Question #1 from the Westminster Larger Catechism (1647), as printed in The Confession of Faith of the Presbyterian Church in the United States (1965)
I am a ritualist. I admit this fact freely and without compunction. Rituals are crucial to the healthy maintenance of society, and anyone who says otherwise is mistaken. Ritualism is like any other good thing in so far as that it can become a bad thing if one takes it too far, though. An icon is something or someone through which we see God; an idol distracts us from God. A ritual can be either an icon or an idol, depending on what we choose to make it.
Consider fasting, for example. This can be a healthy spiritual exercise. Yet, when one approaches it from the wrong angle, fasting becomes an occasion of pride, not humility. First Century C.E. Palestinian Judaism came with one compulsory fast day, the Day of Atonement. Many especially observant Jews chose to fast from 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. each Monday and Thursday, too. There was no fault in this practice, assuming that one did not approach it as a way to display one’s holiness before others and hopefully to attract God’s favor. Jesus rejected such displays, preferring instead to enjoy food, often in the company of disreputable people, as in the Gospel reading from Saturday. Now that was a different kind of display, was it not?
How would you react or respond if your pastor or priest spent much time dining with disreputable people, not engaging in public activities associated commonly with holiness? How long would he or she remain in your parish or mission congregation? Think about it. The more we are like Jesus, the less respectable we become. The Jesus of many imaginations is a respectable, even bourgeoisie, figure. This version of Jesus is a fiction. The real Jesus was scandalous. And we are called to follow him.
And Jesus enjoyed life, eating much food and drinking much wine. He savored wonderful conversation, too. Enjoying life is a call of every Christian, therefore. From time to time I have had the great displeasure of meeting and having to spend too much time in the company of a self-professing Christian with no apparent sense of humor. You, O reader, might have had the same experience. Life is a gift of God; let us enjoy it in God and glorify God through it.
May we delight in all that is beautiful, good, and meritorious. Koholeth, the author of Ecclesiastes, reminds us that there is a time and a season for everything. Taking proper times and seasons into account is part of determining if something is beautiful, good, and meritorious. We follow the greatest high priest, who can and does identify with us. The fact of his Incarnation, followed by his life and our Atonement, ought to comfort us. So why should we walk around looking as if our parents weaned us on dill pickles?
Laugh. Chortle. Have a good belly laugh. Enjoy staring at cloud formations. Dare I say it, even tell atrocious puns. Savor a well-written novel or poem. And enjoy God during all of it.
ADVENT, CHRISTMAS, AND EPIPHANY DEVOTIONS 
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